Headlines
Running backs
come back, home
9 \
Coming off controversial multiple-game suspensions, Shawn Walters and Delon Washington, both Texas natives, return home as Houston hosts USC at the Astrodome this Saturday.
Sports, page 20
Have comp papers got you down?
Staff Writer Rad Pnobst dives head first into the wild world of Composition 101. You'll find out why USC requires it, why graduate students teach it and what exactly you're suppi>sed to get out of it.
Diversions, page 10
Where is Tommy taking our money?
As we pay USC for meals, housing and tuition, Guest Editorial Writer Aaron Paquette looks to see where our money is going, and wonders if the university can't clean up its act a bit.
Viewpoint, page 4
Tech symposium, senate meets today
The Southern California Technology Symposium will be from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Town and Gown Hall. Network and meet industry leaders from AT&T, Microsoft, Intel and others. General admission is $25 and student admission is $10. For more information call (310) 314-8432.
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The Student Senate student affairs committee will have its first meeting at Topping Student Center toaay at 4 p.m. in the ground floor lounge. All students are invited to attend. For those who are unable to attend but would like to be involved, call (213) 740-5620.
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The Health Sciences Campus will have a recycling Information Fair today, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the campus quad.
Representatives will answer questions on recycling paper, aluminum, glass, woocl, plastic and styrofoam.
By Nik Trendowski
Staff Writer
Five years into his presidency at USC, Steven B. Sample phoned the Daily TYojan from an airplane, anticipating a nonstop schedule before his anniversary address today, and credited others with major accomplishments during his administration. As president, Sample said, his job was to provide the right atmosphere.
The Sample Era
Last in a four-part series
Looking back, Sample said he has found his experience at USC personally satisfying, and even the most fun he's ever had. Nonetheless, he said he can never be satisfied with his own performance or that of the university as a whole. In a sense, Sample might be speaking of an environment where building on excellence is a never-ending process.
"What the president tries to do is create the right environment," Sample said. "But the great things that happen at the university do not happen with the president."
Thursday September 19,19% Vol.CXXIX,No.l5
Grant jumpstarts community theater
Brandan Hancock / Daily Trojan
The old Union Theater will become the 24th Street Theater.
By Ron Ognar
Staff Writer
A grant of $30,000 from the USC Neighborhood Outreach program will help bring professional theater into USC s surrounding community sometime in December or early next year, program officials said.
•Tne 24th Street Theater, located on the west side of Hoover Street, will fulfill a "huge need in the surrounding neighborhood for an arts outlet,” Managing Director Jon White-Spunner said.
The theater will be run by professionals, but will allow opportunities for community participation, he said.
The theater will not serve as a replacement for the Greenroom Theater that burned down last year, said Robert Scales, dean of the School of Theatre. The new theater will be built between the old Greenroom site and the larger Stopgap Theater and will have a seating capacity of between 80 and 100.
"Opportunities will abound for students to put shows on in concert with professionals and with young people attending the Mirror and 32nd (Street) grade schools," Sales said. "The live theater near campus will be a place where students can see shows..., meet and network with professionals and intern with the professional company."
The process of organizing the 24th Street Theater Began when Scales saw a production by the Pacific Theater Residence Ensemble at a bakery. After the show, the performing group stated that it was looking for a new home. Scales later spoke with White-Spunner and suggested the 24tn Street location.
Eventually Scales, who had been looking to bring a theater group with an established reputation into the surrounding community, helped secure a grant from the USC Neighborhood Outreach program to finance equipment for the theater.
According to Rose Washington, director of special
projects for external relations, the grants committee of USC Neighborhood Outreach reviews community service projects each year and this year chose the 24th Street Theater.
"The plan was to create a per-
forming arts center for people in the community," said Christina Schultz, associate director of community outreach .
"In the future the theater company will seek funds from cor-
(See Theater, page 3)
Kickin' it
Troy Witt / Dally Trojan
Webb Tower played Cardinal Gardens Wednesday in IM-REC league.
Ralph's to open doors at year's end
By Tony Aimone
Staff Writer
The long-delayed completion of the Ralph's Shopping Center, located on the corner of Adams Boulevard and Vermont Avenue, is scheduled for the end of this year.
The shopping center, which is called the Hoover project, will be completed before the Thanksgiving holiday, said Jennifer Barrera, a representative from the Community Redevelopment Agency.
Construction started six months ago and should be completed between Nov. 13 and 20, Barrera said. "We are running smoothly," she said.
The shopping center which is southwest of cam-
(See Ralph's, page 3)
Sample reflects on five years in interview
Undeniably, however, as Sample listed the moments he has been most proud of here, the themes of the Sample Era were present.
"One of the things I'm very proud of personally is the Role and Mission Statement," he said. "I must have invested 100 hours of my own time. What made it so exciting was trying to capture an institution as big as USC on one sheet of paper in 12-point type."
The document now serves as a foundation for the university's Strategic Plan, adopted by the Board of Trustees in 1994, which aims at strengthening undergraduate education and ties with the community—two common themes since Sample took office. But, to do all these things well requires adequate fund-ing.
"Obviously, the (Walter) Annenberg grant for the Annenberg Center was a big thrill," Sample said, "in part because of the money ... but in part because of the tremendous vote of confidence in the university and in Los Angeles. This was not a sentimental gift. This was a gift based on compelling evidence."
Sample referred to the fact that neither Annenoerg nor his children attended USC. The grant, announced a year after the riots, became part of the Building on Excellence campaign, which has raised $600 million for
the university during its three years. Indeed, fiscal responsibility to the university in terms of fundraising is perhaps one of the university president's most important tasks, though Sample credits multitudes at the university for their hard work in making the campaign happen.
'Fundraising at that level is done by hundreds of people," Sample said. "This Board of Trustees nas been tremendous when it comes to raising funds.
The $600 million raised during the campaign, which began in July 1993, is part of $800 million raised during Sample's tenure, a figure equaled by few universities in the country.
But there has also been excitement for Sample in the academic arena.
"George Olah's Nobel Prize was a big thrill," Sample said. "It brought the whole university family together. It's one thing to hire a Nobel Prize winner. It's very, very different to have a faculty member get the prize for work that he did at the university "
Sample cited the investment in Olah and the university in the form of the Loker Hydrocarbon Institute, which enhanced the scientist's studies. Sample also noted the university as a whole has seen an almost 50 per-(See Sample, page 2)