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Volume CV, Number 46
University of Southern California
Friday, November 6. 1987
Earthquake experts find new fault lines
By Catherine Habel
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CATHY HERRERA DALY TROJAN
WILL IT EVER STOP? — The forecast calls for the heavy rains to stop this weekend — just in time for homecoming.
Ex-CIA agent says new accord ‘can only be beneficial’ to U.S.
By Catherine Loper
Staff Writer
David MacMichael, an ex-CIA agent who worked on Central American affairs, spoke on campus Thursday on the political state of Central America, particularly the recent Guatemala Accord, as a part of Human Rights Awareness Week.
“In my opinion, (the Guatemala Accord) is the greatest single rebuttal" to U.S. policy in the Western Hemisphere, MacMichael said.
However, the accord is not a blow to American policy, he said, rather its effects can onlv
be beneficial to the United States.
The recent Guatemala Accord "represents a splendid opportunity for the United States to establish a new relationship with
HUMAN
WEEK
Central America," MacMichael said.
The accord, which was signed on Aug. 7 by the presidents of five Central American nations.
is "not supposed to be a final answer to (the) Central American (problem)/' MacMichael said. In political matters of this world, there are never "final answers," he said.
One of the major purposes of the accord, MacMichael said, is to allow the Central American countries to manage their political situations "without any intervention of the United States or any other outside power."
The signatories of the accord agree "to deny use of their territories to any organizations . . . or groups who wish to destabi-
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Earthquake experts met at the university to review findings on the Oct. 1 Whittier quake and concluded that there are many faults beneath the Los Angeles basin capable of causing earthquakes in the downtown area.
'There are many more faults under the Los Angeles basin capable of producing earthquakes in the six range that were previously not mapped," said Charles Sammis. a USC professor of geophysics who attended the gathering.
These faults were produced by numerous north-south compressions in the earth under the Los Angeles basin, he said.
The faults are capable of causing earthquakes the size of the 1971 San Fernando temblor, which registered 6.4 on the Richter scale, Sammis said.
Before this, scientists believed the greatest earthquake threat to Los Angeles was primarily found in the activities of the San Andreas fault.
Although a magnitude 6.0 earthquake occurs in Southern California about every two years, a temblor centered downtown could produce more damage than the big earthquake expected on the San Andreas fault, Sammis said.
Thomas Davis, an independent geologist currently under contract with the U.S. Geological Survey. mapped the Los Angeles faults after re-analyzing geological data from od companies. Sammis said.
Oil companies collect information about the rocks they drill through. If new and old rocks are found at the same level in the earth, it can be inferred that there is a fault separating them, said university- seismologist Egill Hauksson
He said od companies infect sound waves into the earth to determine the types of rock present there. The time it takes for them to bounce back defines where various rocks are located If the same type of rock is discovered at two different depths, it can also be concluded that a fault divides them.
"There now appears to be a lot of unmapped faults beneath the earth's surface," Sammis said.
Experts from the university, the California Institute of Technology, the U.S. Geological Survey and numerous state geological agencies also concluded that the Whittier earthquake occurred on one of these "buried thrust faults' previously' unrecognized. Sammis said.
According to the Las Angeies Times. Davis said the Whittier earthquake was the fourth earthquake of magnitude 5.0 or higher to have occurred on this fault since 1929.
Scientists at the meeting downgraded the Whittier quake to 5.9 from a previous 6.1.
. Sammis said, however, that this is insignificant because there is always a 0.2 margin of error in earthquake readings
Data from many seismometers across Southern California are imaged to produce the final reading. This takes about one month.
"The Riverside readings were a little low. and when all the records were collected, the average became lower." Sammis said
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HOMECOMING ’87
Homecoming to go on despite recent storms
By Stacy Stringer
Staff Writer
Although Thursday brought cloudy skies and thunderstorms, fair skies and warming trends are predicted for Homecoming Weekend, according to a national forecast.
But even if it rains, homecoming will go on as scheduled. "We're going to pray a lot," said Mary Sherman, a special event director of the Alumni House.
The only change in homecoming plans will be that President James Zumberge's party will be moved from Alumni Park to a
The USC football team will try to stay in the Rose Bowl race with a victory over Stanford on homecoming. See the SPORTS supplement, page 11.
standing reception at Town and Gown, said Jennifer Jeffries, a university events hostess.
Due to the rain during last week's Parents' Weekend, canopies and picnic tables were relocated to the overhang at Bovard Auditorium. But with the large attendance expected for this weekend and the scores of tents that will be set up, protection from the rain at Bovard would be impossible.
Tables and chairs will be left outside under canopies, said Lynn Miles, assistant director of university events. If it rains, a lot of people will be "huddling around under their tents/' Miles said.
Student involvement on campus commended by Justiceville group
By Brad Bowlin
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Mike Neely didn't get the kind of reception he expected when he and a group of homeless people arrived to spend a week on campus.
"We've received the best reception here at USC than we've had at any school that we've been to so far," said Neely, who is a member of Justiceville. a small group of homeless people who have been traveling to Southern California universities
"We were told before we got here it was not the best place for us to go, that we'd get no response from the students," he said. 'The response from students here has been tremendous."
Justiceville will pack up its few belongings today and move to Venice, the next stop on its tour.
Neely called the group's stay at the university "an overwhelming success. We accomplished everything we set out to accomplish "
The group's main goal, he said, was to raise student awareness of homelessness and to organize a chapter of Students Organized for America's Homeless.
Another purpose for the group's visit was to talk to students and remove some of the stereotypes associated with homeless people, said Vernon Jackson, a Justiceville member.
"I hope we've alleviated some of the wrong ideas people have," he said, standing in the rain in Alumni Park, where the homeless have been stationed since Monday, talking to students and answering questions.
"We're talking about homeless people, not derelicts and bums and alcohobcs." said Liz Flournoy, press secretary of Justiceville "In fact, derelicts and bums comprise a small minority of the homeless population."
As a result of the homeless trek through Southern California campuses. SOFAH chapters have been started at UCLA, Pepperdine and Los Angeles Community College. Claremont Colleges and UC Riverside also have chapters
Students here are already organizing a USC chapter of SOFAH.
Cathy Herrera, a senior ma^ormg in business administration. and three other students hope to get students actively involved in the group
"We want it to be an information network* where students can learn more about the homeless problem and then make "informed decisions'' about issues related to the homeless. Herrera said She also stressed the importance of working with SOFAHs from other universities m addressing the issues and putting forth possible solutions as a group.
The university's student group should also work on a practical leveL lleima said, collecting food and clothing and holding fund-raisers to help people who Kve on the streets
The group wiO meet Monday at 3 p. of Commons Cafeteria, it wfl meet wM advocate and organizer Ted Hayes at Wednesday. A location has not been
The Student Senate plans to become involved in
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