Student Newspaper of the University of Southern California Since 1912 | www.dailytrojan.com | VOL. 166, NO. 15 | Wednesday February 4, 2009
InDEX
2 · News Digest
4 · Opinion
5 · Lifestyle
12 · Classifieds
15 · Sudoku
16 · Sports
Top of the heap: USC women’s
water polo starts the season
ranked No. 1. PAGE 16
By Shweta saraswat
Daily Trojan
The Undergraduate Student Government
Senate unanimously confirmed Giorgio Cassandra
as chief justice of the Judicial Council at Tuesday’s
Senate meeting.
A junior majoring in political science with
hopes of pursuing a law degree, Cassandra was
nominated by USG President Jens Midthun at the
Senate meeting on Jan. 27.
Midthun said Cassandra stood out from the
pool of a dozen applicants.
“He has the passion for the job and knowledge
of what it is,” Midthun said. “He knew how the
judicial branch works. ... He has the right skills.”
Cassandra, who said he aspires to work as a
judge, has served as an informal intern with a local
judge and has “always been interested in law.”
“Judges have the responsibility to make
rational, fair decisions regarding other people’s
lives,” Cassandra said. “That responsibility is
something I feel is neglected by a lot of society but
is something I connected to.”
Cassandra first was hired for one of the three
open associate justice positions at the end of the
fall semester. It was at this time that Midthun
began looking for a replacement for retiring
Chief Justice Alex Montalvo. After approach-ing
the existing associate justices, none of whom
were interested, Midthun, USG Vice President
Tony Jercinovich and Speaker Pro Tempore Sarah
LeClaire interviewed the new justices for the
position.
“I totally jumped on the opportunity,”
Cassandra said.
This is not the first time a chief justice has been
new to the council, Associate Justice Nathan Go
said. Both retiring justice Alex Montalvo and his
predecessor, Paul Harold, entered the council as
chief justice.
“It’s been the pattern,” Go said. “I can see how it
can be good and bad.”
As chief justice, Cassandra plans to expand
upon the traditional role of organizer.
“I would like the council to meet, preferably
twice a month, to stay up-to-date on cases that
were decided in the past,” Cassandra said.
Such practice might be necessary, as the
Judicial Council has a history of disorganization
and confusion over its role within USG.
In the fall of 2007, then-Chief Justice Harold
stepped down from his position after a dispute
arose regarding the legality of some of his ac-tions.
Harold had bypassed established procedure
and brought a case to the judicial council without
actually being approached with a complaint.
“I want to make sure people are aware of the
previous problems,” Cassandra said, calling
Harold’s actions “power-hungry” and “an attempt
to get out of his own boredom.”
This old conflict between the Judicial Council
and USG has damaged the relationship between
the two bodies, Go said.
“My expectation [for Cassandra] would be to
try to improve the image of the Judicial Council
toward USG,” he said. “I say that not meaning to
try to become [USG’s] best friend. ... We need a
good working relationship.”
USG commuter senator Kirsten Singer agreed,
and said she hopes the new chief justice will be
more involved with the goings-on of USG and
more open to communication.
According to Midthun, many USG members are
untouched by the 2007 dispute, and therefore he
anticipates little resentment toward Cassandra’s
administration.
Cassandra has also expressed disappointment
in the fact “the majority of USC doesn’t know
about the Judicial Council.”
Junior biology major Sally Melendez was one of
those students. Although she is unfamiliar with
the procedures surrounding the Judicial Council,
Melendez sees the value of its function.
“I think [the council] is a good thing because
it’s a neutral entity that can make decisions that
would be hard to solve without bias,” she said.
While he admits there is little he can do to
bring the council to the attention of the student
body, Cassandra said it is an integral part of USG.
“We’re not as active as the Senate when it comes
to making decisions,” Cassandra said. “But we still
have a great deal of responsibility.”
John Legittino, senior director of communica-tion
for USG, said the group was excited to have
Cassandra on board.
“[USG] totally trusts [him] to lead us into a new
era of justice,” he said.
By larissa puro
Daily Trojan
The USC and UCLA blood
centers have created a competition
with each other for the first time in
an effort to collect the most blood
donations throughout the spring
semester.
The USC Blood Donor Center and
UCLA Blood & Platelet Center are
hosting the challenge in response to
a decrease in blood collections and
an increase in demand for blood and
platelets at both universities’ hospi-tals,
said Maria Muniz, manager of
the USC Blood Donor Center.
“Every year the need for blood
increases,” said Faye Cortez, com-munity
liaison for the UCLA Blood
and Platelet Center. “There’s an
innate rivalry between these two
schools and we both have students
that like to give back to the commu-nity,
so we found it to be a kind of
natural marriage of sorts.”
Although USC and UCLA
have held blood challenges in the
past, this is the first time their
blood donor centers are directly
competing with each other.
“It’s a really good way to motivate
people and educate them about how
blood donation affects their region,”
Muniz said.
According to challenge letters
written to each school, USC collects
2,000 units of blood each semester,
Cross-town
blood center
battle begins
Donations collected during
the semester will go straight to
USC and UCLA hospitals.
| see donate, page 14 |
Mike Lee | Daily Trojan
Donations · A student gives blood Tuesday as part of an on-going competition between
the USC and UCLA blood donor centers, which lasts throughout the spring semester.
USG Senate confirms Cassandra as new chief of Judicial Council
Junior Giorgio Cassandra says he wants
to bring more organization, legitimacy
and clarity to the USG Judicial Council.
Dan Doperalski | Daily Trojan
Appointment · Giorgio Cassandra, a
junior majoring in political science, was
confirmed as chief justice for the USG
Judicial Council at Tuesday’s Senate meeting.
By rohan venkataramakrishnan
Daily Trojan
The Undergraduate Student Government Senate
voted unanimously Tuesday to add an amendment to
the USG Constitution that would allow part-time stu-dents
to run for elected positions, including president
and senator.
The constitution originally stipulated that all elect-ed
or appointed officers be “full-time students in good
standing.” The amendment, proposed by residen-tial
senator Ashlie Chan, strikes the word “full-time”
from that requirement. The Senate had already made a
similar change to the election code last semester, but
because the constitution takes precedence, it had to be
amended as well.
Chan, who is running for vice president on a ticket
with Greek senator Holden Slusher in the upcoming
elections, introduced the amendment.
“USG doesn’t want to discriminate among stu-dents,”
she said.
Slusher agreed with Chan, saying the amendment
would make USG more accessible to all students.
“I think the dedication of each student is the same—
whether they are a part-time student or a full-time one,
the same is expected of each student,” Slusher said. “I
think this opens USG up for all students. A student’s
desire to run is testament to the drive and character of
the candidate, whether he is part-time or not.”
Slusher declined to say how many units he was tak-ing
this semester, but insisted that he planned to be a
full-time student next year, whether he is elected pres-ident
or not.
At the meeting, various senators discussed the need
for the constitutional amendment.
Part of the discussion centered on the fact that
some part-time students, who take less than six units
Senators vote
to amend USG
constitution
New amendment allows part-time students to
run for positions in USG’s February elections.
| see USG, page 14 |
TOWN HALL MEETING
Interested in how the Daily Trojan works? Come to
Daily Trojan’s open forum with the editorial board this
Thursday, Feb. 5 from noon to 1 p.m. in GFS 223.