INDEX
Student designers show off their work at the Town & Gown fashion show. 9
Bush and Rumsfeld should check out 'Vfor Vendetta. 5
News Digest....2 Lifestyle--------7
I pcommg_____1 (UMifteds —12
Opinions ....4	Sports-----M
WEATHER
Today: Rainy. High 5& low 51.
1 Ei-enmg showers.
v.dailytrojan.c
New vice provost appointed
Jerome Lucido will take over some duties previously held by the dean of admissions.
By COURTNEY WILLIS
Staff Writer
Provost C.L. Max Nikias appointed Jerome Lucido to take post as vice provost for enrollment policy and management.
The position was previously considered one with the dean of admissions, but it has been split up into two — vice provost for enrollment policy and management and dean of admissions and financial aid.
The search for vice provost of enrollment and policy management, conducted by Barry Glassner, was completed last week, and the university community was notified of the appointment on Thursday through a memorandum sent by Nikias.
As the vice provost, Lucido, who is currently the dean of admissions at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will be responsible for the overall direction and strategy of admissions in terms of scholarship, assistance, financial aid and policy.
Lucido will also help introduce the new interdisciplinary center on campus where he will serve as the executive director.
In the letter, Nikias said Lucido will “address critical issues surrounding the enrollment policy and access to higher education.”
“It’s important for higher education to examine access issues, and I think USC is the perfect place to do that," Lucido said. “We need to make sure that we are competitive.”
The center will not only research the important and different aspects of educational access but also “look at who's being educated and help to do that better," Lucido said.
Lucido, who was at the University of Arizona for a little less than 14 months, said he is familiar with the West Coast but not with the Los Angeles area, despite his visits to campus. Still, he expressed his enthusiasm for taking the job.
“USC has taken its place among the premier universities in the nation, and it is to me one of the most exciting academic environments in which to work nght now." he said.
As dean of admissions at UNC at Chapel Hill, his current responsibilities almost mimic his duties here, but Lucido was sure to point out the differences — locations, opportu nities, traditions and the institutions.
“I'm at a wonderful place. I'm not unhappy, and I never
I	see Provoet oage 11
Assembly kicks off 2006 Pridefest with barbecue, speaker
The evening lecture, “U-Hap: Meth and Promiscuity, ” was delivered by a student.
By JUSTHM LY
Staff Writer
The Lesbian. Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Assembly celebrated the start of Pridefest week, themed “Party; Sex and Candy." with a free barbecue at Alumni Park Monday afternoon.
Students and USC staff members who attended the lunch said the event was a good opportunity to demonstrate support for the LGBT community.
"I'm totally for it" said Paulie Rojas, a |umor majoring in theater. Rojas said she supports the LGBT community and was happy to demonstrate those sentiments by partmpat ing in the barbecue.
Deborah WoU, a funior majonng in theater, sat next
I see «LBU. page 11
Picnic in the park. Students, faculty and other guests gathered in Alumni Park Monday afternoon for a free barbecue — part of the GLBTA’s annual Pridefest week
FIRST IN A FOUR-PART SERIES ON USC ALUMNI AND THEIR CAREERS
March 28, 2006
INSIDE
The USC baseball team returns to action tonight after a six-day absence.
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Vol. CXLVIII, No. 45
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Tom O’Connell opted to do Teach For America after graduating last spring.
Student Newspaper of the University of Southern California Since 1912
By THOMAS KELLEY
Contributing Writer
USC alumnus Tom O'Connell has found that the best place to deepen his knowledge of the world, improve his character and apply his university education is in Room 328 of John Adams Middle School in South Los Angeles.
After graduating last spring from USC and being accepted into Georgetown University’s law school, O’Connell decided to postpone his own education and become a teacher.
Trained by Teach For America, O’Connell is in the first year of a two-year commitment, instructing sixth graders in English and social science.
“The more I heard about Teach For America, the more I fell in love with it," he said. “It was an opportunity to give someone who needs it a really good education."
O’Connell began his training in June, after participating in USCs Joint Educational Project 4s a student. By August, he was standing in front of a class filled with energetic sixth graders.
“When you hear someone call you teacher,’ you just laugh,” he said. “It’s kind of humbling."
O’Connell gets to Adams before 6:30 a.m. every weekday and usually works until 3:30 p.m. or 5:30 p.m.
“What you learn is that this is a very hard job," O’Connell said. “You have to give so much of yourself to be a good teacher. You have to reach every one of the children in your classroom. You can’t just teach some of them. You should be reaching every student."
O'Connell said he has taken his new responsibilities to heart. Despite the tough demands of teaching, which his TFA peers warned him about, he said he delights in his students’ enlightenment.
“It’s the hardest thing you'll ever do in your life, but the most rewarding," he said. "You can go to sleep at night feel-I see O’Connell page 10 I
St
Up front. Tom O'Connell, who graduated from USC last spring, has been teaching at John Adams Middle School north of campus since the beginning of this school year.