USC Drama has a winner in “Setzuan" — see page 9
trojan
Volume XCVIII, Number 53
University of Southern California
Thursday, March 28, 1985
Mortar Board cites business professor with monthly honor
JULIE M. SEIDEL DAILY TROJAN
Mortar Board members tap Mary Ann Von Glinow, professor of management and organization, on Wednesday as its Professor of the Month for February.
By Aaron Van Curen
Assistant City Editor
After three attempts in four weeks, the Mortar Board honor society was finally able to locate Marv Ann Von Glinow, an associate professor of Management and Organization, to present her with the society's February Faculty-of-the-Month award for teaching excellence.
Von Glinow's class on women in management earned her the recognition of the society. She was nominated for the honor by Melissa Reif, a Mortar Board member who took the class.
Reif, in her nominating statement, said: "Mary Ann has a way of making every student feel the worth of his or her talents, goals and career aspirations."
"Mary Ann personally gets involved in her students' lives," Reif said after she presented the award. Von Glinow uses a one-to-one approach
with students to stimulate personal growth. Reif added.
Von Glinow's classes are also very practical, Reif said. She said Von Glinow focuses attention on the applied sciences of business instead of just theory, without relation to the application.
"I'm honored," said a surprised Von Glinow after five Mortar Board members searched the maze of the Annenberg School of Communications building, looking for her classroom to present her with the award.
In a Mortar Board tradition, the award presenters surprised the honored professor with an award "tapping." The members also tapped the students that had been accepted to the exclusive organization for the coming year on Wednesday, to notify them of their acceptance.
The members first tried to present the award to
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Retention rate mirrors nation
One-fifth 1982 frosh leave by second year
By James Jones
Assistant City Editor
A survey recently completed by the division of student affairs on student retention rates showed that 21 percent of the 1982 freshman class left the university before completing their sophomore year.
Kristine Dillon, assistant vice president for student affairs and conductor of the survey, said the 21 percent figure is relatively the same across the nation at other selective, four-year, private universities.
In direct numbers, only 2,100 of the 2,700 members of the freshman class of 1982 continued on through their sophomore year.
The 1982 figures are the most recent ones available, Dillon said, because the survey followed students from their freshman year in 1982 for four more semesters.
"The predominant reason for attrition," Dillon wrote in her final report regarding the study, "Is a failure to meet university standards of academic performance."
Dillon said there is a correlation between the high attrition rate and those students who are admitted under the Freshman Access Program. FAP admits students who generally do not meet the university's normal admission requirements.
In the 1982 class, more students were admitted under FAP than in previous years, Dillon said. Before 1982, about 10 percent of an incoming class was admitted under FAP, but in 1982 it was 16 percent of the class, she said.
According to the study's results, 30 percent of the FAP students left the university in their sophomore year.
Dillon points to a larger class size and the fact that these are "high-risk" students to account for the higher attrition figure.
"When admitted, (FAP) students have a less predictable rate of success, and we have to be prepared for a higher loss rate," she said.
The survey, administered through the division of student affairs by the Student Outcome Research program, is completed from questionnaires sent to students who have left the university. The questionnaire asked students what their reasons for leaving the university were, Dillon said.
Dillon said information gathered from the survey is used to make recommendations on how to get the retention rate higher and the attrition rate lower.
She also said the survey has not had the full participation expected, but she plans to correct this problem in Fall 1985 by having the survey form filled out by students participating in the orientation programs.
"As a university, we want to get the loss rate down, but we do not want to get down to a zero attrition rate," Dillon said. “We think to move it down is a positive goal — but the retention rate is not a problem."
Another study will begin in April, Dillon said, which will be done within the senior class. The survey will evaluate the students' experiences here. She also said that she hopes to make this particular survey an annual one.
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Nuclear arms buildup effects blacks, women
By Lynn Balsamo
Staff Writer
The effects of the nuclear arms race on women, blacks and the poor were dicussed Wednesday in a lecture by Mark Ridley Thomas, executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
Thomas' lecture, the second in a series titled, "The Arms Race or the Human Race," reflected his conviction that the arms race is killing people even as countries prepare to defend themselves against the devastation of nuclear war.
According to Thomas, this preparation for the future and concentration on foreign affairs is a downfall of the Reagan administration, which has caused the government to disregard domestic affairs and the plight of the American people.
Thomas pointed out that he was not giving a partisan speech in favor of Democrats. He said
that militarism is a practice of the U.S. government, regardless of the influence of any political party.
As director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Thomas works in support of the causes of Martin Luther King Jr., who founded the organization.
Pointing out that Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the first men to push for the end of the Vietnam War on practical and moral grounds, Thomas said King's greatest difficulty was speaking against intervention in Vietnam while showing that it defined a clear connection between the issues of peace and justice.
To help support the civil rights movement and the betterment of domestic affairs, King was forced to confront President Lyndon Johnson, whose declaration of war on poverty was es-(Continued on page 6)
ADAM KRAJCHIR/DAILY TROJAN
Chi Omega spring pledges played pranksters Wednesday as they facetiously placed “for sale" signs in front of their house. According to one Chi Omega active, several offers were made.