trojan
Volume XCVII, Number 11	University of Southern California	Tuesday. September 18, 1984
University ranks 10th in nation in grants from Dept, of Defense
By Janet Turner
Staff Writer
Trojan College Republicans will greet Democratic presidential candidate Walter Mondale today with a pro-Reagan rally scheduled to take place when Mondale speaks at Tommy Trojan at noon.
Lary Oren, newly appointed president for TCR, said the rally was being held to generate support from Reagan voters and not to demonstrate against Mondale supporters.
"If anything, I think it'll reaffirm people to vote for Ronald Reagan," Oren said.
Trojan College Republicans, composed of about 500 students, have been registering student voters since the beginning of school, and decided to organize a pro-Reagan rally after the announcement last Thurs-
day that Mondale w'ould appear on campus.
Former California Gov. Jerry Brown and Los Angeles County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn are scheduled to appear along with Mondale.
During the Republican rally, "FritzBuster" T-shirts will go on sale, and a group parodying the characters in the movie Ghostbusters may attend the rally as "FritzBusters."
"He won't sway many voters," said Daniel Rivers, a registered Republican. "I went to a private school and I have friends here who won't change their vote."
Randy Harris, USC campus coordinator for Reagan-Bush, said his organization is nonpartisan, and encourages independent voters to support Reagan.
(Continued on page 2)
By Robbie Asghar
Staff W’riter
This university was the 10th largest recipient of contract funds from the U.S. Department of Defense in fiscal year 1983, according to statistics released by the department.
But the university does not conduct government-sponsored
All defense contracts are used for "basic research" . . . it is not university policy to do classified work.
weapons research, said William Hromadka, the university's executive director of contracts and grants.
All defense contracts are used for "basic research" in the sciences that the military is interested in either directly or indirectly, he said, adding it is not university policy to do classified work.
"Students may ask, 'Are we
making bombs?' We're not doing that," Hromadka said.
In addition to making certain types of research possible, the Pentagon funds are used to replace deteriorating scientific equipment, he said.
"(The work being sponsored by the Pentagon) is the cutting edge of research," Hromadka said. "It's very exciting."
Among all contractors the Department of Defense employs for research, development, testing and evaluation of military weapons ahd technology — which include major corporations and industries — the university is ranked 81st in the number of Pentagon grants and contracts it receives.
Federal funding accounts for 87 percent of university research contracts, including money from the National Science Foundation, Commerce Department and Energy Department.
The Pentagon accounts for about 36 percent of all university contracts, but is still second in total contracts behind the Department of Health and Human Services, which contributes 43 percent of the total.
Other funding comes from foundations, corporations and non-federal government.
Many disciplines of the university, including natural sciences and the School of
The Pentagon accounts for about 36 percent of all university contracts, but is still second in total contracts behind the Department of Health and Human Services
Engineering, receive research funding grants.
The School of Engineering actively seeks Pentagon funding for research, said Cathy Pimey, proposal coordinator at the school.
"We do submit a lot of pro-(Continued on page 2)
KEVIN ROTTNER / DAILY TROJAN
With presidential race heating up, students are becoming more politically involved by signing up for student organizations
Rally to 'greet' Mondale with pro-Reagan support
Night workers exempt from parking fee
By Frances Hong
Staff Writer
Night workers from the university's Physical Plant have successfully blocked a new policy that would have required them to pay for parking beginning this semester.
A protest of the policy was filed earlier this month with Jon Strauss, senior vice president of administration.
The night employees' main complaint was that the parking rate was so small that the money collected would make very little difference to the university's budget, but large enough to make a big difference in employees' salaries.
"For years, the night employees were not charged for parking because the campus is vacant at night, and it would be too much of a hardship on the employee to pay the fee," said Willie Carter, night supervisor of the Physical Plant. "We wanted to be taken under special consideration and be given an exemption."
The decision to force employees on the 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. shift to pay for parking in vacant lots was
reversed by Strauss' office and the office of business affairs.
Carl Levredge, director of parking operations, defended the university's move.
"Our intentions were to minimize the rate increases in the future by maximizing potential revenue pools," Levredge said, "and, in addition, to establish a policy that was fair across the board."
Levredge said all daytime employees are charged for parking at a rate of about $21.20 per month, while the nighttime staff has been paying no fee at all. However, Levredge said he will abide by the ruling.
"The decision (to charge nighttime employees) was made last spring, but apparently has now been overturned by the business affairs office," he said. "This is an important issue to the workers and I will recognize the decision."
Carter called the final decision "great."
"It caught us by surprise, but the employees fully appreciate this decision," Carter added. "I believe it's good for morale and will improve future university-employee relations."
Hotheads increase proficiency level by warming up body temperature
By Athena Rellas
Assistant Editorial Director
Being a hothead may not be a disadvantage after all, now that a university professor is demonstrating how’ students with hot heads are more proficient than students who have heads at normal temperatures.
Peter Hancock, a psychophysiologist and professor of safety and human factors at the Institute of Safety and Systems Management, believes that by manipulating the temperatures of heads, people can improve their performance in mental tasks.
In controlled experiments, Hancock said heating the subject's head produced a 5 to 15 percent increase in the speed in
which the volunteers performed mental tasks.
A few years ago, Hancock started working on the subject, which he said deals primarily with Circadian rhythms — or biorhythms — a theory that says people's mental and physical abilities go in cycles and reach their peaks on certain days.
Hancock's theory states someone with a hot head would have abilities above those who are only able to reach their peak when their Circadian rhythm reached its zenith.
"This is controlling temperature conditions and selectively heating the head itself," Hancock said.
In a series of experiments on 50 individuals, Hancock used a
laboratory heating helmet to raise head temperatures by one degree Celsius — about two degrees Fahrenheit — which was measured in a deep area of the ear canal.
Each volunteer also took a turn as a member of a control group that didn't wear helmets, and a placebo group that wore the helmet but unknowingly was subjected to no temperature change.
The possibilities for putting this knowledge to use are endless, Hancock said, adding it could have wide commercial and military uses.
Because women have higher resting temperatures than men, which Hancock said is why (Continued cm page 2)
ED BATT / DAILY
Peter Hancock