Special Spring Travel Issue — See page 9
dMHw trojan
Volume C, Number 31
University of Southern California
Tuesday, February 25, 1986
NIKOLA DONOVAN DAILY TROJAN
Nuclear Winter: (left to right) Timothy Ferris, Richard Turco, Herb Grover and Curtis Covey discussed the environmental consequences of nuclear war at a symposium yesterday in Heritage Hall.
Cinema professor is honored by colleagues
Terry Cahalan, a cinema professor who died on Feb. 11, at the age of 36, has been honored by his colleagues within the Cinema School with the creation of the Terry Cahalan Scholarship.
Cahalan had been a professor of filmic writing and film production since 1981. Illness forced him to stop teaching last fall.
While attending the university as a cinema student in 1976, Cahalan w’rote and directed The Preparatory, which won the student Academy Award that year.
A spokesperson for the cinema school said that Cahalan, “through his talent, wit, and spirit, managed to win the respect and love of fellow writers, students and faculty. He will be remembered as a superbly gifted teacher who was devoted to his students and who patiently and skillfully guided their efforts."
Donations to the scholarship may be sent to the Terry Cahalan Scholarship, University of Southern California, School of Cinema-Television, University Park, Los Angeles, Calif. 90089-2211.
Few selected
Special skills needed to be dormitory RA
By Caralee Mahlab
Staff Writer
Every October, approximately 200 students apply to become resident advisers in university housing. But only about 60 of them will get one of the valued positions.
"(The) main purpose (of RAs) is to be the nuts and bolts of our organization. They're the people who work most directly with the students. They are the ones who live, work and interact with the students," said Kim West, assistant director of resident student development.
Resident advisers provide academic, psychological and suicidal counseling, along with helping in hall government, fire drills and enforcing university policy, West said.
An excellent resident adviser is "someone who really wants to become an RA (and who) really realizes the impact they can have on people and make the best of that," West said.
Eleanor Hoppe, resident adviser for the third floor of Marks Hall, said that the best type of person to be a resident adviser is somebody w’ho is open, accepts all types of personalities and understands the interests of the people who make up floor.
The RA on the eighth floor of Marks Tower, Theresa Nicassio, added that honesty and good judgment are qualities needed for a good resident adviser.
Hoppe said that she has always enjoyed helping others and that her career plans will not allow her to do this sort of work.
So, "as long as I am at school, I wanted to take advantage of those opportunities. I got in-(Continued on page 6)
U.S. Central America policy assessed
Military solution criticized by conference speaker
By Amy Mednick
Staff Writer
The United States must question President Reagan's reasons for "waging war" in Central America and redefine a national defense policy that is now based on the fear of communism, said Dr. Charles Clements, director of Americans for Peace in the Americas, on campus Saturday.
"Our security lies in diplomacy, not seeking a military solution to primarily socio-economic problems," Clements said at the final presentation of a three-day conference entitled, "The United States and Central America: A Five Year Assessment."
In response to Reagan's appeal to Congress for $100 million in aid to the contras in Nicaragua, Clements said Congress would be afraid of being seen as "soft on communism" in their districts if they voted against it.
Clements' speech reflected the tone of the other speakers' comments on the last day of the conference. The panelists criticized the Reagan administration for interv ening in Central America and in particular for destroying any progress that had been made by the Sandi-nista government in Nicaragua.
Aldolfo Aguilar Zinser, coordinator of the Central American Studies Program of the Center for Economic Research and Teaching in Mexico, said the Sandinistas had dedicated themselves to rebuilding society.
"But now the reorganization of society has taken place along the lines of war," Zinser said.
Zinser compared the United States to a doctor who treats a patient who had not requested help. Without asking what hurts, the doctor diagnosed an incredible ailment originating from a distant land such as the Soviet Union or Cuba, he said.
"The doctor gave the patient massive surgery and a little aspirin for its economic ailments. After five years, the patient doesn't look the same, and the ailment is still there," Zinser said.
Zinser said that, to most people in the United States, the worst possible scenario in Central America would be direct intervention.
Xabier Gorostiaga, regional coordinator of the Center for Social and Economic Research in Managua, said "peace is at hand," but he said the United States would not be part of the peace process because the administration refused to negotiate with Latin American and European nations.
'The banana republic is over, my friends. We are small, poor countries — but we want to be independent countries," Gorostiaga said.
"We should take the support of $100 million and establish a fund for peace for the needs of the two million refugees in Central America," he said.
Clements, a doctor and author who wrote Witness to War, an account of his travels in Central America treating patients, said the United States was "covertly and overtly" engaged in warfare all over the world to protect the nation from communist threat.
"We must purge ourselves of the notion that waging war is vital to our national security," Clements said. "We are undermining our national security, not building it."
The administration spends $9.5 billion annually on Central America, which would have been enough to restore the funds cut from several important social programs at the beginning of this administration, Clements said.
"This administration's spending priorities are fraught with cruel ironies. While we pave our way and build roads in the Honduras in preparation for an assault in Nicaragua, our streets and bridges decay," he said.
Gay/Lesbian director to resign
Co-heads sought
By Daisy Ridgway
Staff Writer
The director of the Gay and Lesbian Student Assembly announced his resignation last Thursday at a meeting of the Gay and Lesbian Student Union.
Rich Falconer, who served as director of the GLSA for five months, said he resigned for personal reasons and will issue an official statement by the end of the week.
Members of the Gay and Lesbian Student Union recommended a male-female co-directorship of Duke Kim and Rebel Reavis, respectively, to succeed Falconer as heads of the assembly.
The decision for the co-direc-torship was submitted for approval by the Women's Support Group and the Gay and Lesbian Lawyers Group, both of which are represented by the GLSA, along with the Gay and Lesbian Student Union.
"They liked the idea," said Christopher Wood, president of the Gay and Lesbian Student Union.
The official vote is expected to take place by the end of this week or the beginning of next week.
The GLSA comprises all of the gay and lesbian student organizations on campus and was formed last May in order to provide these minority groups with a seat on the Program Board.
The director, who occupies that seat on the Program Board, represents and oversees each of these groups by taking care of the allocations made by and for them.
"The GLSA is a two-part ser-
vice," Wood said.
"One part is a basic research service for (gay) and non-gav people to learn about our group. We serve as an information dissemination body in order for people to understand the gay and lesbian community," he said.
Wood discussed how members of the GLSA have gone to various psychology and sociology classes on campus to talk about their lifestyles and about their participation and involvement in social environments.
"The other function of the GLSA is social," Wood continued. "We serve as a support group for students who are gay and in the closet, or for those who seek counseling about being homosexual."
Wood described many activities put on by the GLSA and the Gay and Lesbian Student Union, such as awareness weeks, dances and speeches by prominent gay and lesbian personalities.
A resolution was passed bv the Student Senate last May for the GLSA to become a campus department. Wood said.
"By (being) a department, (we) get privileges such as having a permanent staff and the ability to purchase capital items like typewriters and provisions for a small library," he said.
"It would enhance programming," he added.
The GLSA is also trying to charter a chapter of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays at the university.
"A lot of people do want to support us but are scared that others will think they are gay for (Continued on page 3)