New Grill draws crowds; receives mixed reactions
By Victor Lojero
Staff Writer
Volume Cll, Number 8	University of Southern California	Thursday, September 11, 1986
Changes in food service at Commons this semester are drawing mixed reactions from students. Some say the sleek new appearance and new menu at the Grill are great, while others complain the lines are too long.
"I don't think it moves fast enough. They took away a lot of the
Michael Kim/Dally Trojan
Hunger strikes and students line up in the new Grill.
seating. It looks nice, but it inconveniences a lot of people," said Carter Williams, a university employee.
"You can't tell what you're in line for," said Lotus Leong, a student.
Gene Lawless, director of Dining Services, said the crowds at the Grill may be large now but when "some of the initial excitement wears off, some crowding (should) calm down and diminish a bit."
Lawless said the long lines are caused by several reasons. "We're training new staff and teaching existing staff new things. . .the Grill is not a fast food restaurant such as a Taco Bell."
The food is made right before the customer and the students only "sacrifice of a minute or two for food of much higher quali-
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Seventy-Fifth Year of Publication
trojan
1912 — 1986
Student Senate considers programming fee increase
Need for raising funds evaluated
By Jim Logan
Staff Writer
Although it is still in the idea stage, the Student Senate and the Program Board are considering the feasibility of raising the $14 student programming fee, said Carol Silberman, executive director of the Program Board.
Silberman said that she and Wally Bobkiewicz, student senate president, and Mark Decker, student senate vice president, have been "kicking around" ways to increase the fee for about a year, but that no definite details have been worked out.
The amount of the increase is undecided, but Silberman said the Program Board would like to see it raised $2-to-$4.
Stressing that raising the fee is still only an idea, Decker said that the senate and the Program Board need to reevaluate their functions to determine just how much more money is needed for activities. He would not speculate as to how much the fee could be increased.
Both Decker and Silberman said that the need for greater funding has been felt for some time.
"There seems to be a growing sentiment that we need a larger dollar base to put in (senate-sponsored activities)," Decker said.
Silberman said that the fee has not been increased in four years, while the cost for activities has increased considerably.
"You could look at it like we're getting less money now than four years ago," she said.
Decker said that the specific activities of the Student Senate and the Program Board should serve as the guide for their budget needs.
"What is our role?" Decker said. "Do we have enough (money) for what we want to do? You have to ask a lot of questions to be fair about it."
"If you want to increase your programming, you need to increase (the fee)," he said.
To increase the fee, a resolution would have to pass the senate and ultimately be approved by the university's Board of Trustees.
This process would probably take the entire school year, Decker said, and any increase would not be effective until Fall 1987.
The university's programing fee funds the student senate's $325,000 budget, which includes the Program Board and its student services.
Senate campaigns for more participation
Student involvement urged
By Terry Allen
For the first time ever, the graduate and undergraduate assemblies of the Student Senate met separately Wednesday night, and the agendas of the two had little in common.
After a review of Robert's Rules of Order and procedures involving proposition writing, undergraduate senators were briefed on the importance of student involvement in student government this year.
"We want our senators to get more involved with their constituencies," said Anthony Gatti, speaker of the undergraduate assembly.
"Last year I don't think too many people understood the whole function of the (Student) Senate. . . Our goal this year is to get students to ask for help and to show them that we have some credibility with the university (administration)," Gatti said. "We are here to serve them and to give them an outlet to voice their opinions."
Despite the fact that Gatti feels students this year are "more interested in having a voice" in student government, the senate has planned an advertising campaign to get the word of involvement out to the student population.
Bulletin boards inviting students to senate meetings are to be posted in the parking structures around campus, and 15,000 pamphlets detailing Student Senate procedures and proceedings will be disseminated later in the semester.
The entire senate meets every odd week of the month in Student Union 308. The senate also meets in split sessions on even weeks, the graduate assembly in Student Union 305 and the undergraduate assembly in the Seaver Science Auditorium.
Dispensing of their undergraduate counterparts' formalities, the graduate student assembly got right to work discussing issues of interest primarily to the university's graduate community. Bruce Clauson, speaker of the graduate assembly, criticized what he felt was an unduly small graduate rebate percentage.
The rebate consists of the money given to the assembly's program board out of the total pool collected by the university in its $14 programming fee charged of all students. Graduate rebate money is distributed by the assembly to the various graduate schools on campus, who then may use the funds for their individual extracurricular events.
In addition, the graduate assembly considered propositions to combat imminent changes in federal tax laws which could declare taxable stipends given to graduate teaching assistants and some undergraduate students by the university. The assembly is considering opening up a student telephone hotline to lobby legislators in Washington to bar the proposed federal tax revision.
The undergraduate assembly did not altogether
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Problems arise at Promenade
By Aaron Cnrtiss
Staff Writer
With the increase in housing spaces available on campus, students living at Promenade Towers may have to relocate to university-owned housing.
Christina Anderson, chairman of the newly formed student committee at Promenade, said that prospect leaves many students wondering what will happen to them.
According to Anderson, the university would like students living in the luxury downtown apartment complex to move into open housing spaces closer to campus.
Housing Services could not be reached for comment, but G & K Property Management, the parent company of Promenade, said in a written statement: "The rentals of apartments by USC students. . . is a short-term and very temporary situation. Some of the students will be moving out as soon as next week because accommodations provided exceed the average student's ability to pay. We expect that all will have found other accommodations by December."
But, Anderson said, the main problem is that many students are "in the dark here. We don't know what's going on and we have a lot of stuff to clear up."
In an effort to resolve many of the problems facing the conflict-ridden apartment complex, a meeting between the student committee, Promenade management, and Housing Services will be held on Friday afternoon.
Anderson said the committee is circulating a petition that states USC students are entitled to live at Promenade and are prepared to respect the rights of other tenants.
Some Promenade student residents have volunteered to leave and move into other university-owned housing.
However, many students
don't want to move out and are worried that they may be evicted.
"We have to maintain a decent GPA without worrying about moving. We have to concentrate on academics instead of worrying about a place to live," Anderson said.
Students moved into Promenade after an overflow in uni-versity-owned housing. Close to 300 students are on contract
with the university and many more rent directly from Promenade.
Problems arose when some tenants complained about the students in the professional-adult-oriented complex, causing bitterness between students and other tenants.
But Anderson said most students are "responsible" and ' 'well-behaved."
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Tommy Trojan is on top of the sounds as “Secret Life” opened up the Program Board’s Noontime Concert Series yesterday.