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Volume XCVII, Number 16	University of Southern California	Tuesday, September 25, 1984
Business school professor doubles as Taiwan senator
Figueroa, Flower streets to return to two-way flow
Local merchants complain about reduced profits
By Maria Villarreal
Staff Writer
Figueroa and Flower Streets, which as one-way streets relieved Olympic traffic but irritated local merchants who saw it taking away their business, will become two-way streets once again in about two w'eeks, said citv transportation engineer Tim Crowder.
The two streets w’ere to return to their original two-way operation at the end of the Summer Games. Although the Department of Transportation began work on Sept. 18 to convert the two streets to their former state, the one-way operation is still in effect.
This has caused discontent in the business community on Figueroa Street. Merchants around the university have complained about the change, and a petition W’as circulated to try to bring about a speedv conversion of Figueroa.
"We are definitely losing business,'' saicT James Jones, owner of the university Sizzler on Figueroa Street.
"About 10 to 15 percent of our business has been affected by it (the street change)," he said. "A lot of people are not going to make the effort to drive all the wav around the block just so thev can park here. It's confusing customers."
The Los Angeles City Department of Transportation converted both Figueroa and Flower into one-way streets as a way of easing traffic coming into the Coliseum area during the Summer Games.
"A one-wav street carries a bit more traffic than a two-way street, and there is no opposition from turns," said Crowder, wrho worked on the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee.
Not everyone agrees the
Chi-Yuan Lin
By John Kirby
Assistant City Editor
As chairman of the decision systems department in the School of Business, Chi-Yuan Lin carries a workload that would more than satisfy the achievement drive of most individuals.
Lin, however, has taken on an additional responsibility that makes him unique among the professors at this university. He is one of the 26 overseas senators of the Taiwanese government.
In addition, he is the only "at-large" senator in the western United States. At-large senators voice the interests of Taiwanese professionals throughout the world.
The overseas senators try to relate to Taiwan some of the cultural, scholastic and economic differences that exist among
Chinese all over the world, Lin said.
In order to keep up w’ith these differences, Lin said he meets regularly with leaders from the Chinese and Taiwanese communities. In these meetings, issues from past senatorial meetings are discussed and new views and suggestions are aired.
Overseas senators are not elected in the American sense of the word, Lin said. Instead, they are appointed at the recommendation of the Taiwanese Consul in Washington, D.C. after an elaborate screening and selection process.
"Being selected to this position is a great honor," Lin said. "In order to serve in this position, an individual must have the respect of the professional and academic community. In this sense, it's even harder than (Continued on page 3)
Campus RTD routes in jeopardy
By Robbie Asghar
Staff Writer
Los Angeles Rapid Transit District routes connecting the campus to South Bay communities may soon be cancelled if the number of students and staff members using the service does not increase.
On Oct. 3, RTD officials will be monitoring the use of stops around the area to determine if continued service to the university is feasible, said Dennis Archambault, special projects administrator of University Security.
"Wre need to have a strong performance next Wednesday," he said.
If university ridership is found to be insufficient, service could end in late October, he said, leaving more than 100 riders without a convenient means of transportation.
Those riders would then have to use cars or take transfer routes from downtown. Transferring would raise costs and cause the riders "an enormous loss of time," in some cases doubling the duration of the trip, he added.
The South Bay service began three years ago, when university officials convinced the RTD board of directors that significant business could be offered by having down town-bound buses first make stops near campus.
The service was easy to organize because "it was no big deal" for buses to leave the Harbor Freeway to make a few stops, Archambault said.
But bus routes from other parts of the city or county would be almost impossible to re-organize because existing lines generally would have to be radically re-routed, creating anger among current riders, he said.
"If we lose the service, it vyili be more difficult to get it back," he
added, pointing out that the RTD could simply refer to old figures to show that a return to campus stops wouM not be practical or necessary.
The change three years ago angered many South Bay residents who worked downtown, as they had to wait an extra 10 to 15 minutes to reach their destination, Archambault said.
Some residents have actively sought to have the university stops withdrawn. "They would love it," he said.
Student Senate President Mike Singer said he was unaware of anv possible re-routing.
Michael Martinez, chairman of the senate's environmental and external affairs committee, also said he had not heard of the possible cancellation, but said he would try' to contact the RTD to keep abreast of any proposed changes.
"I will personally have to work on that," he said. "I think it's very important for students" to have the option of bus transportation.
An information supervisor for the RTD customer service department said he could not comment on any possible changes, but said the routes would continue as usual unless board meetings or public hearings are scheduled to decide their fate.
At public hearings, citizens who speak out are generally critical of the existing bus lines, Archambault said.
All lines are evaluated annually, Archambault said, but those that run from the South Bay to campus were not in jeopardy in past years because university contacts in the department allowed the service to continue.
Those contacts have since left or no longer can intercede, he added, leaving the future of the routes in the hands of students who must use the service more frequently to justify normal service.
change was beneficial, especially local merchants. Yet even their opinions on the change vary.
"We can't really tell if our business has been affected," said Tracy Jochen, manager of FatBurger.
Although he would not comment further, Jochen said Mike Thompson, representing the owners of the FatBurger building, organized the petition.
Felix Chevrolet Manager George Damaa attributed 90 percent of car lots' losses to the one-way change, and Renee Washington, assistant manager of the Vagabond Inn, said, "It's like a freeway out there."
Figueroa and Flower were to remain as one-way streets for four to six months as part of a Department of Tranportation study, but this idea was abandoned.
(Continued on page 2)
SUZANNE DENEBEIM'DAILY TROJAN
Red-shirted student officers from university security’s new bicycle program move illegally parked bicycles to a designated parking zone and hang yellow warning tags on the bikes’ handlebars. They are from left: Lance Sakumoto, student supervisor Michael Lanier, Daniel Puccio, and assistant supervisor Lisa Magee.