usc
VS. ARIZONA
Coliseum I 12:30 p.m. I Saturday	PAGE	5
Student newspaper of the University of Southern California
FRIDAY
October 6, 2000
Of interest...
Numbing disputes over tax numbers makes voters long for higher-octane politics / 4
News Digest
Editorial Classifieds
Lifestyle
vol. CXXXXI, no. 28
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4
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Opinions 4 Sports Extra 5 Crossword 13 The Buzz 16
www.usc.edu/dt
Tight on’ sought
LA’site
Dispute: University faces another trademark battle as merchandisers claim rights to traditional slogan
By AMANDA CARACCI & BRENDAN LOY
Staff Writer
In the midst of a dispute over the Traveler name and image, USC may find itself defending its “Fight on" slogan from becoming a registered trademark of the company that markets "FUCLA" merchandise.
The Nathan Gordon and Daniel Chantre Partnership filed for licensing rights to the slogan in April 2000. Their application requests the right to make “Fight on” T-shirts, hats, caps, pants, shorts, dress shirts and dress ties.
“What are they going to do next, trademark the tomahawk chop?" said Dan Archer, director of bookstore administration. "'Fight on' is woven too deeply into Trojan tradition to be taken away.
“Even if the slogan was trade-marked, you couldn't stop people from screaming it at football games," he said.
Chantre said Thursday that USC has no legitimate gripe against him and Gordon. He said USC has never done much merchandising with “Fight on."
“I remember when I was going to USC, I could never get a shirt that said 'Fight on,”’ said Chantre, a 1999 graduate.
He said other schools — and the Marine Corps — use “Fight on" as well, so the trademark application is not an attempt to steal anything I see Dispute, page 3 I
"'Fight on is woven too deeply into Trojan tradition to be taken away. Even if the slogan was trademarked, you couldn't stop people from screaming it at football games"
—♦— DAN ARCHER director Pertusati University Bookstore
Election may hinge on where students vote
Deadline
To register in California for the November presidential election, registration forms must be submitted or postmarked by 11:59 p.m. Tuesday.
Politics: Non-California residents face registration choices as deadlines near
By BRENDAN LOY
Assignment Editor
Students hoping to meet voter registration deadlines in the next few days must decide not only whether to register, but where to register — and with the presidency, the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives up for grabs, deciding where to vote could be almost as important as
CAMPAIGN
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deciding who to vote for.
Contrary to the belief that out-of-state college students must vote by absentee ballot in their permanent home state or not vote at all, students also have the option of vot-
I see Politics, page 3 I
Committee increasing awareness of minority issues
"Senate has now opened doors that seemed to be shut"
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CORLISS BENNETT, Center for Black Cultural and Student Affairs
Senate: Ethnic academic programs, faculty diversity to be addressed this year
By LOREN CHIDONI
Staff Writer
One of the first groups of its kind at a Pacific 10 Conference university, the USC Minority Affairs Committee is working this year to strengthen the academic and social environments for minority students on campus.
Formed just last year, the committee — a division of Student Senate — hopes to increase the number of minority professors and establish academic programs in which students can obtain a degree in a
specific ethnic study.
It is also reaching out to such groups as women, Native Americans and blacks to encourage their involvement on campus. Some of the established minority organizations on campus are looking forward to the collaboration.
"We welcome the chance to work with Student Senate closely because we have no other avenue to work through," said Corliss Bennett, director of the^Center for Black Cultural and Student Affairs. "Senate was whitewashed before, and black students didn’t feel comfortable interacting with Senate. Senate has now opened doors that seemed to be shut”
According to a USC study, blacks
have the lowest retention and graduation rate at USC — an issue the committee hopes to address this year through the creation of focus groups, said Student Senate President Dana Parker, a senior majoring in public policy and management
“We want to find out what other students are experiencing that black students aren't," Parker said.
The committee is also looking to create a Native American Assembly to provide structural support for such students on campus and help the Center for Women and Men
expand their services for events.
All minority support groups will eventually be housed in the new Campus Center, pending that their individual resources would not be diminished, said Jesus Prado, director of the committee and a junior majoring in political science.
In addition to working with minority organizations on campus, the committee would like to collaborate with academic departments to establish ethnic programs. At most schools, students can receive a degree in African-American or
Asian studies, Prado said. But at USC, such degrees are not available; students can only take cultural studies courses.
“This dilutes the emphasis of these programs," Parker said. “We hope to bring more prestige to the ethnic studies department and make these programs more academically competitive."
Encouraging student involvement with the faculty will also be a priority, and the committee has proposed the formation of student orientation groups for newly hired minority professors.
"We want to create positive channels to work with departments in actually getting minority faculty," Parker said.
Only one more!
Michael Buckner I Daily Trojan
Flex those muscles. A student works out at the Opportunity Fair on campus Thursday.