Share: California Community Colleges (CCCs) have eradicated the majority of foundational math courses due to the passage of assembly bill 1705 in 2022 which was designed to combat inequities in college students’ placement and completion of coursework. With this new law, concerns about student outcomes have risen–leading to the recent development of MathGPT: an AI tutor announced on October 16th of this year, meant to bridge the educational gap left behind by this bill. Assembly bill 1705 is in conjunction with AB 705 was introduced …
HBCU caravan brings opportunities to Black students beyond California
Share: As students amass in PCC’s quad what stands out most are the similarities found in the crowd’s differences. Some choose to wear their hair in braids, others locs, and many in ‘fros, different expressions of the blackness they share, an important aspect of the day’s occasion. Most who’ve gathered here have come to attend HBCUish, PCC’s event where Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are invited to mostly interact with Black students to provide information about their institutions. “Pasadena is always going to be …
Programs to promote equality are not political
Share: In typical Karen fashion, a conservative group launched a civil rights complaint of racial bias against the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). Their 2023 lawsuit successfully terminated the district’s Black Student Achievement Plan (BSAP), a program formerly dedicated to realizing Black students’ success. This conservative group’s claim that race-based programs are discriminatory is exactly why the indoctrination curriculum they ardently fight against is needed. Parents Defending Education (PDE), as this Virginia-based group calls themselves, insist they work towards “the restoration of a healthy, …
BLOTTER: Stolen bikes, lost kids, found drugs
Share: Editorial note: The information provided in the police blotter has not been independently verified by the Courier. The details in this article are reported as provided by campus police, and readers should consider this when interpreting the information. Monday, Sept 30, 2024 10:10 am: An officer responded to an individual complaining of stomach pains at C-building. They first declined medical help, but were later taken to the Health Center by another student. 11:32 am: An officer responded to two males smoking near the Observatory …
Billionaires are more trouble than they’re worth
Share: All over the world, people struggle to afford food, housing, and other basic necessities. In this same world exists billionaires who could provide for the entire world with their wealth, prompting questions of whether their existence is immoral or not. The existence of billionaires is entirely unethical as this accumulation of wealth is unnecessary and typically involves exploitation and or illegality. Most billionaires have built their wealth through their own businesses and investments. However, those businesses require the labor of working class people who …
Consistent course numbers coming to California community colleges
Share: Recently, PCC has been awarded a Common Course Numbering (CCN) grant by the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office in an effort to ease transfer and reduce excess credit accumulation. Essentially, these funds will be used to create a new numbering system for courses and to update course catalogs, schedules, and transcripts. California Community Colleges (CCC) have taken the initiative to instill this uniform system via their Common Course Numbering Task Force (CCN Task Force). Their plan is to create intra- and intersegmental consistency through …
Want that broken door in the CA building fixed? It’ll cost PCC $400,000
Share: The first floor stairwell door in the Center of Arts (CA) building has been broken for years, prompting frustrations amongst students and faculty alike–but the estimated $400,000 cost has delayed repairs. According to a board meeting on Aug. 14, the cause of the door breaking down was due to it being overused. The door is a fire rated door, designed to withstand fires and high heat, making it extremely heavy. Over time, the door began to warp and malfunction caused it to be permanently …
PCC celebrates centennial with cakes, concerts and candy
Share: A red, rectangular piñata that reads “PCC 100” hung outside the bridge between Lancer Pass and the Quad inside Pasadena City College. Children lined up in a single file to pull down the piñata with thinned strings instead of a bat, with each child pulling a string one at a time for the trap door to open. As the bottom fell out, the children ran towards the floor to pick up as much candy as possible. “This is Latin Heritage Month as well. So …
‘La Reina de HSIs’ teaches colleges how to reign with ‘servingness’
Share: Outside of PCC’s Westerbeck Hall a group of predominantly Latine staff, faculty, and students gathers. As the crowd becomes larger, event organizers encourage newcomers to scan QR codes for the nearing presentation. As they do, attendees help themselves to food and drink including conchas—traditional sweet bread rolls common in Latine households, and an emblem of the “servingness” Dr. Gina Ann Garcia teaches. A visiting professor from UC Berkeley, Garcia’s keynote address is a homage to PCC’s observation of Hispanic Heritage Month and a reflection …
Love triangles aren’t tired, they just aren’t in the best shape
Share: Love triangles have been one of fiction’s most common tropes for years now. From the likes of “Twilight” to the new generation’s “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” many writers default on this trope to engage their audiences and the trope isn’t tired, it’s just often done poorly. Take Jenny Han’s hit series “The Summer I Turned Pretty” (TSITP) for instance. The series follows its main character Isabel “Belly” Conklin and her romances with the Fisher brothers: Conrad, her first love, and Jeremiah, her childhood …