PCC Courier, October 24, 1991

OPINION \ FEATURES I SPORTS ASB Student government needs crash course in organization Page 2 Playing with light Faculty artist Alex Kritselis shows off his art in a different light Page 5 Rolling along Volleyball team impressive in conference play Page 6 Pasadena City College Pasadena, California Vol. 73 No. 1 COURIER Thursday October 24, 1991 Gas leak interrupts classes Photo by Carlo ВасогЯИе COURIER Custodial workers ruptured a gas pipe causing the evacuation of U “Life Sciences" building Tuesday Oct. 22 at 1 0:52 a m. Workers were digging a hole in the new library construction site when the incident occured. The fire department was summoned by the campus police who were alerted to the problem by Glena Vega, instructor of the Life Sciences department. The pipe could not be secured until noon. According to officer Jackie Green of campus police, no injuries were reported. Photo by Larry Hawley/ The COURIER Student activities cancels all dances By EDWIN FOLVEN News Features Editor Student activities has canceled all dance privileges at PCC until a committee can be formed to make recommendations about a regulatory policy for future dances. The action was taken as a result of the violence at a dance held on campus Sept. 21. “We’re putting the dances on hold until the committee can make a recommenda¬ tion,” said Alvar Kauti, dean of student ac¬ tivities. The decision came after shots were fired and property was damaged after a large crowd was turned away from a dance be¬ cause the room where it was held was filled to capacity. Remarkably, there were no inju¬ ries reported after the incident, where more than 20 shots were reportedly fired. “We need to move on it right away,” said Kauti, who will head the 12 member com¬ mittee. “We need to find a reasonable ap¬ proach to dances because the last one wasn’t acceptable.” The committee will include administra¬ tors and faculty members, as well as mem¬ bers from the Associated Student govern¬ ment (AS) and other various student organi¬ zations. Kauti hopes to have a member of the community who deals with college interests join the task force. “The committee will make recommen¬ dations referring to the safety and security at dances,” said Jorge Cornejo, president of the Inter Club Council (ICC) and committee member. He said more security is needed at the dances, but it may make the dances too expensive for the student organizations to hold. Current dance procedures require stu¬ dent organizations to pay for the security personnel necessary for a well organized dance. Necessary security is assigned based on past events held by the particular club. Security was inadequate to control the crowd of more than 200 people turned away from the dance, sponsored by the African American Student Association (AAS A). Only four security officers were assigned to the dance since past events held by the AASA have been peaceful. Campus police attrib¬ uted the violence to an outside group that did not belong at the dance.Philip Mullendore, director of campus police and safety, will be on the committee, but declined to comment on any recommendations at this time. He commented, “We’re not set up to hold these dances.” Kauti said the concept for the committee came at ameeting between student activities administrators earlier this month. “It’s ex¬ tremely serious whenever you have this kind of climate. We’re looking at risk factors that need to be eliminated,” said Kauti. Kauti said the AASA is not being held responsible for any of the damages that oc¬ curred when angry visitors smashed out windows and rolled a piano down a flight of stairs in the campus center. He said they will be responsible for paying for damages to some furnishings in the Creveling Lounge, where the dance took place. He said , how¬ ever, “The damages inside were minor in comparison to the other things.” Corporate Spelling Bee Kaiser is champion speller By DEREK HOGBERG Staff Writer N-u-l-l-i-b-i-c-i-t-y. Nullibicity This five syllable word, meaning the state of being nowhere, turned out to be the winning word for Kaiser Permanente (In¬ surance Company) in the Fourth Annual Corporate Spelling Bee held Tuesday night at Harbeson Hall . The Fourth Annual Bee for Literacy, Corporate Challenge was designed to raise funds for literacy programs. It was sponsored by the Pasadena Literacy Action Network (PLAN) and the Star-News. PLAN is a non-profit benefit corporation whose purpose is to serve as an educational network to aid literacy providers and to spread the word about the extent of the problem of illiteracy. Some illiteracy experts say that about one in five adult Americans is func¬ tionally illiterate. Institutions developed to eliminate illiteracy have proven to be ex¬ tremely effective in combating the problem. The entry fee for each corporation was $350 for a three member team. There were 10 teams involved in the spirited competi¬ tion. The corporations represented this year were: Pasadena Unified School District, Pasadena City College, City of Pasadena, ARCO, Kaiser Permanente, Star-News, Community Bank, Pasadena Board of Real¬ tors, East Pasadena Rotary and the Jet Pro¬ pulsion Laboratory. PLAN has awarded more than $5,000 worth of grants to 18 institutions who focus on fighting illiteracy. PLAN president is dean of student services Dr. William Goldmann Some major grant recipients this year were the Sierra Madre Girl Scouts, Let’s Read-Altadena, Pasadena Library Tutors and Project Day. The moderator for the event was profes¬ sor Sam Soghomonian from the political science department at PCC. Soghomonian dutifully revealed the words to be spelled and tactfully excused the participants following their mistakes. The spelling bee drew a rather large crowd consisting mostly of family and co¬ workers of those directly involved. How¬ ever, a few people in attendance were mainly interested in keeping track of the words given and testing their own spelling ability .The participants seemed to enjoy the competitive, academic atmosphere. And many of them deftly spelled words that the average person wouldn’t come across in two or three lifetimes. Photo by Katrina Ten/ The COURIER Kaiser Permanente winner congratulates the runner up from Jet Propulsion Laboratory Coeds chosen Rose Court princesses By PATRICIA DOLPHIN Staff Writer An air of nervous anticipation could be felt among the small crowd of 30 young women at the Tournament of Roses house, as they strained to hear if their names were to be the ones called. There would be tears and dissapointment for some on this day. The young women smiled anx¬ iously as the judge began reading the list. Before the day was through, seven would be called princesses. This was the overall feeling among friends, Kristen Russell and Erin Mis- pagel of PCC as they stood among the group of girls awaiting the words that would change their lives. “ My heart started pounding , my body began to tremble, I didn’t even expect to hear my name being called.” Russell said as she reflected on recent events which won her the title of Rose Princess for the Tournament of Roses. “ I wasn’t going to try out at first, then I met some friends from PCC and we decided to try out together. Three of us made it to the finals, I remember standing there, the judges calling off the names, my friend’s name’ was called, we all were so excited for her, we jumped up and down. I didn’t think I was going to be called because they were nearing the final two girls, and then I heard my number. The PCC band was there and just went wild. I felt my eyes fill with tears. One reporter came up to me and asked, how does it feel to be the only one crying.” Russell said. Mispagel, another Rose Princess said,” My mind was racing in so many different directions. When they called my number it didn’t register at first. One newspaper said, my hands were shaking so badly, my bouquet bounced.”Russell commented on the perception of people that may feel such a contest is degrading. “I don’t see how it can be degrading at all. You’re trying out to represent Pasadena and the Tournament of Roses. The judges them¬ selves are fathers, they really make you feel comfortable, like family.” Mispagel said,” It’s not like you ’re parading around Photos by Scott Daves/ The COURIER Princess Erin Mispagel and Kristen Russell, PCC students, were selected out of 30 young women last Tuesday Oct. 22 to form the 1992 Rose Court. in a bathing suit. The judges are very nice. They judge you on how you would repre¬ sent them, and how well you express your¬ self.” Russell and Mispagel attend PCC full time. “I’m going to PCC because they have an excellent transfer program. I’d like eventually to transfer to UCLA. My major is between Art and Childhood Develop¬ ment.” Russell said. “I was accepted to two universities, but am undecided on a major. I figured, PCC is close to where I live, has a great transfer program, and will save me money. I really like it here so far.” Mispagel said. The incentives a princess receives are well worth the effort and work one puts into school and the community. “ We are really treated like princeses. The other day when we picked up the clothes given to us I was overwhelmed at how beautiful all of them were. I had to make three trips up to my bedroom in order to put them all away. “ said Russell. Some girls dream about such a fantasy all of their lives. “I’ve lived in Pasadena all of my life.” Mispagel said, “I watch the parade from where I live every year. So sure, I’ve dreamed about something like this all of my life. It’s not something my parents have been prepping me for all of my life. I wanted to do this for me. I guess trying out, just being myself really paid off. I really think it’s great I made it this far. I’ve made six new friends from this experience, I feel thankful for being cho¬ sen because of that.” My great grandfa¬ ther used to call me “princess” when I was little. I remember playing in his rose garden, he used to say, “Kristen, some day you’re going to be Rose Queen.” But you know, I’m just really happy that I made it this far.”Russell said modestly. ’’Voyages of Discovery” is the theme forthis year’s 103rd Rose Parade. Queen Tannis Turrentine, 17, will preside over her court including Russell and Mis¬ pagel, throughout the 1992 year. The coronation will take place today at 7 p.m. in the Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel.