Thursday September 9,1993 Vol. CXXI, No. 7
Newspaper of the University of Southern California
Weather
Looking for relief from Wednesday's heat, you're out of luck. Today will be much like yesterday with the afternoon high reaching the 90s. The overnight low will fall to the 60s.
Authors support child molestation
Attention focused on the dramatic accusations that Michael Jackson is a pedophile are distracting the
Eublic from the real prob-im — literature that advocates child rape.
Viewpoint, page 4
‘Club’ shares life’s secrets
The new movie "The Joy Luck Club," based on the Amy Tan novel, follows the life experiences of two generations of Chinese-American women.
Diversions, page 10
Perry leads way from other side
Former quarterback has found his niche as a strong safety in the Trojan defensive backfield. Although bumped from the offense, he's still kept his smile and positive outlook.
Sports, page 20
F.Y.I.
Night of reggae features Cliff
The Program Board Special Events Committee is bringing a small reggae festival to Bovard Auditorium today at 7:30 p.m., featuring Jimmy Cliff.
Opening up for Cliff will be the groups HomeGrown, formerly known as Collage, and Boom Shaka.
Tickets for the event are on sale at the USC Ticket Office, located on the first floor of the Student Union Building in room 100.
The cost of the event is $6 for students and $10 for faculty and staff.
The Special Events Committee is a division of the Student Senate, which is funded by student programming fee dollars. The committee funds programs such as tonight's, so don't miss out.
Professor to fill Faisal Chair in Islamic Thought and Culture
By Philip Dunn
Staff Writer
The King Faisal Chair in Islamic Thought and Culture was recently awarded to Timur Kuran, a USC economics and social science professor specializing in Middle Eastern culture and the Islamic religion.
The post, a $1 million chair endowed by Saudi Arabia in 1976, underscores the need for continued Islamic studies and commends Kuran's work in the field, according to Kuran and Dean of Social Sciences and Communication Carol Nagy Jacklin.
Jacklin, who appointed Kuran to the chair, expressed enthusiasm with the new appointment, saying, "His work pushes forward the boundaries of traditional economics in extremely promising ways.
(See Kuran, page 6)
Councilman guest at House of Public Life
By Victoria Manley
Staff Writer
Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Hernandez, who seized 70 percent of his district's vote last spring, gave the university's aspiring politicians a pep talk Tuesday night, imparting words of wisdom and advice at the House of Public Life.
The house, a special-interest USC housing complex designed to explore politics in a non-partisan setting, hosted a dinner and forum for Hernandez to discuss area issues.
Hernandez is a representative for the First District, which covers the university community area near Hoover and Adams streets, as well as the Pico-Union area, downtown and Lincoln Heights areas of the
city. The councilman spoke about the lack of funds his district has compared to other smaller districts in L.A.
Hernandez said the USC community is frequently actively represented by students attending city council meetings.
"USC is a very good neighbor to the community," he said. "The more the school gets involved, it becomes a bigger asset to the area.
This neglect, he said, is the reason why smaller areas of the sprawling city are able to improve their living conditions, while his district struggles.
"Our district receives $4,500 a year for city funding, while other cities are receiving up to $16,000," he said.
Besides discussing the challenges he faces in his district, Hernandez also relayed his experience as a community leader and his political stances.
'Too many people are involved in politics for the role, not the work," he said.
His philosophies on politics, he said, were about doing work for the benefit of the community, not for the benefit of salary or prestige. He advised students to become motivated about politics for the community's sake as well, expressing his committment to the actual responsibilities of being a councilman.
"I just want to do the job that I was elected to do," Hernandez said.
(See Public, page 6)
Shooting gallery?
Laura Lanchaiter / Dally Tro|an
Two students stop to view a weapons display on Trousdale Parkway near Bovard Auditorium.
Jazz bands offer midday concert
Performances part of BSA’s Black Welcome Week
By Kim Smith
Staff Writer
Music filled the air of the USC campus yesterday afternoon with the smooth sound of sax and trumpet, the rhythm of drums and string bass and a smooth woman's voice singing about "Killer Joe." Students filled the grass of E.F. Hutton Park, relaxing to jazz and each other's company. The band was the All-Star Esquire Band, the singer was Claudia Francis-Alexeander and the occasion was Black Welcome Week.
"It's a time when old students and new students can come together and by doing that strengthen our community," said Francis-Alexeander, a soph-
omore majoring in jazz vocal music.
She joined with black members of several other jazz bands to serenade students with music which she calls "part of our (black students') heritage.''
The Second Annual Black Welcome Week, which began Monday, was organized by the Black Student Assembly and provided the opportunity for freshmen and transfer students to meet other black students on campus and become aware of the organizations on campus open to them, said Kurtis Miller, one of the organizers of the welcome week.
"It's to help unify the black students on campus," said Miller, a junior majoring in exercise science.
Welcome Week began last year when Carl Beverly, the current chair of the BSA, joined
with the former chair to create what he called "an orientation-/Welcome Week for black students — a chance for our organizations to get out there and spread the message."
"We saw a void — that black students were coming . . . and
nothing was grabbing their interest. There was no big thrust to get black students involved," Beverly said.
"It helped me a lot," said Damon Tandy, a sophomore business major who attended last (See Welcome, page 3)
Regina Tao / Dally Trojan
The All-Star Esquire Band played at E.F. Hutton Park yesterday.