Defending Homefront
USC's defense forces 27 turnovers and its offense comes alive in the second half, scoring 60 points as it defeats Stanford 90-82 / 20
s i \ c i:	1912
DAM TROJAN
Student newspaper of the University of Southern California
MONDAY
----------♦-----------
January 28, 2002
Of interest...
Who gets paid to see the Los Angeles Lakers play? Some Spirit of Troy members do / 7
News Digest	2	Opinions	4
Lifestyle	7	The Buzz	7
Roundup	13	Classifieds	16
Crossword	17	Sports	20
vol. CXLV, no. 13 www.dailytrojan.com
Policy hinders transfer units
Math class combines discussion and lecture
Experiment Three Calculus for Business sections try innovative course format to increase class participation
Academics: Students find roadblocks when trying to transfer credits from outside institutions
By JACKSON DeMOS
Contributing Writer
Milissa Skoro, a junior majoring in general studies, entered USC in the spring semester after taking classes at a community college. Skoro said a USC adviser told her to take specific classes before coming to USC so she
could eliminate some general education requirements.
But when Skoro arrived at USC, she was disappointed to find that she received only elective credit for the classes she took at William Rainey Harper College. She petitioned the articulation office twice, but each petition was denied.
“I thought 1 didn’t give them enough information the first time," Skoro said. “So the second time, 1 gave them class notes, letters from my professor, books from the class and the syllabus.”
Edwenna Werner, articulation
officer and assistant dean of Academic Records and Registrar, said she hopes ' Skoro was not treated unfairly.
“People can certainly come back, and do. We don’t say, ’Get out of here, we’re never talking to you,”’ Werner said. “We will talk to them.”
Transfer students have filed about 500 to 600 petitions in the last year and a half, and about 50 percent of them were denied, Werner said. Course credit is automatically denied because students request course credit for classes not listed in the computer database.
The university accepts courses
from schools recognized by six regional accreditation agencies, according to the course catalogue. USC determines whether to give students credit for courses taken at an accredited school on a case-by-case basis. The Articulation Office reviews classes that are not taken during a 15-week semester, distance education and televised courses, and independent and directed study taken at a four-year institution.
If the courses are found to be nontransferable, then the office needs written proof or verbal I see Credits, page 14 I
By JOHN TAN
Staff Writer
Imagine having a class with a lecture and discussion section in one. This semester, the mathemat-* ics department is experimenting with a “lecture-plus-workshop” format, which is designed to encourage students to participate more actively in class.
Three sections of MATH 118, or Calculus for Business, are taught using this format, which replaces the traditional discussion session with more professor-student interaction during the regular lecture.
Hubertus Von Bremen, an assistant math professor and one of the three professors participating in the program, said he normally gives a lecture for half of the allotted time. The rest of the time, students get the chance to work on problems.
“(Class time) is compressed, so it is less time for the students," said Wlodek Proskurowski, a math professor. “We hope that they will be more intensively preparing for the class and participating in it more actively,” .
The format may become standard for all Calculus for Business classes if the experiment succeeds, said Wayne Raskind, mathematics chair. Students in the three experimental sections will take the same final exam as those in the four other sections, and we can compare results.
“We will interview students to see how they are finding it and have a study done on the learning outcomes,” Raskind said.
Raskind, who developed the program, said it was difficult to serve all students well in the traditional format.
“I taught Calculus for Business three years ago and thought that the instruction could be improved by changing the format,” he said.
Professors will be expected to provide more attention and more assistance to students in order to assess where difficulties are encountered, Raskind said. Teaching assistants will also be present to aid students during office hours and in class.
“The TAs assist (the professor) in roving the class to help and inspire students,” Raskind said.
Authorities chose to experiment in Calculus for Business because of the fast pace of the course and the diverse backgrounds of students who enroll in MATH 118, Raskind said.
The new format is a better way of taking calculus, said James Low, a junior pre-business major. Having the teacher right there doing prob-I see Math, page 13 I
Rioters lose in-state financial aid in Colorado
A Colorado bill that would disqualify students convicted of rioting from in-state tuition and financial aid passed in the House Committee on Education last week.
If enacted into law, the bill would make any student attending a Colorado public university pay out-of-state tuition for one year. It also would allow universities to refuse to enroll convicted students.
Some school officials have argued that the bill would be hard to implement.
“1 don’t think this is a good piece of legislation,” said Linda Kuk, vice president of student affairs at Colorado State University, told the
CAMPUS INSIDER
------♦------
Rocky Mountain Collegian. “It will be extremely difficult to enforce."
The bill proposes that in order to keep schools aware of convicted students, the district attorney would report the offense to the Colorado Commission on Higher Education. The commission would then send the information to the campus that
the student attends.
Kuk also said that schools are currently able to punish students for rioting, so the bill would not be very useful.
“We already have the power to do what the bill suggests,” she said. “The bill doesn’t do anything in terms of aiding the university in what it needs to do."
But bill author Don Lee said that the measure is needed to deter students from rioting.
“1 think (rioting is) something that’s increased on an established pattern," Lee said. “It’s a real concern. It’s a type of behavior that can erupt to significant consequences.
When you get hundreds of people like that, it can easily become a terrible tragedy.”
Kuk said the punishment proposed by the bill might be too strict, considering students convicted of other crimes are not subject to such regulations.
“Is it fair to tell a convicted rioter that they can’t pay in-state tuition, but you let rapists and murders get it?” Kuk said.
CSU students had mixed responses to the bill.
“It depends on the circumstance,” said Kate Gillette, a senior majoring in zoology. “You have to I see Insider, page 13 I
Hooray. USC
students celebrate in the final seconds of the Trojans' 90-82 victory against Stanford at the Sports Arena.
►Complete coverage / 20
Raise the roof