Friday
March 22,19%
Vol. CXXVII, No. 42
Headlines
Women's swim fourth in NCAA's
Kristine Quance and Lindsay Benko led the Women of Troy to a fourth-place finish after the first day of the NCAA swimming and diving championships Thursday in Micnigaft.
Sports, page 12
Celebrating soul with high style
To celebrate the 23rd Annual Evening of Soul, the Department of Black Students and Spectrum presents "Harlem on the Drive," a pleasing combination of music, dance and drama.
Diversions, page 5
Perils of parenting to a better future
Editorial writer Gregory Ellis may not have children of his own, but he investigates the responsibilities of parenting ana lack thereof in an age where children are growing up much too fast.
Viewpoint, page 4
F.Y.I.
Technology demo, Choose or Lose
A demonstration of new technologies in the curriculum will De held in the Leavey Auditorium today from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Three professors will demonstrate the current and planned development for the projects and address how technology changes teaching methods, class interaction and material presentation.
• • •
MTV's 1996 Choose or Lose campaign tour bus will be at Spike's Joint West, 7263 Melrose Ave. from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, March 24.
The custom designed bus serves as MTV News' production unit for the duration of the campaign.
The Choose or Lose bus is traveling the country registering new voters and giving young people a place where they can learn more about the election process, express their views on the issues and get information about the candidates and their platforms.
Course requirements to be trimmed
By Nik Trendowski
Staff Writer
Students in most majors will take only six general education classes beginning as soon as Fall 1997, instead of the up to 11 courses now required, administration officials said.
Two committees are discussing ways to reach this goal. Recommendations are due April 15, said Nancy Vickers, dean of curriculum and instruction in the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.
"What we're trying to do is create a system that is as simple and as universal as possible," Vickers said. "The goal of all this is to create some flexibility within (student) schedules to take classes in subjects they have a passionate interest in. It's kind of loosening the lock on those schedules where
It's all in your head
there was a very tight general education lock.''
Provost Lloyd Armstrong Jr., in a memorandum to faculty, said he supported lowering the general education requirement for LAS majors and most others, which was one conclusion of discussions started about two years ago. Armstrong also agreed that the freshman writing classes should be integrated directly with a general education class.
"Finally, the understanding that general education should not be a smorgasbord of unrelated courses conveying little or no educational theme seems to me to be critical to the construction of a program that seeks to live up to the name of 'general education,"' Armstrong wrote in the Feb. 1 memo.
The new phase of discussions, directed toward the six-course model, began last
month.
"In December, all of the schools had to send in reactions to the general education proposals that were then on the table," vickers said. "At that point the provost decided in principle on several issues. It's crystal clear that he would like to see the number of general education requirements reduced, especially for the students in LAS with the 11-class requirement."
Reducing the number of general education classes could also open more possibilities for students to take on double majors and minors. In addition, there would be fewer problems with students changing majors and finding different requirements to complete, Vickers said. In most cases, students in
(See Requirement, page 2)
Break-ins increase for Hondas, Acuras
By Allison Vana
Staff Writer
Doan La / Daily Trojan
Kaieem Witcher, a junior majoring in communications, gets a dose of virtual reality in Alumni Park Thursday.
A series of recent break-ins of Hondas and Acuras in university parking structures is probably due to a design defect in the cars' locking mechanisms, DPS officials said.
In all of the incidents, someone used a punching device to defeat the locking mechanism and open the car door, said DPS Deputy Chief Bob Taylor.
We think that this person is sticking a jeweler's screwdriver in the door lock at an angle to flick the lock," Taylor said. "It's something that can be done very quickly. In my humble opinion, it's a design defect."
Taylor said that he thinks that the person committing the crimes is a professional from outside of the university who knows that the locks on Hondas or Acuras may be easier to pick than in other cars.
Honda and Acura representatives deny that there are any problems with the locking devices on their cars and say that none of the vehicles have been
recalled for a lock defect.
"No, there is absolutely no problem with the way the lock functions," said Sylvia, an Acura service representative who would not give her last name. "Anyone can break into any car at any time if they really want to. AU they would need is a slim jim."
"It's true that if someone really wants to break in to your car, tney can do it," Taylor said. "But if I was an owner of one of these vehicles I would be concerned about this (locking mechanism) as a possible problem with the car."
Another similarity of these kinds of break-ins is that they almost always involved a theft, Taylor said. In several cases detachable radios, removable indash stereos, CDs and CD players or parking permits were stolen.
"Obviously, it would be smarter for people to just take these things out of their cars when they leave the vehicle," Taylor said. "Leaving valuable
(Set’ Break-ins, page 3)
Problems with maintenance plague apartment complex
By April Haitsuka
Staff Writer
Aside from mice seen by residents, the Parkside Apartment complex has chronic maintenance problems that also occur in other housing facilities.
Mary Khuu, a sophomore majoring in environmental engineering and a former Parkside resident, said she moved out because of recurring problems with cockroaches and the heater last year.
Renovation priorities are based on addressing the buildings which have "greatest need and where we can make the greatest impact," said Housing and Residence Halls Director Jeff Urdahl. Although Parkside Apartments has demonstrated need for major renovation, it probably won't happen in the near future.
The linchpin in this process is the funding.
The Office for Student Affairs is soliciting potential donors for the $15 million project, which will convert Parkside into a residential college with an international theme.
"It's a long process," said Associate Vice President for Student Affairs Kristine Dillon, who is heading the program. "Since this is a
really new concept, I don't think we'll be getting a very significant gift in the near future."
Plans for the new facility include new furniture, Internet access in every bedroom, special conference rooms for guest speakers and programs, a dining hall and a faculty-in-resi-dence program.
"We still fpel very optimistic, but I'm afraid it's too soon to hear good news at this
Parkside Complex
point," Dillon said.
The residential college would be developed by Housing and Residence Halls, and the plans would be reviewed by the offices for Student Affairs and Business Affairs.
Nothing will happen until the funds are procured, Urdahl said.
"Nothing is set in concrete," he said. "No plans have been drawn up."
There have been preliminary discussions about possible Parkside renovations, Urdahl
(See Parkside, page 2)
USC files for rights to Schoenberg
By Jovie Baclayon
Staff Writer
University officials filed a cross-com-plaint March 15 against the donors of the Arnold Schoenberg Institute archives, seeking a declaration to obtain the rights to the entire collection and strip the Schoenberg family "of their powers under the agreement between tne parties."
They also want to collect punitive damages and the copyright royalties the family has received since the institute was established in 1973. Arnold Schoenberg, whom the institute was established for, is considered a famous
composer of the 20th century.
"The Schoenbergs gave the collection away when they donated it and took a
multi-million dollar tax deduction as a result," said Scott Edclman, the university's attorney with the firm Gibson, Dunn
(See Schoenberg, page 2)