Schor to Hit It Big
USC graduate and musician Ben Schor discusses travails, pleasures of recording album with no outside help / 7
I.........../jf.
S I \ C i:	19	12
DAILY TROJAN
Student newspaper of the University of Southern California
Professors petition Iraq war
Politics: USC faculty members have joined Internet-based effort by national academic community to protest invasion
By LIDIANA PORTALES
Contributing Writer
A petition opposing a U.S. invasion of Iraq originally penned at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities has made its way to southern California where a number of USC professors have signed the Web-based petition.
The petition posted at
http://wwwinoattackiraq.org encourages the academic community to register their voice against a potential war in Iraq, saying an invasion of Iraq is not in the United States’ best interest an4 that the Iraqi threat is not credible.
What started out as an editorial to a school newspaper has grown enormous, claiming more than 30,000 signatures as of Monday
afternoon, according to the Web site. Of that 30,000, 14,180 are from university faculty and 14 are from USC.
Signing USC faculty hail from diverse departments such as classics, law, biological sciences, music and business. Other USC signatures come from 16 students, nine alumni and one post-doctoral student. Most heard about the petition by word of mouth and sent it on to others.
Ian Barnard, a lecturer in the writing program who said he was "strongly opposed to war,” received the petition through the Internet
from colleagues at other universities.
Likewise, Ariela Gross, professor j of law and history, received the petition from a professor at Stanford j University and signed to voice her | concerns about war.
“As the statement suggests, there j are global concerns,” Gross said. “In I particular, the presidents pre-emp-tive attack on a country that has weapons but isn’t using them or planning to is dangerous.”
Harry DeAngelo, professor of finance and business economics,
I see Petition, page 10 I
TUESDAY
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November 5, 2002
Of interest...
Unemployment becomes more prevalent as America settles into recession — where is hope? / 4
News Digest	2	Opinions	4
Lifestyle	7	CD Picks	7
Roundup	9	Classifieds	12
Crossword	13	Sports	16
vol. CXLVII, no. 50 www.dailytrojan.com
Honor
society
chapter
opening
Academics: Students, staff petition national Omicron Delta Kappa for USC home
By SHERYL MANALANG
Contributing Writer
Just when you thought USC had all the possible organizations with Greek letters for names, a new one is in the works.
A group of 10 students, two faculty members and two staff members are petitioning to establish a USC chapter of Omicron Delta Kappa, a national honor society.
ODK prides itself on recognizing and involving student leaders, regardless of the arena of their excellence. The society strives to recognize excellent leaders in the USC community while giving a variety of student, faculty and staff leaders the opportunity to work together in bettering USC.
The group met Friday to choose the remaining members of the founding class. The meeting lasted more than six hours, with group members sorting through more than 80 applications and nominations, said Heather Larabee, director of campus activities, in an e-mail. The group chose less than half of the applications and nominations they received, Larabee said.
Chosen members will be notified during Troy Week.
The next task for the society will be to develop a plan for a university-wide leadership program. Several ideas, such as a leadership conference, have been collected from the applicants, and one of the first meeting’s goals will be to work on the program for the spring semester, I see Society, page 10 I
sheltered
By MELANIE ZAHAR0P0UL0S
While
officials
attempt
to
revitalize the city’s core, questions rise about how to address area’s homeless problem
It’s inescapable. At the gas station and the supermarket, in small towns and big cities. It’s called an invisible epidemic, but invisible to whom?
HomeleSsness is one of the largest issues facing downtown Los Angeles. Developers call it the single biggest obstacle to a thriving city nightlife and shelter workers say it’s the inevitable result of the city’s own dumping ground philosophy. So whose job is it to fix the problem?
No clear answer has emerged to that question, but as Los Angeles County’s estimated 75,000 homeless residents live out another day, community members wonder what private and public organizations are doing about the rising homeless population, begging the question, what’s to be done?
Maida Chan, a sophomore major-I see Homeless, page 11 I
Abran Rubiner I Daily
Sullen stare. Homelessness is a significant issue prevalent in downtown Los Angeles.
Trojan
Two suspects caught as incidents continue
Crime: Halloween weekend yields more LAPD arrests from suspected robbery ring
By SOPHIA KAZMI
Projects Editor
Two additional suspects were arrested Sunday in connection with the rash of robberies that have occurred near campus, said Capt. Joe White, acting commander in chief of Department of Public Safety field services.
A witness called the Los Angeles Police Department while two suspects attempted to rob a student on the 2600 block of Ellendale Place. The officers were able to detain the males for investigation and arrested them. DPS officers were present at the time of the arrest, White said.
The LAPD now have four men in custody who may be associated with the crimes near campus, but none have been charged. White said.
Six robberies and one robbery attempt occurred near I see Robberies, page 13 I
Campus faith groups less restrictive
RELIGION & ETHICS
By ELIZABETH BR0THERT0N
StaffWriter
Eilon Gabel Worried that if he joined Chabad (® USC, a religious group on campus, he would not be seen as cool. He worried he would be criticized by strict leaders for not always following Jewish traditions. He worried he would be given evil looks for wearing shorts instead of a yarmulke. He knew that Chabad was an Orthodox Jewish organization, and he was raised in a more liberal setting.
Gabel, a freshman majoring in computer science, faced his fears, however, and found they had no merit.
“The initial fears 1 had about the strict rabbi and the constant criticism were dismissed as soon as I
met everyone,” Gabel said. “I found out that they are genuinely great people that just want to have fun.” Students are often plagued with many types of fears that have prevented them from joining campus religious organizations, said Rabbi Susan Laemmle, dean of Religious Life. They fear a religious group will be too pushy, the services the organization offers will be different from what they are used to, or they will feel unwelcome, she said.
“When students go to a new group, they are very nervous,” Laemmle said. “If the slightest little thing goes wrong, they get scared away.”
Students have assumed stereotypes about religious groups without actually giving them a chance, said Rabbi Dov Wagner, religious
director of Chabad @ USC.
“My experience has been that, given our traditional bent, students assume that our group is all about service and prayer,” Wagner said. “Many students don’t associate open debate and discussion, open-mindedness, and especially fun, entertaining and intellectually stimulating activities with a religious group.”
One the biggest fears students have is that an organization is possibly different from what they are used to — from the music, to the group members, to the atmosphere itself, said Melissa Dobbins, a senior majoring in electrical engineering and a board member of the Religious Organizations Council.
“It’s all new,” Dobbins said. “Student organizations are very dif-I see Religion, page 13 I