Volume XCII, Number 55	University of Southern California Tuesday, November 23, 1982
Staff Assembly to ask for improved fringe benefits
By Michael Molinski
Staff Writer
The Staff Assembly will submit its first recommendations of the semester to the Budget Advisory Council next week, recommendations that will emphasize improved benefits rather than salary increases.
Among the improvements that the assembly is seeking, said Margaret Harrington, president of the Staff Assembly, are a better retirement plan, dental plan, legal assistance plan, and psychiatric and optical care.
“There seems to be more interest in benefits than salaries this year,” Harrington said. “A more flexible system is needed, a system where everyone isn't locked into the same amount of choices. Staff members need a greater flexibility in being able to choose what kinds of benefits they want to get. Under the current plan, there is a feeling that some people get more benefits than others.”
Rusty Ramsay, compensation manager for the office of personnel, attributed part of this difference in benefits to the tuition remission program. “This program (tuition remission) is selective toward those that take advantage of it.” Under tuition remission, staff members and their family members can attend classes for no charge at the university.
‘The general perception is that most of our benefits are competitive,’ Ramsay said. ‘The tuition remission program gives us an edge over other institutions. ’
“The genera] perception is that most of our benefits are competitive,” Ramsay said. “The tuition remission program gives us an edge over other institutions.”
Currently, there are five health plans available to staff members. There is also a dental plan, a pension plan and a disability plan, which is paid by the university, said Jack Schneider, director of personnel. Staff members also receive vacation and sick-leave benefits.
“Some plans are competitive (with those of other universities) and some are not,” Schneider said. “The dental plan provides only a moderate level of reimbursement”
“The problem with the pension plan is that many staff members have not been able to afford it They must pay a minimum of 5 percent of their paychecks in order to receive the pension plan. The university pays 9 percent In general, the
lower the staff position, the less the participation in the pension plan.
‘‘I can see why benefits would be more important to staff,” Schneider said. “They are a form of non-taxable in-
Staff salaries are also a problem, Schneider said, acknowledging that the average staff salary at the university has been a “little under the market”
A survey of staff salaries at the university and a comparison of those to other educational institutions should be out in December, Ramsay said.
“What we measure in the survey is our relative position in the market and how much the market has moved.
“Last year w>e showed up 6 percent under the market This figure, however, has been steadily increasing within the last few years,” Ramsay continued.
Problems develop with new meal card
By Ellen Plotkin
Staff Writer
Last spring the university decided to implement a new' Validine point system plan, the USCarde, in an attempt to give students more flexibility.
Food Services is finding, that for various reasons, students are accumulating large numbers of points that they don’t know w’hat to do with.
The number of points vary. In some cases, students have more points now — with three weeks to go in the semester -— than they have used in the past three months.
Extra points must be used by the end of the semester. There will be no reimbursements and no points carried over.
Repercussions
As a result, the late-night snack bar located in the Elisabeth Von KleinSmid cafeteria has been swamped. Another feature of the EVK cafeteria is the late-night snack bar. Students are not simply buying a soda or apple or candy bar. They are purchasing mass quantities of food and drinks.
“Some guys on my floor bought 40 cases of soft drinks” in one night, said Steve Freedman, a sophomore in business. He said that was for one dorm room.
Bob Mears, interim general manager for residence halls food services, said, “It provides a useful service, but the problem is, structurally, we don’t have the facilities.”
Mears was referring to the dozens of people who line up for the snack bar at one time. Some students say they have waited up to 30 minutes in a line just to buy a soda.
“The response of that when we started taking points there has been overwhleming,” Mears said.
Food Services spokesmen say that they may have over estimated the number of points and are in the process of deciding how to avoid this problem next fall.
“This was the first year we went into the point plan,” said Irene Ballans, director of Food Services. “We went into it blindly.
“It could be we miscalculated,” she said. “Maybe we gave them too many points.”
The four basic plans—A, B, C and D—(A being the most expensive), are similar to the five-, ten- and 15-meal plans used in the past In addition to these basic plans, there is a 20-meal plan.
Although the feelings among students are mixed, most students tend to agree that they have too many points.
“I shouldn't have gotten (Plan) A because I have too many points," said Yasser Nasser, a senior in civil engineering “I don't know what to do with them.” He will probably buy Plan D next semester, he said.
Problems Exist
Still, several problems have arisen.
—	Students who used the 20-meal plan last year are paying 17
(Continued on page 15)
Students make *The Times of Rock ’n’ Roll’ a hit
Vocals, dancing highlight weekend show
Staff photo by Robert Heller
THE AFTERMATH — The crowds are gone and the music is over but the memory lingers on in the minds of these workers as they tear down the set for "The Times of Rock 'n' Roll," a three-day musical extravaganza held over the weekend.
By Gary Karr
Entertainment Editor
Regardless of some technical problems the show had throughout the weekend. The Times of Rock 'n' Roll may have been the most professional show the university has ever seen.
With a budget of S20.000 provided by the programming team and special events (and it might have cost much more had the producers not had good connections in the entertainment industry'), the show was an example of the talent that lies hidden here.
Tied together by the life story of an individual. The Times of Rock ’n’ Roll, directed, produced and performed by university students, contained some impressive performances.
Perhaps most outstanding was Mary Rose Monteleone, who sang )anis Joplin's "Piece of My Heart” Her rough, bluesy treatment of Joplin's most powerful song w'as chilling Though her appearance later in the show, singing the Motels' "Mission of Mercy” was not quite as good, Monteleone clearly gave the most authentic performance.
Rebecca Eichenberger's polished singing of Linda Ronstadt's “You're No Good” was another highlight of the show.
Also particularly stellar was Adam Chester's performance on the keyboards and his singing of the Beatles’
"Let it Be.” The slide show projected behind the drum set, showing scenes from the Vietnam War era, was a moving accompaniment to a fine song.
A great deal of credit for the brilliance of the songs must go to the backing band. Without the drumming of Jeff Burges, songs like “We Got the Beat" would have been without life.
Not every song was great. The two Who songs. “My Generation" and “Won't Get Fooled Again" were plagued with vocal problems, as Roger Daltrey’s singing proved to be difficult to imitate. The singers on these songs also lacked the stage presence necessary to carry them off.
The best part of the show was the first act The music of the '60s was presented quite well, although Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix w'ere sorely missed and the Doors song “Love » Her Madly” w'as actually recorded in 1971.
The Pink Floyd and Supertramp segments w'ere important solely because they demonstrated the ability of the dancers that accompanied the songs. Some excellent choreography brought these songs out of the doldrums.
The show had a few problems with late-’70s songs. The version of “You’re All I’ve Got Tonight” sounded more like Devo than the Cars, and Roger Knight bounced ar-
ound a bit too much on "Message in a Bottle," though his singing wras quite good.
The show’s biggest mistake came in the song selection and the pattern of the songs. Intended as a display of “one strand of rock and roll music” (according to the program) the songs bounced from blues to pop to arty mysticism with little tying them
together. The story line, showing the path of one individual from age six in 1964, to the present day was also a little convoluted, as it seemed he graduated from high school in 1972 at the age of 14.
Perhaps the largest oversight was that no songs from Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty and Elvis Costello were presented.