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Volume XCIV, Number 2	University of Southern California	Wednesday, September 7, 1983
Football seating number 1 item, senate reports
By Jeffrey Tylicki
Assistant City Editor
The Student Senate has announced that its top priority this year will be to continue efforts to pursuade the administration to reconsider its controversial decision last year that will eventually lead to students losing over 1,500 prime football seats to wealthy university donors.
The announcement came after the senate's annual retreat, which is designed to formulate the body's top priorities for the academic year. The senators decided upon an agenda of twelve items for the year with student football seating heading he list, said Bill Lilia, senate president.
Lilia said he was amazed at the unity of the members of the senate on this issue. “Although they represent a diverse group of interests, it seems that they were in total agreement on the coliseum issue," Lilia said. "The senate told me to start working to show support against the administration's plan (of moving the student section off the fifty-yard line next year in favor of special donors to the university.)"
"Last year (University President James) Zumberge said phases two and three of the seating plan would be implemented only if it became necessary," Lilia pointed out. "(The senate) wants to work with the administration in the next few months to find if it is necessary."
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Administration acts on teachers' test results
How schools rank on teacher skills test			
School Number	tested	% Passing	
Stanford University	85		97
UC Berkeley	444		85
Occidental College	68		83
UCLA	643		80
CSU,San Diego	899		76
CSU, Long Beach	1,005		69
CSU, Northridge	729		68
Cal Poly, Pomona	305		67
USC	263		65
Pepperdine University	62		61
CSU, Los Angeles	754		47
Freshmen hit campus with good credentials
By Joann Galardy
Assistant City Editor
When the final profile of this year's freshman class is completed in early October, it will reflect a slight increase in the academic quality of the new students, said Kathryn Forte, director of admissions and financial aid.
The average GPA among the 2,800 incoming freshmen is 3.4, while the average SAT score was 1040.
The most noticeable improvement in the quality of this freshman class is the 25 percent decrease in the number of students admitted through the freshman access program, the academic counseling group set up to monitor the progress of students who are below standard admissions criteria.
Said Forte, "We filled the class with better qualified students," a reflection on the increased efforts of both faculty and students to attract the more qualified high school seniors.
The recruiting activities included trips to high schools around the country, help from alumni in different parts of the country, campus orientation sessions and the Freshmen Friends program, where current university students write letters to prospective students. It is estimated the admissions office sponsored 42 events in an effort to bring to the university the best and the brightest college-bound students.
Forte also noted a 1 percent increase in out-of-state students, particularly from Texas, Florida and Illinois. One explanation Forte offered for the increase was the university had football games in each of these areas during the last football season.
Another reason for the increase is that state students also have higher SAT scores, on average, than California students. While specific statistics are still unavailable, Forte noted the dif-(Continued on page 5)
By Sheldon I to
Staff Writer
University administrators and officials in the school of education, shocked and frustrated because of poor test results of university graduates seeking teaching credentials, are now taking steps to both improve future examination scores and tighten up entrance requirements.
Only 65 percent, 171 of the 263 university graduates who took the basic skills exam for prospective teachers, passed, according to a report released last month by the State Commission on Teacher Credentialing.
The 65 percent figure compares poorly with the performances of such schools as Stanford, which had the highest passing rate at 97 percent, and the various campuses of the University of California, all of which had passing rates of at least 80 percent.
Since Feb. 1 all new teachers and administrators have had to pass the California Basic Educational Skills Test (CBEST) to get credentialed by the state. The exam consists of three sections that test prospective teachers' proficiency in reading, writing and math.
Cornelius Pings, provost and senior vice-president for academic affairs, refused to comment on the university's test results.
However, John Orr, dean of the school of education, called the university's 65 percent passing rate a "terrible statistic," adding that no one at the school of education was pleased with the results.
Orr said that the situation is "frustrating" because the school has no idea who was tested and therefore who was being counted as university-related candidates.
"Apparently, anyone who ever received a BS or BA degree from USC was placed in USC's column, whether or not that person had elected even a single course in the school of educa-
tion," said Orr in a statement sent to the university administration last month.
"To cite an extreme case," Orr said, "we know of one person who was listed in our column who completed a degree in history at USC in 1949, who subsequently raised a family, and who is now completing a credential program at one of the state universities."
Orr said he understands that future reports will distinguish the CBEST scores of students in the school of education from those who have simply received degrees from the university.
"If such is the case, we will then be able to respond to our students' CBEST scores in a much more intelligent fashion," Orr said.
The university's poor showing focused attention mainly on the school of education, a fact that frustrates Orr.
"The school of education is not in the business of instructing its students in mathematics and English (the subject areas tested in CBEST)," Orr said. "Indeed, most of our students have already completed their studies in these areas before the school of education has any substantial contact with them."
He did not, however, blame the university's general education programs for the poor results.
"I think the university has been taking very positive steps in recent years to tighten up the math and English require-(Continued on page 5)
Construction alters vital services
By Mary Beckwith
Staff Writer
The ongoing construction around the University Park campus is causing many modifications in regular student services, inducting the tram, security, and handicapped student access.
One of the more obvious inconveniences to returning students is the absence of the USC Tram Stop at Tommy Trojan. This stop has been relocated to the comer of 35th Street and Hoover Boulevard. To cause as little disruption as possible, there have been no other changes in the tram schedule.
Steven Ward, chief of university security, said officers have had to restrict the use of their patrol cars in areas heavily populated with students, such as the Student Union and Commons area. Ward said that University Security is continuing nightly routine patrols in the construction areas, but as yet there have been no problems with vandalism or theft. There has also been increased awareness for the safety hazards concerning bicyde traffic.
John Pickering, safety officer in the Radiation and Fire Safety Office, said his fire safety program has been intensified to insure the safety of the construction sites and buildings involved with renovations.
Pickering, whose office deals with the pre-planning of fire routes, stated, "We have an extreme problem now with planning routes to possible fires."
Because of this problem, the radiation and fire safety office has had to heighten its pre-planning program, along with revising fire-evacua-tion plans for construction related buildings. Ahmansen Center for Biological Research, Sdence Hall, and the Organic Chemistry Wing have been among those buildings with new evacuation plans.
(Continued on page 9)