Thursday, April 20.
Vol. LXXXV, No. 25
The
Pasadena City College
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■ NEWS Paae
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■ Last
weekend’s
Special
Olympics
proved how
unique these
athletes are.
Everyone got
to compete in
a variety of
events.
One?
Soap
opera
politics
One of the two
candidates running
for the AS
president, pulls out
By Jon Heller
Courier Staff Writer
Just when you thought the soap
opera that is student government
couldn’t get any stranger, it does.
Amid an eligibility controversy, a
lack of candidates and a special elec¬
tion being held to plug the holes in a
majority-less board came the sur¬
prise announcement yesterday that
Sophia Corleone, one of only two
candidates for Associated Student
(AS) president, has withdrawn due
to health concerns.
“I am devastated that I cannot
run,” said Corleone, ’who is the cur¬
rent chief justice on the AS board.
Her last-minute exit leaves the race
for president uncontested.
“It is not my personal decision,”
said Corleone, “My body can’t take
the rigors of campaigning, consider¬
ing I still have to complete the by¬
laws as the chief justice.”
As the presiding member of the
supreme council, Corleone is cur¬
rently overseeing the rewriting of the
student constitution bylaws. Bylaws
that ironically include the election
rules and regulations that played a
major role in the ineligibility fiasco.
With elections scheduled for next
week, the field for AS president is
now down to one. Independent can¬
didate Daniel Loh, 18, a business
major, is virtually guaranteed victo¬
ry-
“This is shocking news, I wish
she (Corleone) could have run
against me,” said Loh.
Meanwhile, Areg Barsegyan,
“I am devastated
that I cannot run.”
-Sophie Corleone,
AS' Chief Justice
vice-president of external affairs,
withdrew from all classes and
resigned from the current board.
Citing academic and personal
concerns, Barsegyan thanked the AS
board yesterday for its support and
encouragement. The board in turn
praised Barsegyan for his hard work
and dedication, singling out his lob¬
bying on behalf of student govern¬
ment in Washington, D.C.
“We will miss him very much, his
heart was definitely in this job,” said
Rebecca Cobb, AS adviser.
The student body elections for
president, student services, cultural
diversity and external affairs will be
held Tuesday, April 25 and
Wednesday, April 26 at the west end
of the quad. The special election for
the remaining positions is scheduled
for May 9 and 10.
Correspondent Diana Thai con¬
tributed to this story.
Photo courtesy of Miguel Fernandez
Maria Isabel Fernandez, a talented flaminco dancer in her first year at PCC, was brutally murdered at age 1 7.
Justice for ‘Maria?’
A student's suspected
slayer found in Mexico, hut his
extradition will take a while
By Audrey Allen
Courier Staff Writer
It was just a year ago when Miguel Fernandez’s
daughter, a 1 7-year-old PCC student, was stabbed 47
times in her house only a few blocks away from the
campus. The girl’s boyfriend, 28-year old Johnny
Ortiz, the only suspect in the killing, vanished after the
murder. The Pasadena City Council offered a $25,000
award for information leading to his arrest. Pasadena
considered him the “Number One Most Wanted man.”
What seemed like an army of FBI officials, police offi¬
cers and even PCC students were struggling to hunt
him down. After a year of empty leads, everyone
doubted that Ortiz would ever be found. It was almost
a forgotten case.
Almost. But Fernandez was still determined that his
daughter, Maria Isabel Fernandez, who was a flamen¬
co dancer, would not end up as another unsolved case.
“I will not rest a moment until her killer is in prison. He
is out there, and will not hesitate to stab someone else’s
daughter,” he said.
On Feb. 7, Fernandez appeared on the Spanish-lan-
guage talk show, “The Cristina Show” with a picture of
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Photo courtesy of Miguel Fernandez
Ortiz. The police got a tip that Ortiz was living in
Mexico City under the pseudonym, Alvaro Aguilar. On
March 13, Pasadena Police Cpl. Alejandro Peinado
flew to Mexico and Ortiz was captured and held in a
federal facility in Mexico City in the custody of
See FERNANDEZ on page 6
Instructors’ plea
Part-timers
are tired of
being poor
Faculty want more for their "freeway flying'
By Erika Kennelley
Courier Staff Writer
In an attempt to justify the
unequal pay difference between
part-time and full-time instructors
on campus, adjunct faculty mem¬
bers at PCC are demanding a pay
raise and benefit package.
They are not alone. Part-timers
at all of California’s community
colleges have asked state lawmak¬
ers for $80 million to increase
teachers’ salaries and benefits.
If approved, PCC will receive
$1.6 million. Thus, a large number
of part-time instructors at PCC are
lobbying for a raise.
According to a Fall 1998 analy¬
sis by the California Federation of
Teachers, a part-time community
college instructor is paid 37 percent
of the salary earned by a full-time
instructor.
The average salary for working
full-time (15 in-class hours and
other instructor duties) is $59,295
without benefits.
Part-time instructors with the
same work load are paid $22,054 on
average. They also do not receive
any duties other than lecture time.
They are not required to keep office
hours or serve on campus commit¬
tees.
Last week, PCC part-timers set
up a booth in the quad asking stu¬
dents and full-time instructors to
sign petitions in order to persuade
college administrators to meet their
demands before their contracts
expire on June 30.
Also present on campus was the
“Freeway Flyer:” a person dressed
up as a bird who represents all part-
time members who drive from one
campus to another in order to make
a living.
Right now, there are 866 part-
time instructors at PCC while there
are only 353 faculty members
working full-time. This means that
two out of three classes are taught
by part-time instructors.
In a report released by the Action
2000 Coalition, PCC part-timers
earn 5 1 percent of the pay an equiv¬
alently trained full-time instructor
receives (excluding benefits). After
10 years, the number decreases to
41 percent.
“We’re just pushing for higher
pay by asking the district to ear¬
mark funds for a salary increase.
We’re hoping Sacramento will
come through with funds to help,”
said PCC English instructor, Lynn
Woods, who has been working
part-time for two years.
“The part-time faculty are
already paid for in-class hours, but
we want to be paid for preparation
time before class as well as confer¬
ence hours.
Wc spend a lot of our free time
with students outside of class and
it’s not fair,” said Preston Rose,
who has taught English part-time at
PCC for nine years.
As of now, there is no possibility
of part-time instructors going on
strike.
F O f l! Ill 4—
In honor
of a
nurse
By Gia Scafadi
Courier Staff Writer
The nursing division’s founding
chair will be recognized on May 6
when the college names the forum in
her honor-The Lillian Voslow Forum.
At the many requests of the nurs¬
ing division and nursing alumni, tire
board of trustees approved the dedica¬
tion, based on Voslow’s accomplish¬
ments, contributions and dedication
to the college.
“No one else stands out like she
does,” said Mary Wynn, division dean
of nursing.
Among her many roles, including
activist, educator, academic adviser
and nurse, Voslow (1903-1974) was
the first dean of PCC’s nursing divi¬
sion. In the early 1950s she con¬
vinced the State of California that a
two-year, college-based program was
efficient and effective in preparing
students for the nursing field, Wynn
explained.
Prior to this, the state law required
nursing students to be enrolled in a
non-academic, apprentice program
for three years to receive a diploma,
or four to five years for a bachelor’s
degree. In 1953, because of Voslow’s
efforts, PCC became one of only six
community colleges in the United
States willing to serve as a pilot
school for the two-year program.
In a 1953 yearbook dedication to
See VOSLOW on page 3
‘A Fair to Remember ’
For those who missed the job fair, get your
pens ready, folks, ready to fill out all over
those applications for a new job. Also,
shake the dust off your resume, revise,
revise, and revise it some more and visit the
Job Placement Center. The 13th annual Job
Fair just made the unemployment line a
shorter leap to a full paycheck.
SEE NEWS PAGE 3
4/20-
Do you smell it burning in the air?
It only happens once a year, so what is the fascination
with the legendary April 20. See what all the hype is
about, and peek inside a sleek photo gallery, and an
astonishing viewpoint on this weird, wacky freak day!
SEE PROFILE PAGE 5
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