City focuses on DT Editors
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Volume C, Number 59
University of Southern California
Monday. April 14, 1986
Thetas cleared in baby abandonment
By Germaine Goodrich
Staff Writer
Church sees changes in area
The Volkswagen in which the baby was found on the Row last week.
Graduation ceremonies nearing
Seniors should be preparing for commencement
By Daphne Nugent
Staff Writer
The countdown is on. . . . The sign says "Only (fill in the blank) days 'til graduation." But despite publicity like this, many graduating seniors may not know what to do to prepare tor graduation day, said Rose Cukla, manager of the university's graduation department.
Information sheets were sent to all students who graduated in Summer 1985 or December 1985, and those who filed for degree checks for the May 1986 graduation date, Cukla said. They may all participate in the upcoming commencement ceremonies.
Since the information was
mailed to the students' permanent addresses and not to the address given on their degree checks, "we are afraid that, because of this, many students will not receive this information or that they will receive it too late," Cukla said.
The baccalaureate exercise will take place in Bovard Auditorium on Thursday, May 8 at 8 p.m. This ceremony is a non-de-nominational religious program under the direction of the university chaplain. The ceremony is followed by a reception in the Commons restaurant at 9 p.m.
But the big event, the commencement exercises, will take place Friday, May 9, in Alumni Park at 11 a.m., following the processional of graduates which will begin at 10:35 a.m.
Following the commencement exercise, some exercises for individual schools will take place.
Certain schools, such as the Business School, will precede the main commencement exercise.
Caps and gowns and other graduation regalia can be rented in the Commons lobby and outside the bookstore on weekdays starting April 14 and continuing until May 8. Distribution hours will be from 9:30 a.m. until 6 p.m., Monday through Thursday, and from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Fridays. Gowns may also be purchased on May 9, the day of commencement, from 9:30 a.m. until 10:15 a.m.
Graduates interested in purchasing announcements can order them from a special table inside the bookstore. Announcements should be ordered several weeks in advance to insure their timely receipt, according to Nora Viota of the bookstore's gift department.
An abandoned infant found in the trunk of a white Volkswagen early last Monday morning was in stable condition at California Hospi-tal, according to Gwen Young, assistant director of public relations there.
"It's difficult to say ~nything more because of the baby's rights," she said, but added that the blond-haired, blue-eved baby boy is "eating, and looks good."
The baby was found after two students walking by the car heard cries coming from the front end. They alerted the night guard at the Pi Beta Phi sorority house who then called security.
"Campus security should be commended," said a source on the Row who was at the scene Monday morning. "As soon as they arrived they brought out oxygen, (and) a first-aid kit. They were great," the source said.
The case was turned over to the Los Angeles Police Department as soon as officers arrived.
The car, which was parked in front of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority house, was registered to a woman in the house. The investigation, headed by Sgt. Douglas Dreyer of the LAPD, included interviews Thursday evening at the Theta house.
"We had evidence that needed some answers," Dreyer said. Apparently the trunk had not been broken into, which makes it difficult to understand how the baby got there. The car had been in some front-end collisions and the trunk might not have been locked every time, Dreyer said.
Dreyer was contacted by Victoria McCluggage, the Kappa Alpha Theta Advisory Board chairwoman, who said that she and the sorority would cooperate fully in any investigation.
Dreyer emphasized that the girls gave "total and complete cooperation" and honest answers. "They had nothing to hide," he said.
"Our belief at this point is that neither the registered owner of the vehicle or any of the persons in that sorority are involved in any criminal activity," Dreyer said. "Our main concern at this point is the welfare of the child."
"It was a very bad situation (the owner of the car) was put into," Dreyer said. "It isn't fair to the girl or the house; abandoning a babv is a criminal activity."
McCluggage, who has been the Advisory Board chairwoman for the sorority for the past seven years, said, "The girls felt the way it was written before wasn't factual or representative."
She also said the owner of the car "voluntarily took a gynecological exam and is not the mother of the child."
McCluggage wanted the the mother of the child to know that the infant will be placed in a foster home, since the signature of the natural mother is needed to be able to give the baby up for adoption, she said.
The president of Kappa Alpha Theta, Katy Marsh, said, "Everything (the LAPD) said is all that needs to be said. We cooperated with the investigation. Whoever the mother is, she's not here. We want our name out of it."
Anyone with information concerning the mother of the infant should contact Sgt. Dreyer at 485-2585.
BRUCE LE DAILY TROJAN
Scaffolding surrounds St. Vincent’s Church on the corner of Adams and Figueroa.
By John Frizzell
Staff Writer
The area surrounding our campus has seen a lot of changes over the last 60 years, and St. Vincent's, a Catholic church on the comer of Adams Boulevard and Figueroa Street, has seen them all.
When the church opened its doors on Easter Sunday in 1925, chauffeur-driven cars could be seen driving down Adams, which was lined with gas burning lamps, flower beds and mansions, to drop off distinguished families such as the Edward Dohenys for mass, said Deacon Maury McCaffrey, assistant pastor of St. Vincent's.
In fact, it was the Doheny family, the same one that built our library, that donated most of the money to build St. Vincent's.
The church's design was meant to imitate the Spanish missions scattered throughout California and Mexico. In the 1920s, the mission revival stvle was chic and houses resembling St. Vincent's can be found throughout the Hollywood Hills.
Today the style of church, "looks verv much at home," to
the estimated 10,000 people who have left countries such as Mexico, Guatamala, El Salvador and Honduras to come to St. Vincent's parish.
"There is as much Spanish spoken (in the parish) as there is in East Los Angeles," McCaffrey said.
St. Vincent's holds six masses each Sunday. Three of them are in Spanish, two are in English and one is bilingual.
FEA TURE
Since the church became a member of the South Central Organizing Committee a few years ago, it has been active in legal issues affecting the parish.
When the convenience store on the corner of Adams and Figueroa was opened, the owners applied for a license to sell beer and wine. The church argued against it, maintaining that selling liquor creates problems which could endanger children to and from the church's elementary school. The store was denied the license.
The church is also trying to
encourage local residents to not be afraid of reporting crimes to the police. Meetings have been held to inform the people that the police department is not the same as the immigration service and that their names will not be taken if they report a crime.
When people without homes come to St. Vincent's, the church tries to help them find shelter.
"A woman came in the other day out of the pouring rain. She had a baby in her arms and no place to go. On the first phone call we found her a place to stay. The church is the one place people can go," McCaffrey said.
Right now the church is undergoing a facelift. Clear glass has been put in front of the stained glass windows to protect them from vandalism and air pollution. Air pollution fades the pigments in the glass and weakens the lead which holds the pieces together.
Scaffolding presently hides the 153 foot tower on the church, while the entire building is being repainted.
"We hope (these repairs) will help St. Vincent's get through the next sixty years," McCaffrey said.