Volume XCIV, Number 20 University of Southern California Monday, October 3, 1983
Center invites controversy
ing resolution
Sting*
By Catalina Camia
Staff Writer
University administrators, responding to a Student Senate resolution that claimed the administration has been negligent in its handling of the proposed University Center, called it "unnecessary" and "inaccurate."
Controversy about the proposed $14.8 million center arose again Wednesday night when the senate passed the resolution, which criticized the university for not including students in all planning stages of the center's development.
The proposed center would include facilities for racquetball, basketball and volleyball, television viewing rooms, a Jacuzzi, sauna and study rooms for the students' use. Also included in the center would be office space.
Jon Strauss, senior vice president of administration, said, "It's unnecessary to
bring the issue up without first talking to me or any of the other administrators. No one has approached me, or anyone else that I know of, about the matter."
Jim Dennis, vice president of student affairs, said the resolution suggested bad faith on the administration.
'It is a misinformed response to frustration," Dennis said.
Lino Izzo, student senator and one of the authors of the resolution, said the timing was right for such a statement to be made. "I wanted to elicit a response and get some feedback instead of waiting until the middle of the year and find out that it wouldn't do any good," he said.
The resolution is yet another controversial development regarding plans for the center. As of April 1983, the center was still awaiting the final approval of the universi-
ty's Board of Trustees and President James Zumberge.
A report describing the reasons for the center's construction, its programs and uses, and the estimated final cost was submitted to Zumberge last spring, and was written and researched by a committee under the direction of Dennis.
Since that report was issued, very little has been done on the matter, Strauss said. Designs for the center were also submitted in the report, but have yet to be approved.
Another study has been ordered by Zumberge, to research other options and issues related to the university. This feasibility study would be under the direction of Strauss, and one of its primary issues is to find other options for funding.
The Student Senate passed a resolution in 1980 pledging at least 50 percent financial support for the center in return for student involvement in 50 percent of the center's (Continued on page 8)
Committee dictated facilities
By Jeffrey Tylicki
Assistant Qty Editor
Recent exchanges between the university administration and Student Senate over funding and governance of the proposed University Center indicate it may be months or years before the president and board of trustees approve any construction.
For a facility yet to receive administrative approval, an unbelievable amount of planning has already gone into the program and design of the estimated $14.8 million facility.
Details concerning the proposed four-story student recreation center are tentative, but the preliminary plans—
virtually gathering dust in the files of the architectural services office—show recreation facilities badly needed on campus.
“The student committee sat in on the center's planning and virtually dictated its design to us," said Thomas Coffin, university architect.
The plans originally called for the center to be built over the Olympic swimming pool, incorporating the pool into the facility. Coffin said his office is now considering building the center next to the pool, where the bleachers for the Olympic Games now stand.
"We're doing a comparison. We'll cost the two plans
out to see (which would be the most feasible)," Coffin said. "The pool is a very rigid structure to work around."
Building off the pool would give designers and builders more flexibility, Coffin added.
If architects decide to build the center over the pool, the first two levels would open onto it. This two-level portion would include a lobby and men's and women's locker rooms. A mezzanine above the pool would serve as an indoor running track that could convert into a grandstand area for athletic events held in the pool. Coffin said.
(Continued on page 2)
JOHN DAVID KIM
The group Jamano Kura ("Those who bring the message"), made up of Zak Diouf, Maurice Douso, Chui Odadi and Leroy Digs, plays for the 23rd anniversary of Nigeria's independence from British colonialism.
Metro Rail Project
Preliminary design us.c.
I
Two students treated for alcohol overdose
By David Jefferson
Staff Writer
Two freshmen were hospitalized for acute alcohol poisoning Thursday night after they were both found comatose following a party at the Phi Delta Theta fraternity house.
The two students, who were not members of the house, were released Friday from County-USC Medical Center after their blood alcohol content had stabilized after registering at dangerously high levels, University Security reported.
Disciplinary action is being considered against the Phi Delta Theta fraternity, said Jeremy Stringer, assistant vice president of student affairs, and Tom Pier-
nik, assistant director of Greek life.
Alex Byer, president of Phi Delta Theta, spoke with Stringer and Piemik Friday to determine the cause of the incident and establish what sort of alcohol the fraternity was serving at the party-
"We're trying to find out just what happened," Stringer said. "We expect all fraternities to act in a responsible manner. This situation makes us wonder if the house was acting responsibly."
He later added, "There is a chance we may review what happened for possible disciplinary action, but it's hard to say at this point."
(Continued on page 3)
trojan
Metro rail may run trolley near campus
By Joann Galardy
Assistant Qty Editor
A dramatic change is in store for Los Angeles with plans underway to bring an 18.6-mile subway system to the congested dty by 1990, a system that may include a trolley along Exposition Boulevard.
The proposed Metro Rail will be the backbone of a more extensive transportation system which eventually will give the Los Angeles basin a total of 150 miles of rapid transit.
Official planners working on the project say auxiliary trolley lines may branch from the Metro Rail into other parts of the southland, perhaps even near the university campus.
"We are looking at Exposition Boulevard as a possibility, but nothing has been decided/' said Steve Parks, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission. "If the system were to run along Exposition, students would be able to jump out of bed and onto a trolley."
Construction of the 18.6-mile, $3.4 billion Metro Rail is scheduled to begin next June, under the supervision of the city's Rapid Transit District. While plans for the extensions are tentative, it is possible that a trolley system could be constructed to run on Exposition Boulevard.
"The area the subway will run through is one of the most densely populated residential and industrial areas in the nation," said Marc Littman, a representative of the RTD news bureau.
The new system will link downtown L A with the Wilshire-Fairfax area. There will be 18 stations along the route which will take passengers past Union Station and the Civic Center, down Wilshire Boulevard to Fairfax, and then north to Hollywood. The system will then run through the Cahuenga Pass, to Universal City and stop at Chandler Boulevard in North Hollywood.
Metro Rail will carry an estimated 275,000 passengers daily and will be used to supplement rather than replace the current RTD system, which transports 1.5 million passengers daily.
Some RTD service will be discontinued, though, while other buses will be rerouted to provide transportation to the subway stations.
"We think people are ready for the new system," Littman said. "L A is growing by leaps and bounds and within a few years will be bigger than New York. Putting more buses on the road just won't do it."
But not everyone thinks a subway system is the answer to the city's transportation problems.
Congresswoman Bobbi Fiedler (R-Northridge) has long been opposed to the implementation of a subway system because of the financial commitment involved.
Fiedler, in Washington, D.C. for the House session, was unavail-
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North Hollywood
Holly-wood Blvd