PCC Courier, April 26, 2001

if > Ijltfll I /. {4, Pasadena City College the 1Ш 1Ш lilt 1111 lilll ЩИ pi itfi щщш шмш tlili Since 1915 VOL. 86 NO. 27 www. p cc-courieronline. com April 26, 2001 A Different View With Downey in detox one more time, staff columnist Jon Heller ventures forth into the drug war battlefield. The casualties are mounting and the weapons aren't working but no one has the guts to raise the white flag. SEE PAGE 2 Lounge Act School? This is a school? Hangers-on abound on campus as the next generation dis¬ covers that going to school doesn't always mean being in school. Besides, who wants to stand in line for regis¬ tration when Quad 101 is for free and for fun? SEE PAGE 3 ■ Tlv. ... V 't Do YOU LIKE PAIN? There's a hole lot of piercing going on. Called everything from body fashion to body art, body piercing is more than a passing fad. And some have become veritable collectors, with holes from head to toe. SEE PAGE 7 AS ELECTIONS It's that time of the year again. Candidates for the AS board will answer questions from students and student journalists at noon today in the Cross Cultural Center in the CC Building. Moderated by 'Courier' columnist Jon Heller, the forum provides everyone an opportunity to meet and learn about the candidates for stu¬ dent government before next week's election. Remember to come to the open forum early because seating is limited_ Common cents Credit companies have high interest in signing up students С Л?£|: к***'' : j!E^E32a'- , Latoya Sturge / The Courier With trinkets like keychains and candy, credit card companies are luring students into long-term debt with the promise of easy credit. Rash spending leads to big debt Lisa Rodriguez Staff Writer On the surface credit cards seem like a great way to pay for things. It only requires a small payment each month to buy whatever your heart desires at least that’s what many student’s believe but before they realize it, they^ are $1000 in debt. Doesn’t sound like much of a prob¬ lem until that $1000 goes up to $2000 and the payments don’t even make a dent in that balance. The problem with this is that students tend to ignore or simply do not understand the ramifications of buying on credit until it’s too late. They are left paying for some¬ thing long after the thrill of buying is gone. Astoundingly, thousands of col¬ lege students have found them¬ selves victims of their own credit card folly. And on a daily basis hundreds more are damaging their credit ratings for years to come. “Applications are mailed to me all the time saying that I’ve been pre-approved for credit, but 1 found that’s not necessarily true,” said stu¬ dent Brian Lowry, from Mt. Sac. “1 returned the applications in the self addressed envelope along with my signature. Two, weeks later I received a letter saying that 1 had too much credit! Depending on the individual’s credit history, hav- > SEE Debt, PAGE 11 Beware of low interest offers By Tim Alves Editor in Chief Students get deluged with a steady stream of unsolicited credit card applications. s Inside Credit card debt has ruined the lives of more than one PCC student. PAGE 8 pRipped off} At booths in the quad, credit card companies entice students with worthless baubles, gaudy bits of junk and melted candy bars. They gladly exchange all of these useless items for a high- interest credit card that keeps you paying for years. PAGE 8 Money matters: The ‘Courier’ has a step-by-step guide to getting you out of the red and debt free. PAGE 8 >• Knowledge is power: Learn the six secrets to saving money that the credit card companies don’t want you to know about. Our tips will help put you back on the road to financial stability. PAGE 8 They arrive on your doorstep as unannounced guests that could eventually end up staying around for a lifetime. As with most guests, they come bearing gifts such as free money, no hassle loans, pre-approved limits and the most enticing of all, a low introductory annual percentage rate (APR). That’s right, these so-called guests are the dozens upon dozens of credit card applications that stuff your mailbox. But remember the old adage, buyer beware. Beyond the pretty pictures of pandas, teddy bears and the logo of your favorite sports team, there is very little attractive about these credit cards. “1 was like, yeah, this is cool. 1 could buy what I wanted to. I got a stereo for my car, some new clothes and a meal or two, you know, rice and beans, that kind of stuff. And it was cool for a while. But then the finance charges jumped up. It went from something like a couple of bucks a month to $50. It was more than my monthly minimum pay¬ ment, but I’m stuck with it now,” said Carlo Dominguez, student. Dominguez is one of the mil¬ lions of college students nationwide lured by the promise of high credit >- see Credit, page 8 Columbine anniversary renews calls for arming campus police By Vincent D'Orazi Staff Writer Last Friday’s anniversary of the Columbine massacre, along with reports of a possible crime involving a gun on campus over spring break, have helped fuel the debate of whether or not PCC’s campus police officers should remain unarmed. At the center of the debate is the college’s board of trustees. They have always believed that campus officers shall not carry guns while on duty. “Generally, the board has felt that the dan¬ ger of an accidental shooting outweighs the very rare occasions when an armed response may have been warranted,” explained PCC President Dr. James Kossler. “1 guess someone’s going to have to die for them to realize that this is a problem,” said a member of the campus police force, who wished to remain anonymous. “They think that this can’t happen on our campus, and that these kids are not armed. The majority of them are, whether it be a knife, a gun, or whatever.” “1 as an individual do not think that the danger has increased that much in the col¬ leges,” stated Dr. Richard Green, board vice president. “The board in the past has consid¬ ered the danger to students greater than the protection provided if the campus police were armed.” “We take the position that we do not want our officers to put themselves in harms way,” said Kossler. “If they are at all concerned that they may be in an armed confrontation, we have directed them to immediately request PPD backup.” Board president Luther Renfroe believes that school campuses are still the safest place for students. He cited an incident which occurred on a campus in Illinois to back-up the board’s posi¬ tion. “There could be an accidental shooting by any officer at night thinking someone was holding a gun when it is really a cell phone,” said Renfroe. June Arnette of the National School Safety >- SEE Guns, PAGE 3 Tradesmen refuse to work with asbestos By Robert Glassey Staff Writer The head of the skilled trades and custodians union said his members refuse to work with or around asbestos, citing its cancer-causing poten¬ tial. “None of us came here expecting to do asbestos removal,” said Jerold Blanton, president of the California School Employees Association. “Have we worked in and around asbestos? Yes, in our ignorance, we have,” he said. “But now we are aware of its dangers and want no part of it.” In a letter to each of the district’s elected trustees, Blanton referred them to district-spon¬ sored asbestos awareness training that states “only recently it has been discovered that even low levels of asbestos can cause cancer.” This is in stark contrast to other asbestos-relat¬ ed illnesses such as asbestosis and mesothelioma which generally develop only after long-term, heavy exposure. Blanton challenged statements made by PCC administrators at the April 4 board of trustees meeting which, in his view, incorrectly minimized the dangers of asbestos. Blanton said he is speaking for the classified employees who work in facilities, many of whom, he said, have approached him individually with their concerns about working around asbestos. “A lot of people won’t say anything,” he said. “About half the people expressed these concerns. Most of us who have been in the trades probably are the biggest objectors, the carpenters, plumbers and electricians.” However, the point of recent stirrings at PCC to come into compliance with Cal/OSHA safety regu¬ lations is to qualify facilities employees to cope with asbestos as they do their work. see Asbestos, PAGE 11 Activists call for affordable rents Pasadena housing under scrutiny By Aaron Harris Courier Correspondent Availability of housing in Pasadena has never been a problem; however, the ability of students to afford that housing is a different story. The Affordable Housing Action of Pasadena has decid¬ ed to take a stand on this issue. The Affordable Housing Action has been passing out fliers on the PCC campus with their war cry; “Pasadena for All Pasadenans!” splashed across the top. They are on campus trying to inform students of the Pasadena City Council’s lack of effort to stop “big money developers” as they call them _ from building more housing units without taking into consideration working class and low income people. Students fall into both groups. >> see Housing, PAGE 4 “The Pasadena area should be a place for everyone to live not just the rich.” Shawn MacDougal, AHA coordinator Matt Robinson / The Courier Semi-automatic guns could be another weapon in the campus cops’ arsenal.