Suppose they gave a
USCaleidoscope...
University of Southern California
Volume LXVIII, Number 109 Los Angeles, California	Tuesday, April 6, 1976
Strategists for university center launch campaign for recognition
Daily
Trojan
...AND NOBODY CAME-—While the admissions office may tell prospective students that "it never rains in Southern California," on Sunday some may have added "man, it pours." This kaleidoscopic view of University Avenue shows the effects of the weather on the university's open house. Last year; about 10,000 people visited campus during USCaleidoscope, this year, only approximately 500 showed up. DT photo by Paula Daniels.
Coed dorm living: so how’s your love life?
By Marie Denunzio
Staff Writer
Coed dorms—everyone reacts to those words differently. Mothers cringe at the very sound, fathers ask how much it will cost. They wink at their sons but tell their daughters it’s out of the question.
When grandfathers hear the term they begin to reminisce about when they were young. Grandmothers faint but wake up in time to cut their husbands' story short. Younger brothers and sisters giggle and say “Ummmmmmm”. Older ones give advice and say “ah ha.” Boyfriends worry and girlfriends make plans to paste their pictures on their beaus’ dorm walls for everyone to see.
Some only shrug at the words, others envision nymphomaniacs and perverts engaged in orgiastic delights at a sexual commissary.
But whatever the reason, everybody reads anything with the word “coed” in it. (After all, you’re reading this article.) And this leads to the subject of the coed dorms here.
The university’s two coeducational dormitories—Birnkrant Residence Hall and Marks Tower—are far from being institutes of oral love or mother’s fun palace, and yet they are not mausoleums.
But these facilities are not what one would think of as being a typical coed residence. The men and women are separated by floors. The stairwells are open and permit a free flow of men and women between the floors. Some favor this set-up; others despise it.
I spent Tuesday afternoon wandering up and down the floors of these two buildings, knocking on doors and asking residents what they thought of their residence hall.
I decided to make their quotes anonymous because many said they did not want to comment if their names would be published. On the other hand, some didn’t
want to talk unless I promised their names would appear in print.
Anyway, no one said they disliked the living situation, although the majority said they felt they were not true coed dorms. They felt both men and women should live on the same floor. Some comments were: •“It’s not that much different because of the different floors. I just like living in Birnkrant because it’s closer to the food” (Birnkrant Dining Hall).
•“I think coed living as they have it now by floor is a farce.” •“I like it. I just wish they had it by room. That way .you can have more contact with the opposite sex—and that is good for you in later life.”
•“I like it by floor. That way you can walk around with little, if anything, on.”
•“I like the privacy separated by floor. If you just have to see some guy you can just walk down the stairs.”
•“What coed dorm?”
•‘‘It’s terrible. You have to sneak by the guards to get to the women.”
•“It’s swell if you want ‘big brother' type of friends but it’s not if you want to meet people to date.”
•“I love it. I think it’s neat ’cause it's like having brothers, it’s less formal and you don’t have to worry about having people in your room. People trust each other and watch out for each other.”
•‘‘It's easier to meet girls because they aren’t all stuck up and worried that ‘men are always after one thing.’ ”
(continued on pag• 2)
DT features new look—temporarily
Meet Bodoni, the typeface used in this issue. Somehow the print shop that composes the Daily Trojan lost the grid for the normal body type. Corona. It is hoped the paper will resume its normal look tomorrow.
Strategists for the university center concept have launched a campaign to gain political clout before asking the university for budgeting in what could potentially be one of the most expansive building projects on campus.
Budgeting hasn't been discussed, said Jim Gross, director of the Student Activities Center.
“WTe just want to sell the concept programmatically. Right now we’re working up the ladder to
gain the individual support we’ll need to sell the concept to the university,” he said, adding that a petition drive is underway.
The university center concept has developed some solid goals since its initial presentation to the administration in March.
Gross said the center would provide a wide variety of programming spaces that the Student Activities Center does not even begin to provide a campus this size.”
He said the center would include general campus living space, recreation space and facilities, international student programming space, student or-
ganization space and general multipurpose space, all of which are now limited or nonexistent.
Individual student support has been overwhelming, Gross said, and he hopes this support will give the center the importance it needs to gain administrative attention.
Gross said he thought the investment in active research on the issue is evidence of a tacit decision by the university. He said that the big decision now is what priority the center will take.
Before budgets or building sights can be planned, he said careful programming must be made, citing cases of universities with inappropriate buildings as a result of poor planning in the early stages.
Individual support and planning may be the current concern for backers of the center, but funding will be the ultimate concern. And while planning is in its early stages, funding has been a question. But Gross said he hopes planning will be far enough along to rate funding from the Century II project when allocations from it are made.
Gas leak repaired at construction site
Los Angeles city firemen and Southern California Gas Co. workmen were summoned to the university when a gas leak occurred Monday at the construction site of the new Computer Science Center, on 37th Place between Hoover Street and McClintock Avenue.
The leak happened when construction workers broke a gas line while installing air condi-
tioning in the new building.
Three fire department units arrived as a precautionary measure, said Lt. John Amundson, a Campus Security officer. The street was also sealed off for the same reason, he said.
A large pipe blocking access to the leak was removed by firemen so the gas company could seal the broken line.
Workmen located the leak and closed the pipe before any damage occured. The firemen remained at the site until the leak was sealed.
“Apparently the gas line wasn’t supposed to be where it was,” said Amundson. “It’s been here for years and we didn’t know it.”
Work on the Computer Science Center resumes today.
FINGER LICKIN' GOOD—A student comes back for a second helping during the International Food Fair held Monday in Alumni Park. It was the opening event of International Festival Week. Events scheduled for today include a fashion show at noon and a concert at 12:30 p.m., both scheduled for the
Student Activities Center patio. An arts and crafts exhibition will be held in the Student Activities Center lobby. International Night will be held tonight at 8 in Bovard Auditorium. DT photo by Bob LaBayne.