OPINION
FEATURES
NEWS
Mother of all wars
Americans are in for another
war, and it’s not one we can he
patriotic about Page 2
King Comedy
Ron Wilson takes
comedy to new
heights Page 3
Arithmetic genius
PCC math team takes first place
in nationwide mathematics
contest Page 8
Pasadena City College
Pasadena, California
Vol.74 No. 1
h COURIER
Summer Edition
Thursday
July 11, 1991
Photo by Oscar Chavez
/
IRC
The June 28 temblor caused this bookcase in the library's reference section to smash a window.
5.8 quake damages PCC
By GINA SANCHEZ
Special Correspondent
The 5.8 earthquake that dam¬
aged many homes and busi¬
nesses in the the San Gabriel
Val ley on June 28 left PCC wi th
similar damage: broken glass,
fallen plaster, cracks and toppled
things scattered everywhere.
“The worst hit was the stage
area in Sexson auditorium,” said
Don Holthaus, director of facilities
maintenance. He said plaster above
the stage fell, leaving gaping cracks
all over the place.
He said structural engineers
examined the entire college and
found no structural damage. He
expects the work in Sexson audito¬
rium to be complete in about
two weeks.
Other damage in the C build¬
ing was mostly restricted to the
second and third floors, where
plaster and panels fell to the
ground.
The temblor shook loose
plaster along the edge of the
Please see QUAKE, Page 11
Enrollment
for summer
highest ever
□ Overcrowding,
high tuition at
universities force
students to go to
community colleges.
By CHRIS LANGREHR
Special Correspondent
With 10,919 students taking day
and night classes, admissions offi¬
cials have confirmed that this
summer’s enrollment is the high¬
est in PCC’s history, 287 students
higher than last year’s total.
However, due to education
budget cutbacks, those students will
find fewer classes. Two percent of
summer classes were cut because
of the state’s massive scaling back
of education funding. And because
of this, some students may not get
any classes or have to take differ¬
ent classes than they had planned
on taking, said Dr. David Ledbetter,
assistant superintendent of instruc¬
tion. He added that most classes
will probably be filled to capacity.
“We don ’ t have a choice in the
matter,” he said. “PCC has a cap
on enrollment. As of this spring.
we were 1,500 students over the
limit. We don’t get paid for those
students, so we can’t offer as many
classes. We can’t afford to pay for
them.”
Reasons for the cutbacks in
courses include the elimination of
the cost of living adjustment
(COLA), which provides PCC with
money to educate each student. It
costs the college S3 ,000 to educate
one student annually.
“Costs continue to go up, but
we are not receiving any increase
in funding to cover it,” he said.
This results in cutbacks in all areas
of higher education, he said.
Besides axing summer classes,
PCC will also be eliminating 3 per¬
cent of its classes this fall, which is
between 75 to 90 sections, Ledbetter
said.
“I think Sacramento will not
solve its problems for a couple
years,” he conceded. “I see the
enrollment problem getting worse
as more students want to come to
PCC. We don’t have the money to
offer more sections of classes.”
The apparent rise in enrollment
could be a result of the state of the
economy, according to Dr. Stuart
Please see PCC, Page 8
Victory surfaces in
Proposition 98 war
□ Governor backs
down on proposal to
suspend initiative.
By CANDY DANIELSON
Staff Writer
For community colleges and
K-12 schools, mired in the gruel¬
ing, months-long lobbying of stale
legislators to stop suspension of
Proposition 98, victory finally
surfaced in early June when it
became apparent Gov. Pete Wilson
could not muster the two-thirds
legislative vote required to sus¬
pend.
Wilson publicly announced on
June 8 he would no longer seek
suspension of Proposition 98, which
guarantees public school funding
at 40.3 percent of the state budget.
Although the voter-approved
initiative mandates a set percent¬
age for public schools, it also con¬
tains a suspension loophole during
“emergency” periods, requiring
two-thirds approval by the Legis¬
lature for passage.
Since Wilson’s January an¬
nouncement proposing suspension
of Proposition 98 to help solve
California’s ballooning fiscal cri¬
sis, the educational community’s
Please see PROP. 98, Page 11
