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Volume 98, Issue 7
“ The Independent Student Voice of PCC, Serving Pasadena Since 1915.”
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Campus Blood Drive
Officer Asks AS
For Support on
Guns for Police
Scene:
Music Festival:
Local and World
Artists meet in
Downtown L.A.
Page
10»
Entertainment:
Free Stand-Up:
Celebrities visit
Barney’s Beanery for
comedy shows.
Page
9»
Lancer Life:
Hybrids:
What ‘green’ vehicles
are best for you?
Page
6»
Richard Garcia
Staff Writer
Chi Hong Wong
/
Courier
Student nurses check a patient's blood pressure Wednesday, during a week long blood
drive run by USC. The drive is sponsored by the AS and will end today.
Page
4»
Classified Senate Undecided
on Arming Campus Police
Barbara Beaser
Staff Writer
Classified Senate President Debra
Cantarero made it clear Wednesday, that the
senate has not yet taken a position on the issue
of arming the campus police.
Cantarero was referring to the rescinded AS
resolution in favor of firearms reported in the
Sept. 18 issue of the Courier.
The section quoted in the article stated that
the Classified Staff was one of several groups
that recommended arming the PCC police
department.
“We’re waiting until the task force comes
back with a recommendation,” Cantarero said
at the senate meeting. The position reflects
that of PCC President Paulette Perfumo, who
had said last week that she would remain neu¬
tral on the firearms issue until both sides had
presented their reports.
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AS Begins Recycling Program
A campus police officer made an emotional
case Wednesday in support of arming PCC
police officers, furthering a topic that has been
hotly debated this semester.
PCC police officer Jeremy Gump, a former
12-year Glendale Police Department officer,
appeared at the weekly Associated Students
Executive Board’s meeting on Wednesday to
present his views regarding firearms on cam¬
pus.
“When I react to a problem, do I want to
kill someone? Do I want to hurt someone? No.
But I have to protect the people that are in dan¬
ger. I have to protect myself in order to protect
you,” said Gump. He compared himself pro¬
tecting PCC students to a shepherd protecting
a flock of sheep from a wolf.
Gump explained his policy in the event of a
situation involving a firearm: “Run like hell
and lock myself in that room,” he said, as he
pointed at the PCC police station. “You guys
need to let me protect myself so that I may
protect you,” he repeated.
Gump spoke of two instances in his career
where a gun was the factor in the outcome of
a situation. He recalled when a man threat¬
ened him with a knife but dropped it immedi¬
ately at the sight of a gun. Another time a
driver in a routine traffic-stop reached for a
weapon to pull on Officer Gump, but stopped
as Gump’s partner wielded his weapon, pre¬
venting the attack.
Gump expressed concern stemming from a
recent incident when a woman who was
involved in a fistfight in the gym told Gump
she thought he was a security guard because
Chi Hong Wong
/
Courier
Officer Jeremy Gump speaks to the AS
regarding arming campus police Wednesday.
he didn’t have a gun.
“The AS board needs to lobby so that [PCC
President] Dr. Perfumo, who is too busy, can
push for this to happen,” answered Gump,
after AS Vice President of Business Affairs
Devin Leung asked what suggestions he
would make to a board that supports the
department.
Gump also proposed that a policy be writ¬
ten if guns were approved. “If I need to take
that gun out of my holster I need to know
why. I need to document why that gun came
out of that holster,” he said. “Now there’s a
check and balance so my chief and supervi¬
sors see that if this guy is too gun happy, he
needs to be removed. That protects you as stu¬
dents.”
Jacqueline Lok
Staff Writer
The Associated Students is organizing a
recycling program with a committee to over¬
see procedures in an effort to promote envi¬
ronmental awareness.
The committee will focus on researching the
different recycling options and meet with the
Board of Trustees.
According to Rick van Pelt, director of
Facilities Services, “[PCC] diverts 86 percent
of our solid waste from landfills. That means
that only one ton in seven goes to a landfill.”
The committee hopes to fill in the 14 per¬
cent gap in items that are not being recy¬
cled.
Despite the students’ lack of awareness,
“our program of recycling deals with a very
wide range of items — obviously paper and
cardboard, but also electronics, lights, green
waste, construction materials, and a whole
host of other things,” said van Pelt.
“Facilities Services runs one of the most
extensive recycling programs of any college in
the state, and we are very proud of it,” he
added.
The idea of creating the “Recycling
Committee was first proposed by Director of
Food and Beverage Services
Ту
Yu and was
handed off to the Associated Students so that
we could take a leading role in making PCC
more sustainable through recycling,” said Paulo
Rodriguez, vice president of internal affairs.
The committee is still in its early stages and
will need more support.
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