Concert for Veterans bombs at the Forum — see page 7
trojan
Volume C, Number 36
University of Southern California
Tuesday, March 4, 1986
BELINDA SANDAN DAILY TROJAN
Despite last week's protest by Family Student Housing Residents, the university has decided to convert Family Student Housing to single student housing.
Family housing moves
Residents will be relocated to off-campus apartments
By Matthew Gaven
Staff Writer
The fears of Familv Student Housing residents were confirmed late last week when James Dennis, vice president of student affairs, announced that their building will be converted to single student housing over the next 18 months.
In a memo, Dennis explained, "In weighing all of the alternatives and issues, we have decided that it is in the best interest of the entire university community to make the Family Student Housing change at this time."
The memo went on to state, in an underlined distinction, that all residents of FSH are guaranteed university housing. It then detailed the two-tier plan to be used in the relocation.
"Residents having graduation dates after May 1987 will be asked to move to university facilities in the student community north of the campus. Residents with graduation dates of May 1987 or earlier will remain in the current FSH complex, although some may be required to relocate within the complex," the memo stated.
Allison Schrier, a member of the Family Student Housing Committee, said the residents of FSH are not happy with the decision.
"We had a general meeting to discuss the decision," she said. "Everyone expressed their dissatisfaction at the decision reached.
"If they want to relocate the families, they can, but most of us want to stay here until we graduate. They can move the incoming families
(Continued on page 3)
Woo calls Los Angeles a major capital of Pacific Rim
By Amy Mednick
Staff Writer
As Los Angeles emerges as one of the "capital cities of the Pacific Rim," politicians must cope with the implications of growing immigration and trade, Los Angeles City Councilman Michael Woo said on campus yesterday.
"It will be a challenge to find ways ethnic groups can learn to co-exist peacefully," said Woo, who represents the 13th District.
"We are living in a very interesting time, as Los Angeles grows into the role of being one of the capital cities of the emerging Pacific Rim, as we deal with the implications of increasing trade with countries around the Pacific Rim and of increased immigration from the Asian, Pacific and Latin American countries," he said in a speech sponsored by the Asian Pacific Student Outreach.
Woo authored the resolution which established Los Angeles as a "city of sanctuary" and stated that the city government would not consider refugees' status when dealing with them on a day-to-day basis.
"We were trying to get the message across to the
large number of political refugees in Los Angeles that they did not need to be afraid to contact an agency of city7 government for fear of being automatically deported for reporting a fire or a crime," Woo said.
Councilman Emani Bemardi was offended by the word "sanctuary" and was trying to get an initiative on next fall's ballot to repeal the amendment.
He felt the resolution had been broadened in the public's eye to include all illegal immigrants, Woo said.
Woo said he compromised with Bemardi and omitted the symbolic wording, 'city of sanctuary,' from the resolution, while keeping the basic policies.
"I think the fact that we took out the word 'sanctuary' has no implications at all for the continuing sanctuary movement," he said to an audience of 50 people at Hancock Auditorium.
"I felt the proposed initiative would have a potentially divisive effect, pitting one ethinic group against another," he said.
"To my mind, this is an important issue. You don't have to be of Latin background to take an interest in it.
"To me, it goes back to a long tradition going back to the days of the abolition movement, when churches tried to help slaves escape from their owners, and to one of the darkest days of American history, when our government said no to a shipload of Jewish refugees," Woo said.
"Unfortunately, I think that in America, many of us suffer from a shortness of memory. We tend to forget where we came from. There are many Americans who are descendents of refugees, who have a tendency to want to close the door or pull up a drawbridge once they are there," he said.
Woo said he was convinced that the initiative proposed by Bemardi would have brought out a lot of racism in the public and that it was important to reach a compromise.
"I'm not saying that everybody in El Salvador or Guatemala should be let into the country. I'm not saying everybody from Centra! America is a bonafide political refugee, but I think more than the 2 or 3 percent currently allowed asylum by the Reagan administration do qualify (for asylum)," he said.
Cameroon president visits the university; recognizes $8.7 million grant to program
By Gerhard Taeubel
Staff Writer
President Paul Biva of Cameroon, on a brief tour of Los Angeles, made a brief stop on campus Saturday morning to attend a reception held in his honor by university officials.
Arriving under tight security from LAPD officers and Secret Service agents, Biva and a contingent of Cameroonian officials visited the university to recognize an S8.7 million grant recently awarded to the university' by the U.S. Agencv for International Development for studies in the West African nation.
After a formal reception, Biva attended a luncheon hosted by President James Zumberge.
The university's program in Cameroon, a former colony of both Great Britain and France which was unified as an independent nation in 1960, is the largest elementary and secondary' educational program in Africa funded by the agency', said
Dr. Bernard McKenna, who will travel to the country to assume the directorship of the program this summer.
The program, implemented last summer, is designed to increase the skill and number of teachers and school administrators in Cameroon, primarily in the northern and northwestern provinces of the nation.
McKenna said the program has been successful largely because of "a high level of involvement by the Cameroonian government."
Approximately 72 percent of all Cameroonian children attend school, giving the nation one of the highest rates of school attendance in Africa. The literacy rate in Cameroon is 70 percent.
Before the reception, Zumberge said the project in Cameroon was an important program for the university and that he would like to see all federal aid directed toward similar programs.
Three former university staff members are among the six foreign advisers operating the project, McKenna said. William Rideout, an education professor at the university, is the current director of the program.
After meeting with university officials, Biya's scheduled itinerary on Sunday included touring Universal Studios and receiving the key to the city from Mayor Tom Bradley.
Biva, who became the second president of Cameroon in 1982, arrived in Los Angeles Friday night, one day after meeting with President Reagan in Washington.
American investments in Cameroon total about $600 million, chiefly in the areas of petroleum, insurance, accounting and banking.
Biya made the trip to the United States primarily to promote investment opportunities in Cameroon.
JAY GOLDEN DAILY TROJAN
President Paul Biya of Cameroon with President James Zumberge.