trojan
Volume XCII, Number 13	University of Southern California	Thursday, September 23, 1982
NATIONAL GUARD ARMORY WILL HOUSE LIBRARY BOOKS
Despite early predictions, enrollment increases by more than 1 percent
By Steven De Salvo
University enrollment for the fall semester increased more than 1 percent over last year, despite earlier predictions of a 2 percent decrease.
Howard Saperston, director of registration and records, said preliminary figures indicate that 25,927 students enrolled at the university during the first week of classes. This translates into a 1.6 percent increase over last year’s enrollment of 25,497.
Saperston said that final figures will not be available until Tuesday because the university is still enrolling students.
The rise in enrollment
can be attributed to an increase in the financial aid fund, which allowed the university to offer more financial aid to prospective students, said Charles Wolfkill, director of student financial operations.
"By increasing the financial aid funds, we were able to increase enrollment,” Wolfkill said.
The money transferred to the financial aid fund was used only for student loans, he said.
The additional funds were made possible partly by using a S4 million “quasi-endowment” fund, Wolfkill said.
He explained that although the money in the
fund was donated, it differs from comparable funds because the money was not marked for specified uses.
The university was also able to provide more financial aid because this year’s 13.8 percent tuition increase channeled more money into the general fund, Wolfkill said. It allowed the university to give out more university scholarships since the awards come out of this fund.
“It may seem unusual to raise tuition and then give it back in scholarships,” Wolfkill said, adding “but you have to remember that for many students, the 13 percent rise in tuition is more (Continued on page 6)
University to obtain storage building for $1.5 million
Administrators assist renewed
news service
By Ellen Plotkin
Staff Writer
The university is planning to purchase a National Guard armory' — to the tune of Si.5 million — to be used to store books, university authorities said.
The 54-year-old building, located on Hope and 35th streets, will, among other things, be used for storing library books, said Irwin Lieb. vice president and dean of the college of letters, arts, and sciences.
“No question about it,” Lieb said. “Our space needs are tremendous.”
The university is expected to use almost half of the building's 100.000 square feet for storage of books. Lieb
said. Another 10 percent will be used for the minimum of the next 18 months by the California Conservation Corps (CCC). the current occupant of the building.
The contract has been approved by the public works board and is currently going through escrow, said Jon Healy, a land agent for the state’s division of real estate services.
Escrow closes Oct. 29. and the $1.5 million dollars will be paid over a
15-year period.
“The general budget of the university will finance the purchase of the building,” Lieb said.
If the building is refinanced, additional funds can be obtained through
Photo by Randy Johnson
BULL’S-EYE — Frisbee thrower Gihan Atopattu aims for the hoop as in front of Tommy Trojan. More photos of the Intramurals/Recreation one of the many students who took part in the Campusfest Wednesday event are on page 17.
By Marc Igler
Assistant City Editor
The Student News Service has tentatively announced that it will renew' its operations in October, following a one-year absence from the university as a victim of budget cuts.
Over the summer break, the news service gained the support of top university administrators as well as “ample funding” from the Trojan Fourth Estate. The estate is an organization that helps finance student endeavors within the school of journalism.
Under the leadership of Darlene Delanoy, the service is planning to recruit about 50 student editors and writers to help publicize the achievements of university students.
Delanoy said that the service, which was established in 1973, will rely on volunteers. By working for the news ser-
(Continued on page 2)
the California Education Facilities Authority', in which case, payments will be transferred to a 25-year financing program.
Lieb said the CCC will not pay any sort of rent for the first 12 months of the agreement. For the remaining six months, however, the CCC and the university will negotiate a month-to-month payment.
At the end of the 18-month period the corps will either vacate the building or continue to occupy it if the university does not need the space.
Lieb said the university’s Institute for Marine and Coastal Studies first approached the administration with news of the building's availability. The insti-
tute brought the building to the attention of Jon Strauss, senior vice president of administration.
Strauss took the idea to the university's board of trustees’ finance committee, which unanimously approved the purchase plan on May 19.
Lieb said the university plans to own the facility for an indefinite period.
Healy said the building may need to go through some renovation, but “it’s a very substantial building.”
Frank Giordano, the primary land agent in the negotiations, said the building was originally built as an industrial warehouse. Healy said he believes it was originally used as a storage facility for large newspaper rolls.
Cinema great dies; son pursues lawsuit
By Belma Johnson	In show business, Walter
Staff Writer	added an ‘s’ to his name and
The death, last month of a university professor, apparently from a rare form of cancer, and the surrounding legal skirmish w'hich could involve millions of dollars, may set a landmark judicial precedent, sources close to the case say.
Well-known choreographer/director Charles Walter, 70, died Aug. 13 apparently of peritoneal mesothelioma metastasis, a cancer “usually caused by exposure to asbestos,” according to the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.
Asbestos had widespread use in theater curtains, sound booths and stage sets for much of this century, said Dr. John Balmes, a pulmonary' specialist at the Los Angeles County -USC Medical Center.
built his reputation as Charles Walters, director of Debbie Reynolds in The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Judy Garland in lSaster Parade and Grace Kelly in High Society.
Mesothelioma afflicts between three and seven persons per million, Balmes said.
Walter was diagnosed with the cancer last December and began to search his background for the cause of the rare disease, his adopted son Joseph said.
Later, they learned of the extensive use of asbestos as a fire retardant in theaters. This prompted Walter to seek counsel from lawyer Maury Gentile, Joseph said.
“This is possibly the first (case of) mesothelioma associated with the entertainment industry,” Gentile said.
Walter asked for $60,000 in workmen's compensation from MGM and Columbia which he sought for his pain and suffer-(Continued on page 16)