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Volume 99, Issue 11 “ The Independent Student Voice ofPCC. Serving Pasadena Since 1915.” Thursday, May 21, 2009
Ex-Athlete Mourned
Troubled football player is found dead in suspected suicide
JEREMY BALAN
Editor-in-Chief
Members of the PCC community
are mourning the death of Darryl
Stephens, a former football player at
PCC who had a troubled stay on
campus and died on Monday in a
suspected suicide.
Stephens was found in an apart¬
ment in Upland after Upland Police
responded to reports of gunshots on
Sunday.
"According to Upland [Police], in
their investigation, suicide was indi¬
cated," said San Bernardino County
Sheriffs Sgt. Tony DeCecio.
“I cried like a baby [when I found
out],” said PCC Professor Jessie
Moore, who taught Stephens.
“Darryl used to call me mom. He
was that kind of guy. He had issues,
like we all do, but was working on
his issues.”
According to San Bernardino
County Coroner Spokeswoman
Sandy Fatland, Stephens was pro¬
nounced dead at 12:13 a.m.
Monday at Arrowhead Regional
Medical Center after an original
injury at 10:23 a.m. Sunday
described as a "gun shot to the upper
body."
Fatland said that the "cause of
death is unconfirmed" and added
that an autopsy had yet to be sched¬
uled as of Wednesday.
Stephens, a 24-year-old Pasadena
native who attended Muir High
Darryl Stephens
School, was
one of two
suspects
wanted by
the San
Bernardino
Sheriff’s
Department
in the slaying
of Darron Henderson on May 5 in
San Bernardino.
“He was involved in the shoot¬
ing,” said Lt. Rick Ells, a spokesman
for the Sheriff’s Department.
“[Authorities] were actively search¬
ing for him.”
The Upland Police Department,
which is handling the investigation
of Stephens’ death, said that no
information regarding his shooting
would be released due to the Sheriff
Department’s ongoing investigation.
“We cannot release any informa¬
tion because it may compromise the
San Bernardino Sheriff
Department’s homicide case,” said
Upland Police Sgt. Cliff Matthews.
Reactions to his death at PCC
were noticeably sorrowful.
“It’s a tragic event,” said PCC
Acting Head Football Coach James
Kuk. “I didn’t spend too much time
with him [while he was at PCC], but
my biggest concern is how our play¬
ers are dealing with it. As a coach
and educator, you hope you don’t
have to deal with things like this.”
Former teammate and PCC run¬
ning back Joshua Morgan said that
most of the team is avoiding talking
about Stephens’ death, but Morgan
expressed sorrow in hearing the
news.
“I was at a loss for words, heart¬
broken and disappointed,” Morgan
said. “He got in trouble a lot, but
had a lot of second chances. He got
another chance at Mt. SAC and had
so much potential. He was one of
those guys you would look at and
say, ‘man, that guy should be play¬
ing in the pros.’”
Although Morgan was surprised
at Stephens’ death, he said he sus¬
pected Stephens would find himself
in trouble again.
“You could feel something bad
was going to happen again, but not
something like this,” Morgan said.
Continued on page 8
Rosa Vazquez
/
Courier
A woman who chose not to identify herself looks at the graphic dis¬
play of anti-abortion advocates on Tuesday. The woman said she was
invited to the demonstration by Justice For All, a pro-life organization.
Anti-Abortion Advocates
Set Up All Over Campus
AS Election
Candidates
Positioned
Christina Denton
Contributing Writer
Fourteen candidates are running
in the annual elections for the
Associated Students board set to be
held from May 26 to 27.
Voting will take place online and
all currently registered students are
eligible to vote, said Rebecca Cobb,
Student Affairs advisor.
“PCC students log on with their
network ID and password on the
elections website which will have a
link on the opening page of
www.pasadena.edu. The names of
each candidate are listed with each
candidate’s personal statement,”
said Christina Javier, Associated
Students president.
Javier wants students to care
about the AS elections and strong¬
ly encouraged students to vote.
“The Associated Students are
the official student voice in all cam¬
pus issues. They can be a strong
deciding factor in campus deci¬
sions, as long as the leadership is
reliable, informed and respected,”
said Javier. “Voting gives the
Continued on page 7
Brittany Wong
Lancer Life Editor
Students walking onto campus this
week were met with a barrage of anti¬
abortion advocates and 20-feet tall
posters as part of a controversial exhi¬
bition by the pro-life organization
Justice For All.
The non-profit organization, based
in Wichita, Kansas, has visited col¬
lege campuses since 2001 in an effort
to promote an ideology that seeks to
make abortion “unthinkable,”
according to public relations
spokesperson Tammy Cook.
“We’re not out here to do anything
political, to try to make it illegal. We’re
here to help people understand abor¬
tion more fully so they don’t really even
see abortion as an option,” she said.
The exhibition stretched 40-feet in
its entirety, and showed graphic
images of fetuses aborted at various
stages in utero. At each location -the
quad, Galloway Plaza, and outside
Continued on page 2
Board Selects Tate
as Dean of Athletics
Barbara Beaser
Assistant News Editor
Interim Dean of Athletics
Beverly Tate was appointed as the
permanent dean by the Board of
Trustees at Wednesday’s meeting.
Reactions to the announcement
were mixed.
“I’ve been satisfied with the job
she’s been doing,” said Joe Peron,
head coach for the women’s basket¬
ball team. “There’s closure. [The
board] made it official and that’s
what we’re happy about.”
Tate, who has been serving as
Interim Dean of Athletics since
2007, encountered controversy ear¬
lier this year when several faculty
and staff members questioned her
ability to lead the division.
“I’m very disappointed with the
decision of the administration and
the selection committee, that
they’ve decided on someone that’s
so unpopular with the majority of
the people in our division,” said
Associate Professor and former
Assistant Women’s Basketball
Coach Greg Smith said. “[She’s]
someone with no experience in our
area.”
According to the minutes of the
May 4 Academic Senate meeting,
Smith raised several concerns
Roger Lai
/
Courier
Dean Beverly Tate
regarding the current hiring
process for dean.
According to the document,
Smith expressed his opinion that a
dean should have a master’s degree
as well as experience in the area to
be managed.
Women’s Volleyball Coach
Tammy Silva, said that Tate was a
“great leader” and was doing a
good job as interim dean following
the meeting on Wednesday.
Skip Robinson, the former dean
of the division, was disappointed
with the board’s decision.
“That’s the sham we all knew
was going to happen,” said
Robinson. “It’s a slap in the face.
I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Continued on page 7
Sports:
Track:
Smith finishes
ninth at state
meet.
Opinion:
Editorial:
Voting’ in the AS
elections is important.
Page
3»
Lancer Life:
Gibbons Center:
Anthropology students
visit ape sanctuary.
Page
5»
Page
8»
