Wednesday February 4,1998 Vol. CXXXffl, No. 18
Top-ranked Bruins pose daunting task
The USC men's volleyball team snapped a five-match losing streak Saturday, but it will put its modest winning string on the line when it faces unbeaten No. 1 UCLA at Pauley Pavilion.
Sports, page 16
Magazines for sheer joy and fun
Take a look at a selection of the latest upbeat, up-to-date, politically correct and incorrect and sassiest magazines on newsstands. From travel, food, entertainment and trash, they redefine reading.
Diversions, page 7
D.C. interns kept on House arrest
Recalling his own experiences as a White House intern, Editorial Columnist Christian Cooper proclaims the professionalism of the program and the limits on his access to the president.
Viewpoint, page 4
F.Y.I.
Religious council, classical pianist
The Religious Organizations Council will be holding its Religious Diversity Fair on Trousdale Parkway from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. today.
• ••
Pianist Nadia Shpachenko will perform in a recital in Hancock Auditorium at 8 p.m. tonight. She will play selections of Bach, Beethoven and Schumann.
For more information, call (213) 764-4932.
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"Assimilation," a performance about identity in America, will be staged at 6
[>.m. today in Schoenberg nstitute Hall. The performance is part of the Asian Traditions/Modem Expressions series.
• ••
An information session for the summer program in Dijon, France, will be held at 3 p.m. today in Taper Hall of Humanities, room 132.
For more information, call Carol Hofmann at (213) 740-3173.
Newspaper of the University of Southern California
Bill threatens financial aid
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By Jennifer Prosser
Staff Writer
USC could lose out on $350,000 in federal funds if a
Eroposed cut in the 1999 federal udget is passed by Congress, university financial aid officials said.
The proposal would eliminate $75 million in federal contributions to the Federal Perkins Loan, a need-based loan program which benefits students whose parents' combined income is less than $30,000 a year.
The financial aid office lends about $9 million a year to students, said Catherine Thomas, USC's director of financial aid. Although Thomas said the proposal will not adversely affect the university for the 1999-2000 school year, she is concerned about the effect it will have on higher education across the. nation.
"No student anywhere should be hurt at all," Thomas said.
A cut in funds to the Perkins Loan program would affect about 40 percent of those undergraduate students and 33 percent of those graduate students who receive any form of financial aid, Thomas said.
Thomas said she was surprised by the proposed decrease because she said officials at the Department of Education assured her and university officials across the country that the
program would not be compromised.
"1 am greatly disappointed," Thomas said. "1 feel tne government has gone back on its word."
The Department of Education, however, sees the decrease in
funds as minimal. Jane Glickman, a spokesperson for the department, said that it has created a new fund of $40 million, in which money collected from defaulted loans will go toward the creation of new loans. The money had previously gone to the Treasury Department.
Because of this new fund, Glickman expects the nationwide average amount ($1,342) of loans and tne number given out (788,000 nationwide) to stay the same.
"We don't expect a reduction in the availability of loans," Glickman said.
He added that people should look at the whole picture in evaluating the state of financial aid.
"In 1998, more money was made available to students through Pell Grants," Glickman said. 'There is a give-and-take on everything."
Morton Scnapiro, dean of the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, said that people have to consider the recent changes made to benefit the education system.
"We musn't forget the $60 mil-
(See Loans, page 3)
Heavy lifting
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Amber Otto / Daily Troian
Chris McCauley a graduate student in public administration, work* on one of the Lyon Center's new equipment pieces.
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USC 'up to par' in hate crime reporting
By Jennifer Kelleher
Staff Writer
While a proposed bill in Congress will require colleges and universities to increase their reporting of hate crimes if it is
roved, Department of Public Safety officials said the bill is unnecessary at USC.
The Campus Hate Crimes Right to Know Act of 1997, introduced by Sen. Robert Torricelli (D-N.J.), would change current federal reporting requirements, which only require colleges and universities to report hate crimes that result in murder, rape or aggravated assault.
n'he only thing it would do (at USC) is create a different category for reporting a
crime," said DPS Deputy Chief Bob Taylor. "It's a duplicate form of effort, like counting a crime twice."
David Crandall, director of the Office of Student Activities, said USC is already meeting the goals of the bill.
"As an institution, USC wants to do whatever it can to reduce hate crimes from occurring," Crandall said. "We might end up doing it anyway. It's not an additional burden, because it's some of the things we're already planning to do."
According to the text of the bill, a hate crime is an act of violence motivated by race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity or disability.
Requiring schools to report all hate crimes
will allow prospective students and their parents to obtain statistics that will help them make decisions about which school to attend. However, Taylor said, that is already possible at USC.
In 1997, there were three hate crimes reported at USC, said Dan Wallace, DPS records analyst.
"One was an e-mail containing racial slurs received by someone in the Student Union building, another was racially derogatory graffiti, and the other was a voice mail message related to the Bruin bear incident," Wallace said.
Hate crimes are not common on campus,
(See Crime, page 2)
Local event parking raises concern, revenue
By Joy C. Shaw
Staff Writer
The area surrounding USC will play host to several events this month and in March, including the Gold Cup at the Coliseum, the Academy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium and the grand opening of the California Science Center — sharing the heavy traffic, but also benefiting from on-campus parking revenues.
There are not enough spaces in the Exposition Park area to accommodate all the museum
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and event visitors, said Bob Taylor, Department of Public Safety deputy chief. Transportation Services works
with the Coliseum, the Sports Arena, Shrine Auditorium, the Museum of Natural History and other neighboring venues to help alleviate the overwhelming traffic when special events are in the area.
Brian d'Autremont, director of Transportation Services, said that USC opens its gates to this parking overflow as a way of contributing to the community.
The Oscar's won't come here unless they receive our support.
BRIAN d'AUTREMONT
director,
Transportation Services
"The Oscar's won't come here unless they receive our support," he said.' If
_ you're going to
revitalize our neighborhood you have to invest in these types of projects."
The Coliseum, for example, has around 8,000
parking spaces. However,
out game, such as
a sold-game, si the Feb. 15 final game of the Gold Cup, with an expected crowd of 50,000, can easily surpass the Coliseum's
parking capacity.
But all USC events take priority, d'Autremont said, and Transportation Services will not assist an event if it feels that the event will interfere with campus traffic or any aspect of the school day.
Although Transportation Services only accommodates special events parking during tne evenings and weekends, when no major university events are scheduled, some students have complained about the noise and heavy traffic that accompanied guests.
A popular motorcar and truck show in January attracted so
(See Traffic, page 3)
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