trojan
Volume XCVII, Number 43
University of Southern California
Thursday, November 1, 1984
Accounting School plans graduation reception for students taking CPA exam
By James Jones
Staff Writer
The School of Accounting will hold a reception May 11 for those students who will miss the scheduled commencement ceremonies because they must take the certified public accountants exam — which coincides with the ceremony — said Merle Hopkins, assistant dean of the School of Accounting.
About 30 percent of the 200 graduating accounting students will be affected by the clash of dates. The reception gives the students and their parents an alternative to making a choice between the exam and the commencement ceremonies.
But the reception, which is to be held at the Faculty Center on May
11	and tentatively set for 10 a.m., is "not a mini-commencement," Hopkins said.
"There will be no speakers and no fake diplomas. Just a nice reception for the students, their parents and some of the faculty," he said.
The three-day exam, required for students wishing to be a CPA intern, is scheduled for May 8, 9 and 10. May 10 is the date of commencement.
Students can also take the exam in November but many students want to take the test while the information is still fresh in their minds, Hopkins said.
Hopkins said the same problem can occur approximately every seven years because the dates for the exam are governed and scheduled by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and are not subject to changes because the exam is given to thousands of accounting seniors across the country on the same days.
He said the university provost, Cornelius Pings, will represent the university at the reception, as President Zumberge has a prior speaking commitment. Neither Pings nor Zumberge could be reached for comment.
Jon Strauss, senior vice president of administration, has a daughter who is a graduating accounting major and' is affected by the time conflicts. "I don't know what else we can do about it. It is very frustrating to me personally.
"I've spoken to the president and the provost about it and there are no real good alternatives. The notion that the school is having a special reception is a good one."
Janet Cha'udhuri, assistant provost, said she was glad to see the scheduling of the reception because the exam and the commencement ceremonies were "two immovable objects," with the reception being a nice compromise.
"The idea was to have a separate commencement on another date, with a representative from the university there and the students wearing their academic garb."
Halloween comes to 32nd Street
£**
“Indiana Jones” (Mark Priddy) puts Halloween make-up on a kindergartener at 32nd Street Elementary School, as part of Alpha Tau Omega’s Pledge Class Carnival.
Lighting levels in Doheny Library below standards, senate says
By Aaron Van Curen
Staff Writer
Lighting levels in most areas of Doheny Library fall far short of minimum standards set by the American Standards Institute, according to a study conducted in October by the Student Senate's academic affairs research action unit Library Task Force.
Campus reacts to Gandhi’s death
By Melanie Demont
Staff Writer
University students from India and professors with ties to India expressed sorrow and disbelief over the death of Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India for 17 years, who was assassinated Tuesday night, allegedly by Sikh members of her security guard.
In India's immediate future there may be "communal strife, Sikh against Hindu and Hindu against Sikh with a lot of innocent people slaughtered," said John Hubbard, professor of historv’ and university president emeritus.
"In the long run, Sikh nationalism and desire for political autonomy has been set back. The Sikhs are among the most productive people in India. This was the work of political and religious fanatics."
Hubbard said "violence in India is part of the way of life. Complexity and diversity is immense, more diverse than Europe."
Gandhi's genius, he said, was to bring these disparate forces together to form a unified India. He added that it is too soon to predict the effects assassination will have on world affairs.
Gandhi was shot eight to 10 times as she left her residence with her principle adviser on foreign affairs, G. Parthsarthi. She died at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences a short time later.
Hubbard and Parthsarthi are co-chairmen of the Indo-U.S. Joint Commission on Education and Culture, set up by the U.S. State Department and Indian Ministry of State Affairs in 1973 when Henry Kissinger was Secretary of State.
Gandhi's eldest son, Rajiv Gandhi, has been sworn in as acting prime minister by the presi-
dent of India.
"Rajiv has precious little political experience," Hubbard said. "He was a pilot for a commercial airline when his more politically aware younger brother, Sanjay, was killed in a light-plane crash in 1980.
"Rajiv was called to take his place and managed to get elected to parliament. He is a personable, quite intelligent young man, but a political neophyte, far more easy-going than his mother. Whether he can win the popular election Jan. 27 remains to be seen. If he calls an immediate election, he may be able to benefit from the outpouring of emotion."
Vasisht Malhotra, professor of international relations, called the assassination "probably the most cowardly act in Sikh history. Mrs. Gandhi was a great leader who brought political stability to India. She was a strong, controversial leader. On the news they are (even) calling her 'Mother Indira'.
"The vast majority of Sikhs supported her. This was an act by a minority of terrorist extremists, many living outside of India. They do not understand the damage they are doing to the Sikhs in India."
The assassination is believed to be retaliation for the June 3 military attack on the Sikh's holiest shrine, the Golden Temple, a traditional religious refuge. The temple was being used for the storage of arms and for organization of the Sikh campaign against Gandhi's government.
President B. Ganesh of the India Student Association on campus said he and other students first heard the news about 9 p.m. Tuesday.
"We watched until about two in the morning," he said. "This violence in India is very sad. This is just harm to the country, a nation which represents peace and non-violence.
The report, presented to the Student Senate at its meeting Wednesday night, says the American Standards Institute recommends that the illumination level in reading areas should be 70 footcandles. A footcandle is a standard measure of illumination.
Though levels varied throughout the building, nearly all areas of Doheny fell far below the 70 footcandle level.
Using a light meter borrowed from the physics department, the task force identified what they believed to be definitely substandard areas.
"Lighting in major study and reference areas ... is well below recommended levels in most cases. The reference room illumination levels are absolutely unacceptable," the report said.
The darkest area in the reference room — the newspaper index area — was measured at less than 10 footcandles.
"The periodicals room was the most poorly illuminated general study room," the report said. At the center of the room, illumination was also less than 10 footcandles.
Of the front desk area of Doheny Library, the report said, "Although it is true that 'reading' and studying is not meant to take place in this area, and the lack of adequate lighting contributes to a generally gloomy atmosphere in the entry area." The front desk area also measured less than 10 footcandles.
Staff offices and study cubicles on the ninth level of the
(Continued on page 6)
Political science professors discuss presidential race
By John Kirby
Assitant Editorial Director
Four university political science professors, representing opposing sides of the political spectrum, said the 1984 presidential campaign has not focused on issues, and gave differing views of the impact of the upcoming election.
Style and content of the Democratic and Republican campaigns — as well as the disparity between the two — were the main themes of the panel discussion, which w'as held Wednesday in the Von KleinS-mid Center lounge.
"This election is a watershed as far as showing how close Madison Avenue has gone toward Pennsylvania Avenue," said George Totten, chairman of the political science department and moderator of the panel.
John Schmidhauser, a former
Democratic congressman from Iowa, said political intolerance has become a driving force in the Republican Party.
"I'm talking about a form of scapegoating," he said. "Liberal Democrats are being made the Jews, as the Jews were used in Nazi Germany."
Schmidhauser pointed to the Republican convention in Dallas, where Democrats were characterized as "soft on democracy," as evidence of this intolerance.
He also said President Reagan's dismissal of nuclear freeze advocates as "dupes and agents of the Soviet Union" constituted a "new form of Joe McCarthyism."
Schmidhauser said this type of intolerance has long-term negative effects for the political system. He said it is the
(Continued on page 3)