Student club
teaches secrets
of the deep
see page 4
Lancers extend
win streak to
three games
see page 10
Board approves
Cesar Chavez
Holiday
see page 6
COURIER
VOL. 87 NO. 22 www.pcc-courieronline.com
MARCH 28,2002
Mews, 71
Ю
Mm
‘MONSTERS’
Cross Cultural Center and
East West Players will
present a play by Derek
Nguyen. A Vietnamese
American detective inves¬
tigates the dissapearance
of. a high school student
on the heels of a hate
crime. The “Monster” he
finds may change him for¬
ever. The play will show
only once on April 12 at
6:30 p.m; tickets are for
sale at the student bank
for $5. Contact the Cross
Cultural Center for more
info at (626) 585-7117.
Renowned Poet Maya
Angelou will share her
message of wisdom at the
Distinguished Speaker
Series. Angelou, author of
1 1 best-selling books, will
soon release A Song Flung
Up From Heaven. The pro- 1
gram begins at 8 p.m on
April 30 at the Pasadena
Civic Auditorium. Tickets
can be purchased at the
Auditorium box office or
through Ticketmaster. For j
more information call (310) f
546-6222.
Player Alleges Wrongdoing
in PCC Basketball Program
By Jake Armstrong
Sports Editor
A player on the PCC men’s basketball team has
accused members of the athletic department of forging
his name on rental documents for an apartment occu¬
pied by several basketball players.
Sam Sikes, a freshman point guard, recently filed a
forgery report with the Glendale Police Department,
claiming that his name was falsely signed on the rental
agreement and utility service contract for an apartment
that head coach Bill “Rocky” Moore provided for sev¬
eral members of the team.
According to Sikes, he and eight other players lived
in the apartment for several months, paying rent with
money from the college’s work-study program.
Sikes, an 18-year-old Nevada native, moved to
Pasadena at the urging of the former junior varsity
coach of his Reno high school and current PCC assis¬
tant coach, Alex Ovies. He relocated to the San
Gabriel Valley after being promised rent-free living
and a weekly gas stipend by team officials if he played
at PCC.
After first living with Moore in a house across the
street from the college and then at a house belonging
to someone with ties to the athletic department, Sikes
and several teammates were set up with an apartment
in Glendale in early September.
As Sikes tells it, when the $965 rent was due,
Moore would give him $765 in cash or money orders,
to which he would add his $200 and pay the rent.
Afterward he would give the coach a receipt.
Gradually, players began moving from the apart¬
ment without paying their portion of the rental fee.
Eventually the apartment, located at 365 West Doran
Street, was served with an eviction notice on Feb. 27
demanding payment.
While in the process of moving out in early March,
Sikes said he came across the eviction notice and saw
that his name appeared on it, even though he never
signed any of the rental paperwork.
After realizing this discrepancy in the contract,
Sikes asked the apartment manager why his name
appeared on the document. According to Sikes, the
manager didn’t recognize him and said that a tall,
white man claiming to be Sikes, accompanied by
Moore, signed the agreement.
Sikes, who is half black, showed the manager his
driver’s license to prove his identity, at which point the
manager acknowledged that there was a problem.
Sikes then phoned Moore asking what was going
on. He called twice and left messages, both of which
were not returned.
The third time he called, Sikes left another message
and said “I got a copy of the rental agreement and
there’s a few things that don’t make sense. I want to
know why my name is on the rental agreement and
who signed my name?”
According to Sikes, Moore called back immediate¬
ly, sounding nervous and hurried, and said that “they”
needed to get the past-due rent, a sum of $1,390, paid
quickly. Sikes was told by his ex-roommates that
Moore got a sponsor to pay the rent.
According to Keith Duncan and Jason Me Crae,
Sikes’s roommates who continued to live at the house
after he moved out, Moore later asked them to sign a
paper saying that he was not present when the rental
# see PLAYER page 9
Basketball coach Rocky Moore (seated) and
Sam Sikes (with headband) at a recent game.
Amir Van der Vliet/Courier
Survey Says: Most Students Would
Consider Cheating To Pass Classes
Photo Illustration by Mikyl Nutter/Courier
By Angela Faranda
Staff Writer
A recent poll of PCC students
on their cheating practices reveals
that there may be more cheating
than studying happening on this
campus.
Students were split almost
down the middle when it came to
those who have cheated. Forty-
nine percent said they had cheated,
and 5 1 percent said they had never
cheated. A whopping 88 percent of
all students surveyed said they
would cheat if they felt they could
not otherwise pass a class, and 86
percent said they definitely would
cheat if they thought they would
not get caught.
Students who have cheated
once before were more likely to do
it again in the future, with 72 per¬
cent of those students admitting
they would do it if they thought
they would not get caught. “I don’t
think they do it to look good, but to
keep from looking bad,” said
Keith Oberlander, math instructor.
Apparently those who have
never committed this offense
before could be persuaded if the
situation was right. Of those stu¬
dents who said they have never
cheated, 26 percent said they
would if they felt they could not
pass a class, and about 30 percent
of those who have never cheated
would be tempted to do so if they
felt they would not get caught.
“It’s just not worth the risk of
getting an F. I’d rather just study
and take my own test than get
involved with getting an F and get¬
ting kicked out,” said Kimberly
Casillas, a communication student.
At least one teacher thinks what
drives these otherwise well mean¬
ing students to commit this form of
fraud is laziness. “Some of these
kids think that cheating is the only
way to get by,” said David Taylor,
an instructor in the' business divi¬
sion, “Some of them try to get by
with doing the least work possible.
• see CHEATING page 5
President of
Gets Second
By Andrew Campa
Assistant Sports Editor
With every new sunrise, gust of wind and chirp of a bird, Alice Araiza
is thankful that she was given a second chance at life. The president of
PCC’s La Raza faculty and staff organization was one instant from never
being inaugurated.
On a gusty day back in 1990, Araiza and her family decided to vaca¬
tion over the Labor day weekend at Lake Arrowhead. Unfortunately, the
Araiza family would never reach their intended destination.
“I have difficulty remembering all that happened that day,” recalls
Araiza. “I remember traveling down the highway. My kids were excited
and my husband I am were looking forward to the weekend in Lake
Arrowhead. Then it happened. A moment that would change our lives.
In a blink of an eye the Araiza family would be changed forever.
“He came out of nowhere,” said Araiza. “This car came speeding
along and jumped over into our lane. There was nothing we could do.’
What happened next was a vicious three-car accident that seriously
injured everyone involved. Araiza broke an unspecified number of bones
while nearly snapping her right leg in half.
“Good or bad, I suffered some memory loss, which means I don’t
La Raza Group
Chance at Life
remember what happened during the accident. I just remember getting
airlifted to a local hospital and wondering what happened,” Araiza said.
She Said she lay in a hospital bed wondering what happened to her and
her family.
As bad as Alice Araiza’s injuries were, she was unaware of the trau¬
ma the accident caused her husband. While both of them were taken to
hospitals, Alice’s husband Frank was transferred to Loma Linda hospital.
“I heard he was moved to Loma Linda because he had suffered head trau¬
ma and was bleeding internally,” said Alice. “As injured as I was, I was
more frightened for him.”
Unfortunately for Frank, the situation grew bleaker. “When I first was
able to see him I was in tears. He was not the same,” said Alice. Frank
had suffered brain damage due to a severe loss of blood and oxygen to
the brain. That deficiency left him permanently disabled and in need of
care.
Badly injured and unable to aid her husband and kids, Alice lost faith
in God. “For three days I turned my back on God,” she said. “My chil¬
dren had suffered through a terrible day and I couldn’t be with them. My
husband was permanently disabled arid I couldn’t even move. It felt very
hopeless.”
Lee Michelsen/Courier
La Raza president Alice Araiza has created a collage of
photos in her office celebrating the second chance in
life she received with the help of her friends.
In the darkness of despair she didn’t know where to turn. “Just about
every bone in my body was broken; I was frustrated,” added Alice. With
uncertainty and anxiety always around the comer, Alice received unex-
• see SURVIVOR page 6
