OPINION
With the recent cloning of sheep and
monkey embryos, man has gone too far
The rapid increase in genetic technology has to
be checked before scientists unleash something
they'll regret.
FEATURES
SPORTS
Students to travel to Florence, Italy
as part of "Study Abroad" program
PCC will sponsor a semester of study in Italy in the
fall. Weekend trips will also be planned to Rome,
Venice and other locales.
л
Lady Lancers squeak into the second round of
the state playoffs last week with a one point
victory
The Women's Basketball team qualified for the second round of
the playoffs with a 75-74 overtime win over Rancho Santiago.
The
PASADENA CITY COLLEGE
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA
VOL. 82, NO. 20
http://geocities.com/ ~ pccnewscourier
THURSDAY
March 6, 1997
Since
1915
Some
faculty
criticize
inquiry
By RACHEL URANGA
Courier Staff Writer
A Faculty Senate special com¬
mittee that brought forth allegations
of professional misconduct against
two administrators, called on PCC
faculty to give direction to a plan
which would give them direction.
But the faculty’s dissatisfaction
with the committee’s failure to de¬
tail its allegations became apparent
at an informational meeting on Tues¬
day as audience members were
openly critical of the committee.
“I’d like to vote no confidence on
this committee,” said Bob Doud,
associate professor of social sci¬
ences. Doud called the committee,
known as the Board of Inquiry, a
“hanging committee” composed of
individuals who have predetermined
judgments about the administrators,
Joyce Black and Patricia Mollica.
The committee is made up of
union representatives who are nego¬
tiating a contract with these women
and by faculty members who have
filed grievances against them. Al¬
though the committee skirted Doud’s
accusations by saying they would be
addressed later if there was time, the
need for the union representatives
was addressed later in the meeting.
Robert McLean, committee
spokesman, said many of the griev¬
ances deal with contract issues and
the board needed clarification from
the union representatives.
After a six-month investigation
into faculty complaints against Black
Please see INQUIRY , page 4
PCC staff
members
participated
in emergency
response
training at
theJS
Training
Institute last
Saturday.
The institute
specializes in
preparing
organizations
for
earthquakes.
See story on
page 3.
PHOTOS BY SCOTT
BODE/ THE COURIER
AS Board accepts
Poindexter's letter
of resignation
By YUSEF ROBB
Courier Staff Writer
Forrest Poindexter, Associated
Students president, submitted a let¬
ter of resignation to Stephen John¬
son, assistant dean of student affairs
last Wednesday.
But Catherine Hazelton, coordi¬
nator of external affairs, announced
at Tuesday’s AS Board meeting that
Poindexter had notified her on Mon¬
day that he did not want the board to
accept his resignation.
Subsequent to Hazelton ’s an¬
nouncement of her discussion with
Poindexter, Levi Jackson, coordina¬
tor of campus activities, objected to
the motion to accept Poindexter’s
resignation.
A vote was then called for, in
which the board eventually accepted
Poindexter's resignation by a vote of
three to two, with Ben Bushnell,
executive vice president, abstaining.
In the letter, Poindexter cited
sexual harassment allegations against
him along with “constant attacks”
from the administration as the major
factors that contributed to his deci¬
sion to step down from his post.
Poindexter was accused by mem¬
bers of the AS Board of having made
several inappropriate comments of a
sexual nature to board members last
week.
Poindexter maintains in his letter
that the allegations made against
him are “just another attempt by the
administration to discredit... and in¬
validate my presidency.”
He also stated that dealing with
the administration has given him “a
nerve condition which is being con¬
trolled by medication.
But in a telephone interview on
Tuesday, Poindexter denied any
knowledge of ac¬
cusations of ha¬
rassment against
him and stated
that his motiva-
tionfor resigning
was to “be more
involved in my
studies.
He said that
“I was happy that
I [resigned].”
He did confirm, though, that he
had requested a “vote of confidence”
from the board, but not a reconsid¬
eration of his resignation. He also
said that he believed that the admin¬
istration did not support him during
his presidency.
Frank Fernandez, vice president
of academic affairs, said that
Poindexter’ s alleged comments were
“totally out of line.” “He’s off the
board, so that is pretty much all I
wanted,” he said.
Hazelton believes that Poindexter
had problems in dealing with the AS
Board. “Forrest has a certain leader¬
ship style that was very effective, but
it turned off a lot of people,” she said.
Poindexter has recently been in
the spotlight due to a Nov. 3 con¬
frontation with campus police, in
which he was detained for failure to
comply with a police order to vacate
his office.
Poindexter alleges that he was
brutalized by police during the inci¬
dent.
Police maintain that Poindexter
was acting erratically and used pro¬
fanity and racial slurs towards the
officers.
Per the order of succession in the
constitution, Bushnell then ascended
to the presidency.
Food service fund
transfer complete
By DANIEL ARCHULETA
Courier Staff Writer
A reimbursement of $92,000 for
capital improvements made to cam¬
pus food services facilities by the
prior service provider was approved
last Thursday at a special meeting of
the Student Service Fund Board of
Directors.
The improvements included reno¬
vations to the cafeteria, the snack
shop annex, and the construction of
the Java Hut. Professional Food-
Service Management Inc., the ser¬
vice that made the improvements
originally, invested $125,000 into
the projects just a year ago.
As a stipulation of the contract
with the college, PFM agreed to de¬
preciate the value each year over
five years, with a clause stating that
if PFM pulled out of it’s contract
early PCC would be contractually
obligated to foot the costs. And as a
result, in the year since the upgrades,
the value of the initial improvements
depreciated by $33,000.
Dr. Rod Fleeman, vice president
administrative services, said that the
college could recoup the payout
when the next service provider is
contracted. The college will use the
same formula as in the previous con¬
tract. “The actual amount could be a
stipulation of the contract,” he said.
Funds used in the reimbursement
came from the student service re¬
serve fund. It was estimated, before
the reimbursement, by Stephen John¬
son, assistant dean of student affairs,
to be near $300,000.
Of the nearly $208,000 left in
reserves, after the payout to PFM,
the Student Service Board agreed to
spend money on improvements to
the food service area, some have
been completed and some will be
started in the future.
Major kitchen equipment replace¬
ment, dining furniture, and cleaning
and repair of existing equipment and
facilities worth $100,000 were also
OK’d.
The replacement situation arose
when the new food service company
realized, upon receipt of the kitchen,
that some of the food preparation
equipment was either missing or in
dire need of major repair and clean¬
ing.
This year the state has set aside
funds for instructional equipment.
Because the kitchen facilities are
used to instruct students as well as
provide food service, the college
will receive some additional fund¬
ing.
Fleeman said that this is a bless¬
ing because, “for many years the
college didn’t have instructional
money and everybody was hurting.”
The college will match up to
$75,000 from the state toward the
acquisitions.
Mayor discusses PCC power proposal
By DANIEL ARCHULETA
Courier Staff Writer
Aside from dealings with state
and national politics, Pasadena
Mayor Bill Paparian’s duties in¬
clude dealing with the adminis¬
tration at PCC.
The ongoing deregulation of
the electric utility industry ntay
possibly strain PCC’s status as
one of the city’s largest purchas¬
ers of power by allowing the col¬
lege to obtain its electricity else¬
where.
Rod Fleeman, vice president
of administrative services, fears
that the temptation to buy elec¬
tricity from a more competitively-
priced private source will become
increasingly hard to deny in the
years to come. Until now the city
regulated the electrical prices, but
now the deregulation will allow
energy consumers to look to pri¬
vate industry for a cheaper price.
“If the city doesn’t remain com¬
petitive, we’ll have to create a
consortium with other area col¬
leges to purchase electricity at a
lower price.”
The college annually spends
up to $ 1 .2 million a year on elec¬
tricity according to Fleeman. He
also said that the city has informed
the college that if PCC buys else¬
where the city will be forced to cut
its budget or lay off workers.
Paparian said that the deregula¬
tion “is not something I support.” He
admits that if PCC goes elsewhere to
acquire its electricity, the city may
be forced to either lay off employees
to streamline the city’s operations.
“Deregulation is going to affect
the way the city does business,” he
said.
The immediate impact of the de¬
regulation is not clear, but Paparian
believes that the average consumer
will not benefit from the breakup of
the utility, but corporations will. He
said that the city’ s only recourse is to
become more efficient to remain
competitive.
“The city may purchase a larger
block of electricity along with other
municipalities to save money,” he
said.
Elected to the Pasadena city coun-
‘ cil in 1 987, Paparian has worked his
way up through the ranks of city
politics and was named mayor in
1995.
While in office, he hasn’t been
the type to shy away from the contro¬
versial issues. Paparian took on
Proposition 209, the voter-ap¬
proved initiative aimed at ending
affirmative action in California.
In the months following the pas¬
sage of 209, Pasadena was among
many cities that spearheaded a
lawsuit against the implementa¬
tion of the proposition in Federal
District Court, citing its unconsti¬
tutionality and unfairness. Ajudge
in that court ruled in favor of the
plaintiffs. Supporters of 209 have
appealed the ruling and the case is
now in litigation. He said that he
believes the case will make it
through the appeals process and
be taken “all the way to the Su¬
preme Court.”
In addition to his active role in
state and local politics, Paparian
Please see PAPARIAN, page 5
SAMUEL HERNANDEZ/ THE COURIER
Pasadena Mayor Paparian spoke candidly with The Courier about PCC, and life as Mayor.