Share: Amid PCC’s coronavirus closure, the Personal Counseling department has shifted gears to help students cope through triage teletherapy appointments until the campus reopens. During normal times, students may access the department’s in-person therapy sessions up to eight times during the regular term and six during intersession. “These telephone triage appointments don’t count towards people’s session limits,” said Jason Vasquez, a counseling psychologist for the department in a zoom call. “We know that people need extra support right now. So that’s why we wanted to …
‘Pain in the ass’: PCC exasperated by federal stimulus rules
Share: At their April 22 meeting, multiple members of PCC’s College Council expressed their frustration with new guidelines from the federal Department of Education (ED) regarding the disbursement of federal stimulus money. “Let me just go on record: Betsy DeVos is a pain in the ass,” said Dr. Michael Bush, assistant superintendent and vice president of business and college services. “The legislature passed this really neat thing for higher education and then the Department of Education got a hold of it.” PCC has received $15.2 …
PCC loans 275 laptops to students so far during shutdown
Share: PCC’s Information Technology Services (ITS) department is providing laptops for technology insecure students and faculty to loan amidst the campus’ closure, which began on March 19. During this period of remote instruction, access to technology is critical for students and faculty to resume their classes online. Students without it are faced with the possibility of having to drop their courses or revert to pass/no pass credit for the spring semester. “I was pretty stressed out at first knowing that we were moving online and …
PCC students petition for Pass/No Pass grading
Share: Updated: As of April 2, the deadline for a student to choose a pass/no pass grading option for spring 2020 classes has been extended to June 5. Unit limit rules for pass/no pass classes have been suspended for the time being. Follow:
No, 5G towers aren’t causing the Coronavirus
Share: If the recent surge of “COVID-19 challenges” like kids licking toilet seats wasn’t enough to make your skin crawl, now people are theorizing that 5G cell phone towers are the leading cause of the spread of coronavirus. Technology is constantly changing and with the release of new 5G cell phone reception, and telecommunication companies expected a positive reaction from the public, but got the opposite. Just like the multiple conspiracy theories being spread about 5G, there seems to be two main theories that are …
Why PCC shouldn’t extend remote classes
Share: With the already added weight of COVID-19 against people getting their daily routine done, students are one of the groups in society mostly affected by the pandemic by having classes online only. Unfortunately, it would most likely be a terrible decision. Online classes do not work for every major offered at PCC, with a notable example being STEM courses, along with art majors, and any other course offered that deals with hands-on learning. Continuing with the courses till the fall semester would also impact …
Yang’s statements about being American are wrong
Share: A man threw punches and kicks at a pet owner and her dog as they were walking in L.A. Teenage girls hurled racial slurs and physically harassed a 51-year-old woman in the Bronx. An Instagram page threatened a mass shooting in New York’s Chinatown and claimed to kill any Asian person on sight. The President of the U.S. called COVID-19 the “Chinese Virus.” As Asian-Americans, we are often seen as the “model minority,” immigrants in the U.S. who have broken the socioeconomic barriers held …
PCC postpones commencement ceremony
Share: PCC will be postponing the 2020 commencement ceremony until spring 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as announced through an email on March 30. The decision was made by PCC’s executive team with the support of the Academic Senate President, Matthew Henes. It follows another recent decision to continue remote instruction for the rest of the spring semester, according to PCC Superintendent/President Erika Endrijonas. The school is still in discussion as to whether the 2020 commencement ceremony will be held together or separate from …
Board grants emergency authority to superintendent
Share: On Mar. 18, the PCC Board of Trustees (BOT) voted to bestow emergency authorities to Superintendent/President Erika Endrijonas due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. According to Mary Thompson, Enrijonas’s executive assistant, this is the first emergency board resolution in the history of the college, which goes back to 1933. The BOT only meets once a month, and the CDC and county officials have been issuing updates of cases and guidelines at least once a week so far. “I don’t need to wait for the …
PCC’s snail email leaves students confused
Share: PCC’s email system has been staggering the delivery of important emails, resulting in some students receiving updates about changes on campus much later than they were initially sent out. This has led some students to question if PCC is properly assessing the urgent needs of its student body during this time of crisis. Due to the campus closure, the only way PCC has been able to communicate with students is to notify them through their email service. Updates regarding the college’s response to the …