PCC Courier, September 26, 2013

VOLUME 108 ISSUE 5 ONLINE EXCLUSIVES AT PCCCOURIER.COM September 26, 2013 COURIER The independent student voice °,PCC-^?rdena PASADENA CITY COLLEGE GO TEAM! LET'S GO TWICE Art Exhibit showcases the work of campus faculty in two galleries at once. New softball coach brings experience and passion to the field. A lancer without a lance.. Tiffany Roesler Staff Writer A knight has his shining armor, a Trojan has his sword, and a Lancer has a lance — or so that’s what history has taught us. However, Pasadena City College’s very own mascot Larry the Lancer finds himself lance-less, his implement replaced with a toy sword as the weapon that accompanies the historically inaccurate mascot. In fact, we can’t even find Larry. “(He’s] kind of like a Trojan,” said Head Dance and Cheer Coach Siria LoVett. “I don’t know anything about why he doesn’t have a lance.” A sword has a long, sharp blade with a handle attached, while a lance is a long, heavy-duty spear or pole meant for a mounted warrior. Larry carries a plastic sword, so he can do no lancing. Throughout the mascot’s history at PCC, Larry has had a reputation for cheering with his sword one season, and other years, he’s just not there. The mascot is part of the Cheer and Dance team, so LoVett needs someone who can be just as dedicated to the team. And sometimes that just doesn’t happen. “Sometimes we’ll have someone wear it every now and again for an event or something like that. Right now we don’t have one, but you can wear it,” joked LoVett. The fact that Larry is without a lance and currendy missing in action has not really caught the attention of many people, especially those involved in the school’s athletics. John Novak/Courier Larry the Lanceless Lancer in the storage room at the Associated Students Offices on Friday. LANCELESS page 7 90th anniversary causes campus confusion Justin Clay Asst. News Editor Visitors to PCC’s website are greeted with a message welcoming everyone to its 90th academic year. At the opening of the semester students and staff were welcomed with a large banner in front of the Week of Welcome tent also celebrating the school’s 90th academic year. The only problem is that chronologically this is only PCC’s 89th academic year. Whoops? PCC was founded in 1924 as Pasadena Junior College with the first academic year being 1924-25, which would make this academic year the school’s 89th. Or is it? Bobbi Abram, executive director of the PCC Foundation, insists that this year is PCC’s 90th. “The college was officially founded in September 1924, so the first academic year was 1924-25. If one counts each academic year since, the result is that the 2013-2014 academic year is PCC’s 90th academic year,” Abram wrote in an email. “Regardless of how many commencements we have had, there is no confusion that this is our 90th academic year and 2014 is our 90th anniversary.” But indeed there is some confusion about the academic year. In fact, at a recent board of trustees meeting, trustee Jeanette Mann mentioned that the college was celebrating its 89th anniversary, with President Mark Rocha’s response that the college is celebrating its 90th anniversary. “Indeed, our first academic year was 1 924, we are ANNIVERSARY page 2 ► FA demands Courier Fresh math courses offered adviser’s reinstatement Christine Michaels Editor-in-Chief The Faculty Association accused the administration of discriminating against Courier adviser Warren Swil by prolong¬ ing an investigation into allega¬ tions that he sexually harassed a student and demanded that he be returned to work in a letter sent out on Monday. The letter written by FA President Roger Marheine was sent to Robert Bell, senior vice president of student learning services, and claimed the college had enough time to complete a thorough investigation of a sexual harassment complaint against Swil. “More than sufficient time has elapsed for you to have completed any investigation of complaints against him, and it is quite clear that you have found nothing of substance,” the letter reads. The FA also claimed that the District discriminated against Swil because of his sexual SWIL page 2 ^ Benjamin Simpson Staff Writer I’m not a math person. When am I actually going to use this? The two phrases above are heard over and over again when Liberal Arts majors take math. But the PCC Math Department has two experimental classes this semester with big plans to change not only how math is taught, but how students learn it. The two new classes are Quantitative Literacy I and II, also known as Math 250 and Math 150. Roger Yang, assis¬ tant professor of mathematics and one of the directors of the new courses, discussed how the name might put people off the Courier/ Benjamin Simpson Zach Hanson (L) and Pha- elan Blackmon work together in Professor Linda Hintz- man's Math 250 class in the R Building on Sept. 18. course, but he joked that ‘Real Life Math’ would not be a good university transfer name. The name describes the MATH page 6 ► SPEAK OUT! Do you think the Lone Shooter posters are promoting campus safety effectively? Vote at PccCourier.com PAGE 6» PAGE 7»