STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA-SINCE 1912 I VOL. 160, NO.3 WWW.DAILYTROJAN.COM
(&DAILY TROJAT
« Turnaround Team
Trojans’ quick learning curve has them vying for the top spot in the Pac-10 Conference.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 11,2007
Not your typical graduate thesis »
Cinema students venture to Kenya to
DPS crime stats show mixed results at
year’s end
❖	Reports of petty theft decreased by 65 percent during the fall semester.
❖	Reports of alcohol and drug overdoses increased from six to nine from September to October
❖	Statistics show a spike in burglaries in October.
- . . ✓
❖	Last semester, OPS installed five security cameras around campus at a cost of $100,000.
On the lookout | Kryssia Aviles stands atop Parking Structure A, where DPS is located. Year-end crime rates on campus were mixed.
» See pg. 13
CATTY
CHEERLEADERS »
MATTHEW PLOTNIK DISCUSSES REAL-LIFE 'MEAN GIRLS.’ OPINIONS, PAGE 5
Conquest takes sex out of signs
, t
World Press Photo 2006 »
The Annenberg School for Communication hosts both tragic and life-affirming work by top photographers.
LIFESTYLE, PAGE 9
Housing company replaces controversial signs after requests from Undergraduate Student Government.
By CAMERON BIRD and BLESSING WAUNG
Daily Troian
On some street comers, sex doesn’t sell. It aggravates.
Following an ongoing discussion with the Undergraduate Student Government, Conquest Student Housing — which brands itself as “the premier provider" of housing near campus — replaced its provocative billboard and bus stop ad campaign with a less-controversial marketing strategy
Plastered with scantily dad women and catchphrases such as “Get lucky every night" and “You know you want it,” the ads quickly drew reactions from students, administrators and local residents when they debuted in eariv 2(XX>
“Even though Conquest is a private business, by having these smutty ads it makes all USC students look bad. It (just) adds to the stereotype." said Max Slavkin. USG residential senator and speaker pro tempire
The ads were scattered throughout the neighborhood, including a poster visible to children at 32nd
Street Elementary School and billboards discernible from the 110 Freeway
At a USG town hall meeting on Nov. 14, Vice President for Student Affairs Michael L. Jackson said the signs are “not part of (USC’s) ethos.
“I like the fact that Conquest is providing some great housing I don’t like the message they’re trying to convey," he said.
Slavkin began working alongside director of university affairs Brian Braunlich and USG president Sam Gordon last semester to persuade Conquest to change their marketing strategy. Chris Collier, who was a residential senator in the previous administration first conceived the idea. Slavkin said.
In November, USG invited Candy Nawroth, Conquest general manager, to its weekly meeting to voice some of their concerns.
“I simply listened,” Nawroth said. “They thought that (the ad campaign) wasn't the best way they wanted to be represented. They asked me to reconsider, and I passed the message aking."
Following the meeting, Nawroth, who described herself as a liaison, relayed the information to Conquest's marketing department, which began to design and produce new advertisements that would accommodate the university's wishes
()n IVc 19. Nawroth e-mailed
I see SC XV SIGNS cage Ml
Courtesy of Conquest Student Housing A classy change? | Bus stops'and billboards near campus now feature G-rated advertisements for the popular housing agency