Share: The PCC Board of Trustees approved an agreement last month that will increase the salary of all college faculty, full-time and part-time, by 1.07%. Full-time faculty who perform services during the 2024-2025 academic year will receive an additional one-time payment of $2000. Part-time faculty who work in the semesters of Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 will receive an additional payment of $1000 per semester worked. The agreement between the Pasadena Area Community College District and the PCC Faculty Association follows a negotiation process that …
‘Carried on a million prayers’: Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson brings her story to LA
Share: In the darkness of the Wilshire Ebell Theater, Ketanji Brown Jackson describes when she was sworn in—the moment that Chief Justice Roberts immediately shifted from casual conversation to solemn gravitas. “Are you prepared to take the oath?” Roberts asked her. Jackson drew a deep breath to steady herself. She looked at the two Bibles she was swearing on. One was the Jackson family Bible, an heirloom from her parents. The other was the Bible once owned by John Marshall Harlan, which has been signed …
Missed Club Rush? Here’s where to find your people
Share: There’s a good reason the quad was so crowded last week. Club Rush and University Day were both present out there. Club Rush (dubbed “Clubchella” this year) is when PCC students get to express their passion and enthusiasm for their club activities where the entire campus can see them. It’s a reminder that learning doesn’t have to be done in a classroom. College clubs are a way to get direct, practical experience without the pressure of a grade. There’s no need to wait until …
From the Archive: Courier covers college’s conception
Share: [Editor’s Desk, 2024: As we celebrate PCC’s centennial by going through the Courier archives, we found the perfect story this week. The Courier was founded in 1915 as the Pasadena High School Chronicle, but PCC itself measures its start from the opening of the Junior College at the high school in 1924. That means we were able to find the story where we covered the opening of the college itself! Unfortunately, as you can see from the photo, the archived copy has suffered some …
From The Archives: ‘Special! Another Letter from War Zone’
Share: [Editor’s Desk, 2024: This story is reprinted from the oldest archived edition of the Courier we have: our third edition from back when we were still the Pasadena High School Chronicle. There are a few interesting anecdotes in the edition—a track meet held between faculty, a speech celebrating a personal friend of Abraham Lincoln who lived in Pasadena—but it’s hard to beat the importance of the Great War. As a part of the Courier’s past, we also found it interesting at how different …
Professor, I shrunk the art
Share: A new style of art is being created in Pasadena City College’s sciences division, just out of our field of vision. The dynamic duo of professors Nick Schultz and Jillian Blatti are using fluorescent microscopes to show students the beauty and intrigue of a world usually too small to see. Under the polarized light of the microscope, students are able to capture images of very tiny samples of their choosing. The resulting images are then colorized using Photoshop, creating what the professors call “microscopy …
Next student president opens up about family, AI, and the saxophone
Share: In middle school, Alfredo Martinez Sandoval had a dream that he was playing the saxophone. In high school, the saxophone became his connection to the city of Pasadena through the Tournament of Roses parade, which set his path in motion to become the incoming president of the Associated Students of Pasadena City College. “I fell in love with saxophone,” he says, sitting on a shady bench in front of the Shatford Library. “I had a dream about playing it one time, and due to …
Wi-Fi Lounge looks radiant as ASPCC hosts ‘Valorant’ tournament
Share: The student lounge was transformed on Monday. The normally bright lights were dim, accompanied by a pulsing RGB glow. The furniture was completely rearranged, with tables clustered in the center surrounded by ten students, staring intensely at laptops, barking brief, cryptic messages at each other. Another dozen students sit in chairs in front of a projector screen, laughing in excitement as the screen cycles through the action from each laptop, watching as digital avatars duck in and out of smoke clouds and dodge virtual …
With book banning on the rise, California risks following suit
Share: While Pasadena is pushing back on book censorship through participation in events like Banned Books Week, Huntington Beach, Fresno, and other cities across California are becoming the target of efforts to ban books in libraries and public schools. These cities are following a wider national trend in states like Florida, Texas and other predominantly conservative areas. “Book bans are incredibly effective,” said young adult author and national leader of Authors Against Book Bans (AABB) Maggie Tokuda-Hall. “They target places where books are most accessible—in …
AI in the classroom? Policy is still up to professors at PCC
Share: Throughout 2023, educators saw an incoming boom of ChatGPT and other generative AI tools and discussed how to prepare for its impact on their classrooms. Now, as we reach the end of the first full school year since AI came on the scene, PCC instructors have had to adjust their preparations in real-time. “It’s bad out there,” said Dr. Liesel Reinhart, who teaches Visual Arts & Media Studies at PCC. “We are getting a tremendous number of assignments turned in that use various types …