Altar of
the Body
See page 6
Yee-haw,
check out
the fair
See page 5
Men’s
soccer still
unbeaten
See page 7
s A D I N A
c
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Courier
Since 1915
VOL. 88 NO. 5
www.pcc-courieronline.com
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Book Title
Architecture -Form, Space & Order
Dimension of Human Sexautity
Hands In Clay
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Human Anatomy
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Literature - Reading Fiction... _ $64.00
Mathematics For Elementary Teachers
Modernrecordinq Techniques
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Nutrition Now
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Pathophysiology
Physics for Scientists & Engineers
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PCC
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Find out where
to go for the
best deals on
textbooks
By Steve LuKanic
Staff Writer
With the soaring cost of text¬
books continuing to stir debate,
the Courier recently set out on a
comparative shopping trip to find
out where, exactly, the price is
right, or at least not quite as goug¬
ing.
The results indicate that while
PCC students may easily find a
larger inventory of books at the
campus store, they will likely save
money, sometimes as much as 16
percent, at off-campus outlets.
In a random sampling of 30
textbooks, all required for various
classes at PCC, the Courier com¬
pared the cover prices at three
stores: the PCC bookstore, the
Book Mart (located across from
the reflecting pool at 15$5 E.
Colorado Blvd.) and a new store,
Textmania (located at 1308 E.
Colorado Blvd., one block west of
campus).
All the books compared were
brand new, although the three
stores did offer used versions of
many of the same titles at widely
varying prices.
The Book Mart, which opened
in 1993, has unarguably been the
PCC bookstore’s biggest competi¬
tor over the years, with a highly
visible location across from the
campus and an extensive invento¬
ry. of PCC-required books.
The Book Mart’s competitive
prices are also a major draw. Of
the 30 titles surveyed, 70 percent
of them cost roughly $2 less per
book than the same titles at the
PCC store.
Still, manager Ignacio
Medrano believes the prices of
textbooks, in general, are too high,
and he blames the book publishers
and authors.
“They publish new editions
every six months to a year and a
half,” Medrano said, “because
they know it’s the only way
they’re going to sell new books.
And we have no choice but to get
the new edition, so we have to buy
new books also.”
But while the Book Mart has
enjoyed a steady business over the
years, competing solely with the
PCC bookstore, this fall a new
competitor entered the mix:
Textmania, located just a couple
of blocks down the street, next to
McDonald’s.
Although smaller in size than
the Book Mart and PCC’s store,
Textmania is the second in a chain
(the other store is in Monterey
Park), and while the Pasadena
store currently has only 20 percent
of the PCC-required textbooks in
stock, 86 percent of the titles sur¬
veyed are priced on average §2 to
$4 less than at the Book Mart and
PCC.
In some cases, Textmania’s dis¬
counts are even as high as 1 6 per¬
cent off PCC’s prices.
The fifth edition of the book
“Physics for Scientists &
Engineers,” for example, costs
$91.70 at PCC’s bookstore and
$76.95 at Textmania.
Likewise, the third edition of
“Human Anatomy” costs $118 at
PCC, $116.88 at the Book Mart
and $1 12.95 at Textmania.
Additionally, Textmania offers
a 27 percent discount on used
books versus the Book Mart’s 30
percent discount on the same
titles.
With lower prices and a close
proximity to the campus,
Textmania will soon likely attract
greater numbers of PCC students,
predicts owner Jonathan Choi.
He said the store is also launch¬
ing an intensive advertising cam¬
paign later this fall and plans to
increase the inventory of PCC
textbooks to an estimated 80 or 90
percent for the spring semester.
According to Choi,
Textmania’s prices coincide with
the books in their Monterey Park
store.
“Where there’s competition,
the book prices are lower,” said-
Choi. “Where there’s not, the
prices are higher. Obviously,
there are bookstores that will hike
up the price for bigger profits, but
# see BOOKS, page 3
English and Math Classes May
Help New Students Stay in School
By Luis Romero
Staff Writer
First-time students need to
make sure they enroll in an
English or math class in their first
semester because that may ensure
that they continue in college.
Statistics in a report published
this month indicate that these are
courses that help students suc¬
ceed.
Not only that but men attend¬
ing college for the first time drop
out at a higher rate than women.
The report, compiled by PCC’s
Institutional Planning and
Research Office, also indicated
that first-time Hispanics and
African American students were
less inclined to continue at PCC
compared to Asian/Pacific
Islanders and Whites.
As researchers compiled statis¬
tics, they tried to think about what
types of things would interest fac¬
ulty and administrators, said
Cynthia Lopez, research analyst
at the Institutional Planning and
Research Offices. “We wanted
everyone to start thinking about
how we can improve this.”
The report compared last fall’s
students entering PCC for the first
time with students who had main¬
tain enrollment beyond a semes¬
ter. It also separated credit stu¬
dents — students who receive a
grade in class — from non-crcdit
students attending the college.
Last fall, of the 25,589 total
credit students that enrolled, 53.1
percent were continuing credit
students and 20.6 percent were
first-time students.
Of those first time-students,
64.7 percent completed their
courses with a grade of C or bet¬
ter, finishing with an average
GPA of 2.48.
80.5% of first-time's
who took att Englisl
math class continued t
the spring serr.os^ ^
33% of first-time students
who didn’t lake an EngSsfe
or math class didn't continue
into the spring semester
On the other hand, continuing
students performed stronger with
.70.4 percent completing their
courses with a C or better main¬
taining an average GPA of 2.73.
SEPTEMBER 26, 2002
College Ready
for Inspection
By Terrance Parker
Staff Writer
For three days next week a
small but mighty army will invade
the PCC campus.
Although only the size of a
football team, this group possess¬
es the raw power to affect the
future of every student, instructor
and staff member on campus.
It is accreditation time again at
PCC. More specifically, it is time
for the comprehensive accredita¬
tion visit.
Thomas Fallo, president of El
Camino College, leads this year’s
visiting accreditation team.
Fallo and 10 other academic
professionals were chosen by the
Accrediting Commission for
Community and Junior Colleges
(ACCJC), which is part of the
Western Association of Schools
and Colleges (WASC).
According to the ACCJC Web
site (www.accjc.org), accredita¬
tion is “a status granted to an edu¬
cational institution that has been
found to meet or exceed stated cri¬
teria of educational quality.”
It further defines two basic pur¬
poses for accredi¬
tation: (1) “to
assure the quality
of the institution”
and (2) “to assist
in the improve¬
ment of the insti¬
tution.”
One example
of the evaluation
criteria is a clearly defined and
published mission statement.
Also, the school needs clear
lines of authority and responsibil¬
ity for both the governing board
and the administrative staff.
Strict financial accountability,
including outside audits, is a
necessity, as is a sufficiently qual¬
ified faculty.
PCC also needs to publish and
distribute items of information
related to attending the institution
and participating as a student.
In order to stay accredited,
PCC must follow an ongoing six-
Fallo
Kossler
year cycle of required activities.
Every year the college sends a
brief report to the ACCJC. The
three-year mark calls for a more
comprehensive report. PCC sub¬
mitted its midterm report in
November 1999.
These reports describe the
school’s progress in achieving its
own goals and objectives.
These may be items previous
visiting teams have suggested for
possible improvement, or they
may be objectives PCC initiates.
The institutional self-study
consumes most of the time and
labor spent dur¬
ing the accredi¬
tation cycle.
This compre¬
hensive in-depih
look at the col¬
lege’s perform¬
ance measures
how well (or
poorly) PCC con¬
forms to established ACCJC and
WASC standards. The report con¬
siders how effectively the school
uses its resources. It also pro\ ides
detailed reports on progress in
achieving these goals.
PCC started its most recent
self-study two years ago with the
appointment of a coordinator and
a steering committee.
Over the next several months
standards committees and sub¬
committees began meeting.
First drafts of reports appeared
last October. Meetings and reviews
continued through winter and
spring. Final workups were finished
by May. In July, the completed self-
study report was submitted to the
board of trustees for approval.
At the July 17 meeting of the
board, the trustees accepted the
report and unanimously voted to
submit it to the ACCJC. It was
mailed in August, which brings us
to next week’s visit.
The team’s visit is the marquee
event of this long process. Using
the self-study as a starting point,
team members will examine
PCC’s performance from an
ф
see READY, page 3
Get in the Zone
Luis Romero/Courier
“There is always that transition
shock. Students come here and
they don’t have a clue, especially
Ф
see SUCCESS, page 3
By Terrance Parker
Staff Writer
Where do the members of
PCC’s sports teams go between
classes? Starting this semester
they go to the
Zone.
Room 1 12A of
Hutto-Patterson
Gymnasium is the
home of the new
Academic Athletic
Zone.
The converted
locker room hous¬
es several rows of
computers and
half a dozen round
tables. It also has a
rich mixture of
student-athletes,
both male and
female, studying
lessons, typing up -
homework assign¬
ments and working with tutors.
When competing on the play¬
ing field or preparing on the prac¬
tice field, the “athlete” portion of
the term “student-athlete” is
emphasized.
However, in the Zone the
“Student” part takes precedence.
“We want them not only to keep
their units up, we want them to do
well,” said Michael McClellan,
athletic coun¬
selor and coordi¬
nator of the
Academic
Athletic Zone.
The PCC
sports depart¬
ment has had
-'.academic sup¬
port programs in
the past, but the
Zone represents
a whole new
approach.
McClellan
said that one
major change is
the mandatory
- nature for stu¬
dents considered
to be “at risk” academically. In
practice, this means any student-
athlete who docs not yet qualify
for English 1A or Math 3 must
ф
see ZONE, page 3
“ Most of our
student-athletes
want to go on
and play at a
four-year
school. ..so
tve’re preparing
them. ”
Michael McClellan,
Coordinator of the
Academic Athletic Zone
X