Thursday
September 16,1993 Vol. CXXI, No. 12
Weather
Less clouds and more sun is in order today. Some cool breezes are expected this afternoon. Today's high will reach into the upper-70s, while low drops to the mid-60s.
Inside
Fall TV shows better than usual
With programs like NBC's "Frasier" and FOX's "The Sinbad Show," the networks have elevated the standards of the sitcom. Even older shows get a revamp.
Diversions, page 7
USC safety looks for better times
Jason Oliver had to face sexual battery allegations and the death of both his parents, all in his first year at USC. Now, in his senior year, he's looking for a brighter future.
Sports, page 16
Clinton program pays school bills
The "Summer of Service" program was potentially a good idea, but only two percent of students with loans are eligible, and during years when they could work in the private sector.
Viewpoint, page 4
F.Y.I.
Sociologist to speak on gangs
Malcolm Klein, a sociologist expert in gangs and juvenile delinquency, will speak on "Gang Warfare in Los Angeles" on Friday Sept. 17 at 1 p.m.
Klein is the author of eight books and numerous articles on gangs and delinquency. He is the director of USC's Social Research Institute as well as a professor of sociology.
The talk is sponsored by the School of Engineering as part of its annual W.V.T. Rusch Engineering Honors Colloquium.
The lecture will be held in Grace Ford Salvatori Hall, room 106.
For more information, call 740-8677.
Newspaper of the University of Southern California
Hiring standards may change
University lawyers looking at inclusion of sexual orientation
By Ray Delgado
Assistant City eaitor
Under the university's present equal opportunity policy, a university employee cannot be discriminated against for any reason, be it race, age or medical condition, but if gay men or women were to be fired from their jobs, they would have no protection.
Numerous campus organizations and individuals have been working for years to get sexual orientation included in the policy but have met with administrations unwilling to make the change until now, possibly.
News Analysis
The university's general counsel, which handles the university's legal matters, is in the final stages of redrafting a policy to include sexual orientation, said Bob Lane, the acting head of general counsel. The policy should be completed within the month, Lane said.
The new policy will have a catch, however. According to Lane, the policy will state that the university does not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation as put forward by state and local laws and ordinances.
The problem is that there may not be such a law that applies to USC as a non-profit organization. According to Lane, the former Los Angeles ordinance that prohibits sexual orientation discrimination was, in essence, nullified by a state law banning sexual orientation discrimination, which does not apply to a non-profit organization.
But Jon Davidson, a senior staff council for the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Southern California and adjunct professor at the Law Center, said Lane is wrong in his assertion that the state law does not apply to non-profit organizations. Davidson said the law does not apply to religious non-profit organizations and non-rofit organizations operating for public enefit, neither of which includes USC.
In addition to the state law, Davidson said there was also a city of Los Angeles law prohibiting sexual orientation discrimination by all non-religious educational institutions based on admissions, services or programs.
Lane said that he read the state law differently and reasserted his position that the
law did not apply to non-profit corporations.
"If (Davidson's) interpretation is correct, then the state law would supersede the local ordinance and would be applicable to us," Lane said. "Whatever the law is, the university will abide by that.
"The question that's unanswered is whether the local statute applies in light of the state legislation," Lane said. "The local ordinance may or may not apply to nonprofit organizations."
Whether or not USC will be subjected to a non-discriminatory policy in the future, the university will implement the revised policy stating its accordance with state or local laws, Lane said.
Once the policy is complete, it will go to university President Steven Sample, who will make a decision on the updated policy and if approved, send it to the Board of Trustees for final approval.
Sample refused to comment on the situation until he issues the year's new policy formally to the university, according to George Abdo, the executive assistant to the president.
The fate of the new policy in the hands of Sample is uncertain, but many people feel he is likely to end the stalemate that many of
(See Policy, page 3)
Latino group receives big grant to raise voter interest
By Joseph
Staff Writer
Carmona
Raglna Tao / Dally Trojan
The Arab student delegation on a U.S. tour visits USC to discuss the recent Middle East peace treaty.
Middle East students learn valuable experience in America
By Carolyn Bates
Staff Writer
Memories of the Israeli-PLO peace accord will intermix with peaceful impressions of the United States for seven Arab students who visited USC yesterday as part of a delegation coordinated by the School of International Relations.
The students, on tour through a U.S. Information Agency program, discussed their thoughts about the accord and the United States in an informal forum.
"The themes of the program are youth leadership, conflict management, tolerance and coexistence and university life," said Akram Elias, one of two interpreters traveling with the group.
According to Elias, the students were chosen for the the trip by the U.S. embassies in their countries based on leadership experience. They hailed from
Jordan, Syria, Qatar and Algeria.
The student delegation met with USC students for an informal forum, where they discussed such topics as their backgrounds and their impressions of the United States and the Arab-Israeli peace plan.
"Most of our impressions came from the movies and television series that we watched," said Ath-mane Bendaoud, host of a youth television program in Algeria. "We thought that America was a country with many problems, such as crime and violence. I was positively surprised by the hospitality and orderly fashion of American life."
For most of the students, preconceived notions about the United Stales were changed by their visits to such places as Washington, D.C.; New York; North Carolina, and Colorado. The delegation met
(See Tour, page 6)
El Centro Chicano, a newly formed branch of the Student Affairs department, has recently received a $10,505 grant to help implement a voter registration program through a series of conferences and specially designed programs.
Funding for the program was received through the state-level Committee on the Self-Develop-ment of the People. El Centro Chicano, along with several other campus minority groups drafted the proposal for this grant.
The proposal suggested the Los Angeles area would greatly benefit from the participation of college-age students in the voting process. Upon reviewing the proposition, the committee awarded El Centro Chicano the grant. However, El Centro Chicano is not the beneficiary of the money, but simply the fiscal agent.
The Student / Community Empowerment Project is responsible for the implementation of the registration program. This project is a group of two-and four-year college students from various universities attempting to help their local communities, said Rigoberto Reyes, coordinator of the group's steering committee.
The majority of the grant funds will be used to host a series of conferences that are intended to inspire and educate students and parents about voting. The conferences will be
(See El Centro, page 2)