PCC is a commuter campus. A glance around campus and a quick exchange with the person next to you will reveal that students come from all over the world. It’s no wonder that people find it hard to get engaged in PCC campus life when home to them is Arcadia, Florida, Japan, and everywhere in between.Thursday was a day of protest and recognition of the injustices still present in America. Students marched through the quad, down Colorado Boulevard, and around the Sculpture Garden, voicing their outrage at the outright ludicrous verdict handed down that day.
Thursday was also, however, inadvertently telling about campus life for PCC students. How effective can the cries for justice be when you’re trying to catch the bus home or worse, – when nobody is there to hear them?
Joseph Menese, 18, computer science major, was one of many students not present at the rally who was headed home towards Montebello at the time.
He would love to have a greater on-campus presence than he does right now. Getting to school, however, takes a lot out of him. “I have to get up at 5 a.m., two whole hours before my first class, just to make sure I’m there on time. If I miss the bus, I miss my class. I try not to be on campus longer than I need to.”
And really, who can blame him? With traffic, flaky public transportation, and part-time jobs, who has the time to get out to campus and make a difference?
“It’s a good question with a difficult answer,” says Dr. Paul Price, a Sociology professor on campus who took part in Thursday’s protest. “What will make one student active will not make another student active.”
Be it the Caduceus club, a rally for peace, or sometimes just coming to class, the question that it will most often come down to for the student is – Is it worth the commute?
- EDITORIAL: Apologize about the real problem - April 23, 2014
- STATEMENT: District apologizes to Oscar winning alum - April 21, 2014
- EDITORIAL: The Forgotten Students - March 26, 2014
