PCC Courier, October 24, 1996

■""■OPINION*^— Insignificant events at middle schools are given too much atten¬ tion while real problems are ignored The little boy who kissed a girl on the cheek and the young girl suspended for taking Midol „ illustrate these problems. ^ FEATURES SPORTS Hall of Famer and PCC alumnus Jackie Robinson is featured Many people don’t know that Robinson attended college here and lettered in baseball, football, basketball and track. у Lancer men's and women's Cross Country teams placed first at Santa Barbara Invitation Saturday Sophomores Phillip Gonzales and Aidita Gibson became the first Lancers in history to win both top individual sports in the same meet. x Shatford Library receives $200,000 BY YUSEF ROBB Special Correspondent The Shatford Library has received an unexpected windfall this year, in the form of a $200,000 increase in its funding. These funds were given to the library as part of a $2 million state augmentation to campus funding. The money has been awarded to the library since July 1. “The time is right,” said Mary Ann Laun, director of Library Ser¬ vices, citing the increase of student use at Shatford Library. “We were very frank in our discussions [with the administration about what our needs are. The administration was listening.” These needs included an increase in book and periodical purchases, vocational services as well as an increase in electronic media, which Luan says, “the students just love.” A permanent librarian position was also created by the money. According to a report submitted by Laun to the Board of Trustees, while book prices have gone up an average of 54 percent since 1985, funding levels have remained at about $48,000 for the last 10 years. These statistics exclude the 1 987-88 school year, when the budget rose to ap¬ proximately $95,000, due to a spe¬ cial augmentation from the state. Periodical prices have also soared during this time, increasing an aver¬ age of 86 percent. This has resulted in a library collection which is de¬ scribed as “very old” by Laun. A majority of the volumes date from the 1960s and 1970s. Titles dating in the 1 9 90s are currently outnumbered by titles from the 1950s, despite increased funding to the library from Please see SHATFORD, page 5 • HOMECOMING QUEEN CROWNED SAMUEL HERNANDEZ / THE COURIER Leila Jerusalem was crowned Homecoming Queen last Saturday during half-time activities. Veronica Yanez (left) and Shacristala Jackson watch former queen Tashemi Coleman place the crown. Rev. ]esse Jackson to speak here BY YUSEF ROBB Special Correspondent The Rev. Jesse Jackson, clergy¬ man and civic leader, will be speak¬ ing in Sexson Auditorium on Mon¬ day, Oct. 29. He will be on campus to speak against the California Civil Rights Initiative (Proposition 209), and on the importance of Affirma¬ tive Action. The event will take place from noon to 1 p.m. Following Jackson’s speech, there will be a brief question and answer period. The event was organized by Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan (MEChA), the Black Student Alliance and the Filipino American Student Association ofPasadena City College. The program is open to Please see JACKSON, page 3. Campus demographics show surprises BY AKIESHA JACKSON Courier staff writer Students 3 5 years and older are the fastest growing group at PCC, according to the 1996 fall campus census. The number of students in this age bracket is up from 14.5 percent in 1995 to 15.2 percent this year. Members of the administration speculate that in a time where jobs are not certain, people are going back to school to learn new skills for their present jobs or acquire a trade that will allow them to create their own work opportunities. Census numbers also show that the largest group of students on campus is Latino. These students make up 3 2 . 8 percent of the population. This translates into 6,525 Latino students attending PCC this semester. Second to the Latinos are the Asian students, comprising 31.5 percent of the total number of students. This is just 250 fewer students than the top group. While these two groups seem to be growing slowly, the number of African-American and white students are decreasing, down 0.1 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively. The census also shows a rise in the number of See DEMOGRAPHICS, page 5. Hi Latina (х)~т| Anglo Unknown In percentages JOSE TNOSTROZ / THE COURIER Team to review campus for accreditation next week BY DOUGLAS WILKIE Courier Staff Writer An accreditation team represent¬ ing the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, will conduct an on-campus series of open meet¬ ings and appointments on Tuesday, Oct. 29 through Thursday, Oct. 31. The visit is an event that occurs once every six years during which time team members attempt to “validate” an institutional self study prepared and submitted by the college under examination. Accreditation deter¬ mines, in large part, the ability to transfer credits from PCC to four- year colleges and universities. PCC ’s report, titled “Institutional Self Study,” was largely prepared by Judith Branzburg, the self-study co¬ ordinator and an associate professor of English. PCC is seeking a “reaf¬ firmation of accreditation” from the on-site team. The principal purpose of the visit is to “certify an academic institution as having a decent educational pro¬ gram that is financially sound,” Branzburg said. “But the accredita¬ tion team does not recommend nor provide rankings of colleges.” The association is a dues-sup- ported, non-governmental organiza¬ tion with member colleges located in the states of California, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, as well as the Pacific Island protectorates. Accord¬ ing to Branzburg, the team’s job is not to be adversarial with college administrators, faculty and staff. “Their role is not to ferret out that which has not been presented to them in the self study,” she said. “The presumption is that what we have prepared for them is truthful. It is then up to them to confirm our inter¬ nal findings.” The so-called “Porterfield State¬ ment,” named for a former member of the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, describes in some detail the mission ofthevalidationprocess. The team’s mandate, according to the statement, is to “reach a decision as to how well, overall, (PCC) is doing and what colleges like (it) are generally ex¬ pected to do.” During its three-day visit, the team is to “be helpful rather than punitive . . . (and) assure itself that there has been widespread participation.” Eight different “standards,” or areas of inquiry and examination, comprise the PCC report: institu¬ tional integrity, educational pro Please see ACCREDIT, page 4. • STUDENTS FIND PLACE TO STUDY JUDY WANG / THE COURIER Hard, metal chairs and tables were replaced by green ones on October 1 6, inviting many students to study beneath warm skies. Board of Trustees revamps KPCC's mission to public BY DANIEL ARCHULETA Courier Staff Writer A new mission statement for KPCC 89.3 FM ensuring that educa¬ tion is the station’s primary goal was unanimously approved by the Board of Trustees during its Oct. 16 meet¬ ing. The document, as first presented to the board, did not link the missions ofthe college and the station. Trustee Susanna Miele said, “Every program should be in accordance with the college’s mission.” Before voting on the matter, the board fine-tuned the wording of the statement to re¬ flect its desire to place education. After some discussion over which words will be changed or added, they amended the document to state clearly that the station’s mission will be consistent with the college’s. The debate over the exact wording of the document didn’t significantly change the document the board finally adopted. Trustee John Martin said that if the board didn’t connect the college’s mission to the station’s, it would allow KPCC, “more lateral move¬ ment,” which would give the station a way to work around the mission. Martin added that the original docu¬ ment as first introduced would have given the station the liberty to do whatever it wanted. Martin said he could live with the statement the board voted to ap¬ prove. The mission statement, authored by the Board of Trustees, ranks the goals of the station in chronological order. Education, the first item on the list, is broken up into two parts. The station is to provide educational opportunities for advanced telecom¬ munications students and supply technical assistance to support the Please see KPCC, page 5. Six-week courses offered BY DOUGLAS WILKIE Courier Staff Writer Approximately 60 credit courses will be compressed in two, six-week sessions in the 1997 spring semester, making it possible for students to earn a maximum of 12 units by com¬ pleting two courses in each six-week period. Twenty-five sections will be taught at the Community Education Center, with the bulk of the course offerings meeting on the PCC cam¬ pus. The CEC schedule will be Monday through Thursday afternoon with back-to-back classes starting at 1 p.m. and ending at 7 p.m. Campus classes are scheduled at various times on six consecutive Saturdays. Most of the 60 course offerings will be repeated during the second six- week session. While the mini-course schedule will coincide with the spring semes¬ ter, the first session will not begin until Feb. 18 and will end April 3. The second six-week set of courses will commence on April 7 and con¬ clude May 15. Joyce Black, vice president of instruction, helped to develop this innovative scheduling format. She drew largely upon her experiences at other community colleges, notably Mesa College in northern San Diego County. The opportunity to tap into surplus state educational funds was probably the most significant factor spurring its development. “The demographics of the greater Pasadena area experienced a declin¬ ing adult population,” Black said. “In fact, the growth rate was only .03 percent. While PCC was entitled to a minimal funding increase of 1 per¬ cent, we were able to negotiate an additional 2 . 5 percent from the state, due in large part to the opening of the CEC.” In determining which courses to select, Black said she analyzed which classes were closed by the first day of the semester, as well as those for which demand was high even during the initial stages of the pre-registra¬ tion process. Black said that PCC historically has been confronted with both high applicant demand and ever-increas¬ ing enrollments. “Each year, we have to turn away some 7,000 to 8,000 prospective stu¬ dents,” Black stressed. “Through this format, we are hoping to demon¬ strate to current high school students that they can enroll in these credit courses, and then enter PCC as a continuing rather than a new stu¬ dent.” High school students are not the only target of the college’s outreach Please see MINI COURSES, page 5.