A 'Breakfast' chat with director John Hughes — page 9
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Volume XCVIII, Number 28
University of Southern California
Thursday, February 21, 1985
Staff workers called inept
Financial Aid under fire in survey of 300 students
By Owen Gross
Staff Writer
A recent Student Senate survey on the interaction of students with financial aid staff members has concluded that "significant numbers of students are dissatisfied" with many aspects of the financial aid office.
Students responding to the senate survey were quoted in the final report to have said that financial aid staff members are "rude," "inconsiderate," and "degrading."
Responding to charges that his department is inept and inefficient, Michael Halloran, dean of the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid, said he is aware of the problems that were pinpointed in the report.
The Student Administrative Services Subcommittee of the Student Senate's Student Affairs Research Action Unit distributed written surveys to 300 people in front of Tommy Trojan and in the mail boxes of students living in campus residence halls in mid-December.
Kim Lopez, a student senator and chairwoman of the senate's financial aid committee, said the results are "substantial, valid, and consistent".
"Three hundred students had the same basic concerns and complaints," she added.
Last week, Lopez published the report concerning the results of the random — and not scientific — survey of students receiving financial aid. The survey addressed two main areas of concern: the service at the financial aid windows and the availability of financial aid counselors.
The purpose of the report was to call attention to problems in the financial aid system, she said, so measures might be taken to correct them.
Lopez said the financial aid office is not "impervious to the concerns of the students" and added that she "hopes to work together in an attempt to get results that will benefit students."
"The problems that the staff deal with on a daily basis are major crises for students that disrupt their lives," said Mike Singer, president of the Student Senate. "When students walk into an office, they need people who genuinely care about (the students') welfare and are sympathetic to student needs and concerns."
Concerns of those surveyed
The attitude and service rendered at the windows got the lowest marks from students surveyed. On a scale of one to five, with one being the poorest, the attitude of the staff received a total of 124 ones while the service rendered gathered 117 ones and 92 twos.
To combat the problem, a new training program has begun to make staff members aware of "when they are losing it, when they are caught up in their own frustrations with the problem rather than maintaining recognition of where the student is coming from," Halloran said.
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Domino’s gets a pie in the face — security bans on-campus deliveries
LISA SCRIBANTE DAILY TROJAN
Domino's Pizza service may be fast and friendly, but delivery on campus is no longer allowed by university security.
By Lynn Balsamo
Staff Writer
Students with late-night pizza cravings may have to wait a while for their Domino's Pizza, thanks to a University Security decision that went into effect Tuesday preventing deliverymen to drive on campus.
Carl Levredge, director of Security and Parking Operations, said the decision was based on continuous problems with deliv-ervmen who speed and drive recklessly on campus.
However, Ramiro Villalobos, assistant manager of the Domino's Pizza outlet on Vermont Avenue, said 'They're looking for an excuse to keep us off campus."
Villalobos said his store received a memo from the university on Tuesday stating "effective immediately” the drivers "will no longer be able to enter the campus."
The memo cited continuous problems with Domino's drivers speeding and driving recklessly.
The memo also said that security has attempted to get Domino's management to correct the problem in the past.
Apparently, the memo continued, the management does not take the matter seriously enough and should more carefully control the driving habits of its drivers.
In the future, Domino's drivers will be treated as gate-runners if they do not heed the warning of the parking attendants, the memo said.
Gate attendants have noted that some of the delivery cars do not stop at stop signs and often fail to stop at the gates before entering campus, said Dexter Thomas, senior officer for University Security.
There have been, however, no accidents recently to incite the ruling. It was imposed "in the interest of campus safety," Thomas said, and applies only to deliveries made by Domino's Pizza.
However, Steven Ward, chief
of security, said the decision did result from the recommendations of security officers who work the early morning shifts who have stopped Domino's vehicles for traffic violations.
Ward said security has received three separate reports from early morning officers on problems with drivers from Domino's Pizza.
Villalobos said his store received a call from a watch commander who was angry because one driver who had been stopped "mouthed off" at a security officer.
The driver could have just been given a ticket, Villalobos said, instead of security revoking delivery privileges.
Levredge said a verbal agreement wras reached with Domino's management last semester in an effort to slow down the deliverymen.
Ward said the agreement was effective at first, but the drivers began to speed again and didn't uphold the agreement long (Continued on page 3)
Conference to explore Third World; Trade, African famine among topics
RUTH MASSEY
DJIBRIL OIALLO
By Dina Heredia
Staff Writer
With the spread of famine in Africa, the influx of illegal aliens from Mexico and Central America and our increasing trade with Asian nations, the United States is gradually becoming aware of the significance of events in Third World countries.
"International Development: California and the Emerging World Community," a three-dav conference of seminars on economic, social and security issues in the less developed nations in Asia, Latin America and Africa starts Thursday at the Seeley G. Mudd Building and ends Saturday.
Dick Gustafson, conference coordinator and a graduate student in the School of International Relations, said he expects 200 to 300 people to attend the conference — from businessmen engaged in exporting to teachers and students interested in international affairs. There will also be representatives from private voluntary organizations dealing with international development issues.
The conference — which is being co-sponsored by the university's Center for Public Education in International Affairs and the United Nation's Non-Governmental Liaison Service — will cover economic and human development in Third World nations and the ensuing implications on their security and culture.
Speakers at the conference will come from various U.N. agencies and other international agencies concerned about developing nations.
Stephen Lamy, professor of international relations; Jef-
frey Nugent, professor of economics; and Everett Rogers, professor in the Anneberg School of Communications, will also be speaking during the weekend.
The major aspects of the conference will begin Friday at the Seeley G. Mudd Building with a special session on the famine in Africa. It will be followed by a keynote address by Djibril Diallo.
Diallo, a spokesman for the U.N.'s Development Program and principal speaker on the African food crisis, will speak about the U.N.'s response to the famine.
Saturday's seminars will deal with different Third World problems, and will include discussion on the differences in development in both the "north" nations — the developed nations like the United States and Northern Europe — and the "south" nations, the Third World nations.
The seminar, or "tracks,” will be accompanied by workshops, such as a model U.N. simulation with high school students, and a tree planting on the campus grounds during the lunch break.
Edward Plowman, whom Gustafson called "one of the leading scholars in the field of international communications," will then close the conference with an address on the special problems in education in the Third World.
Gustafson said the conference is focused on California because "(it is) important to bring a concrete focus on issues, not just a philosophical (focus) but to have an immediate impact."
Angus Archer, the conference coordinator from the
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