WEATHER
for Friday, September 3, 1999
High: 70-
tow; 61"
Weather will be partly cloudy. UV index will be 8; UV risk is high.
Rebuild or reload: Led by new interim coach Jerritt Elliott, the Women of Troy will look to capitalize on last season’s Pac-10 success.	Oft
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Bands on the run: Groups are dropping their own headlining gigs to join large-scale tours.	diversions 7
Calendar Off the Wire Your Money Roundup Classifieds Crossword Piuzle
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NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
September 2,1999 Vol. CXXXVIII, No. 4
Azad Jafarian I Daily Trojan
Behind the scenes. Nathan Miller, a senior majoring in filmic writing, runs projecting equipment at George Lucas Instructional.
Program helps students find major
Academics: Learning communities give freshmen a chance to study an area of interest
By ANNE WONSONO
Staff Writer
For those freshmen who have no idea what to major in when they arrive at the university, a USC program now is helping them figure it out.
The Learning Communities Program was started last year as an effort to provide direction for freshmen who have not declared majors and to boost the university’s undergraduate retention rate.
Modeled after a program at the University of Oregon, it caters to the academic interests of undeclared freshmen and is divided into nine communities
including pre-cinema, pre-law and social sciences, pre-health sciences and an honors program.
Freshmen in the same community take two courses together — an introductory course in the area of interest and a related general education course.
For example, those enrolled in the pre-cinema community will take Introduction to Cinema (CTCS 190) and Classical Mythology (CLAS 280), while those in pre-law and social sciences will be taking courses such as Media and Society (COMM310) and Law, Politics and Public Policy (POSC 130).
Each community is also attached to a faculty mentor and a staff adviser. Other faculty members are invited to speak at social events and give students insight into the academic areas they are exploring.
Pre-cinema, pre-health sciences and honors courses filled quickly, said Albert Herrera, executive director of the Office of College Advising. However, some courses offered have been canceled due to
lack of enrollment.
This year, the program has a total enrollment of 150, with 18 to 20 students in each community.
Retention rates have improved with the implementation of the program because more students are being oriented to university academic life, Herrera said.
Ninety-nine out of approximately 100 freshmen enrolled in the program last year have returned to USC as sophomores, coordinators said.
“If you don’t have a major yet, it makes sense to attend a variety of classes,” said Angela Meyers, who enrolled in the program this semester. “I get to know more of the same people as we have the same exact schedule.”
Advisers said student feedback has been positive so far.
“They consider it an interesting experience, helpful in making adjustments to their freshman year,” said Tim Scott, a staff adviser at the Office of College Advising.
USC to help Army create simulations
Partnership: The $45 million contract to develop technology with campus is first of its kind
By EDITH CHAN
Assistant City Editor
Combine Hollywood-caliber special effects with the perils of lethal combat and guess what you get. The latest violent video game? Not quite. Try the next step in improving realism in the U.S. Army’s combat training simulations.
This is what U.S. Army officials hoped for when signed a $45 million contract with USC in August to develop modeling and simulation technologies using artificial intelligence and virtual reality.
This is the first time that the U.S. Army has partnered with both academics and the entertainment industry to produce simulation technology on its behalf, said Maj. John Suttle, the U.S. Army’s deputy director of marketing.
“Hollywood gives a more realistic impact in virtual reality and in training our soldiers,” Suttle said. “We think that USC will make a good partnership because of the good contacts with the entertainment industry, and the university has a tremendous pool of talents who can help us to develop this technology.”
The contract, signed Aug. 17 by Secretary of the Army Louis Caldera, launched a new technology center — the Institute for Creative Technologies — that will combine the expertise and talents from several USC departments, including the Annenberg Center for Communication, the Entertainment Technology Center from the School of Cinema-Television, the Information Sciences Institute and the Integrated Media System Center. The latter two are part of the School of Engineering.
In the initial five-year agreement, the grant will help 1CT research and produce state-of-the-art virtual reality environments and other more sophisticated simulation technologies to sharpen the skills of future U.S. soldiers.
“The project’s goal is to create improved modeling and simulation tools to train Army personnel,” said Jim Korris, director of the School of Cinema-Television’s Entertainment Technology' Center. “Traditional Army simulations were boring and not quite engaging. The Army wants enlivening and energizing simulations to train their military. They want the Hollywood kind of story telling capabilities in their simulations.”
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Today debuts the fii'st “Your Money ” column which will focus on student finance issues, including financial aid, stocks, credit and taxes. Story ideas for the column can be submitted to dtrojan@usc.edu. The feature will appear every Thursday on page 2.
Group aims to prevent political apathy
Organization: United Leaders will provide non-partisan discussion on public service issues
By EUGENE TONG
Staff Writer
Tired of politics as usual? A new campus group aims to convert an apathetic student body back to the body politic.
United Leaders, a political organization launched this year at USC and at more than 50 universities nationwide, hopes to provide a non-partisan forum to engage students in public service, said Mike Fonte, co-founder
and executive director.
“There really isn’t a group for college students of all political beliefs,” said Fonte, a sophomore majoring in public policy and management. “A lot of college students haven’t figured out where they fit in. If students feel they have to pick, they would rather not be involved at all.” Fonte’s participation in Junior Statesman of America, a national high school-level political organization, gave him contacts to establish United Leaders chapters at colleges and universities nationwide.
Jesse Levey, co-founder and executive director, said he aims to create a broad, non-partisan organization.
“We want everybody to feel like they can come to a meeting,” said Levey, a Tufts University student. “We want to program for the entire campus.”
Students and recent college graduates have a negative perception of politics, Levey said, which causes students to stay away from it.
“A lot of graduating students weren’t going into the world of public service,” he said. “They didn’t want to sell themselves off into politics and special interests.” Partisan battles that waged in the American government for the past year may account for the current waning interest in politics among today’s youth, Fonte said.
“We noticed that there were many college students w'ho were involved (with politics) in high school but are not interested in politics and public service anymore,” he said. “Partisanship in the last year and all the corruption is turning young people away from politics.”
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