Serving PCC and the Pasadena community since 1915
September 15, 2005
pcc-courieronline.com
Vol. 92, Issue 4
Man Arrested for Battery in Quad
Police detain
suspect after verbal
fight becomes
physical
Jennifer MacDonald
News Editor
An altercation in the quad resulted in the arrest of a
PCC student football player who was accused of
assaulting a female student in the quad and spitting in
her face.
Lamar Reed, 24, was arrested on charges of battery
while on school grounds, after the victim accused Reed
of spitting in her face and “strangling her neck.”
Campus police officer Michael DeSpain was
patrolling near the quad around 10:40 a.m. on Monday,
Sept. 12, when he heard the 20-year-old female student
scream.
The suspect fled the scene but was later detained by
campus police, charged and released to the custody of
the California department of corrections for violation of
his parole.
“Once PCC police had the suspect in custody, com¬
puter records showed he was on parole for manslaugh¬
ter,” campus police Lt. Brad Young said. “We called his
probation officer and he picked him up.”
According to the police report, the victim said she
was in the quad talking with friends when Reed
approached her and the two started talking. The con¬
versation escalated to an argument and the suspect
allegedly spit in her face and strangled her neck with his
right hand.
A witness collaborated the victim's claim that the
two argued and Reed spit in her face.
The victim suffered red marks around her neck and
jaw but refused medical attention.
As of now, Reed's parole is not being revoked
because he claims he was the victim. His parole officer
said special conditions have been added to his parole so
he is not allowed any contact with the victim.
“He assured us he wouldn't have contact with her,”
said H. Dennis, Reed's parole officer.
The department of corrections is conducting an
investigation into the incident and “if need be we'll put
him in jail,” Dennis said.
Dennis explained that the decision not to send Reed
back to jail is also based on the fact that he is trying to
turn his life around after his release from prison in 2003.
He just started attending PCC and is currently a defen¬
sive back for the football team.
Head coach for the football team, Dennis Gossard,
could not be reached for comment.
Daniel Belis
/
Courier
Am I the victim? PCC student involved in physical altercation explains her side of the
story to campus police.
Slashing on Campus
Knifing incident follows fistfight at
summer basketball event
Keith Lubow
Staff Writer
A Riverside City College student visiting PCC
for a basketball game this summer was slashed
with a 6-inch butcher-knife by a suspect who
escaped arrest, leaving a trail of blood that led
police to the weapon. The 20-year-old knifing vic¬
tim received three-inch lacerations on his face
and left arm, and a third laceration on his ear.
The knifing took place on July 29 at an RCC
afternoon women's basketball game held in the
PCC gym. The victim told Pasadena city police
that the confrontation began when two strangers
walked by him and one of them stepped on his
foot. He told the man to watch where was going,
then began to argue with both men.
The two men then stopped arguing and left
the game, however, fifteen minutes later the vic¬
tim left the court area and encountered them in
the lobby of the gym. Another argument began,
which became violent when the RCC student hit
one of the men about fifteen times with a closed
fist, forcing the fight outside to the north side of
the gym, said witness Mark Kleinpeter, who is a
physical education instructor and assistant foot¬
ball coach at PCC.
The man taunted: “That's all you've got?”
before he drew a butcher knife from his pocket
and began to stab the
victim in the face with
an up and down
motion, said
Kleinpeter. When the
victim tried to escape,
his attacker held him
against a fence and con¬
tinued to try to cut him.
The victim told police
that he was able to get the knife away from his
attacker and defend himself by delivering blows
to the man's face and arm.
Witnesses told police that the other man who
had been involved with the argument (the one
that stepped on the victim's foot) pulled a similar
knife, but was prevented from joining the fight
when an unknown bystander threw a trash can at
him. He then fled in an unknown direction.
Kleinpeter said that one of the victim's friends
was able to break up the fight. Both suspects fled
the scene separately; the knifing suspect headed
toward the Shatford Library and the other had
already left the scene when Kleinpeter ran to his
office to telephone for help. The victim later told
Pasadena police that he left the scene with his
photo courtesy of PCC Police Department
This is the cleaver used by an unidentified assailant in an
attack on a Riverside City College student.
friends, who took him to Huntington Memorial
Hospital in Pasadena.
PCC Police reported that Kleinpeter was able
to lead them to the knife used in the assault by
following a trail of blood to the west hallway of
the T Building (located immediately to the north
of the gym). Pasadena city police officers later
discovered the knifing suspect's leather jacket
near the library. Forensic officers gathered the
knife, the jacket, and blood and took photographs
of the crime scene.
Both suspects escaped arrest. The attacker was
last seen running eastbound on Colorado
Boulevard near Bonnie Street by a PCC Police
Cadet, who told dispatchers that the suspect was
bleeding from his head.
One Day, One-
Hundred Colleges
Jennifer MacDonald
News Editor
Whether you're a student thinking about transferring in a few years,
or one who plans on applying to schools this fall, University Day and
other transfer fairs at PCC can help you get acquainted with colleges and
build relationships with university representatives.
The purpose of the fairs is to help students start planning for college
as soon as possible.
“Today it is so competitive,” said Dina Chase, transfer center director.
“That's why it is essential for students to prepare early and to apply to as
many universities as possible. They increase their opportunity to get
accepted and then they can choose which university they want to go to.”
Representatives from 100 Cal State, UC and independent universities
will be in the Quad Monday, Sep 19, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., ready to
answer questions about admission requirements, specific program and
major requirements, housing and extra curricular activities.
“It's the first step in making contact with representatives from a wide
variety of public and private institutions,” Chase said.
Another important question to ask is what companies and organiza¬
tions recruit graduates of the university.
“Many of these representatives that they meet and who they follow
up with in the transfer center are the representatives who actually read
the applications,” Chase said. “The rapport students can start with rep¬
resentatives at PCC is crucial to their success. This is an opportunity for
the student to know the representative and explain situations on their
academic record to representatives that they other wise wouldn't be able
[See Transfer, PAGE 5
Queer Eye for California?
Kate Murray
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Recently, the California legislature voted in favor of bill AB 849, which
would allow same-sex marriages to take place in the state. This makes the
state Senate the first legislative body in the nation to allow gay couples to
wed without a court order.
However, to the dismay of gay rights activists, Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger plans to veto the bill.
"He got elected with record numbers of lesbian and gay voters who had
not previously voted for a Republican,” said Geoff Kors of Equality
California, a sponsor of AB 849. “He sold us out.”
According to a statement given by Margita Thompson, the governor's
press secretary, Schwarzenegger is only thinking of the people of
California. In March 2000, nearly two-thirds of California voters approved
Proposition 22, which reads: “Only marriage between a man and a woman
is valid or recognized in California.” Proposition 22 won in 52 of
California's 58 counties, including all major metropolitan areas except San
Francisco.
“[Schwarzenegger] believes that gay couples are entitled to full protec¬
tion under the law and should not be discriminated against based upon their
relationship,” Thompson said. “He is proud that California provides the
most rigorous protections in the nation for domestic partners.”
However, Thompson said, the governor believes the situation should not
be determined by legislative action, but instead by court decision or a re¬
vote by the people of California.
“We cannot have a system where the people vote and the Legislature
derails that vote,” she said.
Despite this reasoning, gay rights activists are furious with
Schwarzenegger. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom feels that the bill is
a necessity.
“[Schwarzenegger missed] a golden opportunity to stand on history and
do something that was noble and appropriate,” Newsom said regarding
Schwarzenegger's decision to veto AB 849. “It disappoints me greatly, and
it will disappoint literally hundreds and hundreds of thousands of San
Franciscans, not to mention millions of people across the country."
In early 2004, Newsom authorized nearly 4,000 same-sex marriages,
which were made null and void in August of the same year. California
courts ruled that Newsom overstepped his bounds as mayor and violated
the law. San Francisco is home to a higher percentage of gays and lesbians
than any other major U.S. city, according to wikipedia.com.
PCC students are split on the question of whether Schwarzenegger is
doing the right thing.
“I have no problems with gay marriage," said Deven Hardge, 23, a crim¬
inal justice major. “I think [Schwarzenegger] is wrong.”
Daniel Skelton, 20, supported Schwarzenegger's reasoning.
“I would think that five years is too short for any prominent change to
occur in the people's views,” Skelton said. “The gay guys and gals can push
for it, but the veto represents the people. It's kind of a catch-22.”
Although she thinks homosexuals should have the same rights as het¬
erosexuals, psychology student Melissa Cors, 19, thought that a re-vote was
in order. Kevin Torres, 18, agreed.
“I think it should be decided by the people, not the legislature,” Torres
said.
photo illustration by Santos Cortez
/
Courier
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is slated to veto new
legislation that would allow gay marriage in the state.