PCC Courier, May 25, 2006

Serving PCC and the Pasadena community since 1915 May 25, 2006 pcc-courieronline.com The Da Vinci Code Tops Box Office Page 4 Vol. 93, Issue 12 Vandals Shred Campus Newspapers Daniel Belis / Courier Trail of Destruction: Courier circulation manager Kris Calnon surveys the damage left in the newspaper office - four trash bags full of ripped Courier issues that had been distributed around campus on May 18. A note signed “M.E.Ch.A.” was attached to the bags, expressing dissatisfaction with the newspaper’s coverage of the club. Marchers Take Back the Night’ Orlando Pina / Courier Night Watch: Jesse Funes, vice president for cultural diversity, leads a group through campus on Tuesday to evaluate the safety of potential danger areas. John Avery Web Editor At least two campus groups appear independently to have been so upset by the Thursday, May 18 issue of the Courier that they removed nearly all 5,000 copies from circula¬ tion. Members of the well-known Chicano activist group M.E.Ch.A. claimed responsibility for destroying most of the papers, leaving a signed note beside garbage bags holding the tom papers in the Courier office in the CC building. The letter began by expressing dis¬ appointment for the lack of coverage provided for a M.E.Ch.A. -hosted event on May 12, which had involved “months of hard work.” It ended stat¬ ing, “As students of P.C.C., we can not accept this issue of the Campus Courier.” The Courier was first alerted to the missing papers around 1:30 p.m. Thursday when distribution manager Kris Calnon, returning to the Courier office, passed an empty newsstand by the men’s gym that had held 300 papers only two hours earlier. “I gave it three bundles,” he said. “It usually takes a day and a half to empty.” Calnon said that approximately 10 minutes after he arrived at the office, an unidentified student entered, claiming to have seen a man grab an entire stack from the women’s gym and carry it across campus into the men’s gym. Calnon and photogra¬ pher Jesus Gomez left to -document* Caroline Ikeji Managing Editor Although retail fuel prices have fallen in recent days, gas is still expensive - especially in the Los Angeles region. According to the L.A. Auto Club, the average price for a gallon of gasoline in the L.A. and Long Beach areas is $3,401. This amount is only three-tenths of a cent higher than last week’s prices, and 43 cents higher than last month. However, gas prices are almost a dollar higher than they were at this time last year. “Gas prices are too high,” said student Vince Capul, 19. “I miss the days when they were half the price they are now.” Student Enrique Ordonez, 24, added, “I’m fustrated. My commutes are shorter and I budget differently.” Students should not expect prices to come down anytime soon. U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman said that he expects prices to stay up for another three years, adding that suppliers simply cannot keep up with demand. Many students said that they were frustrated with the prospect of expensive gas for the next three years. However, they felt powerless the empty newsstands, leaving Courier photographer Daniel Lottes alone in the office. Shortly after 2 p.m., four or five people entered the office with garbage bags, later found to contain torn copies of the Courier. “At first I didn’t know what they were doing,” Lottes said. “I moved my camera off the table so they could put the bags down. . . . There was an event going on across the hall and I thought they might have been a part of that.” Campus police collected the bags and letter as evidence. Lt. Brad Young of the campus police said, “The investigation is ongoing, and interviews are still being conducted.” “We have two complaints against the same victim — one in the GM Building and one involving M.E.Ch.A.,” Young said. “We are currently investigating both allega¬ tions.” Courier adviser Mikki Bolliger said that this was not the first time all the campus newspapers have been taken. She recalled three other instances over the last 15 years when papers were stolen. She did say, how¬ ever, this was the first time she knew of that they were torn up and brought back. “After the first time papers were stolen, we were advised that we need¬ ed to state somewhere in the paper that only the first copy is free, and additional copies are $1,” Bolliger said. “That puts a value on the paper “4№E COURIER, PACE 3] about the situation. “We can’t really do much about it,” said 21 -year-old David Chan. “It’s economics.” According to economists, the nationwide increase in fuel prices can be attributed to higher crude oil prices and a shift by refiners to ethanol-blended gasoline. California had already been using ethanol- blended gasoline before prices went up, which prompted state Attorney General ВШ Lockyer to issue sub¬ poenas to California refiners to investigate price gouging. Recent natural disasters, such as hurricanes Katrina and Rita, also have played a part in rising fuel costs, according to a report by the Federal Trade Commission. Many students said they did not know who was to blame for their misery at the pump, but some felt that the government has not done enough to stop the increases. Some also blamed the ongoing war in Iraq. “It’s all Bush’s fault with his damn war in Iraq,” said 21-year old student Theo Sims. The increase in gas prices has people in the region rethinking their ways of getting around. Ridership on public transportation has increased; Foothill Transit and the MTA both Chris Awad Staff Writer The Cross-Cultural Center interns hosted a “Take Back the Night” march on Tuesday, a night¬ time walk around PCC to protest domestic and sexual abuse of all kinds. The walk was extra special for some participants because they had been victims of rape or domestic abuse or know someone who has been. As the walk progressed the group stopped several times for guest speakers to deliver their messages to the participants. Guest speaker and faculty mem¬ ber Kristin Ercoli spoke about how to stay safe in parking lots. She pointed out that parking lots can be especial¬ ly dangerous for women and that they must be aware of their sur¬ roundings and use common sense at all times. PCC police officer Christine Salandino also spoke. She revealed that her mother was a victim of domestic abuse. She also discussed safety on campus and mentioned Sara Tweed Staff Writer The American Library Association’s Let’s Talk About It program and book publishers Nextbook have given the Shatford Library a grant for $1,500 to host the upcoming Jewish literature dis¬ cussions concerning Jewish authors and human issues and ideas. The Shatford Library is one that the police station on campus is open 24 hours a day for the students’ benefit. Salandino also talked about the call boxes in the parking garages of four in California to receive this grant. On designated Wednesdays from June 28 to December 6, dis¬ cussions will be held about five books: “Out of Egypt,” “Centaur in the Garden,” “Kaaterskill Falls,” “Lost in Translation” and “Mr. Sammler’s Planet.” These books are all contemporary Jewish litera¬ ture but have an international theme of culture and diversity. that are linked to the campus dis¬ patch center. Campus police are able to respond to all calls in no more than one minute; 95 cadets help PCC librarian Joanne Kim sup¬ ports the upcoming discussion weeks because “there is so much diversity on campus and it needs to be recognized,” she said. During the weeks, Peter Brier, a retired Cal State L.A. Jewish litera¬ ture professor, will lead the discus¬ sions and give lectures. After the program has been introduced and launched, the first discussion will be held on July 12 on Eva watch over the campus until 10 p.m. The last speaker was Emily Ortiz, a leading advocate for domestic and [see March, PAGE 3 ] Hoffman’s “Lost in Translation.” The next one is on “Out of Egypt” on July 12, then “Centaur in the Garden” on Sep. 13. October 11 will be “Kaaterskill Falls” and, finally, “Mr. Sammler’s Planet” on Dec. 6. The series will be held in the Circadian from June 28 to Nov. 8 [see Jewish Literature, PAGE 3] Steve Carrillo / Courier Bussing It: More students have started taking the bus to avoid paying outrageous prices for gas. Students Feel Pinch at Pump Math Team No. 1 in National Contest Christina Bustamante Staff Writer The results are in and the PCC Math Team is number one in the nation. The team placed first in the American Mathematical Association of Two Year Colleges Math Contest, an annual competi¬ tion involving more than 100 two- year colleges nationwide. PCC has been participating in this competition since 1988 and has placed among the top three colleges nationwide every year. They have earned first place nationwide seven times, including the last five consecutive years. Almost all the top 10 schools each year are from community colleges in California. This year, out of 153 communi¬ ty colleges visiting from through¬ out the nation, the eight-member squad comprised of Justin Ng, Trung Tran, Yixen Wang, Shuang Liu, Lok Wing Leung, Weide Shi, Xinxin Lu, Wenjun Hang from PCC took top honors. “It’s a great honor for the PCC math team to take number one in the nation,” said Dr. Jude Socrates, who has been the math team’s moderator since 1994. The math contest involves two one-hour exams, held in November and March. Each test is comprised of 20 questions at the pre-calculus level, almost all of which are mul¬ tiple choice. The topics include logic, counting, probability, alge¬ bra, graphing, trigonometry and “pure thought” problems. Questions are solicited from the moderator of each school during the prior year and selected by an [see Math Team, PAGE 3] Grant Facilitates Jewish Literature Discussion