Volume XCV, Number 8
University of Southern California
Thursday, January 19, 1984
Rail system reroute proposed by senate
By Sheldon Ito
Assistant City Editor
Efforts by the administration and the Student Senate to reroute the Los Angeles to Long Beach Light Rail transit system are "not dead yet," said David Massie, senate graduate vice-president, at the senate's weekly meeting Wednesday in Seaver Sinence Auditorium.
Massie, who is in charge of the senate's effort to reroute the project past the university, said he will use "public outcry" and a massive letter writing campaign to accomplish the task.
"We're going to make it a public issue," he said.
The university and the senate have been fighting to have the 22.5-mile light rail system rerouted for the past few months, but to no avail.
Massie said although the final approval will not occur until June or July, he thinks the decision has already been made by the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission (LACTC) not to change the rail's route.
He said he believes the decision was made "not for concrete reasons, but for political ones."
He said he thinks the desire to start construction as soon as possible is one reason for the commission's decision not to reroute. He added that the commission may not want the Long Beach commuters to think of the rail as a "ghetto line."
Current plans call for the light rail to travel along Long Beach Boulevard for the majority of the route. The senate's proposed route would divert the rail off Long Beach Boulevard to Slauson Avenue and on to Figueroa Street where it will pass the university before it reaches downtown.
Massie said a study completed by a graduate class in urban and
regional planning, in ..hich he was enrolled last semester, showed
that the Figueroa route would take only seven minutes longer than
the Long Beach Boulevard route —still faster than taking a bus
from Long Beach to downtown during the nish hour. _(Continued from page 6)
If the Row is turned into a one-way street, all drivers will be forced to enter 28th Street on University Avenue by way of 30th Street. As arrows indicate, traffic direction will be east from University Avenue to Figueroa Street and west from University Avenue to Hoover Boulevard
Students leave university; dropout rate to be studied
did not return in the fall semester of 1983, will be asked to respond to a survey asking what led to their decision to leave the university.
A third survey, which deals with continuing students, will be made in order to determine some of the positive and negative qualities of the university.
The results of the entire study will be released sometime near the end of this semester. Stringer said.
The committee consists of about 18 members — four university administrators, four university students selected by the Student Senate, and about 10 university faculty members.
The last study of the university's attrition rates dealt with the freshman class of 1978 and was published in February, 1981.
According to the study, 20 percent of the class did not return for its sophomore year.
The report shows a 20 percent attrition rate among Caucasian students, a 25 percent attrition rate among Hispanics, and a 13 percent attrition rate among Asian students.
Other statistics include a 26 percent attrition rate among those admitted through the Freshman Access Program, and a higher attrition rate among males than among females — 22 percent compared to 18 percent.
Kristine Dillon, assistant vice president of student affairs, will compile the statistics for this semester's retention report just as she did for the report completed in 1981.
She said this survey is different from those conducted in the past because it will require more feedback from those students
who dropped out of the university as well as continuing students.
However, Dillon notes that a major problem in the study will be getting those who dropped out to respond to the survey. In past studies dealing with attrition rates, only 30 percent to 35 percent of those surveyed eventually responded. She said that in order for any statistical survey to have any validity, 50 percent to 65 percent of a sample need to respond depending on the sample size.
Dillon said she realizes the low response may be attributed to the large number of questions being asked in the survey but said they are necessary in order to add to the significance of the study.
"We are trying to look at retention in terms of a cost-benefit analysis by asking ourselves, Tor each dollar we spend in recruiting a student, how much should we spend in retaining that student?'" Dillon said.
Dillon said that although she does not expect the current study to produce any "big differences," she does expect it to enable the university to more dearly define the demographics of those who drop out of the university and their reasons for dropping out, thus enabling the admissions committee to make better decisions regarding undergraduate admissions.
Dillon also said that since the quality of students entering the university has steadily increased, the attrition rate of the freshman class of 1982 should be slightly lower.
When confronted with the so-(Continued on page 2)
28th Street going one-way
Increased parking, safety are proposed changes
By Sheldon Ito
Assistant City Editor
A proposal to make the Row a one-way street has been approved by the fraternities and sororities affected and by the dty of Los Angeles, but it is not known when the plan will go into effect, said Thomas Piemik, assistant director of Greek affairs.
Under the proposal, traffic will only be allowed to enter 28th Street in the middle, via University Avenue. The street will be split into two one-way segments — one heading west from University Avenue and the other heading east, Piemik said.
Miro Copic, a student senator representing the Row, said that although he does not know when the transformation will take place, he is certain that it eventually will. He added that his constituents are "very much in favor" of the proposal.
Copic said the plan, which will create diagonal parking on the street and increase the safety of pedestrians, has been "in the works for quite a few years."
The Sorority Advisers Assodation, a private organization of corporate sorority sponsors, is currently pushing for the proposal's completion, Piemik said.
However, the assodation's president, Carol Thompson, was unavailable for comment.
Carl Levredge, director of security and parking operations, said he was in favor of the proposal.
Levredge said eliminating the two-way traffic flow would be benefidal by eliminating automobile radng on the street and decreasing the danger to pedestrians He said it may also make security easier by creating a "front door" through which entering vehides must pass.
However, he cautioned that more study needs to be done on whether the change may inconvenience the residents of apartments near the Row, and the effect it may have on the Automobile Club of Southern California and the surrounding community.
Copic said the change, if completed, would be the first step toward eventually "closing-off" the Row and making it into a pedestrian mall.
He said besides safety and parking, greater security is one of the reasons for the proposed mall.
Copic said there have been many complaints about crime in the area and the mall would reduce accessibility to "any would-be thieves" and make the Row "more easily patrolled."
Bob Byers, chairman of the board of the North University Park Community Assodation, said he could not comment on the proposals because he had not yet heard about them. But he did say that local residents would obviously be opposed to any effort to reduce access to 28th Street "since it is part of the community."
Levredge said the proposed mall would be much like University Avenue on campus and would not restrict community access.
"They're not talking about building a fence," he said. "There are some security benefits, but it's
(Continued on page 6)
STARR SCHAFTEL DAILY TROJAN
Studying for music students doesn't just include hitting the books, but the notes as well, as this french horn player can attest to.
By Glen Quon
City Writer
The recently appointed university retention committee has dedded on a three-part plan which will help determine reasons why students fail to complete their education at the university — a new approach to the last retention study which was completed in 1981.
"(The committee) will (attempt to) gather consistent information on why students leave USC/' said Jeremy Stringer, assistant vice president of student affairs.
Although the committee, headed by Stringer, has not conducted any formal meetings. Stringer said that an outline for what he termed "a major research program" had been formed by a preliminary committee that studied retention.
The first phase of the three-part plan — a survey of 1,000 freshmen — has been completed and will tell the committee something about why these students chose to attend the university. The results will be released in three to four weeks.
In the second phase of the plan, students who entered the university m the fall of ,1982, but