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Riding cross-country to get some due respect

To get the attention of talk show host and motorcycle enthusiast Jay

Leno, Betty Young sent a picture of herself aboard a Harley Davidson

motorcycle.

But Young doesn’t want to meet Leno at the NBC Studios in Burbank

to get his autograph or gush about how much she likes his late-night

gabfest.

Instead, the Ohio educator wants to get a message to Leno to knock

it off poking fun at community colleges and the students that attend

them.

“The stereotypes he uses are demeaning to students, alumni and the

people who work in our fine colleges,” Young said. “We want him to

stop.”

Young, the president of Northwest State Community College in

Archbold, Ohio, left Monday for her cross-country “Lessons for Leno”

trip with stops at community colleges in six cities.

Once in Burbank, Young has tickets to attend the Sept. 27 taping

of “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” and hopes to meet the host and

have him take a ride on their respective bikes.

Carrie Simons, a spokeswoman for “The Tonight Show” had no comment

about Young’s wanting to meet with Leno.

If the meeting with Leno were to take place, she would tell him

that community colleges are happening places that can transform

people’s lives, said Young, who attended a two-year college herself

before going on to a university to earn her bachelor, masters,

doctorate and law degrees.

Glendale Community College President John Davitt wished Young luck

in meeting with Leno. Davitt’s own attempts to speak with Leno

concerning the benefits of community colleges failed.

“She’ll get some publicity from this and that may get her an

interview with him, but I doubt it,” Davitt said. “To get an

appearance with him outside of his show is very hard.”

Leno has filmed two segments for his show at the Glendale

Community College campus and would pick out students least likely to

answer questions posed to them, Davitt said.

“It gave the impression that all students couldn’t identify the

Atlantic from the Pacific Ocean, for example,” Davitt said.

The talk show host has never made an effort to focus on the

academics at the school, which this year had 12 students chosen to be

interns at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and had 62 out of 63

students in its Scholar Program accepted at UCLA, Davitt said.

The school counts 2001 Nobel Prize Winner in medicine Leland

Hartwell, Philadelphia Eagles head football coach Andy Reid and

professional baseball playerFreddy Sanchez among its students.

Attending a community college can help save money and gives recent

immigrants a chance to learn English, said Haik Chilingaryanpresident

of Associated Students of Glendale Community College President.

“You can do practically anything at a community college to improve

educational opportunities,” said Chilingaryan, who also serves as the

student trustee. “It’s not a joke like Jay says.”

Because of her background as someone who achieved success after

attending a community college, Young is the perfect example of the

benefits of an education, Norma G. Kent, spokeswoman for the American

Assn. of Community Colleges said.

The bad rap community colleges receive can translate into less

public funding and lack of respect, Kent said.

“These colleges have been around for 100 years, yet in the minds

of too many people, including policy makers and the media, they are

seen as not being as good as four-year schools yet we are enrolling

half of all undergraduates,” Kent said.

QUESTION

Do you think community colleges get a bad rap from Jay Leno?

E-mail your responses to o7burbankleader @latimes.comf7; mail them

to the Burbank Leader, 111 W. Wilson Ave., Glendale, CA 91203. Please

spell your name and include your address and phone number for

verification purposes only.

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