Soccer
Women’s
team loses
to Mt. SAC
Page
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4 Pasadena City College
Courier
Online edition
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Volume 106, Issue 7
The independent student voice of PCC. Serving Pasadena Since 1915.
October 18, 2012
Life, love, and hula-hoops
Teresa Mendoza
/
Courier
Anabel Ramirez, theater, performs in "The Comedy of Jules Feiffer" at the Sexson Auditorium on Sunday.
Story on page 9.
Faculty Association wants vote of no-confidence
Emily Chang-Chien
Staff Writer
The recent Faculty Association sur¬
vey shows that the majority of union
members wish to cast a vote of no con¬
fidence in PCC President Mark Rocha.
According to the results distributed
at the FA general meeting on Thursday,
210 surveys were turned in as of Oct.
11, with 79 percent of faculty members
wishing to proceed with a vote of no
confidence. Seventy-four percent of
the survey takers indicated that they
are willing to participate in this action.
FA president Roger Marheine was
uncertain about the impact of the sur¬
vey in regards to the vote of no confi¬
dence. "Sometimes nothing [hap¬
pens]," he said. "It is basically a ballot.
. . . Our job as the FA is to pursue every
avenue, use every tool, use every
opportunity to defend faculty rights
and to defend the contract. We also
want to defend shared governance. . . .
These are all issues that a vote of no
confidence is a step."
FA secretary Paul Jarrell echoed
Marheine's statement. "We wanted
this to not be a statement about a con¬
tractual item, but rather on [the]
atmosphere on campus," he said.
Asked to comment, Rocha forward¬
ed the request to Juan Gutierrez, direc¬
tor of public relations. According to
Gutierrez, the Board of Trustees com¬
pleted a thorough evaluation of the
performance of Rocha at the Oct. 3
Board meeting.
"We publicly announced that the
Board, unanimously and unequivocal¬
ly, has the highest confidence in Dr.
Rocha and we expressed our deep
appreciation for his effective leader¬
ship," Gutierrez said in an email.
Of the other options on "how to pro¬
ceed," over 50 percent of survey takers
indicated their support for: shared
governance on campus-wide commit¬
tees, to pursue the Brown Act viola¬
tions through legal means, to focus on
new Board of Trustee elections, to pur-
Continued on page 11
New law
likely to
have huge
impact
Student Success Act
seen as ' tectonic shift 7
Benjamin Simpson
Staff Writer
The Student Success
Act signed by Gov.
Jerry Brown on Sept
27 will have a major
impact on the college,
PCC President Mark
Rocha told a news
conference for journal¬
ism students on
Thursday.
"There has been ... a
tectonic plate shift in
community colleges in
the state of
California," said
Rocha. "The commu¬
nity college mission
traditionally has been all access, for all students,
for all courses."
With the implementation of the Student Success
Act that mission will change to a much more goal-
oriented program, Rocha said. "[It will be] to get a
major, get a program, finish the program, get your
degree, get your workforce certificate, get a job,"
he said.
With this change, it is now required that all stu¬
dents have a degree track, an educational plan,
must go through orientation and do the assess¬
ment.
Rocha discussed how he was one of those stu-
John Novak
/
Courier
President Mark Rocha out¬
lines calendar changes.
Continued on page 10
2,700 voice opposition to calendar in petition
Students presented a petition for
at the Board of Trustees meeting
Board to reconsider their decision
Wendy Garcia
/
Courier
the reinstatement of winter classes
on Oct. 3. Sara Belknap advises the
NICHOLAS ZEBROWSKI
Managing Editor
Over 2,700 students have
signed a petition opposing the
newly adopted three-semester
calendar which eliminated win¬
ter intersession. The petition was
presented to the Board of
Trustees during the Oct. 3 Board
meeting.
Representing the students
who signed the petition, math-
matics major Sarah Belknap
spoke about their concerns.
"Respectfully, we are telling you
that this is not in our best inter¬
ests," Belknap said. "You have
the majority of the people at
your college telling you [that]
you made the wrong decision.”
Board of Trustees President
Geoffrey Baum directed ques¬
tions to Juan Gutierrez, director
of public relations, to comment
on the petition.
According to Gutierrez the
new calendar will improve stu¬
dent success. "The Board appre¬
ciates and welcomes input from
our students and other members
of the community. The unfortu¬
nate truth is that the State of
California has been cutting fund¬
ing for community colleges for
years, limiting access to classes
for our students."
"This year's budget cut from
the state of more than $6.7 mil¬
lion forced PCC to reduce the
class schedule by more than 500
sections or about 10% of total
classes," he said.
"The Board's adoption of the
calendar makes it clear why this
new calendar will improve stu¬
dent success and access to
instruction."
Attempts to reach other
trustees also resulted in a recom
Continued on page 11
Speak out!
Who won the second
presidential debate?
vote at
pccCourier.com
Theater trip
Spring tour to
London adapts to new
academic calendar
Page
3»
ArtNight
Semi-annual event
brings crowds of art
enthusiasts
Page
8»