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Volume C, Number 66	University of Southern California	Wednesday, April 23, 1986
Seniors ‘speak-out’ about quality of the G.E. program
By Katherine Dyar
Staff Writer
Academic integrity and the quality of the general education program were the main focus of a discussion between seniors and administration representatives at Senior Speak-Out Tuesday afternoon in the lobby of the Annenberg School of Communications.
Sponsored by Mortar Board and the Office of the Provost and Student Affairs, the forum was the first of its kind on campus. It provided graduating seniors with a chance to voice their opinions about their undergraduate education to the administrators involved in university policy-making.
Although the turnout was smaller than
concern about the emphasis placed on faculty research over teaching.
Several of the seniors and recent alumni who spoke, however, were more concerned with the quality of the general education program for undergraduates.
Susie Sandstrom, a 1984 graduate from the French and international relations programs, said she felt that her undergraduate education had not provided her with the same “broad base knowledge" that her peers received from other institutions.
Because the general education courses offered by the university are so diverse, Sandstrom said, students who are forced to select only one in a certain category are missing out on knowledge of other areas.
Several seniors complained of having classes in which the instructors did not monitor their exams and cheating was rampant.
expected, Joel Young, Mortar Board treasurer and chairman of the event, said he still felt the discussion was a success.
"A lot of students are always saying that the administration doesn't really listen to what they have to say," he said. The forum was "a good opportunity for seniors to share their experiences, both good and bad," with the administrators, he said.
A handful of seniors criticized the financial aid pressure put on the university by oversized freshman classes and voiced
William Spitzer, Dean of the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, recognized that improvements still need to be made in the general education program but said that with the "explosion of knowledge" in education today, any attempts to give a base of knowledge broad enough to cover it all would be superficial.
Spitzer suggested holding a retreat for faculty, student senators and graduate students to have a "free-wheeling discussion about the quality of the G.E. program" to generate ideas for improving it.
RALPH R. CALVO DAILY TROJAN
Robert Mannes, dean of student life, really isn’t as bored as he looks at the Senior Speak-Out held Tuesday in the Annenberg School of Communications.
Academic integrity was another concern of students. Several seniors complained of having classes in which the instructors did not monitor their exams and cheating was rampant.
Instructors who keep the same assignments and exams every semester without realizing that the answers are often passed around among students were blamed for increasing the problem.
Seniors suggested implementing a policy requiring instructors to change their class formats each semester and to check the identity of students taking their exams to help cut down on cheating.
Robert Mannes, Dean of Student Life, said that the question of academic integri-
ty is important to the university and that guidelines have been set for the faculty to follow.
Mannes emphasized that although it is the responsiblity of the faculty to try to prevent cheating, it is also the students' responsibility to "do something about it" if they know it exists.
Gerald Fleischer, a professor of industrial and systems engineering, agreed, saying, "You students who want to do the work are victimized, because (cheating) degrades the value of your degrees. It should make you angry, and you should say something about it."
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Student senators to launch food drive for year-end ‘Moveout’
By Gordon Gary
Staff Writer
Student senators will be going to residence halls and apartment buildings the week of May 4 to collect non-perishable foods for their "Mission Moveout: Year-end Food Drive."
Karen Lester, a student community senator, said she is looking for everything from cardboard boxes and food items to volunteers to help with the project.
The food will be sent to the food cupboard at St. John's Episcopal Church on Adams Boulevard and distributed to needy families.
"(The drive) has two purposes. One, we want to collect the unused, unwanted, non-perishable food items from residents of university-owned apartments for the benefit of the surrounding community," Lester said.
"The second purpose is to have the student senators personally contact students, introduce themselves and tell them what they're all about," she said.
Such contact, she said, will help students to become more aware of senate activities next year.
Lester said that the senators collect large amounts of still-edible food that would otherwise be thrown away when people move out of university housing each year.
Any type of food that is not perishable and has not been opened, including crackers, pasta and canned goods, is acceptable. Vegetables and refrigerated items cannot be used, Lester said.
The food cupboard at St. John's was started in the late 1950s by Father Lawrence Carter and has been giving food out to needy families in the area ever since, said Mary Jane Coleman, administrative secretary at the church.
Because the St. John's staff is not large enough to screen applicants, it relies on referrals from social welfare agencies and other churches to determine if families are eligible for assistance, she said.
Families who are referred to the program are allotted three meals per person for two days.
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University Hilton employees on strike
By Daphne Nugent
Staff Writer
JOEL ORDESKY DAILY TROJAN
Striking employees of the University Hilton on Figueroa have been picketing in front of the hotel, disturbing some residents of the South Complex across the street.
Employees of the University Hilton are on strike to protest the reduced benefits they will be receiving due to the independently owned hotel's decision to withdraw its membership in the Hotel-Restaurant Employer Council.
The strikers and the hotel management disagree as to how this will affect service during graduation week.
The strike is being conducted by Local 11 of the Hotel Employees-Restaurant Employees Union, members of the AFL-CIO.
The director of negotiation at the union, Stephen Beck, said the Hilton's withdrawal from the council has resulted in a less desirable benefits package than the one previously offered when it was a member of the employer council.
"The employees of the employer council members' hotels get a better benefits package than the Hilton employees. Before, the medical coverage was 100 percent for employees and their families after 6 1/2 months of employment. The new medical benefits package offered by the Hilton is inferior," Beck said. Peter Hui, general manager of the University Hilton, said that the medical package offered to non-union employees is different, but not necessarily inferior to the union package.
"We agreed on the package," Hui said. "It's only the union members who crossed the picket lines who have problems, because they are no longer eligible for the union package. They now have to take our non-union benefits package. It's not inferior; it's just different. It's not fair to compare apples and oranges."
The Hilton's decision to withdraw from the council was not based on financial hardship, according to Beck and Valerie Moreno, who works in the negotiations department of Local 11.
"They're making money, their profits are fine, they just want a better deal," Beck said. "There are some hotels in the employer council who are making less money than the Hilton,
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