This Bears Golden
Quarterback Kyle Boiler has Cal off to a good start this season, reversing its fortune from the previous year /16
s i n c E
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DM TROJAN
Student newspaper of the University of Southern California
THURSDAY
October 10, 2002
Of interest...
Refusal to allow Green Party in Monday’s gubernatorial debate shows candidates’ bad side / 4
News Digest	2	Opinions	4
Lifestyle	7	Horoscopes 7	
Roundup	11	Classifieds	16
Crossword	17	Sports	20
vol. CXLVII, no. 32 www.dailytrojan.com
New Peitusati look more than a pretty cover
Redesign: Bookstore to add seats, reduce traffic around doors, increase inventory
By KEVIN MERICKEL
Contributing Writer
Pertusati University Bookstore is beginning a new chapter.
Renovations will make the store more than just a place to buy textbooks and supplies. Plans are underway to provide students with an alternative hangout
Two construction plans were being engineered to give the bookstore a fresh new look with books in the window and an entry lined with flowers, said Dan Stimmler, director of the bookstore.
“We want to see an environment that is more warm and inviting,” Stimmler said.
The bookstore has limited seating for students. The renovation is going to add side chairs and end tables throughout the first and second floors as part of the warming ambiance, he said.
Some students said they thought the redesign was a good idea.
“It is nice to have a place to come to sit and thumb through books I might want to buy,” said Marc Korman, a senior majoring in history-
Fresh paint, new carpet and the
addition of four easy chairs were part of the first stages of the renovation process.
Stimmler said they planned on redesigning the floor plan of the General Books area. This will include changing where the registers are placed and where the bookstores main entrance is located.
Having the entrance, exit and I see Renovation, page 12 I
SIDEBAR
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Sales: National titles and football victories bolster store’s apparel revenue
By MERRILL BALASSONE
Contributing Writer
A Rose Bowl win in 1996. A baseball national championship in 1998. And last year, a men’s tennis national championship.
Not only did these titles maintain USC’s reputation for excellence in athletics, but they also renewed school spirit and support for Trojan teams among students.
Many students choose to show I see Bookstore, page 111
Looking glass
Rachel Elias I Daily Trojan
Facing off. Students dance in front of their mirrored images to perfect their technique.
Staff health care costs rise
Insurance: USC workers pay lower premiums and say benefit package is strong
By TODD WITEK
Contributing Writer
As the cost of health insurance rises, so do the premiums USC staff and faculty pay. Costs will increase from 15 percent to 17 percent for the 10,000 eligible employees.
Each year, negotiations are made with health care programs to resolve premium costs based on current trends in health insurance, said Lisa Macchia, director of USC Health Plans. Insurance rates are determined as a result of various factors. Technology, uninsured patients and unnecessary treatments all have played their part in prices swelling. Surprisingly, unemployment and the dwindling economy have not had a major affect on the rates, said Jeffrey
McCombs, associate professor of pharmaceutical economics and policy.
Uninsured but employed people are costing hospitals a great deal of money and giving them bad debt, McCombs said. The insurance companies need to raise everyone else’s rates to pay for those who do not pay at all, he said.
He also explained that Americans spend too much testing I see Health, page 13 I
Tuition amount evaluated annually
Budget: Board of trustees must balance university goals with parent demand for lower cost when determining fee
By ALISON SHACKELFORD
Contributing Writer
Tuition brought in more than $613 million for USC in 2001, helped fund more than $161 million in financial aid and still costs students less than attending 18 other top universities.
Robert Cooper, university budget
director and associate senior vice president, explained how the cost of tuition was determined and why it sometimes needed to increase. Tuition was increased 5.6 percent from last year.
“There’s really two factors that we take into consideration when setting tuition,” said Cooper, who is responsible for university-wide
budget planning.
When the provost and USC President Steven B. Sample meet with the board of trustees to decide on tuition, they focus on the needs of the university and the external pressures from parents and students to keep the rates as low as possible, Cooper said.
“That's a tough balance,” he said. “We do have trustees that are very concerned about the increase in tuition; at I see Tuition, page 13 I
"Theres really two factors that we take into consideration when setting tuition’.'
ROBERT
COOPER
budget director
Few students use credit counseling agency assistance
YOUR
MONEY
By KAREN ZL0TNIK
Staff Writer
While there are numerous companies that help people minimize their debts, it appears that most college students do not use them.
These non-profit organizations help individuals consolidate debts and find debt-management programs. They can help those who are
behind on their credit card payments and other unsecured debts. An unsecured debt is one for which you haven’t pledged any collateral and there is no property for the creditor to repossess if you fail to repay, according to lawinfo.com.
Consumers should be wary of debt relief offers that sound too good to be true, because many of them can lead to bankruptcy, according to the
Federal Trade Commission Web site. The FTC said to talk with creditors and see if they can help or contact a credit counseling service, because bankruptcy stays on a credit report for ten years.
If a person goes directly to the creditor, he or she does not have to pay an overhead to a credit company. Credit counseling services work with I see Credit, page 11 I
DPS reports crime rate declining in USC neighborhood
Safety: Fewer burglary, robbery and rape incidents reported than in previous years; petty theft numbers cannot be included
By KEITH WAGSTAFF
Staff Writer
The 2001 annual crime statistics published by the USC Department of Public Safety showed a decrease in nearly every single category of crime from the year before.
According to the University Park Campus crime statistics, the amount of burglaries dropped 11 percent from 2000 to 2001 while the number of reported robberies dropped 46 percent
Most of the crimes on and near campus are crimes of opportunity, such as someone swiping a laptop computer or stealing a car stereo in plain view of passing pedestrians.
Some people who look like students but are not can access student apartments by “piggybacking,” or waiting for other students to let them in, said
I see Statistics, page 12 I
Crime
Crunch
Ironically, the number of crimes occurring on the Health Sciences Campus is lowering as the area grows