Volume XCV, Number 11
University of Southern California
Tuesday, January 24, 1984
Senate officer steps down from public relations post
By Catalina Camia
Assistant City Editor
Mark Decker, Student Senate public relations officer, resigned from his post Monday morning, citing "a possible conflict of interest" as his reason.
Decker, who has considered running for student community senator later this semester, said the issue of conflict of interest was raised during the mid-year senate retreat last weekend.
It was brought up that he may be in conflict of interest if he decided to run for a senatorial post while still public relations officer.
The public relations position, while not an elected post, is part of the executive cabinet of the Student Senate. The public relations officer is appointed by the senate president, and confirmed by a two-thirds vote of the senate.
"It's smarter for me to not put myself in this position," he said. 'To avoid controversy, I decided to step down now."
There are no rules in the Student Senate Constitution or in the bylaw's that state a senator cannot also be a chairman on one of the four research action units, or
executive assistant, who handles the senate budget and all of the business functions of the organization, or public relations officer and parliamentarian — all cabinet positions.
Although the possibility existed that he could use his public relations post to his advantage during his senate campaign, Decker said he "never had any intention to do
so."
Bill Lilia, Student Senate president, said he agreed with Decker about the possible conflict, and accepted the resignation under those terms.
"There was the possibility that people would not perceive it (Decker running for senator) as fair," he said. "I agreed with Mark that he should protect himself."
"I don't feel I've done anything wrong," Decker said. "I just want to avoid the possibility (during the elections) of what people might think."
Decker said several elected senators are also in danger of being in conflict of interest because they hold key cabinet posts as well.
Currently, four senators perform roles other than their elected positions — as executive assistant, parliamentari-
(Continued on page 3)
CRAIG STEWART DAILY TROJAN
MARK DECKER
CHRIS ISLEIB/DAILY TROJAN
This youngster will soon find he will have to scale greater obstacles than a rock to become an alumnus of this university.
University housing almost full
Housing office says ads helped to fill few spaces
By Claudia Ishino
City Writer
The spring occupancy rate in university residence halls and apartments is approximately 98.9 percent, said David Blackmar, housing association coordinator.
This figure represents a slight increase over last semester's 97 percent occupancy rate, Blackmar said.
Because of the high occupancy rate there are few spaces to be reassigned. Only between 75 and 100 students have received housing during the spring reassignment period which began Jan. 16.
The high occupancy rate is attributed to approximately 400 new and transfer students w’ho moved into university housing.
An additional reason is that the housing office
made students more aware that there were spaces available.
"We made a strong effort to advertise," Blackmar said. As a result there are very few vacancies this spring.
Most vacancies are in apartments that are farther away from campus, and there are almost no vacancies in residence halls, Blackmar said.
If students want to be reassigned they must come into the housing office, select a space among the vacancies listed and generate a contract.
A student may also trade a space with another student. In this case both students must go to the housing office and settle new contracts.
The last day for spring reassignment will be Friday, Jan. 27.
Priority period for fall housing wall begin on Monday, Jan. 30 and go until Feb. 13. During this time students who are currently residing in university housing will have priority in filing applications. Applications will be sent out next week.
Hotel\ motel owners go for gold in Olympics
By David Jefferson
Assistant City Editor
With hordes of people clamoring for lodging during this summer’s Olympic Games, concerns have arisen that certain hotels and motels will "gouge" visitors, charging exorbitant rates during the two-week period that the Games will be in Los Angeles.
While a number of the hotels in the area are maintaining standard rates during the games, certain smaller hotels and motels have increased the prices of their rooms by as much as four times. In a few’ instances, that price is 5200 a night for one room, according to a study conducted by the Daily Trojan.
At the Vagabond Inn on Figueroa Street, rates will jump to SI 65 a night during the Olympics, an increase of over S100 from the present per person rate of S53, for a double occupancy.
At the Embassy Hotel, downtown, visitors must reserve a room for the entire 16-night period of the Games, from July 27 to Aug. 12. The price is $200 a night, which includes a breakfast and dinner buffet each day. The total package costs close to S3,500, including tax, and the Embassy requires full payment by Feb. 1.
The Best Western Intowne Motor Hotel on Figueroa has what it calls its special “Olympic Rate": S200 per room per night, four times the standard price of
S51.
Mayor Tom Bradley proposed an ordinance earlier this month which w’ould hold all hotel and motel rates in the city at
the Jan. 1, 1984 levels during the Games. The proposal, which is similar to one used in Lake Placid during the 1980 Winter Olympics, would be enacted by the same authority the city has to impose rent control.
Last Thursday, however, a Los Angeles City Council committee unanimously rejected Bradley's proposal. Their recommendation that the proposal not be adopted will go before the City Council sometime next week for a yes / no vote.
If the committee's recommendation is accepted by the Council, no ceiling can be placed on accommodation rates. If rejected, however, Bradley's proposal will be sent back to committee and a new proposal may be drafted.
"I think this was an ill-conceived proposal and it won't do the City of Los Angeles anv good in the long run," said Councilman John Ferraro, chairman of the committee.
Bob Hedrick, press deputy to Ferraro, said, "It's their (the hotels') business . . . In fact, shouldn't prices go up in a supply and demand situation?"
"If they want to restrict one industry, they should restrict them all," said the manager of the Best Western Intowne.
The committee's recommendation that the proposal not be adopted came after officials in the hotel/motel industry promised to initiate a self-policing effort against gouging.
Tammy Lazer, Olympic Coordinator for the Los Angeles Visitor's Bureau, one of the organizations pledging self-polic-
ing, denied that rate gouging is even a problem.
"We have conducted surveys and found there is very little gouging. The media has unearthed a few’ specific examples of small, privately owned hotels which are raising their rates and has blowTt the whole thing out of proportion," Lazer stated.
When asked if Best Westerns and Vagabonds were included in the list of hotels which are approved by the Bureau, Lazer responded, "Yes. But you can't say that all Vagabonds or Best Westerns in the area are gouging. The ones that are doing it are the smaller franchises of those chains."
The Best Western Intowne Motor Hotel is franchised (privately owned), which is in line with Lazer's observation.
However, the Vagabond Inn on Figueroa is corporate-owned, and thus not alone in its rate hikes.
Almost two years ago, the Olympic Committee began contacting major hotels in Los Angeles to reserve large blocks of rooms during the Games. Under an agreement it has with approximately 80 hotels in the area, the committee has booked-80 percent of each hotel's rooms for visiting Olympic officials and others associated with the Games. In return, these hotels have agreed to hold their rates at Jan. 1, 1984 prices.
"If you were chosen to be an 'official hotel' by the Olympic committee, you had to agree not to charge more than the flat rate you would normally charge,"
said Barbara Cooper, secretary to the director of public relations and advertising at the Biltmore Hotel, one of the hotels involved in the agreement.
Michele Bourgeois, assistant director of public relations for the Bonaventure Hotel, which is also part of the agreement, commented, "I believe all the major hotels are doing this because they want to be aligned with the LAOOC."
Nann Miller, public relations director for the Hyatt Regency Los Angeles, another "official hotel," said the major advantage of being part of the agreement is in terms of future business.
"It’s known as long-term gains over small-term profits. We're really interested in our long-term reputation, rather than the short-term gain we would receive from gouging people during the Olympics," Miller said.
At the Bonaventure and the Hyatt, as well as a number of other hotels involved in the agreement, the remaining 20 percent of the rooms (those not booked by the LAOOC) have been sold to corporate clients of the hotels.
"That leaves hardly anything for the average spectator," noted Miller.
"Since all the big hotels are all booked, they have to come to us," said Dorothy Anderson, reservations manager for the Rainbow Hotel downtown, which is increasing its room rates from $48 to $68 during the Olympics.
"I don't think (the hotels) should exploit the people who come to Los Angeles during the Games," Anderson said. "But we should get something out of it."