I Daily Trojan
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Speak. The Rev. Jesse Jackson speaks to a crowd at nearby Immanuel Presbyterian Church on
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vol. CXUV, no. 17 www.daHytraJan.com
Campus on alert following stabbings
Perpetrators remain at large; stabbings occurred near the intersection of 29th and Hoover streets
Department of Public Safety posted the crime alert later that day. and sent an e-mail to the student body
By ANNIE MUSKE-DUKES
Project* Editor
The University Park Campus is under a crime alert after two stabbings occurred within ten minutes of each other near campus this Sunday.
The attacks occurred between 1 and 2 a.m. on Sunday. The
Thursday evening.
The first stabbing involved a group of USC students who were walking near the intersection'of 29th and Hoover Streets.
A white Lincoln Towncar with no
license plates stopped in front of the students, and a Hispanic male who was approximately six feet tall. 180 pounds end 20 years old, exited the car, according to the crime alert The men had a knife end tried to instigates fight and the students ran away, according to DPS. -One student was stabbed in the upper left shoulde^ said Eric Dillon, . a firefighter at fire station number 15 who responded to the call regarding
the second stabbing.
DPS, the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles Fire Department responded. DPS and LAPD were unable to locate the suspects, end LAFD took the student to California Hospital Medical Center.
The second victim was a 15-year-old boy from the neighborhood. Dillon said.
The boy was walking on 28th Street when the same car Involved in
the first stabbing and carrying the same four men pulled up next to him. said Alberto Mendez, assign ment editor of KCAL 9 News.
The men accused the boy of stealing something from them, then pne exited the car and cut the boy on the face with a knife, according to DPS.
A member of the Delta Chi fraternity saw the incident occur and I see Mart, page 12 I
DPS car hits bike rider near campus
Student taken to local hospital for treatment of injuries; condition unknown
By ANNIE MUSKE-DUKES
Projects Editor
A female student riding a bicycle was hit by a Department of Public Safety vehicle yesterday at the intersection of 29th Street and Hoover Street, said Aaron Graves, chief of the Department of Public Safety.
The student, who remains, unidentified, was riding her bicycle on the left-hand side of Hoover Street heading north at 1:30 p.m.
A DPS vehicle that was making a right turn off 29th Street onto Hoover Street hit the female student
The girl was knocked off of her bike and fell onto the yellow center divider, and had her shoes and glasses knocked off.
Right after the accident, the girl could not stand up and was crying.
“I came when the ambulance was practically there and she was just sitting on ’the ground," said Michael Leuk, a sophomore majoring in business.
“The DPS officer was holding her up,” he said.
There was no blood, Leuk said.
An ambulance was called and she was taken to the California Hospital Medical Center for treatment, Graves said.
The extent of her injuries was unknown.
The DPS officer called for support, and a second officer arrived and cleared the area of traffic.
Students were not allowed to walk through the area for a short time while DPS cleared the scene.
♦	Staff Writer Kim Sim and Contributing Writer Jessica Gutierrez contributed to this article.
Boulevard.
urges no
Ballot initiatives are part of a larger right-wing effort to
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unfairly take control of public office, Jackson tells crowd
By BRIAN REED
Staff Writer
B
“No on 54."
“No on recall.” A “No on George Bush."
Those were the words Rev. Jesse Jackson chanted with a crowd of about 250 people at a rally against Proposition 54 Wednesday night A diverse audience, including a handful of USC students, assembled in the Immanuel Presbyterian
Church to hear Jackson and several community leaders speak out against the proposition. " ■
Jackson framed his argument against Proposition 54 by saying it . was a part of a larger right wing effort to take control of the nation.
Proposition 54, or the Racial Privacy Initiative, is a proposed California constitutional amendment that would ban the state from classifying people according to race, ethnicity or national origin.
Proponents of the act claim it would foster a more color-blind society.
Jackson said it would be a step in the wrong direction, however. He compared the proposition to .the ongoing Republican-led redistricting effort in Texas, the California recall efforts and the 2000 presidential election recount in Florida.
"The beginning of the campaign to take back the White House, the Senate, uid the House (of Representatives) comes from California,'' Jacksen said.
Jackson criticized the recall effort by noting the Lakers were not I see Jaotaow, page If l
USC alum running in recall
Ruben Raul Vega says he wants to improve state finances and schools
By BLAKE HENNON
Staff Writer
No on recall, yes on... Vega?
Ruben Raul Vega, a USC alumnus who graduated in 1988 with a degree in political science, is a write-in democratic candidate for governor of California.
He has been interested in government since he met a politician as a child in 1970, he said.
“At the age of 5,1 really got a big interest in politics,” Vega said. “1 met with (former city councilman) Art Snyder at a Cinco de Mayo celebration, who, at that early age, picked me out of a crow^nd inspired me into politics.”
Decades later, Wga has campaigned for 16 major Democratic candidates, including Jesse Jackson, Bill Clinton and for Gray Davis twice.
Since graduating, he has worked in life insurance, annuities, small business and retail banking.
His interest in the state's finances drove him to enter the recall campaign, he said.
“the straw that broke the camel's back was a call 1 got from my old elementary school,” said Vega, referring to Garvanza Elementary in northeast Los Angeles, “(lt) is now basically panhandling and begging and harassing the parents of the students that go to that school for donations. I mean the basics — pencil, paper, erasers, food, diapers — you name it"
Vega has friends who are teachers in San Diego County whose schools are also underfunded or financially mismanaged, he added.
In order to counter school funding problems, as well as housing needs and the state deficit Vega said he developed a business plan for
I	see toga, page III
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