Daily i® Troian
Volume LXXII, Number 50
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, California
Monday, December 5, 1977
Crime and Punishment: Is justice served?
By Rori Benka
Randy was a sophomore when he joined five members of his fraternity in a panty raid on the sorority house across the street.
It was planned as a harmless prank, an ^RF,” until one girl suffered a broken wrist when she tried to tackle the pranksters. About $600 in damages was done to the sorority house door.
What was to follow in the next two years w as, for Randy, an unforgettable scrap with the university judicial system that only ended this fall.
The judicial system is seldom talked about; few students are aware of its power or its policies unless they’ve dealt with the panel firsthand.
There ar£ the horror stories — the students who have been suspended or expelled and the cases that have dragged on for years.
There are the supporters of judicial — the ones wrho believe it is a fair and viable organization that has important place-
ment at the university.
And there are the critics — both outraged students and skeptical judicial board members who have seen the snags in the panel’s operation.
Yet in the midst of concern about the panel are rooted serious implications about student
privacy rights and the power of the university to search and seize property from its students.
The Student Judicial System consists of three bodies: the University Judicial Council, which handles alleged violations of university rules and regulations; Row Judicial, which has jurisdiction over fraternities and sororities; and the Residence Halls Judicial, which deals with violations in-
volving residence halls.
In addition, there is a Student Behavior Appeals Panel, the campus supreme court that has jurisdiction over all appeals from student judicials, administration and from all decisions from academic hearings.
As outlined in SCampus, (pages 53-61) the role of judicial is a function of the university’s responsibility to maintain an academic environment and preserve the moral standards and criminal laws of the community.
But, the key contrast to the community is that the university is interested primarily in what Robert L. Mannes, dean for student life and judicial coordinator, calls “academic overtones.”
According to SCampus: “Recognizing its role in developing a sense of responsibility, the university uses admonition, example. counseling and guidance in preference to formal disciplinary proceedings.”
Listed as unacceptable behavior that may result in university disciplinary action are acts of dishonesty, acts inimical to the welfare of others and violations of criminal law’.
The majority ofthe violations, Mannes said, are bookstore thefts, card-throwing at football games, fights between fraternities and stolen or defaced university property.
But determining the guilt of a student who is brought before judicial isn't a problem area for the board, says Mike O'Donnell, a two-year member who will become chief justice in the spring. By the time an accused student reaches the panel, he has admitted guilt or clarified the incident with Mannes first.
"Our greatest problem is imposing sanctions. Dean Mannes wants us to maintain a consistency in the punitive action but it becomes difficult for the justices to agree sometimes,” O’Donnell said.
(continued on page 3)
l
DT photos by Paul Rodriguez.
Search for Bovard’s infamous eight ends
By David Hall
Staff Writer
I	have an obsession.
Not the variety of obsession that invariably drives one to commit bizarre, deviant acts. No, it’s not the stuff of which an asylum-dweller is made. But it is, nevertheless an obsession. It is a question that has burned in my psyche as often as I have walked down University Avenue- Who are those people who look over the campus from their perches high atop the Administration Building bell tower?
There are statues on the tower of eight men who have guarded the campus on all flanks since the building was completed in 1921.
But who are they?
So with the intentions of curing my mental anguish, and despite the cries of‘Nobody cares’ from those people whom I confronted with my idea, I decided to find out. My quest had begun.
The obvious first step was to go outside and look up. Although standing in the heavy-traffic zone outside of Bovard Auditorium, and looking skyward drew some questionable glances (and, no doubt, some confused glances upward), the tactic did prove partially successful.
Since the last name of each person is engraved just below his feet, I was off to a good start. Facing east toward Alumni Park were Wesley ("Hmm, probablyJohn Wesley, founderofthe Methodist Church”) and Simpson.
Because of the shadows at the time, it was difficult to make out the name of the figure closest to University Avenue and facing north toward Founders Hall. "Let’s see, L ... I... N .. .C ...” It was then I stopped myself and realized it might be a good idea to look at the face of the figure as well. Feeling somewhat ridiculous (amazingly for the first time while standing out there), I recognized the bearded man as Abraham Lincoln.
Standing to his left was the equally familiar figure of Theodore
Roosevelt.	(continued	on	page	2)
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