Share: As a single mother, Wendy Eller, an adjunct Spanish professor at Pasadena City College (PCC), spends more time on her non-teaching job outside of the college. Eller is one of the adjunct professors at the school who is not a ‘freeway flier,’ a term referring to adjunct or part-time faculty who spend most of their time driving between teaching jobs at various CalStates, UCs and community colleges in the region. In many cases, adjuncts are paid a fraction of what full-time professors make, but …
Survey deadline extended as PCC awaits final decision in Superintendent search
Share: The presidential search forums at Pasadena City College (PCC) on Wednesday featured the final four candidates, Interim Superintendent-President Jose Gomez, Lena Tran, Thuy Thi Nguyen and Carlos Cortez where they got to pitch themselves to the community in events punctuated by low turnout and minimal participation, spurring the search firm to extend the deadline for providing feedback an additional week. However, an email announcing the extension was only sent to PCC faculty and staff and has yet to be sent to PCC students’ inboxes …
Former PCC counselor returns as trustee: ‘Community college saved my life’
Share: Decades after his boss at Lucky Supermarket told him he wasn’t “worth a shit,” James Aragon found himself working in higher education; an unlikely spark that changed the trajectory of his life. Newly elected Trustee James Aragon, who’s taking over Area 2 from Jim Osterling, has worked in higher education since that fateful day his journeyman dreams were shattered. Twenty-six of those 30-plus years were dedicated to Pasadena City College, where he was a full-time counselor and associate professor of college success courses. Now …
Overbearing landlords leave tenants feeling ‘isolated, alone, harassed’
Share: With an increase in housing issues like higher rent prices, residents in Los Angeles County are facing the possibility of being unhoused. The Pasadena Tenants Union (PTU), was formed the same year a real-estate tycoon was elected president. Funded entirely by members’ dues, this grassroots organization protects Pasadenans from controlling landlords and other issues that pose a threat to people potentially losing their homes. The union strives in many ways to protect residents by providing a sense of community in Pasadena. The PTU notably …
Episode 3: Art vs. the artist
Share: Separating art from the artist: Is it possible? Assistant news editor Sabrina joins host David to unpack what the phrase means today. Topics include canceling artists who have passed away, Kanye West, and whether separation is an absolute or an attitude. YouTube: Spotify: Follow:
Bonds to bombs: A quaint community college’s global impact
Share: The PCC Foundation, a non-profit that raises funds for Pasadena City College (PCC), holds investments in several major polluters and weapons manufacturers including ExxonMobil and RTX Corp (formerly Raytheon), a Courier analysis of the foundation’s financial disclosures found. The findings come at a time when students across the nation, including PCC, are urging their institutions to divest from companies implicated in climate degradation and Israel’s ongoing bombardment of the Gaza Strip. Since the escalation of violence in Israel and Palestine on Oct. 7, 2023, …
New PCC foster youth housing program begins in early 2024
Share: At the November Board of Trustees meeting, the trustees approved a five-year contract to rent out a six-unit housing complex near PCC’s Foothill campus, a first of its kind for the college to support its foster youth who face significant challenges obtaining secure and clean housing while in school. Because foster youth face some of the highest rates of housing insecurity and homelessness at PCC, their needs were prioritized for PCC’s first ever housing project that directly provided free housing to those in need …
Local snobs roast your favorite coffee
Share: There is nothing hinting that you may have entered suburbia than when you check how many coffee shops are in your surrounding area. Pasadena may call itself a city, but a good espresso shot may be a misspour unless you know where to look for it. Coffee snobbery might come across like this fish, but that fish is probably the type to recommend you try Republik for its awful TJ-Maxx-art-esque interior. Copa Vida Okay, Copa Vida and its fanbase take it too seriously. But …
PCC answers the question of art-ificial intelligence
Share: A hole has been left deep inside all creativity and our ability to be inventive with our own hands and as such artists have been replaced by “prompt artists” or websites. Hence, they spread like poison which drains any potential of authentic work from being shared with the world. This poison is artificial intelligence and for the past year, it has been expanding itself across all mediums such as tampering in artwork and the entertainment industry. Pasadena City College’s Visual Arts and Media Studies …
PCC students advocate for zero carbon by 2030
Share: Several PCC Students have joined the grassroots efforts to align Pasadena City College’s policies with Pasadena’s commitment to be carbon neutral by 2030. On Nov 14, several PCC students attended the Pasadena City Council meeting of the Municipal Services Committee to ensure that the city’s new water and power plan is true to its Zero Carbon by 2030 resolution. This goal puts Pasadena 15 years ahead of the state’s goal of a zero-carbon 2045. Also in attendance were representatives from several local climate organizations, …