OPINION
FEATURES
SPORTS
Is there such a thing as common
sense in the media?
Page 2
‘Music of the Heart:’ A
television students.
product of advanced
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Softball team finishes season
in third place and makes
SCC playoffs.
Page 6
THE
PASADENA CITY COLLEGE
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA
VOL. 80 No. 28
COURIER
Serving the Pasadena Community since 1915
THURSDAY
May 4, 1995
Winner of presidential race disqualified
□ Runner-up Kris Le
given AS presidency.
By CARLOS LEMUS
COURIER STAFF WRITER
Kris Le has become PCC’s
new student body president. Al¬
though coming second in the bal¬
loting with 489 votes, Le gained
the presidency after Roldan
Herrera, the winner with 518
votes, was disqualified Monday,
May 1 for alleged campaign mis¬
conduct.
The decision to disqualify
Herrera was made in a special
meeting to consider formal com¬
plaints against candidates in the
recent election. Three complaints
were filed with the committee.
Two of them accused Herrera of
disobeying election bylaws es¬
tablished in the AS constitution
The alleged misconduct involved
campaigning in prohibited areas.
The other complaint, filed by
Herrera, accused the slate United
Students for Change (USFC) of
breaking the same rules.
Please see RESULTS, Page 6
□ Election Committee
votes 4-1 against the
“top vote getter.”
By ENRICO PIAZZA
COURIER STAFF WRITER
The “top vote getter” in the stu¬
dent president race went to the Board
of Trustees to voice his anger over
the Election Committee’s decision
to disqualify him. Roldan Herrera,
currently the AS executive vice presi¬
dent, was disqualified for allegedly
violating elections bylaws.
Two students filed a written com¬
plaint against Herrera for passing out
campaign material beyond the polls ’
boundaries, which is a violation of
the elections bylaws. Herrera called
both accusations “blatant lies.”
After a three and half hour meet¬
ing, the committee ruled both com¬
plaints against Herrera were “valid
or with merit,” and acted accord¬
ingly.
The committee also ruled to be
“invalid or without merit” a list of
complaints filed by Herrera’s ticket,
the Coalition For Action, (CFA),
against different members of the
United Students For Change,
(USFC).
According to a complaint
against Herrera filed by Lavonne
Ramirez, who won re-election for
coordinator of campus activities,
Herrera allegedly “passed out”
campaign fliers beyond the polls’
boundary lines which mark the
area where no publicity is al¬
lowed. Another complaint, filed
by JamilaJohnson, astudent cam¬
paigning for USFC-member Kim
Smoot, stated that Herrera
“shoved a student away” in order
to lobby for his slate.
Two of the complaints filed by
Herrera’s group againstUSFC in¬
volved the same kind of boundary
violations, while the others men¬
tioned alleged irregularities in¬
volving various members of that
slate. One of these accused Kim
Smoot of “very offensive and
verbally condescending” remarks
she allegedly made about CFA
members.
During the Election Commit¬
tee meeting, both sides exchanged
words and hurled all kinds of
accusations.
In reaching the decision to dis¬
please see ELECTIONS, Page 5
From left: Darrell Price, PCC student, Phil Diep, defeated candidate for vice-president of student services,
Jorge Cornejo, PCC student, and Kris Le, AS president-elect. Insert: Roldan Herrera addresses the Board
of Trustees. During the Election Committee meeting on Monday, Price, who campaigned for defeated
presidential candidate Tina Morris, spoke in defense of Herrera. “PCC students voted for Roldan, fair and
square," said Price.
HOWARD BURGER/THE COURIER
Former secretary
seeks due process
Two winners are better than one
CINDY
РАО
COURIER
For the first time ever, the Risser Award for Outstanding teacher was given to two professors. From left: David Douglass,
assistant professor of physical sciences, Joyce Black, assistant superintendent of instruction, Dr. Jack Scott, superintendent/
president, and Suzanne Bravender, arts professor. Bravender received the award on her birthday. See story on Page 3
Two students robbed in lot 4
By PAT ROBISON
COURIER STAFF WRITER
Sharon Outzen works in the PCC ware¬
house. She didn’t start there, however. Six
years ago she was hired as an administrative
assistant in the office of administrative ser¬
vices. She takes shorthand and types 75
words per minute, which she had to prove on
a test before she was hired.
She doesn’t take shorthand or type much
lately. Not in the Warehouse. The people
Outzen used to work with refer to the ware¬
house as “Siberia.” It’s no wonder. She
doesn’t type because she has no computer .
She doesn’t answer the phones because she
has no phone. She doesn’t even have a desk.
It was only recently that she found a chair to
sit on.
Outzen started on her way to the ware¬
house on Aug. 16, 1994. At the end of that
work day Dr. James Kossler, assistant super¬
intendent, administrative services, told her
to go to Human Resources. When she got
there Patricia Mollica, dean of human re¬
sources gave her a letter that said she was
being suspended and that the next day at the
Board of Trustees meeting it would be rec¬
ommended that she be fired.
She says that Mollica then told her to
collect her things and leave the campus.
Outzen said that Mollica also told her that if
she came back on campus, security would be
called to escort her back off.
At the board meeting the next night, the
matter was not brought up. Outzen instead
remained on suspension. She said she voiced
her belief that she was being treated unfairly,
that the disciplinaiy procedures were not
being followed and that she deserved some
sort of hearing.
The Confidential Employees Handbook,
which covered Outzen ’ s position, states that,
“Priorto any major disciplinary action (which
includes discharge, suspension, or demo¬
tion) The District will provide the employee
with a written notice of the proposed action.
The written notice will advise the. employee
of the right to request a hearing on the
proposed action and will include a request
form which is to be returned by a specified
date.”
Outzen pointed out that this would not
have been possible if the board had accepted
her termination in their meeting Aug. 17.
A hearing was set for Sept. 7. The hand¬
book also says that at the hearing the em¬
ployee will be given the opportunity to
respond either verbally or in writing. Outzen
said, “At the hearing, chaired by Dr. Bruce
Carter, I was asked to respond to a 60 page
list of accusations contained in the original
letter of Aug. 16.
“That list includes an account of the
morning I was informed that I had been
written up for insubordination for the last
two days because a file cabinet had been
locked both days. It turned out that the file
cabinet had not been locked, it just had a
different handle than the others.”
“I did respond, and I also read a statement
I had prepared forthe board meeting. Mollica
told Carter that the district would respond in
writing. I told Dr. Carter that I would like a
copy of that response. I never got one.
“To this day I still don’t know what
Mollica or Kossler said in response. I think
that would be one of my basic rights,” she
said. According to the handbook, after be¬
ing advised of the district’s decision, the
employee has the right to seek a formal
hearing.
Outzen says she never learned of the
district’s decision. She said the next time
she was contacted was to advise her of the
formal hearing process.
After she had been on suspension for
three months, Outzen said Mollica called
her on the phone on a Tuesday and told her
that she had abandoned her job. She said she
asked Mollica how that was possible since
she was on suspension. Mollica told her that
a letter had been sent on Thursday inform¬
ing her to report to the warehouse on Mon¬
day.
“Friday of the previous week had been a
holiday and the letter had not reached me,”
Outzen said. “I told Mollica I hadn’t gotten
a letter and she said I should report to the
warehouse the next day. I went that same
day just to be safe.”
According to the process outlined in the
handbook, both sides chose a faculty or
administration member to be a part of a
three person team. Those two members
would then find a third member. The hand-
Please see OUTZEN, Page 2
By RAY ARMENDARIZ
COURIER STAFF WRITER
Sitting in the back seat of a car in parking
lot 4 at Bonnie and Del Mar, two students
were robbed by two suspects last Friday,
campus police said.
Khue Truong, 35, and his girlfriend Lieu
Do, 20, were inside Truong’s car with the
right rear door open when the first suspect
appeared. He placed a screwdriver to
Truong’s right side and demanded his wallet,
according to the police report. After Truong
gave him his wallet the suspect demanded
his money. Truong told him he did not have
any money, the second suspect appeared and
tried to open the left rear door. He asked
Truong to open it but he refused.
The first suspect then demanded Do’s
bracelet and broke it as he pulled it from her
wrist. The two suspects then ran to their car,
believed to be a white Nissan Maxima, and
sped off northbound on Bonnie St., with two
other males in the vehicle.
“I was scared at first, but now I feel okay,”
Truong said. “This is the first time this has
ever happened to me and my girlfriend. I
worry about my wallet because I lost my
citizenship documents.”
Do’s bracelet is worth $1,000, according
to the police report.
Philip Mullendore, chief of the college
police department, said the Pasadena Police
have suspects in custody, in an unrelated
crime who may have been involved with last
Friday’s robbery.
“We took some fingerprints from
Truong’s car,” Mullendore said. “We gave
them to the Pasadena police Tuesday so they
can compare them to their suspects. If the
fingerprints match, then those are the sus¬
pects.”
After the incident a woman called
Truong’s home and told his sister she had
found his wallet and wanted to return it to
him. The woman who said her name was
Jenny, left no telephone number. Truong is
hoping she calls again so that he can get his
citizenship documents back. Truong, a me¬
chanical engineer major expects to graduate
this fall.
In an unrelated incident, after three weeks
of investigation campus police have ended
their search for the thief who took a bag
containing $1,131 from the cafeteria’s pro¬
ceeds last month.
The bag was left in a drawer under a cash
register by a cashier and was unattended for
more than two hours before a PFM employee
discovered it missing.
Sgt. Vincent Palermo of the campus po¬
lice described the incident: “They had a
register close down. The cashier was about
to count the amount in the bag when he was
interrupted. He was asked to relieve some¬
one and instead of counting the money he
placed it in a drawer underneath his register.
Please see CRIME, Page 5
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