Inside
Student at Egypt riots
Page 2
Transparency vs
Censorship Page 4
Pasadena City College
Online edition
pccCourier.com
Facebook
PCC Courier
Twitter
@pccCourier
Volume 104, Issue 3
The independent student voice of PCC. Serving Pasadena Since 1915.
March 8, 2012
i\'J
m
%
Winter session's fate weighed
Nicholas Zebrowski
Staff Writer
A proposal to consider cutting
winter intersession was sched¬
uled to be discussed by the
Board of Trustees on Wednesday.
As the Courier went to press,
the board had not made a deci¬
sion on this item.
"If Jackie Robinson were with
us today, he would be protesting
[the cuts] with us," said Roger
Marheine, English professor,
told the board.
Starting at about 4 p.m., secu¬
rity around the Campus Center
building was boosted as it was
on Feb. 22 when a large crowd
demonstrated inside the board
meeting room, and in the Quad
outside.
The item in which the propos¬
al of a Trimester Academic
Calandar for the 2012-2013 year
was contained, was near the end
of the agenda.
Background materials provid¬
ed to the board stated: "For one
year only in 2012-2013, the
For up to the minute
coverage,
visit Courier online
pccCourier.com
District will assure that the num¬
ber of class sections (271 sec¬
tions) that were offered in the
winter session 2012, will be
moved to the summer semester
and therefore added to the 2012-
13 class schedule.
"These additional classes will
be high priority courses needed
by students for graduation and
transfer."
Word of the removal of the
winter session had spread across
campus. On Wednesday morn¬
ing, blue fliers reading, "PCC
Plans to cut Winter 2013,"
appeared on campus inviting
students and faculty to appear at
the Board of Trustees meeting
and voice their concerns.
"We're going to allow over¬
flow," said Officer Tyler James
Robins earlier in the day. "If there
are more people coming in,
they'll broadcast the meeting in
the Piazza."
Few attended the meeting
Officials had already shown
strong disapproval of the discus¬
sion to eliminate winter.
"The appearance of the pro¬
posed 'trimester' in the next
Board of Trustees' packet, with¬
out the idea first being vetted in
shared governance committees
or even negotiated with the
Continued on page 10
Protesters
gather for the
March in
March rally at
the California
State Capitol
on Monday.
About 5,000
demonstrators
from colleges
all over
California
assembled to
protest the
recent cuts in
state funding.
Gabriela
Castillo/
Courier
&
%
Щ
;
1 1
и
m t\
%
•/
Ш
Intimidation'
at meeting
assailed by
Senate leader
Neil Protacio and Ander Arostegui
Staff Writers
In an open letter addressed to the Board of
Trustees, the administration, faculty and staff,
Academic Senate President Edward Martinez said
members of the Senate had been "intimidated" by
events surrounding the group's Feb 27 meeting.
Many Senate members had expressed anger at
the time, the Courier reported on March 1.
"Some members
Local group joins protest at Capitol
Mercy fabila and
Cicely Chisholm
Staff Writers
Thousands of students from various
California colleges, including a large
group of students from PCC, walked
the streets of Sacramento to protest the
cuts in funding to higher education at
the state Capitol on Monday.
The event's primary goal was to
voice students' support for Gov. Jerry
Brown's measures to increase taxes on
the wealthy in order to provide more
funding for higher education.
More pictures
/
Pages 6, 7
Students have been building up their
excitement for weeks in light of heated
protests.
”1 want to be able to transfer and not
worry about student loans and class
cuts for the future," said Derek Vuong,
engineering, at the final meeting before
heading to Sacramento.
"I'm going because of the budget
cuts affecting everybody," echoed
Loyanee Lopez, psychology. "I hope to
get or point of view across."
Speak out!
Should taxes on the rich
be raised for in support
of education?
vote at
pccCourier.com
The massive group began its march
at Southside Park, one mile away from
the Capitol building. Buses dropped
students off who were there to repre-
Continued on page 10
To read the full
text of the
letter, visit
Courier online
pccCourier.com
of the Senate
Board, including
the Senate
Secretary an the
Senate Treasurer,
were angered that
our normal proce¬
dures were so bla¬
tantly interfered
with and that a situation of intimidation had been
created," Martinez wrote.
"Both of these officers and other representatives
left the meeting in protest.
Roger Marheine, as an English division repre¬
sentative, moved to cancel the meeting, but I had
to overrule the motion after a vote since it had not
been properly agendized."
At a meeting of the Senate Executive Board on
Monday, Martinez declined to elaborate on the
Continued on page 10
Community Colleges Chancellor, ex-PCC chief, to retire
Nicholas Zebrowski
New Editor
Jack Scott, former PCC presi¬
dent, announced Tuesday that he
would be retiring from his posi¬
tion of California Chancellor of
Community Colleges as of
September this year.
He assumed his position at the
helm of the nations largest sys¬
tem of higher education in
January 2009.
Scott plans to spend his retire¬
ment in Pasadena, and is looking
forward to spending more time
with his eleven grandchildren,
he said in an interview. "I plan
to take it easy, no nine to five
work... consulting, reading,
maybe some writing."
The former PCC leader said
that his greatest achievement as
Community College Chancellor
was the implementation of a
community college-to-CSU
transfer system in 2011.
"I look forward to seeing more
[of] PCC," Scott said in a tele¬
phone interview Tuesday after¬
noon. "There will always be a
warm spot in my heart for PCC
and the time I spent there."
Scott added that he is retiring
because he feels he has had a ful¬
filling career and wants to relax
with his family and travel. Scott
also said that he hopes students
can pursue the best education
possible, even though the state
has made some serious mistakes
handling higher education.
Commenting on Scott's retire¬
ment, PCC President Mark
Rocha said, "Jack is a monument
to our school and the state." He
added that Scott is a "Mt. Rush-
more; type landmark character."
Rocha said that Scott's retire¬
ment came as a surprise, but that
Scott has served 58 years for the
state and done a great service to
us all. "[PCC] and the state are in
a much better state [after Scott]."
Rocha said.
Scott served as PCC President
from 1987 and was elected in
1996 as state representative to
the Senatorial District, which
includes Pasadena, Glendale,
and Burbank.
His highlight achievement at
PCC was the completion of a
$100 million master plan bring¬
ing the colleges needs into the
21st century, according to the
Chancellor's website. Also on
the website, it says during Scoffs
presidency at PCC, "the college
balanced its budget, laid-off no
Continued on page 10
Courtesy of California
Community Collge Chancllors
Office
Former PCC President Jack Scott
