OPINION
| FEATURES
| NEWS FEATURES
Racism
PCC needs a written policy to
back up its position Page 2
Winning debaters
Vince Bohanec and Mark Woodsmall are tearing up the forensics
circuit Page 4
Showbiz
Acting class for aspiring
performers Page 5
Pasadena City College
Pasadena, California
Vol. 72 No. 9
"e COURIER
Thursday
October 25, 1990
NEWSLINE
AUTO SHOWCASE
PCC will host the first
Pasadena Auto Showcase in
the first week of November.
More than 100 new 1991
domestic and foreign autos will
be displayed on Nov. 3, from
10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Nov.4
from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The
showcase is sponsored by the
college and by the American
Cancer Society.
A preview fund-raising
party will be held in the Cir¬
cadian on Nov. 2, from 5 to 9
p.m.
CRISIS IN THE GULF
The General Union of Pal¬
estinian Students (GUPS) is
sponsoring three days of dis¬
cussion on the Gulf crisis. Guest
speaker journalist Michel
Shehade will appear on Oct.
30 at noon in the Quad.
On Oct. 31 at 5:30 p.m. in
the student lounge, Khalid Al-
sharafe, member of the Los
Angeles coalition against U.S.
Intervention in the Middle East,
will discuss the impact of the
Gulf Crisis.
Tony Russo, scientist and
teacher, will discuss the inter¬
nal impact of the crisis on Nov.
6 at noon in R122.
CHILDREN’S ID PROJECT
In an effort to make the
process of locating missing
children easier, the Associa¬
tion of Video and Film Pro¬
duction is sponsoring a chil¬
dren’s video ID session. The
project is designed to give
parents a more reliable means
of providing identification to
the authorities.
Children, newborn and up,
can be filmed on Oct. 27 from
10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the cafete¬
ria. Parents are requested to
bring their own VHS tape for
recording. Admission is free.
ACCREDITATION TEAM
Representatives from the
Accrediting Committee for
Community and Junior Col¬
leges (ACCJC) are visiting PCC
on Oct. 3 1 and Nov. 1 to evalu¬
ate the college.
During the two-day visit,
the team will determine if PCC
fulfilled the 17 recommenda¬
tions left by the 1985 accredi¬
tation team. The findings will
then be presented to members
of the ACCJC, who will then
decide whether or not PCC’s
accreditation should be reaf¬
firmed.
This visit, which culminates
PCC’s almost two-year self-
study, will give ACCJC repre¬
sentatives the opportunity to
visit classes, talk to various
committees, groups and indi¬
viduals. On Oct. 31, from 2 to
5 p.m., in U214, members of
the college community may
meet individually with accredi¬
tation team members.
INDEX
Opinion
2
Editorial
~T~
Features
3
Sports
6
News Features
5
Bogus papers raise ethics issue
By EDWIN FOLVEN
Staff Writer
Imagine a business where people
research information and write term
papers with one objective in mind: a
student’s hard earned dollars. Sev¬
eral companies advertise research
assistance to students at all academic
levels.
In an age where “money talks,”
information fetches a high price for
companies that offer students a short
cut around research paper assign¬
ments. For as little as $7. 10 per page
or as much as $45 per page, papers
can be bought through mail-order,
and be delivered overnight. Are these
so called “term paper mills” a le¬
gitimate business, and why is there
such a market for their product?
Research Assistance, a Los
Angeles based company, is one such
firm that offers complete research
packages for sale. In business for 20
years, Research Assistance currently
sells a catalog for $2 listing 18,500
collegiate research topics. The re¬
ports are sold “as is” and revisions
must be made by the purchaser. All
reports are sold for research pur¬
poses only and must be incorporated
into the users own words. Each re¬
search project is typed double-spaced
and includes footnotes and a bibli¬
ography. They are written in various
styles. Some have end note pages,
while others have footnotes at the
bottom of the page. Some offer inter¬
nal citations and most law research
projects contain legal citations. The
rates for general reports range from
$7.50 per page to $12.50 per page.
Undergraduate reports sell for $18
to $25 per page, and graduate qual¬
ity reports sell from $25 to $45 per
page. The end notes and bibliogra¬
phy are free.
The opportunity to misuse this
kind of material is obvious, but Bert
Lowe, president of Research Assis¬
tance, compares his business to a
library. “We are like a library, but
we do sell our information. You can’t
read it for free, ” he said. Lowe stated
that about half of his business comes
from students, the other half from
businesses. All purchases require the
signing of a waiver stating the prod¬
uct will not be used as a student’s
own work. When asked about the
morality of selling research papers,
Lowe said, “we are not trying to
undermine the institution, informa¬
tion never hurts anyone.”
But Dr. Geare, assistant profes¬
sor of english atPCC disagrees. “It’s
clearly unethical” to sell such pa¬
pers. Geare said that she has had
several fake papers turned in, and
that “it’s silly to think you can get
away with it.” Geare’s policy is to
give the student an “F” grade on the
assignment when one is used, but
she has referred students for aca¬
demic reprimand. “The assignments
are supposed to teach certain skills.
Please see Papers, Page 6
James Ojeda
/
The COURIER
Photo illustration depicts student scanning a research catalogue.
Royal evening
Oscar Chavez
/
IRC
Homecoming members, from right to left, are Leandrena Jackson, Claudia Leyva, Maggie Tracey,
the king Jerry Dorris, queen Paulette Crawford, Kym Vallejos, and Lisa Rivers, with their escorts.
By VICKI GARCIA
Staff Writer
When Paulette Crawford was
crowned homecoming queen at
Blair high school in 1987, she
had no idea that three years later
she would win the same honor at
PCC. When her name was an¬
nounced as this year’s homecom¬
ing queen, Crawford immediately
turned to king Jerry Dorris, and
the first words out of her mouth
were “Oh my God! Did you
know?”
There was a festive feeling in
the air at Saturday ’sgame against
Mt SAC. The band played invigo¬
rating tunes from the center section
of the stands, and the team was
winning. After each touchdown,
cheerleaders would throw miniature
footballs up to the eager fans. A man
in the crowd exclaimed, “the Lanc¬
ers are hot tonight! ” Athalf-time the
homecoming court made it’s entrance
onto the field in classic cars. Each
court member and escort took their
place on a raised white platform,
under an archway of helium bal¬
loons. Lomia Aqus, who was last
year’s homecoming queen, crowned
her successor admist the flashing
lights from cameras.
“It feels great! ’ ’ said Crawford,
who was interviewed after the
game. “I was just so shocked and
surprised. ’ ’ Crawford said that one
of the duties of the homecoming
queen is to be a positive role
model to others on campus. “Being
a queen isn’t just peaches and
cream, it takes leadership,” she
said. Crawford is working for a
double major in criminal law and
English. She plans to graduate in
the spring and transfer to, Cal State
Los Angeles. This semester she
has 16 units, and is the Commu¬
nity Youth Adviser with the Pasad¬
ena Police Department.
‘Big Green’ initiative
discussed at Cal Tech
By DYLAN LITTLEFIELD
Staff Writer
Last Sunday California Institute
of Technology’s Environmental Task
Force hosted a debate on proposition
128, the “Big Green” initiative. With
KPCC News Director Larry ManUe
moderating, both proponents and
opponents of the initiative, which
would force industries to clean up
factory emmissions, had a chance to
air their views.
Proponents of the initiative said
that now is the time for “radical
legislation like this.” Big Green
creates cut backs that are many years
sooner than those planned by the
federal government. The Montreal
Protocol, an international environ¬
mental treaty passed in 1987, calls
for many of the same cutbacks by
2005. Big Green requires the de¬
creases by 1993.
The proposition also allows for a
new non-partisan elected official,
the Office of Environmental Advo¬
cate. The office is the chief environ¬
mental law enforcement officer in
the state. The official’s job is funded
by the bonds authorized by the bill.
The opponents of Proposition 128
say a bill for just California will not
solve the world’s problems. “There
is not a ozone hole just above Cali-
Mike Robbins
/
The COURIER
KPCC's Larry Mantle moderates
"Big Green" debate at Cal Tech.
fornia that we are trying to prevent,
it's everywhere, said Wolf.
Fisher said that Big Green does
not say where the money for the
Please see Green, Page 3
Statewide MEChA
event draws crowd
By AMOR PADILLA
News Features Editor
In a climate of unity, change,
and hot blooded spirit, a group of
750 students gathered to voice
their opinions and offer resolu¬
tions for the many problems fac¬
ing the Chicano and Mexican
community at MEChA’s bi-an¬
nual statewide conference.
The conference was held on
Friday, Oct. 19 and Saturday, Oct.
20, at PCC. The event brought in
many students from colleges
around the state. ‘ ‘This really ex¬
presses the involvement of stu¬
dents atanearlyage,” said Reyna
Prado, co-chair of the conference.
During the opening session, held
on Saturday , Prado congratulated
the group on their attendance.
Cultural night was organized
by Los Angeles Valley College,
and spotlighted two theatrical
groups, “Latins Anonymous” and
“Teatro Para la Gente.” Both
created and acted satirical sketches
of Chicano social situations. A
rap group ,“ Brown and Proud,”
rapped out injustices of the social
condition in America. Inca, a
Peruvian musical group closed
the show with classical Peruvian
and Mexican music.
On Saturday , keynote speaker
Raul Ruiz, photojoumalist, opened
the workshop session with a speech
about Ruben Salazar, a Chicano
journalist killed 20 years ago. “The
fact that you come together today
signifies that you are serious with
what you are doing,” Ruiz told
the crowd. “You must continue
the struggle today, you are the
heart and soul of the Chicano
movement,’ ’ he added. Also dur¬
ing the opening session, keynote
speakers such as Sal Castro spoke
about the importance of educa¬
tion among Chicanos and Mexi¬
can American Legal Defense
Education Fund (MALDEF) rep¬
resentative Richard Amador ad¬
dressed the issue of re-districting
to unite all ‘ ‘Latino’ ’ communi¬
ties. “The conference was was
successful because it showed that
we can unite, not as an organiza¬
tion but as a state movement,”
Rick Valdez, president of PCC
MEChA said. “Overall, the goal
behind the conference was to
strengthen our self determination
and show everyone that we are
proud of who we are.”
Workshop highlighted
"Sexism Within the Latino Community"
Nearly 60 students crowded into the standing-room-only class¬
room to discuss the problem of sexism in the Latino Community.
Featured speakers were Yvette Galindo of UCLA, Adan Colon of UC
Irvine and Claudio Rodarte of LA VC.
The workshop addressed the sexist attitudes perpetuated towards
Chicanas/Latinas. The panelists and students discussed the Latino
machismo and women’s oppression and subordination to men. Gal¬
indo explained that in order to resolve sexism in their community,
both men and women needed to understand what sexism is and how
it has come to be confused with the Latino machismo.
The panelists performed a short skit of illustrating family vio¬
lence, and the students offered examples of sexism in their families,
schools and jobs. The students agreed that understanding the ma¬
chismo concept could help them deal with and rebel against sexism in
their families and communities. Although there were no concrete
resolutions of sexism, Colon told the students that resolutions come
out of discussions and understanding.
After the workshops, several men said they were surprised and
glad that so many men attended. Conchita Villalvaof UCLA said she
attended the workshop to learn about different issues throughout the
state and campuses with Chicanos. She thought the workshop was
positive.
4