STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SINCE 1912 | WWW.DAILYTROJAN.COM | VOL. 165, NO. 32 | THURSDAY OCTOBER 9, 2008
INDEX
2 · News Digest
4 · Opinion
8 · Sudoku
9 · Lifestyle
20 · Classifieds
24 · Sports
Thirsty Thursday: Make
delicious, easy drinks with
a kick. PAGE 9
The Mondays: Fans get
inside look at USC football.
PAGE 24
By ALEXANDER COMISAR AND TIFFANIE WU
Daily Trojan
The preliminary hearing for the suspect accused of
murdering USC student Bryan Frost was postponed
Wednesday, after the prosecution and defense agreed
that more time was needed to review key evidence.
The hearing was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon,
but a judge granted the attorneys’ request to delay the
hearing shortly after the defendant, Travion Ford, 24, was
escorted into the room.
The judge noted that Ford reserves the right to proceed
with his preliminary hearing on the scheduled day, but
Ford agreed to delay it as well.
Ford has pleaded not guilty to murder charges in con-nection
with an incident that occurred near USC’s cam-pus
on Sept. 18, during which Frost was stabbed to death
after a verbal confrontation escalated into a physical
fight.
If convicted, Ford could serve additional prison time
because the knife used in the crime constitutes a deadly
weapon.
Deputy District Attorney Kennes Ma said he and Ford’s
legal counsel requested the delay because much of the evi-dence
remains unavailable and the rest was received just
two days prior to the scheduled day of the hearing.
“The defense attorney and I just got on the case, so
we’re waiting on more information to come to us from the
investigation,” Ma said.
Ma said, in most cases, hearings may only be delayed
by 10 days, but that the judge granted them more time to
prepare.
“Since this is a serious case, [the hearing] is set at 30
days,” he said. “The hearing will probably be held some-time
in December.”
When the hearing takes place, both sides will pres-ent
an overview of their cases and the judge will decide
whether or not the case should be transferred to California
Superior Court to stand trial.
Ford’s hearing
delayed as DA
weighs evidence
DA, defense attorney agree to delay preliminary
hearing in USC student murder case.
By NATALIE JARVEY
Daily Trojan
About 40 members of the
Carpenters Union gathered out-side
the construction site of the
new Cinematic Arts Complex
Wednesday to protest what they
said is unfair wage practices.
Carpenters from union
chapter Local 209 said Corona
Brothers Installation, a subcon-tractors
hired to install modu-lar
furniture inside the building,
does not pay the area-standard
wage or give benefits.
Local 209 began protesting at
11 a.m. but had left campus by
about 12:30 p.m.
Louie, a representative from
Local 209 who asked that his
last name not be used, said the
protest was meant to urge USC
to take action against Corona
Brothers and “bring in an area
standard contractor that does
that work.”
Local 209, located in the San
Fernando Valley, is part of the
Southwest Regional Council of
Carpenters, which represents
more than 65,000 union car-penters
in Southern California,
Nevada, Arizona, Utah and New
Mexico, according to its website.
Workers deserve the right to
fair wages and benefits such as
health care for their entire fam-ily,
the website states.
James Grant, executive direc-tor
of USC Media Relations, is-sued
a statement Wednesday
afternoon in response to the
Cinema building carpenters pick-
The workers say they aren’t
being paid a fair wage, want
university to take action.
Nathaniel Gonzales | Daily Trojan
Protest · Carpenters working on the new Cinematic Arts Complex picketed outside the
building Wednesday. The workers said they were not being paid a fair living wage.
Not done yet: virus count now at 415
By HOLLY VILLAMAGNA
Daily Trojan
The number of students infected
with the norovirus that spread across
campus this week rose to 415 by
Wednesday, but university officials
said the number of new cases contin-ues
to decline steadily.
“The encouraging fact is that in
the last 24 hours we had 10 addition-al
cases,” said James Grant, executive
director for USC media relations.
Though the total number of cas-es
has increased by 85 since yester-day,
Grant said the increase is mostly
because of the university’s efforts to
find students who had the virus and
did not inform health officials. Only
10, Grant said, were new cases.
“The difference is that students
were sick who didn’t report it earlier,
so we have been beating the bushes in
residence halls trying to figure out an
accurate picture,” Grant said.
But Grant said as the university
continues to identify sick students,
the numbers will begin to level off.
The norovirus hit dozens more
students around campus
ahead of parents weekend.
By TIFFANY VLAANDEREN
Daily Trojan
In response to a string of high-profile
crimes around campus, a
number of USC residence halls
are taking security into their
own hands.
Several residence halls on and
off campus are now offering their
residents self-defense courses.
Resident advisers and coordina-tors
will work with Department
of Public Safety officers to sup-plement
DPS’ existing self-de-fense
courses.
“We want students to know
they are safe and be aware of
the surrounding area,” said
Shane Swerdlow, a resident ad-viser
at the Arts & Humanities
Residential College at Parkside.
Parkside will host its program
— taught by residential coor-dinators
who underwent self-defense
training this summer
— this Sunday for men and wom-en
in separate sessions. Any USC
student can attend the sessions.
In addition to Parkside,
Birnkrant, Troy East, Founders
and Cardinal Gardens are also
planning their own self-defense
courses for residents. Fluor
Tower and Webb Tower recently
held safety forums for students,
and a residential coordinator at
Fluor said the building is consid-ering
its own defense course.
Several TrojanHousing com-plexes
are also urging residents
to sign up for Rape Aggression
Defense, a program offered by
DPS, designed only for women.
The Lyon Center also offers se-mester-
long courses that male
students can enroll in for credit.
DPS officers will come to
Cardinal Gardens to teach the
RAD class. The classes will be-gin
Oct. 19 and the following two
Sundays, each a two-hour ses-sion
starting at 2 p.m.
“The RAD program has been
continuous on the campus for
Dorms take self-defense
into their owns hands
Several dorms around campus
have started offering self-defense
classes to residents.
| see DEFENSE, page 18 |
| see PROTEST, page 18 |
Spread of the Norovirus
Virus spreads to infect 130
students. University plans to
pass out antibacterial wipes and
hand sanitizer to students in
coming days.
Sunday, October 5th
Outbreak of virus, 30 students
found to be infected.
Saturday, October 4th
Virus identified as norovirus,
275 students infected. The
Row cancels Monday deliver-ies
and dinners.
Monday, October 6th
Number of students
infected reaches 330.
Tuesday, October 7th
Number of students infected now
stands at 415.
Wednesday, October 8th
Since Friday night, a stomach virus has spread around
campus. Officials said the virus is under control, but it
has infected 415 students since Friday.
Leon Russo | Daily Trojan
26
Days Until
Election
COUNTDOWN