PCC Courier, February 12, 2015

VOLUME 111 ISSUE 4 ONLINE EXCLUSIVES AT PCCCOURIER.COM February 12, 2015 Courier SERVING PASADENA CITY COLLEGE FOR 100 YEARS EDITORIAL Students have the right to know why teachers are put on leave PAGE 3>> Connect with us I) □ facebook.com/ @pcccourier pcccourier A] О ~ pcccourier @pcccouner Itumblr.com PCC Hall of Fame coach dies Ahmad Akkaoui and Daron Grandberry Staff Writers Legendary former PCC men’s basketball coach and Jerry Tar- kanian died Wednesday morn¬ ing in Las Vegas, Nevada after battling health issues for several years. He was 84 years old. An alumnus of PCC, Tarka- nian coached the men’s basket¬ ball program for two seasons, recording a 67-4 overall record. Known for his team’s swarming defense and fast paced offense, Tarkanian coached the Lancers to a state championship in 1 967 and a No. 2 finish in 1968. “He was a head coach for 38 years, recording 988 victories and is considered the greatest coach in California Community College history with four state tides between Riverside City College and PCC,” PCC stat¬ istician Robert Lewis said in a statement. After his successful coaching career at the community college level, Tarkanian continued his success at the NCAA Division I level, including coaching the University of Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV) to the 1 990 national championship. Tarkanian also had coaching tenures at Long Beach State and Fresno State and guided his teams to four Fi¬ nal Four appearances, 18 NCAA Tournament appearances and 778 university wins. Only twice did his teams fail to win at least 20 games in a season. He is fourth in NCAA history with his .794 winning percentage on the NCAA Division I level. Current men’s basketball coach Michael Swanegan was saddened by the news of Tarka- nian’s passing. “I watched a lot of his teams play and I liked his style of coaching,” Swanegan said. “I think he had a great influence on a lot of coaches because he rev¬ olutionized the game in a lot of areas, in terms of fast breaking and playing defense full court.” TARKANIAN page 2 p- File Photo Jerry Tarkanian School seeks dismissal of $185,000 lawsuit Philip McCormick Editor-in-Chief The school is asking a judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by for¬ mer vice president of adminis¬ trative services Richard van Pelt last September, claiming that van Pelt failed to file his claims within the time frame required by law. Van Pelt’s suit claims he’s owed at least $185,000 during the time he was on administra¬ tive leave, before he was ulti¬ mately terminated at a Board of Trustees meeting in 2012. PCC’s lawyers argue that van Pelt’s claims were originally re¬ ceived in August of 2012, which the school “properly rejected in October,” giving notice to van Pelt. The district’s recent court filings claim that van Pelt failed to file his complaint within six months of that time period as required by law and asks Superior Court Judge Ernest M. Hiroshige to dismiss the case. The school’s response was prompted after van Pelt had filed a lawsuit against PCC alleging that the district had breached his contract and failed to reimburse his business expenses VAN PELT page 2 ^ Softball coach ‘turns some heads’ Mick Donovan/Courier Cierra Newton, Anais Sustayta, Derek Blow, Justine Zavala and Holly Riker Sloan pose behind coach Monica Tantlinger during practice at Robinson Park on Friday. Anthony Martinez Staff Writer After biking her way to the softball field, she must unlock the gate near the dugout and the equipment shed. Not to be mistaken as a player, head coach Monica Tantlinger is ready for another productive practice. Entering her second, yet first full season as the Lancers’ head softball coach, Tantlinger has a history of coaching at the university level. A product of community college softball herself, where she played for Antelope Valley College before walking on for Cal State Fuller¬ ton’s team, Tantlinger eventually became a student coach for the Titans. Following her stint at Fullerton, Tantlinger was an assistant coach at UC Riverside for three years and another three years at Purdue University. Most recently, she assisted for the East Los Angeles College Huskies. While she enjoyed coaching at the Division I level, Tantlinger’s heart lies within the community college programs in addition to teaching. Though some may question her move from coaching at Division I programs to community college ones, Tantlinger prefers to build up the talent that will feed into higher levels of competition. “I started to realize that I love teaching, almost as much as I love coaching,” she said. “I mean, they really are syn¬ onymous with each other, so I decided to get my master’s and come back and help student ath¬ letes get the opportunities that I got from a community college going on to play at a four-year, whether it’s DI, DII, Dill or NAIA.” For Tantlinger, coaching at PCC is somewhat of a dream come true. She can finally prove her abilities as a head coach and lead a previously struggling program towards success. Most importantly, Tantlinger strives to show her players that success is always a possibility. “I want them to understand that there are multiple ways to SOFTBALL page 8 SCULPTURE Students mold 3D models and stepping stones for art careers PAGE 6» AUDITIONS Hopeful actors battle it out for legendary comedy play PAGE 7» SPEAK OUT! Does the Academic Senate have too many committees? Vote at PccCourier. com