Zumberge labels football sanctions ‘unjustified*
President does not rule out legal action against NCAA
JAMES H. ZUMBERGE
By Wendell Mobley
Assistant City Editor
President James H. Zumberge said Monday that the NCAA is attempting to make the university an “example” of its wrath and, in doing so, has overpenalized the institution for violating NCAA rules. ___
“The penalties levied against USC last Friday are unreasonable. inequitable and wholly unjustified for the number and nature of infractions involved,” Zumberge said at a press conference held in the Town and Gown.
“We also believe that the severity of the penalties reflects a measure of vindictiveness that is shocking for an organization with the stature of the NCAA,” he continued.
Zumberge said the university does not question the NCAA’s findings. “The dispute centers solely on the fairness of the sanctions,” he said.
Penalties Levied
On Friday, the NCAA handed down one of its stiffest penalties ever imposed when it prohibited the university football team from participating in bowl games during the academic years of 1982-83 and 1983-84. It also prohibited the televising of the university’s football games during 1983 and
1984. Television coverage will be allowed this fall.
In levying the penalties, the NCAA cited illegal ticket-selling and associated an assistant football coach with the dealings. It also cited the university for paying student athletes for work not done.
Marv Goux, the coach accused of selling tickets of the players, emerged from the hearings a less powerful man than he was before. He will not be allowed to recruit for two years, he will be stripped of his public relations role, he will not be able to supervise students off the football field and he will have his salary frozen.
The NCAA also barred 16 unnamed persons who bought the tickets from helping the university recruit football players during the probation period.
Legal action against the NCAA has not been outruled as a response to the penalties.
“We have not made that decision yet,” Zumberge said. “I’m just interested in getting a fair shake for the university.” The NCAA said the assistant coach deliberately violated NCAA rules by selling complimentary tickets to team members from 1971-79 at prices “in excess of their face value in order to provide large sums of cash to the team members who chose to participate in this arrangement.”
Charles Alan Wright, chairman of the NCAA Infractions Committee, said the university’s actions proved to be “the most flagrant example of willful circumvention of NCAA legislation.”
Wright continued, saying: “The committee believes such (Continued on page 3)
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Volume XCI Number 67
University of Southern California
Tuesday April 27, 1982
University to end negotiations for Orange County campus site
By Alan Grossman
Staff Writer
The university will seek to dissolve this week any agreement it may have with the Newport-Mesa School District concerning the Corona del Mar Elementary School, the proposed site for an Orange County satellite campus.
Jon Strauss, senior vice president of Administration, said Monday that since the university never actually signed the lease with the school district, it plans to break off negotiations Wednesday or Thursday.
“We never signed the lease and just wish them to acknowledge this.” Strauss said.
John Nicol, superintendent of schools for the Newport-Mesa School District, said Monday that plans for the university rental were in fact being made without a signed lease.
“At the university’s request, we allowed it to take control of the property before the lease went into effect,” Nicol said. "We permitted this as a favor to the university.”
Nicol said that the two sides of the issue would be meeting some time this week, but added that the school board has not determined how to deal with the situation and will discuss the issue privately.
The university had planned to open a satellite campus at
Corona del Mar Elementary School but recently had to abandon this plan. Strauss said that the university sought to find an alternative site within the school district but found that facilities which fit the university’s needs would not be vacant for more than a year.
He said that the university could not possibly wait that long, and that this prompted the decision to sever any agreement.
The two sides had informally entered into an agreement in November for the university to rent the Corona del Mar Elementary School which had closed last June due to declining enrollment.
But a community group made up of parents living near the school convinced the California Coastal Commission to deny the university a use permit for the facility last month after proving that the area could not support the program the university had in mind.
The commission's decision was a blow the university because the location had offered the university an economically feasible site for the campus. The plan also had pleased alumni from four schools, primarily the business school, who had been clamoring for an Orange County location which would offer nighttime refresher courses.
In the past, the schools of
business, engineering, law and continuing education rented costly hotel suites and existing classrooms to conduct classes. Currently, the business school has been forced to continue this practice at Corona del Mar (Continued on page 3)
Case outcomes determine possible NCAA lawsuit
By Eric Vincent
Staff Writer
The university’s decision on whether to take legal action against the NCAa will hinge upon the outcome of upcoming lawsuits by three other universities against the athletic association, President James H. Zumberge said Monday.
Currently, two lawsuits are underway against the NCAA, one by the University of Georgia and the University of Oklahoma, the other by the University of Texas. Both of the suits involve the NCAA’s ability to control the televising of college football games.
The University of Oklahoma/University of Georgia suit deals with the question of whether the NCAA has a monopoly on television coverage of football teams belonging to schools within the NCAA. This suit is expected to come to trial on June 7, Zumberge said.
Pointing out the importance of legal precedent, Zumberge said that the university will wait for this case to be resolved before it decides whether to bring suit against the NCAA.
The administration has sent for the briefs on the case, Zumberge said, and will study them carefully to aid them in making its decision.
In 1977, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas was involved in a similar situation involving sanctions brought forth by the NCAA. In this case, the NCAA sought to have the university's basketball coach relieved of his position for various inequities.
The university accepted the NCAA ruling and fired the coach. However, after suing the university for firing him, the coach succeeded in regaining his position with the university.
Zumberge denied that the primary reason for threatening the NCAA with a lawsuit was to remove the sanctions, but rather to help make a case for changing current NCAA policies. He stated that one of the long-term effects of a lawsuit would be to bring about such changes.
WOULD REDIRECT RESEARCH MONEY
Bill to cut federal funds decried
By Johannes Tesselaar
Staff Writer
President James H. Zumberge has come out in opposition to a proposed bill that would redirect federal research funds from the university to small businesses.
The bill, HR 4326, could cut research and development funds to the university by $500,000 to Si million, causing a “significant impact” on selected departments, said Vance Peterson, executive director of University Relations.
Zumberge joined five other major California research university presidents in sending a letter to members of Congress on April 15. urging them to oppose the bill.
The presidents sent the letter after the bill passed the House Small Business Committee without opposition. A similar bill passed in the Senate.
“The legislation has well meaning.” Peterson said. "It’s one more effort to assist the private sector. But the congressmen are not aware of the serious effects if it passes.”
The presidents’ letter complained that neither the House of Representatives nor the Senate committees responsible for authorizing, overseeing or appropriating funds for major research programs reviewed the bills.
Peterson said the legislation would affect the university’s School of Engineering and departments dealing with the natural sciences, including physics.
It would also affect the Industrial Engineering and Computer Science departments.
"The bill would probably not have any effects on undergraduate students but it could impact graduate students if they’re involved in research and development,” Peterson said.
“A lot of research and development is funded on federal grants,” he added. “This money would be wiped out with the legislation.”
The legislation would set aside 1 percent to 3 percent of the research and development funds of the universities for the small businesses, Peterson said.
“Research is more properly done at USC and other universities than at small businesses,” Peterson added.
He added that because of financial concerns, small businesses may hold back information on research developments from the public.
“Universities allow the academic freedom to disclose research and development information,” Peterson said. “It’s a guaranteed freedom of the university. Research could be slowed (with the
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