Pasadena City College
PCC COUBIEBONIIN E.COM
E 1996
pLjtefi
■ A photographer
and a writer
spend their
afternoon on
campus struggling
up ramps and
waiting for
elevators in an
attempt to
understand life in
a wheelchair.
Special Elections
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Scrambling to fill seats
Associated Students , Election Committee struggle to salvage elections
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-The Associated Students approved holding a second
election to fill student government positions due to a
lack, of eligible applicants. This special election will fol¬
low the same guidelines and requirements as the regular
election, but with different dates.
By Jon Heller
and Mike Cervantes
Courier Staff Writers
The road to student self-gover¬
nance took a severe detour this week
when more than 75 percent of the
potential candidates for student gov¬
ernment positions were deemed inel¬
igible.
The student government elections
are held each spring to fill the 11
seats on the AS board, this year 14
students turned in applications to run
for office. Of those applicants, 11
were disqualified for a variety of rea¬
sons ranging from insufficient acad¬
emic units to using the wrong forms
for collecting signatures.
However, the election committee
decided late Wednesday night that
four of those 1 1 students would get a
second chance at being candidates.
After meeting for over two hours in
open session, Stephen Johnson,
assistant dean of student affairs, and
the committee reconsidered four of
the applications that were rejected.
Johnson encouraged members of the
committee to consider whether or
not the disqualified students were
“substantially compliant.”
Vague wording in the election
bylaws require nomination petitions
be submitted on a form approved by
the office of student activities, and
50 student signatures, validated by
Social Security or school I.D. num¬
bers, are just some of the require¬
ments for candidacy. Some appli¬
cants, after filling the allotted space
on the official forms, used the backs
or plain paper for signatures, which
led to their disqualification.
Rebecca Cobb, student affairs
adviser said, “There is no informa¬
tional session set up to explain the
election laws and rules to candidates.
However, they have the option of
going to us (Cobb and Johnson) for
clarification and help.”
Confusion in the past over the
rules and regulations stipulated in
the election packet bylaws led to
efforts by Johnson and Cobb to miti¬
gate some of the problems.
A supplement was added to the
election packet in 1 997 in the hopes
of making the candidacy process
smoother, and during Wednesday
nights meeting several proposals
were discussed for simplifying the
wording of some bylaws. Since
December, the supreme council,
chaired by chief justice Sophia
Corleone, has been reviewing and
rewriting the bylaws for possible
approval by the AS board later this
spring.
“We didn’t have to, but because
of all the problems and chaos, wc’vc
tried to make things a little more
manageable,” said Cobb.
Cobb admitted there were prob¬
lems with the bylaws in previous
elections, but not to this magnitude.
“The constitution is basically the
philosophy, and the bylaws govern
the day-to-day operations. They’re
like the nuts and bolts of how things
should happen,” said Cobb
In 1 998, the student body voted to
change the constitution, however the
See ELECTIONS on pg 2
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Structure is approved
despite neighbors’ gripes
Board votes 'yes' to build a controversial parking garage
Curtis Gregory/ The Courier
The college honored the infamous janitors who used their investigative skills to lead police to a graffiti vandal.
Gold Plaques
Custodial ‘sleuths’
haul in the honors
By Gia Scafidi
Courier Staff Writer
Despite concerns over noise,
traffic congestion and safety, board
of trustees members approved the
construction plans for a new park¬
ing structure with an athletic field
on top in a 4-3 vote at last
Wednesday’s board meeting.
The structure is one of many
construction concepts proposed for
the Master Plan 2010.
Dr. James Kossler, college presi¬
dent, provided the board and the
audience with a visual presentation,
displaying the pros and cons of all
the options considered to mitigate
the parking problem and provide
space for physical education
instruction.
Based on comparative studies,
the board voted on the option con¬
sidered the most logical and benefi¬
cial, which is a parking structure
with three ground levels and a field
where Lot 5 presently sits on the
corner of Del Mar Avenue and
Bonnie Street.
“PCC has one of the largest
enrollments of the local community
colleges, but only has one athletic
field,” noted Kossler.
According to the master plan, the
construction will provide for an
official-size soccer field and an
increase of approximately 750
spaces, bringing the present stu-
dent-to-parking space ratio up from
8.4 to 6.9. According to Kossler,
the average ratio at other communi¬
ty colleges is 5.5.
As in the past, neighbors were
present to voice their frustrations.
Again, they urged the board to con-
. . adding more
parking spaces is
going to look like
the greatest waste of
money the board has
ever entertained
when you look back
10 to 20 years from
now.”
-David Worrell,
neighbor
sider other options, including a
regional transportation project,
building a structure with subter¬
ranean levels and spending money
on instructional projects instead.
One angry neighbor, David
Worrell, said, “What you are doing
by adding more parking spaces is
going to look like the greatest waste
of money the board has ever enter¬
tained when you look back 10 to 20
years from now.”
Many people also raised their
concerns about the safety in a park¬
ing structure. Along with some of
the neighbors, Jeanette Mann,
Susanna Miele and Beth Wells-
Miller, the three female board mem¬
bers who voted against the struc¬
ture, brought up the fears that many
women have parking in structures at
night.
“I, myself, do not feel comfort¬
able in the structure, and I know
many others do not cither,” said
Wells-Miller.
She, along with Mann and
Miele, were also concerned about
the cost of such a structure.
According to the plan, the proposed
structure will cost $18 to 21 mil¬
lion, which will come out of student
parking fees, according to Rod
Fleeman, vice president and mem¬
ber of the master plan committee.
“I don’t feel we are prepared to
support such an expenditure,” said
Wells-Miller.
See PARKING on page 3
Richard Caldwell and Leo Larsuel were recognized by administration
By Tim Alves
Courier Staff Writer
the two facilities custodians who
nearly single-handedly identified,
tracked down and collared a prolific
graffiti vandal were honored by the
board of trustees for their enterprising
detective work.
Richard Caldwell and Leo Larsuel
were praised and presented gold
plaques of recognition by administra¬
tors at the April 5 meeting.
“It was kind of embarrassing
being in front of so many people. I
should’ve worn a tie, they were all in
ties. To think, I almost wore my work
uniform,” laughed Caldwell.
“It was a really nice thing they did,
I’m grateful they took the time to do
that for us,” said Larsuel.
Rod Fleeman, vice president of
administrative services recounted for
the board how' the two decided to do
something to stop the “tagger” that
had been on an eight month spree.
“They got fed up with it and I
don’.t blame them. Sometimes you
come in, see the damage and it just
made you sick, it actually made your
stomach turn.
But through their diligence,
through their observations, through
their investigation, they were able to
identify, and with the help of our
police, catch the person that was
doing the damage,” said Fleeman.
Since busting the vandal on March
14, the exploits of Caldwell and
Larsuel have drawn attention to the
problem of graffiti on campus.
“On this campus the custodians
work so hard to keep it clean, and we
have people who mark windows and
spray paint areas and they’re (custo¬
dians) right on top of it. We have an
appreciation for you and your
efforts,” said Fleeman.
“I didn’t know anything abo'ut the
presentation,” said Caldwell.
“It’s a nice plaque, a pretty good
size. They didn’t have to do anything
like that,” said Caldwell.
“The college appreciates and
commends you for your extraordi¬
nary powers of detection to catch a
graffiti vandal on campus. Your ini¬
tiative is recognized and because of
your good work,” said Jeanette
Mann, board president.
Caldwell and Larsuel said they
were initially kept in the dark about
the surprise ceremony, but the detec¬
tive duo got wind of it from co-work¬
ers.
“At first, I hated to get up earlier
and get here by 6 p.m. since I usually
get here at 1 0 for my shift. But it was
worth it, I had fun,” said Caldwell.
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The Courier
MAKING WAVES
The men’s and women’s
swim teams took the top
spot in a double dual
meet against East Los
Angeles and Fullerton
colleges.
NETTING A TITLE
The women’s tennis team
tied for the SCC champi¬
onship, a first in the his¬
tory of the squad.
SEE SPORTS PG. to
>
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