GREAT BALLS OF FIRE—A sizzling performance by Flash a time when teen angel found out who wrote the book of love Cadillac and the Continental '.ids Thursday at noon recalled as he rocked around the clock. An estimated 3,500 students, earlier days of butch wax, pegged pants and letter sweaters— the largest turnout for any noontime concert this semester,
gathered on the Student Activities Center patio to enjoy the 1950s rock 'n' roll. DT photos by Paula Daniels and Mike Seedman.
Daily fjp Trojan Tuition to rise
$300 for 76-77
University of Southern California
Volume LXVIII, No. 57	Los Angeles, California Friday, December )2, 1975
Two frat members charged with receiving stolen stereo equipment
Two USC students have been charged with receiving stolen stereo equipment in connection with a $50,000 armed robbery.
The'two students, members of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity, allegedly used their fraternity house as a base of operations for selling the stolen equipment, said Sgt. Bill Welch of the Los Angeles Police Department.
Phillip Stathados, 21, and Peter Cathcart, 20, were arrested along with three other students Dec. 3 at the fraternity house, 1005 W. 28th St., after police agents purchased $1,500 worth of stereo equipment there, Welch said.
Felony charges of receiving stolen property have been filed against Stathados and Cathcart, a spokesman for the district attorney’s office said. The two have been released on $1,000 baiLeach and face a preliminary hearing next Thursday, the official said.
Charges against the other three students were dropped for lack of sufficient evidence, authorities said.
Investigators said the merchandise involved was among $50,000 worth of stereo receivers and speakers stolen July 16 from the J.B. Lansing Sound Co. in North Hollywood.
Three other men—who are not USC students—have been arrested and charged with armed robbery in the case, police said.
They are James L. Harvey, 20, of Tujunga, and Thomas M. Coiner, 20, and his brother William, 24, both of Burbank.
They are accused of holding the manager of the
North Hollywood company at gunpoint and re-movingthe equipment, the district attorney's office said.
Thomas Coiner later worked as a painter at the fraternity house, where he met the students, police said.
Welch said the students were not involved in the robbery itself, “but they did know the stuff was hot.”
Welch said 90(/r of the equipment has been recovered. some of it at the fraternity house and the bulk of it in Montebello. Some of the equipment had been set up at the fraternity house for use by the students, he said.
Robert L. Mannes. dean for student life, said he had heard reports about the arrests ofthe two students. but could not say whether the university would take any action.
“Whether the university would take any action would depend on the kind of incident inv olved and whether there were any educational overtones.'* he said.
“If somebody was using university facilities as a base for any illegal activities, the-university might have to consider some action."
Mannes said that fraternity houses are considered university facilities whether or not they are university-owned.
The arrested students would not comment on the case. Sean Burke, president of Phi Delta Theta. said he could not discuss the case.
John Lechner, director of Campus Security, said he had heard no official report on the matter.
Airline strike makes students scramble for vacation flights
. By Justin Fox
staff writer
Since United Airlines and National Airlines have shut down because of strikes, the scrambling for seats out of Los Angeles for Christmas vacation has become a major concern for many students.
Waiting lines have gotten longer and tempers shorter as1 students continue to plead for vacancies. Cris Harth, director of University Travel, said that those who have grown weary of waitingin heroffice for word ofa space to come through have gone down to the airport to wait two to three hours more and then get nothing.
Harth said that some students have tried to book reservations through her office, and others
have just come in and demanded space on a plane.
“We would love to help all the students, if only they would appreciate the situation,” she said.
But the situation is that there are very few seats available on the airlines, and the closer it gets to Christmas the fewer they’ll be.
“It’s hell,” said Steve Craig. “I’ve been trying to get a seat and finally got one on Trans World Airlines to Kansas City.”
Craig said that the people in University Travel were too few, and that the ones that were there were too slow. He had been back there twice, and was giving up to go downtown to pick up his ticket.
Other students like Leon Diss, who originally had a direct flight
on United Airlines to Mi 1-waukee, have managed to book themselves on indirect flights with unwanted layovers. Diss is now being rerouted through Minneapolis. Others have managed to finagle tickets.
“I had a reservation on United to fly to Hawaii on Wednesday,” said one student waiting in line in University Travel. ‘ A friend of mine is giving me his reservation, and I'm picking it up for him. But I have no idea when I’ll be coming back. United will still probably be on strike. Maybe I'll have a prolonged vacation."
Still others are just plain stuck, their names recorded on some endless waiting list lost in a mindless computer.
(continued on page 9)
By Wayne Walley
associate city editor
Tuition for next year will cost $3,540. up S300 over the current flat rate. President John R Hubbard announced Thursday.
The decision, made by the Finance and Budget Committee of the Board of Trustees on Wed' nesday. is final and will not need approval of the full board. ti spokesman for Zohrab A Kap-
rielian. executive vice-president, said.
The spokesman said the board authorized the committee to make.the final decision because of the time factor.
•‘Technically, we have the committee so work will be done before the next board meeting in March, which will allow people to know earlier what will happen next year." the spokesman said.
Hubbard said the national inflationary trend was a major factor contributing to the tuition hike.
“Ongoing inflation continues to drive our costs up and we are left with no alternative but to increase tuition—our major source of revenue. " Hubbard said.
“We dislike raising tuition once more but. confronted by the necessity, must do all in our power to maintain high quality education for all students."
He said the finance committee established tht* tuition rate at $118 per unit (a 9 26'< increase over this year's S108 a unit), effective Sept. 1. 1976. but has yet to make a decision concerning faculty and staff salaries.
But David Shawaker. university budget officer, said the decision on tuition would set a limit on the amount of money available for salary increases.
“This decision does constrain the salary increase to a certain extent because the tuit ion rate is one important parameter of the
budget." Shawaker said.
According to a graph comparing tuition rates against budgeted expenditures within a balanced budget, prepared by the Resource Management and Planning Committee, a 9V tuition increase can yield somewhere in the neighborhood of a T, to 8'< salary increase.
But Shawaker said there are other factors to consider
"The committee still has to determine the needs of salary versus other needs of the university before setting any salary pool.” he said.
Hubbard said the finance committee was caught between a sincere desire to keep the tuition rate as low as possible for the benefit of all students, and a commitment to institutional excellence.
“Higher education is a labor-intensive operation, and the higher salary levels of recent years have resulted in significant increases in operating costs. Additionally, our utility expenses and fringe benefit costs ✓ are escalating rapidly."
David Blackmar. chairman of the Student Senate, agreed tuition had to increase somewhat, but questioned the sincerity of the desire to keep the tuition rate as low as possible.
“After all the meetings ofthe budget commission, the planning committee and President’s Advisory Council. 9.3'• was the highest figure ever discussed and that was the figure chosen. If they were sincere, they might have gone for a lower percentage than the maximum figure." Blackmar said.
The increase is close to the one estimated in an official report on the university published Sept. 30 by the California Educa-tional Facilities Authority.
The report estimated that the flat tuition rate would be $3,530 per year for 1976-77 and would
(continued on page 2)
‘H card pick-up in departments set for Monday
Students who have received registration packets for the spring semester may
pick up “H" cards from departments beginning Monday.
Currently enrolled students who have not obtained packets may pick up materials from the Registrar's Office on Tuesday.
Completed packets will be accepted for pulling *R" cards on Wednesday. They may be turned in to the Registrar's Office.
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