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FBI Continues Probing PCC
By Dereek Andrade
Sports Editor
The FBI is investigating a number of PCC faculty members who are
believed to be involved in a major athletic scandal, the Courier has
learned.
FBI and NCAA officials are looking into reports that some PCC
instructors gave high passing grades to athletes who never attended
classes. They are also looking for phony transcripts, transcript changes
and athletes who received extension course credit even though they never
attended classes.
Dr. Richard S. Meyers, PCC superintendent-president, said the
college has hired two private investigators who will help the college’s
attorney in the continuing investigations of faculty and student-athletes.
Attorney Elaine Canty will be looking into the transcripts of former
PCC football player David Anthony Hill, student-athletes’ grades,
athletes’ attendance in classes, teachers’ class records and teachers’
credit through extension courses.
The private investigators have been interviewing all current ath¬
letes, male and female, who participated in any “educational ex¬
periences,” according to Ernest F. Neumann, dean of admissions.
Dr. Meyers said the college is looking into classes with low drop rates
and high grades, both of which are inconsistent with PCC averages.
“We are starting to look at all summer school physical education
classes offered here during the last two years,” said Dr. Meyers.' When
asked, he declined to discuss whether they were courses taught by PCC
coaches.
In a related investigation, John Hardy, extended opportunity pro¬
gram director, was named in a Feb. 25 Sports Illustrated story that
claimed Hardy suggested Rocky Mountain College (Montana) extension
courses to Arizona State football players who wound up receiving units
without attending the classes.
The article also revealed that when Rocky Mountain officials later
checked registration forms, they found the home address given for some
of the Arizona State athletes was Hardy’s home address in Altadena.
Bob Owens, who played football at PCC and was a teammate of
Hardy’s during the 1955-57 season, was interim coach at ASU last year at
the time athletes were supposedly taking the extension courses. The
courses were being taught at a church in Gardena, Ca.
Hardy and Owens later transferred to California Polytechnic-
Pomona to play football for that university.
Hardy had little to say about the Sports Illustrated story when
reached Monday.
“I read the article and it speaks for itself. It’s something I have to
look into. We played together and we’re friends. That’s no secret. I might
have a statement at a later time but right now I have no comment,” said
Hardy.
Owens, also known as Dr. Royce Owens, has been the subject of
recent newspaper articles involving his corporation American Education
Enterprises in questionable extension programs.
In the FBI investigation, their inquiries are reaching several other
Southern California colleges includig Cal Poly-Pomona, East Los Angeles
College, Los Angeles Valley College and Oxnard City College.
FBI agent Jerry Biederstedt, assigned to the Albuquerque office,
said his office is now branching off into “other areas” of the wide-
spreading athletic acandal that first hit the universities of New Mexico
and Arizona State last year.
Biederstedt also said most colleges are trying to “clean up their own
acts before the FBI and NCAA get involved.”
Agent Fred Reagan of the FBI’s Los Angeles office said the athletic
scandal “has tentacles” that reach all over Southern California. Neither
agent would comment on last week’s Courier article that claimed FBI
agents were on campus.
The FBI and NCAA investigations were prompted by the transcripts
of David Hill that showed he had attended extension courses at Pacific
Christian College in Fullerton.
Hill, a former PCC football player now at Purdue, has said that he
never attended Pacific Christian. He claims that he was taking summer
school courses here at PCC but there is no record of Hill being enrolled
during last summer and spring, according to the admissions office.
Pacific Christian President Medford Jones still claims that Hill did
attend classes at his college. Dr. Jones says that he has sworn statements
by Hill’s teachers that say he was in classes they taught. (Hill supposedly
took three classes.)
One of Hill’s instructors at Pacific Christian is currently under a
New Mexico Grand Jury investigation involving the course that Hill took.
The teacher, Jack Kiester, taught a course called “Black Profile”
that is primarily taken by teachers who are gathering units for salary
advancements at schools they teach.
Kiester is also being investigated by Compton Community College
regarding bogus units some UCLA Bruin football players received from
Compton College. Initial reports show that the UCLA student-athletes
never attended Compton College.
Dr. Wallace Jones, Compton College’s dean of student affairs, said
that the college is looking into “any students from UCLA that may have
taken courses now or previously” at Compton College.
The Courier has learned that three athletes who were in the same
extension course with Hill at Pacific Christian have admitted to their
colleges that they never attended the course taught by Kiester, even
though they received credit.
(Continued on Page 4)
KEEPING TIME — John Hardy acting as timekeeper at Wednesdays
basketball game against Bakersfield.
February Petition Must Be
Filed to Graduate
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LEAPING TOWARD A LONG YEAR— Feb 29
prepares to hop into its position on the calendar. This
date jumps into place every four years to keep pace with
the time schedule of the sun. This particular Feb. 29 is a
little behind schedule (Frog courtesy of Pet's Delight in
South Pasadena).
— Courier photo by Sue McPherson
By Wynona Majied-Muhammad
Copy Editor
Candidates for June graduation must
file a Petition for Graduation by Mon¬
day, March 10, with their counseling
team. The petition is a request to
review the student's record and pro¬
vides information which applies to
graduation requirements and eligibili¬
ty-
Receivi.lfe the Associate in Arts
Degree requires the student’s comple¬
tion of at least 60 units of general
education courses including 18 units in
a divisional major. A minimum grade
point average of C (2.0) earned at all
colleges attended and a grade point
average of 2.0 in all units attempted at
PCC is required.
“You could have had real bad grades
at Glendale; then, you must get good
enough grades at PCC to have an
average of 2.0 overall,” explained E.
Erdley Beauchamp, dean of regis¬
tration and extended day education.
Beauchamp said students should also
be aware that specific course require¬
ments as well as unit requirements
exist in each academic category.
To ensure that all requirements have
been met, Vickey Takeuchi, human¬
ities counseling assistant, said that
Bank Loans
Aid Students
More students at PCC will have
access to Guaranteed Student Loans,
through a recent lender agreement
with Chase Manhattan Bank, according
to Gene S. Miller, director of financial
aids.
Miller said that present Guaranteed
Student Loans are not meeting the
needs of certain students, such as the
nursing student, or the emancipated
student, presently considered depen¬
dent, even though he is not living with
parents.
Under the Chase lender agreement,
the needs of these students and others
would be met. There are no credit
applications, co-signers, personal in¬
terviews, geographical limitations or
restrictions on borrowing maximums.
Recent legislation in Congress has
made it possible for a greater number
of middle class students to receive aid,
under the Middle Income Student As¬
sistance Act. “There is no reason for
any student to drop out of school. The
funds are available,” said Miller.
Wage and Price Controls Needed?
Establishing wage and price controls to help fight inflation is being debated by economists and
government officials. PCC students were asked how they felt about the issue.
Mike Williams, photography ma¬
jor, 12th semester. “I’m not really
too much in favor of it— -it makes a
mess out of things. There’s too much
government interference. The more
the government gets involved, the
more they mess things up.”
Jim Lane, mechanical engineering
major, fourth semester. “Sure. It’s
worked in the past. It kept oil prices
down during the oil shortage— when
controls were lifted, inflation for oil
prices went through the roof.”
Alpx Chow, music major, second
semester. “I don’t think so. It de¬
pends on the owners of the busi¬
nesses. Most of them are very com¬
petitive . . . they make inflation be¬
cause some want more, and others
have to sacrifice.”
Rosa Rosique, dance major, fourth
semester. “They should have a con¬
trol on prices. Businesses take advan¬
tage, especially selling gas.”
De Vera Joe, theater arts major,
fourth semester. “Personally, I think
the wage-price control is ridiculous.
If you control wage and price, there’s
no room for competition. Therefore,
everything becomes stagnated."
Haidar Alakroush, civil engineer¬
ing major, second semester. “Things
are very expensive here. I hope they
establish a price control.”
students can obtain an unofficial copy
of their permanent record in the Re¬
cords Office, C206. However, she sug¬
gests that it might be more efficient to
confer with a counselor from whom the
proper guidance will be available. Dur¬
ing counseling, the candidate will have
access to a copy of his transcript,
showing work completed.
After petitions are filed with the
counselor, they are forwarded to the
graduation checkers who examine the
candidate’s records to be sure that all
specifications have been met. Included
in the examination is an evaluation' of
work in progress to determine if it has
a bearing on the results.
If requirement deficiencies are
found in the records, the petition is
returned to the counselor who informs
the candidate of the steps necessary for
completion. “Ideally,” said Beau¬
champ, “they should file before the
semester begins or in the first couple of
weeks, so they can make up for any
deficiencies.”
Beauchamp said most graduates
participate in graduation exercises
before their records become official,
since grades usually are issued several
weeks after the ceremonies. There¬
fore, students who are marginal in
their academic status should be espe¬
cially careful to determine early in the
semester which requirements they
have yet to fulfill.
Usually, the necessary checking is
completed within one or two weeks,
said Beauchamp.
All prospective graduates should be
aware that requirement revisions take
place periodically. Therefore, it is nec¬
essary to be certain that all specif¬
ications are met. However, where re¬
visions are made, the student with
continuous enrollment may choose to
graduate under the requirements in
force upon entrance or those in effect
at the time of the student’s graduation.
The names of those who are accepted
for graduation will appear on a list
outside C206-208 on the bulletin board.
Board and Staff
Members Named
To Foundation
By Mike White
Staff Writer
A total of 12 community leaders and
three PCC staff members have been
named to the Board of Directors of the
newly formed PCC Foundation, Inc.
The Foundation, whose charter was
accepted last week by the state govern¬
ment. is a non-profit organization set
up last semester to organize major
fund-raising activities for the college.
This is the first time that PCC has
(Continued on Page 6)
COMPLAINTS AND COMMENTS HERE-John Martin. Board of
Trustees member, discusses student government at the first of his
"complaint and comment" sessions Tuesday. The newly elected trustee
said he hopes to make the sessions a monthly event, held during the day
and at night so that many students will have an opportunity to meet with a
trustee to voice their concerns. —Courier photo» by Diene Davila
