YOU MEET DIFFERENT TYPES’
More than transportation in store for bus riders
ALL ABOARD — For many students, commuting has become a way of life. For this woman, riding the bus is the best solution to getting to the university. DT photo by Marsha Traeger.
Number of humanities majors here decreases
By Merilynne Cohen
Staff Writer
A nationwide decrease in the number of undergraduate majors in the humanities and social sciences may be due to the current emphasis for students to obtain vocational skills guaranteeing employment after college, according to two deans here.
The number of students majoring in the humanities at the university also decreased, following the nationwide trend. According to figures given by David Malone, dean of humanities, a decrease of about 25% in undergraduate majors has occurred.
The figures also show that contrary to the amount of undergraduate majors, the number of graduates in the humanities has gone up about 20%.
Despite the national figures, the social sciences majors at the university increased. Joseph Kertes, assistant dean of social sciences, said the division had an addition of approximately 150 undergraduate majors, while graduate majors have remained about the same.
“The increase is a large one for the social sciences. It is probably due to the general increase in enrollment at the university.” he said.
The decrease in the humanities division of undergraduate majors could be due to the attitudes of students today.
“Students of the post-Vietnam era are much more career-oriented and are less concerned with abstract ideas,” Malone said.
Malone said the current
surplus of public school teachers may have discouraged many students from majoring in education, a division of humanities.
The humanities division is trying to make its programs more appealing to students by adding some vocational skills, such as computer programming, to its curriculum.
“What students don’t realize is that a major in the social sciences or humanities is excellent preparation for further study in those fields or for students wanting to go to professional schools or to other areas,” Malone said.
By Diane Kessler
Commuting is a way of life for many students. Of those who do commute, mostdoso by car or carpool, but there is a growing number of students riding the RTD bus. Some commute only 2 or 3 miles, while others travel daily from as far away as La Puente, Thousand Oaks. San Gabriel or West Hollywood.
According to the USC Student Travel Bureau approximately 550 students renew their passes each month. The passes are sold beginning on the 15th of each month and are sold for the next 15 days. Staff, handicapped and senior citizen passes are also available from their office.
“Since it is more economical more students are taking the bus all the time,” said Kathleen Kelly, codirector of the bureau.
Getting the initial pass is the greatest obstacle for most students. A form must be filled out and verified by the registrar’s office. Then, a student must have his or her picture taken before the pass is issued. Each month the pass must be renewed for $12. It is good for unlimited riding, eliminating some of the incovenience of bus transfers from one route to another.
Each day begins a little differently for Sally Martinez. a junior, than it does for most students. She has to be ready to catch her first bus at 6:30 a.m. to arrive on time to her first class at 8:30 a.m. She travels 60 miles a day by bus. Martinez has been commuting by bus for two years.
"Sometimes it's frustrating but you get used to it.” she said, referring to the bus that she had just missed by only a matter of moments. "During rush hour it is okay. I just sit here watching all the traffic and I'm glad it’s not me.
"I don't know what I would do if I had a car. I see all the hassles of daily traffic, but at times like now (midday), I could be home in 20 minutes, whereas now I have to wait 30 minutes for the next bus.” Many students said it is the most economical means of transportation available to them.
Irene Roe commutes from Thousand Oaks in the Conejo Valley. It is a 90-mile round trip bus ride each day. “I was spending $3 a day on gas. and it just wasn't worth it,” Roe said. She rides the bus for approximately 2 to hours per day.
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Daily § Trojan
University of Southern California
Volume LXXII, Number 59	Los Angeles, Californio	Thursday, January 5, 1978
Social Security, minimum wage reforms to raise university costs
By Mike Schroeder
Staff Writer
The university will face increased costs in the wake of recent federal action in the areas of Social Security and minimum wages, said John Curry, assistant to the executive vice-president.
The largest effect will come in the area of increased employer contributions to Social Security, though the exact amount is yet to be calculated.
“The cost to the university caused by the House-Senate version of the Social Security reform bill Carter said he will sign could be between $300,000 and $400,000,” Curry said.
He said the bill, expected to become law. is not as costly as other proposals presented within Congress.
“Both the Senate and the House formed versions of the bill, of which the House version was least expensive,” Curry said.
The final version of the bill came closest to the House version, which was “not as horrible” as it could have been, he said.
A cost assessment of the new Social Security regulations is expected to be available within a week from the office of H. Edward Matveld, the university controller.
In the five-year budget forecast formulated by the office of the executive vice-president and the vice-president of finance, the government’s action was estimated to range near $1.9 million.
When President Carter signed into law the largest increase in the minimum wage in November
1977. it also tacked on an additional $500,000 to the university’s budget over the next three years.
Using rough estimates, Curry said the minimum wage law would increase the university's wage costs nearly 553.340 alone this year.
Over the next,three fiscal years (July to June for the university) these costs will range from $138,150 in 1978-79 to $155,390 in 1979-80.
As the rate of increase decreases in 1980-81, the cost to the university will dip slightly to S155.370.
The new wage law applies to many hourly employees on campus, and will increase their pay to $2.65 from the former $2.50.
In forecasting the budgets of the university for the five years from 1977-78 to 1981-82. the administrative offices had the minimum wage figures available to compute from, and were able to include the estimated costs within the forecast.
Not so with the Social Security increases. Curry said. The final bill will be included in the forthcoming budgets, but not in the forecast as a firm figure. The first of these will come later this month when the administration presents a second draft of its tentative budget for 1978-79 to the Resource Management and Planning Committee of the President’s Advisory Council.
The commission is currently studying the administration’s first draft, and has presented a midcourse report on it's findings to the full council, which in turn unanimously approved it (with a few changes) for presentation to President John R. Hubbard.
Rain, rain and more rain floods buildings, forces sandbagging
By Gigi Golden
Staff Writer
More than an inch of rain fell on campus Wednesday, flooding several buildings and stairwells and requiring the attention of about 35 Operations and Maintenance workers.
Workers were clearing drains, digging trenches and using water vaccums to clear water from flooded basements and low buildings. Some of the buildings involved were the Physical Education Building, Student Administrative Services, Harris Hall and the basement of Heritage Hall, said Kathy Wen-tink, dispatching supervisor for the Physical Plant.
One of the biggest incidents of flooding was in the Student Activities Center, where water poured into the Grill from an outside stairwell. At one point, four to five inches of water covered the floor of the Grill.
From there, the water traveled down a stairway to the Student Activities Center. “It was like a waterfall coming down the stairs.” said Jean Hartley, operations manager of the activities center.
Hartley said workers would probably end up sandbagging the area until tomorrow.
Wentink said Harris Plaza residence hall was also flooded because beer cans were clogging the storm drains.
Much of the flooding occurred during the heaviest period of rainfall, from 11:15 a.m. to noon. During that time, more than l/z inch of rain drenched the Los Angeles Civic Center, according to the National Weather Bureau.
Clearing the buildings required workers from three areas of Operations and Maintenance — custodial services, utility and transportation and carpentry.
These workers were laboring overtime trying to secure the buildings for the night. Wentink said this involved "making sure all drains are in operation and sandbags are applied when necessa ry."
Nq let-up in the rain is forecast. The National Weather Bureau predicts heavy showers locally today.