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Volume XCIV, Number 8 University of Southern California Thursday, September 15, 1983
Universities' proposal: complete veto power over NCAA rulings
By Jeffrey Tylicki
Assistant Gtv Editor
In an attempt to gain tighter control of intercollegiate sports, a committee of university presidents and chancellors has drawn up a proposal which would create a powerful board of college presidents with complete veto power over the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
The second highest official of the NCAA said in this week's "Chronicle of Higher Education" the proposal was undemocratic.
John R. Davis, secretary-treasurer of the NCAA said the plan would vest too much power in the hands of the proposed "Board of Presidents."
The plan was drafted at an August meeting of the American Council on Education's Committee on Division I Athletics, composed of several heads of universities, including University President James Zumberge and UCLA Chancellor Charles Young.
The proposal, mailed last week to chief executive officers of the 787 member institutions of the NCAA for input, begins with a lengthy preamble explaining the need for academic governance of the intercollegiate sports program.
In this introduction the authors accuse the NCAA of often abandoning educational interests in favor of "winning games, boosting attendance, and maximizing television revenue."
"University presidents have a capability and a special responsibility to make certain that athletics are kept in proper perspective and that academic standards and values remain paramount," the proposal says. "Few people would assert that many presidents have been successful or even particularly energetic in trying to control athletic abuses.
Nevertheless, it is no easy task to figure out how these officials can exert more decisive influence."
The rest of the proposal tells how the ACE plan would give university presidents and chancellors direct control over the NCAA. It calls for the formation of a board composed of 36 chief executive officers of NCAA institutions, who would be selected by a complicated nominating process and serve three-year terms on the board.
The board would have the power to "veto or suspend rules that have a detrimental effect on academic interests ... or to take steps needed to further the educational aims of the member institutions."
The proposal continues, "The board itself would be the final judge of whether an issue lay within its proper purview."
Richard Perry, university athletic director, said of the proposal, "If I understand it correctly, it makes no sense at all."
He explained that the actions at the NCAA annual convention represent a democratic forum to present issues before the body.
"It seems unreasonable that the votes of over 700 institutions could be overruled by a select committee. Why even go to the convention?" Perry asked.
The NCAA headquarters in Kansas has not come out with an official statement on the proposal. Ted Tow, assistant executive director of the NCAA, said the ACE has met with NCAA officials to ask for input on the question.
At the present time, a committee is looking at alternative plans and developing a response to the council's proposal.
(Continued on page 2)
University corrects asbestos violations
By Joann Galardy
Assistant Gty Editor
After receiving a citation this summer for asbestos violations, the university is keeping a watchful eye on asbestos levels and planning an inspection of each of the buildings on campus to determine the severity of the problem.
The California Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued the citation on June 8, following a complaint by a university employee and a Daily Trojan investigation. The university was given until Aug. 8 to make the necessary corrections.
Asbestos, an off-white, fibrous mineral, is a cancer-causing material often used as insulation in air-conditioning and heating ducts. It was used extensively in building construction during the 1950s and 60s, before its carcinogenic effects were fully known.
Cal/OSHA had found major violations involving waste and pipe insulation in the dental school and the Petroleum and Chemical Engineering building, with less hazardous conditions present in several other buildings.
As a result, the exposed asbestos has been either removed or sealed and the university is now embarking on a building-by-building inspection of asbestos levels, especially in those facilities constructed before 1975.
"All buildings built before 1975 may have had asbestos as part of the building materials," said John Pickering, university safety officer. "Asbestos is a good insulator and has been used a lot around hot-water tanks and in duct areas."
While asbestos is a good insulator, it is also a health hazard. Particles can get into the air and, when inhaled by people, can cause such diseases as lung cancer, asbestosis, and Mesothelioma.
Asbestos has not been used as frequently in the newer buildings, Pickering said, adding that rubber-type products and fiberglass are being used instead.
"It is perfectly reasonable and legal to keep it if it is not airbom," Pickering said. "Our goal is to know exactly where it is around campus."
The university is currently conducting tests to find out the level of asbestos present in the air.
"In order to determine the level of asbestos in the air, you take an air sample through a filter and send it to a chemistry lab where the sample is looked at through a microscope," said Cal/OSHA district manager, Ed Grellert.
The law requires that corrective action be taken when the level reaches five parts per million, Pickering said. He added that the university will take action if the level reaches one part per million.
Pickering further emphasized that university employees who work with asbestos take all necessary precautions.
"In general, we use a protective device for the respiratory system and some-times we use disposable clothes and gloves, " Pickering said.
(Continued on page 6)
Student political groups hope to eliminate apathy
Liberal faction urges forums to encourage open thought
By Mark Lowe
Assistant Qty Editor
Liberal student groups have had traditionally short life spans at this university. This semester, however, a new group is developing that hopes to survive and to stir up political life on campus.
The Progressive Student Coalition, still in its embryo stage, will hold its first meeting Monday. Organizers hope to bring students together to discuss ideas and encourage alternative thinking.
Eric Melcher, organizer of the coalition, said the group will "promote progessive and internalized change" and "provide a thoughtful outlet for anger and frustration over world events."
"We want to take all the energy youths in general have today, and centralize that and put it to doing something, rather than reacting," he said.
The group, once established, will hold forums with other groups on campus and try to set up dialogues between students on political and sooal issues.
Its goal is to break up the layer of political apathy and social conservativism that many people believe exists on this campus and bring students out of the "small isolated sphere" of university life.
Melcher started organizing
the group after he arrived at the university and was "shocked" that this school does not have a "free-flow atmosphere" intellectually.
"USC doesn't have that kind of motivational thought," he said. "It seems everything is socially and athletically (oriented), and intellectually, it's a very narrow pursuit."
The intellectual activities at the university that do exist, he said, are geared mainly toward studying for classes, and not toward discussion or debate of ideas or viewpoints.
The coalition, though, will have to deal with the legacy of such liberal groups as the Alliance for Survival and Students for Economic Democracy, both of which have not fared well at this university.
Students for Economic Democracy, which existed from the spring semester of 1981 through the spring semester of 1982, disbanded after its membership declined and involvement in the group diminished.
"In the spring of 1982, people weren't involved any more, so the group just fizzled out," said Sonia Savou-lian, a former member of the SED.
She said at the time the group dissolved, no new members were entering, and only the same people were attending the meetings. Fin-
ERIC MELCHER
ally the group "got taxing on your time."
Savoulian speculated the idea of economic democracy
—	which advocates greater participation by workers in the running of corporations
—	itself may have turned students away, although the group branched out into issues such as nuclear weapons and U.S. policy in El Salvador.
"There really are a lot of liberal students on this campus," she said. "I don't know why they don't get involved."
She noted that "politics on this campus is generally apathetic."
"College people are just lazy," said Dan Canales, a member of the university (Continued on page 3)
Conservative youth body tries to rebuild membership
By Annette Haddad
Investigations Editor
In the 1960s, when campus protests and long-hair defined the mood of the day, a very conservative group of students, calling themselves Young Americans for Freedom, claimed they were discriminated against and denied the right to form an organization on campus. Now, almost 20 years later, in the days of Reagan and crew cuts, the YAF is again eagerly soliciting new members on campus.
A national organization that calls itself more conservative than the Republican Party, YAF was formed in 1960 by writer and editor William F. Buckley. It now claims 80,000 members in over 500 chapters across the country.
beral Daily Trojan, said the new YAF organizer, Noel Macaley, a second year law student.
"The atmosphere here nee the late 1960s has been very liberal," Macaley said. "It has been a detriment to conservativism."
Macaley said he hopes that, this time around, YAF can attract a few hundred members.
Though there was a resurgence of the conservative movement in 1979, a university chapter of YAF never got off the ground, he said.
YAF became very popular nationally in the early 1960s but gradually lost its momentum as civil rights and liberal student movements grew in size.
Macaley said YAF provided
'The atmosphere here since the late 1960s has been very liberal. It has been a detriment to conservativism.'
— YAF organizer, Noel Macaley
YAF was active on this campus in the late 1960s and early 1970s, but died down in the late 1970s.
During its heyday, the campus chapter endorsed Sen. Barry Goldwater, of Arizona, for President and circulated an undergound newspaper to offer an alternative to what they considered was a very li-
an alternative for students who were becoming dismayed with various liberal and leftist student organizations.
"We still exist," Macaley said. "Look what happened to SDS (Students for a Democratic Society, a popular liberal organization in the (Continued on page 3)