Tuesday December 6,1994 Vol. CXXIII, No. 64
Weather
Partly sunny: 65°
The cool weather continues. The afternoon high will be in the 60s. The nighttime low will be 48 degrees. There is a chance for rain tomorrow.
Headlines
‘Cobb’ strikes out in weak biography
Tommy Lee Jones stars as the misogynistic Ty Cobb in the later years of his life as he deals with a young reporter played by Robert Wuhl in the new film, "Cobb."
Diversions, page 5
Road-weary just is not sufficient
The USC men's basketball team will host Sacramento State tonight at the Sports Arena in a non-conference matchup. The Hornets are in the midst of a 51-game road losing streak.
Sports, page 12
Chistian D. Orr on gun control laws
"One has to wonder about the motivation of these people; are they stupid, crazy or downright evil? One definition of insanity is doing the same thing the same way every time."
Viewpoint, page 4
6 6 You can’t keep a good woman down, especially when that woman is Madonna. Maybe she can’t sing as well as some artists, but her ability to hit a nerve in popular culture time and time again must be applauded. 9 5
-	Keith Caulfield Diversions, Page 6
Newspaper of the University of Southern California
Freshmen?
Camaron Etazady i Dally Tro|an
Mrs. Debbie Gallagher leads her elementary class from the university production of "The Christmas That Almost Wasn't." The children attend the 74th Street School.
Workers upset over treatment
Local 11 union has problems with conditions
By Kamron Barron
Staff Writer
Food service workers, housing workers, and students gathered on campus Friday for a meeting of Local 11, a union that represents about 325 of these workers, to discuss workers' grievances and how they plan to solve their problems,
Among the topics of discussion at the meeting were problems concerning broken university contracts, poor housing conditions, layoffs, replacing food preparation staff with prepared foods at dining services, and other troubles the workers have been facing.
"I've been here about 11 years and this is about the baddest I've seen it. (The university) is cutting down on everything," said Charles Brooks, a cook at Commons.
One of the main concerns of the union was the treatment of employees and their problems with being unemployed for many months out of the year when the university is not in session, Brooks said.
"During the holidays, it's getting to be like this is a part-time job. During the summer, I was lucky to have one month's vacation pay coming. I was off three months without pay," he said. "If you don't save your money here, you're in bad shape.
"After we come back from the (Christmas) holidays, it's a week off for Easter, then before you know it, the school is out on May 12," he said. "Then, a lot of people don't have anywhere to
go.
"Everybody works hard here and some people have big families. We can't collect unemployment," Brooks said. "Teachers make a lot of money, but most of the people here, we're poor people trying to make it. I think it's terrible and the university, they don't see it like we do. How are we going to take care of ourselves?"
Pre-packaged food served at the Commons and other locations on campus limits the number of jobs for cooks and other workers, Brooks said.
"It costs a lot of money to go to school here, then why put all this microwaveable stuff out?" he said.
"Food is being prepared, but by whom is it being prepared? When you buy microwaveable (See Local 11, page 3)
Coliseum woes blamed on full crowd
By Victoria Manley
Staff Writer
After a $72 million reconstruction makeover, the Coliseum encountered several problems Thanksgiving weekend that prompted university officials to write a letter of complaint to the Coliseum Commission.
Spectators at the USC-Notre Dame game Nov. 26 experienced a drop in water pressure in all the Coliseum bathrooms, and a power failure that resulted in incomplete television coverage of the game.
"Any time you have major construction, you're going to have to have some things done later," said Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, Coliseum Commission
president, in a Los Angeles Times article.
Coliseum officials blamed the problems on the number of fans that showed up for the game; apparently, the stadium was not ready to hold all 90,217 spectators.
"This is the first time we've had a full house," said Pat Lynch, Coliseum manager. "The next day, when the Raiders drew 58,000, we had no problems."
USC, one of the Coliseum's main tenants, wrote a letter regarding their concerns about the problems at the game.
The letter outlined each problem that university officials feel requires attention. These included issues about water pressure,
power, concession stand supplies and parking, said Tim Tessalone, Sports Information Director.
"We'll certainly check up on these concerns, but we're confident that the Coliseum (Commission) will address them," Tessalone said.
Although university officials are not pleased with the way things turned out for the Coliseum Thanksgiving weekend, they are sure the same problems will not happen again, Tessalone said.
"It was the first time the Coliseum had a full capacity," he said. "It's hard to test those kind of things."
University students inter-
viewed who went to the game said that they experienced no problems, but heard complaints about the game not being fully televised.
"I didn't have any problems (at the game), but my mom was complaining that the game wasn't completely televised," said Alyssa Regulski, a freshman majoring in pharmacy.
Tessalone said the university is confident that the problems that occurred over Thanksgiving weekend will be solved in time for the next high-attendance game against UCLA next fall.
Burke said she also anticipates no problems.
"My understanding is, everything will be corrected that can be corrected."
Aftershocks jolt L.A., USC once again
By Kim Smith
City Editor
Three earthquakes of magnitudes 3.5, 3.0 and 4.3 hit Southern California early Monday night. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
The California Institute of Technology placed the epicenter of the quakes a few miles east of the city of San Fernando, according to The Associated Press. All three were said to be aftershocks of the Jan. 17 Northridge quake. Caltech scientists said aftershocks could last for at least two years.
On campus, many students were jolted in
the middle of finals and final projects. One group, working in Commons, said they were not overly disturbed.
"We just looked up and said, 'O.K., who wants to take bets on how big the quake was? And where the epicenter was?'," said Amy Thaler, a graduate student in business administration. "That was it."
"I was in Hoffman Hall taking an exam," said Dan Nador, a senior majoring in business administration. "I sensed it, but. . . we were taking an exam and no one else really reacted."
Other students were blase.
"You know you've been living in California too long when earthquakes bore you," said Paul Echeverri, a senior majoring in creative writing.
Some people, however, were a little less nonchalant.
"I was in a room with lots of people who'd never been in one before," said Dan Fitzpatrick, a junior majoring in architecture. "Tney were scared to death."
"I thought the ceiling was going to come down," said Gina Marquez, a senior majoring in business administration who was working in Bridge Hall. "It really shook in there."