PCC Courier, October 19, 1995

OPINION FEATURES SPORTS CELEBRATING ASIAN AMERICAN DIVERSITY hereandnow, an Asian American theater group, performs in the Forum LANCERS GET SMOKED 57 37 AT LONG BEACH Vikings score the second most points against a PCC team since 1 960 t A TIME FOR REFORM The Reform Party, backed by billionaire Ross Perot, gives American voters a reason to hope for change in our political system • REACHING OUT TO THE COMMUNITY SAMUEL HERNANDEZ / THE COURIER Investigator Randle Finley fingerprints 4-year-old Isaac Worswick as part of a community effort to help find and identify missing children. YWCA challenges city to stop the violence By FELICIA BRICHOUX Courier Staff Writer Missing children can be found more quickly if their parents can hand police a newly designed Child Identification Brochure with the child’s fingerprints and a recent pic¬ ture. Men can get over the emotional pain they still carry after physical or sexual abuse during boyhood. Everyone can leam to solve prob¬ lems by talking and negotiating, not hitting or hurting, thanks to the Y WC A’ s “Week W ithout V iolence,” Oct. 15-21. And it’s here at PCC. This week the YWCA and coop¬ erating agencies are calling on women, children and men to find non-violent ways to deal with anger and resolve conflicts. Kathleen Rodarte, assistant dean of extended opportunity programs at PCC, chaired Pasadena’s participation in the nationwide event. Two programs during the week will take place on campus. Tonight in Harbeson Hall from 7 to 9:30 p.m., a forum will discuss violent behavior men have experi¬ enced or are experiencing now. “Ear¬ lier in their lives, many men were mistreated, and it caused pain,” said Horace Williams, community orga¬ nizer from the agency “We Care.” Williams said, “ We’ll talk about why this happens and what to do to make sure it doesn’t continue to happen in the lives of young boys and men today.” Jewish, gay, African-American, Latino and Caucasian men will talk about violence they have experienced and how it has impacted them. Handouts will list referrals to sup¬ port groups and agencies that help men who have had physical or sexual abuse to resolve the issues in their lives. Then Saturday afternoon from 2 to 5 p.m. in C216, organizations that work to prevent violence will hold a forum entitled “Conversation Peace.” The audience will be invited to take part in the meeting, which will have a town hall format. And beginning tonight, students can even participate in the “Week Without Violence” while staying Please see VIOLENCE, Page 4 • HOMECOMING COURT CHOSEN Football, dancing to highlight PCC’s ‘Night on the Nile’ By JOSE INOSTROZ Courier Staff Writer It is a time honored tradition to celebrate the return of alumni to the college. It is a fall classic on many high school, college and university campuses throughout the country. It is a day remembered, not so much for a team’s victory or loss but for the festive spirit and pageantry of the event. It is Homecoming. Following in the festive tradition, PCC has selected “N ight on the Nile” as this year’s Homecoming theme. On Monday, a week long sched¬ ule of events will begin culminating with a post-game party on Saturday Oct. 28. Students, faculty, and staff will be treated to a variety of events not only to celebrate but to raise student involvement in Homecoming activi¬ ties. “I think people will participate once they know it’s out there,” said Lavonne Ramirez, coordinator of campus activities and homecoming organizer. A reception scheduled from noon to 2 p.m. in the CC Lounge next Monday will kick-off the week. The Lancer coaches, players and their families will be honored, however, all students will be welcome. Chrystal Smith, last year’s Home¬ coming Queen will be present to introduce the team while Kim Smoot, associated student vice president will introduce the Homecoming Court. A radio personality fromKPWR- 106 will be on hand Tuesday to Lisa Rocha Robert Cagle Jason Regos T raci Wade present the Homecoming Court can¬ didates. A King and Queen will be announced at the half-time show during the Lancer game on Saturday. The Homecoming Court consists of nine members, including four males and five females. According to Ramirez, out of a total of 30 applicants, 25 were eligible and 24 showed up for interviews. A committee of five including Ramirez, two students, and two ad¬ ministrators interviewed the appli¬ cants and picked Teshami Coleman, Julia Marsh, Celeste Olivares, Lisa Rocha, Traci Wade, Robert Cagle, Randy Larios, Sean Lu, and Jason Regos to be on the court. On Wednesday Oct. 25, a three- point basketball slam dunk will be held in the Men’s Gym. According Please see HOMECOMING, Page 3 • FORMER HEAD OF REFERENCE DEPARTMENT MOVES UP Laun takes over as assistant dean of library • NEW SYSTEM IMPLEMENTED FOR SPRING SEMESTER Registration by phone improves student privacy By DREW McDIARMID, Courier Staff Writer The way students receive their grades at the end of the semester, the procedures to register for spring classes, and a new security code are all part of a reorganized registration system. The new service, called F.A.S.T. or Fast Access to Services by Telephone, will allow stu¬ dents to become more interactive with the telephone system, and in turn, save the campus $20,000 annually in postage alone. Spring registration, which begins Nov. 7, will involve less paperwork than in the past with the implementation of the new system. By calling the access line to FAST, (818) 577-6100, students will be introduced to the improved registration procedures. While the basic system will still be in place, several features have been added to the phone network. The most significant of these changes is an important step in keeping a student’s account private, and tamper resis¬ tant. When students first call into the system, they will be asked to assign a Personal Identification Number or PIN, to their college information. This part of FAST was established after a caller began dropping AS officers, and their friends from their classes. According to a memorandum released by Stuart Wilcox, dean of admissions and records, this will allow students to “enhance the security and assure privacy when accessing their records.” Along with the PIN number, several other features have been added to the system. Students can now call FAST to find out their registra- Please see PHONE, Page 5 By JOSH JACOBS, Courier Staff Writer For the last 15 years, Mary Ann Laun has worked in many departments at the PCC library. And once again, she has a new task at hand: Director of the library “I’ve moved around a bit,” said Laun, who worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory before coming to PCC. “ft has been quite a fascinating journey,” The acquisition department is where Laun began at PCC, then she moved to cataloging. She also headed the reference department, and most recently was the ser¬ vices librarian. Her new responsibility is to supervise the overall goals of the library. Dan Haley, head of the reference department, said that Laun is “very forward-looking, energetic, and en¬ thusiastic.” “I love librarianship because of all the opportunity to work for the students,” said Laun. “The last five years r ' ■4 Щяе, 1»% 4 j \ ’ | Mary Ann Laun Education: bachelor of arts degree in English from Loyola Marymount, master’s in library science from UCLA, and master’s in instructional technology from Cal State Los Angeles Experience: JPL, Pasadena Public Library, and 15 years at the PCC Library have been an exciting adventure with all the technologi¬ cal developments.” Laun said that the library computer’s new “full text service increases the possibility of access” to resources that were originally available only on a first come-first served basis. The most recent issue of any magazine that the library subscribes to can now be looked up on the computer. Her goals for the library include a larger staff to better serve the students. Laun, who recently got her second masters in instructional technology from Cal State L.A., hopes to meet the needs of students from every back¬ ground. Laun said that a lot of students only know what a library is for, but “universally, they didn’t know what the circulation desk or stacks shelves were.” Laun stressed that it’s not just familiarity with vocabulary, but knowing how to obtain information on a subject. A survey is being planned to see how students’ needs are being met and how the library can better serve them in finding reference material. Laun wants the classes to be chosen randomly, to “look at what student needs are, Please see LAUN, Page 6 • A FAD, A FASHION, A WAY OF LIFE... The Art of Body Piercing By JACKIE LEE and DANNY TAM Courier Staff Writers Ouch! It hurts...! No, actually, it’s just the ex¬ cuse most people use because they just don’t like the idea of pierc¬ ing their body parts. So what’s the hype, anyway? “It’s a rite of passage,” says Rich¬ ard White, a body piercer and store owner at Primeval Body, a profes¬ sional body piercing studio in Los Angeles. “People became more aware of it through their friends, or they see it in a music video and become interested. But there’s cer¬ tainly more exposure to it nowa¬ days:” The “exposure” can now be seen all over the place, at all times no matter where you go. People from all ethnic backgrounds, classes, and lifestyles today get into the trend for a variety of reasons. It’s flashy. It’s fashionable. And most of all, it’s “cool. “Body piercing is more or less an art and a statement,” said “Eric,” a Melrose body piercer. “It depends on how you want to look at it.” Eric, who personally claims to love it for the fashion and to stand out in crowds and be different, adds, “Some kids do it just to tick off their parents.” A common reason why people engage in this fad is to rebel against society that doesn’t under¬ stand where they’re coming from. And where they are coming from is a completely different generation with different values and different views. Please see PIERCE, Page 4 ELEONORA GHIOLDI / THE COURIER “It’s body beautification. It’s also a form of self- expression." Matthew Bone, art major, has eight body piercings