Inside
Senate members angry
Page 2
AS hold emergency
meeting Page 3
Pasadena City College
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Volume 105, Issue 2
The independent student voice of PCC. Serving Pasadena Since 1915.
March 1, 2012
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Trustees react to protest
Some board
members view
demonstration as
unproductive.
Nick Zebrowski
News Editor
After many spoke out loudly
against class cuts and faculty
reassignments at the Board of
Trustees meeting on Feb. 22,
board members say the protest
was not productive.
While trustees sympathize
with students and faculty, some
were disappointed with the fol¬
low through when most protest¬
ers left before hearing why the
cuts happened.
"The protesters left without
getting an education about why
the cuts occurred," said Trustee
Antony Fellow in an email. "I
participated in protests in the
1960s... we were passionate
about our positions. Young peo¬
ple are just as passionate about
challenges today."
The Board of Trustee meeting
and the patios outside the CC
Building were the site of heated,
Protest Pictures
Pages 6 and 7
Occupy-movement style
protests by students, faculty, and
members of the community
affected by the last-minute class
cuts. This followed a protest the
day before which prn™r^J r'-'-
Pz-ooidcuc Mark Rocha to speak
to a large crowd outside the C
Building.
Board members had mixed
feelings about the protest. They
agree that communication is
important to solving problems,
but some actions taken were
ineffective.
Trustee Linda Wah said in an
interview that the protests were
to be expected, but added: "It is
hard to get things done when
people are calling you names
and yelling at you."
т
_ . _ J jccuieite Mann and
Berlinda Brown declined to com¬
ment for this story.
"We have so much to be proud
of at PCC. Let's open the lines of
communication and work
together. No one at PCC caused
Speak out!
Do you think recent class
cuts are well managed?
vote at
pccCourier.com
the financial collapse of the
state," Fellow said. "We are a
state that has overspent and now
must pay the consequences."
"Some faculty and students
Continued on page 9
Student
activists, right,
applaud
English
instructor
Roger
Marheine
during the
Board of
Trustees
meeting
Feb. 22 in
Creveiing
Lounge. Below,
Students
circling the
trustees seats
minutes before
the board of
trustees meet¬
ing started.
Photographs:
Natalie Sehn
Weber/
Daniel Nerio
Chaotic scene disrupts proceedings
Paul Ochoa
Asst. News Editor
With protestors outside the Campus
Center Building as well as inside the
Creveiing Lounge for the Board of
Trustees meeting February 22, the
board members could not avoid listen¬
ing to the demonstrators' cries and
demands.
"Cut the B.S. not the classes," chant¬
ed students gathered in the Quad from
about 6 p.m. to protest the budget and
class cuts during the scheduled board
meeting.
The CC Building, where the meeting
was being held, had been shut down
and evacuated at 4 p.m. Even though
Board meetings are open to the public
with a portion even dedicated to pub¬
lic comment, not all the members of
the public were allowed in because of
the limited room capacity.
Those inside began chanting; "Let
them in!" referring to the those outside
who had not been allowed into the
building.
Various other chants were shouted
out before someone yelled out:
"If you support the students stand
up!"
Most of the crowd stood up; a few
remained seated.
The crowd, led by student Sarah
Belknap, proceeded to walk around
the board members chanting and read¬
ing their list of demands.
This prompted the board members
to walk out of the room.
The protesters who had remained
Continued on page 9
Public records request exposes staff salaries
Neil Protacio
Editor in Chief
Details of 2011 gross incomes of all
PCC employees were posted on the
school's official website last week after
public records requests came from
media organizations and the state con¬
troller's office.
The detailed report was prepared in
response to two California Public
Records Act requests received from
two publishers, California Watch and
Bay Area News Group. According to
General Counsel Gail Cooper, both
entities were seeking employee's com¬
plete compensation information from
the last year. The request was sent to
all other community colleges as well,
Cooper said.
"In addition to the District's legal
obligation to provide the information
Live stream
of meeting
halted at
key point
Telecast omits crucial
uproar ; Courier has it
Paul Ochoa and Neil Protacio
Staff Writers
The online live telecast of the tumultuous Board
of Trustees meeting on Feb. 22 was abruptly shut
off when the heated protests began, the Courier
has learned.
However, a portion of the omitted video was
recorded by the Courier and can be seen online at
pccCourier.com
According to Dwayne Cable, vice president of
information technology who was part of the team
that helped stream the live feed, the broadcast was
shut off in order to keep viewers from seeing the
protest
To view portions of
the omitted video,
visit
pccCourier.com
/multi-media
to these agencies and to the state con¬
troller's office, the District also owes
the public, the employees and the stu¬
dents, complete transparency in the
use of public funds and has therefore
made the information readily accessi¬
ble on the PCC website," Cooper said.
Some faculty and staff were unfazed
by the posting. However, some were
Continued on page 9
"It is not good for
the community to
draw the wrong con¬
clusion about our stu¬
dents and faculty,"
said Cable who knew
about the decision to
shut off the feed. "I would have turned it off if they
asked me to."
Director of Public Relations Juan Gutierrez said
he did not know who ordered the broadcast to be
turned off, but maintains that the video is "not to
censor and to be transparent" and that archives
show their comments.
"Everyone got to say what they wanted to say
during the live meeting," Gutierrez said. "If the
meeting's not on, there's no meeting to broadcast."
Usually, a live feed from the Creveiing Lounge
continues even during closed session of the board.
The cameras focus on either the audience or a
close-up of the American flag until the board con¬
venes in open session. On Feb. 22, however, the
feed was interrupted shortly after 7 p.m. .
Mikki Bolliger, a retired faculty member tried to
tune in when she found that the broadcast had
Continued on page 9
