Special Football Supplement Inside
Seventy-Fifth Year of Publication
1912 — 1986
Volume Cil, Number 61
University of Southern California
Wednesday, November 26, 1986
Alleged victim files lawsuit
Accounting major blames attack on poor security
By Pablo Lopez
Staff Writer
A 20-vear-old accounting major has filed a S50.000 lawsuit against the university, alleging that she was raped, robbed and beaten because of poor securitv.
The rape allegedly occurred during the summer in university housing. The woman alleges that university security had known for some time that rapes and robberies frequently- occurred in her neighborhood.
The student, who claimed she was raped during the summer at Troy Apartments, said on Monday that she would not comment on whether she had filed a lawsuit, since her law-ver advised her not to.
But according to a letter the student sent to the Daily Trojan after the rape, campus security responded before the Los Angeles Police Department, even though students nearby had dialed the emergency 911 number.
After being treated at a local hospital, she was driven home by security officers, who stayed with her while she gathered her belongings to take to her parents' house.
"Now, a month and a half later," she wrote in early October, "w'hen I have those sleepless nights due to nightmares, security is still there for me."
The student's lawyers could not be reached by press deadline.
Physical Plant administrator answers negligence charges
By Joanne Sims
Staff Writer
Responding to allegations that intramural practice fields are not up to par due to negligence on the part of Physical Plant, Jim Peralta, the university's irrigation foreman, said the irrigation shop does everything in its power to keep the intramural fields in good condition.
"We are constantly upgrading our systems throughout campus/' said Peralta, who was brought to the university from Cal Poly Pomona to begin an irrigation program.
David Koch, associate director of intramurals and recreation, said in an earlier article that Physical Plant is failing to adequately fertilize and irrigate the two intramural fields.
But Peralta said "Koch has nothing to do with our watering program." The irrigation department has a S2,000 controller which is automatically programmed to come on at certain times and water the fields when necessary. Peralta said this very extensive system includes moisture sensors which inform the main control when more or less water is needed.
The remote-controlled watering svstem usually runs at night when all the activities for the dav are finished. He said that nothing comes on until 10 p.m., or if an activity is running late, the controller is overridden and turned on manuallv.
"Our job is to install irrigation systems which conserve water," Peralta said.
Koch said earlier that the fields were watered approximately twice a week.
"With the extensive equipment we have, we definitely water more than twice a week," Peralta said.
The remote-controlled irrigation system enables a person to walk anywhere and open or close valves from up to a mile away.
Currently, the irrigation shop plans to obtain another 30 or more remote control systems and add them to the 15 systems already in existence.
Irrigation is a very complex system which takes more into consideration than fertilizer and water, Peralta said. Many other considerations, such as soil and weather, have to be calculated.
Equipment the university has can calculate how much water is needed for optimum plant growth, and both the intramural and Cromwell fields are taken care of by this equipment.
Physical Plant is "trying to set up something which is a benefit to the university," Peralta said. The irrigation shop is relatively new and was started shortly after the Olympics in 1984, he said.
Phil Boldi, who is in charge of athletic fields, said that the reason Cromwell field and the intramural field are in such bad shape is because the "fields are used 16 to 18 hours a day, seven days a week."
Boldi, who has been in the landscaping business for 15 years, said that Dedeaux and Howard Jones fields are used only three hours a day and thus are kept up very regularly.
"Common sense will tell you that if there is an excess of activ-(Continued on page 3)
RUDI ALEXANDER DAILY TROJAN
Participants in the 14th annual Turkey Trot race past Tommy Trojan.
By Rachel Amone
Staff Writer
The 14th annual Turkey Trot started off with a bang on Tuesdav as runners began their five-kilometer run for turkevs on a course marked in chalk through campus.
Wally Bobkiewicz, Student Senate president, started the 37 participants in the race with a gunshot in front of Heritage Hall.
Organized by the intramural and recreation department and sponsored by the 32nd Street Market and General Motors, the run is an "estimated time race." Participants guess the time it will take them to complete the run, and the winner is whoever comes closest to his estimated time.
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Reindeer, snow combine to make Alumni Park a ‘winter wonderland’
By Arlene Guzman
Staff Writer
It will be a white Christmas in Los Angeles, if the Program Board and the Helenes have their way.
The two organizations plan to convert Alumni Park into a Christmas village with live reindeer, artificial snow made out of "styrofoam peanuts," a Christmas tree lane, drawing contests and prizes.
It's all part of a "winter wonderland" that will be held for three days beginning on Dec. 9, said Carol Silberman, president of the Helenes and executive director for the Program Board.
Actor Dennis Weaver will cut the ribbon at the opening ceremonies at noon on Dec. 9, Silberman said.
The event is geared toward children, said David Price, executive assistant for the Program Board.
In a letter to the deputy superintendent of school operations in the Los Angeles Unified
School District, Price said he would like children from local elementary schools, grades kindergarten through third, to attend. Children who attend the university's nursery are also invited.
The children are asked to draw a picture of what they envision the Christmas spirit to be. A winner will be chosen from each school and will receive a prize at the opening ceremonies.
The winning pictures are going to be sold for charity, Price said. "Everything is going to charity in some form or another," Silberman said.
There will be a toy and food drive from which 10 percent of all proceeds will go to LIFE, a charity, Silberman said.
Donation cannisters will be placed throughout the park for the canned food and toy drives, Price said.
Walt Disney Productions is donating 200 toys to the drive, and Silberman said university organizations plan to donate decorated trees to
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Turkeys, prizes given in annual Thanksgiving run
Scholarships are available to assist foreign students
By Moon Yun Wright
Statt Writer
International scholarships are not just financial assistance handed out to qualified foreign students, but are, more significantly, a package handed to them in the form of camaraderie to be returned to their home country.
The scholarships financially assist students studying in the United States, so when they return home, thev can take back what thev have learned to help with the development and progress of their country.
"The scholarship allows international students to develop an understanding of the U.S. It is good that the scholarship pavs us to go here because the scholarships are in (the) form of friendship and ideology that I can bring back to mv country," said Romev Sabalius, graduate student in German literature, who is a recipient of the Quadrille Ball Scholarship.
"I feel that the scholarship is a good idea, and that it's good to sponsor them. Even though (the Quadrille Ball Scholarship) is onlv good for two semesters, it allows students to finish their studies here," he adds.
The Quadrille Ball Scholarship is offered by the Germanistic Society of America on a competi-, tive basis to German graduate students across the United States. According to Maria Siebes, a graduate student studying Biomedical Engineering and one of the three winners of that scholarship, the award is based on letters of recommendation, achievement and the students' leadership potential.
The Office for International Students and Scholars is part of the division of Student Affairs that assists foreign students with academic and cultural adjustments. OISS has full-time university employees to offer assistance with immigration, academic counseling, housing needs, financial problems, and personal concerns, and to provide students with careful information regarding private
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