Riding cross-country to get some due respect
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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
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