Tough test for No. 9 USC
Sports, page 24
Culture clash: King and Keats?
Viewpoint, page 4
Foster almost saves ‘Tate’
Life / Arts, page 9
on
L_J
trojan
Volume CXVI, Number 27
University of Southern California
Wednesday, October 9, 1991
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Dealing with those killer credit card statements
By Kim Wilner
Staff Writer
It is often hard to resist.
There you are standing in the checkout line and all of a sudden the price shows up on the register. You reach in*o your pocket and find that rectangular piece of plastic.
You can charge it.
Out-of-control credit card spending can become a vicious cycle, as many students find out when they receive their first bill. But like all addictions, bad spending habits can be curbed.
Max Haynes, leader of Citibank MasterCard and Visa's “Money Matters for College Students" seminar, said his program helps college students establish and maintain good credit habits.
The following tips are a condensed version of those that Haynes gives out in his seminars:
•	Keep track of your credit use. File credit card receipts in a small index box and keep a running tab of how much is spent.
•	Set a personal credit limit for yourself.
•	Limit the number of credit cards you have.
•	Think about how soon you will be able to pay off the balance. If it is more than a few months, postpone the purchase.
•	Each time you consider making a purchase, mentally subtract the amount from your budget, so you do not overspend.
•	Be as serious about credit card debt as you would be about getting a bank loan for the same amount.
•	Take all your financial needs into consideration when planning credit card use.
Contrary to popular belief, students are not credit risks, said Bill Ahearan, vice president for public affairs at Citibank.
"Students have better repayments and fewer delinquencies than any other group," he said.
"People have the common stereotype of students as carefree, happy-go-lucky people only interested in keg parties and spending to the max," he said. "But this is not the case. Students are a good business and continue to be good business even after they graduate."
Ahearan has some tips to offer:
"Pick a card based on what it has to offer, not on the gimmicks," he said. "And really fit the card into your budget — write down all of your purchases in a checkbook register."
Citibank started offering cards to students in 1983.
"This came after extensive research, which concluded that students really wanted to build up positive credit for themselves," Ahearan said.
Arrest made in rape case
Suspect linked to other incidents
Brian McDonough
igf
and Joel Connable
Staff Writers
A 22-year-old man was arrested Tuesday afternoon in connection with the kidnapping and rape of a 24-year-old university student, Los Angeles Police Department officials said.
The man was identified as Richard Nichols, but police would not release any further information about him.
LAPD officials said Nichols may be a suspect in two kidnappings in late September near El Camino College in Torrance. In one of the incidents, a juvenile was raped, Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies said.
In the case involving a USC student, the victim was abducted at 7:30 a.m. Friday at the intersection of Flower and 38th streets, said LAPD Capt. Garrett Zimmons.
"(The assailant) forced the victim into a truck by simulating a gun," Zimmons said, reading from an official LAPD statement.
The suspect then drove the victim south on the Harbor Freeway in a late-model truck to El Segundo Boulevard, where he raped her in a secluded area, Zimmons said.
The victim was released near 112th Street and Vermont Avenue, where she then called police, he said.
(See Assault, page 17)
Traditions investigated
Underage student admitted to bar
By Glenn S. Griffith
Staff Writer
University officials are investigating whether an underage student, who allegedly produced two false IDs, was admitted to Traditions last Wednesday.
The student suffered injuries in a brawl outside Commons later that night which started with a verbal exchange inside the bar.
Nicholas Votto, an undeclared sophomore and a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity, was reportedly held down and kicked repeatedly during the brawl, which involved between 20 and 30 people.
Votto was reportedly attacked by students who were angered by comments he made during an exchange of taunts between the students and fraternity members.
Votto is listed in university computers as being 19 years old, said Kristine Dillon, associate vice president for Student Affairs. Votto told a Daily Trojan reporter he is 21.
Two forms of identification are required to get into Traditions. Votto pro-(See Traditions, page \7)
Daniel De La Rosa / Daily Trojan
USC’s on-campus bar, Traditions, is required by state law to check for proof of age.
Verdict on fraternity expected
Jeff Wachner / Dally Trojan
Graffiti covers the walls of the Sigma Alpha Mu house.
By Glenn S. Griffith and Julie Yamamoto
Staff Writers
A final decision on the fate of the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity, which came under fire for an alleged hazing violation, is expected to be released by the university Thursday.
The decision will be made by a three-person panel formed to investigate the charges that led the Office of Student Affairs to enact a interim suspension Sept.
6.
A pledge who was enrolled in an ROTC program allegedly suffered a shoulder injury, which was reported to the university by an ROTC official.
"We were the first in line after the new rules came," said frater-
nity member Adam Kleiger Friday. "We were the first to get caught."
"The panel is composed of a faculty member, a staff person, and a Greek student chair," said Ken Taylor, director of the Office of Residential and Greek Life.
Sigma Alpha Mu — commonly called "Sammy" — has been informed by its national office that the house's charter has been suspended indefinitely.
Taylor said he recieved notification of the suspension from the fraternity's national office Sept. 19.
The national office is withholding final judgment until after it receives further (See Sammy, page 17)