ONLINE EXCLUSIVE Go online for pictures of CALPIRG’s event to promote a new rail line.
Student Newspaper of the University of Southern California Since 1912 | VOL. 163, NO. 29 | www.dailytrojan.com thursday, february 28, 2008
Darker days
Doheny exhibit reveals the murders, mobsters
and scandals that made front page
news in Hollywood history. 7
FATHER KNOWS BEST
USC head coach Chad Kreuter lost last night
to his father-in-law’s UCI squad, 7-3. 12
By MELODY CHIU
Daily Trojan
With just six weeks left in the
term, Chief of Staff Matthew
Heins resigned from the Under-graduate
Student Government
during Tuesday’s Senate meeting
after serving for more than three
years in various positions.
In his resignation speech, Heins
said his “participation in the Un-dergraduate
Student Government
no longer serves the best interest
of the student body.”
He failed to give specific rea-sons
for his resignation, however,
and declined to comment further.
President Sahil Chaudry and
Vice President Max Slavkin also
refused to comment on reasons
for Heins’ resignation, as did
Caitlin Mattias, senior director
of communication, and J.J. Me-keel,
co-director of elections and
recruitment.
USG Residential Sens. Michael
Kahn and Kevin Webb said they
had no idea Heins was planning
to resign from his position and
have attempted to contact him
several times without receiving a
response.
“It was out of the blue,” Kahn
said. “I had no idea, and he didn’t
tell me why.”
As chief of staff, Heins served
as a mediator between Chaudry
and Slavkin and several USG di-rectors.
It was his job to oversee long-term
projects within USG and
help Chaudry accomplish his plat-form.
Despite his prominent role in
the organization, Heins said in his
speech he was “comforted by the
knowledge that this is the right
decision for the organization.”
Chaudry said an evaluation will
be made at the end of this week to
determine if the position needs to
be filled.
“If we don’t fill the position, it
will be because I will be able to
have tasks be accomplished by
other members of USG,” he said.
Representatives refuse to
say why USG’s chief of staff
resigned Tuesday night.
USG chief resigns,
won’t say reason
USC will not follow
Stanford’s tuition plan
By SYANTANI CHATTERJEE
Daily Trojan
Stanford University announced
its largest ever financial aid boost
for its undergraduate students last
Wednesday, but USC officials said
they do not plan to follow suit. The
program aims to reduce, and in many
cases, eliminate the burden of an ex-pensive
college education.
Students whose family incomes
are $100,000 or less will no lon-ger
pay tuition, while homes with
$60,000 or less will pay no tuition,
board or other expenses at Stanford,
according to a Feb. 20 Stanford press
release.
USC officials said they do not plan
to pursue a financial aid program like
Stanford’s because the university is
already stretching its endowment
funding too far for student financial
aid packages.
They said the university has a
much smaller endowment and a
larger number of students than Stan-ford.
“The operative word here is en-dowment
per student. In order
for us to do something like Stan-ford,
we would need a much larger
endowment,” said Jerry Lucido,
executive director and vice provost
for enrollment policy and manage-ment
at USC. “Some of these uni-versities
that have announced similar
financial aid packages have two to
three times the amount of money
that we do.”
Lucido said USC’s financial aid
programs have provided students
with need-based funds.
Officials say a smaller
endowment fund limits
student financial aid.
| see stanford, page 12 |
DPS hosts booth
to curtail citations
By MARSHALL WILSON
Daily Trojan
The Los Angeles Police Depart-ment
handed out close to 50 tickets
to students who did not abide by
the rules of the road on Tuesday.
To curtail the amount of cita-tions,
the Department of Public
Safety erected a booth on Trousdale
Parkway and handed out informa-tion
about laws that pertain to both
drivers and bicyclists Wednesday.
“We want to get the word out
as much as possible as far as what
the rules are regarding L.A. Vehicle
Codes and L.A. Municipal Codes,
and what people are supposed to
do when riding a bike, because so
many students don’t know,” said
DPS Officer Wyman Thomas.
The rules of the road apply to bi-cycles
because they are considered
vehicles, DPS officials said.
They include rules that prohibit
riding bicycles in the opposite di-rection
as moving traffic and rid-ing
next to the curb and not on the
sidewalk.
“Well, I don’t know anything
about the rules of the road. It seems
like they should put up posters or
something to get the word out,”
said Saul Tobin, a freshman major-ing
in composition.
DPS also used the booth as an
opportunity to register bicycles.
They aimed to decrease the number
of bikes impounded because of lack
of registration.
Although DPS is taking action
to inform the public, many stu-dents
said they think it’s too late to
get started.
“I don’t think they have been
DPS officers educated
students about bicycle laws
after a rise in citations.
| see bike law, page 12 |
CALPIRG shows support
Anne Chatprapachai, a fresh-man
majoring in international
relations-global business, helps
CalPIRG show its support
for a proposed high speed rail
line at an event on University
Parkway. The rail would connect
the Central Valley to San Jose and
the Peninsula to San Francisco.
Michael Sugarman | Daily Trojan
In November 2008, California
voters will be able to vote for a
bond measure to start laying the
tracks and get the train moving.
*Compiled from dmv.ca.gov/about/bicycle.htm
Rules of the Road…
1. Bicyclists must ride
as near to the curb as
possible, but never on the
sidewalk.
4. Bicyclists must
make turns as
drivers do, using the
same turning lanes
for both left and right
turns.
2. Bicyclists may choose to
ride near the left curb on
a one-way street.
3. Bicyclists
must ride
in the same
direction of
traffic.
SPORTS | Daniel
Hackett might return
to action tonight
when USC plays
Arizona. PAGE 20
OPINION |
Republican pollster
Frank Lutz manipu-lates
words to public’s
fancy, writes Kim
Fortson. PAGE 4