Charles Digal, Web Editor

Despite the federal takeover of the Pasadena-based mortgage lender IndyMac by the FDIC, PCC funds and investments remain secure and unharmed amidst the financial institution’s recent collapse, officials said.

“Right now [there is] no overt effect,” said Vice President of Administrative Services Kindred Murillo. “Our funds are held in the LA County Office of Education Treasury. We don’t have any money at risk as far as I know.”

Through the LA County Treasury, PCC is fully insured, according to Murillo. [Read more →]

Ryan Nunez, Staff Writer

PCC parking lots, structures and driveways will not be immune to the new law requiring California drivers to use hands-free headsets while operating a vehicle.

The law, which went into effect on July 1, also prohibits minors from using any type of wireless devices while driving, except in emergency situations.

While the law will be enforced in all driving areas on campus, Lt. Brad Young of the PCC Police Department said parking lot cadets cannot and will not be enforcing the law. [Read more →]

Morgan Brief, Staff Writer

PCC’s Teaching and Learning Center (TLC) has been selected as one of eight exemplary educational models in the country by the Office of Vocational and Adult Education of the U.S. Department of Education.

Beginning in March for two days, two evaluators from the U.S. Department of Education visited the TLC in hopes of showcasing and replicating its methods for other Community College Programs.

The researchers examined the facilities and interviewed college administrators and TLC staff, instructors, and students. When the evaluator’s report was released in May, it attributed the TLC’s success to its dedicated staff and faculty saying, “They [the TLC staff] would be invaluable advisors to other colleges.” [Read more →]

Jeremy Balan, Editor-in-Chief

In a system featuring 107 schools and almost 25,000 athletes, the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) has no rules or testing program to prevent the use of drugs, performance enhancing or not, by their athletes.

Most of the leaders of the system cite a lack of money when discussing the testing of athletes.

“We can’t, as an association, test at the campus level,” said CCCAA Executive Director Carlyle Carter.

Carter and others explained that amid budget cuts, a testing program would be impossible with the current funding available.

“Costs for a good, accurate, consistent testing program would be astronomical,” said Southern California Football Association Commissioner Jim Sartoris. [Read more →]

Ryan Nunez, Staff Writer

“I really want to have balance this year.”

Those are the optimistic words of a head coach who will be replacing four JC All-Americans on offense and five All-State selections. The task is daunting for PCC Head Football Coach Kenny Lawler, entering his third season in the top job.

The exodus of talent coincides with the team’s migration to a new conference, the stacked National Northern Conference (NNC). Coach Lawler acknowledges that the transition that lies ahead for the young Lancers is a daunting one. [Read more →]

PCC students recommend some of their favorite movies

Brittany Wong, Lancer Life Editor

Having had their fill of burnt-out superheroes at the local cinema-plex, some PCC students are finding a comfy spot on the sofas and settling in for some time with their favorite movies. From revered classics to little-known gems, their recommendations are widely available on Netflix or your local video rental if it hasn’t yet been rendered obsolete by the online movie rental behemoth.

Sava Dadabuey, a 21-year-old English major who freely admits to being a “sucker for old movies,” starts off the list with some literary-based recommendations: “Wuthering Heights,” though the version with Laurence Oliver over the more recent adaptation with Ralph Fiennes. True to her English major roots, she also suggests the 1968 version of “Romeo and Juliet” by Franco Zeffirelli. [Read more →]

Scrapping for Integrity and Livelihood

Rodrigo Mejia, Asst. Flipside Editor

Los Angeles is referred to by many elements of note. It is of its own self-acknowledging genius, the most socially and economically diverse city on the west coast. Purveyor of the arts, the primordial den of the silver screen, host to dank and brandy stained hotel rooms that walled some of the finest writers of our time, and home to an entire third world of forgotten souls that fill the cracks between the cafes and the freeways. [Read more →]

Charles Digal, Asst. Flipside Editor

‘Los Angeles’ is nothing more than a misnomer.

Blocks away from Pershing Square are the Toy and Fashion Districts of Los Angeles, some of the pioneering industries that helped propel L.A. into economic stability. It is also home to L.A.’s infamous Skid Row, the pioneering frontier of forgotten wastelands and memories. [Read more →]

Huntington event confirms value of untraditional formats.

Allan Santiago, Opinion Editor

The Huntington’s vast gardens rendered an unusual, but pleasant, balmy evening Friday as Southwest Chamber Music opened its annual summer festival.

Both the setting and program were classical, and, accordingly, certain modernism could not be afforded – such as cell phones ringing, speaking in between movements, intrusive noises, and even under-dressing it seems.

Yet these flashes of modernity managed to make an appearance on Friday. [Read more →]

Stacey Wang, Editor-in-Chief

With the semester coming to a close, the PCC Opera Workshop ended on a bittersweet note on Sunday with its double feature of “Dido and Aeneas” and “Not in Front of the Waiter,” also known as “Under the Aspidistra.”

As the climax of the opera students’ work thus far, the performance picked up slowly with its opening opera, Henry Purcell’s “Dido and Aeneas.” Acclaimed as a frequently studied Baroque opera by music students abroad, the story reenacted the droning tale of Dido, the queen of Carthage, and her love Aeneas, a Trojan prince. [Read more →]