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Volume 106, Issue 2
The independent student voice of PCC, Serving Pasadena Since 1915.
September 6, 2012
Winter classes canceled
Justin Clay
/
Courier
Board of Trustees members John Martin, Geoffrey Baum and President
Mark Rocha during the Aug. 29 Board meeting held at the Community
Education Center.
Fate of summer session in limbo
Faculty members
vexed at rushed
Board decision
I EMILY CHANG-CHIEN
Staff Writer
Disbelief swept the Jack Scott
I room of the Communication
Education Center as the decision
I to eliminate winter intersession
I was made on Aug. 29.
After the vote, most in atten-
3 dance — primarily faculty and
I students — left the building.
Many who were there left with
mixed emotions — they were
unsettled and shaken up by the
’ events of the evening. Many
were speechless.
Faculty Association represen¬
tative Julie Kiotas — who deliv-
I ered an impassioned address to
the Board — admitted that
"How did you feel about the
] meeting?" was a tough question.
"I am disappointed that the
Board is not more interested in
what the students have to say. ...
I was saddened. When you keep
the students from talking, it
denies their existence," Kiotas
said in an interview on Tuesday.
Newly elected FA Secretary
Paul Jarrell felt that everybody
lost sight of the primary goal of
the discussion: an opportunity
for students to get the ‘classes
that they needed.
"The Board is far enough
Continued on page 7
Nicholas Zebrowski and
Nicholas Saul
Staff Writers
Winter classes were eliminated
on Aug. 29 and in the new calen¬
dar the fate of summer 2013 ses¬
sion has not been decided.
When the Board of Trustees
adopted a tentative three-semes¬
ter calendar for the 2012-13 aca¬
demic year, winter session was
jettisoned.
However, uncertainty sur¬
rounds whether there will be one
summer session, two summer
sessions or none at all.
"We will [in the future] make a
calendar for summer session,"
President Mark Rocha said in an
interview on Aug 30. "Whether
we have the money to fund [one]
is an open question at this point.
Will there be classes? We hope."
The Spring 2013 semester will
begin on Jan. 7, and end on May
Editorial
/
page 3
Related story
/
page 7
4.
The vote at the Aug. 29 Board
of Trustees meeting was 5-1 in
favor of the three-semester cal¬
endar, with Trustee Berlinda
Brown voting against it. Trustee
Linda Wah abstained.
Brown wanted more time to
consider the proposal.
Students and faculty packed
the meeting to express their con¬
cerns with the three-semester
calendar. Many were not
allowed into the meeting room,
but those outside could be heard
chanting, "Let us in! Let us in!"
while they pounded on the walls
and windows.
The proceedings were disrupt
Continued on page 7
Daniel Valencia
/
Courier
Completion of the future Center for the Arts, currently under construction, has been delayed for at least three months.
Below: A ground view of the building construction site.
Arts building completion delayed
Emily Chang-Chien
Staff Writer
Completion of construction of the
I Center for the Arts building has been
Я
delayed at least three months from its
anticipated December date, officials
] said.
According to Jack Schulman,
i Director of Measure "P" Projects —
I who is overseeing the $28.2 million
Я
project — the general contractor Edge
I Development, Inc. has gone out of
Я
business. Before the company went
I under, Edge experienced internal
i problems with scheduling and finan-
H cial obligations, all of which have
3 greatly impacted the progress of this
project, Schulman said via email.
Schulman is negotiating about a new
construction company, BNBuilders.
Unforeseen circumstances with the
building construction site also con¬
tributed to the delay. Many utilities
were not shown in construction draw¬
ings, all of which required time to
address and remediate, according to
Schulman.
Despite these setbacks, Performing
and Communication Arts Division
Dean James Arnwine, whose division
will relocate into the structure when it
is complete, said that things slowed
down, but never completely stopped.
"At this point, the completion date is
Continued on page 7
Terminated
employees
replaced
van Pelt replaced
amid realignment
Nicholas Saul
Editor-in-Chief
Former Vice President of Administrative
Services Richard van Pelt, and former Facilities
Supervisor Alfred Hutchings - both under investi¬
gation in a bribery probe - were officially replaced
on Aug. 29 when die Board of Trustees approved
of an extensive realignment of the college's execu¬
tive cabinet.
Van Pelt and Hutchings were fired by the Board
of Trustees on June 18 a week after officials
announced that the Los Angeles County District
Attorney's office was investigating them for "con¬
flicts of interest." The had immediately bee placed
on administrative leave.
The "conflicts of interest" that the DA may have
been investigating pertained to van Pelt's and
Hutchings founding of a company together. The
company, Sustainagistics, was based in van Pelt's
Altadena home and, according to data compiled by
the California Secretary of State, specialized in
import logistics.
The District Attorney is moving on with the
probe, but officials are not willing to disclose inves¬
tigation details nor can they predict a timetable for
completion. "It is a matter of law," said Jennifer
Schneider, assistant head deputy of the District
Attorney's Public Integrity Division.
"The investigation remains confidential and we
cannot predict how long or short it may be. Our
goal is to find out what the facts are."
Continued on page 7
