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INSIDE
Student Newspaper of the University of Southern California Since 1912
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November 11, 2004
Orlando bloom is one celeb lending his voice to llalo 2,' one of the fastest-selling video games ever. 4
Vol. CUII, No. 56
Leaders on the march
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Joel Zink I Daily Trojan
The 2004-2005 members of Order of the Torch were presented during the Homecoming parade on Hahn plaza Wednesday afternoon. Order of the Torch recognizes scholarship, leadership, service, commitment to USC, strong public speaking skills and an ability to communicate the USC experience to others. The selected members serve as student ambassadors for the university at academic functions, fundraisers and student events. On Friday, two of the members will be named as Mr. and Ms. USC.
Seeking support elsewhere
USC students who are transgender turn for help at schools such as UCLA rather than the services at USC A more liberal setting might be the reason.
By BONNIE SCHINDLER
Contributing Writer
While USC had an active transgender population in past years, the number involved in transgender support groups and organizations have significantly dropped this semester.
Many transgender individuals, defined as a person who crosses gender boundaries or those who adopt the attributes of the opposite sex. choose to use the services at the University of California, Los Angeles instead.
Transgender students on campus can seek counseling at the Gay, Lesbian. Bi, Transgender Mentoring Program, said Mary Andreas, clinical physiologist at USC.
But no transgender students have been counseled this semester, Andreas said, which is different from previous semesters.
Michael Vacha. student program coordinator at the LGBT Resource Center, said that he also has not come into contact with any known transgender students on campus, which is a contrast to the past, when the center had transgender students on its board.
Despite the number of transgender people who are receiving support on the USC campus, it is safe to say that one in every 1,000 people does not fit into his or her birth gender; therefore if you have 30,000 students on a campus, 30 of those students may or may
not be transgender, said Elizabeth Davenport, former director of The Center for Men and Women.
“One thing that I have noticed this year are the few people who want to incite change. There are many people who do not want to join the various support groups,” Vacha said.
One of the problems, Andreas said, might be the lack of a full-time person at the LBGT Resource Center. With only one part-time graduate student running the center, Andreas believes this limits accessibility.
Finding support
Many students head to UCLA, where transgender students are largely represented, she said.
As one of the oldest centers on campus, the LGBT Campus Resource Center at UCLA leads California, and maybe even the nation, said Vincent Vigil. USC’s LGBT Resource Center Coordinator.
UCLA’s center was one of the first to generate studies amongst LGBT individuals, including population statistics, he said.
“UCLA has a transgender support group that is very prominent on their campus, and many USC students carpool there," Andreas said. “They use their transgender names there, meaning they can be the person they really are. and talk about things such as hormone use. good places for hair removal, electrolysis.'
Lauren Steely, a transgender
individual and USC alumna who proactively speaks about the intersection of transgender activism and feminism, said the sheer number of students at UCLA create an environment that allows more transgender students to congregate.
“The reason why a bunch of us started going to UCLA — well, it's a more liberal campus, there are more trans people there and more queer resources in general,” Steely said.
Dan Dumont, a USC alumnus and transgender individual, believes the transgender student population has always been small, even in a metropolis such as Los Angeles.
“One doesn't typically share personal and private things with just any old person," Dumont said. “So any out and proud trans community, at a university or as a social or support group, is always going to be significantly smaller than the actual trans population, because many folks just want to keep this sort of thing to themselves."
Another factor may be that perspective students, who are transgender, do not even apply to USC if they feel the resources are not adequate, Vigil said.
In contrast, Vacha believes USC is a very supportive place to be.
“In general, it is a welcoming environment and I have made myself more comfortable by having a backing and support system for myself." Vacha said.
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Terrorist's transition highlighted
Walid Shoebat, a former terrorist for the PiO, spoke Wednesday night about leaving the controversial organization.
By ALI GUICHARD
Contributing Writer
Walid Shoebat, a former terrorist for the Palestine Liberation Organization, spoke out against terrorism Wednesday night to a crowd of more than 100 people at the Taper Hall of Humanities.
“1 was a terrorist,” Shoebat said. "I wasn’t just a Muslim, 1 was a fanatic."
It is his anger about the fact that he once wanted to kill specific groups of people that motivated Shoebat to share his story, he said in an interview.
Shoebat grew up in the village of Bethlehem in Israel, the son of an American mother and a Jordanian father.
Shoebat said his youth was similar to what it was like to live in Nazi Germany.
‘The youth is prepared foj violence.
We were trained to give our life for the cause: to throw out the Occupation ...
Just as in Nazi Germany, loyalty comes before fact," he said.
“The time we see fact from fiction is when we divorce from loyalty," Shoebat added.
Shoebat was a freedom fighter, but became a Christian in 1993, he said in an interview.
"Having lived in America, and having learned about Judaism and Christian faith, I realized perhaps I am on the wrong side," he said. “I converted to Christianity, but I'm not on a crusade against Islam."
Of his former terrorist ways, “I realized I was on a path of death, thinking I was doing good," he added.
As a child, Shoebat was taught “the Holocaust was a Zionist fabrication to get an excuse to take over Arab lands," he said.
The controversy in the Middle East is not an issue of occupation or land, he said.
“The issue is the occupation of the minds of children — that is the issue that needs to be solved first," Shoebat said.
Everything is infected with hatred, he said.
“Love is the essence and proof of your faith. I’m not allowed to hate,” Shoebat said.
Shoebat said he has nothing against Muslims and many of his best friends are Muslim.
“It's not accurate to look at every Muslim as extremist
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“1 realized I was on a path of death, thinking I was doing good."
WALID SHOEBAT former member PI.0
INDEX
There is life outside USCs boundaries. Meet the North University Park community. 9
Water Polo's last line of defense faces the challenge. 24
New Digest___2 Sports_______24
Upcoming.——2 Gassifiedj_____20
Supplement___9 Lifestyle— ____4
WEATHER
Today: Partly cloudy ail day. High 67, low 49. Tomorrow: Sunny. High 69, low52