PCC Courier, September 30, 2004

Serving PCC and the Pasadena community since 1915 ■ pcc-courieronline.com Vol. 90, Issue 4 Sept. 30, 2004 « ■* Cheating Just Got Tougher Show Me the Money Plagiarism A Page 4 Mt. SAC A Page 4 ■ Faculty is asking for a new tool to combat plagiarism on campus. Stephen Folan News Editor Students who cheat will have a harder time if the college implements a new online program. The faculty is pushing for a school-wide license for www.tur- nitin.com, a website that offers instructors a way to check student papers for similarities to any other works in three separate databases. These databases include a current copy of all publicly available Internet pages, published work from a variety of separate resources, and all other papers submitted for analysis. A 12- month license allowing all instructors to use it in their classes would cost about $11,500 to $12,000. “With rising Internet usage, pla¬ giarism had just become way too easy,” said Robert Lee, language instructor. “Students started getting their work from outside sources, so we needed to try different things to counter it.” If the push is successful, the serv¬ ice would let instructors give students a special login password for the class account. Students would be required to submit their finished papers for analysis. The service then e-mails a report to the instructor, which can be Football Brawl Update Ernesto Ruiz Staff Writer The investigation regarding the post-game football brawl between PCC and Mt. SAC and the alleged burglary of the visitors’ locker room is in its beginning stages. Walnut sheriff’s deputies visited both campuses this past week to gath¬ er information about the incident that took place between the two rival schools almost two weeks ago. Bill Fisk, Mt. SAC head football coach, is stonewalling the investiga¬ tion, according to Deputy Francis of the Walnut sheriff’s station. PCC head coach Tom Maher said, “Mt. SAC believes we [PCC players] trashed our own locker room, and in my eyes that is plain absurd.” On Monday the two schools held a meeting at Mt. SAC to discuss the off-field incident. Skip Robinson, ath¬ letic director; Jackie Jacobs, vice pres¬ ident for instruction; Stephen Johnson, assistant dean of student activities; Sgt. Steven Lester of the campus police; and Maher represent¬ ed PCC. Lester said that basically the meet¬ ing was to “listen to both sides of the story, to discuss the vandalism and the burglary that occurred in the vis¬ iting team’s locker room and the brawl that followed the game.” Lester said the two schools con¬ cluded that the big fight was just ver¬ bal exchanges and standoffs but no physical fights. He added that noth¬ ing else was resolved. On Tuesday sheriff’s deputies visit- With all the recent fears of budget cuts hacking into the college’s general fund, PCC’s budget shows a growth of over $2.7 million from last year. The board of trustees approved a $207 million budget for the 2004-2005 school year. So where does the money go? A substantial 41 percent of the budget goes toward salaries and benefits. Total compensation received by employees is $85 million. Teachers receive over $48 mil¬ lion in salaries. Classified salaries amount to $18.8 mil¬ lion; student workers see about $776,000 of this money. Teachers and classified staff see an additional $18 mil¬ lion in employee benefits. Another big ticket items is the building fund, which is appropriated $51.8 million. The college earmarked near¬ ly $1.3 million for supplies this year and last. The finan¬ cial aid fund has $15 million earmarked for students. The college racked up a phone bill of just over $160,000 last year and has earmarked over $183,000 for it this year. Last year the college spent over $240,000 on postage and allotted $220,000 for it. The electric bill was just under the $1.6 million last year, the same amount has been allotted for it this year. Despite the recent trend of having students purchase pre-made packets of photocopied handouts and course syllabi from the bookstore, nearly $179,000 was allotted for duplicating this year, showing a $2,000 increase from last year. Guest lecturers and performing artists also see a pret¬ ty penny. Over $300,000 has been earmarked this year and last, although only about $192,000 was spent last year. The college has nearly $450,000 earmarked for con¬ sultants, though last year just under $300,000 was actu¬ ally spent. So where does аЦ the money come from? Taxes bring in over $26 million. Student enrollment fees are expected to bring in $6.6 million this year, up from $5 million last year. Non-resident tuition is expect¬ ed to rake in $5.7 million. The college expects $120,000 from renting out parking and bleachers during the Rose Parade. The college receives $52.8 million from the state, $41.7 million in local money and nearly $200,000 from federal funds. The Campus is Watching You Micah Flores Staff Writer Smile. You’re being recorded on PCC’s surveillance system. If you didn’t know, there are video cameras all over the campus. You aren’t alone. “Most people are totally unaware of the fact that they’re being filmed,” said PCC police dispatcher Ralph Humphrey. The headquarters for the video surveil¬ lance system is CC108, the dispatch room of campus police. Sixty video cameras send back images to 18 black-and-white monitors in the dispatch center. These cameras record 24 hours a day. While the majority of the cameras are strategically located on the ceilings of the many computer labs on campus, other indoor cameras monitor the library, cafe¬ teria and student lounge. Although not as numerous or notice¬ able, outside cameras record most of PCC’s facilities. Mounted on top of the R building, a camera with focusing and rotating capabilities records most of the southern part of campus, including the parking lots, aquatic center and track. Another rotating camera is positioned on top of the CC building and looks east out over the quad. Surveillance A Page 4 Severe Fire Hazards Affect Field Trips Dean Lee Staff Writer The U.S. Forest Service closed almost 80 percent of the Angeles National Forest Monday in an effort to prevent a repeat of last year’s wildfires. Last year’s fire sea¬ son burned over 750,000 acres, destroyed 3,710 homes and killed 24 people. Recreational facilities, roads and hiking trails will be the most affected. All of the major county roads and state highways, such as the Angeles Crest Highway, will remain open according to a statement released by the Forest Service. Residents living in that area were told Friday that they too would have to be out by midnight Sunday, leaving most of them scrambling trying to figure out where to go. Some residents complained and refused to leave but the Forest Service insisted that anyone who does not leave will face a $5,000 fine. П V A ■Ёё1йЁШШШ1 Rafael Delgado/ Courier Students traveling from the Antelope Valley to PCC will not be affected. However, drivers are being urged to use extreme caution and pay close attention to posted fire-prevention regulations. Biology and geology field trips will need to be replanned this semester in responseto the closing. One of the geolo¬ gy field trips planned to study the San Andreas Fault in the closed area. “The geology department will have to find someplace else to study the fault,” said Bruce Carter, dean of natural sciences. “Some of the biology trips go up Mill Canyon and that’s closed. We called the Forest Service and we are still waiting to hear back from them as to where we can still go.” Some of the other geology field trips will also have to change but fortunately most of these are planed along Angeles Crest Highway. Students will still be able to hike an eighth of a mile off the highway. Pyramid Lake, most of San Gabriel Canyon and the Mount Baldy areas in San Antonio Canyon are some popular recre¬ ation areas that will not be affected by the closure. “The wildfire danger will continue until a significant change in weather pat¬ terns occurs,” said the Forest Service. Drought-stressed areas need significant rainfall. Until then, areas of the forest will remain restricted. Free HIV Testing Nixed on Campus ■ The college’s 2004-2005 budget has increased by $2.7 million from last year. Linda Rapka Editor-in-Chief Dean Lee Staff Writer Free HIV testing and AIDS counseling at PCC’s Student Health Center have been eliminated due to cuts in federal grants by the Center for Disease Control. Last fall the Asian Pacific Health Care Venture clin¬ ic provided free HIV testing to all PCC students. However, because the clinic did not get a four-year grant renewed, it was forced to end the HIV testing program at PCC, according to Andrew Ma, the direc¬ tor for the Asian Pacific Health Care Venture. Nearly half of all grants given to nonprofit health care centers for HIV testing in the Los Angeles area were not renewed this year. “We may be given another grant by the county of Los Angeles but we won’t know until October. If that happens, we will come back to PCC in the spring,” Ma said. Students who come into the health center requesting testing will be referred to one of the 15 alternative HIV testing sites off campus such as Pasadena Public Health and AIDS Service Center, both located in Pasadena, explained Jo Buczko, the college health nurse. “Other testing for sexually transmitted diseases, such as chlamydia, will not be affected. The health center will continue to offer free STD testing to students here at PCC,” Buczko said. Free counseling for students with HIV was also done by Asian Pacific Health Care and will now only be offered off campus. Traditionally AIDS counseling has not been done in psychological services, located in the L building, but now students do not have any¬ where else to go. “We have not had students come in before asking about AIDS, but now maybe they might,” said Kent Yamauchi, assistant dean of special services. “If they did we would refer them to where they need to go.” Students can get free general counseling in psycho¬ logical services, including counseling for depression and anger which might be related to contracting AIDS. 5 ■ A\ -гЧ Ml - ill! ШШшт . Jim Comeau/ Courier The first after a 15 game losing streak, the Lancers’ football team scored a monumental victory against Cerritos College over the weekend. - Story on раде 6 - You're Fired Pasadena City College Trump is back in the new fall line-up . Page 5 4 к