PCC Courier, May 17, 2012

Iw I i ' Sports Badminton has winning season Page 12» Pasadena City College Online edition pccCourier.com Facebook PCC Courier Twitter @pccCourier Volume 105, Issue 10 • The independent student voice of PCC. Serving Pasadena Since 1915. May 17, 2012 More classes to be cut Eight percent fewer sections to be offered in the fall. Nicholas Zebrowski News Editor The number of class sections being offered this fall has been cut by almost 8 percent from the previous year. The number of sections will drop from 2,361 last year, to 2,180, officials said this week. This cut is on top of an 11 per¬ cent reduction in the number of class sections in fall 2010. Since 2007, there has been an overall 26 percent reduction in the number of classes offered in the fall semester: 2,950 class sections were offered in fall 2007, 770 more than planned for this fall. Robert Bell, vice president of student and learning services, said the reductions in class sec¬ tions are necessary in case Gov. Jerry Brown's tax initiative does not pass in November. The November tax initiative, if approved, would raise millions to support California schools. "This is where we are now, based on the numbers we have," Bell Megan Carrillo/Courier New Chief of Police Stanton H. Perez is seen in his office going over the police reports. New chief aims to protect campus F.E. CORNEJO Staff Writer Just weeks after his appoint¬ ment, PCC's new Chief of Police Stanton "Stan" H. Perez recalled the moment he knew he wanted to pursue a career in law enforce¬ ment. He was 13 years old and was riding his bike in an unsafe area near his home in Sacramento, when a highway patrol officer approached him and asked if his mother would approve of where he was play¬ ing. Perez responded that his mother did not approve of him playing in that location. Taking him by the hand, Perez said the "spit and polished" offi¬ cer guided him back home. Perez was deeply impressed by the fatherly and protective officer and everything he represented. "I have attained the things I have in my career, not because I am so super wonderful that nobody has these skills," Perez said, "but because people took me under their wings and they gave me opportunities." The impressions made by that officer are reflected in Perez's view of how his department will serve the campus community. "Our approach here is a lot more... campus policing, com¬ munity policing that you feel in your heart," he said of discus¬ sions with President Mark Rocha and Vice President Richard Van Pelt. "Police are here to protect and to provide a service and we are not heavy-handed and we take a really gentle approach," Perez said. Incidents of unnecessary police force like at Santa Monica City College or UC Davis could never happen at PCC, he added. Van Pelt praised the back¬ ground of Perez, whom he said "comes from a distinguished Continued on page 11 Accomplished writer inspires many to vote Teresa Mendoza Contributing Writer A strong advocate and sup¬ porter of undocumented youth and the Dream Act, Evelyn Cortez-Davis, author of "December Sky: Beyond My Undocumented Life" has many roles. "I was an illegal immigrant, I'm a working mother, a taxpay¬ er, a college graduate, a civil engineer, a public servant and an independent voter that partici¬ pates in every election," she told a rapt audience on Thursday. All seats were filled at the Creveling Lounge as a large turnout of students, faculty and members of the community gathered eagerly to listen and meet Cortez-Davis, the keynote speaker at the 2012 Borders of Diversity Conference. Cortez-Davis spoke about her immigrant experience and the importance of higher education said in an interview. According to Crystal Kollross, interim dean of institutional effectiveness, PCC offered 2,361 sections in fall 2011, and had 25,888 students. "[We] tried to reduce sections but maintain seats," Kollross said about the cuts. "[We are] doing it in such a way to maximize access to stu¬ dents," Bell said. This is not a worst-case scenario he added. "The worst case scenario would [to cut sections] to about 2,000." Specific reductions were made in a recent meeting with Bell and division deans, and affect differ¬ ent areas of the school. Bell said that stand-alone classes and low- enrollment classes were the first to be cut. Continued on page 11 Gloomy outlook seen if tax hike measure fails Nicholas Saul Staff Writer California community colleges will face dire consequences if the governor's tax initiative is rejected by voters in November, Community College Chancellor Jack Scott said Tuesday. Scott predicted colleges could face a further $600 million fund¬ ing shortfall in addition to $809 million in cuts since the 2008-09 year. The Community College League of California addressed Gov. Jerry Brown's ballot pro¬ posal in an online conference call Tuesday morning. Essentially, if the tax initiative passes, California community colleges will receive $300 million in additional revenue, whereas if it fails, they will experience $315 million in trigger cuts — a $600 million swing. "If the ballot [measure] fails it will be a tragedy [for] higher learning," Scott said in the web conference. "There are no other options for us." Gov. Brown, whose tax initia¬ tive includes a 'Millionaire's Tax' and a small increase in the sales tax, is faced with a $16 billion budget gap. He urged voters on Monday to "increase taxes tem¬ porarily," adding that "this is the best that I can do." Although the 2012-13 year will Speak out! Do you support taxing millionaires? vote at pccCourier.com *, §.' see an increased block grant for full-time equivalent students (FTES), consequences of the fail¬ ure of the initiative will also include a 6.4 percent workload reduction on top of the trigger cuts, Scott said. Currently, opinion polls show the tax initiative passing with 54 percent in favor and 46 percent opposed, but Scott and Community College Vice-chan¬ cellor Dan Troy urged the more than 300 people viewing the web conference to not bank on its passing. "There is no clear legislative response if the initiative fails," Troy said. PCC is currently preparing for both possible outcomes: "We are in the process of developing a 2012-13 budget to assume the non-passage of the November ballot initiative," said Richard van Pelt, vice president of administrative services. "It will have a contingency plan to deal Continued on page 11 in redefining the image of immi¬ grants today. At age 12 she fled El Salvador "to escape a civil war and eco¬ nomic despair," she said. Along side her mother and two sisters, she endured a treacherous nine- day trip, crossing three borders to arrive in the United States. Cortez-Davis talked about her life in the shadows and silence, yet striving to get an education and find her voice, eventually Continued on page 10 / W Claudia Gonzalez gets emotional as she talks with author Evelyn Cortez-Davis, at the 2012 Borders of Diversity conference in the Creveling Lounge. Blair Wells/ Courier