Irish beat Trojans again
Sports, page 16
Security officers target minorities
Viewpoint, page 4
Robots learn how to dance
Life / Arts, page 7
or
JL_J
trojan
Volume CXVI, Number 40
University of Southern California
Monday, October 28, 1991
L.A.ttitude
Council looks to strengthen bonds with community
By Paul Malcolm
Staff Writer
Until 1984, the university and the surrounding community were physically connected, tied to one another by Hoover Boulevard, which ran through the center of campus along what is now Trousdale Parkway.
With the coming of the Olympics, that connection was done away with and the campus became the oft-cited "fortress 'SC," surrounded by seemingly hostile territory.
Today, however, the university is rebuilding that connection. Not physically, but rather through the United Neighborhood Council, a community organization that has become a vital link between the university and the neighborhood surrounding it.
The organization is the result of a community initiative in 1985-86 during which business leaders, neighborhood activists, government officials and the university met to discover shared concerns.
The UNC's constituency is bounded by Washington Boulevard on the north, Vernon Avenue on the south, Western Avenue on the west and Central Avenue on the east.
"Meetings were held to try to determine what their common interests were and trying to find the common ground," said Ezekiel Mobley, executive director of the council. "We have a very interesting situation going on in this community. We have a number of well-endowed institutions, but if you compare the average citizen to these institutions, there is real disparity.
"Because we're sharing the same space, we thought maybe we can come up with a program where the wealth cam be shared," he said. "It was decided that some form of local governance was what everyone was looking for."
Though the original intent of the UNC and its relationship with the university was not to deal with any existing conflict between the university and the community, that has been a result.
"Universities have to expand physically to grow and, in an urban environment, that can lead to resident displacement and community disruption," Mobley said. "The UNC began as a community initiative in 1986, out of the need to avoid the 'neighborhood vs. the university' confrontations that had occurred at universities back east."
The relationship between the council and the university is the only one of its kind in the nation. The university, through its Office of Civic and Community Relations, staffed the council, which is made up of a 40-person board
(See Connection, page 6)
Zebra hunt
Edward Siegel / Dally Trojan
Larry Smith protests the officials’ ruling on the onside kick that ended Saturday’s Notre Dame game. Please see story, page 16.
Senate to take ballots today and Tuesday
By Glenn S. Griffith
Staff Writer
Students will decide on a new residence hall senator and will vote on two referendums in a Student Senate election held today and Tuesday on campus.
Only undergraduates may vote. Voting booths will be open today and Tuesday at Tommy Trojan from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and in the Pardee Tower lobby from 5 to 7 p.m.
The first referendum is designed to poll student opinion on whether a student observer should be allowed to sit on the university's Board of Trustees.
The same referendum will also determine if students feel there should be more undergraduate representation on the board's standing committes. Students currently serve on two of the nine committes, said Sam Sheldon, senate president.
Sheldon said the referendum may help secure a student seat on the board, though the student would only serve in a advisory capacity. He plans to present the poll results to university President Steven Sample at a meeting Wednesday, during which the role of a student observer will be discussed.
"When the polls close Tuesday night, we won't have exact numbers, but we'll have a good indication (of what students think)," he said.
The second referendum seeks support for a $1 charge to be added to the cost of university parking permits. The
(See Elections, page 6)
Charges in alleged rape dropped
Victim did not want to prosecute
By Robert Moran
Staff Writer
The Los Angeles District Attorney's office will not file charges in a case involving an alleged rape at the Kappa Alpha fraternity house because the girl, a 17-year-old high-school student, refused to cooperate with the investigation, police said Friday.
"At this point the district attorney has
issued a reject on the case because the victim doesn't want to prosecute," said Detective Gil Freese of the Los Angeles Police Department. "We consider (the case) closed unless she decides to prosecute."
District Attorney spokesperson Sandi Gibbons said the case was rejected over the telephone when police investigators
presented their case earlier this month.
Gibbons cited the girl's lack of cooperation as the main factor in the decision not to file charges.
The girl, a Ventura resident, had told police that she was raped at the fraternity house during a party Sept. 21. The president of Kappa Alpha has denied that a party was held that night.
Though the alleged victim is a minor, further charges are not being pursued, Freese said.
Group lobbying for honor code
Accounting school alone to be affected
By Julie Yamamoto
Staff Writer
A group of accounting students are lobbying for a new honor code that would make it possible for students found guilty of cheating to be thrown out of the School of Accounting, said Andrea Jacobsen, cochair of the Student Honor Code Task Force.
"If someone is found to be cheating, the students can go to a student board instead of through the bureaucracy of the school," Jacobsen said Friday.
The new honor code would establish an Honor Council of 18 students, who
would rotate duties investigating incidents and hearing cases, said Jonathan Levy, controller of the university's Accounting Society.
Five jurors would hear each case, and four votes would be needed to impose a penalty, Levy said.
Because students in the School of Accounting have their grades curved against each other, those who cheat on exams or homework place others at a disadvantage, Jacobsen said. The new measure would apply to all students enrolled in accounting classes.
An accused undergraduate or graduate student found guilty of cheating would be dismissed from his or her class with a "W" and would not be allowed to re-enroll in accounting classes, though the person would be free to pursue other majors
at the university, Jacobsen said.
The accused student's identity would be protected, because the council's decision would not appear on any academic records, Levy said Friday.
"They could always pursue accounting at another university," Levy said. "We wouldn't stop them."
The accused student would not be allowed any professional representation or counsel, though the student may plead his or her case and bring other students or faculty as character witnesses, Jacobsen said.
The decision of the council would be subject to appeal.
A committee of three people would oversee the actions of the trial board, Levy said. The committee would be made ’ (See Accounting, page 2)