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Volume XCVII, Number 27	University of Southern California	Wednesday, October 10, 1984
University fails to meet fire and safety standards; cited by fire department
By Angel Blazquez, Staff Writer
Certain buildings in the university recently failed to meet minimum fire and life safety requirements, which require total access to all fire exits. As a result the entire campus was issued a citation by the Los Angeles Fire Department.
The citation was issued to all academic buildings at the university because the Fire Department did not itemize any particular buildings in its report, said Arnold Shafer, executive director of Facilities Management.
Capt. Jim Hill of the Schools
and Churches unit of the Fire Department said specific buildings were not named because it is “impossible to go from door to door and issue citations to each department."
"It would take us an enormous amount of time," Hill said.
The Fire Department specified two major areas as the cause for the citation. The first request asked for the removal of storage and other obstructions from stair shafts, corridors and exits. The items had reportedly gathered in many university buildings.
"It's not unusual to find storage in the hallways. The point is that (storage) should not be left in the hallways," Hill said.
The second request asked the university to remove all obstructions which prevent the closure of fire doors. Shafer said the main problem was wedges which were placed to keep the doors open.
Shafer said the university usually receives good reports, but "the Fire Department was concerned because the conditions were getting worse and not better."
"This is probably the first time a written citation has been issued on such a broad scope. The other cases have been isolated. It was a general report for the whole academic community."
The university has been given 30 days to respond to the citation. The Fire Department can then proceed with one of several options.
They can issue the university an extension on the 30 days, or they can begin issuing citations to the particular departments responsible for the obstructions. Department representatives will then have to appear before a city attorney and justify their reasons for not following the Fire Department's orders.
The Fire Department inspects the campus year-round, and fire
inspectors are usually on campus about once a week, Shafer said.
Hill said the Fire Department has good relations with the university and has established good rapport with Noble Kuwata, safety supervisor at Physical Plant.
Kuwata said he has been trying to set up a meeting with Shafer to discuss the citation but had no further comments on the citation.
Shafer has sent a campus memo to all deans, directors, and department heads outlining the citation.
Shafer said the university will conduct a preliminary investigation, shortly before the Fire Department reinspects the university this month, to make sure all requests have been met.
He said Physical Plant has also been made aware of the situation in case any of the departments need heavy storage moved.
Students scalping housing contracts for profit Housing office denies knowledge of practice
By Dana Glad
Staff Writer
The university housing crunch is allowing students to sell prime housing contracts for high profits, yet the housing office said Tuesday that it was unaware of the practice and unable to stop it.
"There's absolutely nothing, legally, under the terms of the (housing) contract that we can do about it," said David Blackmar, assistant director of housing and residence halls. He said the housing office is a "third party" in transactions between students.
No employee in the housing office admitted knowledge of students charging a premium for available contracts, but all said the practice was not condoned.
"Even if it was (brought to our attention) all wTe could do is say 'we don't think vou should do
that,' " Blackmar said.
Bill Thompson, director of housing and residence halls, said subjecting students who made a profit from their contracts to a peer review would be the only possible recourse.
Housing contracts only prevent students from subletting their housing spaces, Thompson added, saying that the contract was actually not the student's to sell.
When he was told of two cases in which students sold their contracts, Blackmar said, "That's just out-and-out capitalism," and compared the practice to the scalping of tickets.
"It does make sense that some students would go out and say 'hey, pay me some extra money' because the space is at a premium right now. There is heavy demand and we don't have any to offer," Blackmar said.
One student recently sold his
Parking fee increase helps pay off construction debt
By Diane Olivo
Staff Writer
The S12 increase in the price of parking permits is due not only to annual fee increases but also to finance costs of the re-cendy completed parking structure D, Carl Levredge, director of parking and security operations, said Tuesday.
The increase, which raised the permit price to $88 for commuter students, was needed in part to pay debt service for the structure, Levredge said.
Gerarda Collins, office employee for the parking operations, said that although parking operations does have input into deciding the price of permits, it does not determine the price of the permits.
The decision, she said, is made by the Budget Advisory Committee, which determines tuition increases. Committee
members were not available for comment.
Pauline Ng, commuter senator, said the Student Senate is "looking into the problem."
Ng said she was told by Gloria Payne, assistant director of parking operations, that one of the reasons for the price increase is that parking structure D was only going to be four stories and then was enlarged to seven stories. She called it "an oversubscription.''
Despite the increase in the price of permits and the completion of all levels of structure D, students are still asking questions about the availability of parking spaces.
The increase is a major issue for student commuters, who are also concerned with the parking problem during the peak hours of 10 a.m.to 2 p.m..
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Cardinal Gardens contract for $300, having bought the contract himself for $150. After paying the housing office a reassignment fee of $25, he ended up with a profit of $125.
"I think it's wrong," the student said later, citing that students could find alternatives such as trading contracts, and he didn't think any money should be involved.
When asked if it was a com-
mon practice to sell contracts in this way, he said, "Oh, everyone does it; it's ridiculous." Fie added that he had openly advertised his contract for sale on the housing office's bulletin board for "$150 or best offer."
Blackmar said, “They see there's a demand, there's a market for these spaces, and on top of everything we charge they figure 'hey. I'll make something, too.' So even though it's illegal,
most of the time they're not gonna get caught at it."
He said the sale of contracts might actually benefit students who are desperate for contracts. He said it was harmful only when students ceased to be reasonable and began to "gouge."
"The alternative that those students have then is the same one that always exists — private housing. They don't have to pay (Continued on page 11)
Activist condemns support of S. Africa
By Rebecca Esquibel
Staff Writer
Joshua Nessen, an anti-apartheid activist and student coordinator for the American Committee on Africa, called apartheid a "brutal system of slavery" and condemned American investments in South Africa in a campus speech Tuesday.
Nessen, speaking to a multiracial group of about 40 students, said money that U.S. corporations and universities invest in South Africa helps the government, run by the white Nationalist Party, maintain control over blacks. He called for divestment from South Africa.
"The white ruler wages a continual, if undeclared, war on blacks with U.S. assistance," Nessen said. "It is injustice built on violence."
Apartheid is South Africa's system of the legal separation of whites from non-whites. Nonwhites, which include blacks, Asians, and Coloureds, outnumber whites in South Africa about 4 to 1.
Nessen's speech was part of a drive by the Black Students' Union to pressure the university to divest from South Africa.
Total U.S. investments in South Africa represent $14 billion. This university holds shares in corporations, such as General Motors, International Business Machines Corp., Mobil Oil and General Electric, that invest in South .\frica, according
to Nessen.
Nessen argued that corporations such as General Motors assist apartheid by supplying trucks to the military, and that Mobil Oil assists the military by supplying oil. IBM, he added, aids apartheid by supplying the computers that keep records of the pass books all non-whites must carry to prove they have government permission to live
or work in a certain place.
After a 1976 student uprising in South Africa, American students began staging demonstrations and sit-ins to protest their schools' investments in South African corporations. Nessen said many universities have divested as a result of the pressure put on them by students.
"The student action had a (Continued on page 12)
RICK WANG/DAO. Y TROJAN
JOSH NESSEN