THUMBS UP— Butcher Nick Farago of Lirettes meat sculpturing, the weighing. He went to
Food Box puts the finishing touches on his PCC over 25 years ago.
(Tleat Cutters ‘Artists’;
Not All Blood, Gore
Meat cutters are artists with business minds, and
their art pays.
"Boning and rolling a leg of lamb or making a crown
roast takes artistry," says Howard S. Takata of the
Engineering and Technology Department, who teaches
Meat Cutting Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6 to
10 in Slid. “It's a skill few people have. And you have to
work fast."
There is little competition for jobs, and if you're
female you've got it made."
“Meat cutting," says Takata, “is cool." The working
climate is 50 degrees. You have to work Saturdays, but
you get a day off during the week.
If you're skillful with your hands and take pride in
your work, you can finish your apprenticeship and
become a journeyman— journeyperson?— in two years.
After that, “if you want a job as manager of a super¬
market meat department, it's there," Takata says, "but
you have to prepare for it."
Preparation includes training in pricing, ad writing,
merchandising, and looking after your image. Become
something of a chef and you can answer your customers'
questions about how to prepare different cuts of meat.
Hone your ability as a psychologist and you can deal
successfully with customers who want moFe of your
attention than you think they need. Takata suggests
beating out the competition by the excellence of your
service.
One of Takata 's Tuesday evening students says he's
into meat cutting not only because it pays, but also
because it s a good way of getting rid of his hostilities.
Joyce Nelson is taking the class so she can cut meat
at home and "save dollars, not cents. " She plans to buy a
freezer.
Meat cutters take Takata's class as part of their
apprenticeship program. Pam Gordy works at Safeway.
She originally applied there for a job as a checker, but the
store manager suggested she try cutting meat. After the
Bo-day probation period, during which Ms. Gordy found
she liked the job. Safeway kept her on as an apprentice at
$5.17 per hour to start The pay increases every six
months during the two-year apprenticeship.
Ms. Gordy says meat cutting is a great opportunity
for women, especially now that beef is "broken" at the
packing house instead of in the market, and super
strength is no longer required of meat cutters. She says
her job is hard work, the pace is fast, and you have to be
very careful with all those knives. But she thinks it's a
great way to get her bread together.
BUZZ— The hand coordination of a meat cutter the meat saw could cause a few fingers to
cannot be overlooked. A misguided slice with disappear. -courier photos by Marcus wiik
Insurance Woes
of Foreign Students
By Kathy Braidhill
News Editor
Foreign students may be paying a
dollar more than necessary for two
overlapping school insurance policies,
said Associated Men Students
President Shahid Hamid.
Hamid, who brought the discrepancy
to the attention of ASB President
Derek Coleman and Dr. Irvin Lewis,
vice president of student services,
discussed the possible duplication of
the health services fee required of all
students and the mandatory foreign
student, insurance at the last ASB
meeting.
F-l visa students, those who come to
this country just to attend school, are
required to pay $39 for insurance, or
make arrangements for an alternate
insurance policy. This is in addition to
the $48 a unit for classes that foreign
students must pay.
Out-of-state students are 1 not
required to have this insurance
coverage; they pay only the tuition,
but all pay the $5 health services fee.
The health services fee is split, said
Coleman ; $4 goes toward health
services and the remaining dollar is
for insurance. This is where there’s a
possibile duplication. Hamid was
questioning the foreign student's in¬
surance vs. the health services in¬
surance.
"We're taking it to an insurance
analyst to find if there is a
duplication," said Coleman The
wording on the policies is difficult for
laymen to understand, he said.
If there is a duplication of insurance
policies, Coleman said, "the foreign
The $5 required health service fee is
the first mandatory fee of any kind at
PCC. according to Dr. Irvin Lewis,
vice president for student personnel
services.
This action by the Board of Trustees
is another result of Proposition 13.
Lewis explained that the Education
Code. Section 72248. has for some time
authorized a fee for health services,
but PCC has never required it. Now,
the Board of Trustees has decided that
rather than cut the budget in other
areas, they would implement the fee.
"Students do get a lot for their $5."
stated Lewis. The health center,
beginning Monday', added physician
Garfield Monrow. Barbara Haisch is
the head nurse and Dr. Joseph Kisser
is the health center psychologist.
The health services available to
students who have paid the $5 fee in¬
clude: emergency care for illness and
injury; vision and hearing screening
tests; health education and coun¬
seling. accident report; insurance
filing for on-campus accidents;
referral to community agencies;
students should be given the con¬
sideration of having their money
refunded.’’ Approximately 250 to 300
students would be affected.
Coleman is also working on re¬
opening the Asian Affairs, Pan-African
Affairs, Chicano Affairs, and W'omen’s
Center offices.
These offices upstairs in the Campus
Center were shut down by the Board of
Trustees this summer because of
Proposition 13 budget cuts.
“If we open them up, it’ll have to be
on a volunteer basis,” he said. The
This summer's unemployed CATC
teachers who had difficulty obtaining
employment benefits have been paid,
according to Bernice Daitz of per¬
sonnel.
The instructors at CATC were laid
off during the summer -due to budget
cuts. When they attempted to collect
unemployment, their applications
were denied.
Marie Campos, a teacher at CATC,
addressed the Board of Trustees last
July 27 to recount the teachers'
problems with the Department of
Human Resources, and ask for their
help.
environmental health and safety
education; and maintenance of health
records.
Medical services include: physician
consultation by appointment: initial
medical diagnosis and care; medical
counseling: clinical laboratory testing
at a reduced fee; writing of
prescriptions for current illness and
referral to both community physicians
and hospital emergency rooms.
Students are now required to pay the
fee before they are allowed to register
or change their class schedules. For
those who have managed to avoid the
fee. a follow-up will be done next
semester at registration. Students who
do not have a health card will be
required to pay $10 rather than $5.
approximately $100,000 needed to run
the offices has been appropriated for
other expenses, and the entire wing
housing the offices has been closed.
In the midst of the budget cuts this
semester, a new expense has been
added to the ASB budget. Two
publications, the Student Handbook
and the Crier, will be paid for out of the
student service fund.
ASB funds were not directly affected
by Proposition 13, since they are
supported by percentages of on-
campus concessions.
She also filed an unemployment
claim with the DHR. No action was
taken, and the out-of-work instructors
had still received no benefits.
At that time, the Board of Trustees
advised John Madden, dean of per¬
sonnel. to contact the DHR to make
sure there was no longer any difficulty
in obtaining benefits.
Campos wrote a letter expressing
her inability to collect unemployment
to Roger Gertmenian. a member of the
Board of Trustees, who read it at
Thursday's meeting.
In it. Campos stated the Unem¬
ployment Department contacted her,
saying PCC had appealed the claim
and a decision is pending.
"Please tell me if the Board
rescinded its previous position during
a subsequent meeting." said Campos
in the letter. She also asked for
minutes of the Board of Trustees
meeting so she could find out what
happened and why.
T think the woman deserves an
answer and the Board deserves an
answer from Mr. Madden,” said
Gertmenian T would consider it a
personal favor if this woman were
contacted." he said at the meeting.
Madden promised he would look into
the matter, and get the unemployment
benefits for our teachers.
According to Daitz of personnel, the
county contracts with a firm that
represents the schools, and due to a
misunderstanding, the appeal was
denied. "She filed before the rules
allowed benefits to teachers," said
Daitz.
The firm that represents PCC ap¬
pealed the claim made by Campos.
This resulted in the DHR's denial of
Campos' claim.
Ф'-
Vi# ,
Free Health Aid Dies;
$5 Fee Alive, Kicking
CATC Teachers
Paid After Letter
Proposed Courier Policy Starts Controversy
Unconstitutional or Not Restrictive Enough
Change takes time, even with a new
Courier Editorial Policy.
The Board of Trustees is considering
approval of a Courier Policy which
was drawn up by Vice President of
Instruction Stanley E. Gunstream, the
Courier advisers and Melanie Lomax,
deputy county counsel, the legal
representative for the college.
May 5 was the start of the policy
push when the Courier Editorial Board
printed its “Statement of Principles.”
The administration countered with its
own policy proposal because the past
policy was found to be too restrictive.
The students’ Statement of Prin-'
ciples seems to have been lost in the
shuffle as the modified version of the
administrative policy reached the
Board on September 7 and has been
under consideration ever since.
Controversy surrounds the ad¬
ministrative proposal as one section
WALTER SHATFORD
has been viewed as unconstitutional by
some and not restrictive enough by
others.
The passage reads: "Columnists
shall be free to take positions on
political issues except when such
positions serve to promote or defeat
the election of candidates and ballot
issues which affect only the residents
of the Pasadena Area Community
College District or a portion thereof.”
At the September 21 Board meeting,
Chrystal Watson, Comminications
Department chairman, pointed out
that prior restraint may be the only
way to prohibit political writing. “If
we exercise to any degree what’s
known as prior restraint,” she said,
"we are not only unconstitutional and
illegal, but we are being afraid of
ROGER GERTMENIAN
something. And that fear is unfounded,
the fear of hearing an idea we don’t
like. It’s our job to help people defend
ideas and present them.”
Trustees Warren Weber and David
Hannah felt differently, however.
Weber said, “I feel that there is an
opportunity for the students to express
themselves on whatever they need.
But stay out of politics.”
Hannah expressed similar feelings,
saying the Courier had “to learn to live
under restrictions.” He also compared
the publishing purposes of an in¬
dependent newspaper like the L.A.
Times and a community college
newspaper such as the Courier.
“With the L.A. Times, you can
cancel your subscription,” said
Trustee Robert Spare.
“The same thing is here. If the
community gets really put out, the
Board can cancel, too,” said Board
President Charles Briscoe, later ad¬
ding that he didn’t think it would.
Trustee Walter Shatford expressed
concern for the constitutionality of the
policy. He cited several court cases
supporting freedom of expression in
the school setting. “The right of free
expression is part of the educational
process . . . the overriding rights of
free expression as expressed by our
own Supreme Court take charge,” he
commented.
Spare was undecided, but is leaning
toward Shatford, Watson and the
students’ views. “I would not give the
paper any kind of policy that said they
could not discuss a politician that is
coming up or a political campaign or
whatever. I still haven’t made up my
mind as to what position should be
endorsed.”
Ms. Watson pointed out that
restricting writing would destroy
opportunities for the student to train in
that area, whether it be politics or
sports.
Trustee Roger Gertmenian felt that
his rights had been restricted by the
Courier for many years and that made
him feel as if those opposed to the
censorship quality of the ad¬
ministrative proposal were being
“falsely self-righteous.”
“I’ve tried for five years (to write a
letter to the editor ) and all these years,
you’re talking about freedom of choice
and freedom of explanation and
freedom of discourse? I’ve had my
right violated for all those years ... it
sure shatters your argument,” Gert¬
menian said to Ms. Watson.
Gertmenian was reminded by
Dorothy Kolts, journalism adviser,
that the outdated policy restricted
Courier written contributions from
faculty or administration. Mrs. Kolts
explained further that the previous
policy was accepted by the Board and
the purpose of discussion now was to
formulate a new policy, not to criticize
the old one.
Superintendent-President E. How¬
ard Floyd recommended in May that
County Counsel work together with the
student legal representative,
Frederick Tepker, to produce a policy
“acceptable to both the students and
the administration.”
The student and Tepker, who was
assigned to the case by the American
Civil Liberties Union, were not con¬
tacted, however, during the summer
when the proposed policy was
produced.
County Counsel Lomax is scheduled
to appear at the next Board meeting on
October 5 to discuss the legalities of
the policy.
HUNG BY HIS PEERS— This stuffed dummy was a publicity stunt by
Circle K. Inter-Club Council President Kevin Mokarow commented,
“The big thing is to get people involved.” That is, if hanging a stuffed
dummy Will get people involved. -Courier photo by Mariska Leysslus