Picture Perfect:
With the Lucky 13
Exhibit. Page 5
Pasadena City College
i 4«
Ц ' /ЯШ
-intt,
' ' c lr #
&
Volume 96, Issue 3
“The Independent Student Voice of PCC, Serving Pasadena Since 1915.’
Thursday, Sept 13, 2007
*
а
l
*
What's Inside
Rocky Brown
/
Courier
Entertainment
Got the Blues?: Sing a
sad song with The
King of Blues. Page 9
William Hallstrom
/
Courier
Sports
Lancer Domination:
Football team brings
another win to the
Lancer name. Page 8
Has the Bush
Administration
abused September
11 for political gain?
Vote at pcccourier.com
See Opinion on Page 4
Fine Arts in the Fast Lane
Elaine Hu
/
Courier
The original batmobile, used in the 1992 film, along with other Batman memorabil¬
ia and other famous cars are featured in Peterson Auto Museum in Los Angeles.
See ‘Automobile Art’ - Page 5
Trial Set to Begin
in Student’s Slaying
Hearing for Suspects in Killing of PCC Man Will Be Held Sept. 27
Karoline Steavenson
Staff Writer
The suspected killers of a PCC student,
Joseph Molina of Whittier, will be back in
L.A. Superior Court on September 27 to be
arraigned. Molina was 22-years-old when
he was shot in the head during a robbery at
his workplace on December 10, 2004. He
was working at a Subway restaurant in
Whittier at the time of the shooting.
According to the Pasadena Star News,
one of the suspects, 25-year-old Bernadette
Corvera, pleaded guilty to taking part in the
shooting of Molina and one other robbery
during her arraignment in August. She was
scheduled to be sentenced on September 5.
Four others are charged with the slaying of
Molina and a series of robberies of stores
and restaurants in the San Gabriel Valley
and Whittier in 2004.
Leonardo Cisneros, 23, is charged with
multiple counts of robbery, shooting Moli¬
na, and also charged with killing another
man, Dianqui Wu, during a holdup in
August, 2004.
Jose Resendez, 30, Mitzie Oso, 28, and
Sara Lopez, 25, are all charged with multi¬
ple counts of robbery and the slayings of
both Wu and Molina. The Pasadena Star
News reports that the District Attorney’s
office is undecided as to whether or not they
will seek the death penalty for any of the
suspects.
The five suspects carried out a series of at
least fourteen robberies between August and
December of 2004. The alleged robbers did
not come away with much cash during these
crimes. The amount of cash taken from the
restaurant the night Molina was killed was
less that $100.
Wu was killed over a similarly small
amount of money. He and a friend, Ze
Zhang, were allegedly held up by two mem¬
bers of the group while walking across a
parking lot. According to Zhang, Wu
attempted to run away from the robbers,
was chased down, and then shot as he was
handing his wallet to the assailants.
Shocking
Finds at
Campus
Bookstore
Jason Lowder
Staff Writer
Before you purchase your next backpack from the campus
bookstore, take a peek at the label. When winter arrives and
you need a new PCC sweatshirt, after looking at the price tag,
check out the “made in” tag.
You may recognize some of the names, such as China and
Mexico but there are some you have probably never heard of,
like Lesotho.
What do these places have in common? They are all desti¬
nations for apparel companies who outsource their labor to
countries that allow exploitation of workers.
In other words, apparel with PCC’s likeness is produced in
nations that allow sweatshop labor.
According to the Fair Labor Committee, Jansport back¬
packs manufactured by the Keng Tau Handbag Company in
Guangdong, China, are manufactured by workers who earn
25 to 36 cents per hour.
According to a May 2000 report released by the National
Labor Committee, "During the peak season workers are at
the factory 14 hours a day, seven days a week, from 8 a.m. to
10 p.m. Some report working to midnight or even 3 a.m. The
workers receive one day off per month.”
The report also says, "These factories produce bags, espe¬
cially backpacks for Nike, Adidas and Jansport, which are
exported to the United States."
Many have never heard of Lesotho. But the U.S. Depart¬
ment of Labor has.
According to its website, www.dol.gov, “Children under
the age of 14 work in at least ten different foreign owned fac¬
tories that assemble garments from imported material and
export to the United States. Each factory employs between
500 to 1,500 workers and approximately 5 to 15 percent of
the primarily female work force in these garment factories is
below the legal age of 16, including many aged 12 to 14.”
The Jansport C.O.R.E. fleece with Pasadena printed hori¬
zontally across the chest and PCC underneath is made in
Lesotho.
In an email from VF Corp (Jansport’s parent company) to
bookstore buyer Carolyn Jerashen, the company states: “By
having Jansport in your store you're actually going with a
CLC (collegiate licensing company) licensed and nationally
embraced College/University logowear company that has
been applauded for our compliance.”
The email read, “Many schools seek us out now due to this
important issue and it has won us business over other illegal
off-shore manufacturers.”
Aside from Lesotho, China, and Indonesia, Jansport
sweatshirts sold in the bookstore also come from Honduras,
Nicaragua, Pakistan, Mexico and Guatemala.
The VF Corporate Code of Governance says that factory
inspections will be carried out by a VF Compliance Auditor,
or by an accredited company, who will grade each factory on
See ‘Sweatshop’ - Page 2
For exclusive stories and photos visit the Courier on the web @ pcccourier.com