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Candidates Discuss Issues During Forum
PHOTOS BY DANIEL ARCHULETA
/
THE COURIER
(From right) Dr. Richard Green, David Ma, Beth Wells-Miller, Virginia Conijn and Bob Gomperztook
part in the event that was designed to offer voters a chance to question the candidates.
TRUSTEE
[ELECTION
1997
David Ma (center), candidate in Area 7, said that his experience
in international relations would benefit the board as a whole.
■ Board of trustees
candidates from Areas
1 and 7 participated in
the public event.
By JULIET LEYBA
Courier Staff Writer
The PCC Faculty Senate along
with the Pasadena League of Women
Voters hosted the first ever board of
trustees candidates forum last Tues¬
day. Present were incumbent Beth
Wells-Miller along with her two chal¬
lengers David Ma and Virginia
Conijn along with incumbent Dr.
Richard Green and his challenger
Bob Gomprez.
The forum started with each can¬
didate making a three-minute open¬
ing statement, followed by a ques¬
tion and answer period in which
each participant was given one
minute to respond to written ques¬
tions submitted by the audience.
Questions ranged from the can¬
didates’ interpretations of what
shared governance is to the role of
faculty in academic matters and hir-
ingto theirviews on the most impor¬
tant role of the board of trustee.
Shared governance is a responsi¬
bility called for in Title 5 that re¬
quires a mutual agreement between
the board and faculty,” Wells-Miller
said.
Green disagreed with that inter¬
pretation, “If mutual agreement does
not occur between the faculty and
board, the responsibility of making
the decision belongs to the board.”
Gomprez added that “Perception
is reality and PCC has been slow to
adapt shared governance. PCC has
fallen a bit short of the concept. He
attributed this to the fact that most
members on the board have been
there for a long time, and it is diffi¬
cult for a governing board that has
been in place for so long to adapt to
change.”
Conijn agreed with Gomprez and
Miller, adding, “Sometimes its re¬
quires a lot of time to ease into and
get acquainted with new rules.”
Lastly, Ma said “the keystone of our
community and country is shared
power.”
In response to how much voice
the faculty should have in academic
matters, Wells-Miller was the first
to respond. “In academic matters
faculty is the only group really quali¬
fied to speak on that issue. In regard
to hiring, I feel faculty is qualified to
make those kinds of decisions and
should have the primary responsi¬
bility.”
Conijn commented that faculty is
best qualified to determine what is
needed in their departments. Green
agreed but tempered his remarks by
stating that “faculty in a vacuum
cannot make these types of decisions
alone.”
Ma said the faculty should be the
predominant voice, but he also in¬
cluded the studentbody. “I think that
in our complicated society and in our
college structure, the students should
be involved in terms of what kind of
courses are offered and the kinds of
material that are used to and teach
those courses.”
He also proposed a 60 percent
faculty and 40 percent student body
participation when hiring and decid¬
ing on course to be offered.
As a current board member, Green
contended that faculty has always
taken the lead in the hiring process
and will continue to do so. “But if
there are changes to be made with
regard, to this process they should
come from the college coordinating
council.”
The question which received the
widest range of answers was what
each participant perceived as the
most important role of the board of
trustees.
Ma was the first to address the
issue, “The most important role of
the board is to monitor the perfor¬
mance of the institution and to make
policies to carry out mission of the
district.”
He then went on to emphasize the
need for new ideas and team work
and denounced any member that
would use their position to promote
any small special interest group.
Wells-Miller said that above all,
the board has the responsibility to
listen to all groups on campus
including students, classified staff ,
and administration. “You simply
cannot set apolicy without the knowl¬
edge of how it is going to impact
those involved I think all policies
should be reviewed on a regular ba¬
sis and I would like to see them
revamped in light of Title 5.
Gomprez commented as a em¬
ployee of an agency that has 51
board members.
“It is character that makes a good
board member sensitive to informa¬
tion coming in and going out.”
Police Beat
Training
Equipment
Missing
■ Handcuffs and
batons were stolen
from a closet in the
W Building.
By DONE DENNISON
Courier Staff Writer
LAPD detective Tony
Capistrano, who teachespolice acad¬
emy preparation classes at PCC,
opened a cabinet in W201 to find
that 30 police batons and 15 sets of
handcuffs used for training were
missing.
Although he noticed the missing
items early in September, the detec¬
tive did not report the crime until
Oct. 18. He wanted to make sure
that other instructors had not mis¬
takenly taken the equipment.
Nearly all the batons showed up
a few weeks later.
“I put the word out that the ba¬
tons were marked ‘property ofPCC.”
All but four showed up,” Capistrano
said. The batons were returned to
W201.
“I looked in the cabinet and half
the batons were sitting in the bot¬
tom. The other half were in a bag
next to them,” he said.
PCC police Sgt. Vince Palermo
estimated the value of the lost hand¬
cuffs to be $720. The case is still
under investigation.
Capistrano hopes that publicity
about the theft will intimidate who¬
ever took the items into returning
the handcuffs and the four batons.
Funding Proposal
Draws Criticism
■ The plan would
call for increased
community college
money for transfers.
By DANIEL ARCHULETA
Courier Staff Writer
A proposal made by the com¬
munity college chancellor that
would offer incentives to institu¬
tions for meeting specific aca¬
demic goals has drawn criticism
from both faculty and student or¬
ganizations.
The proposal,
known as “Academic
Excellence,” would
reward individual col-
leges with funding
based on whether stu-
dents complete a
course with a mini¬
mum grade of C and
the transfer rate of stu¬
dents to four-year uni¬
versities. Although
exact compensation
hasn’t been decided
yet, the totals are ex¬
pected to be $45 for
the successful
completion of a
course, $75 for cer¬
tificates earned, $125
for associate degrees
awarded and $ 1 3 0 for _
transfers to UC, CSU
or another four-year
independent college or universi¬
ties.
The California Teachers As¬
sociation was among a long list of
“We have to
look below
the surface, ”
Jane
Hallinger,
FACCC
faculty and student organizations
which opposed the $ 1 00 million bud¬
get request for 1998-99 made by
Chancellor Thomas Nussbaum to
the board of governors.
“It is unfair,” said Ed Ortell, the
CTA’s lead negotiator on campus.
“It’s a narrow interpretation of suc¬
cess.” Instead of funding colleges
based on the performance of stu¬
dents, Ortell saidthat the state should
more adequately fund the entire com¬
munity college system.
He said that California is cur¬
rently last in state funding among the
nation's two-year colleges.
He said that such a
proposal would be hard
to administer because the
statistics put up by com¬
munity college students
are misleading. This is
illustrated by the number
of two-year college stu¬
dents who have to work
while attending college,
and the number of stu¬
dents who have no desire
to go on to a four-year
institution.
“People in far away
places who have no expe¬
rience on the local level
or experience in the
trenches have created this
proposal,” Ortell said.
The Faculty Associa-
_ tion of California Com¬
munity Colleges repre¬
sentative, Jane Hallinger,
said at a recent faculty senate meet¬
ing that this is a major issue that
would affect PCC. “We have to look
below the surface,” she said.
IF
APPROVED
Colleges would
be awarded...
$130 for transfers
$125 for degrees
awarded
$75 for certificates
*
$45 for courses
completed
Source :FACCC
She fears that this type of pro¬
posal would only help suburban-
middle class colleges because
those communities, on average,
produce a higher number of trans¬
fer students.
The September edition of the
Senate Rostrum, the newsletter of
the academic senate for Califor¬
nia community colleges, reported
on the academic senate’s stance
on the touchy issue.
“To tie monetary incentives to
the awarding of grades and de¬
grees does not seem in accord
with a commitment to excellence.
“Institutional pressure toward
grade inflation, reduced rigor and
lowered requirements enshrined
in budgetary rewards would not
enhance education for students.”
Similar programs are currently
in use in several states.
“Of 11 states which adopted
this approach, Texas and Arkan¬
sas have already dropped it, Ken¬
tucky is currently re-examining
it, and Florida has recently post¬
poned full implementation,” the
article stated.
Other groups who oppose the
plan feel that it may lead to the
slashing of programs offered by
the college to accommodate more
transferable classes.
Computer Theft
Raises Questions
By CHRISTINE GOMEZ
Courier Staff Writer
The theft of a computer valued at
close to $8,000 from an art depart¬
ment lab in R420 last week has dev¬
astated faculty and has campus po¬
lice searching for clues.
Dr. Linda Malm, art division dean,
said, “The computer was a brand
new 9600 Apple power Macintosh,
which came out of the department’s
budget and was not insured.” The
unit was purchased to teach students
graphic design.
“ We’ve had the lab for five years
and nothing has ever been stolen
from it,” Malm said. “The key for
that lab was made especially for that
room. It won’t work with any other
door on campus,” Malm added.
Officer Beatrice Samorano, who
was the first to respond to the report
of the theft, said that the crime was
committed between the evening of
Oct. 20 and the morning of Oct. 21.
She said that there was no sign of
forced entry into the lab.
Most computers on campus are
tied down to a table or locked to¬
gether, but the units in R420 are not.
Vincent Palermo, the supervisor
of college safety, said that the deci¬
sion to have the computers secured is
determined by each individual de¬
partment.
“That is something that they over¬
looked; everyone should have their
computers bolted down for this very
reason.”
Jeanette Church a computer
trainer and support specialist in D 1 1 5,
said, “ All of the computers in our lab
are bolted down except for the fac¬
ulty ones. That particular depart¬
ment chose not to have their comput¬
ers bolted which is a shame because
they have really nice equipment.”
Helpful Site Offers
Free Scholarships
By JULIE DRAKE
Courier Staff Writer
When it comes to scholarships,
long lines and piles of paperwork
may be a thing of the past.
As personal computers continue
to become a staple in bedrooms and
classrooms across the globe, stu¬
dents are now using them to research
term papers on the Internet and main-
tainand establishfriendships through
e-mail. Now, computers are making
the frustrating task of securing fi¬
nancial aid to pay' the high cost of a
higher education a little easier, thanks
to a 24-month old company called
Fast WEB.
Fast WEB was founded in 1995
by Larry Organ, who spent 10 years
in the scholarship industry. Organ
wanted to make the process easier
for students to secure scholarship
money, so he devised a way for
students to reach a database of schol-
Please see FASTWEB, page 2
?
t