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Pasadena City College
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Volume 103, Issue 1
"The Independent Student Voice of
РСС,
Serving Pasadena Since 1915.'
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Gabriela Leverette
Staff Writer
Faculty members are heartbro¬
ken over a recent theft of a cactus
bud from the Rock and Cactus
Garden on the eastern side of the
campus.
Sometime during the weekend
of January 15 and 16, someone
meandering through the Rock and
Cactus Garden severed the bud of
a growing cactus, according to fac¬
ulty involved.
"Someone knew what they were
doing," said Glenna M. Watterson,
secretary of the Natural Sciences
department and primary caretaker
of this garden. It was not an acci¬
dent, the cactus had been cut tak¬
ing the bud cleanly off, Watterson
said.
The defaced cactus was a rare
species from Baja that was bought
through a grant received from the
PCC Foundation, said Dean David
M. Douglass of the Natural
Sciences Division.
The grant money covered sup¬
plies to build a wall dividing the
garden and for the acquisition of
new species of plants.
"This garden is unique, especial¬
ly when it was first built," said
Dean Douglass. Its importance is
to "bring [us] together as a campus
community."
"Some think, it's just rocks," said
Watterson. It is not uncommon for
her to have to pick up cigarette
butts from the garden on the week¬
ends, she said. "But I've worked
with the garden for 20 years. I
know all of my cactuses and what
they are supposed to look like."
She knew exactly what happened
when she saw it in the garden that
Continued on page 7
Faculty union votes on contract
Sara Medina
Editor-in-Chief
Members of the PCC Faculty Association will vote
this week on a tentative agreement with the district
that includes a retirement incentive, which could
affect more than 10 percent of the full-time faculty.
The retirement plan would give those who quit by
June 30 up to 75 percent of their final pay.
"The negotiations were quite intense, but in a good
way," said PCCFA President Roger Marheine, at a
meeting on Tuesday to inform members of the associ¬
ation of the proposals.
Though there were some moments of skepticism
during the meeting, Marheine maintained positivity.
"[PCC President] Mark Rocha wanted to have
meaningful movement on campus," said Marheine.
"This is the single greatest retirement incentive in 30
years for a community college."
"There are 174 full-time faculty members who are
over 55 years old with more than five years of service
to the college," said Marheine. "At least 60 to 70 mem¬
bers should seriously consider it, which is different
than saying, 'I'll just take it.'
"People are tied into PCC so it's a hard decision,"
he continued. "There's the incentive of money but it's
also a quality-of-life decision."
Along with the incentive, the agreement also focus¬
es on Large Group Instruction bonuses, overload pay,
and pay for office hours for part-time instructors.
"A big thing for students is office hours [for part-
time faculty]," he said. He added that the proposed
fee increase from $26 per unit to $36 per unit is going
to make students want, more than ever, to get their
money's worth.
"It's a precedent-setting issue," he said.
In the tentative agreement, faculty salaries will be
maintained but the point was made that the faculty
has not received a raise since 2006.
"The Board looks to be in a 4-3 split in some
things," said PCCFA Vice President Suzanne
Anderson, so because the salary wasn't adjusted for
the upcoming contract term, it will be a "serious issue
in the next go-around."
Continued on page 7
Preparation for
'bleak' budget
scenario begins
Louis Cheung/Courier
Glenna Watterson, secretary of the Natural Sciences division, indicates where the bud was previously
anchored on the twice-damaged cactus plant in PCC's Rock and Cactus Garden.
Theft rocks cactus garden
Sara Medina
and Amrah Khan
Staff Writers
Reductions in the number of
class sections offered, pulling back
on non-teaching costs, fundraising
and in the most drastic case, com¬
plete elimination of winter and
summer sessions next year are
some of the things being consid¬
ered to help PCC cope with the
current budget crisis.
At the Board of Trustees meeting
on Jan. 19, Interim Vice President
of Administrative Services Richard
van Pelt presented to the board
three scenarios for what he called a
"bleak" outlook for next year.
The presentation was based on
California Gov. Jerry Brown's pro¬
posed 2011-2012 state budget
released on Jan. 10.
"At this point," said PCC
President Mark Rocha, "we don't
see a way to have a budget for
[2011-2012] without some reduc¬
tions."
In the midst of a budget crisis in
California, PCC's worst-case sce¬
nario would be a $16.4 million cut
and the best-case scenario would
be a budget cut of $5.3 million;
how drastic they are depends on
the state's voters.
During the Jan. 19 board meet¬
ing, Rocha said that PCC is being
asked to reduce full time student
enrollment by roughly 2,500 and
the chancellor of California
Community Colleges, Jack Scott,
has been "adamant" about this for
the state's colleges.
Rocha has insisted that nothing
has been decided yet, but one way
to "balance the budget against the
cut," would be to cut both winter
and summer sessions in the 2011-
2012 academic year.
Trustee Anthony Fellows said
about 8,000 admitted students
were ultimately turned away from
PCC this past year due to limited
resources on campus. Considering
the new reductions that the budg¬
et scenarios present, Fellows said,
"It's going to be a tough time."
Associated Students President
Jamie Hammond was taken aback
by the grim outlook of the budget
cuts.
"It's unfortunate. The college
has been in a pretty good situation
until this point. But other colleges
have been experiencing this for the
past four years," she said. "I feel
really helpless."
Rocha planned to visit
Sacramento and Washington D.C.
to see what can be done about the
education budget. On campus,
committees have been reconstitut¬
ed to oversee the budget changes.
Continued on page 7
Proposed fee increase
draws mixed reactions
NEIL PROTACIO
Staff Writer
A proposed budget from
California Gov. Jerry Brown that
will slash the community college
system budget by $400 million also
proposes an increase in tuition fees
from the current $26 to $36 per
unit. Students' views on the plan
vary widely.
Associated Students Vice
President of External Affairs
Alexander Soto said during an
Associated Students meeting that
"it's a balanced budget but it's a
hard pill to swallow."
But according to Soto, the budg¬
et comes at a time of recovery.
"It's part of California that's
helping to move it forward," Soto
added. "I'd accept the fee with a bit
of reluctance, but in the end, we'll
still be moving in this direction."
Other students, however, found
the budget to be appalling,
impaired by shaky politics.
"It's a bit of a shame that educa¬
tion gets cuts before any other
services," said history major Eddie
Organista. "The state complains
about low test scores... It's a big
contradiction."
Organista, along with many
other students, is supported by the
fee waiver, which was developed
to assist California residents to pay
for tuition fees. According to
Continued on page 7
Next Issue:
Watch for the next
Courier, on stands on
March 3.
ONLINE POLL
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paying $36 per
unit at PCC?
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