Rock Theatre auditions for new production — page 7
trojan
Volume XCVIII, Number 58
University of Southern California
Friday, April 12, 1985
ED BATT "DAILY TROJAN
JEFF KEITH
'Swim with Mike' fund raising to benefit handicapped students
By Owen Gross
Staff Writer
It started out of frustration, but has since turned into one of the most successful fund-raising activities on campus. "Swim with Mike," the annual fundraiser to benefit disabled athletes, was the result of a motorcycle accident which paralyzed Mike Nyeholt, a former USC All-American swimmer.
Ron Orr, assistant athletic director, was Nyeholt's roommate when he attended the university. He got together with the swim team to organize a fundraiser to help Nyeholt continue his education.
This year's "Swim with Mike" will begin with the first swimmers taking to the water at approximately 9 a.m. this Saturday. A barbecue will begin at noon for $10 a plate. Participants who raise over $100 will receive a free lunch.
The event is open to the public and people are encouraged to stop by the pool to either view or participate in the program.
Nyeholt consented to the original "Swim with Mike" on the basis that the money raised be used for scholarships. "I wanted to do something for someone else, too," he said.
There have been 10 "Swim with Mike" scholarship recipients over the past four vears, with over $150,000 being raised during that time.
This year's primary recipient will be Jeff Keith, who received a full graduate school scholarship following his much-publicized run across the United States.
Like the previous recipients, Keith is a physically challenged student athlete. He lost his right leg to bone cancer at age 12.
Keith plans to enroll in business courses in the fall of 1986 and law classes the following semester. He hopes to earn a degree in both academic fields
Before he begins his education, however, Keith plans to participate in the Ironman Triathlon
competition (consisting of running, swimming and bicvcling) in Hawaii in October He simply hopes "to finish . . . that's it," he said.
Keith said he would never consider running across the nation again, and said that it is an experience he would only recommend to someone who was properly prepared and motivated.
Keith said he benefitted from the run by knowing that he helped a lot of people, promoted public awareness of the Cancer Society and raised money for cancer research.
When he begins his life as a Trojan, Keith said he is looking forward to training year round and becoming involved with the university and academics, as well as raising peoples' awareness of the "Swim with Mike" program.
A 1987 football meeting between Keith's undergraduate alma mater, Boston College, and USC also not too far back in his mind, he said.
"Jeff is a real outstanding human being. 1 couldn't think of anyone more deserving. He has really worked at promoting 'Swim with Mike.' He
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Vietnamese students remember strife in Saigon
Vietnam conference set for Saturday
Vietnam: 10 Years Later. The Vietnamese Student Association and the Department of Political Science will present its version of the conditions in Indochina with the conference, "Indochina: Ten Years After the Fall of Saigon."
The conference, which will be held Saturday in the Norris Theatre, will examine — from both an Indochinese and an American perspective — the Indochina conflict, its aftermath, and the present and future of that region.
The all-day conference will be divided into three sessions: 9:30
a.m. to 12:30 p.m., 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Admission is $10 a session.
George Totten, chairman of the political science department and a specialist on East Asian politics, will deliver the opening introduction.
Among the other scheduled speakers are Dang Cao Thang, retired rear admiral of the South Vietnam Navy, and Haing S. Ngor, a doctor in Cambodia
when the Viet Cong arrived and also an Oscar winner for his work in the movie, The Killing Fields. A total of 12 speakers are scheduled for the conference.
"Any political situation that can give another point of view is valuable," Totten said."This conference will give the people who supported South Vietnam a chance to express themselves. The university should welcome and listen to these views."
—Pablo Lopez
By Pablo Lopez
Staff Writer
Saigon, South Vietnam, is a name that no longer appears on the world map, but it was once a city thriving internationally and the most modem in Southeast Asia.
Now called Ho Chi Minh City, it is also a place Americans wish to forget, because their effort to maintain the area cost them 58,000 dead, 300,000 wounded and $150 billion, after a 16-year engagement known as the Vietnam War.
Yet, for two university students, Toan Truong and Nghiem Chu, Saigon was home
—	a land of beauty where children played with water oxen and people worked away in the rice paddies.
It was a place where life was slow and the French and American influence were appreciated.
But that is all gone now, 10 years later. After the collapse of South Vietnam to the Viet Cong
in 1975, that Saigon is just a memory to them.
Truong, 25, and Chu, 27, and thousands of other Vietnamese now live in Los Angeles County. They escaped from Saigon after the Communists declared themselves the victors of the land in 1975.
"I'm aching to tell you how life in my country is. You live in an atmosphere of paranoia," said Troung, a senior majoring in biology. "There is no such thing as the law, nor trial or jury.
"Everything you do is watched and they control you by your stomach. If you do what you are told to do, you can get ration cards. If you don't — you don't (get the cards)," he said.
Truong was fortunate. He left by plane to the Philippine Islands on April 28, 1975, one day before the Saigon airport was destroyed and two days before the dty was captured by Viet Cong using Soviet tanks and weapons.
Chu wasn't so blessed — he had to endure four visits to the Viet Cong's re-education camps before he was able to escape by boat, after nine attempts.
"We were blocked at the airport before it was bombed, so we never had a chance," he
said. "Also, my father was given the death penalty in 1973 because he was a high official for the South Vietnamese government, so we were in constant danger. But we kept trying."
During his visits to the re-(Continued on page 8)
Last day for withdrawal of classes is here
By Nancie Mack
Staff Writer
Did you take one class too many this semester and find you can't handle the pressure of extra exams? Or maybe you've fallen behind, haven't exactly been acing those quizzes, and don't want to ruin your grade point average.
Whatever the reason, today is your last chance at salvation. The 12th week of this semester has come to a close, and today is the deadline for "honorable withdrawal."
Students who drop classes between the third and 12th weeks of the semester will have those classes listed on their transcripts, followed by a 'W.' But the students' grade point aver-(Continued on page 3)
Student leaders to discuss communication
By Leslie Cole
Staff Writer
To establish a formal communication network of campus student leaders, the Office of Student Activities will hold its annual spring leadership conference Saturday, featuring Warren Bennis, a noted author and consultant.
The conference, which begins at 9:45 a.m. at the Topping Student Center, is designed to bring together student leaders from all over campus — including the Greek community, the Student Senate, commuter students, residence halls and special interest groups.
Phil McCarthy, senate consultant and leadership coordinator, said, "Our goal is to establish a formal communication network of student leaders from different groups who have similar goals and needs."
"W’e hope to get the students to look out beyond their own organizations and to think on a more campus-wide scope," McCarthy said.
"W7e see a real need for a transition to this kind of a formal network. There is a strong momentum now for this type of a transition, which we hope to sustain," he said.
The conference will consist of a three-part program, including a keynote presentation by Bennis, a leadership simulation and a workshop session devoted to networking, which McCarthy described as a "more formal way to interact and communicate."
Bennis will speak on the topic of "Leadership: Strategies of Taking Charge," which is also the title of his forthcoming book written with Burt Nanus.
Bennis is a Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate who has served on the faculty of M.I.T., Harvard and Boston universities, as well as at various other institutions in Switzerland, France, India and the United States.
He has also been a consultant to the last four U.S. presidents and to many major U.S. corporations.
McCarthy said Bennis' speech will be geared toward aiding and inspiring student leaders based on personal experience with many of the nation's professional leaders.
The leadership simulation will involve role-playing in order to
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