USC attacks Cats tonight
Sports, page 20
Madonna video makes valid point
Viewpoint, page 4
‘Doughbair falls short
Life / Arts, page 7
Blame it on the rain
Jane Bums, a junior majoring In psychology, holds an umbrella for her friends Susy Bishin (left), a junior majoring in psychology, and Laura Borgia (right), a freshman majoring in art history, in front of the University Bookstore.
Volume CXIV, Number 2	University of Southern California	Thursday, January 10,1991
Draft could mobilize 100,000 for service
Students, only sons not excused from military obligations
By Brian McDonough
Staff Writer
As the Jan. 15 deadline for Iraq's withdrawal from Kuwait draws near, the Selective Service is prepared to engage a nationwide draft system that could call up 100,000 young people for military duty within a month of activation, a Selective Service spokesman said Wednesday.
Though officials say a military draft is not yet necessary, the specter looms over the heads of many college students following yesterday's failed attempt at a negotiated settlement in Geneva.
"It would take three days to mobilize (the draft program)/' spokesman Larry Waltman said. But both congressional and presidential approval are required to activate the program.
The draft program has undergone changes since the Vietnam War, Waltman said. College students can no longer defer the draft to complete their studies. Potential draftees who claim to be an only son also will no longer be exempt.
In the past, particularly during Vietnam, many people labeled the draft as unfair because exemptions left out a disproportionate number of affluent candidates, swelling the ranks of draftees from less-affluent homes. Changes have included efforts
to resolve this inequity, a Selective Service spokesman said.
In the event of a draft, students would be entitled to request a deferment to complete the semester or quarter in which they are currently enrolled, and seniors in their year of graduation could ask for a deferment until graduation. Local draft boards would consider all such requests, Waltman said.
There are only three categories of people qualified for exemption: conscientious objectors, clergymen or students in ministerial training, and those whose induction would result in extreme hardship on their dependents.
Conscientious objectors are defined as those whose ethical views are firmly against all war, not those who may politically oppose any given war.
But conscientious objectors are not entirely free from the draft, said Selective Service spokeswoman Barbi Richardson.
"The Selective Service administers the Alternative Service Program (for conscientious objectors)," she said. Those who morally oppose fighting a war may still be required to perform civilian service equal to the length of a draftee's enrollment. They would be required to perform work that contributes to the national interest, without it being military in nature.
Presently, the Selective Service is operating "the
(See Draft, page 4)
Campus reacts to possible draft/ 4
Ringing in the new
After extensive repairs, officials hail phone system as ‘trouble free’
By Allison Tatum
Staff Writer
In the three months since university phone lines underwent a massive change, causing a flurry of problems for university personnel, officials said the system is relatively trouble free, with nearly 600 outstanding service orders remaining from an original pool of 3,500.
With 11,000 phone lines involved in the "Big Switch," boasting about 14 features per line, there were bound to be prob-
lems on the day of the crossover, university officials said.
"There are still about 600 outstanding service requests that will be worked on, so we're still playing catch-up," said Mark Phigler, director of the University Communications Network. "But there is light at the end of the tunnel."
Problems included disconnected calls, phones with no dial tones and inoperative extensions. Some people even com-(See Phones, page 14)
Safety legislation may spur computer system overhaul
By Gloria Lau
Staff Writer
A recent precedent-setting San Francisco ordinance requiring private businesses to yield to new computer safety measures is being followed in the city of Los Angeles by attempts to enact similar legislation, city officials said Tuesday.
"Off the top of my head, I cannot see why it would not pass," said John Ferraro, City Council president, about the motion introduced on Dec. 18 by Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky (5th District).
Such legislation has been encouraged by labor leaders for years. The San Francisco ordinance, which takes effect on Jan. 26, requires employers with 15 or more workers to provide adjustable computer screens with anti-glare shields, detachable keyboards and other equipment designed to prevent injuries related to video display terminal (VDT) use.
Employers also will be required to give breaks to employees who type repetitively for four hours or more per shift, said Katherine Macdonald, Yaroslavsky's (See Computers, page 6)
President-elect gets a sample of USC life
By Chris Fukunaga
Staff Writer
University president-elect Steven Sample met with administrators and student leaders Wednesday as he began the second leg of a four-day campus orientation visit.
Sample, who will take over as the university's 10th president on March 31, is here to be introduced to the philosophy, history and some of the day-to-day operations of the university, said George Abdo, executive assistant to the president.
The tour will also acquaint him with the university community as a whole.
"Sample has been on the campus before, but this is really the first opportunity for him to meet with many of the faculty and staff of the university," Abdo said.
"The visit is designed for him to become oriented with the university and to meet and learn about the people he will be working with," he said.
Sample, who arrived Monday night, will tour the campus until Friday afternoon.
Abdo said Sample's itinerary for the presidential orientation will be a busy one. The rest of the trip will be spent in meetings with various administrators and student leaders, as well as others associated with the university.
Each evening, Sample will have dinner with a small group of trustees and their spouses, after which he and his wife will return to their downtown hotel.
Sample began Wednesday morning by meeting with administration officials. Later in the day, he was introduced to members of the Student Senate.
"We basically talked about very broad, general subjects like why undergraduates choose USC," Senate President Steve Webber said.
(See Sample, page 4)
Krta Chun / Dally Trojan
Kathryn and Steven Sample