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Volume XCII, Number 49	University of Southern California	Monday, November 15, 1982
Council proposes cable TV system
By George Aguilar
Assistant City Editor
The possible formation of a cable television system on campus was among a number of issues hammered at by the newly formed university advisory council at a meeting with President James Zumberge.
Members of the council came away pleased with the success of the meeting, the first in which substantive issues were on the agenda.
The meeting Thursday was the second held since the council was formed last month as a body to “advise and counsel” the president.
No administrative decisions were made but new ideas were tossed out for discussion. One of the more notable issues is the university’s proposal to become part of the South Central Los Angeles Cable Television Franchise.
“The potential is limitless,” said George Abdo, executive assistant to Zumberge, about the university’s possible uses of cable television.
Jon Strauss, senior vice president of administration, has indicated in a memo to the advisory council that a cable television system could be wired to most of the university's housing and administrative buildings.
Possible uses include courses being broadcast for viewing in dormitories, the transmission of lectures, debates and conferences, and the operation of a student channel.
The planning is still in the beginning stages, but the proposal is going to be pursued, much to the excitement of the council, Abdo said.
The much-discussed Revenue-Center Management system was also hammered away at The budget plan is currently in effect for this fiscal year and council members suggested ways to smooth out the quirks in the system, said Dan Dunmoyer, president of the Student Senate and the only student on the council.
The budget system is a decentralized approach that gives monetary authority to the department deans and directors. The plan centers around 23 revenue centers and the deans and directors are given the responsibility of keeping their expenditures within their revenues.
Problems that need to be worked out include providing incentives for departments that don’t depend on student tuition for funding to use money efficiently.
On a related topic, the council reviewed a proposal that will make departments pay rent for space they use.
Abdo said the proposal is needed to allow for an efficient use
f space.	(Continued on page 5)
University ends dispute with apparel manufacturer
By Annette Haddad
Staff Writer
The lengthy negotiations between the university and Champion Products Inc., the major manufacturer of college apparel, has been settled with the signing of a contract that permits Champion to continue selling products bearing various university logos.
The contract also sets a precedent in licensing agreements, establishing guidelines for other universities to follow in dealing with Champion, said Guy Hubbard, executive director of auxiliary services.
“The contract permits them (Champion) to use our name and logos for the sale of products to outside organizations,” Hubbard said.
In the contract, which was signed last week, Champion agreed to recognize the university’s right to its trademarks and to pay a royalty fee for the use of its trademarks in the sales of its products. The contract will have limited financial impact
Rich Geisler, chairman of the board for Champion, said this is the first contract the New York-based clothing manufacturer has signed with any university.
“It appears on the surface to be a good, fair contract for both parties," Geisler said. “We are extremely pleased after this long, long period of negotiations.”
Champion does business with over 2,000 colleges and universities and has the largest share of college products on the market, Geisler said.
New clause in admission policy allows acceptance of 5 athletes, trustee’s son
By Kathy Libby
Staff Writer
Under a special circumstances clause in the revised admission policy, five athletes and a trustee’s son gained acceptance to the university this semester because “admission would serve the best interests of both the student and the university.”
In a memo from the president’s office, James Zumberge would neither divulge the identity of the students nor say whether they failed to pass standard admission requirements.
Revised in the fall of 1980, the new admission policy states that a student must have a 2.7 high school grade point average and combined Scholastic Aptitude Test scores of 800 to enter the university. But the policy still allows the president to admit students who fall below the minimum requirements through a policy called “presidential prerogative.”
“The president always has the right to admit a student in special circumstances,” said Edward Wall, dean of admission and financial aid. “It is in
. .admission would serve the best interests of both the student and the university.'
the best interest of the university that these students should be given a chance.”
The acceptance of the six students this semester was based on their credentials, interviews and other information, Wall said.
The son of a member of the board of trustees was admitted following a “personal review” by Cornelius Pings, senior vice president of academic affairs.
Football coach John Robinson recommended three students and basketball coach Stan Morrison recommended one student Based on an interview with Wall, another student gained acceptance into the baseball program. When the baseball player’s SAT score improved 100 points upon retaking the test. Wall agreed to interview him.
“My sixth sense said he deserves a chance,” Wall said.
While Wall said that anybody may be admitted under special circumstances, he added, “It would be more of a likelihood of it coming to our attention if it was an athlete or a son or daughter or friend of an alumnus.”
When asked why athletes appear to be given special consideration, Wall said, “it is because of the special nature of the athletic program at this particular institution.”
Wall said that scholarships or other forms of financial aid may I>e used to pay the athletes’ tuition.
“One could assume that those involved in athletics are aid candidates,” W'all said.
Last year, five students were admitted by presidential prerogative. Two were athletes and the other three were admitted after a direct appeal to the president
Two of those three students who directly appealed to him are “children of individuals who made exceptional and substantial gifts to the university in the past,” the memo quoted Zumberge as saying.
GUY HUBBARD
Staff photo by Larry Gund
Negotiations between the university and the clothing company have been going on since last March, when the university sued Champion for trademark infringement and unfair compr‘'*ion. The company had been selling products carrying university logos without a written licensing agreement
However, soo*- rter the lawsuit was filed in the federal district court, negotiations were initiated for an out-of-court settlement
The dispute between the two parties began in 1976 when Champion was discovered sell-
ing items bearing various university logos. The university requested the clothing manufacturer to discontinue such products and was offered a formal licensing agreement
Before a manufacturer can sell university items, it must apply for a license from the university and a percentage of a royalty fee is determined upon approval of the application.
At this time, Champion was not paying the university any royalty fees.
Upon request of back pay-
(Continued on page 5)
University forced to start research grant program
By Steve De Salvo
Staff Writer
The decline of research grants from the federal government and private foundations has forced the university to create its own research grant program.
Called the “Faculty Research Innovation Fund,” the program will be administered by the office of academic affairs and is intended to provide grants to those university professors who need them most — junior faculty members who lack the reputations and research experience of their senior counterparts.
Junior faculty members are defined as assistant professors.
The university hopes to provide $1 million a year for the next five years to assistant professors in need of research grants. So far, the university has netted approximately $300,000 for this year’s grant fund, said Robert Biller, assistant provost
Although the fund is still short of the $1 million goal, the university would allow assistant professors to begin competing for the grants “late this academic year,” Biller said. The grants would be given only to those assistant professors presenting the “strongest research proposals,” he said.
“We don’t have to have $1 million this year to start handing out the grants,” he said, adding, “but it would be nice.”
Research is important to professors because it provides an avenue to search for new ideas outside the classroom. It also leads to publication in journals — the measure of success in academia.
“It costs money to do research and, traditionally, this money has come from the government or private foundations,” Biller said.
(Continued on page 6)