Controversy Over Constitution Spreads
PCC CotVii&v
VOL. 30, NO. 5
PASADENA CITY COLLEGE, PASADENA, CALIFORNIA
OCTOBER 16, 1968
HOMECOMING QUEEN — Alana Roberts was crowned Saturday
night at the end of Homecoming Week. Queen Alana was chosen
from seven finalists in a penny-a-vote contest that was held last
week. The funds gathered in the voting went towards paying
for homecoming.
Alana Roberts Crowned
as Climax to Homecoming
Little did Alana Roberts know
as she stepped onto the speaker’s
platform Saturday she was to be
Homecoming Queen ’68.
Seven lovely gowned candidates
stood motionless beneath the
crowd’s gaze. At last, after six
days of competition, only one
more moment of uncertainty re¬
mained.
Applause and cries of joy broke
the silence as Miss Roberts
stepped forward. Holding a bou¬
quet of red roses against the
background of her white flowing
gown, the queen made a striking
picture.
Queen Alana is a freshman,
graduate of Blair High School,
where she was active in pep com¬
mission and drill team. Working
now as a semi-professional model
she hopes to one day become a
professional.
“I’m so grateful to all my sup¬
porters. The only thing I’m going
to feel sorry about is that I won’t
be able to recognize them to
thank them all. I’m especially
grateful to a few special friends
who really helped me. Also I’d
like to thank the football team
and coaches for their support. I
really love the football they auto¬
graphed.”
Competition between the seven
candidates had started Monday
when “Operation Queen” was
officially launched. Pictures with
smiling faces, decorated coffee
cans and jars took up temporary
residence at the Campus Center.
Tuesday a “Soul Session” with
the Lancer Band rocked at the
Homecoming Reception and the
court and its escorts were intro¬
duced. Debbie Neisler, Charles
McKinley; Marlene Plank, Dick
Maningly; Alana Roberts, Bobby
Campbell; Janie Kuhnmuench,
Tom Troup; Anne Stuart, Bryan
Cuthill ; Janice Takan, Dave Stew¬
art; and Pam Anicich, Bob Tuttle.
Other introductions were made
presenting the football team and
the candidates for freshman
offices. Drawn by the music, a
crowd gathered. Bruce Davis, last
year’s cheerleader, led the assem¬
bly into Skit-Skat. Throughout
the afternoon the famed drum
section pounded out a feverish
beat. On the sidelines AWS sold
candy apples and root beer.
Pros and Cons Distussed in Length;
Referendum Vote Starts Tomorrow
With “Ah Beep Beep” the new
group called the Soul Sisters
danced into the scene. “Let’s go,
we got soul ... I swear I’ll sock
it to you.”
Mum sales and more campaign¬
ing finished the week.
Finally the big night came. A
cavalcade of respected guests
headed the parade lineup and Dr.
Armen Sarafian led the way.
There followed ASB presidents
Ron Firestone (PCC) and Brad
Hathaway (LA Valley). Louis
Crevling, first president of PCC
student body, next made his ap¬
pearance. Finally two cars con¬
taining the princesses moved into
view.
Stage two of the parade went
into effect. Floats from different
clubs on campus were presented.
For the last time the court as¬
sembled. After the awful mo¬
ments of waiting, Queen Alana
was serenaded by the band.
The game kicked off.
Trophies for the best floats
were presented. WAA won the
theme award with “Olympics
1968, Mexico.”
Telecommunications won the
sweepstakes award with its float,
“Communication Shrinks the
World and Raises It to New
Heights.”
Home Economics, Chi Sigma’s
“The World Is a Cookie Jar,” won
the originality award.
The dance that followed the
game was well-supported, as tes¬
tified by the swamped coat room.
The band, “Colonel Savage,” pro¬
vided music.
“I am confident that the new constitution will
be accepted if the ladies and gentlemen of the PCC
student body think before they vote on it,” says
ASB President, Ron Firestone. But in contrast with
this optimistic point of view, a certain amount of
controversy has arisen over some of the major
issues in the constitution.
Presented in this feature are the major issues,
a brief explantion of them, and the pros and cons
expressed about them.
One controversy which does not deal with any
specific issue of the constitution is over the entire
document. This issue, brought up by Mrs. Evelyn
Bell, adviser to the Inter-Club Council, is that the
student body will not have the opportunity to read
over the entire constitution before they vote on it.
The voting will take place tomorrow.
According to Mrs. Bell, “I think the biggest
controversy is that the students are not aware of the
issues involved, and how these issues will affect
them. Time is needed to study and correct the con¬
stitution. I believe the document should be present¬
ed to the groups on campus that it will affect, and
that these groups either endorse it, or state the
things they think are wrong with it. The ASB
Board should also present the constitution to its
constituents.”
Speaking for the other side of this controversy
are Firestone and the writer of the revised edition
of the constitution, Randy Fowler. Firestone says,
“Until I started drawing up a constitution, I did
not know people could change their opinions so
quickly on important issues. People are scared by
one word or one phrase, even if they are for the
issue in question. There may be one or two things
which may cause disagreement, but I am sure that
the positives outbalance any negatives.
“We have postponed action on the constitution
for too long as it is now I want to get down to
work — under the new constitution if it is passed,
but if it isn’t I want to get to work anyway.”
According to Fowler, “We have revised the
constitution six times already. We have presented
the constitution to as many people as possible and
received suggestions and recommendations from a
great many people.”
Membership
Article II of the constitution, which deals with
membership in the Pasadena City College Student
Association (PCCSA), is one of the issues.
The article, as stated in the constitution, is:
“All registered students at PCC shall be members
of the PCCSA.” Mrs. Bell’s opinion is “membership
should be confined to day students only. There are
40,000 people who attend PCC for classes, lectures,
and library discussions. In the constitution, there is
no definition of registration. Student government
is for people involved in the school who are invest¬
ing an interest in the institution.”
Firestone answers, “Only students with identi¬
fication cards may be voting and participating
members of the PCCSA. Night students should be
included because the issues we pass may concern
night students as much as if not more than the day
students.”
Civil Service Board
Section six under Article IV deals with a civil
service board. This board will replace some 30 com¬
mission offices, thus eliminating a lot of red tape
involved in organizing student activities. Contro¬
versy arises over the selection of the membership
of this board.
The constitution states, “The Civil Service Board
shall be composed of a membership to be deter¬
mined by the Senate ...” According to Mrs. Bell,
‘The argument is that the Senate may choose repre¬
sentatives of organizations that it approves of and
may not include other large campus groups.”
In retaliation, Firestone quotes, “this board will
make the student activities more efficient. I believe
that it is wrong for the students to presume that
the people in student governmnet are working
against them. After all, the student body elects
these representatives — what they want, they can
have simply by electing the person who shares their
views.”
Student Forum
One of the new branches of the government as
defined in the constitution is the Student Forum.
This group will be comprised of one member of
every 9 o’clock class and any student who attends
three consecutive meetings of the forum. The
clause in question is under article IV, section 7. It
reads, “Any resolution passed in the Forum and
presented to the Senate for a vote shall have three
votes cast the way the Forum directs. These votes
shall be the Student Forum President’s and two
Vice — Presidents’ and shall be counted whether or
not these officers are present when a vote is taken.”
According to Mrs. Bell, “I have never heard of
anything like this before. Whether the officer is
present or not, his vote is cast. Even if the officer
were against the measure in the first place, he is
required to vote the way the majority directs.”
In answer to Mrs. Bell, Firestone states, “The
Forum has the right to be representd in the Senate
because it is such a large group. If the Forum
passes something, this vote should be carried over
into the Senate by way of the Forum represent¬
atives. By adding the stipulation that even if the
officer is absent his vote is cast, the chance of an
officer staying away from the Senate meeting pur¬
posely to inhibit the bill’s passage is overcome.”
Veto Clause
Under Article V, Section 4, the constitution
states, “One of the powers of the Executive Coun¬
cil shall be to review all legislation passd by the
Senate. The Senate may within two weeks of its
passage veto any Senate action.” In questioning
this clause, Mrs. Bell says, “I believe that this
clause will cause much time waste. Any action
taken by the Senate by law cannot be carried out
until it is approved by the Executive Council. This
extra step will slow up action on all motions and
take up time.
“The veto clause is a marvelous theory of
checks and balances, but in an organization of the
nature of ours, it is merely a time consuming for¬
mality.”
Opposing Mrs. Bell’s viewpoint, Firestone re¬
plies, “All action taken by the Senate is not con¬
sidered legislation. Therefore, there would not be
too many acts requiring Council reviewing. This
clause gives the final say to a Council veto by
a two-thirds vote of the Senate.
The issues mentioned above are the major ones
in the new constitution. But according to Firestone,
“Every student should read the constitution him¬
self so that he can vote the way he really feels.”
Student Advisory Committee Suggests
Solutions for Bettering Campus and Education
“A flexible group of students
from all parts of the campus,”
is how Dr. Armen Sarafian’s
Student Advisory Committee
Freshman Election Void;
Second Vote Tomorrow
ASB vice president Larry Cluff, acting as temporary election
commission since Phil Santellan had been found inelgible for the
position, announced that the freshman election held last Thursday
and Friday were void.
Cluff said that the election will be held again this Thursday and
Friday, along with the constitutional referendum.
The voting last week was declared void because there had been
complaints and reports of illegal campaigning.
ASB election rules state that the campaigning may not take place
within 30 feet of the polls. A campaign worker for Bob Serrano was
sitting at the election tables where the ballots were being distributed.
He was soliciting votes from freshman as they came up to the table.
Cluff said that he feels that the breach of election rules was un¬
intentional, but that Serrano did know that the soliciting was taking
place at the table.
could be described.
A group of students from all
aspects of the campus meet with
Dr. Sarafian approximately once
a week to talk on various prob¬
lems on the campus and their
possible solutions.
Some of the suggestions have
been that ASB president be a
voting member of the Board of
Trustees, and that counselors
need to get to know the catalog
and requirements more thorough¬
ly-
One of the most agreed upon
ideas was that of holding once
outlawed Saturday classes. Gov¬
ernor Reagan recently signed a
bill allowing regular school ses¬
sions on Saturdays. This would
not only give students a wider
range for programming, but
would also have departments
open for the students’ convenie-
ence.
Many colleges have a teacher
evaluation system compiled by
the students themselves. This was
suggested for PCC so that incom¬
ing students wouldn’t be “blindly
led” into choosing instructors.
The new Swahili classes taught
by Mrs. Beverly Coleman are
offered during the day session.
One student felt there would be
more attendance during the night
sessions; however, there is the
problem of finding an instructor
at that time.
Most students agree that the
major problem on campus is
parking. Many have received
tickets for remaining too long in
the one and two-hour zones on the
streets surrounding PCC.
Do not despair; there is a solu¬
tion. There is parking with no
time limit north of the campus,
across the railroad tracks on
Sierra Bonita. Although this is a
three-quarter mile walk, it is all
that is available now, and is cer¬
tainly better than a $10 parking
ticket.