Serving PCC and the Pasadena community since 1915
Pasadena City College
Courier
^ The last
soldier falls
Dino s Dying Days
Page 2
Winter 2005
pcc-courieronline.com
Vol. 91, Issue 1
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Parking
Structure
Open at Last
■ The long-awaited
new parking structure
finally opens, providing
1,500 new spaces for
students and faculty.
Linda Rapka
Editor-in-Chief
The wait is over! After months
of delays, the 1,500-space, five-
level parking structure opened ear¬
lier this month.
Construction of the new struc¬
ture, which began in June 2002,
was hindered numerous times
because of construction company
mistakes and rain.
The building, located on the
west side of Bonnie Avenue mid¬
way between Del Mar and
Colorado, features several techno¬
logical innovations.
The interior design of the
structure is augmented by special
grating at every level of the build¬
ing, aimed to curtail noise and
light to the surrounding neighbor¬
hoods. Classical music can be
heard in the elevator lobbies.
While most PCC students are
happy that it is finally open, sever¬
al have voiced some concerns
about the parking structure.
Student Ralph Decena com¬
plained that you must walk
halfway across the structure to
buy a parking permit. He also said
that he didn’t feel there were
enough exiting directions, making
it difficult for students to know
where to exit.
Student Beco Wong said he felt
that there is not enough security in
the new structure. Citing the lack
of security personnel observed on
hand during the winter interses¬
sion, Wong said that he did not
feel very safe, as a number of vehi¬
cles had been targeted for theft
and vandalism in the past.
However, he did say that the extra
lighting in the structure was a plus
compared with the old structure.
Decena also expressed con¬
cerns about security, noting that
there is not much visible security
personnel inside the structure. “It
is as safe as parking on the street,”
he said.
Fundmg for the additional park¬
ing structure came from Measure P,
passed by voters in March 2002.
This measure provided the college
the funds to build the $21 million
parking structure.
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Rafael Delgado/ Courier
WIDE OPEN SPACES: This sight is a dream come true
for many PCC students used to fighting the losing
parking battle.
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Rafael Delgado/ Courier
A tree crashed into the D building on Jan. 7 after succumbing to the onslaught of rain early this month.
The next morning a crew from Miller Tree Service cut the tree into sections for removal.
New Add/Drop Policy Adopted
Juan Gonzalez
Contributing Writer
Hate standing in line? Especially
that long line at the registration count¬
er when all you want to do is add one
lousy class?
Starting with the winter interses¬
sion, a new online system is available
for adding classes at PCC. The new
process ends the long lines. Here's
how it works:
The instructor gives the student a
yellow piece of paper that has the
class section number and a code num¬
ber printed on it. Using the online reg¬
istration system, the student adds the
class. When prompted, the student
enters the code number. This author¬
izes the add, saving the student time
and effort.
Alejandro Rivas, first-year fresh¬
man, said, “Waiting in line to add one
class is horrible. It's a waste a time.
Hopefully this will work.”
Dr. Margaret Ramey, associate
dean of admissions and records, was
the person in charge of the change.
She said that discussions to change
the system have been ongoing for over
a year. The new system was tested last
summer and fall. So far, the feedback
has been encouraging.
“It's less paper, we save money,
and there are shorter lines,” Ramey
said. “With this new system in place
people can register at their own com¬
fort. Its less wear and tear on the staff
when a student can do it from home
or the lab.”
First year student Olga
Covarrubias said, “It's super easy!”
Student David Aoki added, “It
was pretty easy. The website had all of
the open classes and how many open
spaces, pretty user friendly.”
“It's too soon to tell,” one of the
registration clerks said, “[but] if pro¬
fessors give out the codes, the system
will work well.”
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Photo illustration by William Hallstrom
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Courier
New Health Sciences Dean Hired
Stephen Folan
Contributing Writer
After 29 years at PCC teaching
dental hygiene, Susan Clifford left
to become dean of academic serv¬
ices at Fullerton College. Now,
eight-and-a-half years later, she's
back. Clifford is PCC's new dean
of health sciences.
Clifford said that she had
always wanted the opportunity to
be a discipline-specific dean, since
she didn't have much of a chance
to work with the faculty at
Fullerton. The long the commute
was a factor, also. She was driving
an hour and a half each way, leav¬
ing her with little time to pursue
any other activities in the commu¬
nity.
The Altadena resident graduat¬
ed from the University of Southern
California with a bachelor's degree
in dental hygiene. She continued
her studies, receiving a master's
degree in vocational education.
She then went on to Pepperdine
University, earning a doctorate in
educational administration, and
finally received a certificate in
mediation at dispute resolution in
New Dean
Student Trustee Forced to Resign
Cristina Pena
Staff Writer
A special election will be held
this spring to fill the now- vacant stu¬
dent trustee position.
Chad Hunter, the PCC student
trustee during the fall semester, was
dropped from the position due to
poor academic performance.
According to Rebecca Cobb, student
affairs adviser, the student affairs
office discovered Hunter’s disquali¬
fication at the end of the fall semes¬
ter. Normally, the student trustee
term is one year, including fall and
spring.
Because the vacancy occurred
during intersession, the special elec¬
tion process will now begin within
25 days of the first day of the full
session. According to the office of
student affairs, candidate packets
will be made available the first day
of the spring semester, Feb 14. The
application for candidacy is due by
Feb. 25 no later than noon. Election
day will be held on March 10 in the
Quad and online.
To qualify for the position, a stu¬
dent must be a legal resident of
California. The student must be
enrolled in nine or more units in the
spring and have already completed
at least 12 units at PCC. The stu¬
dent must also earn and maintain a
GPA of 2.5. In addition, the stu¬
dent must be in good standing at
the collage, clear from academic or
disciplinary probation.
Cobb said the board of trustees
is looking for candidates who pos¬
sess strong communication skills.
“The student has to be open to new
ideas and able to openly work pro¬
fessionally with both the board of
trustees and the student body,” she
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Student Trustee
tee
Э
Page J
Linda Rapka
Editor-in-Chief
The board of trustees approved
a $37,000 raise for president Dr.
James Kossler at its Jan. 19 meet¬
ing. The raise brings his salary to
$191,500, up from $153,762.
This salary increase makes
Kossler’s salary more comparable
Kenny Kimura/ Courier tQ that of presidents at other
com-
Chad Hunter was forced to munity colleges,
step down as student trustee
-
Board Approves $37,000
Raise for President Kossler
because of poor grades.
The average salary for presi¬
dents at comparable institutions -
including Santa Monica College,
El Camino College and Glendale
College - was $178,723 in 2003-
2004. The presidents of Santa
Monica and El Camino are expect¬
ed to receive $203,846 and
$199,000 in salary in 2004-2005.
The raise reflects a 2.41 per¬
cent cost-of-living adjustment and
a longevity bonus, which equals
0.5 percent per year for nine years.
The current contract between
Kossler and the district runs until
June 30, 2007.
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