OPINION
FEATURES
SPORTS
How much do AS candidates
really care about their
constituency?
Page 2
Professor Craig Gillingham gets closer to
the stars.
Page 5
Women’s basketball player
Monica Rocha is awarded
first team SCC.
Page 6
THE
PASADENA CITY COLLEGE
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA
VOL. 80 No. 26
COURIER
Serving the Pasadena Community since 1915
THURSDAY
April 20, 1995
Student elections postponed
By PAT ROBISON
COURIER STAFF WRITER
The 1995 Associated Students (AS) and
student trustee elections, originally sched¬
uled to begin yesterday have been delayed
one week due to an oversight by the office of
student affairs.
According to Article V of the election
bylaws, candidates were required to submit
written statements to the office of student
affairs at least one hour before the manda¬
tory candidates meeting last Tuesday. How¬
ever, of the 17 students running for office,
only five turned in a statement.
Rebecca Cobb, AS adviser, said, ‘In the
past we have given some latitude as far as
written statements go because the require¬
ment isn’t listed with the other disqualifica¬
tions.” She said the things listed are actions
that directly hurt other candidates like taking
down another person’s campaign materials
or making slanderous or libelous statepients
about others.
But Cobb and Johnson decided to post¬
pone the elections because Cobb said, “A
student came to me last week and asked if
this [requirement] was anything to be con¬
cerned about. I read the whole thing and
decided that this is an issue we have to deal
with. I don’t want detrimental things to
happen to candidates because of an oversight
in our office,” she said.
Stephen Johnson, assistant dean of stu¬
dent affairs, said, “The election code has a
disqualifier listed in a section other than the
disqualification section. If the students want
to rework the election code, we will advise
them to put all the requirements and
disqualifiers in one place that is correctly
titled and easy to follow.” Students rejected
a new constitution earlier this year that could
have dealt with this issue.
The election materials packet given to all
candidates contains the election bylaws in¬
cluding Article V, which makes the written
statements submitted to the student affairs
office mandatory. Students are also required
to sign a statement that says they have read
all the material. However, Article VI says
that students are “invited” to express them¬
selves in writing to the COURIER. The
packet also contains a sheet of paper labeled
“Candidate’s Written Statement” at the top.
“This is an oversight based on my history
with this issue,” Cobb said. "Since the
bylaws do not say why the statements are
necessary or what to do with them once they
are collected, they haven't been given the
same weight as GPA requirements or the
other qualifications or rules that we give the
students in the candidates’ meeting.”
The elections will be held next Wednes¬
day and Thursday and the new deadline for
written statements is this Friday at 11 a.m.
Those candidates who do not turn in written
statements by then, will be disqualified.
At yesterday’s AS Board meeting, cur-
Please see ELECTIONS, Page 5
Fund drive
for KPCC
a success
Bookstore worker charged with grand theft
ENRIQUE ARMENDARIZ/THE COURIER
Solar Eagle II, a solar-powered electric car built by Cal State L.A. students, is displayed in the Quad.
Students learn to be ‘Earthwise’
By JOSE INOSTROZ
COURIER STAFF WRITER
The rain and chill earlier this
week did not keep the faithful few
from supporting Earthweek pro¬
grams sponsored by the club
Earthwise. An array of programs
ranging from Native American
story tellers to a Heal The Bay
speaker were lined up for the week.
On Monday, Aimee Sea Wa¬
ter, a Native American told three
short stories to a small gathering
of about 10 students. “The stories
are like Aesop’s Fables that have
a meaning and something to be
grasped by all who listen,” said
Earthwise president Bob Cagle.
On Tuesday, the group spon¬
sored Tamara Hurwitz, Southern
California director of Rain Forest
Action Network, an organization
which informs the public about the
diminishing rain forests.
Speaking before a gathering of
about 20 students, Hurwitz said ac¬
tions that can be taken to prevent rain
forest loss are to boycott; write let¬
ters, and protest against corporations
that use trees for products.
Mitsubishi, for example, one of the
largest destroyers of the rain forests
in South America uses trees to make
chop-sticks. According to Hurwitz,
Mitsubishi burns about 80 percent of
trees if they don’t have a solid white
heart, or core.
Deanna Brady shared with about
15 students, a variety of Native
American folk stories Tuesday-
evening. Beginning with a cleansing
ritual using incense from sage grass,
Brady offered a prayer in the
Shumash language to thank the
Shumash people for welcoming
the tribes that came to settle in
their land. Brady shared fable¬
like stories designed to teach and
entertain children. Although no
children were present, stories such
as “Round Like A Ball Boy,”
which teach those who listen to
see beyond the external, “The
Girl Who Loved Colors,” about
how flowers came into the world,
and “The First Dog,” about how
the first dog came to exist, enter¬
tained and amused the audience.
On Wednesday, the Solar
Eagle II solar car was displayed
out in the Quad. Built by, Cal
State L.A. engineering students.
The solar tiled car can travel up to
62 mph and can travel as long as
sun light permits.
Please see EARTH, Page 5
By ANDREW McDIARMID
COURIER STAFF WRITER
KPCC 89.3 FM, PCC’s National
Public Radio station, recently con¬
ducted a successful fund drive and
raised a record $334,401 in pledges
for the station.
The station received a $5,000
donation challenge from Johnny
Carson, asking others to match his
donation. Other donations were re¬
ceived from Anne Bancroft, Mel
Brooks, Sydney Pollock, and Peter
Bonerz.
“It’s not uncommon for us to get
celebrity donations,” said Rod Fos¬
ter, KPCC general manager, about
the 16 day fund drive. “What is even
better is that this allows us to use
their names in support of the station
encouraging pledges to match their
own.”
This is the second time that a fund
raiser for the PCC radio station has
surpassed the goal set by the station.
Along with a record number of
pledges, the station also saw an in¬
crease in the number of people be¬
coming members. Funds from mem¬
bership fees constitute a substantial
portion of the station’s $1 million
annual budget.
“We are terribly excited about the
success of the drive. Mia Karnatz,
our development director, who coor¬
dinated the event, should be given a
lot of praise for her work,” said Larry
Mantle, KPCC program/news direc¬
tor.
■Foster agreed with Mantle on the
success of the fund drive.
“Karnatz is attuned to the public
radio audience and knows how to
Please see KPCC, Page 6
By RAY ARMENDARIZ
COURIER STAFF WRITER
A bookstore employee who pleaded not-
guilty to grand theft at her arraignment in March
is awaiting a pre-trial hearing on May, 3 1 on
charges of stealing thousands of dollars, campus
police said.
Brenda Ransom, 42, is accused of manipulat¬
ing co-workers and friends into cashing fraudu¬
lent book return slips and then keeping the
money and dividing it with her accomplices,
according to the police report. The estimated
amount of money involved is $3,215.
“Doug Ferris, the bookstore manager came to
me and said he felt some improprieties were
going on in thebookstore, said Sergeant Vincent
Palermo of the college’s police department. Later
we discovered that one of the bookstore employ¬
ees had a number of book return slips with her
initials on them, showing refunds.”
Ferris first caught on to the phony return slips
after Virginia Dedeaux, supervisor of student
business services, discovered an addition error in
a book refund slip. After discovering the mistake
she went to the bookstore to inform Ferris. While
she was in the bookstore, Ransom confronted
Dedeaux and advised her that she would take
care of the problem herself. Ferris then arrived
and took the refund slip to investigate.
Dedeaux said that she did not realize that a
crime was uncovered because she found an error
in addition.
While searching for the original copy, Ferris
discovered another refund slip issued to the same
person a week earlier for the same book with
Ransom’s initials on the slips. The difference
between the slips was a 20 cent addition error.
The name on both slips was that of another
bookstore employee.
After Ferris checked all the refund slips for the
past month, he discovered that a lot of them were
issued to non-students and students who returned
books without having classes that required those
books.
The- student/employee later admitted to campus
police after questioning that suspect had asked him
to cooperate with her by cashing in the refund slips.
He told police that she approached him outside the
bookstore and gave him a refund slip for $300. He
cashed the slip at the student bank, gave Ransom the
money and she rewarded him with half the amount.
He later returned the money at the police department ’ s
request. The employee’s name appeared to be on
five other refund slips including the one with the
error.
Interviews with the other students and employ¬
ees who participated in the month-long scam also
Please see THEFT, Page 5
Nationwide search
for president begins
By ENRICO PIAZZA
COURIER STAFF WRITER
The nationwide search for the
college’s next president will be con¬
ducted by Dr. John McCuen, the
former president of Long Beach City
College and a consultant with Glenn
Gooder Associates. He will be aided
by a 21 -member selection commit¬
tee in presenting a pool of candidates
to the Board of Trustees.
Last Thursday, the board voted 6-
0-1 to appoint McCuen. Beth Wells-
Miller abstained. At its previous
meeting, the board heard presenta¬
tions from three of the most success¬
ful search companies in the state.
These three groups combined pro¬
vided candidates for 32 of the 46
college president posts that changed
in the last five years.
The majority of the board mem¬
bers argued that McCuen, who also
served as executive director of Cali¬
fornia Community College Trust¬
ees, was the best choice because of
his experience and knowledge of the
problems facing community col¬
leges. In addition, board members
said they highly valued the focus and
attention he promised PCC, some¬
thing that could not be matched by
the other major contenders. Paula
Carabelli, who represented the Witt/
Kieffer, Ford, Hadelman, Lloyd firm,
had just been hired for a chancellor
search by the Contra Costa City
College District.
Robert McLean, social science
professor, told the board that the
Faculty Senate “strongly supported”
Carabelli ’s company because it was
the firm that most clearly stated its
willingness to listen for input and
work with the community in the
search. Other faculty members also
argued in favor of Carabelli’s firm
citing their familiarity with shared
governance and collective bargain¬
ing issues. Wells-Miller argued that
a “one man operation” doesn’t have
the resources and the staff to do a
good job.
As for the composition of the
selection committee, the board voted
to basically keep the same format
used for the search that brought Dr.
Please see SEARCH, Page 6
Composition of Search Advisory Committee
for Superintendent/President
No.
Ren resent
How renresentatives will be selected
7
District Trustee
areas
Each Board of Trustees member will
appoint one person to represent his/her
area
1
Students
Representative will be the Student
Trustee (elected by student body during
their yearly elections)
3
Faculty members
Faculty Senate will elect
1
СТА
PCC’s
СТА
(California Teachers Asso¬
ciation) will determine
1
Assoc, of Asian-
Black-Chicano
Faculty and Staff
Association will select faculty and staff
1
Student Body
Associated Students will determine
2
Management:
One Certificated
One Classified
Both by majority vote of all managers
2
Classified
Classified Senate will determine
1
Classified
Three classified unions will determine
one classified employee to represent all
three unions
1
CSC employee
Community Skills Center staff will
determine
1
PCC Foundation
PCC Foundation Board will determine
Observer/ Affirmative
Action and Coordinator
Patricia Moffica, dean of human
resources
I