R.A. shares memories of slain foreign student
By Jed Shay
Petter Pettersen was killed Friday night while walking back to school. He was a resident of Trojan Hall on the floor where I am a resident adviser. I interviewed Petter for a journalism assignment two weeks before he was shot. We on the floor are deeply hurt and still in shock about his death. The irrationality of it is hard to grasp. As his friends, my residents and I decided to submit this now so that others can know what a special person Petter was.
He came because this is the land of opportunity, where dreams come true. He had already embraced the United States as his new home.
Like many of the international students at the university, Petter Bech Pettersen, 19, of Tonsberg, Norway, was here to take advantage of the broad course choices, the diverse cultures and the climate of Los Angeles.
“I've become completely intoxicated with Los Angeles,” he said. “One day I spent 14 hours walking around
Los Angeles — in my slippers, with no socks. I just started walking.
“I walked all the way to Hollywood from USC. I like walking to have time to contemplate life and to meditate. You see very much when you walk.”
Pettersen wanted to buy some shoes, but didn’t find any he liked
on his adventurous walk. He did buy an album and stop to eat at McDonalds. He wandered Hollywood and Sunset boulevards, saw the movie “VVolfen” , which he didn’t really like, and looked at the stars’ footprints outside of Mann’s Chinese
Theater. Then he walked Alvarado Street back to campus, arriving home at 1:30 in the morning.
“I’ve been told how bad the neighborhood around the school is, but I wasn’t worried. I never felt threatened,” he said.
Pettersen was a business major but was studying various topics rather
than strictly business courses.
“My dream since I was 10 was to be a business executive,” he said.
The diversity Pettersen found here was one of the major reasons he chose this university rather than others he had considered, such as New
York University and Washington University in St. Louis.
“I could have gone to a business school in Norway, but I would have been able to only take business courses. It is important to me to have a general education background. That is something I would not get in Norway,” he explained.
When questioned about the cost of attending this university, Pettersen smiled and his green eyes widened.
“There is a glory' in coming to the U.S.,” he said. “The investment is well worth it.”
Pettersen was receiving substantial support from the Norwegian government for his education. His countrymen look highly on their students going to the United States or Western Europe for higher education.
Pettersen was the first in his family to study in the United States. His elder brother is entering a Norwegian Technical University. His younger sister may choose to study abroad, (Continued on page 3)
‘I’ve become completely intoxicated with Los Angeles. One day I spent 14 hours walking around Los Angeles — in my slippers, with no socks. I just started walking. I walked all the way to Hollywood from USC. I like walking to have time to comtemplate life and to meditate.’
ATTRACTS NEWCOMERS
Housing loans aid faculty
By Dave Fisher
Staff Writer
The Office of Administration has instituted a housing assistance program in an attempt to attract faculty and senior staff to the university.
The program, which was initiated in January and replaced a similar program which had been in effect since June 1979, enables newly recruited faculty and staff members to obtain a second trust deed loan for up to $20,000 to assist them in buying a house or condominium in the Los Angeles area.
New faculty and senior staff are defined by the program as those people who have been at the university for less than three years and have not yet bought housing in the area.
“It’s a fairly active program that has helped quite a few faculty and staff (members) purchase homes in the area, and some money is still available,” said Marilyn Baker, assistant vice president of Administration.
The program, which is funded by endowment, has provided almost $1 million to new faculty and staff to assist them in making down payments on housing units.
“The original intention was to attract faculty and staff (members) who would not otherwise come to Southern California because of housing costs or a reduction in the quality of their housing,” Baker explained. “The program is an effort to recruit excellent and highly qualified faculty and even deans by offering them the opportunity to obtain a loan to help them purchase a house.”
“We want to help the new faculty or staff member who would normally be forced to lower his housing standards by coming here,” she said. “For instance, if he was a full professor at the University of Illinois before coming here, he might have had a fairly large house. The only comparable housing he might be able to afford here would be a one- or two-bedroom house or condominium.
(Continued on page 9)
Former professor to face hearing on assault charges
By Wendell Mobley
Staff Writer
Michael Fody, a former university professor who was arrested on charges of assault with intent to commit rape, was subpoenaed for an Oct. 29 preliminary hearing, said Southwest Police Detective Greg Monroe, one of the officers who is currently investigating the case.
It will be determined at the hearing whether there is enough evidence to send the case to superior court where a jury will rule on the verdict.
Monroe said he believes there is “definitely enough evidence” to send the case to superior court.
The former Spanish and Portuguese department professor was arraigned Sept. 23.
Fody surrendered to police by prear-rangement on Sept. 23, according to Da-
vid G. Epstein, the attorney representing Fody. The attorney said Fody had been informed earlier that he would be served with a warrant for his arrest on that day.
There seemed to be some discrepancy regarding the date the incident occurred. Epstein said it occurred Aug. 28 while Monroe claimed it took place on Aug. 21.
Monroe said the alleged attack occurred at 5:30 a.m. Fody reportedly called the alleged victim at her Portland Street apartment and asked to speak to her sister. Fody reportedly knew the alleged victim’s sister through the Spanish and Portuguese department.
Fody is said to have explained to the alleged victim that he wanted to talk to someone after being told that the sister (Continued on page 8)
Staff photo by Pamela Veasey
AVID FAN — Gypsy Boots, an unofficial university cheerleader, advertises both his age and the college which holds the nation's top football ranking.
trojan
Southern California	Tuesday, September 29, 1981
Volume XCI Number 20	University of