Daily § Trojan
University of Southern California
Volume LXXI, Number 28
Los Angeles, California
Monday, March 21, 1977
Student committee backs programming fee increase
By Elizabeth Thompson
Staff Writer
The Student Affairs Committee endorsed a report by the Campus Life Commission Friday. recommending that the Student Programming Fee be increased from $4.50 to $7 for all students.
The report recommends that the $7 fee apply to undergraduates and graduate students. Arguments had been made by members ofthe Student Senate that the fee for graduate students should be less than that for undergraduates, since graduate students tend to not participate in campus activities.
"Graduate students often work, are older, have different interests and special interests,” said Hunt Braly. chairman ofthe Campus Activities and Allocations Board. They’re not prevented from going to the functions, but they may be on campus only for classes.”
Because of this, Braly said graduate student representatives in the senate felt the fee should not be increased as much for graduate students as for undergraduates.
The report said the notion of a
two-tiered fee had been rejected by the commission because the rationale used to support it could be applied to other student groups as well as to graduate students. The commission also felt charging a lower fee for any student group might lead to discrimination by the allocations board against that group, should it make an application for funds.
“YVe feel the focus of equality should come at the point of distribution of funds, not in their collection,” said Donald Miller, chairman of the Campus Life Commission.
Other recommendations by the commission endorsed by the Student Affairs Committee included a recommendation that the programming fee be reevaluated on a yearly basis, a recommendation that the allocations board publish in the Daily Trojan a certified quarterly financial statement noting expenditures as well as funds remaining and a recommendation that registration packets include a card on which students could check-off the items they would most like to see funded.
The committee also endorsed
a recommendation that some method be devised to ensure members of the allocations board were appointed orelected from a broadly representative sample of different student interest groups. It might be necessary to increase the number of student members on the board to accomplish this, the report said.
Some students feel the allocations board has, in recent years, been dominated by students representing only a few interest groups, the report said, adding that questions about the fairness (continued on page 8)
IN LIKE A LION—March has not been much of a month to roar about so far, but with the arrival of spring today this old lion on a fountain between the Administration Building and the Physical Education Building may see the month go out like a lamb. DT photo by Denis Wolcott.
RESIDENCES INSPECTED
Fire hazards about 80% corrected
By Peter Fletcher
Assistant Entertainment Editor
About 80% of the fire hazards cited three weeks ago in about 20 fraternities, sororities and university apartments have been corrected, said a representative of the Los Angeles Fire Department.
Captain D. Klarin, of fire station 15, was in charge of the in-
Pins, tape and lead weights keep Bovard hanging together
By Gary Maloney
StafT Writer
Imagine an auditorium at a major university, widely used (andabused) by its constituents with some of the following features:
•	Curtains kept raggedly together with electrician's tape, safety pins and the stage manager's own inexpert sewing;
•	“Modern” orchestra level seats with a piece of cloth instead of anterior padding, with 55-year-old crumbling wooden seats on the two balcony levels;
•	Curtains, flies, and backdrops held suspended by a cord attached to a piece of plywood held to the floor by assorted lead weights. .
Sound familiar? The part of the Administration Building in question is Bovard Auditorium, which lies untouched today from a renovation campaign begun last year through the School of Performing Arts, said Ed Carnes, university stage manager.
“One of the main problems w'ith improving Bovard is that it’s an all-university facility. As such, it belongs to no one and no one is therefore responsible for it,” Carnes said.
"The Department.of Operations and Mainte-
nance pays the bills, and the Student Activities Center schedules its use. The division of authority does the auditorium no good.”
Carnes said renovation plans usually deal with cosmetic aspects ofthe auditorium, such as quality of seats, carpets and outer curtains, rather than in more basic technical areas.
“Even some ofthe more recent improvements were done poorly. The orchestra seats have no backing. The carpeting now in the orchestra section was put in poorly as well,” he said.
The improvements needed most, Carnes said, are the following:
•	New doors at all exits. “The present ones are hard to get out of, easy to break into. We’ve got no security whatsoever with doors that can be easily jerked open in the balcony and out front.”
•	An addition to the backstage facilities. The lack of space for performers is one of the most crucial aspects of use of Bovard, he said. “Adding space for about 20 feet behind the back wa 11 should be enough,” Carnes said. At present there are two above-ground dressing rooms and a few assorted rooms underneath the stage adjacent to the orchestra pit.
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spection conducted on Friday. He said the 80% rate of corrections was a very good record of compliance, but some ofthe corrections still need to be made or repeated.
In a case where corrections are not made, the fire department may give an extension of the deadline or they may take the violators to court. Klarin would not say what course of action the fire department would take with the dwellings that are still in violation.
Because the fire inspection records are not public, he could not release the individual inspection reports.
The dwellings inspected on Friday had been inspected three weeks ago, and Friday was the last day to correct the violations, Klarin said.
The Kappa Alpha Order Fraternity house at 700 W. 28th street was one of the houses inspected. Klarin said that rubbish containers and piles in the area that could cause a hazard were also inspected.
The fire department has a regular program of inspection and reinspection of all dwellings in the area, Klarin said.
In December, the fire depart-
ment found violations in the Theta Xi Fraternity house and the Alpha Omicron Pi sorority house. The sorority house was upgraded by adding smoke detectors and making access to exits easier. The fraternity house is going to demolish and rebuild the substandard part of the house.
The fire inspectors also found Elisabeth Von KleinSmid residence hall in violation ofthe fire codes. The university was not cited for the violations because it voluntarily solved the problem. Inspector Erich Kohler of the fire department said the doors in the fire stairs at the residence hall were being propped open, causing a dangerous situation if a fire broke out. He recommended the university put attachments on the doors so they could be kept open in normal situations. If a fire did start, the sensors on the doors would automatically close them.
Inspector Kohler had been doing the inspections to assist the members of the fire station who have the responsibility of performing the regular inspections.
WEAK FOUNDATION —A seat in Bovard Auditorium is fastened to the concrete by plaster instead of the conventional screws. DT photo by Denis Wolcott.
HEAVYWEIGHTS—Curtains are held suspended by a cord attached to a piece of plywood held to the floor by lead weights. DT photo by Denis Wolcott.
Low-income housing project near completion
By David Rosenbaum
Staff Writer
Apartments near the university for 151 low-income families will be completed about October, and people are already beginning to apply to the developer to live in the rent-subsidized units. The apartments, at Jefferson Boulevard and Orchard Street, are part of the Hoover Redevelopment Project, as are 171 units for senior citizens under construction at Vermont Avenue and Jefferson Boulevard.
Watt Industries is developing the family units. The rents will be subsidized by Section 8 ofthe Housing and Community Development Act of 1974. Persons who feel they qualify for low-income status and are interested in living in the apartments should contact Watt Industries at 829-4661.
When the two apartment projects are completed, the Hoover Redevelopment Project will have neared its end, said Leonard Wines, associate vice president and executive director of university relations.
Five parcels of land remain to be developed by the agency. Two of the parcels lie immediately north of the Union Station at Exposition Boulevard and Vermont Avenue. Development of one of these has been negotiated by Esquire Development Co., which proposes to construct a recording studio and office complex, Lewis said.
The Hoover Community Hotel Development Corp. is currently negotiating with the redevelopment agency fora parcel immediately north of the Hilton Hotel on Figueroa Street.
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