Seventy-Fifth Year of Publication
(fy% trojan
Volume Cll, Number 15
University of Southern California
1912 — 1986
Monday, September 22, 1986
Bobkiewicz asks to address Board of Trustees
Senate vote urging complete divestment deemed official after procedural debate
By Gary Sutton
Staff Writer '
After two days of deliberation, the Student Senate's 16-10 vote Wednesday night urging the university to fully divest from companies doing business in South Africa is now official, said Wally Bobkiewicz, president of the senate.
Bobkiewicz will ask to speak at the Board of Trustees' Oct. 8 meeting to inform the trustees of the senate's decision to urge full divestment.
Senate parliamentarian Marcus Frishman had said the senate failed to follow proper parliamentary procedure and, as a result, the vote was invalid.
However, Mark Decker, vice president of the senate, said absolutely no rules were broken. "The bottom line is: What happened is correct."
At Wednesday's senate meeting, the body voted unanimously to immediately discuss the administration's decision not to divest fully and immediately, even though the issue was not on the agenda.
After about 45 minutes of debate, the senate voted by a 16-10 count to urge full divestment,. Decker said.
But Frishman, who serves only in an advisory role, said the proceedings were not in line with normal parliamentary procedure.
For important measures, he said, the parliamentarian is to be notified in advance, so that the vice president and the other senate members may become familiar with the matters before they are to be discussed an voted on.
None of this occurred, but it is common for the senate to forego these proceedings in order to address timely issues promptly.
The senate was well within its limits by rushing the issue of divestment, Decker said.
The major questions were whether the senate's vote on Wednesday was a motion or a resolution, and what the differences are, if any, between the two.
Frishman argued that a motion and a resolution are entirely different.
He said that a motion is simply a procedural move, whereas a resolution is an official policy decision, in which a two-thirds majority vote is needed.
Frishman said the divestment issue is important enough to require a resolution.
The senate's constitution contradicts Frishman, however, and says that a motion of any kind — including one approving a resolution — requires only the approval of a majority of the meeting's quorum.
Construction underway for new, improved faculty club at southeast corner of campus
'Best-looking faculty center in the state' priced at $2 million
By Terry Allen
Staff Writer
University faculty will be able to enjoy one another's company in a new and improved facility if current construction plans for what is being called "the best-looking faculty center in the state" progress on schedule.
Construction on the new center, which will be located be-
from 1,300 to at least 1,500 by the time it opens, and it could eventually reach as high as 2,000, Mendoza said.
"The faculty is all excited because they know this place is going to be better than what we have now.
"I've been to 95 percent of the faculty clubs in California, and I can honestly say that when our
LORI AM ELBERT / DAILY TROJAN
Construction is now underway on a new faculty center at the southeast end of campus
tween the Law Center and Town and Gown, on the southeast comer of campus, will cost about $2 million, said Oscar Mendoza, manager of the Faculty Center.
He said $650,000 has already been raised from club membership fees and various fund drives. The rest of the money will come either from the university or bank loans, he said.
Membership at the Faculty Center is expected to increase
new faculty center is finished it will be the best-looking one in the state," he said. 'Tm proud of it, and I've been to all of them."
The new center will add 240 additional seats to the current facility and will accommodate up to 800 people at one time when both patio and indoor facilities are filled to capacity.
Inside, members will have access to five private meeting rooms, a banquet room, two
large dining rooms, an indoor cafe and a pub, he said.
Mendoza, who has managed the faculty center for the past eight years, said the idea to build a new center started five years ago when he asked the center's executive board for more storage space.
"They agreed with me," he said, "but because of money and the Olympics (we had to wait). During the Olympics we couldn't do anything. The project sat idle for two months.
"We need a new facility. The old one is inadequate. It's too small for the amount of business we conduct (in it) every day."
Construction on the center began July 15. Mendoza said he is hoping to be open for business before commencement this May.
The current center, located between the Law Center and the Alumni House, is open Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. for lunch, and from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., except Friday, for dinner.
It's also open on weekends for special occasions and after Monday night football games for cocktails.
Although he believes membership at the center is already strong, Mendoza said the success of the new center will depend on new and continued support of existing members, alumni, and others in the university community.
"We're getting the support of the faculty now, and we don't want to lose it," he said. "We need all the help we can get."
Ethnic Studies Program faces enrollment decline
By Hortensia Lopez
Staff Writer
The Ethnic Studies Program is cutting back the number of classes it offers and is under review after a 13-year decline in enrollment.
The decision to form a faculty review committee was made this summer and all but three courses were eliminated, said William Spitzer, interim dean of the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.
However, "the program is not gone," he said.
Although the intention of the university is to restructure the program, "information got out in the form that the Ethnic Studies Program was going to be dissolved," Spitzer said.
"For all practical purposes, the program consisted of a director and a secretary," Spitzer said. There are no ethnic studies majors taking courses the department offers, he said.
"There was a genuine concern over the program because we didn't seem to have a program. In order to have a program, you have to have enough students to interact so that there can be a stimulation," Spitzer said.
There have not been any graduates from the program since 1983, according to a letter written by Paul Bohannan, dean of social sciences and communications in the College of Letters Arts and Science. Spitzer said the letter was written to a student who had inquired about the future of the program.
In the letter, Bohannan wrote that four and a half ethnic studies majors (four majors and one double major) graduated from the program in 1973, one double major graduated in 1982, and another double major graduated in 1983.
According to university records, there are currently no ethnic studies majors registered.
"If there are people in the major, I wish they would surface," Spitzer said.
Spitzer said the advisory group — the faculty review committee — will have to determine what students and faculty really want from an ethnic studies program.
This semester, three ethnic studies courses are offered. Next semester, only one will be available, Cooper said.
"(Dean Bohannan) felt our department could be reduced and that there are other ways of meeting ethnic needs,'' said Don Cooper, a teaching assistant and graduate student in history.
"Here we are in a city of vast minorities with a large population. How does this show our commitment to it?
"(The reduction of course offerings) affected me in the sense that, if the course was wiped out, I would've been wiped out.
"If you think about the way they did it, students had no input as to whether (the program) should be dissolved or maintained," Cooper said.
"It's ludicrous that the university doesn't have an Ethnic Studies Program," said Toni Stone, a junior majoring in journalism. "If it can require that students take three semesters of a foreign language, it can at least require everyone to take an introductory course in ethnic studies."
The faculty consists of Charles Wong, a professor, and Diego Vigil, the program director. Vigil and Bohannan were unavailable for comment Friday.
Commuter senator elected to occupy vacant position
By Karen Martinez
Staff Writer
The Student Senate has elected a replacement for Donald Sutton, who resigned as a commuter senator at the first senate meeting this school year.
By a vote of 18-6, the senate elected Darren Abe, a junior transfer student from Montclair College in Montclair, N.J.
Following Sutton's resignation, which came about as a result of financial problems, the senate offer the position to Ruby Juse, runner-up to Sutton in the previous election. But Juse declined, said Marcus Frishman, senate parliamentarian.
After Juse, the next highest vote-getters were Abe and Anthony Moretti, who tied.
"I suggested what we do — since we had several options — was either to have a brand new election in the commuter constituency, consult the Trojan Commuter Alliance, or ask the current senate to vote and break the tie," said Mark Decker, senate vice president.
Decker said the senate decided to have the two candidates give a brief speech outlining what they planned to do for their constituency. This was followed by a brief question and anwer period.
"My main goal is to cut into this apathy," Abe said. He said a major problem with commuter students is apathy, and he'd like to get them more involved. “Commuters go to class, and then they go home."
Abe said he plans to design a calendar for commuters, issue more literature, such as pamphlets with safety tips, and improve lighting in the parking structures.
He was involved in the student senate at his previous college, but felt he was at a disadvantage running for senate last year because he had attended the university for only one semester prior to the election.
The delay in replacing Sutton was inevitable because there was "no precedence to break a senator tie," said Decker.
(Continued on page 13)