Volume C, Number 23
dME,^ trojan
University of Southern California	Tuesday, February 11, 1986
Harris Plaza to close for safety reasons
NIKOLA DONOVAN DAILY TROJAN
Harris Plaza on Exposition is another student residence that will not be available for housing next year.
AIDS scare felt Campus mobile seeks to increase its blood supply
By Rick Kissell
Staff Writer
The American Red Cross, feeling the effects of the AIDS scare, hopes that blood donated by university faculty and students will help replenish its depleted supply.
Gerry Sohle, a spokesman for the Los Angeles chapter of the Red Cross, said blood supplies for the last six months are about 40 percent below desired levels.
“We have definitely hit a low point, and we hope USC and other local schools can help," Sohle said. "We can't attribute (the decreased donations) directly to the AIDS scare, but many people here feel it is largely responsible."
Sohle said a public notice presented in December by the Red Cross "was more for staff morale than anything else," but that the organization wanted to clear up any AIDS misconceptions.
"All we wanted to do by issuing this public notice was to let people know that AIDS has not been found to have anything to do with simply giving blood," Sohle said. "But the people are still scared. Even some of the regular donors who come in will ask us if the needle is sterile. They just want to be reassured."
(Continued on page 6)
By Matthew Gaven
Staff Writer
Harris Plaza, a campus residence hall which has become a tradition for its occupants, will not be offered as a residence hall next year.
The Office of Housing and Residence Halls distributed a memo on Feb.6 announcing the hall's closure to Harris residents.
The memo, issued by William Thompson, director of housing and residence halls, explained that Harris Plaza, located on Exposition Boulevard inside university Gate 1, "will not be available for student occupancy for the 1986-87 academic year." The stipulation for closing the residence facility was not expressed in the body of the memo.
David Blackmar, assistant director of housing services and residence halls, said that Harris Plaza fell to the same fate to which Touton Hall fell last month.
"The decision to close Harris Plaza came from a higher level . . .the Board of Trustees," Blackmar said. "The reason that was given to me was that the building does not meet seismic safety standards."
Blackmar added that he agrees with the decision, citing safety as the key concern. He pointed out that the decision presents a problem for the housing office, which must provide alternative housing to Harris
Plaza occupants.
Logan Hazen, director of residential life, said, "We will lose 153 freshmen beds and 80 upperclassmen beds by these closings (of Touton Hall and Harris Plaza). This comes during a year when we have to add several hundred freshmen beds, prior to the loss of Touton and Harris."
Harris Plaza provides the housing system with 99 bed spaces in which to house university students. Many of Har-
ris' students are involved in a housing special interest program known as the Self-Direct-ed program.
The Self-Directed program, a product of the mid-1970s, is designed to delegate students with more residential responsibilities than other students in the housing system.
Hazen explained that fewer residential staff members are assigned to the hall, which allows the students to perform the clerical duties themselves.
"Harris finds itself in the same boat as Touton in this area. The building reflects the attitude of the community within," he said. "Harris is a unique facility that lends itself to that program. It would be difficult to achieve that same effect in a high-rise facility."
Hazen listed the three reasons that attract students to the program as the general theme and atmosphere of the program, the proximity of Harris to class facil-(Continued on page 5)
Mortar Board to honor academic excellence
By Sigal Rose Kletzky
Staff Writer
In cooperation with all chapters of the senior honor society across the nation, the university's Mortar Board has set aside this week, Feb. 10 to 14, to honor its ideals of academic excellence and recognition of leadership.
The Torch and Tassle Chapter will kick off the week with a series of events, beginning with an annual membership drive.
Pauline Ng, a member of the Mortar Board, said second semester juniors with a minimum 3.3 GPA are invited to apply this week. Interested students can pick up an application from Student Union 201 or from any board member.
Acceptance, Ng said, is based on leadership experience, scholastic achievement and service to either the university or the community.
The second event will include naming two professors for the Faculty of the Month Award. Ng said the purpose of the award is "to honor the faculty for teaching excellence and devotion to students."
Unlike in previous months, two faculty members, instead of one, have been chosen as recipients of the award this month, because, Ng said, "the two professors are terribly outstanding."
The 25 Mortar Board members "tap" a professor to inform him that he has been named for the Faculty of the Month award.
Members carrying candles and dressed in graduation gowns tap professors by entering their classrooms without prior warning. In addition to the graduation gowns, the members also wear gold and silver ribbons around their necks for the day.
Bill Chandler, Mortar Board president, said the ceremony, which also includes a short explanation of the award, takes 5-10 minutes.
As a part of the award, the winner receives a certificate and a letter telling him that the board will leather-bind a book of his choice for him.
Ng said that each month, board members nominate professors, discuss the professors' achievements and select a winner by voting with closed ballots.
She said, "(Professors) only win the award once, because there are so many faculty members who are outstanding and deserve consideration of faculty of the month."
The third event, honoring the board members, will be a dinner given by university President James Zumberge. The dinner, which will be held at Zumberge's house, takes place this evening.
(Continued on page 6)
Pings goes to Washington D.C.
Federal aid for university research in question
By Gordon Gary
Staff Writer
University Provost Cornelius Pings went to Washington D.C. on last Monday, Feb. 3 to meet with members of the Federal Office of Management and Budget and prevent possible cutbacks in federal aid for research programs at the university.
"We're concerned about changes in the government's position that will result in reduction of the amount of money given to the university," Pings said.
The American Association of Universities is concerned about "indirect cost recoveries" from research programs. Indirect cost recovery consists of federal reimbursement for any costs not included in the cost of actual research.
Such costs include heating and ventilation for research facilities, waste disposal, rental costs and "a long list of other things," Pings said.
Pings said arbitrary reductions in costs could affect "as much as one-third of total research monies" at the university.
A set of rules used by the Office of Management and Budget to determine how much money is granted to universities and how the money is to be distributed is called the "OMB Circular A-21," said Larry Horton, associate vice president of public affairs at Stanford University.
Horton accompanied Stanford President Donald Kennedy to the Washington discussion.
"For every' research project, there are direct costs, which include professors' equipment, project materials and so forth. But in order to operate research institutes, money to heat the buildings, pay for cleaning and operation and a number of other costs come up," Horton said.
Under an outline of rules set up by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and last revised in 1977, "institutes like Stanford and USC were able to sit down with the government and explain (the indirect costs)."
"Then, the institutes would be reimbursed for these costs," he said.
"The AAU fears that the government is unilater-
ally revising (the rules) to cut the indirect cost allotments," Horton said, adding that the need to cut the federal budget, along with support for the controversial Gramm-Rudman Act, would result in such cuts.
A tax bill currently in the Senate says, "if deficit reductions are not met, the OMB and the (Congressional Budget Office) prepare separate studies on how far off the (budget) target they really are," Horton said.
After determining an average between the two offices' assessments of the deficit, cuts are deferred to defense and non-defense categories. The bill calls for a 4.3 percent reduction on non-defense expenditures, which include indirect research reimbursements, Horton said.
(Continued on page 6)
Inside
★	P€RFORMflNC€ reviews the latest albums by the Bangles and Clannad; Nite Club Confidential at the Tiffany Theater; concerts by The Bobs at Bovard and Rush at the Forum; and the movie Stripper. See page 7.
★	SPORTS covers Stan Morrison's weekly press luncheon and takes a trip around the Pac-10; Caroline Kuhlman and teammate Heliane Steden battle in the finals of the Rolex National Indoor Championships. See the back page.