Another year, another head coach
File photo by Nathaniel Fermin/Courier
Head football coach Thom "TK" Kaumeyer advises sophomore Sean Cowell at Cerritos College on Saturday October 3, 2015.
Lancers football
players furious
over replacement
of head coach
Christian Rivas
Staff Writer
Several Lancers players have
been outraged since news broke
in the locker room that football
head coach Thom Kaumeyer will
not return to coach the Lancers
next season and will be replaced by
Fullerton College quarterback coach
Tom Maher, according to multiple
players on the football team.
Kaumeyer coached PCC to a 2-8
record in the 2015 fall season, but
many of the players feel this past
season wasn’t an accurate represen¬
tation of the team under Kaumeyer
due to the timing of his hiring.
“He was hired in late June, early
July and our first game was in Sep¬
tember,” said freshman lineman Ben
Kaiser. “You can’t expect us to learn
a new system in just a few months.”
While the Lancers didn’t enjoy
success on the field, players like
freshman linebacker Daniel Wire
feel Kaumeyer’s biggest success was
off the field.
“In his short time here, not only
has he brought the Pasadena foot¬
ball team together as a community
and a brotherhood, but he has also
changed the entire environment
around the campus,” Wire said. “He
is, and I think a lot of players would
say the same, a father figure to a lot
of players on this team.”
Kaumeyer was only hired as an
interim head coach, but the team
fully expected him to be there next
year.
“Forget football, forget every¬
thing,” said sophomore defensive
back Robert Morgan. “We trust
T.K. It took us the whole season
to trust him but now we know we
have someone we can turn to. Now
they’re just going to take that away
from me and the team? It’s not
right.”
Given Kaumeyer’s coaching
experience with NCAA Division 1
football and the NFL, sophomore
QB Marc Peart thinks Kaumeyer is
more than qualified to be coaching
at PCC.
“We’re honestly really lucky to
have him,” Peart said. “If he were
given a chance to interview for the
job I think his resume would hold
KAUMEYER PAGE 2
Ujima ushers in Black
History Month on campus
Art professor and abstract
artist showcases at the
Hammer Museum
Author discusses the true
cost of the drug war
New vets
clinic
coming to
campus
Budget retreat generates collegiality
John Orona
Managing Editor
Faculty, staff, administrators, and
students gave up several hours last
Friday to attend the first Annual
Budget Retreat, where represen¬
tatives from all levels of shared
governance came together to review
and prioritize budget requests based
on the mission of the college as the
school prepares for a bleak financial
outlook from the state.
The retreat is one manifestation
of the larger integrated planning
model, a budgeting process that
aims to link the school budget to
planning and prioritization instead
of ad-hoc funding, as recommend¬
ed by the Accreditation Commission
for Community and Junior Colleges
last year.
The seven-hour retreat had rep¬
resentatives from groups such as the
Academic Senate, Classified Senate, 1
Facilities Standing Committee, and
Associated Students team up to
rank funding requests for projects
from copy machines to conference
travel based on three college goals:
student success, equity, and access;
institutional effectiveness; and com¬
munity engagement.
Crystal Kollross, director of
institutional effectiveness, specifical¬
ly arranged the working groups to
be as diverse as possible while they
reviewed requests.
“We tried to get different voices,
we wanted to get them to think
about this differently,” she said.
“From a faculty perspective, ad¬
ministrative perspective, a student
perspective.”
The success of the retreat shows
a tangible, material step in changing
the policies, practices, and more
importantly, the culture of shared
governance.
“The best thing to come out of
this is the broader understanding of
where our needs are,” said David
Douglass, dean of the School of
Science and Math. “There was a
perception that the squeaky wheel
got the grease. This is a more trans¬
parent process, but that in itself
makes it more complicated.”
Kollross said she hoped the new
process involving all parts of the
campus would shed light and a sem¬
blance of transparency on a budget
procedure that used to leave some
suspicious.
“The goal was for them to see
[the final budget] and say, ‘Right! It
BUDGET PAGE 2
Monique A. LeBleu/Courier
Dean of the School of Science and Math David Douglass takes
department committee participants through a budget article
review in the Creveling lounge on Friday, Feb. 5.
Brian Chernick
Staff Writer
After many years and collabora¬
tions between the campus Veterans
Resource Center (VRC), Veterans
Affairs Greater Los Angeles Health¬
care System (VAGLAHS), and
congresswoman Judy Chu, Pasadena
City College (PCC) will be bringing
the first veterans primary care clinic
to the campus.
Chu (D-Monterey Park) has
expressed the need for a new VA
primary care clinic for years. During
the 2014 and 2015 Veteran’s Day
celebration, Chu reminded peo¬
ple about the ongoing discussion
around the clinic. By working
closely together, the group is proud
to be finally bringing the first clinic
of its kind to the San Gabriel Valley
(SGV).
According to Chu’s website, this
would be the first time the VA has
agreed to partner with a community
college to locate a health center for
VETERANS PAGE 2