Library policies too monopolistic
Viewpoint, page 4
WEATHER
TODAY:
Breezy,
58/71
TOMORROW:
Mostly clear, 50/65
Toons come south to L.A.
Life / Arts, page 7
trojan
Volume CXVII, Number 8
University of Southern California
Monday, January 27, 1992
‘Flier fires ’ hit Parkside, kiosks
By Mike Carlson
Managing Editor
The "flier fires" that have been plaguing Fluor Tower and the USC campus have apparently spread to Park-side Apartments and the kiosks near the Student Union.
A bulletin board was burned early Saturday morning in Parkside's F building lobby between 2:30 and 3:30 a.m.
The fire was discovered by University Security. The fire is believed to have burned itself out before security and fire department officers arrived on the scene, resident advisors told the Daily Trojan.
The flames caused no major damage, but the incident is causing some anxiety among the complex residents and resident advisors.
"What scares the hell out of me is that no fire alarms went off," said Mark Smilor, the Senior RA at Parkside.
Edward Siegel/Daily Tro|an
Kiosk by Student Union
"The whole place could have gone up.
"Whoever's doing this couldn't necessarily be doing this for fun," he said."(The person) could be seriously (See Fires, page 5)
Latino political action group meets at USC
15 schools represented at weekend conference
By W. Guy Finley
Staff Writer
Latino students from 15 area colleges gathered at Seeley G. Mudd on Sunday morning to attend the Latino Student Political Action Conference, organized by USC El Centro Chicano, and featuring state Sen. Art Torres as the keynote speaker.
The purpose of the conference was to politically motivate and unite the Latino students at area colleges into a network by way of giving them instruction on starting and organizing a successful political campaign.
"Students in universities are the elite, you're all we have," said Abel Amayam, director of USC El Centro Chicano. "If you don't become involved today, then you will get old and you won't get involved."
USC El Centro Chicano is not a political action group, but is a service to Latino students and the community, said Student Coordinator Marco Garcia.
"Our purpose is to make Latino students comfortable in the transition, and to give them somebody who will answer their questions and help
them with any problems they might have," Garcia said.
USC El Centro Chicano was founded over a decade ago and currently has 20-25 active members, he said.
Garcia is also coordinator for the Latino Student Political Action Committee, a group that seeks to unite the students at local colleges into a network to nominate a student for the Los Angeles County 2nd Supervisory District — the seat left open by retiring Supervisor Kenneth Hahn.
"This is the first time that a student has ever run for that kind of office," Garcia said.
Sen. Torres, who grew up in Los Angeles, spoke of his own motivation in politics and in life.
"Teachers thought that I was dumb because I couldn't speak English properly in elementary school," Torres said.
"I vowed to never let anyone stop me from doing anything again because I couldn't speak English," Torres said.
Corky Perez, associate publisher for Southern California Community Newspapers, spoke about the 40 percent Latino majority over any other ethnic background in the state.
"I want to see the people we put in office come back to the community, get us involved, and feed our people," Perez said.
Third world takes priority I Sweet celebration
New bill gives money to students who study in poorer countries
By W. Guy Finley
Staff Writer
A new federal act, pledging $12 million in the first year and at least $4 million thereafter to help fund undergraduate study abroad programs, was signed into law by President Bush Jan. 22, according to a report released by Sen. David L. Boren (D-Okla.).
The act, called the National Security Education Act of 1991, was authored by Sen. Borenand gives special priority to students wishing to study in Third World and non-affluent countries in Africa, South America, and Asia.
Sue Litz, assistant director of the Department of Overseas Studies at the university has been follow-
ing the act through Congress and said she hopes this will spark some interest in these countries.
"We hope that the faculty will come forward and push for new programs in this area (Third World countries)," Litz said.
Currently, the university has programs in Kenya, Zimbabwe-and Israel. Litz also said that the university has a program for one or two students at St. Petersburg University in Russia.
Currently 10 students are scheduled to go to Israel in the spring, one year after the Gulf War forced cancellation of the program.
The university has many overseas programs for undergraduates, with deadlines as late as March 1 for the spring and as late as March 6 for the fall.
"It's a general rule of thumb that you want to apply a semester before you intend to go," Litz said.
Programs availale thru the Office of Overseas Studies / 2
National funding received for university education program
By Jennifer Watson
Staff Writer
While other university programs feel the crunch of budget cuts, the Academic Achievement Program is celebrating the approval of increased funding from the U.S. Department of Education.
The extra funds came as a result of a proposal for new programs that would target cultural and educational activities and family involvement in the 1992-
93 school year, said program director Bonnie Henderson.
"I want to see a better line of communication between the students and their families," she said.
Though the program's leaders do expect to see a "considerable" increase in funds over last year's, details surrounding the grant were not revealed when approval was announced Thursday, Henderson said.
The Academic Achievement
Program is a federally funded program designed to help eligible students overcome social, emotional and academic barriers in completing their college education.
Eligibility for program participation includes low-income, first-generation college students, or students with physical disability.
For the social aspect, participants meet with peer mentors a
(See Increase, page 3)
Edward Siegel / Daily Trojan
The USC women’s basketball team celebrated at midcourt after their last-second, 2-point victory over UCLA Friday night at the Lyon Center. See story on page 16.