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.