dki% trojan
Volume XCV, Number 61	University of Southern California	Friday, April 13, 1984
The Songfest Company gives a Songfest preview at Tommy Trojan, the production, April 21-
STARR SCHAFTEL DAILY TROJAN
Tickets are still available for
Mondale, special
groups are focus
interest
of talk
By Susan Loux
Gty Writer
Former Vice President Walter Mondale's involvement with special interest groups has been misinterpreted, said John Schmidhauser, a political science professor, to a small group Thursday in Von KleinS-mid Center.
Schmidhauser said those who think Mondale could be politically swayed by supportive groups are unaware that the majority of groups he is affiliated with are comprised of minorities that have historically not been strong political forces.
Colorado Sen. Gary Hart's frequent argument that Mondale's special interest involvement may make him a slave to his supporters is without any foundation, Schmidhauser said.
He called the issue one of the salient attacks on Mondale.
Schmidhauser said he was surprised that the teachers and laborers backing Mondale are being labeled special interests because traditionally the groups have been politically calm.
He added that it is untrue that Mondale is representing minority groups because of possible voting payoffs. The economically depressed and racial minorities in the past have had to overcome obstacles in order to vote, and therefore many do not get to the booths.
"Considering (Mondale) invokes the support of the least privileged in society. . .it is astonishing to conclude it is a special interest relationship,” Schmidhauser said.
In terms of a candidate with the potential to receive the backing of politically influential corporations, Schmidhauser said, “Reagan would be the very definition of a special interest candidate."
Reagan has accepted funding from groups and corporations
with clout that have benefited directly and immensely from the arrangement, he said.
Mondale's program reaches a far broader base than Hart's, which is mainly concerned with the issues of the upwardly mobile, Schmidhauser said.
Mondale's track record indicates his consistent involvement with programs calling for aid to the elderly and food for the poor and underprivileged, he added.
Schmidhouser cited that Mondale risked his popularity by voting for and leading programs promoting civil rights while he was a senator for the predominately Caucasian state of Minnesota.
''Mondale has it all over Hart,” he said. "If (Jesse) Jackson were not in the picture, Mondale would be way ahead right now."
Presuming Mondale would receive the minority vote if Jackson were not in the running, Schmidhauser speculated that Mondale's wins over Hart would have been overwhelming and that his losses would have been minimal.
He called Hart a 'neo-Reagan-ite' because of the similarities in some of their policies and contended that if Hart were nominated, a Reagan Republican Party would vie against an impotent Democratic Party for the presidency.
The Democratic Party should offer an alternative to the Republican Party and Hart does not represent enough of a contrast, he said.
Schmidhauser said that poll results suggesting that Reagan cannot be beaten are monstrously false.
Analysts are basing their allegations on flimsy evidence, he said, adding that incumbents tend to do well in early polls because the public is hesitant to
vote against them when an official contender has not yet been chosen.
In foreign policy matters, the former vice president offers a stark contrast to Reagan administration policy, he said.
Mondale supports a nuclear freeze as a preliminary step in thawing Soviet-American relations, whereas Reagan finds a nuclear arms buildup a prerequisite for negotiations, Schmidhauser said.
He said the issue of nuclear confrontation is perhaps the central issue in the whole election matter.
Senate refutes Olympic group
By David Jefferson
Assistant Qty Editor
The Student Senate has formally withdrawn all of its backing from the Southern California Student Support Committee (SCSSC), a group designed to increase student awareness and involvement at Southern California universities in the Summer Olympic Games, accusing the organization of improper conduct, misrepresentation, deceit and a non-cooperative attitude.
In an April 10 letter to David Resnick, SCSSC chairman, senate President Bill Lilia demanded that the university's name be removed from the committee's roster.
"We refused to be affiliated with the organization, its membership, especially its leadership. SCSSC is a poor representation of the Olympic spirit," Lilia said.
"If our school and organization is not disaffiliated from SCSSC in all forms, we will seek legal action," the letter continued.
The SCSSC was organized early last summer to unify the nine colleges and universities hosting Olympic events — this university, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, Cal State Los Angeles, Cal State Dominguez Hills, Cal State Fullerton, Loyola Marymount, East Los Angeles City College and Pepperdine University.
The major objective of the SCSSC, as explained by Gigi Fairchild, chairwoman of the Student Senate Olympic Committee and former delegate to the SCSSC, is to recruit students for the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee's Patron Program, through which Olympic tickets are sold for $25,000 a pair. The proceeds are used to send junior high school students, senior citizens and the disabled to various events at no cost.
The committee's job is to recruit students from each college who will serve as escorts for these people. In return, the students also get to see a variety of events for free.
Fairchild said a conflict arose over whether the students recruited from this university would be allowed to escort students in the surrounding area to the events being held here.
"Bill (Lilia) said it was a good idea for students to escort kids at nearby campuses, but the SCSSC was hostile toward that idea, mostly to placate the smaller schools who have few events on their campuses," Fairchild said. "But Bill wanted the maximum benefit for 'SC students since most of the events are here."
"We didn't want non-USC students to come first," Lilia added.
Both Lilia and Fairchild claim that they were rarely informed of the actions being taken by the committee.
"We were never given information about what was going on," Lilia said.
The senate's decision to sever ties with the SCSSC revolves primarily around the committee's move to oust Fairchild as the university's delegate and replace her with Johnathan Bailin, a second semester graduate student whom Lilia said has little knowledge of the university and limited contact with student groups on campus.
Lilia added that Bailin is a friend of Resnick's.
"We did not want to be part of an organization being used for someone's own personal benefit," Lilia said.
Resnick acknowledged that he and Bailin have been friends for several years, but he added that the reason for Bailin's selection was
(Continued on page 3)
Hart sweeps campus poll
9 percent margin shown
By Jason Knott
City Writer
A poll of university students indicates that Colorado Sen. Gary Hart would defeat Ronald Reagan by a 9 percent margin if a presidential election were held today.
Out of 254 voters polled, Hart received 102 votes, or 43 percent, to Reagan's 80 votes, or 34 percent. The Rev. Jesse Jackson placed third with 16 votes, or 7 percent. There were 15 undecided voters.
Democratic front-runner Walter Mondale got only 12 votes from university students, and the remainder of the votes were divided among various other candidates.
The poll, conducted April 2 to 4, coincided with a voter registration drive by the Undergraduate Political Science Association (UPSA) from a booth in front of Tommy Trojan.
"It's very surprising that Gary Hart won on this traditionally conservative campus," said Mike Martinez, president of UPSA. "This shows that students are interested in voting how their conscience feels."
Mark Decker, UPSA finance chairman, said, "Hart is for young, upwardly mobile professionals and USC is known for that."
The survey also revealed that male and fe-
male students differ tremendously in their political thought.
Among female students Hart defeated Reagan by nearly a two-to-one margin. Hart garnered 54 votes while only 23 women cast votes for Reagan.
"I think it's because Hart is very eloquent to females," Martinez said. "Hart is pro-abortion, for women's rights and has done a lot for them."
Decker said, "Women vote their heart, men vote their conscience."
Women said they support Hart because of his stance on foreign affairs, the military, women's rights, and because they consider him the best candidate in the running.
The reasons given for supporting Reagan were his strong leadership, the economy and his foreign affairs policy.
However, among males on campus Reagan defeated Hart 57 votes to 48. The survey cited Reagan's strong leadership quality as the primary reason.
Another interesting aspect of the survey was that one-third of the Republicans voted for Hart. Hart received 23 votes to Reagan's 70.
"One thing is certain, the Democrats and Independents that came out and registered showed they want to get Ronald Reagan out of
(Continued on page 9)