trojan
Volume XCV, Number 41	University of Southern California	Thursday, March 8, 1984
deficits a problem
By John Kirby
Gty Writer
The future of the School of Library and Information Management is in limbo because of its inability to support itself despite an increase in enrollment for the first time since 1973, said Roger Greer, dean of the school.
He stressed, however, that the provost's office has given a guarantee that the program will continue for at least f&o more years.
"We have been given a verbal assurance from the provost's office that the program will continue in fuH operation until at least June of 1986," he said. "In a sense this is more than we’ve ever gotten before."
Robert Biller, vice provost, verified the guarantee but added that a decision about the continuance of the program after that time has not been made.
He said that certain criteria must be met by professional schools, one of which is that a program not be "too much of a drain on the university's independent resources.”
This is the central issue in determining the future of the School of Library and Information Management.'
"The problem is that over the last 10 years there has been a steady withdrawal of support for library science on a nationwide scale," Biller said.
Greer agreed the deficits the school has been accumulating are the basis for the concern and said the problem is not a new one.
"We have been fighting for our lives -for three years," he said.
The School of Library and Information Management currently has an enrollment of 105 students, the majority of whom
are in the masters program, Greer explained.
The program has been acclaimed in both national and international library science journals for its pioneer efforts in the area of general information management theory, he said.
"Our curriculum is, I think, the most innovative," he said, adding that the school has a placement rate of 100 percent of its graduating students.
While the official word from the provost's office is that no decision has been made concerning the fate of the school, some administrative officials said there is little question what the outcome will be.
"The question is definitely before the administration concerning the viability of the program,” said Jon Strauss, senior vice president of administration. "The school has been told to prepare for the discontinuance of their (masters) program.”
When asked if a decision has already been made, Strauss (Continued on page 19)
Traditional dress, crafts and exhibits highlighted the Native American Arts Festival Wednesday in Alumni Park.
Water does damage to Science Hall
By Robbie Asghar
Qty Writer
Water from an overflowing lab sink on the second floor of Science Hall leaked to the first floor Tuesday night, causing damage to documents and equipment in three rooms of the geological sciences department.
Such occurrences are "common" in the aging building, although Tuesday's incident was noteworthy because of the amount of damage to geology department property, said Don-
ald Vail, executive administrator of the department.
"There should not be such a degree of leakage,” he said, blaming this and other recent moisture problems on "antiquated" facilities.
Faculty and students in the geology department reported that similar incidents have occurred anywhere from three to eight times in the last two years.
The accident occurred when a neurobiology undergraduate student doing an experiment for
a research program inadvertently left a water pump running after leaving for the day, said Michael Koenig, a graduate student in neurobiology who works in an adjoining lab.
"He was drying some choline chloride (a powder-like substance) by putting it under a vacuum with a water aspirator,” Koenig said.
The student left the water aspirator running when he went home at about 5:30 p.m., and during the course of the even-
ing, a pipe near the faucet broke, causing the sink to overflow.
The water dripped through the ceiling on the first floor and into three geology department rooms, damaging at least one computer terminal and some technical drawings and soaking several rock samples and X-rays.
An official estimate has yet to be made, but property repairs could cost several thousands of (Continued on page 2)
Future uncertain for library school;
From skiing to condor watching, Adventure Travel offers it all
By Katie Brennan
Sunlight reflected off the mirrored glasses of a cross country skier as he turned to look down the steep trail he had just climbed. Behind him, travelling at a somewhat slower pace, followed the rest of his group. Their destination — Glacier Point in Yosemite National Park, reputed to have one of the best views of the entire Yosemite Valley.
Whatever each pictured the view to be, it would certainly be different than the view back home in Los Angeles. After all, it was Southern California and studying the dozen had escaped for the weekend.
It was certainly no coincidence that USC Adventure Travel, the coordinating group of the trip, had planned the outing for the three-day President's Day weekend. The extra day gave the group the time necessary to make the run up to the point.
Not only does it offer skiing holidays, but Adventure Travel, located within the office of the USC Travel Service, offers students approximately 15 trips each semester, said Dave Wyman, the service's cooridinator.
Some of the other adventures offered include a champagne-night hike, which Wyman said
was one of the most popular, river rafting, rock climbing, bike touring, condor watching, and several hiking and cross country ski trips. In addition, a special week-long hike into the Grand Canyon to an Indian reservation will be sponsored during spring break.
Wyman said balance is the key when the organization selects the sorts of adventures it will offer.
"We don't try and do trips that we know will be popular, but rather ones that will have a particular interest for someone," Wyman said. "Just as much importance is, therefore, placed on the book lover's stroll as a three-day ski weekend.”
Wyman became the program's coordinator in August of 1978, replacing Mike Swiderski, a former member of the Trojan baseball team, who had founded Adventure Travel in 1976.
Since its conception, the program has grown steadily to accommodate a total of 500 people on the 30 trips it now offers annually.
The usual number of participants allowed on each trip is 15, but that number can climb as high as 30 when popular one-dav trips such as the champagne night hike are offered.
As illustrated, "more the merrier" is not always the case with all of these adventures. Wy-
(Continued on page 2)
President’s daughter criticizes news media
By Susan Loux
Qty Writer
Maureen Reagan, special consultant to the Republican National Committee and daughter of President Reagan, staunchly criticized news media election coverage to a group of about 75 political science students Tuesday night in Waite Phillips Hall.
"I'm more than a little cynical about the news media," she began.
"The press is so totally out of control at this point with everyone trying to become the next (Bob) Woodward and (Carl) Bernstein . . . that they're not too interested in what the story is."
The network and wire service press corps that follow candidates' campaigns for weeks at a time become jaded by the same angle on issues, and may face pressure to create stories, she said to Joseph Cerrell's "Mass Media and Politics" class.
As a result, a minor change in a candidate's rhetoric can be blown into a breaking news story that lacks any news content, Reagan said.
The news value has come to be based on "which candidate called another a liar and which one called the other one a hypocrite," Reagan said, adding that their political funds and what they are spent on also makes for news copy.
Reagan, who ran in the 1982 California senatorial race, recalled being misquoted and having her confidentiality abused by story-hungry reporters.
"No coverage of that particular race .was fair. . . . Issues should be at least as important as what I think of other candidates," she said.
An alternative to empty campaign journalism would be to increase regional coverage, she suggested, since the issues being discussed repeatedly by candidates would be fresher to local reporters than to those who have been riding on the campaign bandwagon.
(Continued on page 5)