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COURIER
Pasadena City College
Athletics
Review of
the Lancers’
year in sports
Page
12»
Volume 103, Issue 14
“The Independent Student Voice of PCC, Serving Pasadena Since 1915.”
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Former football coach sues college
James Kuk is second
consecutive football
coach to file lawsuit.
Sara Medina
Editor-in-Chief
Former Head Football Coach
James Kuk has filed a lawsuit
against the college district and
Board of Trustees for more than
$200,000, plus additional unspeci¬
fied damages, over his termination
almost a year ago.
This is the second consecutive
time that a former football coach
has sued the district.
According to court documents,
Kuk, who was hired by PCC in
2008, is suing for failure to imme¬
diately pay wages, breach of oral
contract, fraud and deceit and neg¬
ligent misrepresentation as well as
"special damages" for an amount
that will be determined at trial.
A hearing in the case will be
held on Tuesday in Los Angeles.
PCC President Mark Rocha said
he is unable to comment on mat¬
Architectural art
ters such as this.
"As this is a legal matter, it is in
the hands of college General
Counsel," he said on Tuesday.
"The college can have no comment
on confidential legal and person¬
nel matters."
Sports Information Specialist
Robert Lewis and General Counsel
to PCC Mary Dowell could not
comment while PCC's legal repre¬
sentative in the case Stephan
Birgel of Walsh & Associates could
not be reached for comment.
According to the amended law¬
suit, Kuk was hired for two foot¬
ball seasons, then was told by the
Athletic Director /Dean of
Kinesiology, Health and Athletics
Division Beverly Tate that he
would be given a two year con¬
tract.
The suit alleges that Tate and
Kuk continued with oral commu¬
nication about the development of
the contract until August 2010,
when he met with Rocha under the
assumption that the new contract
had been drawn up and was ready
for approval.
Rocha did not present the con¬
tract. Instead, Rocha "informed
Coach Kuk that he was being
relieved of his duties as Head
Football Coach effective immedi¬
ately," according to the lawsuit
documents.
Later, Kuk met again with
Rocha, Tate and the Vice President
of Human Relations Lyle
Engeldinger along with PCC
Faculty Association representa¬
tives. Rocha offered Kuk a separa¬
tion package and letter of recom-
Continued on page 2
$1 0 student
fee's future in
the balance
Ander Arostegui/Courier
Albert Chavez, 23, architecture, sits in a structure made out of tape that he helped build in 'Galloway Plaza as a final project
for the Architecture 14 class on Monday. Below, a ground floor view of the installation.
Tape installation rises in Galloway Plaza
Architecture students build
final project with tape.
Ander arostegui
Contributing Writer
PCC students, faculty and onlookers were
intrigued when a plastic installation was seen
hanging between the pillars in Galloway Plaza
on Monday.
Many wondered if it was a project from either
the arts or engineering departments but they
were surprised when they found out it was a
project developed by students in the architec¬
ture program.
The structure was built completely out of
tape as part of one of four final projects by the
students in Architecture 14, under the supervi¬
sion of Instructor Dionicio Valdez.
The suspended transparent structure, shaped
in the form of tunnel, was strong enough to
hold a person inside, as evidenced by the num¬
ber of people that dared to climb in it.
At the beginning of the semester, Valdez told
his students that he was looking at new materi¬
als for developing projects. One of the students
proposed tape as a joke, not knowing that the
proposal was seriously considered and built
into a life-size installation.
Construction started after midterms and took
about 40 hours to complete. The parts were then
assembled on site and hung in a five hour
process.
Continued on page 2
Board to vote on Wednesday.
Amrah Khan
Managing Editor
A year after its implementation, the Board of
Trustees will vote next week on whether to continue
charging the $10 per semester student activity fee.
The topic was hotly debated at a Board meeting on
May 18, as trustees expressed differing viewpoints on
the effectiveness of an extra fee for students during
the current difficult economic times.
Simon Fraser, a mathematics major who was
recently elected chief justice of Associated Students,
spoke up in defense of the student activity fee at the
meeting.
"The student activity fee has done a heck of a lot of
good for the college," said Fraser. "It has allowed the
clubs, the AS and various bodies directly related to
students to really improve the service and experience
that students have on the campus."
The purpose of the fee is to fund programs and stu¬
dent activities, including those hosted by clubs on
campus. Over $575,000 was raised through the fee
during fall 2010, winter 2011 and spring 2011 registra¬
tion periods.
Board Vice President Geoffrey L. Baum, who sup¬
ported the implementation of the fee last year, sug¬
gested the money raised from the fee was not fairly
distributed among groups on campus.
"It sounds like the ones that are closest to the
process get the first pick of the money," said Baum.
"And the folks that maybe haven't been invited to be
a part of the process get left out in the cold."
Scott Thayer, assistant dean of student affairs,
defended the method of distributing funds, saying
that the 70 clubs on campus are informed of the fund¬
ing process.
"We look at all proposals that are submitted," he
said. "If we don't receive a proposal, we don't pro¬
pose an event."
Trustee Jeanette Mann voted in opposition of the
Continued on page 2
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Retro love
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Party
Students
let loose at
Big Gay Prom
Pages 6 &
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