Palm Beach Community College - Galleon Yearbook (Lake Worth, FL)

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Law Enforcement ) Many changes have taken place in the U.S. since it switched from a rural to an urban society in the 1800 ' s. The adapted society was now confronted with social problems such as racial strife and the partial destruc- tion of some of its social institutions. Today the same problems exist, and com- bined with other problems such as the rising jobless rate, inflation without substan- tial salary increases, and decreased morahty. These unsolved fronts of social instability are hot potatoes to handle. Therefore, our country needs a totally dependable, respons- ible and capable law enforcement depart- ment so these problems and their offspring won ' t burn us. A student interested in a degree in law enforcement at JC would work in a variety of areas such as: records, patrol, criminal- istics crime lab, crime investigation, pro- bation, and youth guidance. Anyone concerned with obtaining a de- gree in corrections would need to work in the areas of detention or prison work while the main objective of a corrections worker would be to attempt to control criminal behavior. The degree program offered by the Law Enforcement Department includes courses in social science, natural science, humanities, communications, physical education and criminal justice. The general education re- quirements are, communications, social science, psychology, and electives. Candidates for the A.S. degree in law enforcement, corrections and security can enter the university parallel program, which completes a 62 semester hour program of study designed to permit transfer to a B.A. degree at specific universities such as FAU, U of F, FSU, FTU and FIE. Both men and women who are high school graduates, in service, police, cor- rections personnel and other persons inter- ested in the administration of justice, can take programs as stair steps to their desired occupations in law enforcement. Because college level training is becoming a prerequisite for most police correctional and security oriented jobs, the program at JC is an excellent opportunity for people interested in such an occupation. Training is conducted both at the con- cerned agency and at college, the student gains important characteristics which are vitally needed by the present law enforce- ment system, in order to keep up with the ever changing volume of situations where such people are needed in our society. STUART HARDMAN 21

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What would happen if an average Palm Beach Junior College student, cruising down Congress Avenue, suddenly saw a sign read- ing: speed limit, seventy kilometers per hour Would he be shocked? Confused? Would he know how to think metrically? The sad fact is that not many students or other or- dinary citizens would know exactly how fast he should be travelling. This lack of knowledge results from the United States not using the metric system. We are the last major nation in the world that has not adopted this system. How- ever, our country is changing slowly but surely, to this easy and efficient system. Already, the leading automobile firms are manufacturing their parts in metric weights and sizes. Soon, gasoline, wines, and paints will be sold in liters. Food and canned goods packagers are pres- ently coming out with English and metric weights on their labels to help consumers change over more easily. By 1978, the government plans to have the metric system introduced into the cur- riculum of all schools. In many states this is already in the process. For that matter, here on campus, in the math dept- artment is a new program designed to teach students the metric system. This course, lasting five weeks, is an intro- duction to the practical uses of the metric system and its advantages over our own. Let ' s take a minute to discuss the whole scheme of modules, as they are also a rela- tively recent addition to our campus. The modular system began in the winter term of 1974, when the math teachers gave an MS 106 class a choice of the type of math study they wanted to learn. The modules cover math topics such as the history of math, logic, ratios, geometry and probab- ility. The students were split accordingly. At the end of five weeks, they met again to select another topic. When the modular system began, the students had to make a passing grade in each of the three five week sessions to earn the normal three credit hours. Now, the five week sessions or modules can be taken independently of one another and one module is equiv- elent to one credit hour. Students use a workbook and the curriculum is set so that the majority of work is accomplished in class, thereby eliminating most home- work. Tests are also kept at a minimum. Keeping up with the growth of our nation, Palm Beach Junior College brings it ' s stud- ents new programs so that they can be better prepared for later life. »J, MARY HIEGEL Math Re-evaluation d A math module in progress Independent study 20

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The Engineering Technology (ET) dep- artment, despite it ' s lack of the ' limelight ' , has proven to be a dept. worthy of praise. Jennings B. Rader, chairman of the ET dept., has a six-man staff consisting of: Leon Austin, Robert Book, Charles Connell, James Cooper, Leonard Hickley and Micheal McCue. Within the ET dept. there are numerous majors available. They range from air con- ditioning and refrigeration, electronics and drafting design to fire science and land surveying technology. The ET ' s affiliation with the popular club. Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) is still strong. IEEE is the world ' s largest professional engineering society with some 180,000 mem- bers, 25,00 of which are students. Club origins date back to 1884, with such distinguished engineers and scientists as Alex- ander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison as charter members. JC ' s chapter of IEEE was one of the first student-run organizations of its kind in the country. The actual start of ET at JC began in the mid 1950 ' S, according to Jim Cooper, who as well as being a ' main cog ' in the teaching end of ET, serves as faculty advisor to IEEE. Despite no ' name ' graduates like the Drama dept ' s. Burt Reynolds, some grads have acheived high honors at schools such as the highly acclaimed Massachusetts In- stitute of Technology (MIT). We now have some 120 students enrolled in our day program, Cooper noted, it certainly has gone up some since it ' s con- ception. The personal attention the student re- ceives at a school the size of JC helps in the actual ' learning process ' of that student. Cooper cited some of the advantages of being an IEEE member included not only the high regard for IEEE members as a whole. The JC student receives valuable pubhc- ations and an opportunity to belong to the overall Palm Beach IEEE chapter. Cooper stated. With membership in the P.B. chapter of IEEE, the student also receives discounts on all IEEE-sponsored events like banquets and conventions. The ET dept. has proven to be a leader in ' taking care ' of students in ET programs. As IEEE student president, Tom Solder noted, It ' s a real bargain. i i, DENNY GLAVIN Mechanical Mind 22