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Friday
October 2,1998 Vol. CXXXV, No. 21
Headlines
USC, Arizona State battle back
Both No. 21 USC and Arizona State are coming off setbacks in their seasons — Florida State defeated the Trojan last weekend, and the Sun Devils lost their first two games of the season.
Sports, page 7
'Anfz' Mg effects, but small on plot
The new Dreamworks animated film "Antz" opens today. The movie is one of Dreamworks' biggest projects, but FilmEditor Scott Foundas says, it seems to be all hype.
Diversions, page 20
Eyewitness account of gunpoint robbery
Viewpoint Writer Ben Davidson had just dropped into Trojan Grounds when two men pulled guns and robbed the place. He recounts his own story and the impressions of others.
Viewpoint, page 4
F.Y.I.
Patronal feast day, swim for charity
St. John's Episcopal Church will celebrate its atronal feast day at 11 a.m. unday at 514 W. Adams Blvd. Guest soloist Cherry Rhodes, an adjunct professor at the School of Music, will perform.
For more information, call (213) 747-6285.
• • •
The Delta Gamma sorority will host its annual Anchor Splash at 1 p.m. Sunday at the McDonald's Swim Stadium. Anchor Splash is a non-profit swim competition involving students, faculty and parents in various water games.
KI1S-FM will DJ and Carl's Jr. will provide food. Half the proceeds will be donated to Sight Conservation and Aid to the BlindO and half to the Los Angeles Blind Children's Center.
For more information, call (213) 749-8086.
Newspaper of the University of Southern California
DaOvtojan
ExUa
Armed men rob Trojan Grounds
One suspect at large after chase; two arrested
By Christine Frey
Assignment Editor
Two men who allegedly robbed Trojan Grounds of approximately $4,300 at gunpoint early Thursday were arrested and booked on charges of attempted murder of .a police officer after leading police through a two-hour-long pursuit in South Central Los Angeles, a Los Angeles Police Department official said.
The suspects allegedly fired shots at Department of Public
Safety Lt. Hugh Mears, who was involved in their pursuit, police said. A possible third suspect is still at large.
Dante Richardson, 21, of Los Angeles and Cluade Harper, 32, of Kansas City, Mo., are being held at the 77th Street Jail on $1 million bail each, said LAPD Det. Matt Mahoney. Both men are allegedly gang members and one of the suspects was recently released from prison, said DPS Deputy Chief Bob Taylor.
The two men were arrested at an inn located on the 6100 block of Broadway after a pursuit involving nearly 100 officers including LAPD's SWAT team and canine units. No one was injured.
The two suspects entered Trojan Grounds at approximately 12:55 a.m. Thursday, five minutes before it was to close, Taylor said.
Brian Bezonsky, a freshman majoring in business who was buying coffee at the store, said he immediately noticed the suspect's bulky, black clothing.
"You knew they weren't students and they weren't going to buy something," he said. "It was obvious they were going to rob the place."
Bezonsky, who was near the store entrance, said he saw one of the men holding a small gun. He immediately left the store and ran to EVK, where he informed DPS student officers of the incident.
"I was freaked out...I was scared when I saw the gun. I was just like, 'Oh (expletive),'" he
(See Robbery, page 3)
Mtchavl Levin* / Dally Trojan
Trojan Ground*, located next to Bimkrant Residential College, was robbed early Thursday.
Students scared, cautious
By Jennifer Medina
Staff Writer
Jen Barr awoke abruptly at 2:30 a.m. Thursday as her roommate walked in frantically.
Barr, an undeclared freshman, listened as her roommate told her in a panic that Trojan Grounds was just robbed at gunpoint.
"I was half asleep," said Barr, a resident of North Residential College. "I just told her to shut and lock the door and don't go anywhere."
Nobody had any answers for her questions.
"It makes me uneasy that this happened right next door to me, but life goes on," she said. "This is just another reminder...don't be by yourself at one in the morning. It's not like I'm going to go back home (to Connecticut)."
Many students echoed Barr's feelings.
"It's a random occurrence
> Read an eyewitness account j by Ben Davidson in Viewpoint, paga 4	j
and coming here you have to realize that," said Danielle Silvani, a freshman majoring in business. Silvani said she often goes to Trojan Grounds late at night. "Hopefully they can control (the area) more."
Silvani felt Thursday’s incident may re-enforce USC's reputation of being an unsafe scnool.
"I'm not going to tell my friends because they kept telling me I was going to get shot,' she said.
Some were surprised at the incident.
"I think they should have better security," said David Harry, a junior majoring in creative writing. "This is a place of business. Something like that shouldn't happen at USC or at any other college."
Harry, who lives off campus, said he often goes to Trojan Grounds during study breaks late in the evening.
Others said robberies like this can be prevented in the future.
"I'm not too worried about it," said John Stolpe, a sophomore majoring in business. "There's no way DPS will let it happen again."
Still others said they will be cutting back on their late night and early morning trips to the coffee shop.
Maria Escamilla-Magana, a senior majoring in psychology, lives off campus and said sne often stays until 1 a.m. or later, especially during finals.
"I've always felt safe on campus but this makes me scared," she said. "Now I would probably bring somebody with me, even if I was just walking to my car. After this I would try not to be on campus that late."
Student activists plan for reusable plates
By Adriana Galaviz
Staff Writer
In an effort to help reduce the amount of Styrofoam and limit the amount of plastic that goes to landfills, Student Action For the Environment is campaigning to implement the use of reusable plates and silverware on campus eateries.
The campaign was launched two weeks ago by SAFE members in order to spread the news about their efforts in time for their proposal's due date to Hospitality Services.
A memorandum proposing why the university should consider the use is due by the end of October. In addition, a petition is being generated among students. Close to 500 student signatures are on it now, said Michael Geller, SAFE's coordinator for the reusable campaign and a junior majoring in environmental engineering.
"That is one of the biggest things that drives us," Geller .said about other students supporting their causes.
SAFE members were surprised to find that the university was not recycling the Styrofoam plates that were left in recycling bins. SAFE members were told by university officials that it was too expensive to recycle the polystyrene, Geller said.
"ft's a lot cheaper to make new styrene than to recycle the old stuff," Geller said explaining why the use of polystyrene is popular.
Adam Levine, president of SAFE and a junior majoring in biomedical engineering, said his organization has been putting flyers in Cafe '84 while directly lobbying the dining administration officials.
He feels their efforts are resulting in some success.
"After quite a bit of running us in circles,
the head of dining, Michael Gratz, has agreed to meet with us to discuss the (campaign)," Levine said.
SAFE members will meet with Gratz next week to discuss possible suggestions for the cafeteria.
"We introduced (reusable plates) a couple of years ago but students kept throwing them away, said Michael Gratz, director of Hospitality Services. "We can't afford to keep buving them."
Reassurances would need to be made that the new plates would not be discarded in trash bins, Gratz said.
Geller said that the proposal will include why students now feel that a reusable program may work.
"We feel the campaigns in the past were unsuccessful because people on campus
(S« SAFE, page 2)