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The Independent Student Voice of
РСС,
Serving Pasadena Since 1915," Thursday, October 7, 2010
U Building
occupants
plan move
Volume 102, Issue 6
Playing in the rain
Courier
The PCC Water Polo team battled against the elements as they played against LA Trade Tech College
on Wednesday, Despite the occasional drizzle and cloudy skies, the game resulted in a 16-1 win.
New law changes transfer process
Natalie Sehn Weber
Staff Writer
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
signed two bills that will change
the process of transfer for commu¬
nity college students to California
state universities.
According to the California
Community Colleges Chancellor
Jack Scott, the bills SB 1440 or the
Student Transfer Achievement
Reform Act (STAR), and AB 2302,
were signed within hours of a final
deadline.
"Today marks a major victory,"
said Scott in an open letter to com¬
munity colleges Sept. 29.
"These two measures will
tremendously streamline the
transfer process, providing a clear
pathway to transfer for tens of
thousand of community college
students each year," he said.
The Courier reported earlier this
year that over-enrollment at UC
and CSU had forced most of the
universities to implement waiting
lists for more than 18,000 hopeful
students for the fall 2010 semester.
The specifics of how CSU will
absorb so many new transfer stu¬
dents have yet to be determined.
Schwarzenegger said of SB 1440,
"This bill requires community col¬
lege districts to establish associate
degrees for transfer students and
establishes course unit limits to
Continued on page 7
Janine Shimomura
Editor-in-Chief
The occupants of the U Building
have begun planning their move
to other facilities as the process to
address the seismic issues in the
building moves forward.
"We are at the stage that we've
been informed that we are moving
but do not know the timeline or
place," said Coordinator of
Student Health Services Jo Buzcko
whose facilities are located at the
bottom of the U Building.
"The main concern is that we
move out and operate out of this
building," said David Douglass,
dean of natural sciences, a division
that is housed in the U Building.
Administrators plan to discuss
options for the U Building's future
with Board of Trustees at the Oct.
20 meeting.
The college will present its
options for the building at a study
session with the Board. After the
discussion, the Board will then
weigh the options and place the
item back on the budget as an
action item.
"I'm disappointed we have to
move because we have a nice clin¬
ic," said Buzcko.
"It looks like it's more feasible to
build a new building from scratch
but the question is, where would
we get the funds?" said Douglass.
According to Douglass, the most
likely scenario for the occupants of
the building would be to move
into portable classrooms, which
would be located in parking Lot 5a
on the corner of Bonnie Avenue
and Del Mar Boulevard and Lot 10
on Green Street and Holliston
Avenue.
"We'll have to work with the
city and Fire Department to see if
we can have these temporary
buildings on those lots," said
Douglass.
Buzcko and her staff are evaluat¬
ing existing buildings on campus
where they could move but still
maintain a confidential atmos¬
phere and have paramedic accessi¬
bility.
"We want to maintain the acces¬
sibility for students on campus
without being in the mainstream,"
said Buzcko.
Douglass does not believe that
Continued on page 2
Diane Requena
and Brandon Hammerli
Staff Writers
Opinions may vary between the stu¬
dents on their feelings about homeless
people on campus, but what they fail to
realize is those less fortunate individuals
may have the same desires and aspira¬
tions as they do. They too have the
desire to make something of themselves
and find a purpose in life.
Former PCC student, 20-year-old
Cesar Alfaro wants nothing more than
stability and an education. Although he
is younger than many students at PCC,
he has already been homeless for the past
nine months. "I can't keep staying on the
streets," he said with a somber tone, as
he shook his head.
Sleeping in parking lots and riding his
bike around the Pasadena area has worn
him to the bone, leaving him tired and
anxious, similar to the feeling from the
childhood he endured growing up in
Montrose.
At a young age, he said that he lost his
father to alcoholism. His father lived in
Costa Rica where most of Alfaro's family
currently lives. His mother remarried a
man who suffers from Multiple Sclerosis,
which caused an unbearable tension
between Alfaro and his stepfather. The
tension would rise to a point where he
had no other option but to leave home in
his late teens.
Couch hopping from friends' house to
friends' house, he never found a stable
home. Through all this time of uncertain¬
ty he still managed to take one Spanish
class at PCC about three years ago. This
would be the only college course that
Alfaro would take.
About a year ago, searching for a roof
to have over his head and a bed below it,
Alfaro ended up in Sonoma County in
Northern California. This is where the
seeds of inspiration were planted. Alfaro
found the World Wide Opportunities on
Organic Farms, where he was given
housing, food, and an education in
organic farming, in exchange for his vol¬
unteer work with the organization.
After this, Alfaro came back to
Pasadena for, "A few different reasons. I
just got comfortable out here," he said.
Another reason he admits to making
Pasadena his home is because he claims
panhandling is easy to do in this area.
Although Alfaro said that he has to get
in school, some students have wavering
opinions on non-student homeless indi¬
viduals being on their campus.
Kyle Altar, a criminal justice major,
said, "I think they shouldn't be on
Continued on page 2
Pasadena City College
Homeless former student finds refuge on campus
Keegan Farrell/Courier
Cesar Alfaro, 20, a former PCC student often stays
by the mirror pools during the day and spends his
nights in parking lots in Pasadena.
Production:
Students help create
the sets for the new
play “Flemming”
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Football
Lancers lose their first
game of the season
against Ventura College
Page
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