OPINION
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THE NEW BATTLE OVER ENGLISH
GOSPEL CHOIR SHAKES
HAS BEGUN
CHURCH’S FOUNDATIONS
Щ Щ
Making English the official language of the
The choir dazzles the audience
United States would benefit all and unify —
in Friday’s performance at _
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the American people 2.
local church j
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LANCERS LOSE FINAL
HOME GAME OF SEASON
Inspired Cerritos team comes
back in fourth quarter against ^
football team to win 27-22
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• $4,835 STOLEN FROM CAFETERIA; INVESTIGATORS CITE THE POSSIBILITY OF 'AN INSIDE JOB'
Police search for suspect in Veteran’s Day burglary
By RAY ARMEN DARIZ
Courier Staff Writer
A thief broke into the campus
cafeteria sometime late Friday after¬
noon or early Saturday morning and
escaped with more than $4,000. Po¬
lice believe it is very possible it
could have been an inside job. By the
way the cafeteria was entered and
because the perpetrator knew where
the money was kept, campus police
indicated the person had knowledge
of the area.
Sgt. Vincent Palermo said, “It’s
very possible it was someone work¬
ing for PFM or a former employee.
But it was somebody who had knowl¬
edge or somebody who received first¬
hand knowledge of where to find the
money.”
The thief entered on the cafeteria’ s
east side through an unlocked upper
window. Police believe the suspect
then walked directly to the manager’ s
office, broke into a closet that was
made into a safe, and stole what PFM
reported as $4,835. Palermo believes
that since Friday was a holiday, the
suspect may have thought the entire
campus operation would be closed
down and the theft wouldn’t be dis¬
covered until Monday morning.
But the burglary was reported to
police by 8 a.m. the next morning
after Armando Soto, assistant direc¬
tor of PFM came in for work. As Soto
got out of his car, he noticed that the
cafeteria’s back door was ajar. He
thought nothing of it. “At first I
thought that someone else might have
come in to do some work or one of
our employees, who has access to the
facility, left the door open,” Soto
said.
“But when I noticed that all of the
lights were off, it struck me as strange.
The only lights that were on were in
the offices.”
Despite leaving some fingerprints
behind, along with blood left on the
broken glass, finding the burglar will
not be an easy task for campus po¬
lice. Palermo said the fingerprints
are only good if they find somebody
to match them with. “We have the
fingerprints computerized in the Cal
ID fingerprinting system,” Palermo
said.
The Automated Fingerprint Iden¬
tification System is a computerized
system that houses the fingerprints
of everyone arrested in California in
the last 29 years. If the suspect has
committed a crime and the computer
matches the prints, it will pop the
name out.
Palermo said, “The only problem
is that the computer is four years
behind in major crimes such as ho¬
micide, assault with a deadly weapon
Please see THEFT, Page 3
• SECOND ANNUAL EVENT SPONSORED BY INTER-TRIBAL STUDENT COUNCIL
PGG celebrates
Native American
Heritage week
By RAY ARMENDARIZ
Courier Staff Writer
They have been called every¬
thing but what they want to be
called. Sports teams use them as
mascots. History books paint them
as savages, and worst of all, they are
also a forgotten people.
“We’re Native Americans,” said
Bob Cagle. “We’re not Indians or
some cartoonish figure that you see
on baseball caps or athletic jerseys.
We are human beings and we should
be treated as that. I think other cul¬
tures wouldn’t like it if they were
misrepresented.”
Therefore, the Inter-Tribal Stu¬
dent Council has planed a week fill
of activities designed to educate
PCC students about Native Ameri¬
can history and their contributions
to this country. The celebration also
provides an opportunity for Native
American students, staff and faculty
to meet and become familiar with
the needs of the Native American
community.
The event began on Monday
with a luncheon sponsored by the
Cross Cultural Center. Students, fac¬
ulty and staff joined together to
share their feelings. Joyce Black,
vice president of instruction, said
she was pleased to see the celebra¬
tion begin with strong student-sup-
port. “It’s really wonderful to see a
lot of people who are interested in
the Native American culture.”
“I’ve spent many months with
Please see NATIVE, Page 5
“We’re Native
Americans.
We’re not
Indians or
some
cartoonish
figure as you
see on
baseball caps
or athletic
jerseys. We
are human
beings and we
should be
treated as
that. I think
other cultures
wouldn’t like it
if they were
misrepre¬
sented,”
Bob Cagle,
Native
American
student
JOSE CORTEZ
/
THE COURIER
Kevin Hale performs a ceremonial hoop dance in the Quad during T uesday’s festivities.
• OFFICE OF STUDENT AFFAIRS LOOKS
INTO VIOLATIONS
Attempted recall
questioned; accused
students speak out
By JOSE INOSTROZ, Courier Staff Writer
Three Associated Student Board members who have
been targeted for recall, claim that the people gathering
signatures are misleading students.
The recall campaign led by Darrell Price, a student
activist, collected 3,600 signatures. That number was
well above the 2,400 needed for the recall.
However, Kim Smoot, Lavonne Ramirez and Laura
Duran, the three members targeted in the campaign
claim the signatures were gathered illegally. Seeking
signatures in the campus library and the Community
Skills Center breaks the rules, they said.
According to Stephen Johnson, assistant dean of
student activities, the matter is being looked into, but no
decision has been made yet.
The three AS members also felt that the group led by
Price was misleading PCC students by stating they were
being recalled for “parking injustices.”
“Students were misinformed. They were not told the
whole story,” said Ramirez, coordinator of student ac¬
tivities.
Duran, vice president of student services said, “What
their position states is vague, and it is vague for a reason.
They know that the recall is not legitimate.”
According to Ramirez, those students targeted her
and Smoot for being on a parking review committee as
early as the second week of classes.
“I did not see a parking problem early in the semes¬
ter,” said Smoot, AS executive vice president. “Parking
injustice was something that they made up so that they
could try to recall us.”
Smoot and Ramirez felt they were also being targeted
for recall in part for being female and for their views.
“We are the voice of the students,” said Smoot.
“We are the ones who speak up at AS board meetings
because we have definite views and ideas and they saw
Please see RECALL, Page 4
“This is not the
first recall
petition, and
this is not the
first excuse
they have
used. This is
the first recall
petition that
was approved.
This has been
one big
nightmare,"
Kim Smoot,
AS executive
vice
president
and one of
the three AS
members
targeted for
recall
• NEXT SEMESTER, STUDENTS
WITH BACHELOR'S DEGREES
NO LONGER HAVE TO PAY $50
Time runs out on
B.A. degree tuition
By KEN WOO, Courier Staff Writer
Starting in the spring ’96 semester, students with
bachelor’s degrees will no longer have to pay $50 per
unit to attend PCC.
The price difference, which is also known as the
differential fee, was passed by the state legislature in
1993. The fee had a two-year termination date and now
its time is up.
The original thinking behind the fee was that if
students already had a degree, their education had
already been supported by state funds. If they wanted to
go back to a community college, the state felt public
dollars should no longer fund their education. Therefore
the fee was imposed. “The state wanted to eliminate the
feeding at the public trough,” said Dr. Stuart Wilcox,
dean of admissions and records.
However, there were some flaws in the state’s think-
Please see DEGREES, Page 6
• NATIONALLY RENOWNED ARTIST JODY PINTO DESIGNS PROJECT
$1 million sculpture garden to be built next year
By ARDA HAMALIAN
Courier Staff Writer
A plaza, sculpture garden and
amphitheater, designed by nation¬
ally renowned artist Jody Pinto, are
going to be the next new additions to
the PCC campus. The $1 million
project is part of the $100 million
Master Plan which also included
construction of the new library, the
parking structure, Community Edu¬
cation Center, and Child Develop¬
ment Center.
A special committee was formed
to conduct a national search for an
artist to design the project. Thirty
artists responded to the search and
three of them were chosen to present
models of their designs to the Board
of Trustees.
According to Dr. Grover Goyne,
the PCC foundation president, Pinto’s
model was unanimously chosen by
the board because of its convenience
and beauty by day and night.
Her design consists of a circular,
shaded plaza that overlooks the sculp¬
ture garden. The garden will be land¬
scaped with grass, bushes and scat¬
tered trees and will have a channel of
water running through it. A few path¬
ways will be constructed through the
garden, connecting the buildings,
parking lot, plaza and amphitheater.
The paths will also meet fire depart¬
ment regulations.
Finally, at the lower end of the
garden, there will be a small amphi¬
theater about 90 feet in diameter.
Seating facilities will be placed
along the circumference and interior
of the plaza as well as the borders and
interior of the garden.
Hundreds of lights will be embed¬
ded along the walkways and within
walls and benches, so when night
Please see GARDEN, Page 4
