Seventy-Fifth Year of Publication
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Volume Cll, Number 4
University of Southern California
1912 — 1986
Friday, September 5, 1986
Soviet economist allowed to emigrate to United States
Refusenik offered position at university; Zumberge receives humanitarian award
By Rhoda Fukushima
Staff Writer
Be it political, cultural or religious, freedom is considered a contagious disease in the Soviet Union, said Soviet economist Victor Kipnis at a reception welcoming him to the university faculty Thursday in the Annenberg School of Communication's East Lobby.
"Scientists and other refuseniks are put in the position of hostages," Kipnis said. Refuseniks is a term for a group of Soviet scientists being persecuted by the Soviet Union because they asked to leave the country. "Refuseniks in the Soviet Union are socially and professionally ostracized. We feel alone," Kipnis said.
Kipnis and six other scientists received handwritten offers to become visiting professors from Irwin Lieb, former vice president and dean of the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, and Michael Melnick, an associate professor of basic sciences, who traveled to the Soviet Union in 1983. The seven had been denied permission to emigrate. Only Kipnis was allowed to leave the country.
"I was lucky to get permission to leave the country," Kipnis said. "I appreciate your help and I am happy to thank you in person," he added.
The offer of visiting professorships was the result of many discussions and meetings between Lieb; Melnick; Cedric Minkin, an associate professor of basic sciences; Solomon Golomb, a professor in the School of Engineering; Rabbi Laura Geller of the Hillel Center; Yuri Shtem, an economist who emigrated from the Soviet Union to Israel; and the late Mark Kac, a mathematics professor and co-chairman of the New York-based Committee of Concerned Scientists.
The refuseniks had been threatened and harassed, forced from their jobs, stripped of their academic degrees and denied access to libraries, publishing houses and scientific information while in the Soviet Union. Seven years ago, the Soviet government took away Kipnis' doctorate in econometrics.
"It helps to know that in the eyes of the world
JONA FRANK / DAILY TROJAN
President Zumberge (left) attends the ceremony welcoming Soviet economist Victor Kipnis (third from left) to the faculty of the university. With them are two friends of Kipnis.
you are still a scientist," Kipnis said.
Following Kipnis' remarks, President James Zumberge received the Akiva Award of the Los Angeles Jewish Federation Council for outstanding achievement in the area of human rights and education. "I accept this award only on the condition that you allow me to accept this on behalf of those who made this possible," Zumberge said.
The celebration represented a major victory, said Stanley Hirsh, president of the federation, who presented Zumberge with the award. "It was a major victory for Victor Kipnis, who was held behind the Iron Curtain. It was a major victory for USC because Dr. Zumberge, in the tradition of all great patriots . . . helped lend the name of the university to the effort to rescue academics from bondage," he said.
Yet Kipnis' release was a small victory, Hirsh said. "Four hundred thousand (Soviets) still want to be free," he added.
"I hope what transpires here today . . . will serve as an inspiration to those still oppressed," Zumberge said. "But we will not stop with the success of just one," he added.
Bottle thrown at officer, student accused of crime
By Rose Anne Rodriguez
Staff Writer
A student was arrested and booked for assault with a deadly weapon after he allegedly threw a bottle at a Los Angeles Police Department officer Tuesday night.
The bail for Brian Pass was set at $3,000, said Sgt. Steve La Roche of the LAPD, Southwest Division.
The incident occurred around 9 p.m. Tuesday while two uniformed LAPD officers were citing a motorist for a traffic violation on the north side of the Hillview apartment building on Adams Boulevard, said Sgt. John Lewis, from University Security.
According to the security incident report, three students began to verbally harass the officers from their first-story apartment window. One of the students then threw a bottle out the apartment window, missing the officer by approximately six to eight inches, Lewis said.
The LAPD officers then entered the apartment building and arrested Pass without incident, La Roche said.
Since the incident did involve students living in university-owned housing, campus security was notified and assisted with the arrest and investigation, Lewis said.
Residential Life received a copy of the report and a student conduct hearing is pending for the three students involved in the incident, Lewis said.
Student Affairs Committee reinstated by Zumberge
By Aaron Curtiss
Staff Writer
After a three-year absence, the Student Affairs Committee, which deals with issues of student life, has been reactivated following a request from Wally Bobkiewicz, president of the Student Senate.
According to George Abdo, executive assistant to President James Zumberge, the committee was started in the mid-1970s and served as an advisory group
VKC chimes quieted again temporarily
MOLLY M. HUNTSMAN DAILY TROJAN
Those chimes of VKC are once again silenced because of breakdown.
By Kirsten D. Levingston
Staff Writer
The chimes at Von KleinSmid Center have been silenced once again, this time due to a malfunctioning of the clock which regulates them, said Gary Pitassi, associate director of Physical Plant.
The problem is "difficult to deal with" because the chimes are a "one-of-a-kind thing," Pitassi said.
The company which services the chimes is located in San Diego and does not immediately come to repair them unless there is a major problem, or unless a major event like graduation is about to take place, Pitassi said.
Pitassi said he did not know how long the regulatory clock has been broken, or when it will be repaired. It is possible that new parts may have to be ordered, he added.
About two years ago a problem with the chimes' speaker system kept them out of operation, Pitassi said.
"I am very distressed that one of SC's great traditions is not working, especially at the beginning of the year," said Wally Bobkiewicz, Student Senate president.
The funds are available for the overhaul of the chime tower, but "(The university) will have to make up their minds whether or not to spend the money," said John Hartmeyer, coordinator of facilities for the music department.
"I hope the university will make a financial commitment to having them repaired," Bobkiewicz said.
Four years ago a proposal to give the chime tower a complete overhaul was submitted and estimated the cost between S15,000 and $16,000, Hartmeyer said.
He is unsure what the cost of the overhaul would be today.
The chimes are supposed to ring every half hour and play a melody at 11:55 each morning, seven days a week.
The chimes ring "clumsily, like a player piano but much more complicated," Hartmeyer said, and it is because of this that he would like to see the old system replaced with an audio cassette tape system, which plays recorded chime music.
The VKC chime tower was dedicated in October 1966 and is 167-feet high.
to the vice president for Student Affairs, James Dennis.
Three years ago, the committee was dissolved on the recommendation of the Student Senate, because other, more specialized university groups were "absorbing problems and dealing with them more effectively," Abdo said.
Bobkiewicz said he realized how important the committee was and said it was unfortunate that the Student Senate called for the committee's dissolution in the first place.
He also said that many issues "were falling through the cracks between other committees," and that there are "many larger issues that no committee currently deals with."
. . .the committee will serve as a catchall for student concerns not presently addressed by other university committees.
Bobkiewicz said he feels the committee will serve as a catchall for student concerns not presently addressed by other university committees.
Some of the concerns Bobkiewicz said he hopes will be addressed by the committee include alcohol and drug abuse, management of the Student Union building, minority and international students, housing, and architectural barriers to handicapped students.
Abdo said the committee will "ultimately report to the Office of the President through one of the senior vice presidents. They are closely linked to the administrative department they are involved with."
The committee will be staffed by students, staff and faculty. Nominations have been submitted, but "final selections have not been made," Abdo said.