Seventy-Fifth Year of Publication
dMHy trojan
1912 — 1986
Volume Cll, Number 32
University of Southern California
Wednesday, October 15, 1986
Members of the Skid Row community put on shows in the hopes of bridging the gap between themselves and the rest of Los Angeles.
Skid Row theater group challenges stereotypes
By Angela Counts
Staff Writer
This is the image: winos, drug addicts and psychos. This is the reality: people who have been kicked out of mental institutions, turned out by their families, or who have just walked away from society. These are the more than 30,000 residents of Los Angeles' Skid Row.
Who are these individuals — the "bag ladies" and the "bums?" What stories do they have to tell, and why should we be concerned?
"The easier way for me to tell you who the people on Skid Row are is to tell you who they aren't," said Sunshine, 36, a homeless resident of Los Angeles. "The people on Skid Row aren't the people who put razor blades and pins in Girl Scout cookies. The people on Skid Row by and large cannot afford razor blades, so you know they ain't going to put them in the food. Hungry people are not going to waste food,"
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Greek Senators desire better lighting along University Avenue toward Row
Councilman will not pressure city for safer walkway
By Bryon Okada
Staff Writer
Two Greek senators want better lighting on a major thoroughfare to the Row and say the city isn't doing enough about it.
Senators Daren Friesen and Anthony Gatti say they are dissatisfied with the lack of action on the part of Robert Farrell, city councilman for the 8th district, in the repair of damaged lighting fixtures along University Avenue.
Friesen and Gatti say the lights pose a security problem on the heavily traveled stretch near Troy Hall.
They said that they have been trying to get Farrell to use his pull in dty government for the past three weeks to facilitate the repair of the street lights, but to no avail.
"We believe that Robert Farrell has not been as helpful as he could have been," Friesen said. "The councilman has not been as receptive as he is to his other constituents."
Friesen said Farrell had not even spoken with them.
"We've pretty much exhausted all our avenues," Gatti said.
Friesen and Gatti resorted to personally calling the Department of Water and Power, who repair minor lighting problems for the dty, and some response has been generated.
Mickey Walker, a supervisor at the department, said one of their workers, looked at the lighting problem and fixed a faulty drcuit last Thursday. Nevertheless, the lights would not turn on.
Walker said that an additional repairman was scheduled to examine the wiring last night, and if the problem persists, others would be sent.
The problem should be rectified within a day or two, he said.
The faulty lighting was brought to the senators' attention at the beginning of the fall semester by concerned students who had to walk in darkness from the campus to their homes.
"It's pitch black. . . .It’s really kind of scary to walk through there," Gatti said.
Complaints came from many students who live on the northern side of Jefferson Boulevard, not just from the Greek students, Gatti said.
Gatti said many of the students were afraid to walk down University Avenue, even though it is the easiest route from campus to many of the housing fadlities.
"There should be proper lighting," Gatti said. "There's no question."
Though a circuit was fixed, the light would not turn on.
Three weeks ago, Gatti said, he tried to get the dty to fix the lights. But when this did not occur, he attempted to get Farrell to lend his support to the issue.
They said that Farrell's aides sent in a request to the Bureau of Street Lighting, but that neither the aides nor the councilman used any influence to speed the repair process.
"We were doing all we could," Gatti said. "We're students but we're also part of the community."
However, Gatti said that he hopes the lighting issue can improve communications with area government figures. He said he would like to establish a formal line of communications between Farrell and the Student Senate.
Nine buildings to be renovated
Remodeling and revisions will meet city earthquake code
By Pablo Lopez
Staff Writer
Nine campus buildings are targeted for repair after university offidals were told they were in violation of Los Angeles' earthquake safety codes.
The buildings that will be upgraded to meet the dty's standards are Touton Hall, Harris Plaza Apartments, Bruce Hall, the Parkview Building, Student Adminstrative Services, Owens Hall, Stonier Hall, the LAS Building II and the Stop Gap Theater.
TTie university, reached an agreement with Los Angeles' Department of Building and Safety in June.
Paula Thomas, assodate vice president of business affairs, said the university plans to spend $4.18 million for the seismic upgrading and another $2.67 million for other minor remodeling.
Donald Hubka, a senior inspector from the dty's earthquake division office, said university offidals expedited the renovation plan after the dty threatened to dte the university for seismic code violations. The dtations could have led to demolition of the buildings, he said.
"I think we were going to dte two or three of them," Hubka said. "But they worked out a timetable to get the buildings corrected that was agreeable with us."
All nine buildings are made of unreinforced, brick masonry and were built before 1933, the year Los Angeles established its earthquake codes.
Thomas said the university waited to repair the buildings because of limited funds. She said the work should be completed by 1991.
According to dty records, the university has submitted plans to repair Touton Hall and Harris Plaza Apartments, which are vacant, except for a few offices in Touton.
The university also plans to submit repair proposals for Bruce Hall and the Parkview Building next month, said Ernie Muro, the dty seismic inspector assigned to the university.
Plans for the Student Administrative Services Building must be completed by next year, Muro said. By 1988, the dty must have the rest of the university's proposals in hand, he said.
Thomas said the university plans to upgrade Touton Hall and Harris Plaza Apartments so that they meet minimum earthquake codes first.
"These will not be permanent corrections, but it will buy the university some time until we figure out what we are going to do with (Touton and Harris Plaza)/' she said. The university had once planned to keep the two buildings to use as dormitories.
She said once the work is completed, the people working in Bruce Hall and the Parkview Building will be moved into Touton Hall and Harris Plaza until the work on their buildings is completed.
Most of the buildings that require repairs will have to be vacated, Thomas said.
The other seven buildings will be permanently upgraded to meet minimum earthquake standards, she said.
Currently, Sdence Hall, located at the south end of campus, is undergoing a total overhaul. With seismic code infractions already corrected, the remodeling, which included knocking down partitions and gutting the building, is costing the university $5.8 million, Thomas said.
Built in 1928 to house the College of Pharmacy, Sdence Hall was dted in September 1981 for earthquake code infractions. The citation said the three-story, unreinforced brick masonry was a "high risk."
Previously, the School of Accounting and the Emery Stoops and Joyce King-Stoops Education Library were also upgraded to meet minimum earthquake codes.
The School of Accounting building, built in 1923, was not dted but was in violation, Hubka said.
The university spent $150,000 for the accounting school's structural changes, plus $50,000 to fireproof it, said Thomas Coffin, director of Ar-
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Professors will aid victims of El Salvador earthquake
By Can Meisinger
Staff Writer
Two university professors and a teaching assistant have launched a campaign to raise money to aid the victims of last weekend's earthquake in El Salvador.
The week-long campaign, which begins today, is headed by Eliana do Masdmento, a T.A. in the political sdence department, Nora Hamilton, a political sdence major, and Alex Hybel, an international relations professor.
The political sdence department is working with Our Lady Queen of Angels, a local Catholic church. The money that it collects will be taken to the church on Oct. 23 and flown to El Salvador the next day by two church representatives, who will distribute the money directly to the Lutheran, Episcopal, and Catholic churches, and not to the Salvadoran government.
"When money goes to the government, it doesn't work. Supplies end up in the hands of people who don't really need it," do Masdmento said.
And do Masdmento said money is the best relief they can provide. "We don't have the facilities to collect the food and clothing that (the victims) will need," she said.
Although the efforts of do Masdmento, Hamilton and Hybel focus on finandal aid, Our Lady Queen of Angels plans to buy aspirin, bandages and bottled water to send to El Salvador. Water is vital due to the contamination of the water supply in the capital dty of San Salvador as a result of the earthquake, do Masdmento said.
Donations will be accepted all week in the Von KleinSmid Center, Room 327. Also, on Monday, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., there will be a table in front of Tommy Trojan where contributions can be made.
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