Dean still sought
Engineering school looking for leader
By Bobette Cohn
Staff Writer
The engineering school is still seeking to fill two of its most important positions in order to retain the prestige brought to the school by influential leaders who have died.
The engineering school has suffered through deaths of two fundamental officials during the past two years: Zohrab Kaprie-lian, the school’s former dean, and John Laufer, professor, chairman and founder of the department of aerospace engineering. Laufer taught at the university for 20 years, and died Aug. 30, 1983; Kaprielian worked as a university admin-strator for 19 years, and died Dec. 30, 1981.
A six-member committee has been appointed by Cornelius Pings, provost and senior vice president of academic affairs, to select a permanent dean for the school. The aerospace chairmanship will sit empty until the committee selects a new dean since one of the responsibilities of the dean is to reappoint an empty chairmanship.
Bill Steir, a member of the committee and co-chairman of the electrical engineering department, said, "The school is running smoothly without a dean, however, it would have more direction and sense of goals if it had one. If we had a dean he could settle situations faster, and that would help the department move in a forward motion."
Steir said "Kaprielian was a great dean because he raised a
small engineering department, and improved it into an outstanding faculty and research base, which now is in national prominence."
The school has 16 departments and 3,000 students, making it the largest school at the university.
Pings is currently acting as the dean until the committee finds an appropriate candidate. He took the position after the interim dean Gerstein went on a scheduled sabbatical.
"Pings is the provost. Being the provost, he will ultimately help to decide who the next dean will be," said Keith Un-capher, associate dean of the school. "Since he will help appoint the new dean, he is the natural choice for temporary dean."
Likewise, Richard Kaplan, professor in aerospace engineering, will perform the duties of chairman of the aerospace department until the committee finds a new dean.
The committee, headed by Leonard Silverman, consists of five university professors and Pings, and its function is to find an administrator who can fulfill the committee's and school's expectations and requirements.
"The school of engineering has suffered the lack of a dean for a long time, but it is necessary to take the time to find a proper replacement," Pings said. "The committee is looking for a person who can manage finances and capably administrate. The committee is discussing several different people for the job."
A separate three-man executive committee, established by Pings, helps to run the school (Continued on page 8)
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Volume XCIV, Number 60 University of Southern California Friday, December 2, 1983
4-6-1 record won't hamper fund-raising, officials say
By Joann Galardy
Assistant Qty Editor
Although football has always been a big part of university life for both students and alumni, university fund-raising officials are optimistic that financial support will not diminish because of the team's below-average performance this year.
"It is a hard situation to assess, but I think the loyalties to 'SC go much deeper than football games," said James Appleton, vice president of development.
The administration is counting on the alumni to look at the university as a whole rather than focusing on this year's football team that had a 4-6-1 record.
Statistics indicate that this has been the case in previous years. Bingham Cherrie, associate vice president of development, said records dating back to 1961 indicate no decrease in alumni support after the 1961 season in which John McKay's team had a 4-5-1 record.
A poor performance by the football team, however, is not without its financial disadvantages for the university.
"A losing season provides people who don't want to contribute with a new excuse," said Richard Nordin, director of annual giving and development.
He recalled one letter sent to him recently by a donor who was reneging on his original contribution because of the football team's losing record. The donor said he based the size of his annual contribution on the team's performance and now faced humiliation from his friends who support UCLA.
Nordin said that a person who regularly donates specifically to the athletic program [might be more adversely affected by the situation. However, this does not seem to concern Donald Winston, associate director of development for athletics.
"I don't think it will have any significant affect at all," Winston said. "Any loyal Trojan should not let the record of the
football team affect their giving."
He said that athletics would be less affected because of the expansion of the athletic department. While football is the most publicized sport, it is not the only sport which draws alumni giving.
Jay Berger, assistant vice president of development, said football fans respond to more than just the team's record. He said he believes the whole social atmosphere surrounding the games contributes to the feeling of pride which helps to perpetuate donations.
He added that football games help bring university supporters together and bridge the gaps of academic disciplines.
While Berger is optimistic that the alumni will tolerate one losing season, he foresees prob-
lems if the team continues to falter.
"I would guess if we had a losing season year after year, some of the novelty of the pomp and circumstance surrounding the team would wear off," he said.
Winston said he agrees with this opinion but added that Coach Ted Tollner deserves more time to work with his team before a judgment can be made.
"People don't want to support losers, but you must give a coach about three years to develop his own program," he said.
Appleton said the university has no intention of sitting around worrying about the future of the football team.
"(The university's) objective is to be the best at everything," he said. "But I don't think we spend our time worrying, we spend our time trying to make tilings better."
Neighbors to benefit from new job program
By Lawrence Toffler
Staff Writer
A federally subsidized job training program will begin at the university Monday after a two-month delay caused by budgetary haggling in Sacramento and Washington, D.C., university officials said.
The program, which has existed at the university since 1973 in many forms, will eventually train 51 economically or academically disadvantaged persons who live in the area surrounding the university. The jobs will primarily be clerical positions and computer-related positions.
Angelo Basco, director of the job development program, said that "all the politics" and the change from one program to another caused the delay.
The new program, called the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA), replaces the federally funded Comprehensive Employment Training Act (CETA), which expired in September.
Basco said that the transition period from the one legislation to the other was partially responsible for the delay.
Although he also pointed to the customary difficulties involved in the allocation of funds on the federal, state and local levels, Basco stressed that the main problem involved the novelty and the size of the JTPA program.
"The dty (and state governments) took two months to get the machinery in place to be able to manage this huge program," he said.
Barbara Pearson, a member of the state job training coordinating council, representing vocational education and service to youth, agreed with Basco, but added that although most states had advisory
(Continued on page 6)
Signs of Southern California winter are showing up all over campus. The traditional university Christmas tree, left, is being put up by Physical Plant workers. Above a fallen leaf — one of the few signs of the season change.