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Student Newspaper of the University of Southern California Since 1912
March 29, 2006
INSIDE
Mark Sanchez takes the reins at practice as John David Booty's SUL. status
^ remains uncertain. 16
Vol. CXL VIII. No. 46
YOUNGGUN
Senate term ends with rush of debate
Senate spent an hour discussing a resolution aimed to improve relations with Program Board.
By JOANNA LIN
Staff Writer
In its last business meeting before the new administration will take the reins, Student Senate filled its agenda Tuesday with 14 new business items, ranging from Judicial Council justices confirmations to election reforms.
But one item, meant to foster communication between Senate and Program Board, instead showed a lack of communication between the two groups, and tied up an hour ot the meeting.
The meeting lasted nearly three-and-a-half hours. Senate eventually voted to postpone indefinitely a bylaw amendment, which would change the process by which Program Board's executive and financial and administration directors are chosen.
Under the proposed amendment, authored by Residential Senator Chris Collier, Program Board directors’ vote of confidence for candidates would be taken only as a suggestion, not a prerequisite, for Senate’s confirmation.
Collier's resolution also proposed that Program Board's three graduate advisers no longer sit on the selection committee.
Instead, the committee will consist of the outgoing executive and finance and administration directors, the Senate president-elect, the Program Board adviser and one senator-elect.
"What this (resolution) does is put the control in the hands of the students," Collier said, and “it puts a lot of accountability on the newly elected officials."
But what Collier and many mem bers of Senate hoped would be quick I see	page	10
FBI report details web of lies
Former USC adjunct professor Barry Landreth claimed to have properties in Chicago and Las Vegas for investment.
By ASHLEY ARCHIBALD
Staff Writer
Former USC adjunct professor Barry Landreth was arrested Friday by the FBI after allegedly embezzling $1.5 million in a real estate investment scam. Some victims were USC
students.
Landreth offered investment opportunities in Chicago and Las Vegas through Webster Realty Investors Inc., a group for which he is both founder and chief executive officer, according to the FBI’s case affidavit.
The projects, called Discovery Opportunity Chicago and Discovery Opportunity Las Vegas, were hyped to investors as high-yield investment opportunities with potential returns of 190 percent within 30 to 45 days, according to the affidavit.
No investors ever received the profits of their investment, and only a few “persistent" investors were able to recover their principal investment.
The biggest individual loss was
$700,000, FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said.
The Chicago project was represented to both investors and employees of Webster Realty as a "$50 million real estate development project in downtown Chicago," according to the affidavit.
Landreth claimed to have sold the Chicago property to the Cendant Corp., a real estate and travel firm,
I see Landreth page 9
SECOND IN A FOUR-PART SERIES ON USC ALUMNI AND THEIR CAREERS
Aa ‘Puente’&
Louie Lujan, a 1998 political science graduate, was elected mayor of La Puente, Calif, in 2001.
By JULIA WONG
Contributing Writer
Holiday gift. Louie Lujan takes on the lighter side of being mayor of La Puente, Calif, during a holiday parade. Lujan graduated from USC in 1998 with a degree in political science.
Louie Lujan, the mayor of La Puente, Calif., entered USC as a physics major in 1994. But he found his true passion was in government and public service and switched his major to political science.
After graduating in 1998, Lujan went on to Loyola Marymount University and earned a master’s in secondary education in 2001. While at LMU, he also taught U.S. government and economics at Mark Keppel High School in Alhambra, Calif, from 1999 to 2001.
In 2001, Lujan found himself back again at USC enrolled in the Master of Public Administration program. He won his election bid for mayor that same year against five other candidates and with a margin of victory of 1,000 votes. He was re-elected in Nov. 2005 after running against two candidates. That time he won by 3,000 votes.
Becoming mayor at such a young age, Lujan said he found it was hard for city council members to take him seriously. Lujan persevered, though, by building relationships with council members, developing trust and reaching out.
“I never saw my age as a negative thing. I viewed it as a challenge. 1 said to myself, 'I can overcome it, I can do it,” Lujan said.
H«y Ledford, the city manager of La Puente, has known Lujan for five years.
"What is unique about Louie is his youth and maturity. He has energy and vitality, but he has also gained wisdom from serving on the counciL He is working on positive things for the community," Ledford said.
I see Lujan page 11 I
Documentaiy takes on racial epithet
45 people attended a screening of a documentary called The N Word Divided We Stand.
By CRAIG NELSON
Contributing Writer
It’s been dropped by Mark Twain and Chris Rock.
The N-bomb.
But is its power still what it used to be? 'Us a pressing issue in the African-American community and for the larger general puWic." said Anthony Clark, a junior majoring in sociology and public policy and a member of Kappa Alpha Psi.
It is a term that has been embraced as a positive word as opposed to its historical negativity, Clark said.
Kappa Alpha Psi held a screening of "The N Word: Divided We Stand" on Tuesday mghL
The film focused on the word’s use in historical context in hip-hop. comedy and by various racial groups.
The documentary featured commentary by celebrities and professors. It also featured the opinions of pedestrians in Atlanta. Greenwich Village and Stanford.
Opinions about the word differed among the audience.
'I deal with this topic daily,” said Lewey Knox, a freshman ma|onng in business administration. 'I don't use it because when I was
growing up. the people around me didn t address people like that’’
"It's a heated word, I can understand the weight it carnes,” said Bnanna (Jauff. a sophomore majoring in public relations "But I don’t see a problem with it if it isn't (used) maliciously"
About 45 people attended the screening of the movie, which focused on the history and the context in which people use the "fT word.
The event is part of a series called Konversations that was created to promote discussion on a range of issues such as a adversity in the business world, sex and relationships, said Jon Faibvre. a senior
page # I
INDEX
Penny pinching and frugality aren 't necessarily bad habits, even for billionaires. 4
Filming for the Reel-lAfilm festival starts thus weekend.. 7
N*w» Digest________S	Lfertyte _
Roundup------------S	ClaiuArds
Opinions-........♦	Sports—
WEATHER
Today: Afternoon showers. High 61. low 49. Tomorrow: Partly cloudy. High 66, low 51