Seventy-Fifth Year of Publication
dk% trojan
Volume Cli, Number 13
University of Southern California
1912 — 1986
Thursday, September 18, 1986
Senators review summer conference expenditure
By Aaron Curtiss
Staff Writer
A trip to a leadership conference made by seven student senators this summer has raised some informal debate on whether the decision to attend was a wise one.
The United States Students Association, a lobbying group for college and university students, held its national conference at Colorado University at Boulder.
The trip cost the Student Senate about $3,000, or 20 percent of the legislative programming budget which covers the programming costs of the legislative branch of the senate, said Mark Decker, senate vice president.
Some senators told the Daily Trojan that, since the money for the conference came out of the programming budget, it should have been used for student activities. They said that the expenditure could cause a cutback in other activities planned by research / action units.
Decker supported the decision to go to the conference and said he doesn't see a problem.
"There is plenty of money to deal with all the other issues," he said. "I make sure that money is spent wisely and that there is enough to do what the senate sets out for us to do. I don't think there is a concern."
The proposal for the trip was never passed by the senate because the senate was not meeting over the summer. The executive board approved the expenditure.
Robert Meyers, chairman of the Student Affairs Research / Action Unit, said, making "a judgement call would be difficult, but I imagine (the decision) was a prudent one."
Sources within the senate continue to question whether or not the trip was worth the expense.
Next week, the senators who attended the conference will submit a report to the senate outlining their impressions of it, Decker said. He said it will be up to the senate, after evaluating the report, to decide whether a delegation should be sent again next year.
Although he said the "trip was well worth the money," Decker said he came away from the conference with "a general feeling of frustration."
One senator who attended the conference told the Daily Trojan,
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Senate speaks out against apartheid
Resolution rebuts President Zumberge’s recommendation opposing divestment
By Terry Allen
Staff Writer
In opposition to President James Zumberge's decision to maintain some university investments in South Africa while calling for the end of apartheid, the Student Senate voted 16 to 10 last night to urge the Board of Trustees to fully divest holdings in all businesses with dealings in that country.
Wally Bobkiewicz, president of the Student Senate and author of the apartheid resolution, opened the heated senate discussion on divestment by questioning the university's unwillingness to back up its stand on apartheid.
"If the university is so outraged, then why haven't they divested yet?" Bobkiewicz asked, calling for the senate to act where university administration has not.
Calling divestment a "symbolic moral statement," Gary Weinberg, a graduate senator from the school of gerontology, concurred with Bob-kiewicz's resolution.
"The issue here is not one of money," he said, "but instead one of morality. I think the feeling has prevailed that divestment would be a symbolic, moral statement. It's a way for students to say 'Yes, we abhor the policy of apartheid in South Africa and we're taking a stand on moral grounds.'
"Granted, it may not make one iota of difference economically in South Africa, but it is a definite statement by a conservative university," Weinberg continued. "The black leaders of South Africa are calling for sanctions, knowing full well the repercussions. We shouldn't second guess them."
Darren Friesen, a Greek senator, questioned the effectiveness of what many senators were calling "symbolic," and said the best way to abolish apartheid in South Africa is not necessarily immediate and total divestment.
"If you want to effect change, then you don't just withdraw," he said. "By telling companies to get out, everything you're doing is just symbolic."
Another Greek senator, Tiffany Smith, proposed the vote on divestment be delayed, saying the senate should wait until the student body shows more concern about the issue.
The senate flirted briefly with the idea, but several senators said a swift decision would demonstrate to the administration the senate's clear ability to weigh important issues promptly and decisively.
The 16 to 10 decision reaffirms the senate's position last spring when it formally called for complete divestment.
In other business Wednesday night, the senate unanimously approved its budget for the upcoming year, OK'ing more than $33,000 for administrative and program costs.
Also, a letter was read announcing the resignation of Michael Palmieri, a student community senator elected last spring. Citing time conflicts as his reason for leaving, Palmieri vowed to remain active in senate and student community-related activities, such as the senate's Program Board, Environmental and External Affairs Committee and Troy Camp.
The senate also elected Darren Abe, a junior, as a new commuter senator. Abe promised to be on campus this year.
Task force aims to increase student awareness of AIDS
New approaches include counseling
By Lori Grange
Staff Writer
The university's AIDS Task Force is experimenting this year with new approaches to providing a better understanding of AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) through AIDS education on campus.
"We want to provide information and give recent research so people can act appropriately and responsibly," said Terry Snyder, an outreach nurse at the Student Health Center and member of the task force.
The organization, which was formed last November, met Tuesday night to discuss routes for creating a general awareness of AIDS facts throughout the campus community.
"We've organized the information (about the disease). Our main concern is how do we functionally make people aware and also remove the stigma levels — such as AIDS is not a gay disease — as well as the fear levels, and make people positively informed. The task force is trying to put together a major campaign to inform everyone," said Christopher Wood, executive director of the Gay and Lesbiar Student Assembly and a task force member.
The task force plans to place advertisements in the Daily Trojan which will encourage awareness of the disease, said Paul Ballard, an alumni supporter of the GLSA.
The ads will advertise the services of an AIDS awareness outreach program at the Student Health Center. The program includes lectures, training of resident housing personnel, films and individual counseling on AIDS.
"The more information someone has on any subject, the more able he will be to handle it," Snyder said.
The organization is also considering joining other campus groups interested in setting up a debate on Proposition 64, Lyndon LaR-ouche's controversial AIDS quarantine initiative.
"A lot of groups are interested in a debate, and we're thinking of tying into one of these," Snyder said.
A debate on the proposition, sponsored by the Student Health Advisory Committee and the GLSA, was scheduled to be held today but was cancelled due to "logistics," Wood said.
"We'll try to reschedule it for October. Certainly we'll have one before Nov. 4," he said.
One main concern of the organization is a lack of awareness among minority groups, Wood said.
"There is an alarming increase in the number of AIDS cases among blacks and Latinos, and we have similar concerns with the Asian
(Continued on page 6)
Street Scene to highlight weekend
By Karen Martinez
Staff Writer
Students interested in some free entertainment this weekend should put the Los Angeles Street Scene Festival on their calendars.
The 9th annual festival, which will be dedicated to the Child Survival campaign, will feature over 350 live performances, including UB40, Klymaxx and Eddie Money, said Esther Renteria, public relations spokesperson for the Los Angeles Street Scene office.
Highlights of the festival will include sky divers, local entertainment celebrities, and international musical artists in their native costumes.
The 13-block area between Aliso Street on the north. First Street on the south, Alameda Street on the east and Broadway on the west will be cordoned off for the event. Approximately 150 booths will feature ethnic foods, artist's displays and crafts from all over the world.
This year, an international music competition has been added to the festival. Performers from various parts of the world, including Carole Bayer Sager, Burt Bacharach, Stephen Bishop and the Marla Blakely Dancers, began competing yesterday at the Embassy Auditorium in downtown Los Angeles.
The five selected finalists will receive cash prizes and will perform on Sunday, the final day of the festival. The performances will take place on a stage built on the steps of City Hall.
The final day of the festival will kick off at 10 a.m. with an
Crowds gather at the annual Los Angeles Street Scene where entertainers, crafts and ethnic foods highlight the festival.
international parade through the streets of downtown Los Angeles. The parade will have over 100 entries, complete with marching bands, floats, equestrian units, and people dressed in the native costumes of countries around the world.
The parade is scheduled to begin at Ninth and Broadway streets and proceed north on Broadway to Temple Street.
Last year more than one million people attended the event.
This year Renteria said she expects about 1.5 million people to attend.
Some of the co-sponsors of this year's Street Scene are the City of Los Angeles, the Adolph Coors Company and the Coca Cola Bottling Company of Los Angeles.
Free parking will be available at the Civic Center, and Saturday the university will provide tram service to the festival. Service will be available from 10 a.m. until 9 p.m.