trojan
Volume XCI, Number 15	University of Southern California	Wednesday, July 28, 1982
MAY QUIT STADIUM IN 1983 IF SEATING ISSUE IS NOT RESOLVED
Trojans to use Coliseum this fall, Strauss says
By John Iki
Assistant Editor
University officials “fully expect to be plsying in the Coliseum this fall” though a contract has not been signed yet, reports Jon Strauss, university senior vice president for administration.
But he did not entirely rule out the possibility of quitting the stadium should the university be able to negotiate a deal with Davis regarding his proposal to construct 150 luxury suites along the rim of the Coliseum.
“We currently do not have a contract (with the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission). Last year’s contract was an annual contract.”
The commission on July 7 approved an agreement 7-1 with the Raiders football team effective for 10 years with five successive three-year options, without consulting this university or UCLA.
Commission member and Los Angles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich, the only panelist to vote against the agreement, said in a prepared statement that he regretted but understood UCLA’s decision last week to leave the Coliseum, which accommodates a maximum of 92,604.
‘Deserved far better'
“UCLA has been an outstanding Coliseum tenant for more than 50 years, and I do not like watching a half-century of tradition end. UCLA and USC have earned the Coliseum an indelible mark on the collegiate football map. The two universities deserved far better treatment than they received.”
University President James Zumberge was on vacation through mid-August and was unavailable for comment.
Strauss contends that the university was not treated properly and should have been consulted before the agreement was consummated.
Commenting on the effects of UCLA’s withdrawal from the Coliseum, Strauss says, "In the short run, I suspect it will improve our bargaining position, in that sense of demonstrating that universities will follow prinicple positions.”
Under the agreement the Raiders will get a $6.7 million Coliseum loan over five years to pay for relocation and to help build a practice facility, most likely at CSU-Dominguez Hills, according to recent reports.
The commission also will give rent credits of $675,000 a year for four years and an additional $4 million through the first five years. Monies from the commission also will come from advance payments for the 1984 Olympic Games, settlement from the commission’s successful antitrust suit against the National Football League, concessions and investments.
Loans are to be repaid with revenue from the sale or lease of the luxury boxes.
When the agreement was ratified by the commission, university attorney Gerald Kelly said that construction of the suites would require removal of from 1,300 to 2,000 seats and deprive the university of as much as $1.2 million in yearly ticket sales.
Booster loss seen
But Strauss says, “We don’t know exactly how many seats we’re going to lose, and we don’t know exactly what we could sell them for.
“It’s not the ticket sales, per se, it’s the fact that we make these prime seats available to friends of the university — friends who give up their time and their dollars. And without the quality seats, it’s possible that we would not have as many financial contributors as we would with them.
“But the issue isn’t the lost seats. It’s
the other support that goes along with them,” he says.
Strauss also refuted Kelly’s announcement last week that the university would not renew its Coliseum contract for 1983 because the Coliseum commission and the Raiders signed the contract before the Trojans had settled the seating controversy with Raiders team owner A1 Davis.
“I think Mr. Kelly was stating more of a bargaining position,” Strauss replies. “We are certainly frustrated (by the Raiders deal), but we are not actively looking for another place to play football (in 1983).”
University officials are apprehensive about the possibilty of losing seats after the construction of the luxury boxes. A1 Locasale, Davis’s executive assistant, mentions that construction would not begin until after the 1982 football season.
Unofficial talks
“We’ve had some communications with the USC legal staff and one Coliseum Commission official,” Locasale responds, declining to identify the panel member.
“I don’t know if ‘negotiations’ is the right word here,” Locasale says, emphasizing that discussions have been unofficial.
Locasale points out that hardly anyone in the Raiders office is immediately concerned with the luxury boxes. Peering across his cluttered desk at the Raiders’ University Hilton office, Locasale says that the Raiders want to take care of ticket sales, getting settled in their offices and finding a practice site before deciding about the luxury boxes.
Contradicting earlier reports, Strauss says that Davis has not offered the university free use of up to five of the lux-
ury boxes, each of which may seat 12 persons.
Strauss believes that Davis probably will build the boxes, though “not very much” has resulted from his discussions with the Raiders owner.
Although he says that plans for renovation of the existing press box or construction of new media facilities have not yet been finalized, Locasale says the Raiders will do whichever is more economical.
“The existing press box was built in an era of non-electronic media,” he asserts. “Nowadays, the press wants to see instant replay.”
Glen Mon, spokesman for the commission, estimates the Raiders will bring. $1.5 million a year to the Coliseum within about four years of starting the Los Angeles franchise.
1st game: Aug. 29
A coliseum staff member reports the team has tentatively arranged to play an exhibition game against the Green Bay Packers in the Coliseum as soon as Aug. 29.
Davis is reported to be unperturbed by a state Supreme Court decision allowing the city of Oakland to proceed with an eminent domain suit to_ keep the Raiders. The court also refused to order the team to remain in Oakland pending the trial result.
Strauss adds that as part of the agreement the Raiders have a priority in reserving the Coliseum for their use. “Now, we don’t expect that there’ll be a (scheduling) conflict, but if a conflict were to arise, the Raiders would have a contractural preference,” he says.
“The main thing here is frustration on the part of UCLA and, of course, on our part. But we were not made part of the discussions with Mr. Davis prior to their entering into a contract, which thereby removed any bargaining position that we had as a long-time tenant of the Coliseum,” he says.
Registrar’s office reorganized; two new departments formed
By Teresa Pichay
Editor
The registrar’s office has been reorganized, it was "announced last week. The responsibilities of the registrar's office have been divided into two departments, academic services and registration and records. Carole Jones, formerly the acting registrar, has been appointed director of academic services and Howard Saperston has been appointed director of registration and records.
The new department of academic services will retain the responsibilities of academic review, ASCOM coordination, graduation, incomplete removal, and petitions. Registration and records will handle grades,
This is the last issue of the Summer Trojan. The Daily Trojan will resume publication on August 31 with the Orientation Issue. Regular publication will begin on September 7. The fall editor is Casey Wian.
registration, special program, transcripts, and veterans’ affairs. Each of the departments as well as the testing bureau will report to the office of the provost.
Reorganization of the Student Administrative Services, of which the registrar’s office was a part, began late last year with the establishment of the admissions and financial aid office. According to Cornelius J. Pings, provost and senior vice-president of academic affairs, the first reorganization left open questions of what to do with the registrar’s office.
The new arrangement of the two new departments is actually on an interim basis.
“There is a good possibility that it will be permanent,” stated Jon C. Strauss, senior vice-president of administration. “Actually, it has been in operation since spring.”
Strauss sees the new arrangement as a better way to organize the administrative duties and student services that were once the responsibility of the registrar.
“The experience of the spring bears it out,” says Strauss.
Administrative duties have been separated from student services, thus allowing each department to provide better service.
Pings mentioned a few things students may find improved in the new arrangement, “Records handled accurately, a faster turnover of information .. . . ”
Pings also stated that the arrangement helps to review who is responsible for certain decisions. Finding out who is best suited for which job is a goal they are trying to meet.
Jones, the acting resistrar for the past two and one-half years, said she felt the arrangement is a “unique approach to the organization of the kinds of things handled by the registrar’s office.” She believes the new arrangement will give an opportunity for the directors to work more in specific areas.
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Photo by Dan Canales
INSIDE LOOKING OUT — Walking down the staircase in Doheny Library, one can see the tower of Bovard through the glass doors.