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Volume XCtl, Number 5
University of Southern California
Monday, September 13, 1982
Buildings violate fire codes; university forced to place extra security in halls
By Marc Igler
Assistant City Editor
The university violated numerous state, city, and fire codes that apply to newly-completed buildings when it allowed students, faculty and othe. campus workers to occupy the Seeley G. Mudd building and the Parkside Tower dormitory complex.
As a result of the violation, many University Security officers have been taken off the street and placed into these buildings to stand watch against potential fires — a move that many officers feel jeopardizes campus safety.
City building inspectors were outraged two weeks ago when they discovered that the university had begun occupying both structures without notifying the city that it was doing so and without the proper certificate of approval that is granted by the city’s Building and Safety Department said Robert Burns, a fire inspector in the building unit of the department
The city subsequently issued a temporary certificate of occupancy on August 31 although the fire alarm system and the emergency lighting system in both buildings were not functional and both structures presented "numerous dangers,” Bums said.
Captain Otto Herman, commander of the Schools and Churches Unit of the fire prevention squad, said the university was fortunate that the city understood the school’s predicament — having no choice but to place students in unfinished buildings that were supposed to be completed during the summer.
“We let them(the university) off easy,” he said. “We could have told
them to evacuate until things were up to snuff. It really frightens you to see a thing like that and I don’t think they realized how dangerous it was.”
Among the defects that the Building and Safety Department outlined in its report to the university that were in violation of Title 19 and Title 24 in the California Administrative code were: inoperable fire alarms in both buildings, inoperable emergency lighting systems in both buildings, failure to receive approval on the electrical systems, the obstruction of emergency exits by construction equipment and the prevalence of holes and wet cement
“For the occupants of those buildings, it was like buying a car that didn’t have any tires,” Burns said. “And buildings can be recalled just like cars.”
The Building and Safety Department issued the temporary certificate of occupancy on the basis that the university promise to maintain several individuals in watch posts in both buildings in case of emergency.
The university has complied and is currently assigning one University Security officer to each occupied floor in Parkside Tower, an eight-story dormitory in the south complex that currently houses over 200 students, between 6 p.m. and 7 a.m. Six of the eight floors in the dormitory are occupied. One officer watches the building during the day.
“The Parkside dormitory is extremely important because people live there,” Herman said. “I personally feel the city was more concerned with the students’ safety than the university was. It was a dangerous building.”
The university has been required to
station one officer on each of the first three floors of the Seeley G. Mudd building, a 10-story high-rise that houses the psychology, astronomy and chemistry departments as well as several classrooms and offices, between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m.
Officials from the Building and Safety
Department are especxaWy concerned with fire codes in this building because it will be used to store chemicals in the future, Herman said.
When responding to charges that the university was negligent in allowing the buildings to be occupied before receiving the city’s approval, Anthony Laz-(Continued on page 12)
Reagan’s veto reversed; additional aid available
By Michael Molinski
Staff Wnter
The U.S. Senate voted 60-30 Friday to override President Reagan’s veto of a
Si	4.2 billion supplemental appropriations bill which includes an extra S217 million in student aid for 1982-83.
The unexpected passing of the bill will result in an additional $140 million for the Pell Grant program (formerly the Basic Educational Opportunity Grant) and will allocate an extra S77 million for Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG) in 1982-83.
“The primary effect of the bill (on the university) as far as money is concerned, will be in the SEOG program,” said Michael Halloran, associate dean of admission and financial aid. “The funding usually arrives in late June; it hasn’t arrived yet We issued SEOG’s to students in anticipation of these funds. All of the money will be applied to financial aid.”
The U.S. Department of Education estimated that about 200,000 fewer students would have received Pell Grants this year had the
veto not been overridden.
Student representatives of universities nationwide initiated a massive lobbying effort in order to ensure passage of the bill. Students from California colleges were in contact with each other and with students in other states, urging them to call their senators and voice their support for the bill.
Dan Dunmoyer. president of the Student Senate at the university, said telephoned the offices of California Sens. S.I. Hayakawa and Alan Cranston Friday morning and asked that a message representing the 25,000 students of the university be taken to the Senate floor in favor of the bill. He was powerless to act on behalf of the students of the university until he received clearance from his executive committee members who could not be reached until Friday morning, Dunmoyer said.
“We didn’t expect the House to pass the bill so we didn’t act until after it had. We only had 45 minutes (Friday) morning to do any-
(Continued on page 13)
University gets poor sex ranking
Not everyone is complaining
By George Aguilar
Assistant Gty Editor
A new university publicity campaign to “make USC number one” should take notice of a Playboy magazine survey which ranked the university poorly in terms of having a sexually active campus.
In the October issue of Playboy, the university ranked 14th out of 20 randomly selected colleges surveyed about sexual attitudes and practices. It’s part of the magazine’s look at "Sex on Campus,” and not everyone is complaining.
"I’m delighted in a strange sort of way,” said Vance Peterson, director of university relations. “It’s a positive ranking rather than a negative one. I think a lot of people think there is more of a social life on campus then there actually is, although there is nothing wrong with social life.”
Although universities such as UCLA, Arizona State and University of Michigan were ranked higher than the university, Harvard and Brigham Young University were listed below it.
“At least it’s something we beat Harvard in,” Peterson quipped.
The article based its rankings on almost 200 surveys distributed to students by a member of the Daily Trojan last spring. The questionnaire asked students about sexual preferences, tastes and attitudes.
After interviewing 2,000 students from 20 colleges across the country. Playboy concluded that although students are more conservative politically, sexual attitudes are freer than ever before, especially on the campuses of the University of Texas and Indiana University, which were ranked numbers one and two in the survey.
UCLA was ranked fifth
Most of the students queried Friday for a response about the survey were unaware of the
Playboy article, but those that responded were surprised at the university’s listing.
“Are you sure they’re talking about us?” one student asked.
“That’s hard to believe with all of the good-looking girls on campus,” a student responded after making sure no one would overhear.
The article predominantly stereotyped the university as being a second city of Athens. References to the Greek population were numerous and it implied that sexual activity on campus is limited to the Greeks.
Another assumption was the listing of the journalism school as being the university’s “academic best bet” As well, the magazine gave the university’s administration a “D” grade and referred to it as the “Trojan inquisition”
The story also included some anecdotes from students about sex life on campus.
“There’s more sexual opportunity now, but lots of kids are so conservative, they won't take advantage of it,” one student was quoted as saying.
A male junior bragged of having had 18 sex partners, including “having sex on a half-inflated water bed with a Doberman pinscher, a cocka-teel, two finches and several fish in attendance."
As can be imagined, much of the look was light-hearted.
The article read, “ ‘Watching a girl masturbate from, across the street’ is the favorite of a male USC sophomore, and we can understand why. It must have been awfully difficult for her. Maybe she had long arms. . .”
Perhaps one comment made by a female student summed up the university’s attitude.
“There’s a lot of talk but not many sexually satisfied people in college. I think girls — and maybe guys, too — are not as sexually active as sterotypes suggest”