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COURIER
VOL. 65, NO. 6
PASADENA CITY COLLEGE, PASADENA, CALIFORNIA
OCTOBER 8, 1987
Shake, Rattle and Roll; 6.1 Quake Hits
Student’s Review Quake
By Mark McElrea
News Editor
Like ants scurring forth from a
stirred up anthill, students, faculty and
workers streamed out of every building
on campus Thursday at 7:42 a.m.,
seeking safety from an earthquake
measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale.
Superintendent-President Dr. Jack
Scott, along with several adminis¬
trators, were attending a breakfast
sponsored by OMD in the Circadian
Room when the ground began to shake.
“My first thought was to assess the
damage to the campus,” said Scott.
“Once it became apparent that no
injuries, major gas leaks or structural
problems had occured, the next step
was deciding when or if classes should
resume.”
The initial panic and confusion was
compounded by the fact that the cam¬
puses’ emergency alarm system is
currently undergoing modifications.
“I sort of felt like the sailors on the
Stark must have,” said student trustee
Gilbert Morgan. “We were caught to¬
tally unprepared for an emergency.”
“It’s an unfortunate coincidence that
the new alarm system is not operative
at this time,” said Scott. “The money
to install a new system was ap¬
propriated months ago.”
Following an initial assessment of
the condition of the campus, it was
decided by Scott and James Menath,
director of facility services, that the
college should not be re-opened until
inspected by a structural engineer.
That task was completed by Paul
Schulte from the architectural firm of
Brown and Caldwell, who did a quick
walk-through inspection in the com¬
pany of Menath and Philip Mullendore,
campus safety director.
“I felt from what we initially had
observed that the campus could have
resumed classes at 9 a.m.,” said Scott,
“but we decided it was best to take a
cautious approach.”
Amidst cries of joy, the decision was
reached at 8:50 a.m. to not re-open the
buildings until noon.
Schulte’s report gave PCC a clean
bill of health, and stated that outside of
superficial damage, no structural prob¬
lems had been uncovered during the
inspection. Paving the way for classes
to resume.
During the Board of Trustees meet¬
ing that night most of the attention
focused on the inability of the campus
to deal with a major disaster.
“One area that was completely over¬
looked,” said Scott, “was ways in
which to fully utilize the campus radio
station (KPCC). Lack of communica¬
tion between the campus and those
entering the college was lacking. The
radio station could have been used to
bridge that gap.”
The Board also agreed to look into
the purchasing of such emergency
items such as blowhorns and tape
barriers, ideas put forth by former
student trustee Chris Koffer.
It important to look for ways to
improve the system that are economi¬
cally feasible, said Scott. “Otherwise
immediate action could be delayed.”
Courier /Jennifer Landis
The Library sustained most of the
damage that occured to the campus
during the earthquake. The above
bookcase collapsed and fell.
Earthquake Destroys Photo Lab
The photo lab of PCC photographer
Vern McGuire became a scene of
destruction following Thursday’s
earthquake which measured 6.1 on
the Richter scale.
Following his departure from the
graphic illustration field more than
10-years ago, McGuire has been
steadily purchasing photographic
equipment.
According to McGuire the lab
housed close to $25,000 worth of
equipment.
“They have not allowed anyone
into the building since the quake,”
said McGuire. “The whole building
has been condemned.”
Making matters worse, it appears
that salvage is the only possible way
for McGuire to recoup any of his
losses. The building will be de¬
molished without anyone being given
the opportunity to recover their
belongings inside.
“Nothing was insured and it ap¬
pears that most of the equipment has
suffered extensive damage.”
At the time of the tremor, McGuire
was enjoying a cup of coffee at home.
“I had a feeling the building proba¬
bly shook hard, but I never dreamed
anything like this had taken place.”
Three Candidates in Race for Presidency
By Mark McElrea
News Editor
It is officially a three horse race for
the Associated Student presidency.
Lance Oberholtzer, Brendan O’Brien,
and admitted long shot Jerry Richards
make up the candidates at this point.
The formation of a political ticket,
which unites several candidates under
one banner is the most critical part of
the election process according to both
Oberholtzer and O'Brien.
“There is only so much you can
afford to do on your own,” said
O’Brien. “The advantage of working in
a group primarily is the ability to
increase the amount of exposure you
have on campus.”
Oberholtzer is quick to agree with
O’Brien. “With only $50 allowed per
candidate, it's easy to see the advan¬
tages of pooling resources so you can
cover the most area with a limited
budget.”
Richards feels too much importance
is placed by both Oberholtzer and
O'Brien on the use of money to get
elected. “I really think most of that
money will go to waste,” said Rich¬
ards. “I plan on concentrating on a
very active campaign that features a
lot of personal contact.”
Although lacking previous political
experience on the PCC campus, Rich¬
ards is confident of victory.
“Once I have the chance to show
people the differences between myself
and my opponets, I feel the right choice
will become obvious to them.
Oberholtzer feels that the lessons he
learned in last year’s defeat to Steve
Amezola led to the formation of a
ticket that is much stronger this time
around.
“Last year when Steve Amezola beat
me in a close election several of the
people on my ticket were less than
enthusiastic about campaigning,” said
Oberholtzer. “I started to put this
ticket together months ago, and each
candidate has proven through years of
service to be both dedicated and re¬
liable.”
O'Brien also feels confident about
the ticket he put together.
“There’s a tremendous amount of
experience and dedication to PCC on
(continued on page 6)
Courier/Vern McGuire
The brick facade that forming the front of PCC student Vern McGuire’s photography lab lies in ruin.
quake hit. We felt stuck. There was
nowhere safe to go. But everyone stuck
together like a team-there was no
pushing or shoving or a take-care-of-
yourself attitude. We just all moved out
of the building together.”
Tennis student Catherine Reynolds
was caught practicing her backhand
when the earthquake hit. She re¬
members moving off the court only to
find the ground hadstopped shaking, so
she returned to her initial spot to play.
Once again the ground shook and she
thought maybe she should just stay
away from that spot. But at that
momemt she noticed the lamp posts
swaying and realized what was happen¬
ing. “It was really strange because I
have never been outside during an
earthquake before. I was really scared
because I have seen what an earth¬
quake can do.”
Everyone was not that frightened.
Students in Bonnie Lee's physical
education class were in the exercise
room and had just finished stretching
at the time of the quake. Student
Yvonne Gilden said matter-a-factly,
“We knew it was an earthquake right
away. The teacher yelled freeze!’ We
froze and looked around the room and
saw only two doors and no desks.”
However, she said they managed to
leave the building calmly and headed
for the track. There they ran for
approximately 20 minutes.
(continued on page 3)
By Coleen Meyers
Feature Editor
Few school learning experiences are
so intense that they can be re¬
membered for years to come. The
earthquake which shook PCC last
Thursday was just such an experience.
Student Lana Fields was in her his¬
tory class in the C building at the time.
“I never saw so many people hit the
floor so fast in my life. It was so scary.
As soon as we hit the floor we were all
praying.” After the first quake
subsided, they began their exit.
“We were on the third floor and on
our way down the stairs when another
Courier/Janice Arrechen
An automotive shop in Pasadena had five customers’ cars destroyed when a neighboring building collapsed.
Despite a Few Flaws
Security Does Well
A veteran of such disasters as the
San Bernardino fire in 1978 that de-
stroyed300 homes, and various training
drills like Shake ’85, an earthquake
training exercise held at PCC, allows
Phillip Mullendore, director of college
saftey, to put last weeks earthquake
into perspective.
“I really don’t understand why peo¬
ple want to make more out of this than
it really was.” said Mullendore. “In the
realm of disasters, what occured to our
campus was very minor.”
The main objective of the campus
security force during an earthquake,
according to Mullendore, is to provide
for the safety of all individuals.
In regard to last Thursday's quake,
Mullendore feels that goal was ac¬
complished for three basic reasons.
“First off, we have been planning for
a quake,” the director said. “Secondly
the plan worked.” The most important
aspect in any emergency, that decides
if a security force is up to meeting the
challenges involved is the people that
have to implement the actions.”
“Herman Mitchell was the watch
commander at the time,” said Mullen¬
dore. “I was still on my way to the
campus when the earthquake struck.
Mitchell got the ball rolling. He did the
right things at the right time.”
The first action taken by security
was to begin the evacuation of all the
buildings. A task that Mullendore feels
was hindered by various faculty and
staff members who failed to see the
severity of the siuation.
The second phase of attacking the
problem that Mitchell initiated was the
deployment of the off duty security
cadets who were on campus at the
time. According to Mullendore 10 se¬
curity people eventually involved.
“Basically the evacuation part of our
operation went well, said Mullendore,
“but certain individuals were quite
belligerent about leaving the buildings.
In the event of an earthquake the saftey
rules are quite simple. While the quake
is going on, take cover, when the
shaking ends you evacuate.”
It has been estimated that the basic
task of evacuating the buildings was
accomplished in 10-15 minutes.
The one aspect of the evacuation that
disappointed Mullendore was the way
students lingered outside the buildings.
“We will be evaluating the events that
took place in a meeting scheduled for
the board room on Oct. 21 at 1:15 p.m.,
in the board room,” said Mullendore.
“One topic that will be covered is our
failure in this area.”
Mullendore even sees a positive side
to this part of the evacuation. “It was
nice to see everybody remain calm and
not start a panic. Perhaps they were
too calm, since the the degree of
danger was still unknown at that
time.”
Clearing up the unknowns made-up
the second portion of security’s job.
“We operate in the same manner
that all agencies try to,” said Mullen¬
dore. “The security office becomes
what is known as an Emergency Opera¬
tional Center, all in coming and out¬
going information filters through this
agency. It's the only way to keep tabs
on what is happening.”
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