OPINION
Campus security takes a step
the right direction.
in
Page 2
FEATURES
Campus celebrate El Dia de los
Muertos (The Day of the Dead).
Page 5
SPORTS
Volleyball wins in three game
sweep of El Camino.
Page 6
THE
PASADENA CITY COLLEGE
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA
VOL. 77 No. 11
COURIER
Serving the PCC Community for 75 years
THURSDAY
NOVEMBER 4, 1993
REGINA PARIS
/
THE COURIER
A homeowner tries to water down part of an Altadena house last week after several blazes ravaged many Southern California areas.
After Southern California
residents experienced the
terror of raging wildfires,
college members recover
from last week’s inferno and
relate their experiences while
they were . . .
Threatened
and spared
by the fires
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ANITA NARDINE/ THE COURIER
Flames glow on one Altadena hillside.
By ALFREDO SANTANA
Editor in Chief
When Rick Neumann left his
North Altadena home for work on
Oct.26, it never occurred to him
that the next day he would have
be to host three Northern Califor¬
nia firemen who were deployed
in Pasadena for three days.
And he loved it.
“They saved my house,” said
Neumann , derm of counsel ing ser¬
vices. “They were there to protect
me. They were very professional .”
Neumann was among several
people who either work, teach or
study at PCC who managed to
save their homes after a string of
wildfires seared their way through
Southern California last week.
“I was very lucky,” he recalled.
“I know several people who lost
their homes. I feel sorry forthem.”
When Santa Ana winds reach¬
ing up to 60 mph on Wednesday,
they threatened to whip some of
the flames from the burning San
Gabriel Mountains toward his
home. Neumann was evacuated
that day and wasn’t allowed to
return until Thursday.
English and Foreing Languages
professor Nick Martin didn’t fare
so well. Even though fire l ighters
doused flames that moved danger¬
ously close to his house, his garage
burned down.
However, student Carlos Bimes,
who lives in an apartment building
located near the place where the
blaze started, said he feels “ex¬
tremely lucky” that his place re¬
mained unscathed by the inferno.
“I sort of feel guilty for the
people who lost their properties,”
said Birnes. “Every day I drive by
some of the burned houses and
remind myself that what happened
to some people could have easily
happened to me.”
He said because he is con¬
cerned, he will lend a hand to some
of his neighbors.
“I’ll be there helping during the
works of reconstruction. I’ll be
there.” he said.
Lou Rosenberg, English profes¬
sor, said the fire reached as close as
30 feet from her Altadena home.
Neverthless, police officers ordered
her to leave her house the Wednes¬
day the fire began.
“That night I called home and
my answering machine picked up
the call,” she recalled. “At that
point, I knew my house was
OK.”
For Howie Morris, a relative
newcomer to the Altadena neigh-
Please see FIRES , Page 6
□ A student tells her
story while reporting
the Altadena blaze.
By REGINA PARIS
Staff Writer
Wednesday Oct. 27, 8:15 a.m.
It was dark outsideand the power
was out when I awoke.
The morning sun was hidden be¬
hind a thick black cloud of smoke
blowing from the mountains near Pasa¬
dena. The Santa Ana winds had acted
as my alarm clock. I went in front of
my house to survey the havoc the
night winds had caused. The trees in
the front yard were wrestling against
the wind, and they looked as if they
could snap at any moment.
I wondered if there would be classes
that morning.
I left early for school in hopes to
get some pictures of the fire before my
first class. I ran into road blocks in
Altadena and began to realize the
magnitude of that fire. Taking the
back roads, I got as close as I could in
my car to the fire scene and decided to
hoof it the rest of the way.
Spectators were already gathered
on the streets j ust above New Y ork and
Allen avenues. The police didn’t take
much notice of me with all of the
commotion going on.
The air was thick with smoke
and flying ash. I saw two
homeowners on topof theirroofs,
frantically trying to wet them
down. People were running from
their homes. They tried to jam
their belongings into their cars.
The winds were blowing so hard
it was difficult to guess where the
burning embers would land and
start another fire. It was hard to
breathe, and the only moments of
relief came when the wind would
shift and take the thick black
smoke in another direction.
The fire made the air so hot
and thick that I felt like a sauna.
I made my way past the Altadena
swimming club that was totally
engulfed in flames. Fire trucks
raced by trying to save nearby
houses. On the other side of the
street, flames were making their
way up to the YMCA building. I
saw two men emerged from the
building carrying boxes. One of
them yelled: “We got all of the
insurance papers, let’s get the
hell out of here.” I put the
sweatshirt I had tied around my
face on to keep burning embers
from landing on my arms.
I went around the side of the
Please see COVERAGE, Page 6
Wells-Miller
wins seat in
trustee race
□ The Arcadia teacher delivers a big upset,
defeating current board president. Shatford
runs an easy race against Wimberly.
By ALFREDO SANTANA
Editor in Chief
Beth Wells-Miller, a career-long
teacher in the Pasadena Unified
School Districtwho vowed tochange
the way business is done at the
college, swept to a decisive victory
last Tuesday over Area 7 incumbent
and current
trustee president
Joseph Sargis.
With all the
33 precincts re¬
porting the final
tally gave Wells
Miller 5,517
votes compared
to 4,068 ballots
cast for Sargis.
Overall,
Wells-Miller managed to get 56.58
percent of the total votes. Sargis, a
retired banker, finished with 42.42
percent of the cast ballots.
A resident of Arcadia, Wells-
Miller, 60, will take the position that
has been held by Sargis for the last 1 3
years. She will be sworn in on Dec.
1 at 7 p.m. in the Circadian room.
In other results, Walter Shatford,
78, who represents Area 3, easily
defeated opponent Dan Wimberly.
With all 19 precincts reporting,
Shatford, a board member since 1966,
earned 81.7 percent of the votes
compared to Wimberly’s 18.3 per¬
centage of the ballots.
People voting for Shatford to¬
taled 2,578. In contrast, W imberly , a
real estate developer, garnered only
574 votes.
Commenting about her new post,
Wells-Miller said that her principal
goal as a trustee member will be to
look at different ways to spend
PCC’s money. She wants to put it in
areas where students needed it the
most.
“We need to work to make col¬
lege education more available aca¬
demically, eco¬
nomically and
technologically
for our students
who face the
challenges of the
21st century,”
she said.
She men¬
tioned that she
will look at the
possibility of in-
Walter Shatford
creasing more collcge-by-telcvi-
sion courses. She wants to devise a
comprehensive plan to retrain work¬
ers for the new challenges they will
face in an economy where political
changes around the world have forced
thousands out of military-related
jobs.
Wells-Millcr’s victory came
about after she raised a question
about the implementation of a pro¬
gram that provides complete health
care for trustee members who have
served at least 12 years on the board
and are 65 years or older. During her
campaing, she suggested changes
in the method adopted by the college
for hiring of chairpersons for the
academic departments.
Please see ELECTIONS , Page 6
Man robbed in a
restroom, police
search for suspect
BY RODNEY MITCHELL
Associate Editor
As a result of intensified patrols
in the campus parking lots, campus
police cadets responded within sec¬
onds of a strong armed robbery and
were able to identify the suspects
and the license plates of the vehicle
last Wednesday night.
According to a police report, at
approximately 10:30 p.m., cadets
reported seeing a suspicious vehicle,
described as a beige colored Blazer,
cruising through parking lot two.
When the vehicle came to a stop,
cadets began to walk towards the
vehicle which immeadiately sped
off after seeing the approaching ca¬
dets. Approximately eight minutes
later, cadets reported a robbery in
progress between parking lots four
and five.
The victim, Emily Bassallo, a
PCC student reported that four male
black men approached her and her
male friend. W ithout saying a word,
one of the men snatched her purse
and then all four ran off with the
victim’s malecompanion in pursuit.
Cadets reported seeing the four
suspects running towards the Burger
King restaurant on Bonnie Avenue
and Colorado Boulevard. Police
reports then said that the suspects
split up with two fleeing on foot
heading south on Bonnie Avenue
and the other two leaving in the same
beige Blazer that had been reported
earlier. No arrest have been made in
connection with this incident.
Sgt. Vince Palermo, supervisor of
all security on campus, said that the
cadets are trained to observe and
report and are not sworn police offic¬
ers with the authority to make ar¬
rests. “The cadet’s performances
were excellent,” said Palermo.
Please see ROBBERY, Page 6
