Drug testing under probe
Sports, page 24
Is Iraq’s Saddam another Hitler?
Viewpoint, page 5
Sting opens	■
tour of heart	
Life / Arts, page 9	
trojan
Volume CXIV, Number 19
University of Southern California
Wednesday, February 6,1991
Allies gain, but campus loses steam
From Baghdad to Basra on Tuesday, Allied bombers shattered the early-morning peace with new bombings, and the USS Missouri's guns roared to life again to silence an Iraqi artillery battery in Kuwait, The Associated Press reported.
The besieged Iraqi government was forced to ban fuel sales to civilians, and a senior Air Force officer said some Iraqi ground forces are below 50 percent strength and others are fast approaching that critical Allied benchmark because of relentless bombing.
In a press conference Tuesday, President Bush announced he will send Defense Secretary Dick Cheney and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Colin Powell to Saudi Arabia for a "firsthand status report.”
The president warned Saddam Hussein to consider "very, very carefully" the retribution he would face if chemical weapons are used against the Allies.
Thousands of Marines headed into the Persian Gulf after wrapping up a "dress rehearsal" amphibious assault on the southern shore of the Saudi Arabian peninsula, Pentagon sources said.
(See War, page 17)
Faculty call for cease-fire/ 4
QB failed to make the grade
Academic reasons may have motivated Marinovich’s decision to enter NFL draft
By Glen Justice
Assistant City Editor
Former USC quarterback Todd Marinovich was on academic probation last fall and would have been academically disqualified and placed on a retention semester this spring had he not decided to pursue a career in the NFL, according to information obtained by the Daily Trojan.
Though there is no GPA requirement to play football at the university, Athletic Department officials said the quarterback's performance in the classroom may have been a factor in his decision to make
himself eligible for the National Football League draft April 21-22.
"He made the choice based on all the information on hand," said Marvin Cobb, assistant athletic director. "It seems reasonable that his grades would be a factor in the decision. It's very difficult for stu-dent-athletes not to have visions of a pro career."
Athletic Director Mike McGee agreed.
"I think the grades are an indicator that he was leaning in that direction," McGee said. "As you know, there was a class attendance problem. He was suspended
and given provisions by Coach (Larry) Smith."
McGee said one of Smith's provisions related to academics. The requirements Smith placed on Marinovich were "very high," McGee said.
Marinovich earned a 1.23 grade point average in the spring term of 1990, lowering his cumulative average to 1.90, which placed him on academic probation for the faU.
According to information released by the university Committee on Academic Policies and Procedures, any student whose cumulative grade average falls below a 2.0 must be placed on probation and attend mandatory academic counseling.
(See Marinovich, page 4)
Say ‘please’
DanM De La Rota / Dally Trojan
Jed the Fish, disc Jockey for KROQ, gave away a compact disc to Katherine Gustin, a university staff member, during a lunchtime promotion at Tommy Trojan on Tuesday.
Applications on the rise
University admittance numbers up by 25 percent
By Chris Fukunaga
Staff Writer
The university has received about 6,000 freshmen applications for Fall 1991 and is using a number of tools to persuade accepted students to commit to the university, admissions officials said Monday.
Of the applicants, about 3,000 have been notified of their acceptance for the fall semester, said Cliff Sjogren, dean of admissions and financial aid.
This represents a 25 percent increase over the number of students admitted last year by the university at this time, Sjogren said. The increase is meant to help offset the low number of freshmen this year, he said.
Sjogren also said that as of last week, 107 students have responded by sending a $250 commitment fee to the university.
At this time every year, the number of committed students is low, he said. The
number should rise al i tudents get last-minute acceptances and find out their status at other colleges.
"Usually, most of the students don't commit until early spring when they are sure of their financial aid status or have made a final decision on which college they'll be attending," he said.
Sjorgen said the university has done a number of things to increase freshmen enrollment, such as responding to accepted students earlier and encouraging more students to participate in interviews to get a better feel for the university.
Katherine Thomas, director of financial aid, said the school also has tried to ease one of the most pressing concerns a prospective student has about attending the university — the cost of tuition.
Thomas said students who were sent acceptance letters were also sent information
on the school's new financial aid policy and estimates of the amount and types of aid they can expect to receive.
The new university financial aid policy ensures that qualified students will have their full financial needs met with a maximum of $6,000 a year in university student loans.
In the past, this cap on loan amounts did not exist. This year, it has been a cornerstone to the strategy of attracting potential freshmen, Thomas said.
This policy should help promote student confidence and boost enrollment, she said, but current figures were not available and will not be for some time. "We won't be able to tell the impact the neto financial aid policy has had on enrollment until the figures on the certification of financial aid come in," she said.
(See Recruiting, page 4)
Phones still have false ring for some
By Oscar C. Villalon
Staff Writer
After four months, complaints about the university's new $30-million phone system have declined, but are still equal to the number of daily complaints received on the old phone system before the changeover, a university official said Monday.
Between 15 and 30 calls a day for repairs have been received this semester, said Mark Phigler, director of the University Communication Network.
That number is roughly the same amount as daily complaints received last year before the new system was installed, Phigler said.
"With this line size you're going to have problems," he said.
But Phigler dismissed the possibility that the university may have paid for a new system no better than the old.
“You are always going to have problems," he said. "The only way you're not going to have problems is if there is no activity."
Phigler said the numbers represent a sharp decrease from the past few months — especially since last semester — when the new system was virtually paralyzed by problems.
But meanwhile, in university reception rooms and offices, the shrinking numbers of complain-ers are no less vocal.
"It is easier to reach the Middle East through electronic mail than to make a phone call to University Village," said Penny Herman, a geography research associate.
Herman said he has not been (See Phones, page 16)