PCC Courier, March 22, 2001

Pas ad e n a C i r Y Col l e g e th e i /• Ш ' Since 1915 VOL. 86 NO. 23 www.p cc-courieronline. com March 22, 2001 Philip Mullendore, *T the stairs in the CC Rosario Cuevas / The Courier director of campus safety, and student Ray Lee, carry Olympia Santana’s wheelchair down Building. All of the college’s elevators were shut down yesterday by a Cal OSHA inspector. By Robert Glassey Staff Writer Some of PCC’s handicapped students suffered the inconvenience and indignity of being carried down stairs by police cadets after a Cal/OSHA inspector shut down all campus elevators Wednesday morning. Others like wheelchair-bound students Kim Staley and David Fregoe missed their classes after being informed by the disabled student office that out-of¬ commission elevators made it unsafe to try to reach upper-floor classrooms. “1 have a class in C building, on the third floor, beginning algebra,” said Staley. “It’s the last class meeting before our exam on Monday. Today is the review session. Because the elevators are out, I won’t be able to get to class, all because of stupid bureaucrats, and you can quote me on that.” Staley’s predicament is mitigated some¬ what by her on-campus aide’s willingness get her assignments from the instructor. Although he also missed his class, Fregoe could at least be thankful he did not need help getting down stairs. He has what Chuck Havard, teacher specialist in the disabled student program, called “the biggest and heaviest wheelchair I have ever seen.” “We do not risk the health or the safety of anybody to take them up or bring them down,” Havard said. “We will work with them and their instructor, to explain the situation.” Nevertheless, cadets were stationed at all campus elevators and helped several handicapped students safely reach the first floor. Olympia Santana missed her sociology class on the third floor of C building as she waited in her wheelchair more than 15 minutes for an elevator that had not yet been posted as out of order. “When I found out, they were nice about it,” she said. She was told: We’re sorry, but we can’t do anything about it now. “1 understand it wasn’t planned or any¬ thing like that, but they knew this might happen because all the permits are expired. 1 know that,” she said. Workers in the disabled students office spent much of Wednesday afternoon phoning and e-mailing 80 to 100 disabled students, telling them to plan to attend classes Thursday, but to be prepared for elevator problems. Dr. Richard van Pelt, director of facili¬ ties services, explained the problem as a failure to communicate. “We have con¬ tracted with an elevator maintenance com¬ pany who deals directly with the state. Somewhere down the line, there was some miscommunication between the two.” Van Pelt said it had been his under¬ standing that the college’s elevator repair company, Millar Elevator, had contacted Cal/OSHA, arranging more time to correct see Elevators, page 4 Jury hears officer’s charges of racial bias Two year old lawsuit alleges campus police engaged in systematic discrimination against black co-worker him and/or non-black employees. Although Henderson has retained his job as a campus police officer, he said he has been “repeatedly subjected to humiliation and harassment” by the college. “You have to measure very carefully how people are treated. When you take all of these inci¬ dents, they add up to less than favorable treatment,” said C. Brent Scott, Henderson’s attorney who built the case around a chronological timeline. Henderson, a 25-year veteran of the campus police force, alleged that when he was hired he was asked to “sign a letter remov¬ ing his name from the hiring process.” He claimed that Mullendore tried to fire him and became resentful when that failed. From there, Henderson Student leaders jump AS ship in protest By Jon Heller Contributing Editor Fallout continued in the aftermath of last week’s decision by the Associated Students to impeach vice president for internal affairs George Magdaleno. In a letter addressed to the AS board, as well as the supreme council and the AS advis¬ ers, Magdaleno resigned his position before any * proceedings against him could begin. In a resignation letter dated March 15, Magdaleno cited his ineligibility to serve on the board because he dropped a class, therefore bring¬ ing his unit requirement below the required num¬ ber. A minimum of nine units must be maintained to serve on the AS; Magdaleno now has six. “An extended trial in the supreme council will only create an unnecessary distraction for myself, the members of the AS board and the general school population,” said Magdaleno. At last Wednesday’s regular AS meeting, Daniel Loh, president, and George Davidson, vice presi- see Resign, page 3 PCC elevators shut down by Cal OSHA claimed Mullendore embarked on a crusade to embarrass him. In June 1995, Henderson said at a campus activity he was ordered to bring Mullendore an electric bullhorn “so I can yell at you.” Henderson charged he felt “degraded and humiliated in front of teachers and students.” Henderson alleged that in May 1998 he was “again embarrassed” when Mullendore “ordered him to remove a bicycle attached to a nearby railing. A task usually given to cadets and parking lot officers.” Henderson also claimed that in June 1998, he was passed up as the next department investi¬ gator, since he was the senior officer and it was the “general consensus” that he would get the job. Allen Chan, a newly-hired officer was considered for the Fake parking permits pose probable problems By Tim Alves Editor in Chief The racial discrimination case that has pitted officer against offi¬ cer and divided the campus police department for two years is finally being heard by a jury. Officer Leroy Henderson’s lawsuit against the Pasadena Area Community College District began on March 12. He is suing for as yet unspecified damages against the district, Philip Mullendore, director of campus safety, John Corrigan, investiga¬ tor, and Vince Palermo, retired sergeant. According to papers filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Henderson alleged the college has “instituted an inten¬ tional, oppressive and malicious process of disparate treatment” of I A Different View With his official corona¬ tion just hours away, multi-award winning columnist Jon Heller is the man who would be king. SEE PAGE 2 If You Don’t Know Sports columnist Kevin Hawkins waxes philosophi¬ cal about the Venus, Serena and Tiger, oh my. SEE PAGE 6 job, but Corrigan was reappoint- ing year, ed to the position and Chan was promised the job for the follow- 4^... SEE Lawsuit, PAGE 3 their flash lights on suspicious permits to reveal that the permits were forged.” The seven students cited for displaying forged permits claimed that they saw an ad in front of the campus bookstore advertising permits at half the cost. “They said they had no idea that the permits were forged,” said Mullendore. Campus police are still looking for the person who sold the permits. When the suspect is arrested, he will be brought up on criminal forgery charges. If he is a stu¬ dent, he may also face administrative action, which may result in suspension or expulsion “The campus police are currently working on leads. It appears to be the same person who forged the permits because of the similarities,” Mullendore said. >• see Permits, page 4 Matt Robinson / The Courier Officer Leroy Henderson accuses the college of misdeeds. By John Kaufeldt Staff Writer Matt Robinson / The Courier Both of these parking permits are forgeries being sold on campus. If someone came up to you and offered to sell you a PCC parking permit at half the cost, what would you do? For a hand¬ ful of students, they may have gotten more then they bargained for. The campus police have cited seven students for using altered parking permits. Cadets patrolling the parking lots noticed several fake permits on student cars, because the holograms on the per¬ mits were missing. The $64 semester permits have a holo¬ gram imbedded in them, which has a code that allows cadets to identify the permit. The cadets noticed that the per¬ mits were just Xerox copies of an official permit that were colored in. According to Philip Mullendore, direc¬ tor of campus safety, “The cadets shined