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Pasadena City College
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Volume 100, Issue 13
"The Independent Student Voice of
РСС,
Serving Pasadena Since 1 91 5. '
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Murder
trial is
delayed
again
Former student
charged in killing of
alleged girlfriend
Genaro Bonilla
Staff Writer
Repeated rescheduling of a for¬
mer PCC student's murder trial
has left the gruesome death of a
young girl unsolved for over two
years.
Former PCC student Isaac
Campbell, accused of murdering
his alleged girlfriend, appeared in
court Dec. 3 when his preliminary
hearing was rescheduled to Jan. 6
due to further discussions between
the district attorney and the public
defender.
"I'm going to be meeting with
[Jim Duffy, public defender] to
possibly discuss a settlement,"
said Deputy District Attorney
Steve Ipson.
Campbell had appeared in court
Sept. 9 where his preliminary hear¬
ing was also rescheduled to Oct. 7.
When Campbell appeared on Oct.
7 the pre-trial was once again post¬
poned till Nov. 3.
Campbell's pre-trial has been
postponed four times in the last
four months.
Prior to this, there had been one
other preliminary hearing that was
postponed for nine months due to
the delay in finishing the autopsy
of Lu.
Campbell is on trial on suspi¬
cion of murdering his ex-girl¬
friend, Liya "Jessie" Lu, also a for¬
mer PCC student, in August 2007.
Campbell is charged with first-
degree murder - an unlawful
killing that is both willful and pre¬
meditated - which could get him
from 25 years to life in prison if he
is found guilty, according to Ipson.
Lu's body was found in
September 2007 at an Arcadia resi¬
dence. Her body was wrapped in a
plastic bag, placed in a large blue
trash bin, and buried under 10 gal¬
lons of kitty litter.
"The elaborate preparation to
Continued on page 2
• - 1
•a**—
Jacob Matthes/Courier
David Villescas, 19, undecided and Anthony Oliveros, 18, psychology major lounge
between classes on a patch of grass in the quad, planned for environmental renovation.
Landscaping change proposed
in water conservation effort
Hannah Leyva
Staff Writer
A group of professors and students has
begun an initiative to change the grassy
areas scattered around campus to sustain¬
able gardens.
The project, called "Landscaping the
Future," is headed by science professor Ling
O'Connor and hopes to replace grass, which
requires copious amounts of water to main¬
tain, with California native plants, which
consume less water.
"According to a facilities landscaping
employee at PCC, we have 11 acres of
lawn," said O'Connor in an email. "PCC
does not know how much water we use for
landscaping."
The plan is to construct xeriscapes, which
are landscapes specifically designed for
areas susceptible to drought and usually
showcase indigenous species.
"We want to come into alignment with
reduced water consumption," said chem¬
istry professor Claudia Van Corva, referring
to the constraints the local governments of
Pasadena, Los Angeles, and other Southern
California cities have put on the amount of
water citizens are allowed to use.
"Drought conditions have made the use
of water for this purpose (grass mainte¬
nance) suicidal," said O'Connor.
According to a letter jointly signed by
environmental club Seeds of Change, the AS
Sustainability Committee, and Board of
Trustee member Hilary Bradbury-Huang,
50-70 percent of the residential water in
Pasadena is used for landscaping.
"California has the bulk of native species,
but we continue to import English gardens
and lawns," said Van Corva. "England has
lots of rain. We don't."
Van Corva used the same example to
address the second purpose of xeriscapes:
introducing and encouraging native plants.
"We need to stop pretending we live in
England and look to California for beauty,"
she said.
Nolan Pack, chair of the Sustainability
Committee, said some members have been
looking for native plant donations.
"Lawns have to be replaced at some
point," Pack said. "We want to be at the fore¬
front."
"Landscaping the Future" is being funded
by private donations, silencing critics who
think money should not be spent on campus
aesthetics during tough economic times.
O'Connor has started a branch in the PCC
Foundation, and already the donations have
been coming in.
"The fantastic thing is that in one week,
$7,000 was raised from faculty and stu¬
dents," said Pack. Van Corva added that
even board members have donated funds.
There is no definite timeline for the com¬
pletion of the project, but those involved
hope to have the first target space, an island
in the quad near the C Building, finished by
spring.
"Right now I don't think we can do a
whole quad conversion," said Pack, "but it's
feasible that it (the island) will be land¬
scaped by spring."
"Winter is the ideal planting season, so we
need to get it done by February," he added,
saying that it was reasonable to expect a
groundbreaking in January.
O'Connor, Van Corva, and Pack all
emphasize that the xeriscapes are not just
for PCC's benefit, but for the entire local
community.
"We need to educate the community and
lead them into a new paradigm in landscap¬
ing," said O'Connor.
"It's our responsibility to the community
to showcase things like this," added Pack.
Continued on page 2
Healthcare
vigil elicits
support for
public plan
Mary Pavlik
Staff Writer
A crowd gathered at the northeast comer of cam¬
pus Tuesday evening with picket signs to express
their opinions on proposals for health care reform.
The protestors were in favor of a public option, but
not from any particular political party. A few of them
were students at PCC, some were from other colleges,
high schools and others were older and not students
at all.
At the forefront of the peaceful protest was Joseph
Davidian, who explained that the group is in favor of
a strong government run health plan and that it is
part of a group called Organizing for America.
Davidian also explained the reason for holding this
protest on the corner of the PCC campus.
"We are trying to get young people involved polit¬
ically and let them know that there is something you
can do," said Davidian. "Come out here and see how
good it feels."
Many of the protestors had personal reasons for
being out in the cold with their picket signs. Some had
family members who lost everything trying to pay for
health care and others had jobs that could not afford
to keep them on good plans anymore.
Brandon Fureigh said his family lost everything
trying to pay medical bills for their elders, who were
denied coverage from health insurance companies.
Some attended in order to try and prevent losing
Continued on page 2
Two new trustees
officially sworn in
Catherine Sum
Staff Writer
Two new trustees, Berlinda Brown and Anthony
Fellow, were officially sworn in before a packed
Creveling Lounge during the Board of Trustees' annu¬
al organizational meeting held Wednesday evening.
Brown and Fellow defeated incumbents in Areas 3
and 7 in the Nov. 3 election, respectively unseating
Consuelo Rey Castro and Beth Wells-Miller, neither of
whom were in attendance at the meeting. Trustee
John Martin was also not in attendance.
Trustees Geoffrey Baum and Hilary Bradbury-
Huang were reelected to their seats. Baum defeated
challenger Steven Gibson for his Area 1 seat and
Bradbury-Huang ran uncontested for her Area 5 seat.
In officer elections, Trustee Bradbury-Huang was
elected as president of the board; Trustee William
Thomson was elected as vice president; Trustee Baum
was elected as clerk; and college President Lisa
Continued on page 2
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