Wednesday September 24,1997 Vol. CXXXII, No. 19
Headlines
Tailback situation in limbo for USC
After senior tailback Delon Washington's dismal opening, USC Head Coach John Robinson has given senior fullback La Vale Woods a chance to start at tailback and establish the running game.
Sports, page 20
Took, boss, de plane, de plane!'
Many films and television shows, including Fantasy Island, were filmed at the L.A. Arboretum. Staff Writer Jonathan Shigemura gives the highlights of the four-acre parkland.
Diversions, page 10
Democracy in inaction, again
When Senator Jesse Helms blocked a hearing for the Mexico ambassadorship, William Weld lost out on a fair hearing, and America lost a bit of democracy, states Editorial Columnist Mark Carpowich.
Viewpoint, page 4
F.Y.L
Health roundtable, "GradNet"
The National College Roundtable on Women's Health will be held today from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Town and Gown Hall.
The event will give women the opportunity to ask questions and air their concerns.
lt will also feature an award-winning video developed in collaboration with the Society for the Advancement of Women's Health Research.
The event is sponsored by the Student Health Center, in addition to several other campus organizations.
• • •
The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Graduate Students Network's "GradNet" will be held Thursday from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in the north lounge of the main floor of the Topping Student Center.
For more information, call Richard Chu at (310) 479-8784 or Andrew Nestler at (213) 740-2414.
Food and dripks will be served.
N e w s p a p ero f the University of Southern California
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Garcetti explores DA job issues
By Elizabeth Heron
Staff Writer
Gil Garcetti, district attorney for Los Angles County, spoke Monday night at the first fall Rush social for Phi Alpha Delta.
The meet-and-greet event, held in the Upstairs Cafe, attracted approximately 100 people eager to hear Garcetti, a USC alumnus, speak, as well as to begin Rush for the university's only co-ed, pre-law fraternity
Garcetti opened with a discussion of several cases he and his staff have had to deal with on a daily basis through the years.
"The luxury of being a public prosecutor...is that you get to try and do the right thing in all cases," Garcetti said. That's what drives us."
Among the cases was one
about a woman who sped through a light at an excess of 60 mph, lost control of the car and hit a light, killing her two children in the back seat. He touched on whether or not the woman should be tried for murder.
He mentioned a case his office is handling now which involves a person charged with killing four people, including two children, and attempting to kill three others. Garcetti spoke about weighing all the options and realizing tnat not everyone is going to support the final decision.
"I. will be criticized regardless of what I do — that's the nature of the job," he said. "If you don't like to be criticized, then you don't want to be a public prosecutor."
Garcetti spoke at length about
Jaft Baard / Dally Trojan
District Attorney Oil Garcetti
the road that he traveled to become the district attorney for a county with a population "larger than 42 states in the nation."
Garcetti spoke about his
Italian and Mexican heritage and his parents' lack of education. Garcetti came to USC on an academic scholarship at his father's insistence.
"I come, like many of you, from a fairly humble background," Garcetti said. "But in one generation, by law, I am the chief law enforcement officer of the county. That's what this country provides in terms of opportunity."
After attending law school he worked for a presidential candidate and headed to the DA's office, staying there until he was head of the Public Corruption Unit. From there, "It went on and on until 1 became DA"
After his speech, Garcetti opened the floor to students and fielded questions about the
(See Garcetti, page 13)
Resume ratings
Students have their rtsum*s evaluated by employer representatives and Career Center staff In Hahn Plaza for the third semi-annual Resumania. The event was part of a week-long series of career-related activities. On Thursday, Career Day will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Hahn Plaza.
Home HIV tests readily available
By Marie Bergeonneau
Staff Writer
Taking an HIV test at home, alone, in complete privacy? Even though physicians say they prefer the regular tests, the idea could please some people who are unwilling to discuss their sexual life with strangers.
Home tests are now easily available to USC students from the Home Access Corporation, which recently installed a free phone connection between its office in Hoffman Estates, III., and the Commons lobby. This service allows students to purchase the Home Access HIV Test and receive it by mail within four business days.
The test requires a small blood sample from the fingertip and must be mailed to the company, which returns results within a week. Tnose tested are known only by an 11-digit code. Similar to personalized home
pregnancy tests, these HIV kits can also be purchased in drug stores and pharmacies.
The Village Pharmacy at the University Village shopping center switched from its former brand, Confide, to Home Access because "this cheaper test is the most accurate — 99.9-percent reliable," said Gracy Carrere, an employee at Village Pharmacy. The kit is $39.99, or $49.99 for results within three days.
So far, however, she said she has not sold any.
Even though it is more private, hence more comfortable, people don't know it exists," Carrere said. "They need more information."
Celina Gorre, a sexual health educator at the Student Health Center, said she would prefer that those interested in testing go to the health center.
"I have my reservations about this kind of
test," she said.
Gorre said that although home-administered tests encourage people to get themselves checked for the virus, they do not provide any kind uf medical counseling and support in the event that test-takers are HIV positive.
Among other AIDS-related services, such as sexual-health advice and free condoms, the health center offers HIV tests for $20 and medical support for those who are HIV-positive.
Results of the health center test, which is based on saliva, not blood, also take approximately a week, Gorre said.
Gorre said HIV-positive results are rare. USC is below the national average of 0.2 percent of HIV-positive people on college campuses. Gorre, however, said she encourages people to be tested, preferably in a health center.
George Bums' estate forms professorship
The estate of the late actor-performer George Burns, who worked for more than 90 years in vaudeville, radio, motion pictures and television, has given the School of Theatre $1 million to establish the George Burns Distinguished Visiting Professorship in Performance.
School officials hope the professorship will help them recruit for USC's faculty talented and successful individuals whose busy schedules prevent them from taking a permanent, full-time teaching post. The professorship will operate on a per-semester basis, with performers dedicating three or four months to teaching.
"By successfully bringing his stage act to film and television, George Burns paved the way for our theater students who are preparing for careers in those mediums," said Robert Scales, dean of the School of Theatre, in a press release. "His remarkable gift will allow them to leam from successful performers — many of whom modeled their careers on, and drew inspiration from, George Bums."
Burns, born Nathan Bimbaum, grew up in New York City's lower east side, and began working when he was 7, soon after his father died. In the fourth grade, he quit school and organized "The Pee Wee Quartet," a group of child performers who sang before crowds for pennies.
Bums is remembered as half of the one of the (See Bums, page 13)