Monday
January 24,1994 Vol. CXXII, No. 8
Weather
Looks like there is a small threat of rain in the beginning of the week. Expect mostly sunny skies with some clouds. The high should be in the low 70s and the low in the 50s.
Inside
Basketball drops to 3-3 in Pac-10
After a 3-0 start to the Pacific 10 Conference season, USC's mens basketball team has dropped their last three. The Trojans now must go on the road for a string of tough games. Sports, page 16
Angelenos treated to Spanish opera
"El Gato Montes," will come to the Los Angeles Music Center to bring rare Spanish opera to L.A. viewers. The opera is a window into Spanish ethnic roots and history.
Diversions, page 7
Sympathy wrong for Lorena Bobbitt
After remembering everything that's happened to her in the last 20 years, then forgetting about the moments leading up to her criminal action, Lorena Bobbitt stands to go free.
Viewpoint, page 4
F.Y.I.
New telephone line aids quake victims
Students who have experienced personal trauma as a result of last Monday's earthquake can now receive immediate help from the university.
The Division of Student Affairs has set up the Earthquake Response Campus Helpline to assist students whose spring semester may be jeopardized by the aftermath of the quake. The phone number is (213) 740-5229 and is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. A message machine will also be on 24 hours a day.
The new one-stop helpline is designed to help students having difficulties with financial aid, housing, collections, registration or any other problems associated with the earthquake.
Newspaper of the University of Southern California
Buildings receive just minor damage
Lack of structural problems is result of recent upgrades
By Victoria Manley
Staff Writer
The earthquake that hit Northridge last Monday closed schools and businesses all over Los Angeles. The only major school in operation was USC, largely because no major damage occurred on campus.
"We are very fortunate that we have no structural damage," said Bill Regensburger, director of University Planning. "Just minor cosmetic damages occurred that can easily be fixed."
Any damage to university buildings, such as the Student Union and Mudd Hall of Philosophy, can be easily rebuilt, said Mark Jones, the university architect and director of Planning Design and Construction. In a memo concerning earthquake repairs on campus, Jones reiterated Regensburger's statement that all damage from the quake
was minor and cosmetic.
"There has been no structural damage found on any of the campus buildings," Jones said. Regarding the damage done to Mudd Hall of Philosophy, a building rumored to have been affected drastically by the quake, Jones said that only exterior pieces were broken off and could easily be replaced.
"The building and tower escaped any structural damage, but the quake shook loose some pieces of the cornice atop the bell tower, some of which fell on the roof," he said.
The primary reason that university buildings survived the quake is due to the recent upgrades and reinforcements. A few years ago, the university spent $15 million on upgrading university buildings and mechanical and electrical systems, to comply with seismic codes. Another $3 million was spent on demolishing buildings with seismic deficiencies, such as Bruce Hall, Touton Hall, Harris Plaza, Owens Hall, Stop Gap Theater (See Upgrade, page 6)
Up on the roof
Jonathan S. Fox / Dally Trojan
TWo USC maintenance workers fix the roof of the Student Union, which was damaged during last Monday's earthquake.
Trojan Family shaken by earthquake
Injuries minimal, but several student and faculty homes damaged; university offers aid to victims
By Jennifer Borja
Staff Writer
Last Monday's 6.6 quake affected more than just campus life. The Office of University Public Relations reports that the homes of at least 55 faculty, staff, students and alumni were either lost or sustained major damage.
Reports of internal damage to homes were common. Broken glass, spilled drawers and fallen furniture were average descriptions given by those interviewed. Several others whose property sustained major damage declined to comment.
Janet Popkoff, administrative assistant to the president, was one of the few whose home did sustain major damage. Her home in Chatsworth, near the Northridge city border, may be condemned.
"If we can save it, we'll rebuild. If not, then we'll have to make a life decision,"
Popkoff said. She said no one was hurt and she is currently staying with her mother-in-law until future arrangements could be made.
Ester Ramirez, manager of career advisement in the journalism school, has still been unable to assess the damage to her North Hills home. Ramirez, who also lived through the 1971 Sylmar quake, does not know how long she will be displaced. She is staying in Pasadena, until things calm down.
The physical damage to Ramirez's neighborhood included knocked-down property walls. With the walls down, neighbors are beginning to get to know each other better and are helping each other out, she said. The area lost use of the utilities, prompting several families to use generators for electricity.
Bill Faith, chairman of the public relations
program in the School of Journalism, was almost injured when an armoire and two bookcases in his bedroom toppled during the quake.
"One of (the bookcases) fell on the bed. But I had already sat up, so I was in the middle of the bed, so I wasn't hurt," Faith said.
Another of Faith's properties also located in the Valley had broken chimneys and a twisted main beam. Due to the difficulty in contacting inspectors to survey the damage, Faith does not know how much repairs will be.
Janna Smith, a doctoral student in English and Composition 102 instructor, said her main fear was for her 2-year-old son. Smith said she was scared the wall would fall on him.
"I flew through the house. I didn't even feel my feet touch the floor," she said. Smith cancelled her class Tuesday due to her fear of being away from her son and because of the uncertainty of stability of the freeways.
(See Damage, page 3)
New cellular phone uses less band space
By Alexander Asher
Staff Writer
A few months ago L.A. Digital Communications began marketing the Motorola North American IS-54, a new type of digital cellular phone. The phone uses three times less fre-
Oband space per person le current amp cellular phone, without a radio-type fade in a moving car.
Hughes Network Systems, AT&T and other telecommunication industries along with Motorola are currently seeking to improve on the IS-54 by further
reducing the space needed for an individual cellular phone user and improving sound quality.
Enter P. Vijay Kumar, USC associate professor of electrical engineering, and former USC graduate student A. Roger Hammons with their unexpected discovery that has the potential to revolutionize the communications industry.
While researching Code Division Multiple Access, a cellular phone technology using one-tenth the space of the amp sys-
tem, Kumar and Hammons, research scientists for Hughes Network Systems, hit on a better way to correct errors caused by interference or noise in the digital data of computers and communications equipment.
Though "electronic error code" ideas are nothing new (just listen to the clean sound of a scratched and dirty compact disc), Kumar and Hammons managed one about twice as efficient as the best now available.
"There was a code that was known to be very efficient in correcting errors but was con-
sidered too complex to implement. What we discovered is that if you look at the technique from a different viewpoint, it actually becomes very simple," Kumar said.
Bringing engineering backgrounds to their research, Kumar and Hammons, along with an independent AT&T research team, decided to translate a linear quaternary code (using numbers 0,1, 2 and 3) into binary form (0 and 1).
After nine months of irregular work in a relatively young field (See Cellular, page 2)