Wednesday July 1998 Vol. CXXXIV, No. 8
Headlines
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"I Went Down" is mildly satisfying
Peter Caffrey stars in "I Went Down," a thoroughly enjoyable hokum that never strives to be more than the sum of its parts. It's neither offensive or objectionable in any oyert way, nor exciting.
Diversions, page 8
Clinton ignores China Sin-drome
4' •
Editorial Columnist Hang Long reads between the lines to expose President Clinton's visit to China for what it really is — a finance-oriented endeavor that misses the larger issue of human rights.
Viewpoint, page 4
F.Y.I.
Last paper issue, move-in day
This is the last issue of the Summer Trojan. The Daily Trojan will resume production with the annual Orientation Issue on Thursday, Aug. 27. Daily production will resume Thursday, Sept. 3.
Story ideas for the Orientation Issue can be e-mailed to dtrojan@usc.edu.
In honor of Independence Day, banks, the post office, ana local, state, federal government offices and all university services will be closed on Friday.
Normal business will resume Monday, July 6.
Move-in day for university housing is on Saturday, Aug. 29. Classes for the fall semester will begin on Wednesday, Sept. 2.
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Doheny library to open late
Library will extend its hours starting this fall to accommodate the late working hours of professors and students
By Tina Harrison
Staff Writer
Doheny Library will be extending its hours this fall to accommodate the late working hours of professors and students.
Administrators of the library are unsure exactly how late it will stay open. One idea that has been passed around is keeping it open until midnight.
"The intent is to stay open until midnight," said Phelix Hanible, tne director of Doheny Library. "The hours are not definite but will be extended." He said the library is awaiting feedback from students and faculty on
an expanded time schedule.
There is also talk of extending the research library's hours significantly between the fall and spring semesters. A definite time frame is pending but there is a possibility that Doheny will become a 24-hour library.
Leavey Library will also be seeing some improvements. The Office of the Provost has given the library $1.2 million to expand its technology, benefits, and services.
"We can all agree that this will substantially improve the quality of life," said Chris Ferguson, the director of the Public Services Core for the university's libraries.
Doheny is the more tradi-
Michaal Lavin* / Summer Trojan
Doheny Library
tional of the university's libraries. Leavey was built as a cutting-edge, high technology library. It houses an Information Commons and a silent study lounge.
Campus Cruiser car jacked
By Ben Berkowitz
City Editor
A Campus Cruisers driver was carjacked on June 17 while sitting in ner cruiser in a neighborhood in the North University Park area.
The communications major, whose year was not available, was sitting in her cruiser on the 2700 block of Ellendale Drive when a young Hispanic male approached her.
Bob Taylor, the deputy chief of the Department of Public Safety, said that the man engaged Hunt in conversation for approximately five minutes. He then asked her if she had any money. When she indicated that she did not, he told her to get out of the car. She
(See Cruiser, page 3)
in
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Michaal Lavina / Summar Trojan
A pharmacist at the Village Pharmacy in University Village counts Viagra in a measurement tray. The piil is one of the fastest-selling drugs in American history. Because of its high cost, however, a large illicit market exists for the drug.
A miracle in the Trojan Family
USC doctor who tested wonder drug sings praises, criticizes hype over benefits
By Kyle Buchanan
Staff Writer
F
ew things seize the world's attention pl(
the male potency drug Viagra. Not
as completely as the recent release of
only has the drug caused a run on hospitals, a media firestorm, and an excuse for bad puns in the United States alone, but it has become a highly sought-after item in other countries as well, tnanks to the black market.
However, not even Dr. Harin Padma-Nathan of USC's Department of Urology, who conducted the first clinical trails on Viagra for developer Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, had any idea how much the drug would catch on.
"I don't think anybody felt that it would have such broad-ranging potential," he said.
The trials, which Padma-Nathan began in 1995, tested the drug for efficacy and safety. Padma-Nathan and five of nis colleagues published the results of three of those studies in the May 14 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Their results found that Viagra is "an effective, well-tolerated treatment for men with erectile dysfunction," with only minor side effects such as headache and
dyspepsia occurring in six percent to 18 percent of a dose-escalation study.
Although Padma-Nathan believes that Viagra will be a boon to men worldwide, he says that much of the media coverage of the drug has been superfluous.
"I think the media has concentrated mostly on fringe issues that don’t relate to the core of Viagra," he said.
One issue that has been raised with Viagra is its medical necessity. Kaiser Permanente, the nation's largest HMO, recently announced that it would not extend prescription benefits for the drug.
Their primary argument is that, at $10 a pill, the drug is not necessary, but rather is a personal luxury. Many physicians say it is not a physical necessity, but that its benefits are psychological.