Running over The Farm
DPS reports three forced robberies
Unrelated incidents over the weekend were the first to hit USC students since Sept. 9.
By KARA NICHOLS
Staff Writer
The Department of Public Safety reported three unrelated, scattered robberies this weekend, including two strong-arm robberies and one robbery with a firearm.
The suspects and motives were different in each case, and this is the first reported robbery attempt since Sept. 9, said DPS Lt. Gloria Graham.
In the robbery with a firearm, a perpetrator, brandishing a handgun, pulled over and exited a car near a student at approximately 2:30 a.m. Monday near Troy Hall, according to DPS reports.
After the perpetrator demanded the student's money, he complied, and the perpetrator searched the student’s pockets and left. When DPS officers arrived, they conducted a search, but tiie perpetrator was not found.
The Los Angeles Police Department will follow up on the incident, Graham said.
“When you look at our incidents of robbery, walking alone at two in the morning is not the best decision to be making,” Graham said.
Students should not walk alone at night and should travel in large numbers to reduce their chances of being targeted, Graham said.
They just need to change and get in the mindset that they need to take responsibility for their personal safety,” Graham said.
Besides the robbery involving the handgun, two strong-arm robberies also took place this weekend.
A perpetrator stepped in a student's path and demanded he hand over his watch, which he relinquished, on Hoover Street by Wendy’s Restaurant at 1:10 a.m. Saturday, according to DPS reports.
I see Robbery, page 17 I
Surveys report employers will hire more grads
Employers plan to hire 13 percent more entry-level employees in 2004 to 2005.
By CORTNEY FIELDING
Contributing Writer
Horror stories of honor students graduating only to end up working at fast-food joints circulate colleges like urban legends, but two recently released surveys reported that this year employers expect to hire substantially more new college graduates than last year.
The results of a survey released Sept 8 by the National Association of Colleges and Employers indicated that employers plan to hire more than 13 percent more entry-level employees in 2004 to 2005 than in 2003 to 2004.
NACE is an organization that tracks trends pertaining to college graduates in the job market.
Company responses to the surrey showed that employers in the West plan to hire 15 percent more new graduates this year.
I see Graduate* page M I
"When you look at our incidents of robbery, walking alone at two in the morning is not the best decision to be making."
GLORIA GRAHAM lieutenant Department of.. Public Safety
Rachel Elias I Daily Troian
Battle cry. USC yell leaders and members of the football team storm Stanford's stadium Saturday prior to the start of the Pacific 10 opening game for both teams. Hundreds of students traveled to Palo Alto for the annual weekender. See story, page 24.
dailytrojan.com
September 28, 2004
Senate creates safety unit
New task force is a medium for students and DPS to exchange solutions.
By KRISTIN MAYER
Staff Writer
Student Senate established a new Safety Task Force last week in an attempt to collect input from students and relay concerns to the Department of Public Safety.
The task force's first meeting last Tuesday drew six students and
Senate members, but Daniel Kenny, Senate director of campus affairs, said the more students who participate, the more effective the program will be.
“We created this task force to make sure that the students' voice can be heard properly," Kenny said.
The task force is a medium for students to talk to Senate and Senate to take that to DPS so a proactive approach can be taken, Kenny said.
"We’re taking the students’ concerns and going to DPS and making sure that action is actually taking
place,” said Elizabeth Braun, assis-	Aninb
tant director of campus affairs.	ytllvll
Senate will work with University	pAPtC
Residential Student Community to	* OvW
give DPS Chief Aaron Graves one-	—♦—
page memo sheets listing safety con-	j^e next
cerns, action steps and the extent of	meeting
DPS involvement, Braun said.	0f	Student
The focus of the group is to pick	Senate's
out projects that students can par-	Safety Task
ticipate in, and that are low budget,	Force will
Kenny said.	be	Tuesday,
“Safety has been such an issue,"	Oct. 5.
Kenny said. “It's always an issue."
I see Senate, page 17 I
I
Student Newspaper of the University of Southern California Since 1912
Vol. CXL VI. No. 23
Study concludes more students will be unable to afford college
California is one of three states to receive a passing grade in affordability.
By BORIS MELNIKOV
Staff Writer
If higher education affordability were a class, the nation would be flunking.
A report compiled by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, a nonprofit institution for higher education research, concluded that many students would not be able to afford higher education in the near future.
“The nation's colleges and universities have become less affordable for students and families compared with a decade ago.' wrote the authors of the “Measuring Up 2004“ study.
Only two states have seen their higher education systems become more affordable overall since the last study, performed in 2002, while 17 states scored lower on every indicator of affordability.
California is only one of three states to get a passing grade this year. It received a B.
Minnesota and Utah, each scoring a C, were the other states to receive grades better than a D. while 36 states all across the country got failing grades.
Authors of the study could not be reached for comment.
Alisa Cunningham, director of research at the Institute of Higher Education Policy, a nonprofit organization in Washington. D C., said studies like "Measuring Up" often paint a mixed picture.
i se« CoU*(e page 14 I
Minnesota and Utah received a C, the only other pass ing grades beyond California.
Thirty-six states received fail ing grades in ‘Measunng Up 2004* study.
INSIDE
INDEX
George Lucas returned to USC Saturdayfor a screening of his first film, "THX1138. 9
Properly coordinate your Ugg boots with a beach cruiser. 4
News Digest__2	Sports-24
Upcoming_____2	Classified*— 20
Opinion*______4	Lifestyle——9
WEATHER
Today: Mostly sunny. High of 76, low of 61.
Tomorrow: High 74, low 60.
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USC came from behind to defeat Stanford on Saturday, 31-28, and remain No. 1. 24