Newspaper of the University of Southern California
Headlines
Katherine Lambert / Daily Trojan Chris Miller, a senior majoring in American studies, and Student Senator Jeff Smith, a senior majoring in accounting, pass out fliers and candles for the memorial service for Traveler IV, USC's mascot. The service will be held today at noon in Hahn Plaza, and Traveler V will be welcomed.
Wednesday April 16,1997 Vol. CXXX, No. 59
Williams leaves after two seasons
Fred Williams, who led the USC women's basketball team to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, announced that he would be leaving his position as head coach after two seasons.
Sports, page 16
The hiker's guide to the wilderness
The San Gabriel Mountains offer a variety of natural wonders. Staff writer Benjamin Acker provides a detailed list of nature trails that are just a hop, skip and climb away from the city.
Diversions, page 10
Learning the art of foreign relations
Citing examples of what not to do when speaking with an international student, editorial writer Sasha Lillie explains the best way not to make oneself appear ignorant about other countries.
Viewpoint, page 4
Kids Club event, New York housing
Two For All's prolific writer Ray De La Paz and percussionist Ron Powell mix storytelling and music in a delightful performance at Kids Club today at 6 p.m. at Westside Pavilion.
Kids Club provides families with year-round entertainment or arts and crafts free of charge every Wednesday evening in the f(xid court, level 3.
For more information, call Michelle Malynn at (310)
■ 474-6255.
• • •
Move to New York City without going bust. Graduates or students planning to work at summer internships in New York City can visit nttp://www. homez.com for free apartment listings, detailed descriptions of city neighborhoods and strategies for launching a successful apartment search.
For more information, call Brigid Kelly at (212) 688-6685.
Professor elected to city panel
By Shannon Ong
Staff Writer
Law professor Erwin Chemerinsky, who was recently elected to a panel to revise the 72-year-old charter of Los Angeles, said reforms should seek to provide a government structure that clearly snows where and how power is allocated.
The new panel, which will consist of 15 members—one from each city district—will work apart from the city council for two years to create reforms on the charter that defines the how the city is governed. Eight candidates were elected to the panel on April 8, while candidates for the seven other seats face a runoff in June.
The members will work without pay for nearly two years.
"I think we need to put together a streamlining, simple government structure where
(See Professor, page 2)
Organization 'cuddles' local newborns
By Jayne Jun
Staff Writer
Trojan Life Cuddlers is a service organization whose volunteers aid understaffed maternity and post-partem units at local hospitals by "cuddling" newborn infants.
"The purpose of TLC is to provide warmth or to cuddle newborn infants who are away from their mothers or nurses for some reason," said Sherri Christy, a junior majoring in occupational therapy and the president of TLC. "The mother may be ill, or there may be no nurses around when the baby is crying. That's when we step in. We feed the babies and play with unattended children."
Currently, there are approximately 50 members in TLC. The 6-year-old club recruits annually at the activities fair in the beginning of the fall semester.
"We wanted to accept more people this semester," Christy said. "However, it was impossible to do so because there were too many members already, and the hospitals
limit the number of the volunteers. Also, it was really difficult to arrange hospital orientations for the new volunteers."
This year, Trojan Life Cuddlers have vol-
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The stuaents get an opportunity to serve the community and a chance to get hands-on experience in the medical field.
JUDI BIGGS C.ARBUIO
adviser, Trojan Life Cuddlers
unteered at the maternity .and pediatric units of Daniel Freeman Hospital, Los Angeles County/USC Hospital, Children's Hospital and California Medical Center.
TLC requires a great deal of commitment
from its members, the club's officers said. New applicants must go through an interview and receive a tuberculosis shot Some hospitals require a rubella shot. Also, there is a hospital orientation the new members must attend for training.
"Some applicants were hesitant about getting the TB shot," said Tanya Ortiz, TLC's vice president. "But the hospitals require that the volunteers receive this shot, and it shows that one is committed."
The club has done fundraising and received a donation from an accounting firm to keep the organization going.
"We raised money for the club treasury by drawing raffles and selling T-shirts to the members," Ortiz, a junior majoring in occupational therapy, said.
There are applications for next year available at Topping Student Center. TLC is also looking for students who are willing to work on the board, which consists of new officers.
(See Cuddlers, page 13)
Ebonics panel explores teaching strategies
By Miwa Tamanaha
Staff Writer
Four speakers introduced different approaches to teaching Ebonics-speaking students how to speak and write standard English Tuesday evening at a DiverSCity-sponsored panel discussion in Grace Ford Salvatori.
While all the speakers agreed that Ebonics-speaking students need to learn to write and speak standard American English, they disagreed on the way this should be done.
David Eskey, professor of education administration and policy, proposed to withdraw emotion from the session. Teaching Ebonics-speaking students using bilingual education techniques should be given a chance, he said.
If it works then it is a viable solution, he said. If it doesn't work, it needs to be revised, rethought or thrown out.
"Everyone speaks different
varieties of a languages, depending on where they're from," he said. "You need to get rid of the notion that 'they speak a dialect and I speak Englisn.'"
There is no dispute as to whether students snould learn standard English, Eskey said. What is essential is learning where Ebonics is appropriate and where standard English is appropriate, he said.
Stephen Krashen, professor of curriculum and teaching, saw books as the medium by which Ebonics-speaking students can learn to speak and write standard English.
"The more access to books students have, the more they read, the better they get," he said. "If you put money into libraries, reading scores will improve."
Even then, students will not speak and write standard English, because they may not feel they are part of the group that does so, Krashen said. Once they can feel comfortable with
Katharine Lambert / Catty Troian
Professor Steven Krashen of th* School of Education presents his approaches to teaching standard English.
standard English, they will begin to use it, he said Noma LeMoine, director of the Language Development Program in the Los Angeles Unified School District, advocated using Ebonics as a tool for teaching students standard English. She said she feels that Ebonics is not "slang" but a con-
sistent, rule-governed system of speech
"Common lexicon veils differences between standard English and Ebonics, and concentrations of Ebonics speakers in schools often doesn't allow for a model of standard English to exist,"
(See Ebonics, page 13)