VOL. 89, NO. 26
May 27, 2004
Movie Review
Warner Bros.9 adaptation of
Homer’s “The Iliad"
Lancers Pride and Joy
Jessie Barry brings the
championship home for PCC
The Courier has been
SERVING PCC AND THE
PASADENA COMMUNITIES
SINCE 1915.
On this date in 1937
In California, the Golden Gate
Bridge was opened to the public.
The bridge connected San Francisco
and Marin County. .
Do You Drink a Lot?
Students reveal their drinking
habits through a Courier survey
Photo Illustration by “Slim ” Jim Comeau/Courier
Does your liver cry? Recent studies show college drinking is
declining, but PCC students would rather drink than study.
Jaynita Carney
Sports Editor
Some students laughed, others joked with their friends
about their favorite drinks and how much of it they drink
while they filled out a drug and alcohol survey for the
Courier.
The Courier passed out 300 surveys to students all over
campus. The overall conclusion of the survey showed that
a lot of students drink heavily.
One student even jokingly said, "If I take this survey
will you give me samples?" It appears after talking to stu¬
dents on campus that college-age drinking is a very real
problem that must be dealt with.
While many students feel drinking in college is a rite of
passage, some parents and friends reinforce that idea.
One student said that when he graduated from high
school his parents gave him and his friends a bottle of
tequila and told them to go ahead and celebrate his new
college life.
While the college's policy states that unlawful posses¬
sion, use or distribution of illicit drugs and alcohol by stu¬
dents is prohibited, one of the students taking the survey
boasted about how he had just finished drinking and was
on his way to a "good buzz."
He went on to say, "I have been getting a good buzz
and drinking on campus since ninth grade. It's really easy.
My favorite is to take vodka and put it in a water bottle.
That way it looks like regular water."
Contrary to a national survey that shows that only 47
percent of eighth graders verses 86 percent of college
students have tried alcohol, an overwhelming number
of students admitted they started drinking around the
age of 9 or 10.
One woman said that her mother would let her have a
shot of whatever she happened to be drinking at
the moment. Another said that he would sneak
liquor out of his parent's cabinet and one said
that his older brother would buy it See page
and hide it in his room for him.
The fact that knocks students
Booze
Politicians Educate
Students on Voting
Diane Garcia
Staff Writer
PCC's student lobby committee
organized a town hall meeting in
the CC lounge on Monday to inform
students about the importance of
voting and getting involved in the
political process.
Pasadena Mayor Bill Bogaard,
California Republican party rep¬
resentative Angie Meyer, and Ted
Brown, Libertarian candidate for
U.S. Congress, 29th district, were
all on hand to answer student
questions.
The meeting was organized by
Jennifer Soto, chief justice for the
associated students, as
an informal session in
which students and
government represen¬
tatives could engage in
open dialogue.
Bogaard made his
best attempt at being
non-partisan while
both Meyer and Brown
openly advocated on
behalf of their political
affiliations.
Brown fielded questions from
the audience on his party's drug
policies and anti-tax stance and
the effect such policies might have
on community college students if
they were put into effect. Meyer
answered questions concerning
the war in Iraq and current policies
of the Bush administration.
An invitation was given to
Bogaard to promote his
Democratic principles but he
politely declined, sighting the non¬
partisan office he holds.
There was open discussion of the
war on terror, drugs, the effects of
recent budget cuts, and increased
tuition prices, but promoted most
heavily was the need for students to
become involved in politics.
Meyer, who lobbied on behalf
of college students in her home
state of Washington, advised stu¬
dents to "Fight for your rights,
fight for your education."
Initially the crowd was thin,
but more students showed up as
time wore on.
Sadly, the room never filled up
and most chairs sat empty. But
most students who
attended seemed to be
interested in the topics
being discussed.
"I wish more people
had come, but for the
people who came it
was informative," said
Soto. Knarik Sevinyan,
vice president for
external affairs, said, "I
liked [the meeting]
because it was infor¬
mal.
"We wish we could have gotten
more people to come though."
Political science major Chris
Black said, "I thought it was
good. The majority of people
here don't care about politics or
being politically active but it was
good to hear from all sides."
"Most people don't care," said
student Andrew Gonzalez "but its
good they can learn."
Choose or Lose
Kenny Kimura/Courier
Knarik Sevinyan, candidate for v.p. for business
affairs, handed "Free Food For Voting" to students
who turned in their election receipts. The results of
the student body elections will be posted later tonight
on the college's web site at: www.pasadena.edu.
Suspected Book
Burgler Busted
Man believed to be involved in other thefts
Diane Garcia
Staff Writer
A man was arrested by PCC
police officers in the Shatford
Library at 9 a.m. on Friday, May 21
on suspicion of burglary. The sus¬
pect, Wesley Daniel Scott, was
arrested in connection with a
crime that took place that morning
when someone rifled through a
woman's bag and took some
belongings. Police believe Scott
may be involved in eight other
incidents of textbook thefts in the
library over the past two months.
"[Scott] is a transient from the
Sacramento area, and he claims to
be dating a woman who works
part time on campus. We haven't
interviewed her yet, but we will,"
Lt. Brad Young said. Scott is not a
resident of the Pasadena area or a
PCC student. His last known
address was in Ventura.
The victim, Wan Hua Zeng, said
she was returning from the bath¬
room when she noticed her
belongings askew in the cubicle
where she had left them. When
she found her wallet and several
other items missing, she contacted
campus police. A witness pointed
out Scott, who was still walking
around the library, Young said. The
Courtesy of Campus Police
Campus police escort
Scott to the county jail.
police followed Scott to a men's
restroom where they found Zeng's
belongings in a trashcan.
Police said they found heroin
and a hypodermic needle in the
suspect's backpack. Scott admitted
to being a heroin user according to
the police report.
The police report said Scott
attempted to sell textbooks for cash
at the Book Mart located
across the street from PCC.
Ignacio
Medrano , See Pa9e
who works ArT6St
at the store,
Dean Position in
Math Division Hlled
Five instructors also added to faculty
Hudson Hou
Staff Writer
The college will officially wel¬
come its new math division dean
on July 1, three days before
Independence Day and more than
two weeks into the summer ses¬
sion, the board of trustees decided
at its May 19 meeting.
The board's decision to hire Dr.
Gary Isham to replace interim
math division dean Richard W.
Chamberlain comes at a critical
time as the division sees its third
dean in five years and the college
continues to adjust to the
demands of the 16-week calendar.
Dr. Jackie Jacobs, vice president
of instruction, whose office makes
recommendations to board,
believes Isham will fit in "wonder¬
fully" at PCC.
"We're really looking forward
to his coming," Jacobs said. "He
brings broad education and expe¬
rience to give good leadership."
The challenges as dean are to
"learn all the faculty and know the
curriculum," Chamberlain said.
The math division has 31 full¬
time and more than 71 part-time
instructors.
Although he predicted that the
incoming dean will face many chal¬
lenges, Chamberlain expressed
confidence that Isham
will meet them with pur¬
pose.
"He can 5ee page
do it
because he Dean
Automated System to be Tested During Summer
Priscilla Moreno
Managing Editor
The first day of school for some
students is stressful, especially for
those who have to add a class.
This means having to wait for
the instructor to give permission
to add and then standing in long
lines at the registration and
cashier offices.
The college is trying to change
all that and actually make adding
a class easier for students. PCC
announced the use of an automat¬
ed pilot program to be tested dur¬
ing the Summer 2004 intersession.
The automated program allows
students to add a class using an
exclusive code instead of standing
in line at the registration office.
Lisa Sugimoto, vice president for
student services, said that the pro¬
gram would make it easier for stu¬
dents and faculty come registra¬
tion time because only those stu¬
dents with codes will be able to
add classes.
PCC hopes to have the plan
ready to go campus-wide for the
fall semester.
Margaret Ramey, associated
dean for admissions and records,
said that if there were any problems
over the summer, they would work
them out during the fall and com¬
pletely implement it for the Winter
intersession. Classes such as English
1A and two library skills classes will
be the first introduced to this new
system. The Summer session begins
on June 14 and ends on July 24.
Normally, students wanting to
add a class go to the first class
meeting and ask the instructor to
add. The instructor signs add slips
the students take the slips to the
registration office and are added
to the instructor's roster.
According to Amy Ulmer, dean
of the English division, under the
new system, when the instructor
adds a student, a label with a spe¬
cial number on it will be given.
Ramey said that a temporary ros¬
ter would be given to instructors
at the beginning of the session.
They will be given unique codes
for their classes. The student will
be able to go online or use phone
registration and enter the code to
add the class. This should relieve
some of the lines in the registra¬
tion office.
Ramey said that instructors
should keep track of whom they
give the codes to.
"The number cannot be replicat¬
ed," said Ulmer. "The instructor will
have taken the student's informa¬
tion on the first day of
class." She said that if stu¬
dents try to use someone
else's code $ee page
to add a
class, they Codes
i