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Student newspaper of the University of Southern California
I	THURSDAY
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Jamary SS, SOOS
Of interest...
Local government* have law* on riding bikes in pools bul ujten ignore key issues / 4
1 1	a	Opinion*	4
Lifestyle	? j	Horoscopes 1	
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Crossword	17	o | npori*	ao
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Africa classes lagging
Africa
Absence
USC ofterb (wo dubbttb Ullb w;n«;blei about Africa Other act tool b have entire African bluilict. department
likicabon: USC's selection of courses discussing Africa limited compared with other California school programs
By PURNIMA MUDMAl
C»MlrllMiln| Wiitei
While USC u offering unly twu
ing u
(otiim Uiu spring in Uie area ol African studies, oUier ( alllortiia uni veislties offei well developed African Mudies programk
USC doek have a progtuin on Afi lean American studies. bul H doek nol focus on Uie African conti nent, aaid William Hideout, prolea
tor of education, who leaches a kprmg course on cultuie, change and educaUon in Sub-Saliaran Africa “It is frustrating because I designed the course and there aren't any oUiet courses offered like thu in the School of Education,' he said Some say Uie subject of the African continent u not a high priority because faculty that come to teach at USC are not experts in Uial field
'One reason is Uial Uie region of Africa has not been as high as tlie Pacific Kim countries in terms of pri ority in faculty luring, which then
translates into course offer mgs and faculty Nugent, prc fat.
rings
faculty expertise,” said Jeffrey t, professui of economics.
The faculty expertise u not avail aisle al the university, and besides Hideout and Gerald Bender, a profes sor of international relations and a renowned expert on Angola, nol loo many professors have a special inter est in Sub Saharan Africa, Nugent said
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RkM Him I Daily Trqaii
Heisman heroics Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer and past Heismarvwinner and Athletic Director Mike Garrett show off the Trojans' fifth Heisman trophy at USC’s Athletic Celebration Pep Rally at Heritage Hall.
Writing 140, 340 courses not following Ivy league lead
USC happy with structure while East Coast schools revamp their curriculum
By (MINER DIILI
Suit Writer
As many Ivy League universities restructure Uieir writing pro grams, USC's program based on two mandatory courses, one at the
Y USCs Writing Program) mis Juirly radical at the time Are then1 still places that need to he Jine luned? Of course" ♦
John
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Writing
Piugram
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freshman level and onr si the jun ior, will stay largely intact for the time being, said John Holland, llir program's director
The program, as reconfigured in IW. resulted Irom a discus sion ol general education that i . faun mi His mid UU» but still remains unique today, Holland said
"It was fairly radical al the time," he said. "Are there still places thal need to be fine tuned?
Of course*
The administration at the time wanted u writing program thal would integrate well with the new core curriculum and decided on a two tiered system, Holland said. Officials designed Uie first part. Writing 140. to give freshmen the skills needed to write academic essays on a college level and paired the course with a social issues class to provide material for those essays Princeton University’s writing program, restrur lured in 2001, utilizes a similar technique, offering topic-based writing courses, said Carrie Walk, directoi of the Princelon writing program. The classes do not rover the topic in full but instead use limited readings intended solely to prompt discussion.
"We csll this staging s writing experience,* Walk said She added that students spend class time dis cussing writing, while the reading is done outside ol class.
Wslk redesigned the program at Princeton based on models Cornell University and Harvard University, where she worked for eight years before coming to Princeton, she said.
While s freshman writing course is all these three schools require, administration at USC wanted another course at the junior level to 'widen the context,* Holland said.
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Changes in Coverdell plan pay off
By NEIDI HARDT
Staff Writer
At a school where 60 percent of undergraduates rely on finan cial aid, USC students and parents alike welcome government assistance aimed at helping young people receive a higher education.
During 2002, a federal college savings account changed its policy so that parents and contributors can now invest up to $2,000 annually instead of the previous $500 a year. A federal savings account is similar to a state 529 plan in that
YOUR
MONEY
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they both offer the same exemption from state and federal income tax on earnings growth.
Also, the deadline to contribute to the Coverdell EducaUon Savings Account has been moved up to April
15	instead of Dec. 31, giving parents
four additional months to gel their contributions in.
According to the Web site http://www.savingforcollege.com, the extension gives parents and other family members the extrs time they need to get together contributions. The Coverdell account is open to an unlimited number of contributors, as long as the total amount does not exceed the $36,000 limit
Though there is an annual cap of $2,000, the fund stops growing when the child turns 18. This means
page 141
Discretionary card theft under investigation by DPS
Crime: Several students say USCard funds were used without their knowledge
By PAUL HARTSOCK
Stair Writer
The Department of Public Safety is investigating a possible case of fraud and grand theft involving USCard discretionary accounts. DPS officials said.
In a report filed Jan. 16, DPS said
several studenls found that their pre paid discretionary accounts had been used to make unauthorized transactions at the USC bookstore and other campus locations. According to the report a student had altered her own student ID card so that it could access other students' accounts when she made purchases.
Dan Stimmler, director of the bookstore, said that the fraudulent card was used to make purchases from virtually every department in I aee Thaft. page If l
Long-arm legend
hreshrnun Meghan Griekow foms the Women of Troy with hopes oj setting new college
records / 20