A TUNEFUL TREK—Norman Wray carries his tuba with him wherever he goes — and however he gets there. A member of the Trojan Marching Band, this adventurous spirit once rode his Honda minibike all the way to San Pedro on surface roads to join fellow players when they performed at a crew meet last month. DT photo by Denis Wolcott.
AGREEMENT REACHED
Band to perform in Songfest finale
By Mike Simpson
Staff Writer
Representatives ofthe Trojan Marching Band will play for the grand finale of Songfest Saturday in addition to the band entry, which is part of the show.
Last-minute negotiations between Arthur Bartner, the band director, and the Songfest Committee enabled them to reach a final agreement.
An assumed but not confirmed invitation to the band from the committee created the initial confusion.
An article in the Daily Trojan Tuesday about whether or not the Trojan Marching Band would play the songs of Troy for the Songfest grand finale was interpreted by some Songfest participants to mean that the band group competing in Songfest might not be participating.
Pam Chun, director of the band number, said the day the article was published she received at least three calls from people wondering why her group had been disqualified.
Actually, according to Jerry Papazian, Songfest Committee chairman, the whole matter between the Songfest Committee and the Trojan Marching Band didn’t affect the competing band number at all.
“What actually happened was that members of the Songfest Committee decided that having the Trojan Marching Band come out and play the songs of Troy as well as the Songfest Orchestra while all 500orso Songfest participants sing along would be a good finale,” Papazian said.
The problem began, he said, when people involved with Songfest began to talk as ifthe band was actually playing before they had been formally approached. “There was a big lack of communications,” Papazian said.
Bartner said nobody asked him if the band could participate at Songfest until the day after the article came out.
“It wasn’t a lack of communication between the band and the Songfest Committee,” he said. “It was a lack of communication within the committee.
“The idea of having the band make Songfest’s finale more spectacular is a great idea; it’s good show biz, and it’s the kind of thing that the kids in the band would have liked to do.”
“The members of the committee must have just passed the responsibility around, and no one ended up asking in time,” he said.
Bartner said by the time Mark Bevan, executive producer of Songfest actually asked him ifthe band could participate, the group had already made plans to play at UCLA Pauley Pavillion at the NCAA Volleyball championship.
Members of the band will play the songs of Troy, Bartner said, but the only band members who will definitely be there are the members of Pam Chun’s band number. “They deserve a lot of credit for volunteering to play the songs of Troy instead of singing them with the rest of the Songfest groups,” he said.
Bartner said there is an outside chance that if the volleyball championship is over early enough, these band members might make it to the GreekTheatre forthe grand finale. Band members who are planning to sit in the audience at Songfest might also agree to play for the grand finale, he said.
Aside from the confusion about the participation ofthe marching band, everything else is going very smoothly, Papazian said. Dress rehearsal was held last night, with all the groups performing, as well as Bernard Pipkin, master of ceremonies, practicing the narration with the slide presentation and the orchestra, under the direction of Mark Watters, playing the opening and closing of the show.
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Rooming assignments resumed after delay
The new computer-assisted system for room assignments is functioning smoothly now after a one-day delay, but some students who did not get their first choice of university housing for next fall are complaining.
The system is being used for 2,137 returning students in university-owned housing.
The list of facility assignments was scheduled to be posted Tuesday, but because of errors in the computer program, the list was not available until Wednesday. Students were given a one-hour block of time to go to their assigned facility, to choose their specific rooms for next year. That process started Thursday.
“Basically, things are going pretty smoothly, and the only complaints I have heard are that someone did not get their first choice of facilities,” said Kent Walton, manager of the Men’s Complex. “It’s just not possible to put all the people exactly where they wanted to be.”
Sharon Kettler, assignment coordinator, said there were some mistakes in the filling out of the applications, and many times her office had to guess as to what the students meant.
“We re trying to take care of reassignments now and will continue the process through the summer. We’re not waiting until
October,” Kettler said.
Some students complained that they did not get placed in the same facility as a person who they had turned the application in with and had planned to be roommates with. Kettler said this was because students were given different priority numbers based on different situations, such as the student’s residence this year.
Another complaint by a student was that while choosing rooms, many of the single bedrooms in the Troy Hall apartments were chosen quickly by one student each, leaving only very poor choices for people who plan to be roommates next year. “When we went to choose our apartment, just about all of the places were taken by one person, so that there was room for just one more,” the student said.
Another student, who will live in Trojan Hall next year, seemed perfectly satisfied with the new system and said he got the choice he wanted. “The only problem was with the computer that made the mistakes the first day,” he said. “But now everything is very efficient.”
Students who think they have a legitimate complaint can stop by the Residential Assignment Office, Student Union 202.
Information office moving to activities center lobby
In a move designed to better serve university students, the Information Center will move to the Student Activities Center May 12. All students must go to the Student Activities Center from May 12 on to pick up the Schedule of Classes and school bulletins.
The information office is moving primarily to consolidate its services and those of the Student Activities Center. “It’s to better centralize the information function,” said Parker Jenkins, director of the Student Activities Center. Both offices service the students with information.
The Information Center distributes the Schedule of Classes, is the center for Lost and Found, keeps sta ff and faculty location files ifthey are not listed in the directory and rents lockers in Founders Hall.
The Student Activities Center makes up the university master calendar, schedules the Student Activities Center facilities and activities in the patio and rents tables and chairs for university functions.
The location of the information office made its accessibility difficult for students, especially the handicapped, Jenkins said, although its new, more central location might cause parking problems during the week for the general public who comes in for information.
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Daily fp Trojan
University of Southern California
Volume LXXI, Number 54	Los Angeles, California	Friday, May 6, 1977
----------STAMPED WITH APPROVAL---------
Personable mailman delivers smiles
In the office world of impersonal red tape, jangling telephones and pounding typewriters, Luther Johnson’s visits are a refreshing break for many university employees.
To many people who receive mail from him, Johnson is more than just a campus mailman. He has a special combination of courtesy and good humor that makes a deep impression upon his customers.
Johnson makes the rounds of his delivery route twice a day, and he doesn’t go far in his electric cart before a passing student or university employee calls his name in greeting.
“I don’t know what it is — it’s just his personality. It’s beautiful,” said a secretary in a Founders Hall office. “Pleasant people help. You look forward to their arrival.”
“He’s nice to people, and people like him. He’s very diplomatic in interpersonal relations,” said Jerald Jellison, a professor of psychology. Many other secretaries and professors will agree that Johnson is a special man.
Johnson is from Panama, where he worked at such jobs as storekeeper and bodyguard before coming to America in 1970. Shortly after his arrival, he got his job as campus mailman.
“Sometimes you get tired, but never bored,” Johnson said of his job. Johnson said he enjoys meeting and talking with people on his route.
“I know them all, from Lazzaro (Anthony D. Lazzaro, vice president of business affairs) on down,” he said.
He said most people respond when he greets them, but some must be approached carefully if they’ve had a bad day.
“Sometimes you have to know how to handle them. I know how to maneuver myself with people,” he said.
Johnson cares about his customers, and they care about him. Shortly after his arrival in America, his apartment was
robbed. Several people on his route helped him out by passing the hat and providing him with some emergency money.
A secretary in the speech communications office described Johnson’s appeal the best. “It helps to see people with a smile — especially when you’re here pounding a typewriter eight hours a day,” she said.