COURIER VOLUME 108 ISSUE 6
The independent student voice of PCC. Serving Pasadena since 1915
ONLINE EXCLUSIVES AT PCCCOURIER.COM
PASADENA CITY COLLEGE
Avid protestor now a V.P.
Luis Rodriguez Staff Writer
The Associated Students filled its last vacant vice president position after starting off the school year with three unexpected vacancies, selecting a firebrand known for clashing with the administration. Sarah Belknap, who has been an active voice on campus in the past, was appointed as the AS Vice President for Sustainability at an AS meeting on Sept. 25.
Belknap has frequently made lem,” Belknap said at the time. appearances at protests and Belknap is now eager to use board meetings, voicing frusher time on the AS Executive tration at the administration’s Board to benefit PCC students. actions. She was escorted outside “[Associate Students] has of the Creveling Lounge as been operating with not enough recently as a July 17 Board of students for the first half of Trustees meeting after quietly unfurling a “Bring Back Winter” the semester,” Belknap said. “I was excited to take some of that banner. load off and do my fair share. I “I sat with information in my hands with my hand raised wanted to come out of the gate for over an hour that transfers running.” would not be able to go in [for Belknap was quick to sign up fall 2013 transfer]. This was a BELKNAP page 6 completely foreseeable prob-
Campus prepares for ‘ShakeOut’ Samantha Molina Staff Writer
“Drop, cover and hold on.” This is the drill that will be practiced on campus and worldwide on Oct. 17 at 10:17 a.m. as a part of the Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drills. Two different drill scenarios will be practiced in the C building, D building and the Shatford Library, according to Sergeant Bill Abernathie. “There will be a complete evacuation drill in the C building and a non-evacuation drill in the D building and library which includes the basic ‘drop, cover and hold on’ response,” Sgt. Abernathie said. At 10:17 a.m. fire alarms in the C building will signal the beginning of the 15-minute earthquake drill. At that time students and staff in the C building will evacuate and gather near the mirror pools. Those in the D building and library will be instructed to drop to the ground, take cover under a table or desk and hold
SPEAK OUT! Do you think the federal government shutdown is justified?
Vote at PccCourier.com
on for 60 seconds as if an earthquake were happening. “The whole purpose of getting involved in the Great ShakeOut is to get people to think about what they would do if an earthquake were to happen right now,” Abernathie said. “Instead of panicking and running out of the building they will be properly prepared for an earthquake.” The Great California ShakeOut began in 2008 primarily in Southern California but has now been expanded to all of California as well as more than 20 regions. Those regions include states in the Southeast, Northeast, Rocky Mountains and Central United States. The Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drills not only take place in the United States but in other countries including Canada, Southern Italy, Japan and New Zealand. As of Sept. 30, over 20 million participants have registered for the 2013 Great ShakeOut with over 8.7 coming from California, according to shakeout.org.
Alumnus Success Story
GRASSROOTS PAGE 7>>
October 3, 2013
WHAT’S INSIDE:
Zombie Headshots Walk through zombie shooting grounds at Haunted Hollywood
PAGE 7>>
Sports
Council calls for mediation to quell campus turmoil Christine Michaels Editor-in-Chief
File Photo Courtesy of Neil Protacio Campus Police deny student protestor Sarah Belknap from attending the Board of Trustees in the Creveling Lounge of the CC Building on July 17, 2013.
The college plans to hire an outside mediator to try to repair the fractured relationship between administration, student and faculty groups to avoid potential problems when accreditation begins in 2015. Matt Jordan, interim associate dean of general education and a member of the Institutional Planning and Research team, spoke with the College Council at its Sept. 26 meeting regarding the fate of the college if collegiality amongst shared government groups was not improved. “I try to be authentic and honest. I just have to say that communications have really broken down between shared governance constituencies where there is no communication,” Jordan said. “Colleges are receiving sanctions because they have received repeated recommendations and not fully addressed them,” Jordan said. In the college’s last accredita-
tion report in 2009, accreditors recommended it fix issues with collegiality, shared governance and campus climate. Over the last two years, shared governance groups such as the Calendar Committee, the Academic Senate and the Associated Students worked together to make recommendations regarding a major calendar change and a restructuring of the college schools and administration. When the recommendations to keep a winter intersession and to keep the college structure virtually unchanged went up to the College Council (the shared governance group which makes recommendations that go directly to the Board of Trustees), the recommendations were changed and then given to the Board. Many campus constituents were outraged by the recommendation alterations, leading to a hostile campus climate and much blame directed at President Mark Rocha.
COUNCIL page 7
AS expresses accreditation concerns Raymond Bernal and Justin Clay Staff Writers
Members of the Associated Students expressed concerns and optimism this week about PCC’s upcoming accreditation process scheduled for 2015. To help inform members of the Associated Students, Stephanie Fleming and Matt Jordon, planning and priority committee, made an accreditation presentation during an AS meeting Wednesday. Miranda Alvarado, AS vice-president for student services, praised the committee for reaching out to the AS and for trying to be transparent ahead of a visit from the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior College in the spring of 2015. But she did have some accreditation concerns. “I would say my main concern is the major changes at PCC which may affect our accreditation negatively, such as
Justin Clay/Courier Dean Matt Jordan and instructor Stephanie Fleming update the Associated Students on PCC’s efforts to stave off the loss of the school’s accreditation during its meeting on Wednesday.
switching to the Canvas system, cutting staff and students feeling they aren’t being reached out to,” Alvarado said. “Transparency and communicating better with our students is key.” The presentation focused on trying to learn from past mistakes. “We are focusing on past recommendations from the ACCJC previous three cycles such as integrated planning and governance collegiality campus climate
among other recommendations,” Fleming said. AS President Jordyn Orozco expressed a solution that he says may help with reaching out to students. “Appointing a panel that may help address and investigate student communication issues will be a good start,” said Orozco. “We [AS] are also trying to help with the communication problems by making ourselves accessible to students.”