VAN NUYS : Student Leader Urges Class-Free Noontime

The Valley College student body president wants to eliminate all classes during the lunch hour--a plan, he says, that might improve student involvement.

Instead of holding classes, the lunch hour could be used for concerts and other activities, said Don Graham, the 22-year-old president of the 16,000-student Van Nuys campus.

Graham is asking for the support of the incoming acting president, Tyree Wieder.

“Being a very transient school, you have students that come on campus, go to class, eat lunch and bail,” Graham said.

Wieder is replacing Valley president Mary Lee, who was named president of Pierce College on Friday following the departure of Lowell Erickson, who is taking a leave of absence.

Graham said he would like Valley to follow in the footsteps of some other colleges, which he said have no classes between noon and 1 p.m.

“I would love to see that on campus,” Graham said. “You can have concerts where you can have the music up and not worry about disrupting classes. I’m looking forward to working with her on that.”

Graham said Wieder’s support would be helpful because the proposed change would have to go through the academic affairs office, where Wieder served as vice president. But faculty president Jack Sterk said he believes students should be surveyed first.

Sterk said a similar no-class period between 11 a.m. and noon on Tuesdays and Thursdays was abandoned 10 years ago because it interfered with students who wanted to get all their classes in before going to work in the afternoon.

“I’m in agreement that we need more culture and more concerts and more activities on this campus,” Sterk said. “I just think that without canvassing students, we might be doing more harm to students than good.”