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Volume 105, Issue 1
The independent student voice of PCC. Serving Pasadena Since 1915.
January 26, 2012
Student
success
plan gets
support
Board weighs in on
statewide proposal
Paul Ochoa
Staff Writer
The Board of Trustees supported
the statewide Student Success Task
Force Recommendations with
Alexander Soto, student trustee,
voting in favor of the recommen¬
dations. The vote was six yes and
one abstention.
The one abstention came from
Board Member William E.
Thompson, who did not feel com¬
fortable voting to support the rec¬
ommendations.
"I do not feel very comfortable
voting on this because there were a
lot of issues that were raised and
we can't do anything to resolve
them," said Thompson.
The Student Success Task force
recommendations would change
the face of the PCC and all other
community colleges in California.
The top priority for registration
will now go to students with a spe¬
cific goal: a degree, transfer, reme¬
dial help, and career training, and
classes that do not lead to an estab¬
lished goal may be cut.
Board of Trustees member,
Jeanette Mann was the only public
member of the statewide task
force.
According to Mann, the conclu¬
sion is that everyone entering the
college should be lead to success.
Continued on page 7
Fighting for a change in the Marianas
Galen Patterson Smith
Online Editor
The Commonwealth of
Northern Mariana Islands or
CNMI is a chain of united islands
located in the southern Pacific
Ocean. It was recently home to the
Abramoff-DeLay scandal involv¬
ing illegal money exchange and
exploitation of labor laws. The
scandal specifically involved the
island of Saipan, an island that
PCC student Kelvin Rodeo, politi¬
cal science, calls home.
Rodeo spent the first 18 years of
his life on Saipan and came to the
U.S. in 2007. He joined the U.S.
Navy as an Aviation Support
Equipment Technician and spent
four years serving in the military.
Rodeo was honorably dis¬
charged in September, and began
to piece together his future.
"I want to go back home to
Saipan and reform the very broken
political system there," he said.
Describing the current govern¬
ment of Saipan as corrupt would
be an understatement according to
Rodeo, who says that corruption
in the police force is rampant and a
majority of government jobs on the
island are filled by nepotism and
are held by native citizens, many
of whom have only one qualifica¬
tion: family connections.
"I want employment in the
Mariana Islands to be based on
what you know, not who you
Ex-student to stand trial again in slaying
Neil Protacio
Editor-in-Chief
Former PCC student Isaac
Campbell will return to court on
Feb. 15 for a pretrial hearing in the
killing of his girlfriend, Liya
"Jessie" Lu.
Campbell is charged in the 2007
slaying of Lu, also a PCC student.
In December, the jury deliberating
his fate could not come to a deci¬
sion in the two month long trial
and deadlocked 10 guilty and 2
not guilty for second degree mur¬
der.
According to District Attorney
Steve Ipson, the murder case will
be combined with his marijuana
case. Though he is still being
charged for murder, the highest
level of murder he can be convict¬
ed of is second-degree murder.
Lu had gone missing on August
11, 2007. Attempts to contact her
by her cousin Jeremy Zhou and
her supervisor, Ruth Evans, even¬
tually lead to a missing person
report. Michael Darby, a friend of
Campbell, eventually discovered
her body the following month, her
body stashed away in a recycling
bin filled with kitty litter.
Because of the state of mummifi¬
cation, Medical Examiner Dr.
Pedro Ortiz could find no cause of
death. He did rule the manner of
death, however, as a homicide con¬
sidering the evidence: a young
Asian woman, no history of ill¬
ness, stashed away in a recycling
bin.
Ipson has theorized that because
of his interest in martial arts,
Campbell had locked Lu in a mar¬
tial arts hold during a vicious con¬
frontation, causing death within 10
to 30 seconds. Public Defender Jim
Duffy, argued that Campbell shov¬
ing Lu back into a futon after being
bitten by her may have stimulated
a neurological disorder that Lu
had sought medical attention for.
Despite both arguments,
Campbell admits to going to
Continued on page 7
Tax deal
G-abriella Castillo
/
Courier
Kelvin Rodeo, political science, has been actively seeking reform in the Commonwealth of Northern
Mariana Islands, home to the Abramoff-DeLay scandal.
Student revolutionary in the making
know/' he said.
The current governor of the
Mariana Islands is Benigno Fitial
who, armed with a regime of
friends and family members in
high-ranking government posi¬
tions, is on his second four-year-
term as governor.
"That was a shocker to every¬
one," said Rodeo. "He had done so
horribly in his first term that prac¬
tically no one wanted him back
in."
People have publicly spoken out
about Fitial, but that is as far as
they take it, Rodeo said.
"I want people [in the CNMI] to
have the courage to take action,"
he said.
Continued on page 7
If increase OK'd, no
cuts will be needed.
Neil Protacio
Editor-in-Chief
Gov. Jerry Brown's proposed
temporary increase in taxes will
have a major impact on PCC if
they are approved by voters in
November, officials said.
According to President Mark
Rocha, if the extension of tax
increases are approved, there will
be no more cuts for K-14, which
includes kindergarten, high
school, and community colleges. If
voters do not approve the tax
increase, however, K-14 will sus¬
tain additional cuts which have
already been identified.
"The cut to PCC will be about
$10 million," Rocha said. "If these
tax increases are passed, [PCC's
budget] should be what it is about
now."
Brown's budget, which propos¬
es an increase in sales tax and also
an increase in taxes for high
income earners, received praise in
a statement released by California
Community Colleges Chancellor
Jack Scott.
"I want to thank Gov. Brown for
recognizing the value of investing
in higher education and the critical
role community colleges play in
powering the state's economy,"
Scott said. "His budget proposes a
Continued on page 7
Louis C. Cheung
/
Courier
Isaac Campbell testifying on Nov. 30 at the Alhambra Superior Court
for the slaying of his girlfriend, Liya "Jessie" Lu.
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Fashion
Student gets
a jump start
in clothing design
Page
6»
Shows
Art instructor
presents two exhibits
of his paintings
Page
7»
