Faculty
center of attention in Monday’s SoCal
trojan
Volume XCIX, Number 29
University of Southern California
Friday, October 11, 1985
Ken High, president of the Black Student Union, was "very pleased that some action was taken (and that) the issue was not forgotten over the summer.
"Selective divestment gives more time to make decisions," High said. By implementing a case-by-case study, the university is staying in the middle, rather than losing ground or forfeiting alliances, he said.
Sidney Benson, a member of the divestment commission and the sole member against university divestment, said he sympathizes with the action taken.
"It is essentially the same stand taken by Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford and Berkeley," Benson said. "Everyone agrees that apartheid is bad. It's a noble stand.
have a fiduciary responsibility."
Lyn Hutton, university treasurer, is the only named member of the evaluating committee. She called partial divestment "a sound policy."
Once the committee has been formed, a set of standards will be compiled to evaluate the corporations. These standards will most likely be based on the Sullivan principles, Hutton said.
The Sullivan principles call for fair employment practices regarding pay, working conditions and black advancement.
Student Senate officers were unavailable for comment. Bill Chandler, public relations chairman for the senate, could not give the senate's reaction to the decision.
53 AM — Jim Eustermann and other students are working to expand KSCR. It broadcasts 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily to a limited number of dorms and apartment buildings. Soon it will also be broadcasting in Trojan Cafeteria, parts of the North Complex, Founders and Centennial.
Suspect caught with PCP
University security encounters violent resistance
By Dana Glad
Assistant City Editor
A suspect who allegedly offered PCP to an off-duty university security officer was forcibly arrested at about 11 p.m. Wednesday in the Marks Tennis Stadium weight room, reported Sgt. David Ritch, a senior security officer.
Mark Anthony Clark, 25, was reportedly carrying seven sticks
of PCP that officers detected, because of the drug's strong odor, as they struggled to arrest him, Ritch said.
Ritch said Clark was definitely under the influence of PCP at the scene of the arrest because his breath smelled of ether, his eyes responded abnormally during a standard nystigmus test for the drug, and he was oblivious to pain.
A ctiuist says citizens ignorant
By Carrie Brown
Staff Writer
Karen Parker, a human rights and international law activist, said that Americans don't know enough about international humanitarian law because vital issues are often clouded by irrelevancy.
"If lawyers don't identify the legal arguments. . .we won't know what we're doing,” Parker said in her speech Wednesday at the Law Center. Parker represents organizations with consultative status at the United Nations and is an associate of the International Institute of Law.
Parker raised the point of relevancy in reference to Congress' appropriation of $27 million in aid to Nicarauguan rebels, known as contras.
She said that when she was in Washington, discussion of Nicaragua covered topics such as President Daniel Ortega's position as a "bad guy in a bad country" whose car is too fancy and who changes uniforms too often.
Since the $27 million was not going to Ortega or the Nicaraguan government, the real
issue was not being discussed, she said.
Few people realize the scope of international human rights law, which is similar to the U.S. Bill of Rights, only broader, she said.
"The absence of knowing the appropriate bodies of law puts our system askew,” Parker said.
Parker said the human
raged on, Parker said. The deportation was illegal because it defied international law, which states that refugees cannot be sent back to a country where Geneva Convention rights are not being upheld, and was a grave breach of the law, she said.
One of Parker's crusades is defending the rights of civilians. Under the Rules of War,
'A lot of people think international law is useless because it doesn't stop violations. Well, our penal codes don't stop violations.' Karen Parker.
rights laws are legally binding for several reasons. Some are "bag and baggage" with the United Nations charter, some are upheld by a reference in the Constitution regarding laws and treaties with foreign nations, and some are supported by Supreme Court decisions.
The United States sent 40,000 refugees back to El Salvador while the war there
killing a soldier or any combatant is not a violation of their human rights. Civilians, however, never forfeit their right to life.
But Parker said some governments do not make that distinction between civilian and soldier. The difference between civilians and combatants is "like virginity — either you are or you're not," Parker said. She added that nine out
of 10 people who die in El Salvador are civilians.
Parker's realm of the law is not only insufficiently understood, it is also incorrectly assumed to be ineffective, she said.
"A lot of people think international law is useless because it doesn't stop violations. Well, our penal codes don't stop violations," she said.
Although fighting for the upholding of laws is difficult, Parker has her own success stories.
She recalled a victory in Japan where she pushed for reforms in that country's "atrocious" treatment of its mentally ill citizens.
Another triumph came after five years of discussion with El Salvador over the detaining, rather than execution, of prisoners of war.
"El Salvador has a prisoner of war now. One,” Parker said. "But she isn't dead."
The very nature of the law Parker deals with makes support of her projects difficult. She said the legal community here does not actively support (Continued on page 3)
PCP, or "angel dust," is a street drug originally intended for use as an animal tranquilizer.
Ritch said it causes slow, lethargic movement, rigidity of the body and a sense of power he described as "I can leap tall buildings in a single bound."
The off-duty officer was working out in the weight room when the suspect approached an open window and asked him for access to the facility in exchange for "some good stuff," according to the security report.
This caused the off-duty officer to call for additional officers.
When security officers responded, they found Clark standing outside the weight room, claiming he just wanted to lift weights.
At this point, Clark picked up a large plastic bag and put his hands inside it, which caused the officers to suspect that he might be trying to grab a weapon.
When officers took the bag away, Clark lunged at them. As officers attempted to force Clark's hands behind his back, he tried to bite them.
Clark was pushed to the ground and told to stop fighting, but continued by kicking several officers.
The officers unsuccessfully used batons to subdue Clark. Finally, seven officers overcame him by throwing themselves on top of him in a "dogpile” maneuver.
One officer noticed a strong odor of PCP emanating from a plastic bag, which had fallen out of Clark's jacket. The bag contained seven sticks of PCP.
The odor was so strong that for a short time several officers experienced headaches and diz-
(Continued on page 2)
University lacks committee
Selective divestment slow to materialize
By Stacy Sadowski
Staff Writer
On Oct. 2, the Board of Trustees unanimously approved the proposed policy of selective divestment for corporations with investments in South Africa. More than a week later, the evaluating committee has not vet been chosen.
George Abdo, executive assistant to President James Zumberge, said the committee should be formed within a couple of weeks.
"The university should not express political or moral opinions. They could be turned into a two-edged weapon," he said.
With this statement, Benson referred to possible future stands on controversial topics such as abortion, which he feels should be left to political bodies.
Michael Klineman, a commission member who supported full divestment, said he was not surprised by the decision. "I understand the trustees feel they
'The university should not express political or moral opinions. They could be turned into a two-edged weapon.' Sidney Benson, member of the divestment commission.