USC womens volleyball team advances to the semifinals of the NCAA tournament after defeating Duke /16
Senate works to finish plans
Student newspaper of the University of Southern California
MONDAY
-+--
December 3, 2001
Of interest...
Have a ball — heck, have a lot of balls. Boba drinks are taking USC by storm /7
News Digest	2	Calendar	2
Opinions	4	Lifestyle	7
The Buzz	7	Classifieds	12
Crossword	13	Sports	It
vol. CXUV, no. 63 www.dailytrojan.com
mirrors and lights were added to parking structures to increase safety.
Also in response to concerns, Patel said she and Director of Campus Affairs Edward Rhodes are working to restructure USCard fees and reduce the cost of replacing a lost card.
“The year's not over for us," she said, adding that two resolutions passed last week will help Senate improve academic advisement
Senate elections are set for the end of February and Student Senate officers for the 2002-2003 year will take office in April.
Chief of Staff YiShaun Chen, a senior majoring in psychobiolog)', said Senate leaders have emphasized community, academics, outreach and advocacy. By getting feedback from students and advocating for the change those students want to see, more has been accomplished this semester than was first expected, Chen said.
“We continue to set new goals and to work on them," she said, noting that those goals evolve with the needs of students, such as changing the due date for tuition so that international students do not have to pay unavoidable late fees.
The Student Senate Web site was revamped earlier this semester, and suggestion boxes were set up around campus to receive student feedback.
The tune restrictions on the Flex meal plan were changed so students would not have to waste their money. Vegetarian options on campus are also improving with Senates help and advocacy.
The number of stop days for next fall increased from two to four last spring with Senates work.
Brooks, a senior majoring in business administration, continues to work on IFC self-governance with Judy Biggs, director of leadership, service and scholars. He said the base for such a change needs to be set down so their goal can be realized
I	see Sonata, page 3 i
Organization: Four months
before they leave office, student leaders working to complete initial goals
Leitzeil I Daily Trojan
Keeping busy. Aimee Hirz, a freshman majoring in art history, watches the Weather Channel as she puts off studying for finals Sunday afternoon. Many students spend their time doing anything but studying.
Putting it off
By ART PRIR0MRRINTR
Staff Writer
Dozens of students spent a recent weeknight in Leavey Library, surrounded by stacks of books at their computer stations, banging away at the keyboards and writing papers on word processing programs in the library’s second-floor computer lounge.
Meanwhile, nearby, other students were checking e-mail accounts, another student was chatting online and another played an online game.
Procrastination is a familiar activity for college students. It is the activity that always seems so much more appealing than doing work for
As finals near and papers loom, many students spend hours procrastinating
the 12-page term paper due sometime in the near future.
USC’s Center for Academic Support defines procrastination as a habit, “an intentional and habitual postponement of something that should be done."
“Non-school things keep coming up,” said Dong Kim, a junior majoring in industrial and systems engineering. Such things as involvement in student organizations and a lack of discipline to constantly study have led to his procrastination, Kim said.
Within the next few days, Jennifer Tsakoumakis, a freshman majoring in mechanical engineering, has three essays to write, one project to complete and three finals to study for.
At the time, however, she was on her way to get food.
Several reasons are cited by the Center as to why students procrastinate. The list includes confusion about the subject or assignment at hand, a lack of priorities, anxiety stemming from different assignments that also need to be done, boredom from assignments being done or the desire to escape studies that seem too overwhelming or difficult
Distractions are one of the major factors that lead to procrastination.
I see Habits, page 3 I
By LORI STUENKEL
Student Senate Writer
Student Senate officers say their goals for the year are progressing adequately, but some plans have changed since the start of the semester.
As students have given their input to Senate, other projects have been added, such as creating vegetarian options on campus and working to change fee structures.
Much of Senate’s time has focused on events and project-based advocacy.
President Hema Patel, a senior majoring in international relations and political science, said that she and Vice President Craig Brooks have worked with Senate to improve on their platform goals they established in February.
“We’re really happy with the progress Senate has made this year,” she said. “We want students to start expecting more from Senate.”
Patel and Brooks’ platform included increasing the quality of dining on campus, working to allow the Interfraternity Council to govern Greek students, increasing the number of stop days and improving safety off campus.
Patel has centered her work on ensuring that students’ concerns are voiced to university officials.
“We want to be a better voice for students, and all the projects we’ve been working on have been in direct response to students."
In response to students, Senate worked with the Transportation Services and University Residential Student Community to add 400 spaces to the top of the Parking Center, as well as display cases and a coffee machine. During the summer.
Residential phones did not receive calls for several weeks
Out of Service
Trunks, the devices that connect calls to phone lines, became overloaded in the last several weeks, causing many phones in university housing to transmit a busy signal.
Housing: Phones were out of service, but officials say overload problem nowfixed
By RENEE HASLETT
Staff Writer
Gabriel Hollombe was unaware he had a problem with his university phone service until people called his cellular phone and told him his phone was busy.
“Nobody calls me at home anyway,” said Hollombe, a junior majoring in creative writing. He uses his cell phone most of the time.
Hollombe has been aware of this problem for about a month. Many
students were wondering why their phones were so busy, he said.
“We knew it was a problem when we saw the traffic data,” said Jeff Urdahl, director of Housing Services. “There was more traffic than the trunk could handle."
Trunks connect calls from telephone wires to phone lines.
Another trunk, which will help connect all the calls, was recently added to the switch. This should solve the problem. Urdahl said.
He estimated that phones were not working correctly for about a week, although some students reporting having problems for more than a month.
The problem was university-
wide, he said. It was not a problem for specific buildings.
People were able to get through, but when more calls were placed at a given time, the phone system became overloaded.
Many students said they have cell phones, so the interrupted phone service was not as inconvenient as it could have been.
“If I didn’t have a cell, it would be a big disturbance to not know who is trying to get through," said Raveen Gogia, a senior majoring in biological sciences.
For the past three weeks, people called her cell phone to tell her that her phone was constantly busy.
Steve Grantier, a junior majoring
in electrical engineering, didn’t experience problems with his phone being busy, but is more reliant on his cell anyway.
Seth Mearig's brother told him his phone was always busy, he said. Mearig, a sophomore majoring in civil engineering, said he does not use a cellular phone, so his university line is his only phone.
“It didn't really bother me that much, but it was kind of annoying when people would call me and ask why my phone was always busy," Mearig said.
Students were still able to place calls going out Urdahl said. Once officials found the problem, they were able to fix it quickly.
'It was kind of annoying when people wou ld call me and ask why my
j *
phone mis always busy
SETH
MEARIG
sophomore
civil
engineering