PCC Courier, September 18, 2003

September 18, 2003 Since 1915 VOL. 89, No. 2 Entertainment: Nora- Jane Noone speaks about her latest film Sports: Men’s soccer team keeps on winning Exclusive: How safe is your bike on campus? to shred any documents containing sensitive information. Ramey wanted to make it clear that the cards had nothing to do with Admissions and Record. They only involved students who went to the testing center. The cards were found by two Courier reporters who noticed what appeared to be reams of unused paper on top of piles of trash in the dumpster located out¬ side of the L Building. As they reached to retrieve the paper, phone directories fell out scatter¬ ing the cards on the ground. Just one look was all it took to determine that this was a potential problem for students whose infor¬ mation was in that dumpster, said Terrance Parker. Dr. James Kossler, president of the college, said the cards had to have been dumped by mistake. He reiterated that the college policy is to shred documents containing personal information. Special locked bins are located in the various offices on campus that handle sensitive information. Anything of a sensitive nature is put in those bins to avoid any problems with personal informa¬ tion getting into the wrong hands. "Facilities workers pick up the locked bins, and they are sent to a special company which opens them and shreds the material. The company then sends the college certification that the mate¬ rial has been shredded," said Linda Ruff, accounting clerk in facilities services. Those locked bins are not even opened by college personnel. For some reason the college policy on shredders was not fol¬ lowed this time. "I really don't know what hap¬ pened in this case because I was on vacation at the time", said Phil Huntinsinger, assistant dean of assessment and data management. "However, we have taken steps to ensure that something like this- doesn't happen again. We no long use student Social Security num¬ bers on the forms," he said. Although no students have reported problems with identity theft, it remains a A concern. More than 9 m i I i i ° n See page Americans a Tuition Increase is a Reality For Students Shortage in Shuttle Photo Illustration by Julian Philips Student social security numbers and other private information were tucked inside a phonebook like the one posed above. Hudson Hou Staff Writer Hundreds of cards with stu¬ dents' names and Social Security numbers were discarded in a cam¬ pus dumpster raising concerns of possible identity theft. The cards contained names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers of students who visited the college's Assessment Center in July. Rather than shredding the cards containing personal information, someone put them in phone direc¬ tories and threw them in the regu¬ lar trash rather. "I don't know how it hap¬ pened," said Margaret Ramey, assistant dean of admissions and records. The policy of the college is Nick Barral Contributing Writer A special election for the PCC student trustee, a position vacated last June, has been set for Sept. 23 and 24. However, the election maybe in jeopardy, because there are no eligible candidates. The student trustee is a non¬ voting member of the Board of Trustees. That person presents the student perspective on issues before the board. Campaigning, (Stage 2 of the election process) for the student trustee hopefuls was to begin yes¬ terday, but three candidates run¬ ning were found ineligible. Shahin Younessi, Manny Torres, and Kevin Stremmel will be appeal¬ ing their ineligiblity at an Election Committee meeting today at noon in CC 202. Younessi failed to comply with a unit load requirement. The bylaws state that a candi¬ date must have be carrying nine or more units in the current semester and have completed 12 units the previous semester. Candidates must also submit a mandatory candidate statement form electronically. Torres will be appealing his fail¬ ure to submit his electronic form on time. The last remaining candidate to miss moving on to Stage 2 was Stremmel. He failed to submit both his electronic and paper forms by the deadline. The election committee will make a decision after the candi¬ dates have appealed. A candidate forum scheduled for today has been postponed until Tuesday, Sept 23. The forum will allow students to meet the candidates. The election date will remain unchanged pend¬ ing the outcome of the appeals. The Associated Student board will have to start the election process all over if there are no eli¬ gible candidates "It would be disappointing. It gives the impression that students don't care," said Keenan Gosset, student body president. Ass-king Fop It Program Rita Vega-Acevedo Senior Staff Writer Terrance Parker/Courier After two-and-one half hours in line, students finally are able to add their class. Since the 16-week calendar took affect, there were only two weeks to add or drop a class. Adding Classes Wasn't Easy Terrance Parker Copy Editor The final day to register for Fall 2003 saw a record crowd of stu¬ dents line up outside the L build¬ ing as they sought to beat the deadline. Many students said they waited until the last minute because the line was too long during the week. "I work every afternoon, so my classes are in the morning," said Christine Malry, a second-year English major. "I came here sev¬ eral times this week, but each time the wait was over an hour and I had to get to work." New student Cesar Velasenor, 19, said, "I work during the week." He explained that he had no time to register earlier without missing either classes or his job. Other students had trouble getting signatures on their add slips before the end. "I didn't get my last add signature until Thursday," film major Chris Moreland said. "The class I'm adding meets Monday and Wednesday," said Cynthia Alvarez, architecture major. "The instructor wanted to wait until after the second day of class to add anyone. He signed our add slips this past Wednesday." Because the semester started Tuesday, Sept. 2, there were no Monday class meetings until the second week of school. The new starting times for classes to accommodate the 16- week calendar affected political science student Jessica Marter Kenyon. She had to petition to add a geography class because the starting time overlapped the listed ending time of one of her five other classes. "I had to wait for my petition to be See page approved," In spite of PCC's best efforts to alleviate parking shortages, stu¬ dents are calling for changes in the shuttle program after two weeks of commuting headaches. At the newly-leased Lot К on Kinneloa Street, PCC student Amber Hancock said, "I think PCC should rent big buses." Hancock was one of seventy five students waiting in line 30-45 min¬ utes for a PCC van to arrive. The 1.8 mile trip to PCC takes an additional 10 minutes after board¬ ing the shuttle. Karl Tai, a business major, agreed with Hancock and said it would be helpful to use big buses during the peak hours and vans when demand is less. Hancock, Tai and other students have been late to class and think a few minor changes could make all the difference. Students applauded PCC for providing the free shuttles and for leasing See page Courtesy of Orlando Pina Mitchell Wright/Courier A PCC student (left) was arrested after police saw him remove a cell phone from the car of a suspect they were chasing A naked man (above) is led away by police after he ran onto campus on Sept. 4 follow¬ ing a brief chase from Old Town. Terrance Parker Copy Editor paid for classes when they regis¬ tered. However, a fee increase of $7 ~~ *• per unit was imposed on It's the third week of the semes- California's 72 community college ter. You're starting to figure out districts by the state legislature and what your instructors expect from Gov. Gray Davis when the current you. You've state budget took adjusted to the effect in August, odd class hours. At that time, You finally man- over 23,000 stu- aged to buy all of 4 dents had already your books. The 1 HHi ^ ■■■ registered at PCC, parking nightmare I . jHHE paying $11 per even looks surviv- fj / I; unit. PCC could able. «ЩИИ have started charg- Things are ШЯИЯ ing $18 per unit mal at PCC. You're |||f| ЦДЦШ was signed, even broke, as : ' »■ .? Instead, the school usual, from paying L-T1 кТжИНга g|||| chose to stay with for your educa- 1||§ИННщ $11 through tire r glad that is all out w , - \ tion period and bill of the way? ^ s1:uc*en'ts f°r the Surprise! bfesm— - ~ 41ИИ difference later, Students at Kossler according to Dr. Pasadena City College should James Kossler, PCC presi- expect a tuition bill in the mail next month. This will astound some peo¬ ple because. everyone thought they dent. He explained that this would be easier for ^ee Pa9e Student Trustee Spot Still Up For Grabs Student Information Found in Garbage