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Pasadena Oity College
Senior quartet
fill the walls of the
К
building with
their traveled and
blaring sound.
Page 4
Volume 98, Issue 8
“ The Independent Student Voice of PCC, Serving Pasadena Since 191 5."
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Walking For a Cure
Sothan Thach
/
Courier
Participants march through the City of Hope campus in Duarte in Sunday morning's Walk for Hope to Cure Breast Cancer.
Over 9,000 people walked either a 2.5K or a 5
К
course.
Jessica Barrera
Staff Writer
A never-ending stream of over 9,000
men, women and children started their 5K
or 2.5K walk as the buzzer went off on
Sunday morning’s Walk for Hope to Cure
Breast Cancer at the City of Hope campus
in Duarte.
Individuals were proudly walking with
their Walk for Hope T-shirts, radiating
hope and support for those struggling
with cancer and other life-threatening dis¬
eases.
“We just support the cause,” said PCC
student Tourneur Airitam, who has been
doing this walk every year for four years.
“It gets bigger and bigger every year.”
This 12th annual walk in Los Angeles
started in order to help promote research,
education and patient care that the City of
Hope has been doing for almost 100 years.
It also gives cancer patients, survivors and
healthy individuals a chance to mingle.
Several organizations and corporations
such as Team Picasso’s, Giggle Gaggle of
Gynecology, Foothill Credit Union, the
Los Angeles Police Department and
numerous others joined the walk while
proudly holding up their team signs.
Prior to the walk, president and chief of
City of Hope, Dr. Michael A. Friedman,
gave his speech. “I am proud to share our
commitment to fight breast cancer,” he
said. “I firmly believe we will find a cure.”
Walk of Hope celebrity ambassador and
actress on the long-running TV show “One
Life to Live,” Andrea Evans, also took the
microphone with her infant daughter
Kylie. “I walk not just because I am the
daughter of a breast cancer survivor, I walk
because I don’t want [my daughter] to
worry about this.”
Over $650,000 was collected from reg¬
istries, sponsors and donations. One of the
largest sponsors included Albertsons/Sav-
On. The corporate representative person¬
ally gave a sponsorship check of $25,000 to
Friedman on stage.
Aside from the walk, there was a live per¬
formance by the 80s band The Spazmatics.
There were also several exhibitors, such
as a cancer survivor booth with cancer sur¬
vivors handing out gifts to all cancer sur¬
vivor participants.
“It’s the big ‘C’ word. Some people’s
lives were destroyed while a majority of
people were strengthened,” said Jean
Nieblas, a survivor of Hodgkin’s disease.
“Everyone around this table has a story.”
Student Named Member of Rose Court
Jacob Matthes
Staff Writer
As the city of Pasadena begins prepara¬
tion for its 120th Rose Parade, PCC can
boast of having a presence in the parade’s
royal court.
Eighteen-year-old freshman Bridget
McDonald has grown up in Pasadena antic¬
ipating the year she would have a chance to
travel the parade route as something other
than a spectator. Two years of tryouts later,
she has become one of the seven princesses
of the 2008 Rose Court.
“I’ve lived in Pasadena all my life and I’ve
been to every parade all my life... you
[princesses] really are a big part of history.
It’s a chance to represent Pasadena on the
big day,” said McDonald.
The process of choosing the Rose Court is
a strenuous one. Similar to a prime-time real¬
ity TV contest, it consists
of a lot of people selling in
a few words the big reason
they felt they deserved to
be on the court.
McDonald was forced
to make her voice heard
over the likes of 1 , 1 14 girls
and ten boys.
“It wasn’t the first time
I had tried out. I tried out
last year and only made it Michael
to the semi-finals. This Bridget McDonald
year I kind of had an
advantage because I knew what the judges
were looking for,” she said.
Advantage or not, McDonald is now a
name in a long tradition of young Pasadena
women who have served as Rose Court
princesses, and its no easy gig.
The month before the parade is consistent¬
ly busy. According to the
Pasadena Tournament of
Roses Association, Royal
Court members attend more
than 150 community and
media functions leading up
to the parade and the game.
“It varies anywhere from
one event a day to four or
five,” McDonald said.
The princesses, like a
Lee
/
Courier scene out of The Princess
Diaries, are placed in multi¬
ple training programs so that
they are prepared for the day in all ways roy¬
ally possible.
“We have Princess training, etiquette
training, model training, media training, and
speech training. Its an excellent place for
women to grow and find themselves,” said
McDonald.
Economic
Woes H it
Students
Allan Santiago
Opinion Editor
Current economic turmoil has resulted in a drastic
shift in student behavior,
“I would say that I’ve noticed a spike in borrowing,”
said David J. Le Claire, assistant director of scholarships
and work-study.
“The grants that we offer and the fee waiver is not
enough to keep pace with what’s happened with the
economy, with the prices of gas and materials for study¬
ing,” Le Claire said. “The cost of living has just shot up
dramatically.”
The number of financial aid applicants has gone up
dramatically. In 2007-08, PCC received 18,438 Free
Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) applica¬
tions. For fall 2008, PCC has, so far, received 17,909. The
numbers are expected to go up as the year progresses.
A vast number of returning students have lost their
source of income, according to Le Claire. Those students
must file an income adjustment appeal to receive funds.
“That’s a pretty common occurrence whenever the
economy is in trouble,” Le Claire said
The amount of money being dispersed to students this
semester can seem daunting. In fall 2007, PCC disbursed
$503,331 in Direct Loan funds to 290 students. So far in
this semester, PCC has funded 221 borrowers for a total
of $426,349. With two months left in the semester from
the time the report was made, the numbers are expected
to continue to rise.
“We discourage borrowing . . . We’re trying to prepare
students, and one of our objectives is to send them to a
four-year institution with as little debt as possible,” said
Le Claire. The deal-breaker, according to Le Claire, is
when a student would otherwise not be able to complete
his or her education without a private loan.
“We know that they’re going to find themselves in a
position where borrowing is going to become less of an
option and more of a necessity,” Le Claire said.
Another sign is the amount of work-study hours stu¬
dents are using. “It appears that students are opting to
work more instead of increasing their loan indebted¬
ness,” Le Claire said.
In fall 2007, 203 students employed in the Federal
Work-Study program earned a total of $260,329, where¬
as in this semester, so far, 240 students are anticipated to
earn a total of approximately $400,000.
“This is not a good time to be a passive student,” Le
Claire said.
According to Le Claire, new regulations for Pell
Grants will come to effect in the 2009-10 fiscal year. The
biggest one, he said, is a cap in the amount of Pell Grant
funding a student may receive, and will be split along a
specific number of semesters — similar to Cal Grant
funding.
Cynthia D. Olivo, associate dean of counseling and
student success services, shines an optimistic light on the
matter.
“I think it’s important to demystify all of the precon¬
ceived notions that some students may have about the
expense of college. I don’t want people to think it’s out of
reach,” Olivo said. “Even though the cost of college is
increasing, and our economy is in a bad situation right
now, I think that people should still continue working on
their educational goals.”
To Olivo, who is first in her family to attend college, it
includes taking out a loan to pay for college.
“Students should always remember: when you’re tak¬
ing about educational loans, at least it’s considered good
debt,” she said.
For more on this story, check out pcccourer.com