Hoops press ’Canes for win
Sports, page 20
Are yell leaders ‘all-American’?
Viewpoint, page 5
	Taper Forum
** \	hosts Traviata
	Life / Arts, page 7
trojan
Volume CXIII, Number 60
University of Southern California
Monday, December 3,1990
Arson suspected in tent fire
A Sharper Focus
Greeks associated with events often despite their wishes
By Jordana Bieze
Staff Writer
Fraternity and sorority members are cringing as they read this. They're waiting to see where the ax will fall this time.
Which Greek has most recently committed acts heinous enough to merit front-page coverage? Which house will public opinion deem guilty by association? Which students will feel the chill of sideways glances simply for wearing the same letters as the guy who got caught?
Not to worry’. Nobody's on trial here. But Greeks have good reason to be nervous.
Members of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity undoubtedly have the best reason. In the space of a week, two of their members were slapped with assault charges in connection with apparently unrelated skirmishes at Carmel's restaurant and the 901 Club.
Neither incident was fraternity-re-lated. Yet Daily Trojan coverage in each case began with the same 10 words: "A member of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity was arrested ..."
And after the second arrest, it was right there in the headline: ATO member arrested in assault case.
(See Greek, page 4)
Officials estimate damages at $3,000 in Friday’s inferno near Alumni House
By Anjanette Schouwe
Staff Writer
A tent next to the Alumni House was set on fire Friday morning, causing an estimated $3,000 in damages, said Los Angeles Fire Department officials.
Officials said they believe the fire was the work of an arsonist who had also bro-
ken into the Faculty Center that morning.
The fire was extinguished by 5 a.m. No injuries were reported.
The arsonist apparently also stole several family pictures from the center, said Oscar Mendoza, director of the Faculty Center.
"The fire didn't happen spontaneous-
ly Chun I Dally Trojan
The charred remains of a tent hang from supporting poles outside of the Alumni House, following a fire Friday morning. Fire Department officials suspect arson.
ly," said Greg Acevedo, fire department spokesman. "There have been other fires in the area similar to this one, and there might be a connection."
No suspects have been arrested, officials said.
Mendoza said the fire department found matches near the tent, which are being used as evidence in investigating the incident as an arson case.
"We have no idea who could have done it," he said. "There are a lot of weirdos around here that seem to be looking for cans and bottles, but they are really looking for something that they can steal."
The dark green, 900-square-foot tent, owned by the Faculty Center and the . Alumni House, was bought four months ago to replace the old one used for receptions and meetings, Mendoza said. The tent itself cost $1,500, he said.
"The intense heat of the tent damaged the lighting fixtures. Total damages will be between $2,500 and $3,000," Mendoza said.
Art Blair, watch commander at University Security, said the fire was reported to security by an anonymous caller on a blue line emergency phone. The security dispatcher then called the fire department.
Mendoza said the arsonist broke into the Faculty Center, a restaurant located behind the Alumni House, through the main office window and left through the front door with the pictures.
"They don't know what they are after. They just want to damage," he said.
Players make best of abuse
Life after football leaves some shocked, disappointed
By Vivien Chen
Staff Writer
David Allison, a recovering alcoholic and drug addict, thanks God he never made it to the pros.
He is sure he would have died from an overdose earning so much money.
Allison, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound outside linebacker nicknamed "Snake" by teammates, flunked out of the university when his drug problems became unmanageable and he left the team in shame.
In the years since, he has flirted with suicide, in a continued downward spiral, with alcohol and drug abuse before finally turning to rehabilitation.
Allison can now openly discuss his past — it's his job. He counsels addicted people and the alcoholics at a homeless shelter in San Diego. And he is back in school working toward a degree in business.
Allison says his addictions started at the age of 13, but never seriously affected his ability to play football. He was recruited by the university from the same high school in San Diego that Marcus Allen attended.
Throughout his sophomore year, Allison failed miserably in his classes as his drug use increased.
"I don't blame USC," Allison says. "I was young and embarrassed that I didn't go to the coaches for help. I left through the back door and gave no one opportunity to help me."
But he says his problems were obvious ones that shouldn't have gone unchecked.
"They could have intervened, but they're not there to do that," he said. "They don't have time for that."
•
Allison eventually phoned home for help, but his father "blew up," he said. So he stayed in Los Angeles for six months and found work as a janitor, all the while contemplating suicide.
"I had thoughts and feelings of worthlessness. I just wanted to kill myself," he said.
Allison attended San Diego City College hoping to earn good grades, but left after a year to work in sales for a sporting goods company. When the company folded, he became a car salesman and then later a salesman for FGS Insurance Agency.
He used his earnings to get drunk each night and was once so high on drugs that he went four days without sleep.
Two years ago, Allison decided he had had enough.
"I was financially and emotionally sick and tired," he says.
His employers provided for a 30-day rehabilitation program with New Beginnings, which he completed, and he has since been a faithful member of Alcoholics Anonymous.
Despite his share of relapses, Allison speaks confidently of staying clean. He says there is too much life left that should not be wasted.
Since February, he has worked nights a counselor at a homeless shelter to support his studies by day at San Diego City College.
(See Football, page 14)
After the Roses fade. . .
This is the fifth in a series of seven articles examining what has become of the palyers from USC's 1980 Rose Bowl team.
Parking services to set up appeals board for tickets
By Glen Justice
and Suzanne Bultmeyer
Staff Writers
Parking Management Services officials, urged by Student Senate members, say they are creating an appeals board that will "democratize" the process of appealing campus parking tickets.
Though plans have not
Jalf Wachner / Dally Trojan
Carl Levredge
been finalized, the proposed three-member board would be made up of one student, one faculty member and one staff member. A Parking Management Services employee would be on hand to clarify matters of parking policy, but would not vote. The panel would hear testimony from about 30 people who have filed appeals.
"It's a pilot program to find alternate ways of adjudicating parking violations," said Carl Levredge, executive director of Parting Management Services. “It's an experiment done on a trial basis. We want ample time to test it and then review it to see if it's a viable process. Then we'll decide whether to implement it on a broader basis."
The current procedure is to file an appeal with Parking Management Services, which then makes a decision as to the validity of the ticket. Levredge said the current proce-(See Parking, page 6)