Nittany Lions get skinned
Sports, page 24
Buddy system outdoes Access
Viewpoint, page 5
Theater aimed at kids in gangs
Life / Arts, page 9
on
trojan
Volume CXIII, Number 10
University of Southern California
Monday, September 17,1990
A Sharper Focus
Just east of campus, they walk a fine line
By Jordana Bieze
Staff Writer
Nobody takes a walk down 36th Place.
Ask the two students who were robbed at gunpoint on Sept. 8 while returning to their 36th Place apartment after a party. Especially ask the one who took a bullet in the leg.
That shooting was at 1:35 a.m. — not a time that Los Angeles Police Department officers would recommend for taking a walk anywhere in the university area.
But even under a bright mid-afternoon sun, the sidewalks of 36th Place and others that crisscross Catalina Street just east of campus are virtually deserted.
The few apartment buildings in the neighborhood that rent rooms to university students are silent and lifeless behind heavy iron gates.
More prevalent but equally still are the small, plain wood-frame houses whose residents are primarily working-class, black or Hispanic. Every few houses, one or two residents lounge on a front porch and solemnly watch the empty street.
News of last weekend's shooting doesn't faze them.
"When was it? Friday night? Yeah, there are shootings around here on Friday nights," said William Johnson, who lives two blocks away on 37th Place.
"I don't know anything about it, but it was probably gang-related or drug-related," Johnson said. "Around here, any time there's a shooting it's gang-related or drug-related."
Drive-by shootings, crack houses, burglaries
—	mention of these topics ignites no sparks in the eyes of those who have lived here for years. Crime .is not taken lightly, but it has been accepted as a fact of life.
"Yeah, there's shootings maybe once or twice a week," said Keith Jones, a resident of 37th Street. "You hear gunfire, but you don't know for sure what's going on. Sometimes it's at night, sometimes during the day."
The dearth of daytime pedestrian traffic is suddenly less mysterious.
Mark Setser, the shooting victim's roommate, said their apartment has been burglarized three times since he moved there.
Jones and Brenda Brown, another 37th Street resident, said their homes have not been bur-
(See Walk, page 16)
Extension reduces late fees
ushce
Staff Writers
The amount of money the university collected in late fees from students has decreased this year because of a one-week deadline extension and because more students are paying their bills on time, financial aid officials said.
The Aug. 31 deadline to pay tuition bills was extended one week this semester because a large number of financial aid offers were mispackaged, officials said.
Ted Andrews, director of student financial operations, said about 2,500 students were charged a flat fee of $100 last week for missing the extended Sept. 7 payment deadline. Fines were levied again Friday and will be charged for two more weeks until a $325 maximum is reached, Andre1,vs said.
The $100 fee is charged automatically, regardless of the
amount of money owed, if payments are not made, Andrews said.
He said the university has charged late fees for the last three years and has seen a steady decrease in the number of outstanding tuition bills. Andrews said the late fees have pressured students into taking the university's collection policy seriously.
While about $900,000 was collected in late fees last year, Andrews said most students pay their tuition fees after the first $100 penalty is assessed. He said a maximum fine is rarely charged.
The money raised through late fees is channeled into a reserve fund that keeps university programs running despite the amount of bad debt the university incurs, Andrews said.
(See Late fees, page 16)
Trailblader’
Katarina Zarkaa I Daily Trojan
Bryan Palluck, a freshman majoring In exercise science, skates through campus on his Rollerblades trying to get a tan and get to his class on time.
Car pooling curbs costs of commute
By Dorothy Tsao
Staff Writer
About 1,000 people on campus have taken advantage of this year's car pool program, which offers discounted parking permits and free parking for car pools with more than two passengers, said Laura Dreschler, Rideshare coordinator.
Student commuters who take part in the program save about $30 in parking fees each semester, Dreschler said. Faculty and staff members save about $5 per month, she added.
Car pooling is "being seen favorably in all eyes of the faculty, staff and students," she said.
University officials said the implementation of the Rideshare program contributed to this year's 28.5-percent increase in the cost of parking permits. They said the implementation of the ridesharing program could decrease the total number of permits bought and lower parking permit revenues.
The car pool program is part of the university's Rideshare system, a "generic term for sharing a ride to work or school," Dreschler said. The Rideshare program encompasses van pools, low rate bus passes and car pools. The car pool portion of the program was started in April of 1989.
Dreschler said the increased cost of gas and hassles of traffic prompted many commuters to look at alternative routes to reach their destinations — via car pools, van pools and buses.
(See Car pool, page 20)
Students find centers efficient, in spite of costs
By Anjanette Schouwe
Staff Writer
Friday afternoon Michelle Young went to Waite Phillips Hall to use the university computer services. After typing her resume and cover letters, she was sold on the usefulness of the service.
"I wouldn't have been able to do my work without this computer," said Young, a graduate student in communications management, who said she did not have a personal computer. "The environment is nice and the (computer) consultant was very helpful answering all my questions."
Her only complaint was having to buy a discretionary plan
with a $20 minimum to print off pages.
“We are beyond a print shop," said James Pepin, director of facilities of University Computer Services. "UCS is a combination of services of micro computers, main computers and department and work station computers."
King HaU, Waite Phillips Hall, the business school, Salvatori Computer Science Center and the gerontology school house Macintoshes and PCs for student use.
UCS also has mainframe computers for graduate students and other programs for research.
"For grads we have comput-
ers they can do their research on," Pepin said. "We have access to the super computer center available nationwide. We also have a mini-super computer on campus and a large disc storage for data."
Computer services are paid by users, the individual schools and by the Department of Contracts and Grants, said Pepin.
Pepin said this year's policy of charging per page printing costs is intended to cut down on the waste of paper and long delays as users print off dozens of copies on free paper.
Pepin said the department needed a way to provide services on a fixed budget and last year was losing too much mon-
ey in the abuse of the printing privileges.
The Academic Computer Advisory Council decided to charge per page according to the efficiency of the printer. Laser printers are the most expensive at 25 cents per page. However, prices are subject to change.
"We expect technology to improve the price of the Macintosh down to 10 cents per page by the middle of the year," Pepin said. "This is not a guarantee though."
Pepin said he hopes to get a new printer that would increase the efficiency further and reduce the per page printing costs.
The computer rooms are hardly empty because of the
new costs; some students find the printers more accessible, now that long delays are minimized.
"They (students) always drop by and do work. A lot of classes need you to use a computer now instead of typewriters," said Lorita Lai, student supervisor at Waite Phillip Hall computer room.
Lai said she has not noticed a decrease in the number of people using the computers since last spring.
There are other lesser known services such as Unix and the new USCInfo offered by the University Computer Services.
"Unix is a computer language (See Center, page 17)