trojan
Volume CVI, Number 6	University	of	Southern	California	Friday,	January	15,	1988
All-Row party attracts students to Theta Xi
Auto break-ins up, officers say
By Chris Eftychiou
Staff Writer
Job fair draws 700 and mixed reviews
Soviets praise LAS support
By Shannon Rafferty and Catherine Loper
Staff Writers
One of five Soviet refuseniks, released in part through the university's aid, told more than 100 people Thursday that the invitation to teach here was a "fairy tale" and "difficult to believe."
Olga Medvedkov, a refusenik who was released largely through the efforts of the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and the Hillel Jewish Center, spoke on a five-member panel in Hancock Auditorium on "Surviving on the Edge: Life Without Academic Freedom."
"At the end of the dark tunnel, we saw your light, your hands and your support," she said.
Medvedkov referred to efforts made by the university community to pressure the Soviet government into releasing seven refuseniks.
Refuseniks are Soviet citizens, often scientists and intellectuals, who ask to leave the U.S.S.R. but are refused.
The panelists — Medvedkov, her husband, Yuri, Mark Friedlin, Semion Katz and Victor Kipnis — described how they were blacklisted from jobs, ousted from society and isolated from friends and colleagues.
Yuri Medvedkov said refuseniks "suffer in silence," adding that he was only able to keep working on professional activities because of outside forces that worked toward his release.
At the program, William Spitzer, dean of LAS, announced that a sixth refusenik, Valery Soyfer, will be released this month.
People who attended the conference were urged to sign pre-written letters to help persuade the Soviet government to release Alexander Paritsky, the last of seven refuseniks invited to teach at the university.
Paritsky, an engineer and scientist, has been trying to leave the Soviet Union for 12 years. He was stripped of his degree and sentenced to three years in a labor camp.
The university originally invited the seven refuseniks to be visiting professors at the university in 1983, Spitzer said.
"Without your support, we'd never be here," Medvedkov said, urging the audience not to forget the other refuseniks still in the U.S.S.R., which her husband estimated to be between 40,000 and 400,000.
"It's up to us to make the Soviet society more transparent and more open," she added.
(Continued on page 6)
MICHAEL KIM / DAILY TROJAN
Glenn Giffin and Bob Heilig (left) help themselves to a draft and (above) fraternity brothers (from left to right) Bear Bryant, John Davenport, Keith Prenite, Johnny Johnson, Jeff Rommel and Ryck Smith of Theta XI have a few brews at Thursday night’s big bash on the row, Kammana Wanna Luau. The event was originally called a "tei-u,” but James Dennis, vice-president of student affairs, thought the term might be offensive.
After a wave of campus car burglaries during winter break that has left shattered glass and damaged interiors in its wake. University Security and police are making recommendations they hope will minimize the problem.
"We know we have a serious problem, and we're concerned about it," said Sgt. Luther Lanier of University Security. "The thieves are very smart."
From Dec. 19 to Jan. 14, 88 car break-ins have been reported. About 80 percent, or 70 of those break-ins, resulted in stolen stereos, said Sgt. John Lewis of University Security.
Thefts from cars on campus increased over winter break and at the beginning of this semester, especially in parking structures B, C and D, Lanier said.
Although the break-ins have occurred en masse, police do not attribute them to an organized group of thieves, but to individual burglars.
"The chances are very slim that a group of people is working together," said Dave Barber, an auto theft prevention coordinator at the Southwest Division of the Los Angeles Police Department.
A Honda Civic sits on blocks at Vermont Avenue and 44th Street, its wheels and engine stripped by thieves.
Lanier did not speculate on the reasons for the increase, but said there is a ready market for car stereos.
"A lot of these guys are narcotics addicts, and cars are a prime target for them to find a means of supporting their habit," Barber said.
Some officers suggested people's unwillingness to challenge criminals was part of the problem. "We need cooperation from everyone. A lot of times, people see a car being broken into, and they don't do anything about it," Barber said.
Barber suggested several strategies that can deter would-be crooks.
Eye contact is often enough to scare a burglar away.
(Continued on page 3)
By Elizabeth Porto
Staff Writer
The university's Career Development Center sponsored a job fair outside the Student Union Building Thursday, an event that served both as an opportunity for students to find part-time jobs and as a public awareness campaign for the center.
The job fair attracted 700 students, according to the center's estimates.
The fair offered job listings and a chance for students to meet the center's staff and have questions answered. The listings included part-time, full-time and work-study jobs as well as internships.
"This job fair is geared toward students (Continued on page 5)
JIMMY LEE / DAILY TROJAN
Jason Jacobsen and Beth Ishihara peruse listings at the job fair.