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The underground
demand for
prescription
medicine
Pasadena City College
Volume 97, Issue 13
“The Independent Student Voice of PCC. Serving Pasadena Since 1915.
Check it on the flipside.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Arts and Entertainment
Deep in Character
Jesus Gomez
/
Courier
Sabrina Hipp struts her stuff as she portrays Cherie in the PCC production
of the drama-comedy 'Bus Stop.' See story page 9.
News
Student Transfers to Ivy League
School After Changing His Life
Charles Digal
Asst. Flipside Editor
At one point, every college rejected
him. Not a single school he applied to
wanted to take a chance on a kid drag¬
ging a dismal 1.3 GPA during his junior
year in high school. To make matters
worse, Jonathan Liu developed a kidney
stone that enlarged his kidney to three
times its original size two years ago.
But none of that ever stopped him.
“[It was] a pretty bad one, too,” said
Liu of his kidney stone. “Regardless, I
tried to come into class as soon as possi¬
ble after the operation.”
It’s this self-proclaimed “gung-ho
mentality” that has made Liu who he is
News
today - a hard-working, ambitious stu¬
dent focused with a goal, who is now
Cornell-bound to study developmental
sociology and business.
It’s a far cry from whom he used to
be; a kid with long bangs (which he
proudly boasts from his driver’s license
picture) who was involved with the
wrong crowd, who was also rejected
twice by the school he originally want¬
ed, UC Berkeley.
“I did a bunch of bad stuff,” admitted
Liu. "I hung out with the Asian gangster
types. I started smoking, partying and
drinking a lot.”
Soaring Gas Prices Hit
PCC Community Hard
Karen Guzelian
Flipside Editor
A necessity for most students and faculty, the ris¬
ing price of gas is impacting many in the PCC com¬
munity.
As of Tuesday, the price of oil rose to an average
of $130 a barrel, according to MSNBC. That’s an
increase of $67, compared to last May’s $63 a bar¬
rel.
At the pump, the price of gas has reached a
record high of an average of almost $4 a gallon, for
regular gas. Last year, it was only a few cents over
$3, according to CNN Money.
“It’s too high, it should be lower. . . It should go
back [to the price of] 2 years ago,” said PCC stu¬
dent Tonnell Rodrigue, 22.
Rodrigue drives a 2000 Toyota and used to spend
$30 a week. He now spends about $40.
Other students, who also spend $40 or more to
fill up the tank, have also felt the impact.
“One word: ridiculous,” said Linda Tran, 20.
Tran drives a 2006 Toyota Corolla and also
spends an average of $40 a week to fill up her gas
tank.
Gloria Pratt, 20, drives a Ford Ranger and
spends $50 a week, but expects that to go up to $60.
“It doesn’t make any sense... it’s unfair that gas
companies are doing this,” she said.
News
Nalin Silva, manager of the Chevron gas station
on Colorado Boulevard, explained that it is up to
the company to decide the prices.
“We go by whatever they tell us,” explained
Silva.
The prices have gone so high, that customers at
the gas station went over $100 to fill up their tanks.
Coming from nearby cities, such as Alhambra, to
PCC can be costly.
“Even one city over seems like a lot of gas... its
outrageous,” said Rodrigue.
For Pratt the price of gas also affected her
Memorial Day weekend. She had plans to go to
Arizona but due to the high price of gas, her plans
were cancelled.
“There goes my Memorial Day weekend,” she
said.
Some can manage to find an alternative for driv¬
ing, but others can’t.
“I need it,” said Vanessa Jeldi, 18, who drives a
’96 Mercedes Benz, as she was filling up her gas
tank.
Although prices are changing constantly, on
Wednesday the price of regular gas reached $4.23
for regular gas at Chevron.
As for the outlook of gas prices in the future, “it’s
a financial dropdown... it’s getting worse,” said
Silva.
Pasadena's Party for Progress Slate
Wins All Student Government Slots
Christina Javier
Lauren Crisci
Cristina Abadia
Joan Tibay
Garbo Tat
Marshall Roe
Devin Leung
Page 2
»
Paolo Rodriguez Mazen AH
Connor Lewis
John Campo
Photos by Ale¬
xandra Bayardo
and Victor Jiang
See Story
Page 2
»
The newly
elected Associ¬
ated Students
will comprise of
Christina Javier
as president,
Paolo
Rodriguez for
internal affairs,
Connor Lewis
for academic
affairs, Lauren
Crisci for stu¬
dent services,
Devin Leung
for business
affairs, Joan
Tibay for cam¬
pus activities,
Cristina Abadia
for cultural
diversity, Mar¬
shall Roe for
public relations,
Mazen Ali for
external affairs,
John Campo as
student trustee
and Garbo Tat
as chief justice.
