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COURIER
Pasadena, City College
Track & Field
Some succeed,
some struggle
at state finals
Page
8»
Volume 103, Issue 12
'The Independent Student Voice of PCC, Serving Pasadena Since 1915.'
Thursday, May 26, 2011
* i
Campus
police
chief
retires
Peter Michael goes on
leave midsemester.
Chenin Burnett-Doering
Staff Writer
PCC Police Department Chief
Peter Michael has suddenly gone
on leave and is scheduled to offi¬
cially retire June 30.
According to Richard P. van
Pelt, interim vice president of
administrative services, Frank J.
Scialdone has taken over as the
interim chief of police until a new
permanent chief can be found.
"[Chief Peter Michael] is on
leave during the intervening peri¬
od," said van Pelt.
Scialdone is expecting to fill the
position until September, where he
will be taking responsibility for
everything from personnel to poli¬
cy.
"I am here on an interim basis to
run the department until they
have a new chief," he said. "Dr.
van Pelt called me May 11 [about
the position], and then I met with
him Friday," he added.
When asked about the recent
absence of Lt. Brad Young, a senior
officer with the PCC Police
Department, van Pelt would not
comment. "I cannot discuss Lt.
Young's retirement or personnel
status at this time," he said.
Scialdone said that he had no
knowledge of Young's employ¬
ment status either, and is busy get¬
ting reacclimated to his new posi¬
tion. Scialdone held the Interim
Continued on page 7
A 'brilliant' performance
Police
probe
arson
case
Amrak Khan
and Neil Protacio
Staff Writers
Campus police are conducting
an arson investigation after a
burning Quran was reportedly
thrown from the R Building into a
crowd of people on May 17.
"The fact that somebody threw a
burning object from stories above,
possibly putting people in danger,
that makes it arson," said Campus
Police Officer Robert Karch.
The Quran, the holy book of
Muslims, was thrown from the
third or fourth floor of the R
Building around 3:45 p.m. and
landed in the student-filled Quad
in flames and ashes.
Student Nick Alderete wit¬
nessed the incident with his
friends. He said they were all con¬
fused as to what the burning object
was on the way down.
"I thought it was a brick at first,"
said Alderete. "My friend and I
waited to make sure it wasn't
going to explode. Then when we
got closer, we realized it was a
Quran."
Candidates campaigning for
Associated Students positions in
front of the R Building were also
caught off guard by the burning
object.
Continued on page 7
Jackson is new AS president State budget revise raises questions
Gabriela Castillo/Courier
Stephanie Kjos performs in "Brilliant Comers" in the Sexson Auditorium on Friday. The produc¬
tion, directed by Cheryl Banks Smith, featured students dancing to jazz, modern, and Latin
Justin Clay
Staff Writer
Ashley Jackson will be the
Associated Students President for
2011-12. Over 400 students voted
in the student government elec¬
tions and the results were
announced on Friday.
Jackson ran unopposed and
won the office after receiving 408
votes as opposed to only 23 no
votes.
"I have nothing but confidence
for Ashley," said Jamie Hammond,
outgoing AS president. "I feel like
she could do more as president
than I ever could have."
Voter turnout was tlrree quarters
lower than it was last year.
For candidates that ran unop¬
posed, voters had the choice of
voting for the candidate or voting
no.
Only three of the 12 seats were
contested this election.
John Fraser defeated Magally
Miranda to become Vice President
of External Affairs in the closest
decision of the election, winning
284 votes to 188.
Continued on page 7
Natalie Sehn Weber
Web Editor
The state may allocate $7 million
to PCC this year — or, community
colleges may suffer additional cuts
and the per-unit fee could be
raised beyond the proposed 38
percent increase to $36, said Dan
Troy, the Vice Chancellor for Fiscal
Policy at the Chancellor's Office of
the California Community
Colleges.
Troy's remarks were made in
reaction to Gov. Jerry Brown's May
revise of the 2011-2012 state budg¬
et, released on May 16. According
to the revised budget, the state's
General Fund has increased an
unexpected $6.6 billion. Richard
van Pelt, interim vice president of
administrative services, agrees
with Troy — the seemingly great
news comes with many caveats.
For one, the Department of
Finance isn't quite sure why the
multi-billion dollar increase hap¬
pened, van Pelt told the Budget
and Resource Allocation commit¬
tee on Friday.
"Higher-than-anticipated cash
receipts," an increased tax revenue
forecast and "other minor revenue
adjustments" resulted in the pro¬
jected $6.6 billion increase over a
two-year period, claimed the
revised budget.
"It's possible that the economy
is recovering, but it's also possible
there are anomalies somewhere in
the system," cautioned van Pelt.
What's more, the Chancellor's
Office said the new budget
revealed Brown's concern that the
$6.6 billion windfall may encour¬
age legislators to not approve tax
extensions that would greatly
Continued on page 7
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