9th ‘Swim With Mike’ raises record-breaking $90,000 for disabled
See News, page 8
Defense Department exaggerates strength of Soviet armed forces
See Viewpoint, page 5
NFL draft day: Peete waits and waits for number to be called .
See Sports, page 16
dmlj trojan
Volume CVIII, Number 64
University of Southern California
Monday, April 24, 1989
In Brief
From the Associated Press
LOCAL
Would-be teachers warned by pickets as strike nears
Teachers union pickets are warning hundreds of would-be instructors not to accept positions in the Los Angeles Unified School District.
Vote results, on whether to strike this semester, will be released today.
Pickets handed job applicants at the district’s downtown headquarters letters of warning Saturday that said teachers working during a strike would be “tracked" down after the walkout by union teachers.
NATION
Well-fed catfish found; ate helpless ducklings
WASHINGTON — The search for a mysterious “monster from the black lagoon” thought to be gobbling helpless ducklings in a downtown nature pond ended Friday with the sighting of two well-fed catfish swishing through the shallows.
“The catfish are a strong possibility,” said biological engineer John Hoke. “They just love ducks.” Hoke said he would set an underwater trap for the catfish.
STATE
‘Restroom brigade’ tries making permanent toilet
BERKELEY — University police and work crews thwarted attempts by some 50 activists early Friday to build a permanent toilet at People’s Park.
The “restroom brigade,” as activists dubbed themselves, dug a trench, poured a concrete slab and erected some plywood walls at the northwest corner of the property. Their efforts commemorated the 20th anniversary of original efforts to reclaim the land from UC Berkeley.
INSIDE
Viewpoint...................................... 3
Komix............................................. 6
Security Roundup........................ 7
Sports.......................................... 16
WEATHER
Today —
Partly cloudy,
I chance of showers, high in mid-70s
Tuesday —
Cooler, increasing chance of rain, high near 70
Alena Tam / Dally Trojan
Becky Barnes, a sophomore majoring in political science and international relations, feigns injury while members of the emergency response team help her during an earthquake drill on Friday.
Drill prepares university for the Big One
By Shannon Kueny
Staff Writer
Like a scene from a horror movie, 20 people lay in front of Bovard Auditorium on Friday amid fallen beams and crumbled bricks, their clothes apparently stained with blood.
They were playing "victims” for an earthquake response drill organized by the university's Department of Safety and Risk Management, in observance of Earthquake Preparedness Month.
The drill gave the university's new emergency response team a chance to test its techniques. The team's 35 volunteers, trained by the Los Angeles Fire Department, specialize in disaster preparedness.
"The purpose of the drill is to let the team get some experience and practice what they've learned and ... to let everyone know that there is a real danger of earthquakes," said Richard Warford, battalion chief of the LAFD disaster preparedness division.
The exact date of an earthquake cannot be predicted, but emergency response team members said there is a strong possibility that a tremor of great magnitude would rock Southern California soon.
"The scientific studies have shown that we are definitely overdue for a major earthquake, 8.0 (on the Richter scale) or greater," said Betsy Spearman, a firefighter with the LAFD.
Robert Osuna, university manager of sponsored projects and an organizer of the drill, agreed.
"There will be an earthquake. It's inevitable," Osuna said.
"The fire department... is not going to be available. Their original requirement in the first 72
(See Quake, page 3)
Student recruiters want university’s help
Administration lacks initiative in attracting minorities, leader says
By Bill Swindell
Staff Writer
Though organizers of a high school minority recruitment day called the Friday event a success, some of its sponsors expressed frustration about the university's own efforts to encourage minority recruitment.
It was the third event sponsored by the African American Film Association, a
group primarily composed of university cinema students, to promote local high school students' interest in the university.
"I wish the administration would stand up and help out. I'm tired of running this on my own," said David Watts, president of AAFA and organizer of the event.
The program was entirely student-run. Watts said.
Admissions officials said they would have worked with Watts, but did not receive a written proposal about the event.
"All he asked us for was five minutes as participants," said Aim Rike, senior associate director of admissions.
The program also promoted black student involvement in education and may help fight the high attrition rate among blacks, Watts said.
"We can't rely on them," Watts said. "We have to take it on our own and initiate it ourselves."
The university recruits minorities through peer-group counseling, visits and events co-sponsored by the Hispanic Speakers Bureau, Rike said.
"We really encourage student outreach, but we have to have something in writing," she said.
Cheryl Smith, an AAFA member, said (See Recruitment, page 2)
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Student competes in a world-class fast lane
By Marta G arm an
Staff Writer
Fast cars, fast times and fast . . . well, fast cars at least, have captured the heart of senior Loucas Venidis.
Though he has just started competing, his passion for automobile racing has been burning since he learned to talk.
Originally from Greece, Venidis was introduced to high-performance racing at the Winfield School of Auto Racing in southern France, where he practiced with a Formula Renault.
At the school, he also had the opportunity to rub elbows with world-class drivers. He studied with Emmanuel Collard,
last year's European and World Champion in go-carts, which Venidis was quick to explain are "not the little Malibu cars."
"They may be small, but they reach speeds up to 150 miles per hour," Venidis said.
Many world-class drivers have used the school as an initial stepping stone on the road to Formula 1 racing, he said.
"The school is also more of a talent hunt," Venidis said. "You go through an elimination process and the top guy gets sponsored at the French Formula Renault, by Renault and ELF, a French motor supply company.
(See Venidis, page 7)