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Pasadena City College
ouner
Sept. 16, 2004
pcc-courieronline.com
Yol. 90, Issue 2
To the
X-treme
X-Games take over.
Los Angeles
Page 10
Campus Officers Allege Secret Recording By Lt. Young
Linda Rapka
Editor-in-Chief
Several campus police officers
filed a complaint against acting
PCC police chief Lt. Brad Young
last week alleging he secretly tape-
recorded their conversations in the
locker room.
Officer Leroy Henderson, presi¬
dent of the Police Officers Union,
presented the officers’ vote of no
confidence against Young at the
Sept. 1 board of trustees meeting.
He told the board that "the majority
of our members support his removal
from his position" after an officer
said he found a tape recorder in
Young's locker. The department has
eight officers, four of them part-
time, and about 25 cadets.
The situation is currently being
investigated by Detective Rich
Cassidy of the Pasadena Police
Department. It is not yet known
when the investigation will be com¬
plete.
Officer Alan Chan said he heard
the “winding down of a whir and
click” come from Young’s locker
while changing after his shift on the
evening of Aug. 27. He peered into
the locker, which has been ajar since
Young broke the latch during a
demonstration on locker security
several months ago.
“I could see a tape recorder
through the locker," he said. He
called over a few nearby officers to
see the tape recorder. "I wanted to
make sure someone saw what I
saw," he said.
Young admits storing the tape
recorder in his locker but vehement¬
ly denies the allegations. "It's a
noisy, old bulky recorder," Young
said, stating he routinely uses tape
..recorders for police work.
The allegations against Young
came just one week before a hiring
committee begins the process of
selecting a new campus police chief.
Young is one of several candidates
being considered for the job.
“It is of no coincidence that
these few officers waited until the
campus police chief hiring process
was in motion,” Young said in a
statement released Tuesday. "It's
retaliation by employees who've
been recently disciplined." All three
officers who brought forth the alle¬
gations against Young have been
disciplined by the department in
recent weeks, according to Young,
each on separate counts.
The officers deny that these
Allegations
л
Page 8
Three Years Later:
9/
1 I Remembered
Hoyen Tsang/ Courier
The
9/11
third anniversary ceremony in New York drew many demonstrators, some renewing calls for the pursuit, capture
and prosecution of wanted terrorists. Students voice their reactions about their memories of the terrorist attacks on page 2.
Foreign
Student
Numbers
Plummet
PCC’s international
student enrollment
is dramatically down
in post-
9/
1 I world
Dean Lee
Staff Writer
Campus Voices Parking Woes
Diane Garcia
Entertainment Editor
Parking has always been a major problem for PCC stu¬
dents. The school administration has tried to alleviate some
of the burden with new parking structures both on and off
campus but for many students who drive their efforts are
not nearly enough.
“I don’t think they should tape off half off of the (Lot 4)
parking structure,” PCC student R. J. De Los Santos said.
“There are three exit and entrance points but they only use
one. That does not seem safe, especially if there is an emer¬
gency.” De Los Santos said he usually comes to school very
early but when he does come to school later there is at least
a minimum one-hour wait.
Carpoolers Susan Boulom and Erika Villaflores also
arrive on campus early and find parking on one of the local
streets. “Parking permits are too expensive,” said Boulom.
Student Joey Mariano said “You can’t make a left turn
from Hill into Lot 3. You have to go around to try and get
into the parking lot. It makes the parking lot look full even
when it’s not.” Mariano said he does not like the banning
of car alarms in the structures either. “I understand that
neighbors don’t want to hear the alarms but if your stuff
gets stolen then PCC is not going to pay for your losses.”
“[Last Thursday] it took me 50 minutes get three blocks
down Del Mar. I was 45 minutes late for class,” fashion
design major Tina Rodas said. “It’s $25 a ticket for parking
in the white line in the parking structures. There was no
where else to park and they weren’t even double parked,”
Rodas said. “We’re a bunch of students, we don’t have
money for that.”
Possible choices for students until the new parking struc¬
ture opens include using the Metro Gold Line or one of the
six bus lines that serve the PCC campus.
Parking
Structure
Delayed
Construction problems cause
month-long hiatus; students and
faculty scramble for spots
Micah Flores
Staff Writer
The new parking structure, scheduled to open the first day
of classes, instead has at least another month of work before
students can use it.
As crews form Kajima Construction Services, Inc., contin¬
ue to put the finishing touches on this five-story, $19.3 million
project, PCC students in their vehicles continue the daily
grind of trying to find a legal parking place.
Jack Schulman, director of PCC’s Measure P project,
would not comment on when the 2,000-parking-space build¬
ing would be opening, due to a lack of knowledge regarding
the crew’s progress. Schulman also went on to say that as of
Tuesday, Sept. 7, Kajima Construction Company would be
fined $2,500 per day until the work is completed.
“The work is being done, and no corners are being cut,”
Schulman said. “It’s my job to make sure that they’re not.”
While Schulman would not guess as to the opening of the
new garage, Dr. James Kossler, college president, said that it
would be opening toward the middle or end of November.
“Obviously, we’re very disappointed that we couldn’t get
the structure open in time for the beginning of the semester,”
Kossler said. “The contractor did not meet his obligation.”
Kossler also said that along with the $2,500 per day fine,
Kajima would also be billed for shuttle services, the rental of
Lot K, and for the price of hiring extra cadets.
Dan Baldwin, Kajima’s project manager, was contacted
for comment; however he failed to call back or to give a state¬
ment regarding the lack of progress on the building.
Nevertheless, many people are anticipating this latest addi¬
tion to the PCC facilities.
“It will make things easier for us and for the students,”
PCC police cadet Jerry Lee said. “I think there will be a lit¬
tle confusion when it’s first opened, but once everyone gets
the hang of parking in the new garage, things should go
smoothly.
Sgt. Steven Lester of the PCC police department remains
optimistic regarding the opening of the structure.
“I hope it does what it’s supposed to do,” Lester said.
“Either way, the cadets and officers will be conducting the
flow of traffic in and out when it finally does open.”
New enrollment figures show a dra¬
matic drop in the total number of inter¬
national students applying to PCC even
though the total overall enrollment of
students this year is about the same at
28,175, according to Stuart Wilcox,
dean of institutional planning and
research.
The capacity of the school is at 99. 1
percent this year even though a few
more sections are being offered this
year over last. This is the reason some
students are having such a difficult time
trying to get classes, Wilcox explained.
In order to keep the campus diverse,
the college accepts a certain number of
applications from students in other
counties. Typically that number has
been set at 1,000.
International student enrollment
fluctuated year to depending on the
political climate of the world. This year
just over 800 international student
applications to PCC were approved,
nearly a 20 percent drop from last fall.
Enrollment *
Page 6
Painted Curbs Have Students Seeing Red
Dean Lee
Staff Writer
Just days before the start of the fall
semester, facilities services had mainte¬
nance paint the entire perimeter of PCC
red, eliminating the parking and drop¬
off areas and forcing drivers to risk a
$45 ticket while trying to drop students
off around the school.
Painting the curb was done as the
first part of the second phase to the East
Colorado Boulevard Specific Plan
approved by the Pasadena City Council
on May 12, 2003. This joint project
between the city of Pasadena and the
college is meant to reduce traffic con¬
gestion by putting right turn only lanes
at both the corner of Bonnie Avenue
and the corner of Hill Avenue once the
new parking structure is completed.
“Painting the curb and removing the
street parking would never had been a
problem if we had the 2,000 new park¬
ing spots from the new structure,” Peter
Hardash, vice president of administra-
Veronica Cid/ Courier
Illegal curb drop-offs are now
a common sight around PCC.
five services, said. “We are truly sorry
that it was not opened the first day of
school.”
The East Colorado Boulevard
Specific Plan is also intended to beauti¬
fy the 'front of the school by replacing
and widening the cracked sidewalk,
Richard van Pelt, director of facilities
services, said.
“At the present time, the city and the
college are engaged in a detailed plan¬
ning process. The removal of 14 parking
spaces on Colorado Boulevard was a
logical next step in that process,” van
Pelt added.
In response to painting the curb, a
freshman student said, “This school
spends money on ridiculous stupid
things. Why is there so much construc¬
tion and I can’t get into any of my class¬
es? Painting the curb is just another stu¬
pid thing.”
During the first phase of construc¬
tion, this included completely redoing
Bonnie Avenue. Residents in that area
were left without any street parking. A
compromise between the city and resi-
Curbs j,
Page 6
Beat Tuition Hike
With Financial Aid
Ernesto Ruiz
Staff Writer
With the recent increase in tuition from $ 1 8 to $26 a unit,
many PCC students are left wondering whether they can
actually afford the cost of a higher education. Fortunately for
students there is plenty of help available from the state and
federal government to help make their college experience an
enjoyable one and not a nightmare. The three main sources of
financial aid available at PCC come from the federal govern¬
ment, the state and the college.
Federal Pell Grants offer funds that do not require repay¬
ment, a common misconception about financial aid, and are
available to undergraduate students who demonstrate finan¬
cial need. To apply for this type of help visit
www.fafsa.ed.gov and fill out the application. Continuing
financial aid students should use their renewal form, which
they should have received in the mail already. Students who
don’t have Internet access — - - - —
can pick up a Free Financial Aid
Application for Financial Pa
