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Volume 107, Issue 9
The independent student voice of PCC. Serving Pasadena Since 1915.
April 4, 2013
Dragon Dance
Mary Nurrenbern
/
Courier
Students from Developing Virtue Secondary School perform a dragon dance for Chinese Culture day on Tuesday, April 2.
Scene
/
Page 4 and 5
Rocha and Fraser spar on KPCC
Benjamin Simpson
Staff Writer
Questions of shared governance at
PCC was the main talking point when
President Mark Rocha and AS
President Simon Fraser went head to
head on Larry Mantle's show on
KPCC on Monday.
The original reason for the radio
interview was the sudden removal of
the campus newspaper adviser
Warren Swil, who was placed on
administrative leave last Thursday.
But the discussion quickly changed to
the cancellation of the winter interses¬
sion at the beginning of the fall semes¬
ter and problems with shared gover¬
nance.
Fraser also discussed the problem
students are having with of the cancel¬
lation of the winter intersession. When
winter was cancelled, the classes were
moved to summer, but four-year col¬
leges do not accept summer classes for
concurrent enrollment.
According to Fraser, some PCC stu¬
dents are receiving rejection letters
from four-year colleges who did not
know of the calendar change, despite
the official name change of the first
summer semester to 'Spring' in
February, "The problem we are run¬
ning into now is that we don't know
whether or not it's too late for the
[four-year] colleges to change their
minds on rejections."
Rocha said that the Board of
Trustees has added 810 classes and
"there is not a single student at PCC
who is unable to get his or her classes,"
said Rocha. "Some of the issues
Simon [Fraser] referred to do exist and
the administration is working hard."
In the radio interview, Rocha stated
that the decision to remove winter was
made through shared governance.
"The record will show that the deci¬
sion made by the board of trustees,
Continued on page 7
Senate debates over no confidence vote
Anthony Richetts
Online Editor
In an extraordinary four-hour meet¬
ing, the Academic Senate debated
whether or not to take up a no confi¬
dence vote on the leadership of PCC
President Mark Rocha and his admin¬
istration at their meeting on April 1.
Despite the date, this debate was by
no-means a joke.
After an hour-long debate, Senator
Melissa Michelson of the languages
division, with overwhelming support
of the voting members of the senate,
forced a first-draft read of the no confi¬
dence resolution to be put on the agen¬
da for that day.
The first draft stated reasons why
the Senate should have no confidence
in Rocha including:
That Rocha "has repeatedly violated
the regulations and spirit of shared
governance, has disrupted the efficien¬
cy and collegiality of campus life, and
has perpetuated an atmosphere of dis¬
trust and intimidation through ethical¬
ly questionable practices."
Michelson expressed that it is neces¬
sary for the Senate to take up the vote
before the end of the spring semester.
"Our prolonged silence can be inter¬
preted as our acquiescence, disinterest
or even approval of what is happening
to shared governance at PCC,"
Michelson said, pleading with the
Senate.
However, Dustin Hanvey, the aca¬
demic senate president expressed con¬
cern with the Senate taking up the mat¬
ter.
"It is in my personal opinion that
this is a bad idea. It will bring a lot of
ill will toward this body," said
Hanvey. "But if we are going to do
this, it should be done with the entire
Continued on page 6
Courier
adviser put
on leave
Newspaper staff shocked to hear
Swil was placed on paid leave
Nicholas Saul
Editor-in-Chief
Warren Swil, a journalism professor who advis¬
es the Courier was put on administrative leave on
March 28, leaving the staff with the immense pres¬
sure of putting out a paper while grappling with
the fact that the top story they had to investigate
centered around their former adviser.
Swil has advised the Courier since 2007 and has
been told that he is not allowed to comment on
being placed on administrative leave.
"I'm not at liberty to speak about it," Swil said.
He was advised in a letter that he should not talk
to anybody about the matter.
On Wednesday however, Swil spoke to KPCC
about his present state of mind. "This entire situa¬
tion is enormously stressful," he told KPCC. "I
have been placed under medical supervision."
Officially, Swil was placed on administrative
leave due to "employee misconduct," with the spe¬
cific details yet to be released.
Joe Futtner, the dean of the visual arts and media
studies division, said that Swil's leave will contin¬
ue "pending the outcome of an investigation."
Futtner also added that the nature of the complaint
made against Swil is, and will remain confidential.
The whole sequence of events of Swil's depar¬
ture caught the entire staff off guard. He was
escorted off campus minutes before the Journalism
class, leaving a room of curious journalists won¬
dering why he wasn't there.
As the story unfolded, Courier editors became
suspicious after the newspaper adviser was put on
leave just two days after President Mark Rocha vis¬
ited the newsroom and made it clear that he had a
problem with the Courier's coverage.
While the timing seemed suspicious, the admin¬
istration has made numerous statements to assure
people that the decision was not retaliatory against
the paper.
On Monday, Bob Bell, senior vice president and
assistant superintendent of business and college
services, refuted speculation that the decision to
place Swil on administrative leave or that it had
Continued on page 6
Warren Swil
picks up his
personal
affects a day
after being
notified he
was placed
on adminis¬
trative leave
on March 29.
Lissett
Matos
/
Courier
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