weather
Hanks and Ryan battle a ‘Volcano’
Life / Arts, page 7
Munk reflects on his career
Sports, page 28
Friday, March 16,1990
University of Southern California
Allegations compound in senate race
37-year-old law goes unnoticed by Dining Services
By Christine Klor
Staff Writer
Carbonated beverages served in Dining Services facilities will be surcharged a sales tax of 6.75 percent beginning Monday, after a recent audit by the California State Board of Equalization uncovered university violations.
Dining Services was not paying sales and use taxes on carbonated beverages, which has been in effect since 1953 because they did not know about the tax, said Nikld Vescovi, marketing and promotions manager for Dining Services.
"We were under the impression that it was a new regulation. They never enforced it," Vescovi said.
"(The board) told us (the law) had always been in effect, but (they are now) actively pursuing it.
"It sounds like they are just trying to raise some money,” she said.
The amount of state and local revenues to be generated by Dining Services with a carbonated drink tax was not immediately available Thursday.
The sales and use tax excludes food products except for bottled water, alcohol and carbonated beverages, said Rene Delgado, a tax auditor from the State Board of Equalization, who did not conduct the audit of Dining Services.
(See Tax, page 6)
By Paul Malcolm
Staff Writer
Allegations of conflict of interest between the Student Senate elections commission and victorious "I" slate candidates will be added to charges that last week's senate race violated city of Los Angeles election regulations, said Hunter Goodman, campaign manager for Nicole MacDonald, the incumbent senator tiling the complaint.
MacDonald was defeated in last week's balloting.	?
Goodman and MacDonald claim that chairman of the elections commission Anthony DeBarry's relationship with "I" slate candidate Sinne Mutsaers, his attendance at an "I" slate victory party last Friday and his relationship with Cheryl Aza, chairman of the Judicial Council, constitute a conflict of interest.
<■ "There is a definite conflict of interest. I was disturbed, as were most people, when I heard De-Barry had attended the T slate victory party and was heard toasting, To the greatest slate in the world. We did it','' Goodman said.
MacDonald said that because Mutsaers is De-Barry's girlfriend, and because DeBarry has a "close" relationship with Aza, that he and the seven-member council were biased. ?
DeBarry denied Thursday that his relationships with Mutsaers and Aza swayed his decisions or the decisions of his committee or that he toasted the "I" slate at the party.
"I did not say, To the greatest slate in the world.' If I did say something to the effect — that we won — it was in reference to the elections commission winning the Judicial Council decision," DeBarry said.
(DeBarry referred to the council's decision a week ago to uphold the election results in the face of MacDonald's first complaint that a Roman numeral one (I) to the right of candidates' names on
(See Senate, page 3)
Alena Tam I OeNy Trojan
Melissa Day, a senior majoring In business administration, Is one of hundreds of university students who will be affected by the new beverage tax charged by university Dining Services beginning on Monday.
New device may alarm assailants
Without rain soon, United States may be dried up by drought
WASHINGTON — This year’s mild winter could come back to haunt Americans in the form of a drought, the National Weather Service said Thursday.
Unless heavy precipitation occurs, drought to major areas of the nation is imminent, the report said.
Serious water-supply problems are a distinct possibility for much of California as well as in the Great Basin, lower Colorado, parts of the Rio Grande and in western and southern Texas, the weather service reported.
rrotn tne Associawo rress_
By Paul Malcolm
smm
wouldn't do anyone a favor," Hei-
tfleLos pie give us money rather than have i's plans the students and faculty have to pay
*	Thurs- more," he said.
Thursday evening, however, Tara ais said Brigham, president of the Student ;es rent_ Senate, said the senate is drafting a letter opposing a plan to charge stu-
000	last dents $4 to enter campus after 8 p.m., revenue a prop08^ which she said Heidicker wants to present to the university administration for the Fall semester.
"We've always had a really good relationship with parking. We under-es	stand where they're coming from and
they understand where we're coming Student from. Roy told us we could attach a discuss- letter to his proposal stating our posi-fe. tkm," Brigham said, nuch an The plan first came to .Brigham's at->y Hei- tention when last month students (rations, were charged $4 to enter campus by parking officials who had heard about Raiders) the plan and assumed it was in effect,
3	down. Heidicker could not be reached for on now comment Thursday Evening.
By Christine Klor
Staff Writer
Walking home at night in the university neighborhood may be a nerve-rattling experience at times, but a Canadian company demonstrated Thursday a personal alarm system, which will sound for help up to two dty blocks away.
The ECHO, Emergency Call Help Out, is a bright yellow, portable device that looks like a walkie-talkie and sounds a 110-decibel alarm by pulling a cord attached to the side.
The passive defense mechanism is intended to surprise would-be attackers before the victim's life is in danger, said Don Graves, vice-president of the Curtis Thomas Group, which developed of the alarm and demonstrated its use at the Pi Beta Phi sorority.
The device has advantages that other defense mechanisms such as Mace or stun-guns do not have: it is not something attackers can use against the victim, and it has a Velcro pouch that attaches to
(See Echo, page 2)
try to stop the increase Senate resolution, as v mg other options to rat
It is too soon to know increase would be, s
Index
Komlx. Security Roundup
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