USC Drops Another
USC's pitching hit hard again during Satudays 8-3 loss, as Trojans drop second straight game to Cal /16
Student newspaper of the University of Southern California
MONDAY
-iU-1-
April 21^ 2003
Of interest...
Get dressed up and do the can-con at midnight showings of musical 'Moulin Rouge!" / 7
News Digest t Roundup 2 Opinions 4
wmm Crossword 13
mm® Classifieds 12
vol. CVLIII, no. 59 www.daltytrojan.cofn
Area name
change hopes to
help image
South Central now referred to as
South Los Angeles in upcoming city papers,
documents; media encouraged to use title
By SHELJJE BRANCO
Contributing Writer
USC stands for the “University of South Central,” or so goes an old joke that conjures up an image of a stately campus besieged by street gangs and surrounded by poverty.
When Vermont Square resident Helen Johnson learned about the unpleasant reference, she said she hopes she never hears it again.
The 76-year-old retired beautician wants to dissolve the negative connotations the term South Central has placed on residential areas of Los Angeles that are inhabited by blacks, including the community surrounding USC.
In May, she wrote a letter to 9th District Councilwoman Jan Perry, who then held public hearings in the districts south side. The majority of residents wanted the name changed, which led to a hearing by a City Council committee.
Johnsons idea took a step forward April 9 when the Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to change the term South Central Los Angeles to South Los Angeles when referring to areas south of Interstate 10. The media also have been encouraged to use the new name.
The use of the name in the news media, rap music and in movies such as "Boyz N the Hood” and “Training Day” added to the image that the region is infested with gangs, crime and poverty.
“This name change does nothing to alleviate any of the physical problems that the area has had to face for upwards of 70 years,” Perry said in a released statement “It does alleviate a mental burden that the community has bom for decades.”
On city maps, South Central, which is bound by Pico Boulevard to the north, Arlington and Van Ness avenues to the west Interstate 110 and Figueroa Street to the east, and Century Boulevard and Interstate 105 to the south.
The renaming will take place in city documents, including community maps, as they are updated, Perry added.
Johnson encourages USC students to stop accepting the name South Central.
“That has nothing to do with where they are.” she said. "There’s just no such thing.”
Some USC students doubt the new name will change the perceptions of the area. Many were unsure where South Central is located.
“A name is just a name, and what matters is what the government calls it,” said Ko-Chun Lin, a graduate student in electrical engineering. “My friends told me before 1 came (from Taiwan) to this country that the area is a slum. They said to rent an apartment there is bad because the security is poor. That’s the only image 1 have of South Central.”
Tiana Dudley and Alicia Sheppard said although they rarely venture south of campus and can see a visible change when traveling between USC and the community south of campus, they are offended when people say the area is bad.
I see Nmm, page 10 I
“This name change does nothing to alleviate any ■■ of the physical-problems that the area has had to face for upwards of 70years.
"It does alleviate a mental burden that the community has born for decades
JAN PERRY
Los Angeles City Council 9th District
**•
Web site aids faculty with housing
Professors can now look for temporary housing from other university teachers
By GREG DAMIANO
Contributing Writer
Professor Alice Hines is working at San Jose State University, while her husband, Lonnie Snowden, is a professor at the University of California, Berkeley.
The couple has been hoping to work in a more urban environment for quite some time, a hope that will be realized when they transfer to the USC School of Social Work this fall after a year of seeking housing near campus.
“We had been looking at apartments and rental properties in the area,” Hines said. “We were in Los Angeles several times over the past year looking at housing. We were looking for something without a
commute in a comfortable area.” Two weeks ago she was referred to a new USC Academic Senate service — the Academic Housing Exchange. Within a week of the recommendation, Hines and her husband found housing for the 2003-2004 school year.
As of last count, 21 incoming professors signed up to lease housing through the exchange, some hailing from as far as England, all within the first week of its establishment
The Academic Senate hosts and maintains the housing exchange Web site, where USC faculty can advertise their homes for rental or lease during periods of leave or sabbatical.
“It’s an obvious service for faculty, and we didn't find many places that have it," said Phillipe Levine, Academic Senate president
Marcus Levitt, professor of Russian literature and Slavic lan-
guages and literature, said he will take his family on a trip to Russia this fall.
Through the housing exchange he started negotiations with Hines and her husband.
“(The housing exchange) is convenient both for those of us with something to rent and those who are coming," Levitt said.
While the Los Angeles Times might have taken a month to elicit a proper response, Levitt said he successfully found a tenant within days of posting his wanted ad on the USC Web site.
The program has spread like wildfire by word of mouth — Hines was first tipped off about the service from a colleague at the School of Social Work. So far, faculty have expressed nothing but pleasure with the newfound success.
"It was clear that the service was needed because it was some-I see HoMinf. page 11
"(The housing exchange) is convenient both for those of us with something to rent and ■ those who are coming’ —♦— PHILLIPE LEVINE
president
Academic
Senate
grad school ranks eighth once again
Air head
Graduate program ranks behind MIT, Stanford and Berkeley, but beats UCLA
By SARA RODRIGUEZ
Staff Writer
For the second year in a row, the USC School of Engineering ranked eighth in U.S. News & World Report s rankings of the nation’s best graduate schools and first in research funding per tenured faculty member, with each professor contributing almost $1 million to the school's programs.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University and University of California, Berkeley ranked first, second and third, respectively. UCLA ranked 19.
Other factors considered in the rankings include a school's reputation among its peers as well as its reputation to industrial recruiters, said Yannis Yortsos, senior associate dean of academic affairs for the School of Engineering.
“We produce good students, and the industries are happy," he said.
The amount of research funding that the school receives, as well as the type of research being done were significant factors in the ranking, he said.
The school raised $120 million dollars in funding as reported in U.S. News & World Report, said Bob Calverley, spokesman fot the School of Engineering. Seven million dollars of the money was from the Department of Defense in defense-I see Rank, page • I
Bountiful selection. A man carrying balloon novelties walks down Vermont Avenue selling his wares near the University Park Campus.