Loss of Perfection
The top-ranked women’s volleyball team loses first match of season, ending season-long win streak /16
DM TROJM
Student newspaper of the University of Southern California
MONDAY
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November 4, 2002
Of interest...
Two-unit classes should be worth more credits if workload is same as four-unit courses / 4
News Digest	2	Calendar	2
Opinions	4	Lifestyle	7
The Buzz	7	Classifieds	12
Crossword	13	Sports	16
vol. CXLVII, no. 49 www.dailytrojan.com
Training
program
launches
Community: University adopts year-round training for volunteers of Special Olympics
By MARYBEL GONZALEZ
Contributing Writer
This semester, USC. became the second university to adopt the Special Olympics volunteer training program in the southern California region.
The other university, UCLA,.has been training disabled athletes since 1979.
Steff Sykes, president of USC’s Special Olympics, said she helped bring the program to USC because of the joys associated with helping disabled persons.
One of those special jays occurred at one of the organization's events this year — Fun Day. About 40 disabled people and 40 volunteers buddied up Oct 26 and played soccer, volleyball and basketball.
“There were a lot of people with smiles and happy faces from the volunteers to the athletes," said Paul Badinka, director of the Special Olympics in the greater Los Angeles area.
Sykes was one of the volunteers walking around and looking at all the participants laugh and play, when she noticed something that made her smile.
“I thought it was incredible and hilarious when all who were playing soccer got in a circle and were holding hands — they were that connected with one another and they looked so happy," Sykes said. “The best part is getting to know the athletes as individuals. They’re so great and all have individual personalities."
Sykes Said she naturally gravitated toward a young woman whom she has been working with since the beginning of the semester. The woman was originally very self-conscious and shy because of her slow motor
I see Olympics, page 111
"The best part is getting to know the athletes as individuals. They’re so great and all have individual personalities’.' —♦— STEFF SYKES president USC’s Special Olympics
Associate dean to lead ADA
Administration: Alumnus and first Asian American to head dentistry organization
By JESSIE WITKIN
Contributing Writer
For Eugene Sekiguchi, running the association representative of about 70 percent of the country’s dentists was simply the next step.
An associate dean and alumnus of the USC School of Dentistry, Sekiguchi was appointed head of the American Dental Association in October by the association’s House of Delegates.
Sekiguchi, clinical professor and associate dean for international, professional and legislative affairs, as is his complete professional title, is also occupied with his responsibilities in what is known in the dentistry lexicon as “tripartite."
In other words, he is involved in dentistry at three levels. At the local level, he is the president of the San Gabriel Valley Dental Association. At the state level, he runs the California Dental Association as president and interim executive director. And now, as of fall 2003, he will take on the presidency of the country’s American Dental Association as well.
“It is the highest position in the profession,” said Jack F. Conley, associate professor at the School of Dentistry and a colleague of Sekiguchi’s. “He makes all the policy and sets the standards for over
141,000	dentists around the country
—	it’s a tremendous leadership responsibility and a huge honor. Few dentists are ever recognized like that"
And Sekiguchi is recognized all the more as the first Asian American to hold the post.
“I try to-downplay the Asian-American fact," he said. “In this arena, my ethnicity is dentistry. I know I’m seen as an Asian I see Sekiguchi, page 10 I
Toying around. Eugene Sekiguchi, associate dean of the School of Dentistry and president-elect of the American Dental Association, uses an articulator, a device to stimulate mouth movement.
Recruitment strategies boost image
Class project becomes quest to update city signs on Row
Government Students find difficulty gaining attention of elected officials, citing reason as having nonvoter status
By SARA RODRIGUEZ
Contributing Writer
Student complaints are being ignored by the city because most of the students are not registered voters in the area, said Adam Rose, a junior majoring in public policy and management
Rose and two other public policy and management majors, Kenny Young and Ryan Kowal, went to the Los Angeles Department of Transportation a few weeks ago when they were given a class project — to take a city problem and find out how difficult it was to get the problem fixed.
Rose, Young and Kowal focused on a problem they had noticed with the faded signs on Greek Row — it was difficult to see what days were
street-sweeping days, so many students were parking during prohibited times and getting ticketed.
“We complained to about a million different people with about a million different numbers, and when we didn’t get a response, we wrote letters to the Los Angeles Times, L.A. Downtown News and the Daily Trojan, but we still haven’t heard anything yet,” Rose said.
Because no one knew exactly who to speak to, the three students each made several different calls. The District Aid Constituent Services, Bureau of Street Services and the District Aid City Council also made calls on the students’ behalf, Rose said.
“When I talked to them, they would tell us not to call them back,
I	see Signs, page 10 I
Status: University programs speaking for selves, bringing in highly qualified students
By L1DIANA PORTALES
Contributing Writer
About 10 years ago, USC launched an ambitious campaign to gain greater status as a national university by attracting top-tier students. Many strategies and programs were created to improve the image of the university, and therefore, the number and quality of applications were still in place a decade later.
While new programs have not been implemented, USC has succeeded in attracting more competitive students.
Laurel Baker Tew, director of admissions, has been with the university for 18 years and has seen all the changes.
“There was an aggressive push to recruit out-of-state students," Tew
said. “(USC) President (Steven B.) Sample and Provost Lloyd Armstrong gave us four key messages that we could build on.”
The four messages Tew spoke of were familiar to most USC students, many of whom heard them while applying to the university. The first message dedicated USC to being an international university by recruiting students and faculty from different countries. The second promoted USC as Los Angeles’ premier university, and the other messages stressed the undergraduate research opportunities and the breadth with depth curriculum.
In addition to the strategies, several programs were still around to attract students.
The Residential Honors Program invited high school students to apply early and finish their senior year at USC. The program is small and closely tied to Thematic Option.
“Most applicants are higher than average,” Tew said. “The program is
designed for the exceptionally precious and bright”
The program convinced David Sheski, a junior majoring in psychology, to enroll at USC.
“I looked online for early admission programs and found USC and NYU," Sheski said. “I wanted to get out of my small town, and the program seemed like a good opportunity."
Another program that brought brainy Trojans was the Baccalaureate/MD, which guaranteed a few students admission to the USC Keck School of Medicine.
“We interviewed 500 students and offered only 50 positions," said Dr. Erin Quinn, Associate Dean of Admission and Educational Affairs. "The average SAT and GPA is very high. Many students choose USC that have been offered spots at Harvard or Yale."
Scholarships also enticed many students. Tew said students receiving merit scholarships from the univer-I see Image, page 11 !