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Volume C, Number 67	University of Southern California	Thursday, April 24, 1986
Z holds cause headaches
Valedictorian named at ceremony
Debts keep students from registering
By Matthew Gaven
Senior Staff Writer
As the semester draws to a close, many students are discovering that outstanding debts to the university can be an annoying headache.
Students who fail to meet their financial obligations to the - university receive a financial hold, called a Z hold, on all of their records.
Z holds are issued by the Financial Services Office and can cause a variety of complications for students w’ho wish to partici-pate in routine university activities.
Students cannot participate in registration or pre-registration and cannot receive their tran-' scripts or diplomas until Z holds are cleared.
Ayuba Umar, a collection representative, said that over the past few weeks he has seen quite a few students seeking Z-hold releases so that they can participate in these activities.
"(I have) seen on the average about 80 students a day with various problems," he said. "Some are trying to register for the summer or change a program or pre-register for the fall."
There are currently about 10,000 financial holds at the university.
"(The problem) has increased over the past few years," said Cerise Dragicevich, manager of Tuition Audit. "We've become more strict because we want students to know that they must pay their financial debt with the university."
Dragicevich said her office is attempting to improve its collection procedures in addition to its student notification process.
"There is always a problem with students' current addresses," she said. "Students tend to move without notifiying our office of any address change. We've distributed fliers to the
major residence halls asking students to notify us of any address changes."
Charles Lee, manager of collections, advised all students who have a Z hold to go to Stonier Hall, Room 308, to clear their account with the university.
"If a debt is outstanding, we advise the student to pay immediately," he said. "If they are not able to pay, we will sit with the individual student and come up with a short-term payment plan to be completed before the fall semester."
Lee said any debt is serious, but his office works to help students.
"We make every effort to get a student into the office ... so we can work with that student," he said. "We've increased the fre-
quency of notices sent (because) we would like to see students make some effort to settle their debts."
Dragicevich said another factor that has added to the increasing number of Z holds is the situation at housing collections.
Two years ago, the Tuition Audit Office took over the collection of rent payments. Many students are delinquent in paying their rent, which usually results in a Z hold on their records, she said.
Lee explained that housing debts can be dangerous for a student who has secured housing for next fall.
"Housing contracts are subject to cancellations if (a student) has a housing debt," he said.
Outgoing seniors honored for academic achievement
By Aaron Van Curen
City Editor
The Division of Student Affairs honored 117 seniors at the annual senior awards ceremony Wednesday, awarding the Order of the Laurel, the Order of the Palm, the Order of Troy and senior recognition awards.
The ceremony was one of a series of ceremonies that seniors will participate in as they prepare to leave the university.
"I think it's a good idea you seniors are graduating," Student Affairs Vice President James Dennis told the crowd of over 200 gathered in Town and Gown for the ceremony. "While we hate to see you go,
Student leaders lined up on the Town and Gown stage to receive awards at the Senior Awards reception Wednesday.
we need your rooms."
Joan Schaefer and Robert Mannes, deans in the Student Affairs Division, presented the awards to the seniors.
While presenting the senior recognition award, Schaefer announced the valedictorian of the class of 1986. Samuel Wang, an electrical engineering major who graduated last December with a 3.99 grade point average, was put at the head of the class.
In addition to his academic accomplishments, Wang is a violinist for the USC Symphony.
Eight women received the Order of the Laurel, the highest award presented to graduating women, for excellence in scholarship and distinguished leadership and dedication to the enrichment of university life.
Jill Apsit, an English major, was recognized for her activities, which included the presidency of the Order of Omega, vice presidency of Panhellenic council and membership in the Skull and Dagger honor society.
A former dty editor of the Daily Trojan, Catalina Camia, a journalism and international relations major, was named to the order. Her activities also included the presidency of the campus chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and a vice presidency in the Mortar Board honor society.
Robyn Gamer, a public relations major and a member of Golden Key, Helenes and Order of Omega, was named to the order, as was Gretchen von Helms, a political science major, whose activities included membership in Mortar Board, Phi Beta Kappa and (Continued on page 10)
BENILDA SAND AN DAILY TROJAN
The USC Helenes sponsored a computer fair Wednesday in front of the Student Union Building.
Program Board rewrites policies and procedures
By Sigal Rose Kletzky
Staff Writer
With the approval of the Student Senate, Michael Palmieri, director of the Program Board, and Al Koleszar, administrative chairman, drafted a new policies and procedures manual defining the functions of the board.
According to Article III of the senate's constitution bylaws, as recently revised, the Program Board is responsible for developing its own bylaws, policies and procedures.
Policies and procedures require approval of the board's members. The bylaws, however, require senate approval.
Koleszar and Palmieri drafted a policies and procedures manual for the Program Board, because they said they thought the original senate bylaws ineffectively stated the functions of the board.
They contacted 11 universities, including UCLA, Stanford, UC Santa Barbara, and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and implemented some of the other universities' policies in the new manual.
"This new manual (has been designed) to set the foundation of Program Board from now on," Palmieri said.
The detailed manual focuses on budgetary policies, position descriptions, administrative guidelines, and duties and responsibilities of all Program Board officials.
"Probably the most important part of the manual is the financial control system," Koleszar said. He emphasized the need for an effective system of checks and balances.
Certain sections of the manual are considered bylaws and will therefore require senate approval, Koleszar said.
"The policies and procedures manual that Michael developed really builds a strong structure for Program Board," said Carol Silberman,
(Continued on page 10)