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Serving PCC and the Pasadena community since 1915
Courier
— ^PASADENA CITY COLLEGE
May 18,. 2006
pcc-courieronline.com
Cesar E. Chavez
Photography
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Page 5
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Division Dean Faces Harassment Suit
Mario Aguirre
Sports Editor
A former student has filed a law¬
suit in L.A. Superior court accusing
athletic director Skip Robinson of
sexual harassment.
The woman, Kelley Mueller, 36,
alleges that Robinson made a series
of advances toward her which includ¬
ed hugging and kissing. Mueller
claims that after she made it clear she
did not welcome Robinson’s
advances, she was not rehired as his
assistant and the cycling class that she
Jorge Correa,
Melissa Kohler
Staff Writers
Associated Students vice presi¬
dent for business affairs Ryan
Gillmore, 24, faced a Pasadena
Superior Court judge last Thursday
and pleaded guilty to driving under
the influence of alcohol early last
month.
On April 8 Gillmore was stopped
by police, who suspected him of
drinking and driving. He was pulled
over in Old Town Pasadena when
police officers noticed that his head¬
lights were off as he drove out of a
parking structure. Officers then
administered a Breathalyzer test that
registered well over the .08 blood
alcohol level and he spent the next
three days in jail.
Judge Mary Lou Katz sentenced
Gillmore to three years probation
and fined him more than $1,200 in
fees. During the next three years,
Gillmore will be restricted from driv¬
ing motor vehicles unless he is law¬
fully licensed and insured. He has
also been constrained from operating
motor vehicles within six hours of
consuming an alcoholic beverage
and he no longer has the option to
refuse a breath test for alcohol con¬
sumption when requested by an offi¬
cer. In addition to these fines and
driving restrictions, Gillmore will
have to enroll in and successfully
complete a three-month alcohol and
drug counseling program for first
time offenders.
As vice president for business
affairs, Gillmore is in charge of han¬
dling the money used for club fund¬
ing and all campus activities, such as
concerts and events held in the
Quad. The amount required to cover
these events is $180,000, which
Gillmore has balanced during his
term.
“I think Ryan has done a wonder¬
ful job,” said Rebecca Cobb, student
activity adviser for student affairs.
“He takes his responsibility serious¬
ly.”
Others believe Gillmore has
allowed his personal issues to get in
the way of his work and are not sur¬
prised with the news of his arrest.
After his weekend stint in jail,
Gillmore took two weeks off from
the AS, for what president Stephen
Juarez stated was “personal rea¬
sons.” During this time, Juarez
assumed Gillmore’s responsibilities
and tasks as vice president of busi¬
ness affairs.
“It’s been coming to him,” said
[see Gillmore, PAGE 7]
taught was canceled.
Robinson insists that “the accusa¬
tions are not true.” But he was unable
to comment any further, as is usual in
cases involving litigation. Robinson’s
attorney, Stephan Birgel said, “There
are accusations at this time... all I
can say is the district denies her alle¬
gations.” The attorney for the district
submitted documents that deny each
of Mueller’s complaints.
According to the documents filed
as part of the lawsuit, Mueller
returned to school in hopes of obtain¬
ing a college degree in the fall semes¬
ter of 2002. She had an interest in
collegiate sports and was encouraged
by Dick Tomlinson, the then-associ¬
ate assistant athletic director, to take
up javelin throwing. Mueller fol¬
lowed his advice, but was injured in
spring 2003. During her recovery
period, Robinson “became very
friendly to her and offered to help her
in various ways,” according to the
lawsuit documents.
Mueller had been working a low-
paying job in order to pay for her
school expenses. When she became
injured, Robinson offered her the
opportunity to work for him in fall
2003. Mueller quit her off-campus
job in the fall of 2003 and began
working part time for Robinson as a
college assistant, while maintaining
her status as a full-time student. She
worked at a desk in his office and
took orders from him. The lawsuit
documents state that Mueller had no
other supervisors during this time.
Robinson had Mueller perform¬
ing clerical tasks, selling tickets at
basketball games, taking deposits to
the bank, and coordinating schedules
for department classes listed in the
course catalog.
“Robinson told her that she was
very important to him and that she
‘had a future’ in the athletic depart¬
ment,” the lawsuit statement reads.
“He told her the department needed
someone like her and that she could
work there even after she had trans¬
ferred to [a four-year university].”
It was also said that Robinson
encouraged Mueller “to complete her
education as soon as possible... he
told her that where she went to get
her bachelor’s degree or how she got
it did not matter as soon as she had
her diploma, [Robinson] would give
her a job as an instructor in his
department.”
He often told Mueller that there
was scholarship money piling up and
“sitting in accounts every year
because the coaching staff was not
submitting applications for the
money.... In words to this effect, he
told her, ‘Don’t you worry, your
schooling will be paid for. You’re the
kind of person this money is there
for,”’ the documents say.
[see Robinson, PAGE 6]
Police Arrest Suspect in Gun Scare
Campus police
advocate arming
officers after
suspect disrupts
class and accosts
students.
Christina Bustamante
Staff Writer
A man claiming to have a gun
burst into a classroom in the R build¬
ing Tuesday afternoon frightening
students with his bizarre behavior.
Campus police responded to a call
from Rebecca Morris, an instructor in
the visual arts and media studies divi¬
sion. She said the man entered the
classroom, but he didn’t speak.
“He made a gesture as if to reach
for a gun, but he didn’t have one. But
the gesture itself was very frighten¬
ing,” Morris said.
The suspect made a few refer¬
ences to having a gun and reached
into the waistband of his pants. After
he ran from the classroom, the sus¬
pect was observed jumping up and
down, hiding behind walls and bush¬
es and accosting students by hissing
and yelling at them in a threatening
way.
[see Police, PAG E 7 ]
Steve Carrillo
/
Courier
Cauoht in the Act: Lt. Brad Young arrests a suspect who ran through campus yelling and threatening students and
claiming to have a gun. The man was taken into custody and placed on a 72-hour psychological evaluation hold.
Student Trustee Granted
Stronger Voice on Board
Christina Bustamante
Staff Writer
The student trustee was given
more power as a sitting member of
the board of trustees on May 4. The
Associated Students asked the board
to grant the trustee the power to
make and second a motion during
regular board meetings, due to con¬
cern brought up regarding the pur¬
pose of the student trustee position.
“I thought it would be really
important to put into the agenda the
role of the student trustee,” said stu¬
dent trustee Connie Chung.
When Chung was elected as stu¬
dent trustee, many students didn’t
know the purpose of her position.
Chung, who sits in on board meet¬
ings and is the voice for students
here on campus, speaks for their
concerns and interests at the meet¬
ings. It was brought to her attention
that the student trustee had no real
vote besides an advisory vote, which
goes on record but doesn’t necessari¬
ly count. The trustee also had less of
a role in relation to the other board
members.
After being elected, Chung did
some research and found that 46 out
of 83 student trustees in the state of
California currently have the power
to motion and second a motion.
Chung compiled this information
through the Community College
League of California and brought it
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Daniel Belis
/
Courier
On Top: Current student trustee Connie Chung is the first
in her position to possess power to make and second a
motion during board of trustee meetings.
to the board’s attention at their last
meeting on May 4.
Although Chung will have the
power to motion and second a
motion for the remainder of her
term, this will be on an annual basis
and will expire in one year. This is
known as a “sunset clause.”
“I like to think of Pasadena City
College as being one of the premier
colleges in the nation, and certainly
one of the leaders of community
colleges here in California,” said
board member Connie Rey Castro.
“[This is] another reason why PCC
needs to be out front on this issue,
taking a leadership role. Of the five
colleges that we normally consider
our comparative colleges there are
three, possibly even, four, that allow
their trustees the power to make and
second a motion. So I urge my col¬
leagues to support this motion.”
This is the first time in PCC his¬
tory a student trustee has been given
these powers. In 1979 the topic was
brought up about whether or not a
student trustee should have the right
to vote.
“This would set a great prece¬
dence if PCC was to allow student
trustees to actually have the power to
motion and second a motion,”
Chung said prior to the board
approving her the power to make
and second a motion.
State Bill Supports
Free College Press
Dean Lee
News Editor
The nation’s first bill to protect
college newspapers and give them
the same freedoms enjoyed by the
mainstream press; passed the state
assembly this week unanimously
and without debate.
If AB 2581, authored by
Assembly Speaker pro Tern Leland
Yee and Assemblyman Joe Nation,
becomes law California will
become the first state to give First
Amendment protections to univer¬
sity and community college jour¬
nalism students.
“We are training the young
journalists of America,” Yee said.
“If we are stating at a young age
that it is OK for governments to
intervene into what they think,
what they write and what they do,
that sets a very dangerous prece¬
dent for these young adults work¬
ing in our society, working in our
government.”
According to the bill, college
administrators could not retaliate
against students or school newspa¬
pers for printing material they dis¬
agree with.
The Daily Sundial at Cal State
Northridge recently ran up against
its own administration over a story
the school did not want published.
The story disputed the authenticity
of Chinese artifacts donated to the
school.
Chinese scholars told the
Sundial last year the pieces were
modern day fakes. If true, this
would make the most expensive
gifts ever given to the Cal State
worthless.
The Sundial editor in chief
Samuel Richard said administra¬
tors did not ban them from pub¬
lishing the story but made it almost
impossible to get information.
Like most journalists, Richard
also said that any time someone
tells a reporter they won’t give
them information, it just makes the
reporter dig deeper.
“I think this bill will dramatical¬
ly help by giving school newspa¬
pers the ability to more freely write
about their administrations,”
Richard said. “Especially those
schools whose newspapers are put
out by the student government.”
Although, the Courier has never
had any real disputes with any gov¬
erning boards on campus the staff
thought having legal safeguards in
place at the state level that guaran¬
tee First Amendment rights was a
positive step for all future journal¬
ists.
“I’m not influenced by the
administration,” said Courier edi¬
tor in chief Kate Murray. “I basi¬
cally write what I think the public
needs to know, although I do take
into account how something I
[see Press, PAG E 7 ]