THURSDAY MAY 13, 1999 - VOL*. 84#3Q
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special four-page insert recaps the
entire pear in PCC athletics
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Our Math team won yet another national
championship Page 5
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College to Come Down on Harassment
Consultative com¬
mittee formed at
beginning of school
year has come up
with eight drafts of
sexual harassment
policy
BY GAU RAVAL
Staff Writer
“No means no” is the bottom line when it
comes to sexual harassment, and the college is
strictly enforcing that rule.
A consultative committee was formed at the
beginning of the school year to revise the cur¬
rent sexual harassment policy, which hadn’t
been changed since 1993.
So far, the members have come up with
eight revised drafts. The committee has had
the policy reviewed by the Faculty Senate, the
Associated Student Board and other commit¬
tees to get their feedback. “The Faculty Senate
had some concerns, so we went back and made
some more changes,” said Sandra Lindoerfer,
chair of the committee and dean of human
resources.
The proposed draft has not become a policy
yet, because the board of trustees has not
approved it. “It takes time [to complete the
policy],” said Lindoerfer. “I was hoping it
would be ready this year, but maybe next fall.
We want to have it right at the beginning to get
all employees trained.”
The policy states: “Unwelcome sexual
advances, requests for sexual favors, and other
verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature
constitute sexual harassment.”
Adhering to California’s laws, the college
does not tolerate harassment of any type.
Students are subject to administrative disci¬
pline, which means they are dropped from their
classes and not allowed back on campus,
according to the campus police.
“If a teacher is accused of harassment, he or
she is subject to being reprimanded, terminat¬
ed, suspended, or sued,” said Sgt. Vince
Palermo.
“Every complaint filed is thoroughly inves¬
tigated. We talk to the victim, to establish
whether a crime was committed, and we talk to
character witnesses to find out what happened.
We even do criminal background checks, to see
if that person had criminal problems in the
past,” said Palermo.
The college also offers psychological coun¬
seling services that are free to any student on
campus.
POLICY, pg. 4
Veterans Are Not
Getting Health Care
BY SEAN MCLAIN
BROWN
Correspondent
In early June, Marine
Corporal David Sturgis
returned home to ticker-
tape parades, yellow rib¬
bons, and crowds of peo¬
ple waving American
flags. Desert Storm -
dubbed the feel-good war -
was over for America, but
for Sturgis and thousands
of other soldiers, it was
only beginning.
“After I returned from
the Gulf, I slowly felt
myself and my life disinte¬
grate,” said Sturgis. “Now
they (The Veterans
Administration) closed
down the facility and I
can’t get the level of care I
need.”
In March of 1999, the
federal government sus¬
pended research at the
nation’s largest veteran’s
hospital, saying officials
failed to establish proce¬
dures to protect patients in
clinical studies. As a
result, Sturgis and other
veterans at Pasadena City
College feel they have
been denied adequate and
prompt care.
Sturgis, a 30-year-old
Pasadena College student,
learned he had Hodgkin’s
Disease in June of 1998 - a
form of cancer that attacks
the lymph nodes, spleen,
and liver. Sturgis believes
he contracted the cancer
through exposure to a
“chemical soup” of toxins,
including vaccinations
that hundreds of thousands
of soldiers were adminis¬
tered
“After I got out of the
VGT, pg. 2
Why Are Vets Still At
War At Home?
IP
Ш
PHOTOS COURTESY DAVID STURGIS
Marine Corporal David Sturgis (right) served in the Gulf War in 1 991
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Classified
Staff Protests
Contract Offer
BY AUDREY ALLEN
Staff Writer
When the members of the
award winning debate team
sneaked their way through the
crowd at the door and lined up
against the wall, their chins
dropped almost to their knees, as
they waited for their turn to speak.
They watched about 30 classified
employees give angry speeches to
the board of trustees during the
meeting on Wednesday, May 5.
“You could cut the tension in
this room with a knife,” said one
innocent bystander who was push¬
ing his way up against the wall,
trying to make enough room for
some people to pass. Item number
“VI” was eagerly pushed up to the
front of the agenda. The
Instructional Support Services
Unit (ISSU) recently voted for the
ISSU contract for 1998-2001,
which went into effect May 5.
The first year there will be a 3
percent salary increase, and a 1
percent one-time only bonus. The
second year there will be a 1 per¬
cent salary increase, with a 3 per¬
cent guarantee. The district claims
that that 1 percent bonus cannot be
permanently on the salary sched¬
ule. In short, a raise will be grant¬
ed on monthly paychecks, howev¬
er a chunk of it will be removed at
the end of the year, and then the
next year’s raise will be based on
the reduced salary, according to
Sue Talbot, president of ISSU.
A lot of questions about the
fairness of the negotiations as well
as the agreement itself, left many
classified employees very unhappy
and hurt. Many expressed feelings
that they weren’t appreciated by
the district. They wanted the board
to know that they weren’t just giv¬
ing up and accepting the contract
without complaint.
“There should be a fair and just
resolution of future negotiations,”
said Talbot. The vote was 65 in
favor to 30 opposed. “We took a
vote thinking, T guess we can live
with this.’ People had been waiting
for their money for over a year.
They gave us this offer and said,
‘you will accept this.’ We didn’t
like their offers, so why aren’t they
giving us better offers, and why
OFFER, pg. 4
CONSTRUCTION BEAT
New Master
Plan Coming
BY FRED ORTEGA
Staff Writer
With the final phases of the
college’s Master Plan nearing
completion, the administra¬
tion is already setting its
sights on future projects to
improve and add to the
school’s facilities.
Although Master Plan
2010 is not scheduled to be
officially unveiled until the
end of the year, “the time for
brainstorming is over,” said
Rod Fleeman, vice-president
of administrative services.
The administration plans to
submit a draft proposal to the
board of trustees by Dec. 31, a
proposal which will tentative¬
ly include a new center for the
arts and an industrial technol-
i center to be
It on property
college owns
Green street,
ong other pro-
ts and improve-
nts.
“What we are
ng to do is cre-
a campus that
ponds to the
:ds of the stu-
lts, not today,
in 2010,” said
eman, who
led that for facilities, plan-
g of such magnitude takes
0-11 year time frame.
The administration has
:n consulting with A.C.
irtin and Associates, an
hitectural firm specializing
master plans for colleges
RAY SHUI
/
THE COURIER
The new gym is reaching the final stages of construction.
and universities. The firm is
currently working with
Caltech on that college’s
improvement projects.
Among the possible pro¬
jects to be included in the
2010 Master Plan:
Industrial Technology
Center - To be located on
Green street where the current
student parking lot is, this
facility would house the col¬
lege’s various engineering and
vocational programs, includ¬
ing the automotive depart¬
ment, print shop and other
PLAN, PG. 3
CLUB BEAT
Clubs Bring Prestige
and Honor to College
Psychology and Chess clubs perform well in respective tests.
BY ROGER CHENG
Staff Writer
Although the forensics
and math teams grab most of
the recognition for their
achievements, it seems other
groups on campus — the
psychology and chess club
— show similar dominance
in their field of specialty.
Last Saturday, 19 psy¬
chology club members
attended the Southern
California Psychology
Conference at Cypress
College where they took first
place in a quiz bowl-type
competition called
“PsychAdemics.” In fact,
there were enough members
to divide into two teams,
both tying for the top spot.
The second group was
formed at the last minute
when students who initially
wanted only to observe
decided to join the competi¬
tion.
“I’m really proud, but not
all that amazed because I
knew they worked so hard to
prepare for [the competi¬
tion],” said Dr. Jean
Volckman, adviser to the
psychology club.
Five key students that
motivated the rest of the par¬
ticipants led the team to vic¬
tory.
They were Kun Chan,
Allison Graham, Francesco
Neumann, Jessica Tchalakian
and Chi-wai Wong. They
were instrumental in spurring
on the rest of the students in
the competition.
These five, along with
others, prepared for the event
three to four weeks in
advance.
“I thought this was a real¬
ly great way to measure the
skills and knowledge of the
students,” said Volckman.
Along with the students
from PCC, there were rough¬
ly 350 others from surround¬
ing colleges in the Orange
County area including
Cypress, Saddleback and
Orange Coast colleges.
Continued on Website
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