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Pasadena City College
‘300’ Pasadena:
Good eats and ball¬
rolling entertainment
featured at nearby
bowling alley.
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Volume 99, Issue 12
“The Independent Student Voice ofPCC, Serving Pasadena Since 1915.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
AS Elections Continue Today
Adam Senate
/
Courier
(From left to right) AS candidates Jacobo Quan, Allen Tsay, Mladenka Grgic and Brian Abadia field questions
at the AS Candidates' Forum on May 21. Voting began online on Tuesday and will continue until today at
noon. Check out pcccourier.com for up-to-the-minute updates once the election results are released.
Reactions Mixed at PCC After Prop 8 Upheld
Barbara Beaser
Assistant News Editor
The reactions from the campus upon
learning of California’s Supreme Court deci¬
sion to uphold Proposition 8 was a mixture
of disappointment and approval, though no
one seemed surprised.
In May 2008 California legalized gay mar¬
riage, and an estimated 18,000 couples were
married in the time between then and the
November election with Proposition 8 on
the ballot. These marriages are unaffected by
the decision and will remain recognized by
the state.
“I’m upset but overall not surprised,” said
Lauren Eras, president of the PCC United
Rainbow Alliance. “They [the court] weren’t
talking about our rights, they were talking
about the loopholes.”
The decision referenced Californians’
right to change their constitution through
ballot measures.
According to the opinion written by Chief
Justice Ronald George, “Proposition 8 does
not ‘readjudicate’ the issue that was litigated
and resolved in Marriage Cases, but rather
establishes a new substantive state constitu¬
tional rule that took effect upon the voters’
approval of Proposition 8.”
Chris Pena, a political science major,
approved of the six-to-one decision.
“For the first time in a long time the
California courts have followed the wishes of
the voters,” Pena said. “For that, I’m happy.”
Neil Wade, a multimedia design major,
remains optimistic about future prospects.
“Pm disappointed but I expected it,”
Wade said. “Eventually I think it will be
overturned.”
John Cam, an assistant professor of engi¬
neering and technology, said that he was not
able to vote, but upon learning of the deci¬
sion, it was disappointing.
“Restricting other people’s freedoms has
never ever been a good thing,” Carri said.
Others, like Jeremiah Najarro, majoring in
sociology, had mixed feelings about the
issue.
“I kind of knew it wasn’t going to be
repealed,” Najarro said. “I’m sort of indif¬
ferent to it. I don’t see myself getting married
but I’m mad for my friends.”
The decision handed down on Tuesday
had one dissenter, Justice Carlos R. Moreno,
the court’s only Democrat. In his opinion, he
said:
“The rule the majority crafts today not
only allows same-sex couples to be stripped
of the right to marry that this court recog¬
nized in the Marriage Cases, it places at risk
the state constitutional rights of all disfa¬
vored minorities. It weakens the status of
our state Constitution as a bulwark of funda¬
mental rights for minorities protected from
the will of the majority. I therefore dissent.”
Paul Khoury, a history major, believes
that gay marriage is not a political issue, and
that people cannot be discriminated against
on the basis of sexual preference.
“Discrimination is supposed to be race,
creed, religion, ethnicity, gender, those
things,” Khoury said. “I don’t see how this is
discrimination.”
Although the campus is divided over the
decision, most agree that the fight is not over.
“We need to remind people that there are
fives being put on hold in the meantime for
this,” Eras said. “Civil unions are not the
same as marriage.”
“I don’t see it [marriage] as just being a
piece of paper like some people do,” Khoury
said. “It’s a sacred thing.”
The PCC United Rainbow Alliance is
planning a demonstration or protest, though
the specifics are not yet worked out.
“You can’t tell me that I don’t have the
right to get married,” Wade said. “I’m just
not going to settle for that. It’s that simple.”
Faculty Union
Petitioning
Against Cuts
PCCFA organizes request to use
reserves to hedge class reductions
Justin Clay
Staff Writer
Despite looming budget cuts, the PCC Faculty
Association is circulating a petition asking the Board of
Trustees to expand programs and maintain faculty and
staff positions on campus by using its reserves.
“We, the undersigned students, staff, teachers and mem¬
bers of the community demand that the Pasadena City
College Board of Trustees expand program offerings and
maintain all faculty and staff positions, including those of
student workers, classified employees and teachers,” the
petition says. The last part is in reference to those working
full-time and part-time.
The petition is to be presented to the Board in a meeting
on June 3.
The California budget crisis is affecting institutions
across the state while the Faculty Association maintains
that the college is proposing cutting 12 percent of pro¬
grams - or 250 sections - from summer 2009 through
spring 2010 semesters.
The Faculty Association is a union that represents about
1 ,200 faculty members, roughly 400 full-time and 800 part-
time.
“The state budget is clearly a disaster in its current form
[and] whether the people in Sacramento sort it out or not
remains to be seen,” said Roger Marheine, president of the
Faculty Association.
“It could be that this is the end of community colleges
as we know them,” said Marheine.
According to the petition, 25 part-time faculty members
in the Math Department have been informed that they will
have no class for fall semester 2009.
The Faculty Association met to discuss PCC’s budget
and planned cuts on May 21 .
“Usually we get about 20 people at the meetings; this
time we had about 80. Half of them were students and
they were irate about the proposed cuts,” said Marheine.
According to a flyer distributed with the petition:
“Upon hearing the facts, students in particular were very
angry that the college would act in such a cavalier manner,
insensitive to increased educational needs during this time
of economic crisis.”
Continued on page 2
Adam Senate
/
Courier
Raymond Lopez treats his time at PCC as a
"Spiritual Battleground. " Check out his story in a
photo slideshow at pcccourier.com.
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