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Volume CV, Number 7
University of Southern California
Friday. September 11, 1987
Drama student kills himself; jumps off University Hilton
By Tommy Li
Assistant Copy Editor
TRAGEDY — A view of the site where year-old freshman, committed suicide.
MICHAEL KIM DAILY TROJAN
Hansy Stockmeyer. a 19-
MICHAEL KIM DAILY TROJAN
SHOCKED ROOMMATE — Ed Prichard. Stockmeyer’s former roo-mate. reacts to the suicide.
A student committed suicide by jumping off the University Hilton Hotel early Thursday morning.
Hansy Stockmeyer, 19, a freshman drama major, was found by a University Security officer at about 2 a.m., said Lt. Melvin Stinnette of University Security.
The security officer had been flagged down by a bystander who saw a body near the hotel, Stinnette said.
He said Stockmeyer was found on the side of the hotel that faced the Harbor Freeway.
"I knew he was very unhappy," said Federika Stockmeyer, Hansv's mother, in a telephone interview from El Paso, Texas. "I knew he was hurting.
. . .1 hadn't realized he was going to do that."
"There were no notes, no questions. . .no evidence," said Ed Prichard, Stockmeyer's roommate at Regal Trojan Apartments.
"He was a very private person," said Prichard, a junior majoring in business.
Federika Stockmeyer said someone from the student affairs office contacted her about her son's suicide around 10 or 11 a.m. Thursday.
"They said that he jumped from the University" Hilton," she said. "1 asked them if he was OK, and they said, 'No.' "
Federika Stockmeyer said the police have not contacted her about her son's death, and she does not know the details of his leap from the hotel.
Neither the Los Angeles Police Department nor the general manager at the hotel could be reached
spoke once at noon
with her and
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mate, reacts to the suicide.	the general manager at the hot*
Bloody shower prompts AIDS fear at Med Center; risk ‘very minimal’
By Brad Bowlin	Workers put an empty waste can beneath tl
for comment. Hotel security staff refused to comment.
Federika Stockmeyer said she son twice on Wednesday — | again at 9 p.m.
She said that when she spoke with him for about 1 1/2 hours the first time, she told him that she was going to visit him on Wednesday She told him she would be at the University Hilton on Wednesday morning.
She had already made plane and hotel reservations
"He called me (at noon)," she said. "That's when he told me that he wasn't OK. He said he just doesn't belong in this world ”
At 9 p.m., Stockmeyer called his mother from the hotel because he wanted to know why she wasn't there.
"I was scared for him," Federika Stockmeyer said. "I knew he was really upset. . .he was confused.
"He didn't feel that he belonged anywhere." she said. "He's real shy."
After speaking with her for a few minutes. Stockmeyer ended the conversation, telling her. 'Tve got to go," Federika Stockmeyer said.
Stockmeyer. his mother said, came to the university because "he wanted to get away from the East," where he attended New Hamphsue's New Hampton Prep School, and decided on going to a California university.
Prichard said Stockmever came to the university because he feh that the drama department was one
< Continued on page 11)
By Brad Bowlin
Staff Writer
Blood byproducts possibly contaminated with the hepatitis and acquired immune deficiency' syndrome viruses showered workers at the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center two months ago, the Herald-Examiner reported Thursday.
Although it is possible that the workers could contract either virus from the incident, "the risk is absolutely very minimal," said David Hancock, administrator of medical support services at the center.
The hospital's epidemiology staff investigated and judged the chances of infection to be very slight, according to Hancock.
On July 7, the yellowish mixture of blood and saline solution began leaking from the ceiling of the Medical Information Services office in the basement when a sink became clogged and the serum started backing up.
Workers put an empty waste can beneath the leak and called maintenance. Maintenance workers broke the pipe while trying to unclog the sink, causing about five gallons of the odorless substance to splash through the ceiling onto the workers below, two days after the initial leak.
The county Board of Supervisors filed a motion yesterday, calling for a "complete investigation" into the incident by the state Department of Health and Human Services, according to Victoria Fouce. deputy county supervisor.
The county Board of Supervisors, which oversees the hospital, was not informed of the accident until more than two months later, according to Fouce.
The "unusual incident" report filed with the Department of Health and Human Services did not mention that the pipe was carrying blood from the testing laboratory two floors above.
"We are very alarmed that we weren't complete-
(Continued on page 11)
Aspiring grad students: sign up now to take admissions testing for Fall ’88
By Chris Ducra
Staff Writer
Seniors should sign up for admissions tests now if they are planning to enter graduate school next fall.
Graduate placement tests play a role similar to the Scholastic Aptitude Test in undergraduate applications by measuring the knowledge the student is bringing into graduate study, said Kim Butler of the Testing Bureau.
All graduate schools require some sort of test to aid in the admissions process, Butler said. Students who wish to study law must take the Law School Admissions Test; graduate business schools require the
Graduate Management Admissions Test; and the Graduate Record Exam is required of all students pursuing other fields of graduate study.
Also, students who wish to obtain a teaching credential must take the California Basic Educational Skills Test, if they wish to pursue a teaching job after graduation or wish to continue their studies at graduate level.
The LSAT has a basic flat fee of $60, and the upcoming test date is Oct. 17. The GMAT has a $26 flat fee and is also being offered on Oct. 17.
The GRE has a flat rate of $29, and an additional $29 is added to cover the specific subject that the student chooses. The next
test date will be Dec. 12. The CBEST exam has a $32 flat fee and, as with the other tests, it is offered throughout the year. Specific registration guidelines and due dates, along with test-taking guides, are available at the university Testing Bureau.
If students find themselves in need of a review before their specific test, a special review program is offered at the Learning Center located in Suite E in University Village. The various review courses offered cover all aspects of the specific graduate placement test using an intensive review process with materials from Bowbrow Test Preparation Services. The review sessions range in price (Continued on page 6)
Coliseum update
Coliseum commissioners spin web of broken deals
By Shelly Etherton
Stiff Writer
A tangled bureaucratic web of broken deals and unhappy tenants has been spun by the Coliseum Commission, officials who deal with it intimate, and the future does not look promising
"They have a track record that speaks for (itself)."said Todd Parker, director of public relations few the Los Angeles Clippers
Parker was referring to the loss of numerous tenants the commission has incurred as well as an alleged breach of agreement on proposed improvements to the facility which was reached before the Clippers' initial move to the Coliseum
"But we've been very pleased with the Sports Arena and Coliseum Commission management. (They) have been real supportive." Parker said.
However, the university is not pleased with the troubled commission, which composes appointed members from the state, the county Board of Supervisors and the dtv of Los Angeles.
"The university believes that the commission should not leave us disenchanted." said Anthony Lazzaro, senior vice president of business affairs.
But Joel Ralph, general manager of the commission, said the university' should not feel shorted.
‘1 came here (to the Coliseum Commission) in May and I can only speak from that, but we cherish (the university's) tenancy." Ralph said.
Yet, according to Lazzaro, the commission has not acted as though they cherish that tenancy.
"Because of lack of action and lack of importance we have not been given priority scheduling, improvements on the facility or security as agreed upon in our lease," he said.
The university has asked for additional locker rooms, exclusive to university teams, a practice court, upkeep on deferred maintenance and an upgrading on the 28-year-old Sports Arena, but has received none of it, Lazzaro said.
He added that the commission has compelled the university to seek facilities elsewhere, because the commission has booked ice shows and trade shows on game nights
"We have been involved two years with the commission, trying to upgrade and modernize this. - .facility." he said. "We were very much involved with the issue of the construction of luxury boxes."
Yet, the commission's reason for not supplying these improvements is simple. "We have no money," Ralph said.
But this problem could be rectified, according to Lazzaro. If the commission did what it should, it would not be running a deficit operation, he said, referring to the S4.5 million still owed on the facility.
(Continued on page 11)