NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Blind baseball fan, actor backs team despite handicap
Spoils: Trojans hail 25-year-old Eric Calhoun for his unwavering support of squad for last three years
By DAVID CISNEROS
SUff Writer
During last week’s USC baseball game, while the Trojans were pummeling UC Santa Barbara, 11-1, senior pitcher Steve Immel noticed it was unusually quiet -there was someone missing from the crowd at Dedeaux Field.
That’s because Trojan baseball's arguably most dedicated fan, Eric Calhoun, wasn’t there. But when he is there, he is the most vocal and outspoken person in the crowd.
. He’s also blind.
During the past three years, Calhoun has grown to be as much a part of Dedeaux field as hot dogs and the team’s 12 national championship titles. He has been a mainstay at most Trojan home games and the occasional Los Angeles-area road match.
Calhoun, 25, first got turned on to baseball by a friend of former Angel infielder Doug Cincesi more than 15 years ago and has been hooked ever since.
*1 listened to two games (on the radio) in 1984, both Dodger games,* Calhoun said. “The veiy next year I decided from then on to
be a Dodger fan.*
But you won’t often find him at Dodger games, which Calhoun said are too expensive for him. Calhoun is simply a pure fan of the game — he attends minor league games as well as college baseball games.
Calhoun first attended a Trojan baseball game three years ago, and after falling in love with Dedeaux Field, decided to adopt the Trojans as his team - to the delight of fellow fans who often treat him to hot dogs and snacks, as well as players, who recognize him as the best fan in a usually mellow USC crowd.
*1 usually ask someone how many outs there are, but I pretty much know who’s up at bat and I keep track of the count and what the pitchers are doing,’ Calhoun said.
But more than just being a USC fan, he is a
fan of baseball and of Dedeaux Field.
"When I think about going to Dedea>>\ Field, 1 think about going there for the can raderie and the closeness to the fans,* Grihoun said. ‘I honestly couldn't have gotten into college baseball if it were not for USC*
But just because he’s can’t see, don't think Calhoun doesn’t know baseball. Ask him about the intricacies and strategies of a USC basebal game, and hell rattle off a detailed analysis.
Calhoun helped cheer the Trojans all the way to the College World Series last year.
“I knew they were going to do it," Calhoun said. “I had a feeling that since we started out slow and then really picked up that we really were going to win all.’
Calhoun is mote than a just a baseball I see Itaa, page • I
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By JENNIFER MEDINA
Student Senate Writer
Student Senate unanimously approved the $1.5 million budget Sunday morning after less than an hour of debate.
Senate’s projected 1999-2000 budget is $200,000 larger than this year’s thanks to the $7 programming fee increase that the 1998-99 Senate approved in February.
Many of the campus-wide events committees of Program Board, such as concerts, speakers and performing arts, received as much as a 10 percent increase in funding.
*1 am very satisfied with the budget * said Barrett Reiff, executive director of Program Board and a sophomore majoriag in accounting. ‘It was veiy well prepared and well worked."
The budget was submitted by Senate President
I see Bmdgt*. page XI
28th Street March ad was free to Senate
The swimsuit photo page in the March issue of 28th Street magazine featuring last year’s Senate President Kyetay Beckner was not an advertisement paid from the Senate’s $5,000 one-year contract with the magazine, the Daily Trojan learned Monday.
The advertisement titled “iSoy Presidente!’ was free, as was verbally agreed between 28th Street magazine publisher Jason Hollander and Beckner, a senior majoring in music.
Senate’s contract with 28th Street included an advertisement listing of Senate events for each month from August 1998 to April 1999. However, the March ad was not ready for the publishing deadline, so a last-minute photo collage was prepared instead for free, Hollander said.
The last advertisement paid for by the Senate
I see Senate, page SI
_
$1.5 million allocated for new budget
Senate: Many committees and assemblies receive more funding after $7fee increase
Running for God: Track and field star Jerome Davis overcame the tragedy of his brother’s death through his strong belief in God._mmmX2
Fight or flight: A war of words about whether the U.S. should fully engage in the Balkans.	a
Off Um Win	2
MUM «nd Ethic*	2
Tho Bub	7
ClauMe*	•
Crossword Puzil*	•
TUISUY
April 20,1M9 Vol. CXXXVI, No. W
Did you know...
The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum has hosted a number of historical events, including two Olympic Games and the first Super Bowl.
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http://www.usc.odu/dt
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wimi inHHHv. mn ii mo iviuujc uai ilco mui a gin ai oaiuruay a owim ttiui Mlkfi, 8 SWirTVCKhOfl that raised fDOfB thflfl $325,000 fbf the Physically Challenged Athletes Scholarship Fund. The event was named for three-time A/I-Amerfcan USC swimmer Mike Nyeholt.
Swim for hope
By HILLARY BISCAY
Staff Writer
Mickey, Minnie and hundreds of volunteers turned out Saturday for Swim With Mike, raising more than $325,000 for physically challenged athletes.
Sunny southern California weather helped the 19th annual swim-a-thon at McDonald's Swim Stadium to be a great success. The all-day event was set in a carnival-type atmosphere, with huge ballon arches on the pool deck and the Trojan Marching Band playing throughout the day.
Swim With Mike raises money for the USC Physically Challenged Athletes Scholarship Fund, which
Event raises more than $325,000for the physically disabled
helps students who have physical disabilities and an athletic background to pay for an education at USC.
The fundraiser is named after Mike Nyeholt, a three-time All-American swimmer at USC who was paralyzed from the chest down in a motorcycle accident in 1981.
The inaugural event in 1981 was called Swim for Mike, organized by Nyeholt’s friends to raise money to buy a van specially equipped for his needs.
The fundraiser was such a success that Nyeholt suggested that it become
a yearly event to support a scholarship fund for disabled students.
In addition to the swim-a-thon, there were numerous special events throughout the day. The swim team held a clinic to instruct participants on stroke techniques. There was also a raffle and a silent auction to raise more money for the scholarship fond.
In the annual USC football team relay race, players were divided into teams according to position. Each team had to paddle a raft across the pool.
The event was made possible by the volunteerism of several campus groups. The USC Helenes and their brother organization, the Trojan Knights, began setting up for the event at 5 a.m., and worked all day, including cleaning up late in the
I see Event page 11