Brill builds ’T
i
up Trojans
Sports, page 24
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Catholic priests must choose
Viewpoint, page 5
’SC at night: a ghost town
Life / Arts, page 9
trojan
Volume CXIII, Number 26
University of Southern California
Wednesday, October 10,1990
Companies capitalize on crime wave
By Dave Hernandez
Staff Writer
"You have the right to defend yourself against rapes!" proclaims one poster aiming to entice women to buy stun guns. "Defend yourself against rapists!" exclaims another.
The recent surge in violent crime in the university community has attracted to campus businesses that sell electric stun guns and some students have been receptive customers.
The stun guns are small, battery-operated packs that deliver up to a 120,000-volt charge, enough to temporarily paralyze a 200-pound person, the Divco Corp. ad claims. They run from $40 to $70.
Jackie Phillips, a spokeswoman for the Anaheim-based company, which has seen an increase in the number of orders from students this fall, said the stun guns are preferable to other means of self-defense.
"They're legal, whereas (the state) requires a certificate to possess Mace," Phillips said.
"It can render a full-grown man powerless in a half a second," she said.
Phillips said the on-campus sales figures were not available.
At least two companies were on campus Saturday before the football game to distribute flyers on cars and kiosks in the university area.
Gary Rus, crime prevention officer for University Security, said he has reservations about the effectiveness of stun guns.
"I don't personally understand where you would keep it," Rus said. "Would (a potential victim) be able to get at it in an emergency?
"The device has to be used in very close contact with the attacker, (the victim) has to be at least at arms-length from the attacker," he said.
Rus said he hopes more students will take advantage of the (See Guns, page 4)
Taking steps to study
Daniel De La Rosa / Dally Trojan
Kim Weirick, a senior majoring in business, takes time out to study between classes on the steps of the School of Accounting building.
Asbestos won’t pose health threat, officials say
By Gloria Lau
Staff Writer
University safety and risk management officials have found several areas on campus that contain asbestos, but they said Tuesday that the potentially cancer-causing material does not threaten the health of students.
A $400,000 study of campus buildings that began in August found asbestos in the floor tiles and the boiler rooms of the Physical Education Building and the Hancock Building, said Starrie Lowe, the safety specialist for the university's safety and risk management department.
Asbestos is harmless unless it is pounded, drilled or damaged, Lowe said. This releases fibers in the air, which are small enough to inhale and can settle in the lungs, possibly causing cancer. But the fibers found at the two buildings do not pose an immediate risk to the university community because they are undamaged.
Dangerous levels of asbestos have not been found anywhere at the university so far, said Leo Wade, the executive director of the department.
The study will continue until April and officials expect to find the mineral in three-fourths of campus buildings, Lowe said.
She said there are more than 200 structures at the university and at least 75 percent of them were built before the 1970s, when there was little government regulation concerning asbestos.
(See Asbestos, page 17)
Raising enrollment figures is key
Black group focuses on diversity
By Glen Justice
Staff Writer
As the newly elected president of the university's primary black student organization, sophomore Darien Dash has a lot on his mind.
Diversification and influence are two concepts Dash sees as key to the goals of the Black Student Union this year.
Black representation in cam-puswide student groups is low.
This is the second in a series of articles examining racial issues on campus.
Black student enrollment has declined steadily over the last three years while most other minorities, such as Hispanics, have increased. Though figures for this semester are not yet available, Dash expects the trend to continue.
"The university is doing as much as it can to recruit minority students," said Dash, who also works as a recruiter.
The dilemma within the black community is very specific and sometimes makes recruiting difficult, he said.
The problem, Dash said, is that many blacks have grown up in an environment in which education is a low priority. He cites drug use, gang activity and
the absence of positive black male role models as part of the problem.
Dash now has a year as BSU president to make a difference.
"The BSU has to be a representative organ that has influence (on campus) so we can push for what black students want and need," he said.
Dash said he would like to see more diversity within the orga-(See Blacks, page 17)
Students, officers voice concern over vagrants
By Jfanet Cavallo ana Annette Chadney
Staff Writers
Many students and staff at the university treat vagrants and beggars as more of a nuisance than a threat, but police and security officers on campus are less tolerant.
Beth Collins, a junior majoring in cinema, said vagrants on campus usually make students feel uncomfortable.
"If you are trying to study or talk to your friends, having them around is a nuisance," Collins said.
Los Angeles Police Department Officer Dominic Licavoli, who patrols the campus and surrounding area on bicycle, said he and his officers take an aggressive ap-
proach to ridding the university of vagrants.
"Most dealings of the loiterers are opportunistic," Licavoli said.
"They may act as if they are going through trash looking for (aluminum) cans," he said, "but in actuality most of them are waiting for the opportunity to steal."
Licavoli labeled the vagrants as "common criminals" who keep coming back to campus because people give them money and feel sorry for them.
"Unfortunately, those students turn their backs and that same vagrant is stealing from them, helping themselves to other peoples' property," he said.
Officer Wong of LAPD, who asked that
his first name not be used, said trespassers are usually advised to leave campus.
"I tell them that there is a warrant out for their arrest, and I ask them to leave. That usually works," Wong said.
Because the university is private property, police and security officers have the right to order people off campus. If an individual does not have legitimate business on campus, he or she is given ample warning before being arrested for trespassing, a security official said.
When security receives a call for loitering, the individual's name is run through a computer search. If previous arrests or warnings come up under the name, the loiterers are asked to leave the campus or are arrested for trespassing under suspi-
cion of being prowlers.
Security's jurisdiction extends to off-campus university housing where crime is more difficult to control, the official said. In this case, security has the jurisdiction to escort people off the property, he said.
Since July, there have been three arrests for trespassing.
Sgt. Baxley, field supervisor for University Security, said the number of incidents of trespassing has not increased on campus and does not seem to be much of a problem.
Beggars are not usually thought of as prowlers and are dealt with on a daily basis by security or LAPD bicycle officers, (See Vagrant, page 6)