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The biker Hydrocarbon Institute, (lie country's first university bused building for the study of hydrocarbons, was dedicated in December 1979.
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NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
February 28, 2000 Vol. CXXXIX, No. 10
Parker ticket takes Senate presidency
Election: Turnout up 10 percent from last year, attributed to the three-day voting period and food, car incentives
By MEREDITH COOPER
Student Semite Writer
Dana Parker und J. Stephen Pollock seized the Student Senate presidency and vice presidency, respectively, with 1,961 votes, only 200 more than Saruh Emerson und Alec Coughlin.
Voter turnout increased by 10 percent from lust year, with 27.9 percent of the student body voting.
More than 1,000 commuters elected Alden Chiu, Julia Hakim, Teresa Neven und Sarah Talei us commuter senators. Peter Kuzunjiun, Viet Nguyen and Julia Witt won us residential senotors, und Brian llussun und Mike Toofer, who shured u slute, earned the Greek senator spots.
Last year, 17 percent of the student body voted in Senate electiona, a 1 percent increase from 1998. Despite problem* this year witli online voting and rain, 4,124 undergraduate students went to the polls. About 2,400 paper ballots were issued because of these problems.
“We thought that getting u 25 percent turnout would be un amazing feat, und we got almost 30 percent," said John Terzian, assistant elections director und u sophomore majoring in communicution.
Students were very receptive to the voting incentives Senate gave, such us free food and the Jim Breuer comedy show, said Hemu Patel, elections director and a sophomore majoring in math.
"The number of students who voted legitimizes what Student Senate has done this year," Patel said. "Hopefully now students know they have a voice.”
Parker and Pollock said they are ready to begin working on Senate issues, such as allocations and the appointment of directors.
“We’re both ecstatic that we got elected and we can’t wait to get started," said Parker, a junior majoring in public policy and management. “I’m just bursting with excitement and relief."
Parker and Pollock’s first duty will be director appointments, Parker said. Applications for these positions will be available next week and the process will take about two weeks to complete, she said.
The pair cannot start working on their campaign promises until they take office in April, Pollock said. They will begin advertising for the chief of staff, treasurer and other Senate positions now, he said.
I see Senate, page 9 I
USC groups, others hold cleanup event
Environment: Debris and other articles collected along San Gabriel River on Saturday morning
ByASHLEATATE
Staff Writer
Raising awareness of their group and environmental issues in general, Los Angeles Community Water Watch collaborated with other organizations to pick up trash along the San Gabriel River Saturday morning.
About 20 USC students participated in the event along with hundreds of others from Occidental College and UCLA. Environmental
advocates, including state Sen. Hilda Solis, and representatives from California Public Interest Research Group, the Sierra Club and Friends of the San Gabriel River attended to support the cause.
Participants began their day by splitting into groups and retrieving items such as a Power Wheel toy car, scraps of metal, bottles, wrappers, Styrofoam and huge pieces of glass, said Christine Mendoza, a freshman majoring in biomedical engineering and a Water Watch member.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Works disposed the trash collected at the cleanup event.
“My group collected 632 pounds of trash,” said Lisa Medici, a freshman majoring in theater and a member of Water Watch.
Solis and other organization representatives spoke about the elimination of water pollution. Solis advocated Propositions 12 and 13, which would further enforce cleaner water, Medici said.
“(I wanted to) raise the awareness of water pollution,” Mendoza said of Saturday’s event. “People tend to ignore the issue and I wanted to help bring our community together.” Medici agreed.
“Water is such a vital resource for everyone,” she said. “People get sick from the (water in) beaches (as a result of) the trash that comes directly from rivers.”
The group targeted the San Gabriel River because members realized 1.4 million people use the river as their main source of I see Cleanup, page 3 I
“People tend to ignore the (water) issue and I wanted to help bring our community together."
Christine
Mendoza
freshman
biomedical
engineering
40 ROTC members attend annual spring training exercises
Group: Weekend event allows some to hone combat skills and others to assume leadership roles
By JOEL SAND1
Staff Writer
Atop a rocky hill, 10 soldiers anxiously lie in wait for the platoon of American forces slowly making their way through the brush below. Suddenly, shots ring out and a gallant - albeit slightly daunted - group of young troops makes its way up one side of the captured hill as a group of their comrades on the other side provides supporting fire.
Is this a classic movie war scene? No - it’s the
I see Training, page 3 r
Knocked out: Despite u career high 29 points from Brian Scalabrine, USC lost to Oregon, Ho-77, at the Sports Arena on Saturday. IMiIll20
Take a picture: Photographs from the seU> of muny popular movies make interesting exhibit.
Election time again. Matt Brown, a senior majoring in business, hopes to win so that he can change USC's neighborhood.
A running start
Business major Matt Brown hopes to win a seat in the state assembly in November
north of the Row, downtown lx>s Angeles and parts of Koreatown and East Los Angeles.
“I am John McCain as Luke Skywalker, with a lightsaber, trying to penetrate the ultimate Death Star,” Brown said.
While Brown has received much support from friends, family and other groups, the initial reaction of most was surprise.
“It came as a total shock,” said Marilyn Brown, Matt’s mother. "He just called us up and said, 'Hey, no one’s running for (state assemblyman) and they asked if anyone wanted to do it.’”
Representatives from the Los Angeles Republican Party had approached members of the USC
College Republicans to see if anyone was interested in running for State Assembly because there was an open place on the ballot.
“(They asked if) anyone at USC wanted hands-on experience running their own campaign,” Brown said.
Three College Republicans looked into the venture, but after learning all that was involved just to be on the ballot, Brown was the only one who remained.
“It’s a tremendous amount of work to get on the ballot," he said. “But it’s the opportunity of a lifetime. God is telling me to be a missionary to the public."
Brown collected 600 signatures and raised enough money to be
I see Spotlight, page 3 I
By KIMBERLY TABA
Assignment Kditor
t the California Republican Convention in early February, presidential hopeful John McCain said he was Luke Skywalker trying to fight the Death Star with only a lightsaber. Matt Brown, who is running for state assemblyman for the 46th district, heard McCain and thought, “What does that make me?"
Brown, a 22-year-old senior majoring in business, is the only Republican nominee on the ballot for the March 7 primary elections for the mostly Democratic 46th district, which encompasses the area