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Pumpkin
Carving
Contest
Page 6
Vol. 90, Issue 8
Student Arrested on
Book Theft Charges
■ An officer arrests a
student on suspicion of
trying to sell stolen
books to the Book Mart.
Jessica Pirkl
Managing Editor
“This problem was resolved
quickly because the victim reported
the book stolen' immediately,” said
arresting officer Steve Matchan.
“We have a working agreement with
the Book Mart that helps keep the
thefts down. The system we have
works out well. They notify us as
soon as a book that we have report¬
ed as stolen shows up in their store.”
Book thefts on campus have been
an ongoing problem for a number of
years. The library has had repeated
reports of items being stolen from
students when they leave them unat¬
tended, even momentarily. Some
books are more likely to be stolen
than others, depending on their
value.
Acting police chief Lt. Brad
Young said, “The word on campus
is that all you have to do is snatch a
book and sell it across the street.
Most of the people stealing the
books are students.”
There are a few deterrents that
students should use to keep their
books and other personal items safe,
according to Matchan. “Never leave
your items unattended anywhere.
Every student should place an iden¬
tifying mark somewhere in their
book to help in identification if it’s
stolen.”
“If something is stolen, report it
right away and we will do every¬
thing we can to solve the problem,”
said Matchen. “The biggest mistake
people can do is wait. The longer
the time between the crime and the
time it is reported, the harder it
becomes to resolve the issue.”
The victim had his book returned
after identifying the marks he had
made on the inside. Malwah was
charged with petty theft and
released; he has no prior criminal
record.
“The people who are stealing
these items aren’t thinking," said
Young. "They get very little money
for the books and also face the pos¬
sibility of getting arrested.”
Part-Timers Get Money
Diane Garcia
Entertainment Editor
When part-time faculty mem¬
bers hear that the check is in the
mail that may actually be the case
this time. The nearly $1 million in
one-time bonuses they have been
waiting for has finally been
released by the PCC board of
trustees.
The board unanimously
approved a 2003-2004 labor agree¬
ment between the college and
PCC's California . Teachers
Association chapter at their Oct.
20 meeting. With the approval, the
administration is now able to dis¬
tribute $998,221 in augmentation
funds that part-time teachers, have
been seeking.
“The leadership of the
СТА
is
very happy that such an important
victory has been won for part-time
faculty,” said Roger Marheine, lead
negotiator for the
СТА.
Many
thanks were given to full-time fac¬
ulty and staff members as well as
the very outspoken student sup¬
porters. “It was a college-wide
effort. We thank them all,” said
Marheine.
Labor negotiations took place
in a closed session directly before
the board meeting. Jackie Jacobs,
vice president for instruction; Peter
Hardash, vice president for admin¬
istrative services; PCC’s California
School Employees Association;
and
СТА
representatives all took
part in the negotiations.
Jacobs said all the paper work
on the administration's part has
been done and the checks will be
sent out shortly. A request for the
checks will be sent to the county of
Los Angeles where the checks will
be cut, sent back to PCC and then
forwarded to the teachers, Jacobs
said.
Board member Consuelo Rey
Castro said that neither Los
Angeles nor Glendale community
colleges have circulated their aug¬
mentation funds yet. Mt. San
Antonio College, located in
Walnut, has yet to distribute the
funds also. “I am very proud of the
college in taking a leadership posi¬
tion in regards to the distribution
of the state augmentation funds,”
said Castro. “PCC is to be com-
Money j
Page 4
College to Investigate Lieutenant
Linda Rapka
Editor-in-Chief
The college’s acting police chief
Lt. Brad Young will soon be facing
another investigation, this one stem¬
ming from complaints filed by several
campus officers.
The board of trustees decided at
its Oct. 20 meeting to investigation
complaints against the lieutenant by
the campus officers.
“The officers delivered complaints
to both the Pasadena Police and the
college,” said college president Dr.
James Kossler. “Both institutions
have an obligation to investigate the
complaints.”
A weeks-long investigation by the
Pasadena Police Department into
allegations that Young secretly tape-
recorded officers’ conversations in
their locker room was presented to
the district attorney last week. The
district attorney decided not to file
charges against him, citing “lack of
sufficient evidence” that a crime was
committed as well as questioning
whether or not the complaint was
even valid.
Kossler said now that the criminal
complaints have been investigated by
Investigation A
Page 4
Homecoming Just Around the Comer
Kenny Kimura! Courier
Carlos Martinez, Chaning Zay Zay, Bryan Alberto, Latoya
Frazier, Scott Blanks, Jenna Hadaway, Juan Torres, Krystal
Moon, Gregory Alvarado and Denella Lucioni are the
members of this year’s homecoming court.
Kate Murray
Staff Writer
Homecoming, PCC’s most
school-spirited event, is just around
the corner. The candidates for
Homecoming king and queen have
been chosen, and now it’s up to
PCC students to officially elect the
new royals.
To make themselves known
among the student body, the candi¬
dates will hold official court intro¬
ductions today at noon in the Quad
(or in the Palm Cafe in case of rain).
They will present themselves to
PCC students and give short person¬
al bios. Students will (hen be able to
vote for their favorite candidates in
the Quad on Wednesday, Nov. 3,
and Thursday, Nov. 4, from 9 a.m.
to 1 p.m. and 4 to 6 p.m. on both
days. 4
On Thursday, the last day of the
elections, a pep rally will be held in
the Quad. Inflatable games such as
a bungee run and Velcro wall will be
set up for students’ entertainment.
Every student who participates in a
game will receive a ticket to enter a
special prize drawing.
The finale of the events is the
Homecoming football game on
Saturday, Nov. 6 at 1 p.m. in the
PCC stadium. After the Lancers
face off against the Riverside City
College football team, the.
Homecoming king and queen will
be announced, as well as the prize
winners.
Show your school spirit and par¬
ticipate in this royal affair! For more
information, contact Sandra Jara,
Associated Students vice president
for campus activities, at (626) 585-
7980, or in room CC209.
Math Requirement May Get Harder
Little Pumpkin Head
Rafael Delgado/ Courier
Anthony Ruiz, 11 months, from PCC’s Child Development Center, plays pumpkin
inspector at the Pumpkin Patch on the corner of Holliston and Green streets.
Micah Flores
Staff Writer
Graduation requirements could
get harder if the board of gover¬
nors of the California community
college system raises the mathe¬
matics standard for an associate
degree. Currently, the minimum is
elementary algebra, known as
Math 125 at PCC.
Under a resolution currently in
the talking stages at the statewide
Academic Senate, future students
seeking associate degrees would be
required to take intermediate alge¬
bra (Math 131) or an equivalent
mathematics course.
PCC mathematics instructor
Frederick Keene, one of the math¬
ematics department representatives
on PCC’s Academic Senate, is try¬
ing to assess the faculty’s views on
the change. “Overall, the mathe¬
matics faculty feels that the
requirement should be raised, but
they are not happy about the idea
of raising it only to the intermedi¬
ate algebra,” Keene said. “They
would like to see intermediate
algebra or an equivalent course.”
It is unclear what an equivalent
course or set of courses would be.
“What we would like is something
that would be a little bit more use¬
ful to people, and that would prob¬
ably have a little bit more direct
bearing on associate degrees that
are taken in vocational areas,"
Keene said.
The board of governors would
make the final decision. However,
the statewide Academic Senate
would weigh in with a recommen¬
dation on any change in the math
requirement.
A recent statewide change in
high school mathematics require¬
ments from pre-algebra to begin¬
ning algebra has prompted the aca¬
demic community to begin dis¬
cussing the matter.
“The decision is not just up to
the math division,” Keene said.
“We are not the people who decide
what the math requirement ought
to be. We shouldn’t be by our¬
selves; those decisions should be
made by the entire academic com¬
munity.”
The idea of stiffening the math¬
ematics requirement for an associ¬
ate degree is not a new one. Keene
said there was discussion of
change in 1983.
Keene added that the benefit of
changing the mathematics require¬
ment is the perceived value of the
degree. “If the people of the state
of California start to think that the
associate degrees are really nothing
but jumped-up high school diplo¬
mas, that would probably not be
very good for the students who
work so hard at the community
colleges,” he said.
While changes in the mathe¬
matics curriculum are inevitable,
PCC mathematics instructor
Raymond Guzman expressed his
concerns. "I have some doubts as
to whether we should do it and if it
would benefit the students,”
Guzman said. “Some PCC stu¬
dents have difficulty with begin¬
ning algebra, and I perceive them
having a lot of difficulty if they
had to take intermediate algebra in
order to graduate."
“The result would be possibly
some students taking intermediate
algebra, feeling like they were
forced to, resenting it, or also feel¬
ing like they couldn't get a degree
here because of this hurdle,” said
Guzman.
The PCC mathematics faculty
members plan to thoroughly dis¬
cussing the matter before taking an
official stand on any resolution for
changing the math requirement.
College Chancellor to Visit Campus
Dean Lee
Staff Writer
The chancellor of the California community col¬
leges system will be at PCC today from 3 p.m. to 5
p.m. This will be Mark Drummond’s first visit to the
campus since being appointed earlier this year.
Dr. James Kossler, PCC president and Peter
Hardash, vice president for administrative services,
will take Drummond on a tour of the campus.
“We want to show him what makes PCC different
from other colleges in the area and why people come
here over other schools,” Kossler said. “We want to
make a lasting impression.”
During the two hours the chancellor is here, he will
be shown a short video about PCC, then each of vise
presidents will speak about issues regarding student
services and student successes. David Kong, student
body president, and other Associated Student officers
will also speak to Drummond.
The chancellor will then give a 20-minute prepared
speech about the community college system in
California.
Before being appointed as chancellor, Drummond
was chancellor of the Los Angeles Community
College District.
n