Fear and Loathing in Cartoonland — see page 13
Volume XCVIII, Number 14
University of Southern California
Wednesday, January 30, 1985
5 students suspended for falsifying resumes
By Albert Pang
Staff Writer
Five law students who misrepresented their class standings on their resumes were suspended, ranging from one semester to one year, after four of them appealed to an administrative board, said Lee Campbell, assistant dean of the Law Center.
Three of the students — who were recommended by the dean's office to be suspended for one semester — received a one-year sentence instead, because the board regarded their actions as "a greater, serious” matter, said Martin Levine, chairman of the administrative board.
A higher degree of recklessness and apathy were shown by the students during the month-long hearing before the board, Campbell said.
In one case, a student who had a calculator with him did not bother to check his proper quartile on his resume, Campbell said.
"It is more unforgivable and a less honest thing," Campbell added.
Another student was suspended for one semester, and the fifth student did not appeal to the board and received the same one-semester suspension.
Suspensions will be in effect during the spring semester and fall 1985.
Although these students still have the right to appeal again to the Student Behavior Appeals Panel, Campbell said she did not think any of them would appeal because "they may believe it to be futile."
The suspended students can re-apply again to the Law Center, but they have to show rehabilitative behavior and have done something constructive, such as working for a public interest law firm, Campbell added.
During the fall semester, 28 law students — including the five who were suspended — were charged with falsifying their resumes with erroneous quartile information.
Also involved in the fudging case are 21 other law students whose resumes have been checked by the school's deans, and were found to have discrepancies against their actual class standing.
In December, the deans recommended the administrative board place 15 of those students under reprimand and censure, and six others received no sanctions.
Five students' files and transcripts will bear a permanent notation of censure, and 10 other students will have a letter of reprimand in their files until they are eligible for the bar examination.
A quartile is the ranking by which the Law Center divides each class. There are four quartiles, ranging from the top 10 percent to the bottom quarter.
Levine said the suspension will help the students to appreciate the impact of the matter.
(Continued on page 17)
SHUJA JASHANMAL DAILY TROJAN
This younger resident of the married student housing complex seems to be asking "Has anybody seen my shoe?"
Accounting School in top 5
School ranked
fourth in U.S.
Production of ‘Superstar’ junked under fire; student complaints, casting foul-ups cited
By Richard Hatem
Staff Writer
Amid controversy between students, staff and production crew over casting foul-ups, the performing arts committee of the Program Board has cancelled its upcoming production of "Jesus Christ Superstar."
The production was slated for March 21, 22 and 23.
In a memo issued Tuesday by Scott Evers, chairman of the Program Board, the cancellation was attributed to "lack of student involvement, student support and because of varying complaints from the student body."
Problems began when flyers advertising auditions never left the production office and were not distributed on campus, Evers said.
Concurrently, an ad was placed in Dra-ma-Logue, a local performing arts newspaper, which advertised the time and place of auditions. Subsequently, university students were not given ample time to prepare for the auditions, and professional actors — the primary readers of the newspaper — were erst in the three major roles, Evers said.
"The complaints issued by the students are valid. They're paying their money," he said.
Evers said approximately $16,000 of Program Board funds was allotted to the show. "Without student support, it wasn't a good idea," he said.
Benet Garcia, production manager and scene designer, explained the decision to post audition notices in Drama-Logue.
"Mr. Evers, (who is) in charge of the 'working theatre/ has posted audition notices in Drama-Logue before. We assumed that because he had to go outside
for participation, that student interest in the production was low and that we would have to do the same thing.
"The only reason he cancelled the show is that this time he had to take the heat from faculty and students for us going off-campus to cast a show. He's never been caught before," Garcia said.
In a letter to the Daily Trojan, Julie Foreman, a junior majoring in drama, said, "(the) show being sponsored by our student dollars was not publicized properly. Each student pays a 'student activity fee' in order to support USC activities for USC students only, not people who could teach the classes here (professional actors).
"I'm glad the show was cancelled, but I would rather have just had it re-cast with all university students," Foreman said in a phone interview.
Evers said he was aware of bad feelings from faculty and staff members in regard to the casting of non-university students, and was concerned that the "bad press" would have a negative effect on the final production of the show.
"I had to ask myself if this was philosophically right ... to deny students the best chance at major roles.
"Originally, it was thought that working with professionals would give the students an opportunity to leam from them, but the complaints outweighed any advantages to be gained," Evers said. "It was my decision to cancel the show."
Vernon Bennett, executive producer of the show, said, "By bringing in professionals, we hoped to add the organization that has been missing in shows without professionals. We wanted to show the students that we were serious (Continued on page 18)
The school of accounting has found itself ranked among the top five in the country.
By Charisse Jones
Staff Writer
For the third consecutive year, the university's School of Accounting has been chosen as one of the top five undergraduate accounting programs in the country, according to a poll conducted yearly by a major accounting magazine.
According to a poll conducted by Public Accounting Report, administrators from schools around the nation ranked the USC accounting school fourth in the country. The results were published in the magazine's December 1984 issue.
Illinois, Texas and Michigan were ranked ahead of USC. This university was ranked fifth in 1982 and third in 1983.
Brigham Young, Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Missouri and Michigan State rounded out the top 10 schools in the poll.
Merle Hopkins, assistant dean of the School of Accounting, said the school is consistently ranked high because it has a tradition of fine teachers and researchers.
"That tradition goes back a long way," he said. "Some (Continued on page 17)