Share: Pasadena City College (PCC) students have been targeted by individuals falsely claiming to represent the Los Angeles Times in an apparent scheme to sell unauthorized newspaper subscriptions. The perpetrators set up tables on campus, soliciting personal information and payment details while offering gift cards as incentives. According to the Los Angeles Times, the company has not authorized any staff or hired vendors to sell subscriptions on PCC’s campus. In a statement, a spokesperson for the Times said that the company generally does not conduct …
Math prerequisites are going away, get ready for AI tutors
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 …
Students feel disappointment and uncertainty following Trump’s election
Share: As Aaron Iniguez saw the results come in for the election Tuesday night, he wasn’t surprised at President Trump being re-elected — but the margin by which Trump won the popular vote took him aback. “I was really disappointed with how Kamala performed [from] seeing her campaign,” said Iniguez, who is a political science major at PCC. “I already knew she was gonna perform lackluster and less than favorable. Overall, it was not surprising — but the numbers were very surprising.” Iniguez, 19, identifies …
Technology committee seeks instructors interested in AI closed captioning project
Share: The District Technology Committee is launching a pilot program in PCC’s Winter 2025 term to explore the possibility of AI close captions and transcripts of recorded materials, such as videos or professor’s recorded lectures. The committee is working with a grant from Echo Labs, a research laboratory developing AI-powered accessibility tools. The grant will allow them to work with up to 50 hours of recorded material. As of the committee’s meeting on Oct. 16, the committee is looking for instructors who would be interested …
College campus becomes canvas for new painting project
Share: Recently PCC has been doing construction updates around the campus to ensure every building is up to date with one of these projects being the Campus Wide Exterior Painting Project. The Campus Wide Exterior Painting Project is a $3.2 million effort intended to refresh the exterior painting on all physical structures at the college. As for its funding, the campus’ exterior painting project is being paid for through Scheduled Maintenance funds. These funds have been provided via the college’s regular budgeting process. This comprehensive …
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 …
Newly formed Students for Justice in Palestine aims to educate and empower
Share: When Omar Khatib returned to college at age 28, joining a club wasn’t on his agenda. “I just wanted to get in, do my thing and go,” he said. That all changed when Khatib, who is Jordanian-Palestinian, learned about Pasadena City College’s newly formed chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). “There was no way I could say no to this,” he said at a club meeting in September. The club’s leadership—made up of President Anja Kelley, Vice President Diego Santoyo, Secretary Saira …
Board approves meager money bump for PCC faculty
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 …
Racist graffiti found in men’s locker room
Share: Vandalism that included racist messages was found inside the men’s locker room in the GM building on campus on Tuesday morning by faculty who teach in the building prior to classes starting. The language of the vandalism was disparaging towards Black people and homeless people but was “non-threatening,” according to PCC Spokesperson Alex Boekelheide. The locker room stayed open during cleaning and the vandalism was removed within an hour. Because of the content, campus security is investigating the vandalism as a crime. A statement …
Adjunct professor sues PCC over unpaid work
Share: Pasadena City College (PCC) has been named as a defendant in a class action lawsuit filed by adjunct faculty across California. Dr. James Keller, an adjunct assistant professor of German at PCC is among the plaintiffs in the case, which seeks back pay, damages, and systemic reforms to ensure adjuncts are paid for work they do outside of instruction time. Originally filed in 2022 by seven adjunct professors at other districts, the lawsuit now includes PCC as a defendant, according to the second amended …