PCC Courier, April 28, 2005

1717П fairly ■т Staff Writer PCC has a new top cop, but don't get too used to him. Interim police chief Frank Scialdone is just here to do a job. After nearly 32 years with the Fontana police depart¬ ment, the last five as chief, Scialdone does not intend to stay more than a few months, but he expects to leave a mark. “Some people use the inter¬ im position as an opportunity to clean house. I don't see that as my job,” he said. “My job is to per¬ form a management audit.” His report will help the administra¬ tion set a course for the department, and guide its search for a permanent police chief. That search, already well into its second year, has been a learning expe¬ rience for all involved. As Victor Collins, interim dean of human resources, noted, “The last chief of police was hired 20 years ago.” Rafael Delgado / Courier Frank Scialdone takes charge as the new director of campus safety service. By this February, a second recruit¬ ment had delivered three strong candi¬ dates. “Each of the three candidates rep¬ resented different areas of expertise in law enforcement,” said Collins. “Seeing that made us think. Maybe we better take a look at what our needs are.” He said “We need to have someone familiar with all phases of the depart¬ ment to assist us with setting up the parameters.” PCC has worked before with Norm Traub & Associates, law enforce¬ ment consultants. They “gave me a couple of names and we brought in Frank Scialdone to interview,” said Collins, who referred Scialdone to Peter Hardash, vice-president for administrative services. “We felt very comfortable,” said Collins. “The background experience that Frank Scialdone brought exceeds what we were expecting.” Collins singled out Scialdone's educational experience, the way “He helped reduce the policing situation at Fontana Unified.” Collins also noted that all com¬ munity college police departments have difficulty recruiting. “The promotional opportunities are not as good as any city force,” he said, observing that a campus force lacks many of the facili¬ ties of, say, the Pasadena Police Department. “We want to make sure we do this Chief Page Faculty Wary of ‘Fair Share’ Fee p\nn*TW рзгтпзЬп Staff Writer While the first fair-share service fee required for non-members of the California Teachers Association to pay for union representation looms around the corner, faculty members are taking legal action to ensure the fee is proper¬ ly calculated and permissible. Chemistry instructor and open-gov¬ ernment advocate Richard McKee said he plans to sue PCC/CTA on May 6 after the first fee has been taken from faculty paychecks. His goals are to get more information as to what the costs are and change how the fair share is calculated. McKee wrote in a letter to PCC/CTA that the union committed an unfair labor practice because they didn’t submit a Hudson notice, a docu¬ ment that outlines the basis of the fees they would be implementing. “My action is simple: to get СТА to follow the laws,” McKee said. “I’m not against the paying of services I’m receiving as a faculty member. I’m against there being no evidence as to how the fees are being assessed.” According to the attorneys repre¬ senting PCC/CTA, the union did com¬ ply with the requirements of the Hudson notice and also offered to send McKee the “verified financial state¬ ment” and financial records of the union. “We want this to work smooth,” said СТА head negotiator and English instructor Roger Marheine. The union also wants to comply with the law, he added. СТА cites a law that gives a union permission to collect an agency shop fee from all workers who benefit from union negotiations. But McKee challenges the amount PCC/CTA has tentatively decided to charge which is an equal amount paid by both union members and non-mem¬ bers. “By law, non-members are not required to pay the same as the dues assessed to union members,” McKee said. “An agency shop fee is less by the amount of ‘non-chargeable’ expenses.” Non-members will be able to file for a rebate for the money not used for negotiations at PCC, Marheine said. Another issue raised by faculty members is part-timers paying dues multiple times. Frank Catalano, a part-time social sciences instructor at PCC and a non¬ member of the СТА, filed a complaint with the State Public Employment Relations Board in regards to the fair share service fee deducted from his paycheck at Ventura Community College, where he also teaches part- time. PCC will be the third campus where Catalano pays the fee. Cumulatively, Kenny Kimura/ Courier PCC student Paul Chenard gets his camera phone ready to snap shots of the campus for “A Week in the Life of PCC,” a photo contest hosted by the college as part of the citywide What Drives L.A.? series. Now through Saturday, April 30, students, faculty and staff are invited to capture moments of PCC life using either a camera phone or digital camera and upload them to the website www.pasadena.edu/photoshoot. During the week of May 2, the public will vote for the best photos online. The win¬ ning images will be used in the graduation broadcast and displayed in the New Media Center lobby. Starting May S, a panel of judges will view all the entries and select the best photo to receive the grand prize: a 30-gigabyte Apple iPod Photo. All winners will be announced May 12. CEC 5 К Health Run and Walk СТА Page 6 law Snn-i Тэтт’ Opinion Editor If you’re looking for a chance to get in some exercise with just a bit of competition, take part in the 21st annual 5K Run and Walk, which will be hosted by the Community Education Center on May 7. The event returns after a two-year hiatus due to various people retiring at the CEC. It kicks off at the Rose Bowl with a IK run, walk or crawl for children aged 3 to 5 at 7:30 a.m. The 5K run/walk will follow at 8 a.m. The top male and female runners will each receive trophies, along with the top overall walker. The top three finishers in each of the seven age divi¬ sions will be awarded medals. Those who cannot walk or run can be a sponsor for someone who can. Proceeds will benefit the CEC student activity fund, which supports cultural enrichment pro¬ grams. In the past, the fund has paid for a luau and a Brazilian carnival along with performances from a ballet folkorico group and Chinese acrobats. Proceeds will also benefit student services at the CEC. Registration for the event is $15 and all partici¬ pants will receive a commemorative T-shirt. Entry forms are currently available at the CEC. Participants may register in advance or on the morning of the event at 7:30 a.m. at the Rose Bowl. “It’s fun, [students] may even benefit from the exercise and it’s a good way to support the college,” said Ibrahim Naeem, CEC supervisor. For more information, call the CEC at (626) 585-3003. ON CAMPUS Battle of the DJs Orlando Pina/ Courier PCC student Ralph Sanchez showed of his skills in the first campus DJ Union DJ Battle 17331 ]71У1У31 'J Staff Writer PCC student DJs battled it out in the Quad Tuesday at the first-ever PCC DJ Union DJ Battle. With steady beats filling in the back¬ ground, each DJ entrant took his or her place behind the turntables, showing their stuff in front of the large gathering of students and fac¬ ulty that quickly formed around the event. And that was only the opening day. The winners will go on to battle in the first round today and then compete in the second round on Tuesday, May 10. Both events taking place at noon in the Quad. The final round, which will take place in the Louis Creveling Lounge later on May 10 from 7 to 9 p.m., will deter¬ mine the DJ Battle champion. This first-prize winner will receive a life¬ time 20 percent discount at World Records. Other prizes include give¬ aways from Bent, Grayone, and SixstarDJ. “We have DJs coming from Los Angeles, Pasadena, South Pasadena, Eagle Rock, Arcadia and even Glendale,” said Esteban Lopez, president of the DJ Union. “It will be a well-rounded turnout.” DJ Battle Page 4 Orlando Pina /Courier PCC student Eric Rios showed of his skills in the first campus DJ Union DJ Battle Like Politics? Get Involved With A.S. j7i?ra Tjniyt v Staff Writer The deadline to apply to run for a PCC student govern¬ ment position is Friday at 4 p.m. Candidacy packets can be picked up at the office of student affairs desk at CC203. Potential candidates need at least 60 valid signatures. “We really do check the signatures, so having extras is a good idea,” said Rebecca Cobb, student affairs adviser. “Don’t be intimidated,” said David Kong, PCC Associated Students president. “You don’t need to be a political science major. Different people bring different per¬ spectives.” But be prepared to commit enough hours. “It’s really about time management,” Kong said. The Spring 2005 general elections will be held the week of May 23, covering all A.S. board positions, as well as the student trustee and chief justice of the supreme council. Serving PCC and the Pasadena community since 1915 Pasadena City College Student Art Top winners named in annual competition Page 5 April 28, 2005 pcc-courieronline.com Vol. 91, Issue 9 Staff Impersonator Pulls Off Library Heist 7*313-1 ТЭ^Т-’З Arts Editor A man posing as a PCC computer tech¬ nician stole $12,000 worth of computer equipment from the college library on April 8. The man entered the library wearing black Dockers pants and a red polo shirt with “PCC” written on the back. The words “Computer Lab” were also written on the front of his shirt. He arrived carry¬ ing a phony work-order that appeared to give him permission to take the touch¬ screen self-checkout computer away for repairs. Coincidentally, the library was having problems with that particular com¬ puter, officials said. Sgt. Steven Lester of the PCC police department said the man arrived at the library around 10:45 a.m. with the work- order that had the name Douglas Quong on it. Quong showed the paperwork to student library workers who then took it to their supervisor. She signed off the official looking paper work. Quong then rolled the computer on a cart to the east-side back door of the library building where he put the comput¬ er into his car. He then rolled the cart to the library’s service elevator where he left it. According to the police report, the fol¬ lowing Monday April 12, librarian Leslie Tirapelle said it was mentioned in an e- mail that a computer services worker had serviced the computer. When Tirapelle went to see what was done to the comput¬ er she found it missing. She contacted PCC computer services to verify that they had the computer, which they did not. Tirapelle then contacted campus police. Campus police ran Quong’s name through the school’s database of students, and it came back negative. They then ran his name through California Law Enforcement Telecommunication System, a database that holds the name, birth date and description of past offenders. That search also came back negative. The self-checkout computer was locat¬ ed near the women’s restroom on the first floor. The computer let students check out their library books without having to wait in line at the circulation desk. After stu¬ dents scanned their ID card and the book’s barcode both were input into the comput¬ er and the student was allowed to check them out for the allotted time. “It’s really unfortunate because the people who really lose here are the students,” Tirapelle said. Although the computer was programmed specifically for this task it could be repro¬ grammed for any other use, said campus police officials. Hail to the New Police Chief Capture a Week in the Life of PCC