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Volume 99, Issue 13
‘The Independent Student Voice ofPCC. Serving Pasadena Since 1915.”
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Crowd Protests Against Class Cuts
Faculty and students appeal to Board
Jenny Bartlett
/
Courier
A crowd of students and faculty filled Harbeson Hall to capacity during the Board of Trustees meeting on
Wednesday, opposing plans to cut classes and lay off adjunct faculty in this year's summer session.
Barbara Beaser
Assistant News Editor
It was standing room only at the
Board of Trustees meeting on
Wednesday night, with students, fac¬
ulty and staff coming to protest the
budget cuts.
The crowd interrupted English pro¬
fessor and President of the PCC
Faculty Association Roger
A student presents a sign to
oncoming traffic on Colorado
Boulevard in protest of class cuts.
Marheine’s speech to the board,
chanting “No more cuts” despite the
red light indicating that time had run
out.
During the closed session of the
meeting, students stood outside
Harbeson Hall with signs reading
“No More Cuts” and “Stop Cutting”
and getting car honks in response.
“It’s going to take longer to finish
my education, since I can’t get the
classes I need,” said business major
Nareg Minassian.
Jennifer Taylor is majoring in
Child Development and said she
hadn’t felt the effects of the cut class¬
es personally but knew a lot of people
who did.
“It’s affecting a lot of my friends,”
Taylor said. “They want to get out of
here and they can’t because of the
summer classes being cut.”
Transferring wasn’t the only con¬
cern among students. President of the
Feminists Club and English and
women’s studies’ major Tatevik
Abrahamyn worried that she would¬
n’t have enough money to pay for her
classes if the fees were increased.
At 7 p.m. when the board recon¬
vened for the open session, it was met
by students, staff and faculty
crammed into Harbeson Hall, all
waiting to express their feelings and
concerns to the board.
“We would ask the board to stand
with the students,” said student
Mayra Jaines-Pena. “We understand
the real problem is with the state, but
we need these classes. They’re essen¬
tial. This is a transfer college.”
The trustees chose to allow every¬
one who had filled out a card to
address the board to speak before they
responded.
“We have to worry about all of our
students, not just the ones who are
transferring,” said outgoing Student
Trustee John Campo.
There was a break in the tension
when student Alfredo Papadakis told
the board that $ 1 5 million was a lot of
money to have in reserves.
Continued on page 2
2009 AS Elections
Website Issues Deflate
Election Voter Numbers
Allan Santiago
News Editor
Due to technical issues with the
voting website, the number of voters
in this year’s Associated Students
Board elections could have been
higher than it was.
The total number of voters for this
year’s Associated Students elections
was 720, up from 706 in the 2008
elections - 325 in 2007.
The website through which stu¬
dents were voting - managed by
Elexpert, a company that hosts online
voting systems - experienced prob¬
lems with links to candidates’ state¬
ments. This prompted an extension in
the time for voting, according to
Rebecca Cobb, student affairs advisor.
Cobb said she had requested for
the elections to be extended from
midnight May 27 until May 28 at
noon, something she said was not
unusual for AS elections.
The extension was not imple¬
mented despite a notification posted
on the PCC website the night before
and a banner/link announcing the
noon extension throughout the
morning and afternoon of May 28.
Cobb said she had never experi¬
enced such discrepancies with the
voting process in previous elections.
Some of the AS candidates con¬
tinued to campaign throughout
Thursday morning under the
impression that the voting extension
was in effect.
Brian Abadia, elected as Student
Trustee, said he arrived on campus
at 7 a.m. to continue reaching for
students to vote.
Continued on page 3
New AS Board Will Inherit
Familiar Campus Problems
Allan Santiago
News Editor
The incoming student govern¬
ment will have to address a number
of important issues developed from
the current AS Board.
“The only challenge I didn’t get
the complete burden of is the budg¬
et crisis,” said AS President
Christina Javier. “We’re looking at
over $6 million less in general fund¬
ing (for the coming year). The [AS]
has to be a very strong voice in
deciding what has to be cut.”
Javier also mentioned sustain¬
ability, the proposed $6 student
activities fee and PCC’s Vision
2020 master plan as other equally
important points in which the new
Continued on page 3
Roger Lai
/
Courier
AS candidates (from left) Allen Tsay, Branden Sam and Jacobo
Quan react to the AS election results are posted outside the Office
of Student Affairs on May 28.
Mpu/C
Opinion
Lancer Life
Free Speech:
Geology Club:
Banana Tree:
Anti-abortion advo-
Students take a trip
\ New addition to
cates have a right to be
to Death Valley.
sculpture garden
1 unveiled. Page
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on campus. Page
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