Anderson tape not released
Statement of victim will nut be-made public in case against USC lab director.
By MEAGAN RUEGG
Contributing Writer	•
A videotaped statement by the alleged victim in a child molestation case involving the director of USC’s gene therapy laboratory, William French Anderson, will not be released to the public, a judge ruled Oct. 12.
Ix)s Angeles County Superior Court Judge Judson W. Morris Jr. ruled that the tape would remain confidential after both prosecution and defense attorneys requested that it be barred from public release.
The girl shown on the tape, identified only as "Jane Doe,” has accused Anderson, 67, of repeatedly sexually molesting her in his San Marino home between 1997 and 2001. She is 17.
Requesting tiie tape not be released was "a precautionary measure on the part of the prosecuting attorney," said Los Angeles County district attorney spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons.
If the tape is played in court, it will become publicly accessible, she said.
Anderson, a biochemist known worldwide for his groundbreaking work in gene therapy, was arrested at his home on July 30 and charged with
one count of continuous sex abuse and five counts of lewd acts on a child.
The charges could carry a sentence of up to 56 years in state prison.
He pleaded not guilty at his Aug. 2 arraignment.
Anderson will appear in court Nov. 23 to schedule a date for his prelimi nary hearing.
“We don’t even know if (Anderson) is going to be held to trial," Gibbons said.
Anderson’s attorney, Barry Tarlow, did not immediately return phone calls.
But Anderson stated that he was innocent in an e-mail to university colleagues.
"I did not do the things that I am charged with," Anderson said in the e-mail, which was released to the Los Angeles Times after Anderson was let out of jail on $600,000 bail.
Anderson is currently on administrative leave from the university.
Gene therapy laboratory manager Kathy Burke said she did not know if Anderson would return to work after the conclusion of the trial and declined to comment on how laboratory staff might react to his return.
Professor of neurology Leslie Weiner is directing the laboratory during Anderson’s absence, Burke said.
Weiner could not be reached for comment.
Mightier than the sword
Henry Hsu I Daily Trojan
Monkia Lind, left, a sophomore majoring in cinema production, and Jen Hollcroft, a junior majoring in East Asian langugage and culture, practice fencing at the Lyon Center Monday night.
Single-parent employees will see cheaper health benefits
A restructuring of the employee health benefit system begins Jan. 1.
By DANIELLE DATU
Contributing Writer
USC employees who head singleparent households will be paying less for health care benefits starting Jan. 1, the result of a restructuring of the employee health benefit system.
The fact that health care fees are generally more expensive for adults than for children prompted the change, said Awilda Bregand, director of Benefits Administration.
Employee contributions will noticeably decrease for single parents with children because they “incur fewer medical bills," she said.
“When it comes to health care, kids go to the doctor more often than adults
d6, but it is taken care of in one visit,” Bregand said. “There is no extensive, chronic monitoring for children like there is for adults.”
The university changed its health care policy to more fairly reflect the difference between the medical expenses of adults and children, Bregand said.
USC will now determine how much employees will contribute to health care plans based on their status as employee, employee plus one adult, employee plus one or more children or employee plus one adult and one or more children.
The term dependent has been replaced by child in the contract, meaning that USC employees who do not have children 19 years old or younger or under 25 and still in school will pay more than employees who do have children.
This switch from a 3-level contribution structure to a 4-level contribution structure to fairly reflect the actual
health care costs of employees with adult and child dependents requires that all benefit-eligible employees of the university re-enroll in their health plans, according to the USC Benefits 2005 newsletter.
Decreasing fees
The newsletter indicated that of the types of medical plans, which also include California Care and PacifiCare, USC Network Medical Plan and Kaiser Permanente will be most affected by the changes.
A single-parent employee with two children who paid $210 monthly for health care coverage under the USC Network Medical Plan in 2004 will pay $119 for the same coverage in 2005, according to the newsletter.
Health care contributions for a similar employee under the coverage of the Kaiser Permanente HMO was $102 in
2004 and will be $77 in 2005, according to the newsletter.
'The way they had it for years didn’t reflect single parent families, it didn’t necessarily reflect the Mutual Financial Dependent (MFD) designation, which
I	know a lot of gay couples on campus use for legal recognition," said Damien Elwood, opera manager at the USC Thornton School of Music.
“I think that using the 4-tier structure shows that (Benefits Administration) is trying to accommodate single-parent families and gay partnerships," he said.
Linda Overholt, who has worked at USC as program coordinator in the USC School of Cinema-Televtsion for 16 years, said the decrease in health care contributions was a sound step.
“I like that it is going to be easier for single parents to cover themselves and their children, it's less of a financial burden,” she said.
Contributions will accordingly increase for health care coverage for the employee and spouse and for two-parent families with children, Bregand said.
The health care coverage for a worker and his or her spouse under the USC Network Medical Plan cost the employee $140 in 2004 and will cost $151 in 2005, according to the newsletter.
Under the Kaiser Permanente HMO, the health care contribution was $72 in 2004 and will be $84 in 2005 for an employee with a similar living arrangement, according to the newsletter.
In 2005, health care costs for two-parent families will also increase under the coverage of the USC Network Medical Plan and Kaiser Permanente, according the newsletter.
“To be perfectly honest, I’m surprised that (Benefits Administration) is not increasing (the health care costs of
I	see Benefits page 6
wivw.dailytrojan.com
Conquest constructs new housing
Margarita Jones owner said he had to leave location where housing will be.
By KIM HOLMES
Staff Writer
For years students and alumni have been able to pile out of the Coliseum after watching a USC football game and
parade down Figueroa Street into the open arms of Margarita Jones, a local landmark.
Those days are gone.
Margarita Jones has now been leveled to make way for Tuscany, a $40 million housing complex coming in 2006, said Alan Smolinisky, construction manager for Conquest Student Housing Inc., who will manage the new building.
The building is owned by a Beverly Hills group that would prefer not to be named, Smolinisky said, and will cover 300,000 square feet located near Exposition Boulevard and Figueroa.
Pedro Vasquez, owner of Margarita Jones, however, said he did not want to leave the Figueroa Street location but that the Beverly Hills group bought
I see Tuacany page S i
INDEX
Oklahoma No. 3? Another BCS mess seems to have emerged. 16
Senior citizens are suffering because of the flu shot frenzy.
4
News Digest.-...2
Opinions........4
Sports.........18
Classifieds....12
WEAHER
Today: Few
showers High of 65. low of 58.
Tomorrow:
j High 63, low 52
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INSIDE
The Used's Bert
McCracken rocked a crowd at the Wiltern LG 7
October 19,2004
Vol. CLIII, No. 39