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NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
March 22.1M9
Vol. CXXXVI, No. 42
Did you know...
Athletic Director Mike Garrett, a two-time All-American tailback, Heisman Trophy winner for USC and an NFL player, earned a law degree in 1986.
Winter wonderland: Despite the snow, the usc baseball team won two of three games against Washington State in Pullman, Wash. „„„ 1ft
Groundlings’ day: The widely acclaimed comedy troupe explodes with a new 1999 show.
CUmim	2
Off tha Win	2
DaHy Trojan MMorial	4
Good Wttft/Bttf Wuh	T
fiMtlfledi	
Crossword Puzzle	13
Senate board announced for next year
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Traci* Van Aukan f Daily Trojan
Trojan for life. Rabbi Susan Laemmle, who graduated from USC in 1981, returned to take the position of dean of Religious Life three years ago. She aims to make religion a comfortable topic for students and create more specific religious groups on campus.
Appointments: Adam Levine, Barrett Reiff among the 13 chosen for executive positions
By JENNIFER MEDINA
Student Senate Writer
University Day inspires area children
Philanthropy: Scheduled speaker Johnnie Morton fails to show Saturday
By KODI HIRST
Staff Writer
Around 60 middle school students participated Saturday at USC in the Los Angeles Team Mentoring program, which was marred by the absence of the scheduled speaker, NFL Detroit Lions wide receiver and USC alumnus Johnnie Morton.
Morton canceled Saturday morning due
to illness, and the announcement met with disappointment from attendees.
“We were all ready to talk to him and everything,* said Corey Walker, a freshman at Crenshaw High School and an alumnus of LA Team Mentoring. ‘It’s kind of disappointing.* Walker came to USC to help with the visit and act as a junior mentor.
Morton was chosen because he grew up in similar circumstances as the children in the program, and he was able to attend and graduate from college.
“(Morton) is one of the most positive football influences USC has put out,* said Julie Paluch, program coordinator.
LA Team Mentoring is a program designed to show underprivileged stu-
dents the aspects of life and education to which they would not normally be exposed.
"They are in a critical period in their lives,’ Paluch said. “That’s where we can make the most positive impact. If we get them to start thinking about college in middle school, we can change their path in high school.’
The LA Team Mentoring program visit was hosted by the Pepsters and started at 9 a.m. and ended at 2 p.m. Throughout the day, students were broken up into four groups and participated in arts and crafts, campus tours, a talk on archeology and team-building games.
The program pairs a group of middle I see Dm. page • I
President Steven B. Sample for the first time attended a monthly meeting of the Latino Parents Association on Sunday, where a USC president had not been present for 20 years.
‘I am proud of the fact that the Latino graduate rate has increased 40 percent during the last 10 years,’ Sample said to parents who voiced concerns ranging from Latino student retention rates to the small size of El Centro Chicano, where the meeting was held.
Sample pointed out that the university has been admitting Latinos since 1880, long before it was politically correct to do so.
“It was eye-opening for the president,’ said LPA President Martin Vargas.
The parents addressed some of their frustrations to the president, including finding a different location for El Centro Chicano. Some said the organization has become too big for the small space it has in the University Church.
Samuel Perez, last year’s LPA president, said it was good that Sample came to the meeting.
“Only by him coming here can he notice that we need a bigger place for El Centro,* he said.
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Student Senate president-elect Tyler Kelley and vice president-elect Cat Goddard appointed 13 members to the Student Senate Executive Cabinet on Friday.
The officers, who must be confirmed by the newly-elected Senate, all have experience in lobbying and working with organized groups. Eight have had direct involvement in Senate, and others have held leadership positions in other campus organizations.
Kelley, a junior majoring in political science and international relations, said nearly all the officers have worked with one another in the past.
“They understand what the goats of Senate should be,” he said. “They know the time they will need to put in and are more than ready to do it. They have the experience to make a tremendous change in the organization.”
More than 70 students applied for the 13 spots, and many were called back for second interviews.
Kelley, who is currently student affairs director of Senate, said all of the applicants were put into mock situations to demonstrate their lobbying abilities during interviews.
“We want to teach them how to lobby for the I see Sanata. page 2 I
Sample speaks at LPA meeting for the first time
Organization: Latino parents express concern about rates for USC student graduation
By BELKI MONTEJO
Staff Writer
By KIMBERLY TABA
Staff Writer
She performs benedictions at commencement and presides over baccalaureate, but Rabbi Susan Laemmle, dean of Religious Life, also enjoys lifting weights, cooking and reading 19th-century novels.
Laemmle is a Los Angeles native. Her late father and late uncle founded the Laemmle Theaters in downtown Los Angeles.
“When I was growing up I used to work at the theaters selling popcorn and cashiering,” Laemmle said. “And I sometimes say that my proudest possession is a pass to the theaters.’ Among her other possessions is a gas mask from the Gulf War, which
Dean Susan Laemmle enjoys lifting people’s hearts — and weights
she collected while she lived in Israel for three years. After the war, she wrote a poem to help her recover from the trauma, which she read during Simcha Week in early March at USC’s Hillel Jewish Center.
“(The Gulf War) was an amazing experience,” Laemmle said. "Very profound. Scaiy, but profound."
A less scary experience was returning to her alma mater. Laemmle became the dean of Religious Life in 1996 after serving as the director of USC’s Hillel
Jewish Center for four years.
“I thought it would be a good chance to come back and strengthen the things I thought were good and the things I thought were not so good,” she said.
The position of the dean of Religious Life is a new one, and Laemmle is the first person to fill it. Although the job description of her current position was not explicit, Laemmle has formed two main goals that help her focus. The first of these goals is to make USC a place where every student feels at home religiously and has plenty of opportunities for religious exploration.
“One of the things that 1 do is to help student leaders who don't find religious groups that meet their
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Return of the rabbi