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Pasadena City College
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Volume 106, Issue 6
The independent student voice of PCC. Serving Pasadena Since 1915.
October 4, 2012
College sued in bribery case
Nicholas Saul
Editor-in-Chief
A lawsuit alleging breach of
contract and negligence related
to the bribery scandal that
rocked the campus in June has
been filed in Superior Court
against the Pasadena Area
Community College District, the
Board of Trustees and numerous
other defendants.
Gail Cooper, the school's gen¬
eral counsel, said the District
could not respond to questions,
but did confirm that it will
respond to the lawsuit.
The suit was filed by LED
Global, a firm that lost a $5-mil-
lion contract to install lighting on
campus.
The 'negligence' part of the
lawsuit centers around the idea
that the Board of Trustees did
not properly supervise ex-Vice
President of Administrative
Services Richard van Pelt, and
former Facilities Supervisor
Alfred Hutchings who were
fired in June after the school
found out they were being inves¬
tigated by the District Attorney's
office for 'conflicts of interest'.
The plaintiff in the lawsuit,
LED Global, has also filed a suit
against van Pelt and Hutclungs,
which claims the two men had
solicited bribes in exchange for
Continued on page 6
Faculty calls for
new negotiations
over winter term
Union pursues legal action
Pullin' strings: Chinese yoyo show
Daniel Valencia
/
Courier
Beijing students from the Shangxiejie Elementary School teach onlookers on campus how to yoyo in
front of the Shatford Library on Sep. 25. Story on page 2.
College system names new chancellor
Raymond Bernal
Staff Writer
The California Community
Colleges Board of Governors has
selected veteran administrator
Brice Harris as the 15th chancel¬
lor of the California community
college system.
Harris will be inheriting a
challenge with a 112-college sys¬
tem mired in budget cuts and an
enrollment decline of over
500,000 students since 2008.
"It's a challenge that I will
confront head-on because I am
bullish about community col¬
leges," said Harris during a tele¬
phone interview with The
Courier on Friday.
Harris was chancellor for 16
years of the Los Rios
Community College District in
the Sacramento area. Previously
Harris served as president of
Fresno City College and was a
faculty member and vice-chan¬
cellor in the Kansas City, Mo.
community college system.
Harris holds various degrees
in communications, received a
doctorate in education from
Nova Southeastern University in
Florida and did his post-doctoral
Continued on page 6
EMILY CHANG-CHIEN AND
Nicholas Saul
Staff Writers
The Faculty Association has
taken a legal route to re-ignite
negotiations with the adminis¬
tration over the elimination of
winter session.
According to FA lead negotia¬
tor co-chair Danny Hamman, the
association has filed a request
with the Public Employment
Relations Board for a mediator to
initiate negotiations. The FA
claims that negotiations have not
been conducted in good faith.
"[The FA] has been diligently
negotiating for several months
and we are disappointed they
cut winter session unilaterally
and violated the contract, as well
as shared governance," said
PCCFA President Roger
Marheine.
While the FA's main goal is to
start up negotiations again, the
end result of the mediation
request remains unclear.
"I don't know," said Hamman
when asked if the request could
bring winter session back.
Related Story
/
page 6
. "We're trying to get [the admin¬
istration] to negotiate with us
again."
Marheine echoed Hamman's
sentiment: "We have to make
our move because [the adminis¬
tration] has moved," he said.
According to an advertisement
appearing elsewhere in this issue
of the Courier, the spring semes¬
ter class schedule will be pub¬
lished Oct. 12, with classes
beginning Jan. 7.
Meanwhile, according to a
document on the FA web site, the
Calendar Committee held a
meeting on Sept. 27 at which the
three-semester calendar (exclud¬
ing winter) was opposed by a
huge majority.
"The District has a choice,"
said Krista Walter, co-chair of the
Calendar Committee. "It can
respond to the needs and con¬
cerns of students, faculty, and
staff, all of who have been oper¬
ating under the approved 2012 to
2013 calendar distributed to
Continued on page 6
New Human Resources director hired to fill vacancy
Philip McCormick
Staff Writer
A new leader for the Human Resources
Department, Terri Hampton, has been hired
after the position had been vacant for about
five months.
The former Vice President of Human
Resources, Benedict Lastimado, went on a
'personal leave' early in May, officials said at
the time, and has not been seen on campus
since.
"[PCC] is a beautiful school and I'm really
excited to be here," said Hampton. "I look
forward to helping this administration in its
goals towards their Educational Master
Plan."
Senior Vice President and Assistant
Superintendent of Business and College
Services Robert Miller said that Hampton
was hired because she is "very experienced"
in human resources for community colleges.
"[Hampton's] professional skill sets, per¬
sonality and professionalism mesh very well
with our college faculty staff, staff, managers
and culture," said Miller. "She was definitely
a stand-out candidate.
Hampton served as director of human
resources for the Mount San Antonio College
District for three years and said that she feels
that thus would be the "next level" for her.
Continued on page 6
Makoto Lane
/
Courier
Newly hired Executive Director of
Human Resources Terri Hampton.
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