PCC Courier, October 15, 1982

VOL 54, NO 8 PASADENA CITY COLLEGE, PASADENA, CALIFORNIA OCTOBER 15, 1982 Georgilas Wins Honors Receives 'Risser Award' By Sheryl Mee News Editor Communications instructor Anthony Georgilas was presented Tuesday as the recipient of the 1982 J. Ray Risser Award, a $1,000 award given annually to the college's most outstanding teacher. Georgilas, who has made many sig¬ nificant contributions to the college and the surrounding community, told the Courier that he was "very honored to have received the award," and that "my outstanding students have made it all worthwhile." Students annually nominate teachers they feel deserve recognition for their outstanding contributions to students and the college. According to Georgilas, the cash recognition will be put in the Anthony Georgilas Scholarship Fund, which was established by the American Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. This will be done to benefit PCC forensics students in broadcast journalism con¬ centrating in news. In a statement read to the faculty. Superintendent— President Richard S. Meyers said Georgilas "brings the kind of enthusiasm and energy that makes a great educator," and he added "he is the type of instructor that inspires students to become teachers." The Risser Award was the first award to be established by the college to recognize outstanding achievement in teaching. Guiding principles for the selection include the qualities of supe¬ rior achievement in organization, prep¬ aration and presentation of the mate¬ rial of the course; fairness and ac¬ curacy in grading; instillment of satis¬ faction and value in learning about a subject; and encouragement to prepare and achieve. Other qualities used to recognize the outstanding teacher include the ability to provide inspiration to gain student objectives in life and the encourage¬ ment of wholesome attitudes toward good citizenship and loyalty to family, school and country. A petition signed by 20 students places the teacher's name in nomina¬ tion for the award. A selection board consisting of faculty and adminis¬ trators then screens the nominations to select the individual recipient. Georgilas, who has taught at PCC for 15 years, has an extensive background inthe radio and television field and uses these experiences as the basis for much of his teaching. "He always has funny stories to tell about his work at the studios and he's always around to give advice about getting into the communication field." said one communication student. Some of Georgilas' involvements in¬ clude the reconstruction of the Pasa¬ dena Playhouse, working with Pasa¬ dena Hospice, and acting as the self— proclaimed “campus publicist for the Pasadena community." In addition to his other activities, Georgilas is the adviser to College Students in Broadcasting— Theta Rho Pi and the Motion Picture Production Club at PCC. Last year, he directed the forensics team in Joe Probst's absence, and this year is one of the team's coaches. "It's a great honor and I share it with all my faculty members, adminis¬ trators and certificated personnel who all made this possible." said Georgilas on receiving the award. Because Meyers was called away from campus on college business, his statement was read by Dr. John Gregory. It read "I really could not be more pleased than I am in his receiving this well deserved award." “He brings the kind of enthusiasm and energy that makes a great educator. " "THANK YOU!" — Former PCC instructor and trustee J Ray Risser, recipient Anthony Georgilas and Ria Georgilas at special ceremony held Tuesday to honor instructor. ART DE LA GRAFFITI — This interesting mix of art styles as now visible in the sign painting room of the Campus Center for a limited engagement. — Courier photo by Brian Thompson Constitution Passed By Doug Brown Staff Writer The proposed Associated Students constitution passed last Friday by 82 percent of the students who voted. One hundred people, or roughly one half of 1 percent of the student body, voted. Paul Kelly, interim ASB president, said that one of the first orders of business now that the new constitution was passed is to add an amendment stating that the appointed instructional commissioners would have the power to veto any executive board decisions. The commissioners, said Kelly, were originally proposed to replace the Stu¬ dent Senate. They would input informa¬ tion and advice to the AS Board, and have the power to make and second motions. The addition of the power to veto is proposed to "insure the system of checks and balances in the student government," said Kelly. One other area affected by the new constitution is the upcoming student government elections. "We have a few positions that have never been offered before, and some positions that no longer exist," said Kelly. “It should be interesting to see how it works out." Some of the new positions include vice president of academic affairs, vice president of business affairs, vice pres¬ ident of student affairs, coordinator of campus activities, coordinator of cul¬ tural affairs and coordinator of special- services. Qualifications for AS officials have been changed. A student now needs nine continuous units during the term of office. Qualifications for AS president have also changed. In addition to the nine units during office, a candidate must have completed at least 18 units before running for president. Kelly said that the ASB elections start Oct. 25. Applications and informa¬ tion can be picked up in the campus center. Issues Debated at Forum The League of Women Voters will give an open forum at PCC’s Forum Wednesday, Oct. 27, at 7:30 p.m. to discuss all 15 propositions on the No¬ vember ballot. Admission is free. The group comes to PCC every two years for the June primaries as well as the general elections to inform the community about the issues. “Their objective is to help the community clarify and understand the issues,” said social science professor Sam Soghomonian, board member of the LWV on campus. Some of the issues discussed include Proposition 11, the can and bottle re¬ cycling initiative, the controversial Proposition 13, concerning water re¬ sources and Proposition 15, which would require registration of all hand guns. “We give the pros and cons of all the issues acting solely as informants,” said Shirley Mauller, president of the LWV, Pasadena chapter. The LWV acts as a non-participant party during the forum. "They neither support nor oppose the candidates or issues,” said Soghomonian. Called 'A Major ReconstructiorV Stiffer AA Guidelines Discussed By Alex Spada Editor-in-Chief The administration will present rec¬ ommendations for new minimum gen¬ eral education requirements to the Board of Trustees early November, according to Steven A. Cerra, vice president for instruction. The new re¬ quirements, which by law must be implemented bv July 1. 1983, were approved by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges last March. Calling the new associate in arts degree requirements "a major re¬ construction," Cerra made a presenta¬ tion to the Board of Trustees last week. “Language and Rationality," a new requirement, will replace the current "Learning Skills" category. A student would be required to take three units of English composition, three units of communication and analytical thinking and three optional units within the language and rationality area. Proficiency Requirements In addition, students must meet "proficiency requirements" and dem¬ onstrate "competence in reading, in written expression and in mathematics" to receive the diploma, according to the new guidelines. Cerra said in an interview, current students would not be affected by the new guidelines. "Those entering under the 1983-84 catalog have to meet the new requirements," he said. Cerra said the new rules were in¬ stituted "in response to a loss of public credibility in terms of the significance of the degree." He said “the pendulum is swinging back" from the "per¬ missiveness of the 60s and 70s." Discussions and Deliberations In the Board presentation, Cerra said "discussions and deliberations on this subject have been going on in adminis¬ trative and faculty committees" since the new guidelines were approved by the Board of Governors. Two committees will make recom¬ mendations to the Board of Trustees regarding the new requirements, how they may be implemented and how they fit in with the current guidelines at PCC. The trustees, which must approve any recommendation, is expected to vote on the proposals early December. A committee studying the profi¬ ciency requirement is looking into ways students may meet the new rule. Possibilities include testing or obtain¬ ing a certain grade level in specified classes. "Testing requires more sup¬ port and work." said Cerra. "and the college may just not have that." A Possible Distribution An example of a possible distribution of the new general education require¬ ments for PCC lists a three unit min¬ imum required from the natural scien¬ ces area, three units from the social and behavioral sciences, three from humanities. 12 from the new language and rationality category (equally dis¬ tributed among English composition, oral communication, mathematics and critical thinking I. three units from computer and informational sciences, six from American history and govern¬ ment and three from physical educa¬ tion. Adding the 18 minimum required units for the divisional major, a student would only have nine units left of electives to reach the required 60 for the degree. "There just aren't as many options. "Cerra said. Many Possibilities Cerra pointed out the example is one of many available options and such requirements "may be a [Hissible hard¬ ship on students with science and tech¬ nical majors." It may make "Urn many demands ” on students whose majors require more than 18 divisional units to complete. "We have to be careful not to go too far." he said. Such requirements "could have im¬ plications on instructor workloads as well." Cerra said. Instructors whose courses would be no longer mandatory "would not have a captive audience." lie said. Such classes would then be taken only by those interested in the subject. "We re going to be more prescrip¬ tive." Cerra said. The California com¬ munity college faculty has been "criticized for not preparing students." he said, and the new minimum require¬ ments may be "what students need to be more successful, "We may have diluted the require¬ ments too much" in the past, he said. BoardReports Redesigned By John Pierce Opinion Editor In an effort to put "all the information in front of" the Board of Trustees, Superinten¬ dent-President Dr. Richard S. Meyers introduced plans to re¬ design Board reports and Board meeting agendas last week. Included in these plans were proposals to offer written, in¬ stead of oral, superintendent re¬ ports and college correspondence within Board meeting packets sent to trustees, higher adminis¬ trators and members of the me¬ dia. The revised Board reports will show whether the topic it fea¬ tures is an action, information or discussion matter and what area of the college it affects. It will also offer an analysis of how a proposal would affect the fiscal budget. The new Board report format will take up to six weeks to be designed and will cost about $50 to $100 to be printed on campus, Meyers said. Meyer's plan also allows for additional information on major matters such as the Five Year Computer Plan and studies on the PCC Foundation to be included within the Board packet, as well as having the vice presidents available for consultation by trustees an hour before each reg¬ ular Board meeting. Meyers expects his plan t6 be successful because “they (the Board) were very positive about it.” Forensics Team Bags 5 Trophies The forensics team won five trophies at the first major tournament of the year, held at Cal Poly Pomona. The team competed against 17 universities and five community colleges last week¬ end. After competing against 22 colleges and universities, the forensics team broke finals in nine events. "There was a lot of work involved preparing the students for this major tournament, but as usual we took our trophies and walked out the door qui¬ etly. We just can't be beaten," said Anthony Georgilas, forensics team coach. The forensics team, composed of new and old students, is taking a professional approach to competition and doing an outstanding job, according Competing against USC and Cypress College in the junior division ex¬ pository, Michael Bozeman captured third place. In the novice division. Stewart Carpenter competed against “We just can't be beaten." Bakersfield, Palomar and Southern Utah State College, taking second place. Advancing into the finals were Dwain Schenek and Lori Krol with Miss Krol receiving three first superiors. In the junior division of impromtu speaking. William Tate won a second place trophy and Julia Speer advanced into the finals after competing against Bakersfield. Fresno, San Diego and Long Beach State Universities. In addition. Schenek and Tony Rael seized first place in the novice duo interpretation. In the junior duo in¬ terpretation. the first place was cap¬ tured for PCC by Miss Krol and Mark Towner, competing against USC and Cal State Long Beach. Debating the national debate topic of "United States Military Intervention in the Western Hemisphere" was the team of Bozeman and Tate, with Mei Chinzi and Hugh McTeaguc also partic¬ ipating. This year's team consists of more than ninety members, the largest team the college has ever had in its fifty- eight years of forensics. Recruitment will be continuing throughout the school year. Georgilas is aided in his coaching duties by director Joe Probst. Larrv Kulp and Chrystal Watson. Georgilas and Laurence Kulp and students William Tate, Mike Bozeman and Tony Rael. —a WINNING AGAIN— Forensics winners display their trophies after recent Cal Poly Pomona tournament. Left to right are, coaches Anthony