FORECAST
|NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Three straight. The USC football team extended its winning streak against Notre Dame to three games with a 10-0 victory.	nr
fire* i* 11	KSCR be hosting Overioad ’98, the
first online college party, today from 7 p.m. to midnight at the station located next to the Office of Admissions.
The show is titled Usual Suspects and can be viewed on http://www.universityconnection.com. For more information, call (213) 764*1483.	For more FYI, see paga 12
stly sunny and ir in morning and »ughout afternoon.
Ham of the movie. ‘Babe: Pig in the City’ may have disappointed at the box office, but its humor ous tale will delight everyone.	*
DIVERSIONS i
dtroJaneusc.edu
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Obituary: Senior majoring in business found in bedroom last week; cause of death unknown
By J.P. CASSIDY
Staff Writer
A quintessential Trojan died last Tuesday night, leaving loved ones with memories and questions.
Dennis Lyons, a senior majoring in business with a emphasis in finance, left a dinner his fraternity brothers in Beta Theta Pi were giving at their home on 1143 W. 27th St. to rest in his room, where he was found shortly before midnight. He was 21.
Responding Los Angeles Police Department and Las Angeles Fire Department units called his parents, John and Jane Lyons of Riverside County, said Cynthia Cherrey, assistant vice president of Student Affairs.
Tbe preliminary examination revealed no cause of death, a representative from the Los Angeles County
Jatwca Namakhal I Daily Trojan
III memory o#... Six 12-by-12 sections of a quilt are on display at Fisher Gallery until Wednesday to remember those who died of AIDS.
Quilt honors 11th annual AIDS day
Exhibit Fisher Gallery hosts two-day art show of memorabilia; meant to be educational
By JEANNE KLEIN
Staff Writer
Children’s handprints, portraits and heartfelt messages written on painted piano keys are only a few of the memorabilia that decorate sections of the AIDS Memorial Quilt, currently on display at USC Fisher Gallery.
Six 12-by-12 feet sections of the AIDS quilt are laid inside Fisher Gallery floors to commemorate the 11th annual international World AIDS Day and bring awareness about the virus to the USC campus.
“We want to make students aware of
World AIDS Day, which happens on Dec. 1 every year,’ said Jeannette LaVere, educator of Fisher Gallety.
The exhibit is on display until Wednesday and can be viewed during regular gallery hours from noon to 5 p.m.
*1 think the quilt is a good focal point for us to stop and remember and take note that AIDS is still very much a part of our society and culture,’ said Celina Gorre, a health educator at the USC Department of Health Promotion and Prevention Services. “The loss to a disease that is so preventable is just magnified by the beauty of how people mourn that loss.’
In 1987, the NAMES Project Foundation was established to create the quilt as a memorial for loved ones who died of AIDS and to help people understand the impact of the disease internationally, Gorre said.
The NAMES Project has 38 international affiliates, and more than 42,000 panels now make up the entire quilt.
Besides the United States, individuals from Australia, Canada, England, Hong Kong, Japan, Mexico and South Africa have contributed panels to the quilt The family and friends of those that died make individual, personalized 3-by-6 feet panels. Eight panels are sewn together to make up each of the 12-by-12 sections that will be on display.
Each panel of the quilt is typically decorated with the name of the deceased, birth and death dates, pieces of fabric, photographs and hand-written messages or quotes. Many of the
42,000	panels display personalized memorabilia that are special to the deceased, such as portraits, first-place ribbons, Mardi Gras masks, love letters, Barbie dolls, jewelry, clothing, condoms, champagne glasses, car keys and bubble wrap.
Portions of the quilt are dispersed to different organizations around the
(see Quilt, page 12)
Coroner's office said, but toxicology test results available in four to six weeks should.
The body showed no signs of trauma, but Lyons had been ill and taking medication, said Deputy Chief Bob Taylor of the Department of Public Safety.
“It seems strange when a natural death occurs, especially when someone is only 21,’ Taylor said.
Lyons was buried Monday at Saint Andrews Newman Center in Riverside.
“Our hearts and sympathy go out to his family,” Cherrey said. “Dennis had many friends here who valued and appreciated him, and his death is a tragic loss for all of us.’
Lyons' affectionate demeanor and ability to make people laugh will be missed most of all/, his mother said.
‘Dennis was the most gentle, most kind person you could know,” she said. “He had a veiy big heart, and in it was a special place for USC. We buried him in an 'SC tie and with burgundy and gold flowers.*
Lyons made dean’s list several times in his USC career, and was preparing for a career in investment banking.
“He interned at Banker’s Trust in England last summer working in tax arbitrage,’ Jane Lyons said. “Dennis just had the summer of a lifetime. He went to Wimbledon and to Paris for the Tour de France, and
(see Death, page 2)
New amendment allows students to alter current constitution
Senate: Anyone can now propose bylaws and present resolutions
By JENNIFER MEDINA Staff Writer
All students now have the opportunity to amend the Student Senate constitution themselves, thanks to an amendment passed unanimously at the Nov. 24 senate meeting.
The Initiative and Referendum Amendment outlines three ways in which the entire student body will be able to voice their opinions to senate. By proposing and approving a referendum students can now reverse amendments and resolutions passed by
Student Senate.
This ensures that students do have a say in what goes on in senate, and puts us one step closer to having a perfect democratic system," said Michael Cavanna, special elections officer and a sophomore majoring in business, who wrote the amendment. “It gives students the initiative to get more involved directly with senate."
Students can propose amendments and resolutions of their own with the initiative process. They will also be able to participate in a “Trojan Opinion Poll" addressing important Student Senate affairs, which will use the consulting referendum process.
The idea stemmed from the five-point plan used by Student Body President Kyetay Beckner and Vice President Lynn Tran during their campaign for office.
Members of senate said the main objective of the amendment is to make senate more democratic and accessible to USC students. Cavanna researched other schools with an initiative and referendum process such as Stanford, the University of Montana and Colby University, along with the California proposition process, he said.
“There were not a lot of restrictions at other schools,” Cavanna said. “We added specifics with not only senate having a say, but students in general as well.”
Initiative and referendum process can be started by a student, regardless of involvement in senate, by proposing an amendment or resolution and then presenting it to the Judicial Council of senate. The Judicial Council then has to approve the proposal for legality and clarity.
For an immediate vote, three-
fourths of senate has to approve and 25 percent of the student body, or 3,625 people, must sign a petition. For a vote held during a regular election, one-half of senate must approve the proposal and a petition needs to be signed by 10 percent of all students, or 1,450.
In order for an initiative to pass, one-tenth of the student body must vote, and of the students that vote, 75 percent must vote in favor of the initiative.
"This safeguards against low voter turnout, so that not just a small part of the student body has control of what happens," Cavanna said.
If senate passes an amendment or resolution that a student is against, that student can start a referendum process by submitting a written referendum proposal within 30 working days of senate’s
(see Senate, page 13)
“This ensures that students do have a say in what goes on in senate."
Michael
Cavanna
special
elections
officer
Student
Senate