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Nov. 12, 2004
pcc-courieronline.com
‘Scarification’
Skin mutilation
turned art form
Page 5
Vol. 90, Issue 10
Students Protest
Army Recruiters
Jim Comeau/ Courier
Sgt. Steven Lester kept the peace while students from Students for Social Justice, United Rainbow Alliance,
MEChA, and others protested the Army’s on-campus recruiting efforts in the Quad on Tuesday, Nov. 9.
■ Students spoke out
against the war while
peacefully exercising their
free speech rights.
Diane Garcia and
Micah Flores
Staff Writers
Tensions mounted in the Quad on
Tuesday as students armed with banners
condemning war protested the presence of
U.S. Army recruiters.
As the recruiters were handing out
information to students during peak
lunchtime traffic, an estimated 40 student
protesters began to assemble in front of
the Army booth.
Among the group of student protesters
and general observers were dub represen¬
tatives from student activist groups includ¬
ing Students for Social Justice, MEChA,
and the United Rainbow Alliance.
According to Sgt. Steven Lester, cam¬
pus police received several phone calls
reporting several protesters who were dis¬
rupting the flow of information from the
Army recruiters to possible recruits.
“There were approximately 30 to 40
protesters, so we decided to set up a tape
line as a precaution and also a barrier to
keep some distance between the protesters
and the army people,” Lester said.
“It’s just a preventative measure
designed to keep the peace, and everything
went well,” Lester said.
While student protesters held banners
with violent images of war, Army Capt.
Bryant Schumacher commented on the
Army's right to solicit PCC students as
well as the right of students to protest their
concerns.
“I believe everybody here has their
right to free speech and to make their
opinions,” Schumacher said. “Other than
that I have no other comments on the fact
that the protesters do have their opinions
and the right to make themselves heard.
That’s part of the freedom of speech.”
College president Dr. James Kossler
was on hand briefly to witness the com¬
motion. “This is what makes a college
campus an exciting place to be because all
groups have the right to express their
views as long as they don’t disturb or harm
other groups,” Kossler said. “It enlightens
all of us to here the different viewpoints,
and that’s why it’s great to work on a col¬
lege campus.”
PCC student and SSJ member Ben
Geare participated in the protest by hold¬
ing up part of a long banner that was filled
with the faces and names of some of the
Iraqi war dead. "We wanted to come out
today to remind people of the reality of
war," He said. “We just want people to
realize the truth of all the people who
died.”
Geare also said that the juxtaposition
of the army recruiters and protesters was
a complete accident. “It was just blind
luck,” said Geare. “We had planned to do
this and it just happened that the army
recruiters were here today.”
Just before the protesters dispersed
they began chanting “Get military
recruiters off our campus.”
Student spectator Carlos Lemus said,
“I think it’s great that both sides are able
to exercise their freedom. Hopefully
onlookers can look at both sides and
engage in dialogue. That's what the goal
should be, dialogue, and not just unedu¬
cated opinion.”
Record Industry
Strikes Again
Linda Rapka
Editor-in-Chief
You’d better watch what you click.
The Recording Industry
Association of America filed another
750 lawsuits against unauthorized
mp3
file-swappers last month.
This recent round of copyright
infringement suits is the RIAA’s tenth
this year, coming just weeks after 762
suits were filed in late September. To
date, over 6,000 cases have been filed
since September 2003.
Allegedly, illegal file sharers used
unauthorized peer-to-peer services,
including LimeWire, Kazaa, eDonkey
and Grokster, according to the RIAA.
In addition to the numerous
unnamed suits, the RIAA filed 213
suits against named defendants in
October. In September 68 defendants
were named. These alleged file sharers
were identified
While the horror stories of the
RIAA suing 13-year-old girls and
grandmothers for thousands of dollars
sparked much controversy, the hottest
issue surrounding the lawsuits stems
from how the RIAA obtains the iden¬
tities of the alleged file sharers.
Because the bulk of the suits filed
are against unnamed individuals —
termed “John Doe” lawsuits — the
RIAA has subpoenaed the file sharers’
Internet service providers requesting
Lawsuits
Page J
Photo Illustration by William Hallstrom
Watch what you click: those
mp3
downloads could end
up costing you thousands of dollars if the recording
industry finds you.
Policy for Faculty
Ethics Adopted
■ The board approves
a formal policy outlin¬
ing proper conduct for
campus faculty.
Diane Garcia
Entertainment Editor
Professional ethics is a topic that
is never quite resolved on many col¬
lege campuses. It covers such a vast
array of topics, dealing with every¬
thing from student teacher relation¬
ships to the responsibilities of
teachers to their discipline. While
professional ethics might not be on
the minds of most students, it defi¬
nitely is something faculty must
deal with regularly.
Luckily formulating was a policy
was a task taken on by members of
the committee of academic freedom
and professional ethics. It took near¬
ly six years to complete the final
draft of the new professional ethics
of faculty policy which was
approved at the board of trustees
meeting on Nov. 3.
"It's been a long process, " said
Jim Bickley, committee chairman,
"I'm pleased it's completed."
The new policy is more detailed
than the last which was adopted in
the late 1960s by the college. "We
tried to make it more in line with the
American Association of University
Professors' [ethics policies]," said
Ethics ,
Page 6
Cadet Fired
After Second
Cart Crash
Linda Rapka
Editor-in-Chief
A campus cadet was fired on Saturday
after being involved in a second police
cart crash, according to Sgt. Steven
Lester.
The former cadet, Mitchell Hutchins,
was relieved of duty after crashing a cart
near the new parking structure between
the football field and new fence. He told
officers he swerved to avoid hitting a cat,
Lester said.
“.It was the second cart he crashed in
three weeks,” Lester said. After the first
incident, Hutchins was placed on sus¬
pension.
Lester explained that the routine
course of action for carrying out any sus¬
pension is to allow the cadet to finish out
his or her two-week schedule before
enforcing the suspension. But Hutchins
“didn’t make it,” Lester said, and
crashed a second vehicle before his sus¬
pension could even be fulfilled.
No one was harmed in either cart
incident, Lester said.
Vandalism Takes on New Look
Micah Flores
Staff Writer
Students kicking through walls, stomping on
toilets and purposefully breaking furniture are
only a few destructive examples of recent vandal¬
ism reported by student services.
The most common act of carelessness is exces¬
sive littering around campus. Discarded cigarette
butts, gum and trash can be found all over campus
throughout the course of a school day.
Another vandalism favorite is etching or carv¬
ing into school property. Virgin mirrors, restroom
partition walls, toilet seats, and furniture such as
desks have long been a favorite backdrop for all
types of etchings.
And then there is the disgusting and bizarre.
According to facilities services, it is not uncom¬
mon for maintenance workers to find evidence of
students who stand on top of toilet seats, squat
and defecate all over the outside of the toilet.
What better way to top off this unsanitary act than
by throwing used toilet paper on the ground next
to the toilet?
Other related incidents of unsanitary public
defacement include evidence of students defecat¬
ing in showers as well as on public drinking foun¬
tains.
One disturbing incident occurred just last week
when maintenance responded to the C building
where they discovered a used condom full of
semen wrapped around the outside door handle of
the main entrance.
Perhaps the most appalling and perverted form
of vandalism was a recent report of male students
drilling peepholes with electric drills into restroom
partition walls. These holes, which are conducive
to the insertion of the male genital anatomy, are
known in the underground fetish world as “glory
holes.” While one male utilizes the peephole, a
willing participant in the next stall performs oral
favors.
Facilities Director Richard Van Pelt said, “The
situation kept repeating itself in certain stalls on
campus. Apparently this is not unique to PCC; it
occurs at other institutions as well.”
In order to protect against this destructive and
perverted behavior, extremely strong and durable
stainless steal partitions were installed in the prob¬
lem stalls.
While students who take part in most of these
destructive activities are a small minority, a much
higher percentage of students are guilty of litter¬
ing and an overall disregard for school property.
Right after littering in the quad by tossing a cig¬
arette butt, PCC student Jared Folly excused his
actions. “They pay people good money to pick up
my trash. I’m just trying to give them something to
do.”
PCC student Tim Holt has a different take on
littering. “I think that people should take better
care of the school and just not litter. There are a
lot of trash cans nearby, so there is no need to just
Vandalism .
Page 4
Steve Carillo/ Courier
Are Mini-Motos Legal?
Jessica Pirkl
Managing Editor
Some call them “sleek” or “cool¬
looking.” To others this fast-growing
trend is becoming a hazard. With
speeds of up to 70 mph, “pocket
bike” or . “mini-moto” rides are
quickly becoming the must-have toy
of the season.
Mini-motos are built with alu¬
minum frames, covered in hard plas¬
tic shellings and constructed to
resemble a street-legal racing bike,
only drastically smaller. The bikes
have an average height of 20 inches
while a regular sized street bike has
a height of about 36 inches. The
bikes also only weigh about 85
pounds on average and can carry up
to 250 pounds or more, according to
many online sales sites.
These bikes are not intended for
street use but are currently being
used on any open roadway, includ¬
ing residential areas and sidewalks,
creating a hazard for the rider and
any person or vehicle in its path.
The bikes require a person to main¬
tain a squatting position to ride the
Mini-bikes *
Page 6
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