Tuesday October 19,1993 Vol. CXXI, No. 35
Weather
Morning fog will burn away as the day wears on. Look forward to a sunny,
Eleasant afternoon with the igh reaching into the mild 70s while the low is in the chilly 50s.
Inside
Tolerance museum recreates horrors
The new Museum of Tolerance provides a chilling glimpse into the devastation caused by hatred and prejudice, including concentration camp and gas chamber facsimiles.
Diversions, page 7
Trojans thwart Beaver runners
Jeff Kopp and Reggie Perry led the USC defense on Saturday against Oregon State, as the Trojans shut down the Pacific 10 Conference's most potent running attack.
Sports, page 16
Hate crime laws control your mind
Current convictions for hate crimes do more than discriminate against the motivation for crimes, they give the government the potential for 1984-style control of your thoughts.
Viewpoint, page 4
F.Y.I.
IR association talks over food
Tonight, in the chapel of the University Religious Center, the International Relations Undergraduate Association will be holding a dinner from 6 to 9 p.m.
The event, in honor of World Food Day, will also feature a panel of speakers. International relations professor Steven Lamy will host a discussion of famine relief and U.S. food policy.
Guests include representatives from CARE and World Vision, Glen Ross of the University of California, Irvine and James Mitchell of California State University, Northride.
The event is intended to create awareness of world hunger and look into efforts to solve the problem.
For more information, contact Cynthia Robinson at (213) 745-4838.
Neck pains unhelped by USC response
By Allison Vana
Staff Writer
A student who awoke Thursday with severe muscle spasms in his neck resorted to calling a private ambulance company for transportation to the Student Health Center after the USC Department of Public Safety and LAFD were unable to assist him.
Ivan Flores, a senior majoring in psychology, woke that morning in such severe pain that he was unable to attend classes.
"I woke up Thursday at about 8:30 to go to class, but I couldn't move because my neck was in pain. My roommate called security, but they said that one EMT (emergency medical technician) was on jury duty and the other took the day off," Flores said.
Sgt. Craig Baxley of the Department of Public Safety said that one EMT had been assigned to daywatch on Thursday and he could not come to work because of a family emergency. He said DPS tries to have an EMT on duty 24 hours a day, but this is not always possible because they are understaffed.
"After (calling the DPS), my roommate called the Health Center. The doctor he talked to said that he had to examine me and I needed to come to the Health Center, but I couldn't move," Flores said.
Two DPS officers were sent to Flores' apartment. Flores said that the officers asked him to go to their car for transportation to the Health Center, but he still was unable to move, so the officers called LAFD.
"(The paramedics) said that they couldn't take me to the Health Center because the situation wasn't life-threatening. So they gave me the number of an ambulance company on Jefferson," Flores said.
Flores' ride to the Health Center by ambulance will cost at least $150, plus whatever service charges are tacked on, he said.
However, Baxley said even if an EMT had been on duty, they probably would not have been able to take Flores to the Health Center.
"We don't have an ambulance to transport students. We have to use patrol vehicles. If tne injury
(See Pains, page 6)
Michelle Meyers Dally Tro|an
Freshman Jade Miller's Marks Hall door is now covered with notes of support.
Anti-gay scrawlings deface student’s door
By Christei Wheeler
Staff Writer
In the first reported incident since last fall, a student's door was defaced with anti-gay slurs in Marks Hall on Friday morning.
Jade Miller, a freshman in the Resident Honors Program, found "Queer! Faggot! Dyke!" scrawled in permanent black ink on her door at 10:45 a.m.
"I woke up and went out to take a shower, and it was on my door," Miller said. "My roommate left at 10:30 and it wasn't there."
Miller, 16, who is openly bisexual, active in the Gay and Lesbian Assembly for Student Support and Student Coalition to Overcome Prejudice Everywhere chair, did not hesitate to act.
"At first I was upset," she said. "I
moved from being upset to being angry. I spoke to GLASS, (the Daily Trojan) and security. I've left the graffiti up on the door and invited comments. They've all been very supportive."
Miller has not filed a report with the Department for Public Safety because she is busy with classes and because she said it's not a life-threatening situation. Miller also contacted her resident coordinator, Ron Guizado.
"My RC asked me what I'd been doing and what he said upset me because he expressed desire that this would be handled internally," Miller said. "But he didn't dissuade me from going through with the actions I had already taken."
Guizado said he was very disappoint-(See Hatred, page 5)
Students warned to be careful of scams
University campuses found among favorite targets for L.A. con artists
By Alexander Asher
Staff Writer
Along with the airport and downtown hotels, university campuses are a favorite target among con artists, USC Department of Public Safety officials said.
"People not used to the big city come to Los Angeles with all kinds of ideas," said USCDPS Lt. David Ritch. "They aren't used to the pace of the city and become easy targets for con artists."
Every semster students at USC and other large college campuses become victims of con artists.
Two weeks ago at UCLA, campus police arrested a man posing as a UCLA law student who tricked at least six people out of their money by asking for financial help to get his Alpha Romeo Spider out of impound-
ment. Since his arrest, 23 people have come forward as witnesses, and a UCLA law school representative claimed the scam had been going on for eight years.
Although nothing so elaborate has been reported at USC, two incidents of scams have been reported in the past two weeks. On both occassions, the student had his or her money stolen by a two-man team at the ATMs at the corner of McClin-tock Avenue and Jefferson Boulevard this semester in a common scam known to police as the Jamaican Switch.
In a common Jamaican Switch, the con artist claiming to be a tourist from another country will ask a victim to hold $4,000 for him or her contained in a bag or bandanna.
The $4,000 is usually colored newspaper appearing to be real
money. The con artist will tell the victim the money was won in Las Vegas and cannot go through customs or be deposited in a bank.
The con artist will then ask the victim to put $200 in his bag as a goodwill gesture, promising to give the victim back the $200 ana a percentage of the $4,000 when the con artist returns to claim it. Once the victim's $200 is in the bag, the con artist switches the victim's bag with another bag full of newspaper.
The con artist ends up with $200, and the unsuspecting victim, who thinks he or she has $4,200, is left with a bag of newpaper.
LAPD officials warn students to be wary of people making extraordinary deals.
"If any stranger comes up to you with a lot of money or goods and singles you out for a deal, ask yourself why he's so anxious to make such a deal," said Det. Terry Brown of the LAPD Bunco-Forgery division. "If you use a little common
sense you'll figure out it's time to start walking away."
Between six and 10 reports of scams are filed with the DPS every year. Although seemingly not a large amount, DPS believes the numbers are misleading.
"Most people don't report con artist scams because they're too embarrassed," Ritch said. "They can make you feel like a real donkey."
Con methods vary from selling bricks in boxes marked as 27-inch Sony TVs out of parking lots to selling $50 worth of stolen or counterfeit money orders for $25, with con artists claiming it's too late to get them cashed any other way. The end results of being victimized are due to students' desire to get something for nothing, Ritch said.
"In any type of confidence scheme, con artists use greed or a person's desire to be well-meaning to take their money," Ritch said.
In another con artist favorite, (See Scammed, page 2)