Student Newspaper of the University of Southern California Since 1912 | www.dailytrojan.com | VOL. 166, NO. 26 | Monday February 23, 2009
By MALIA MAKOWICKI
Daily Trojan
Economic hard times have
caused the USC Hillel foundation
to cut back on programming and
focus more on building student
initiative and a stronger sense of
community.
“It would be irresponsible of us
to mask the economic situation,”
said Shira Moldoff, assistant direc-tor
of development and outreach for
USC Hillel. “We want to cut back so
we can be more efficient, but still
provide some programming on a
shoestring budget.”
InDEX
2 · News Digest
4 · Opinion
5 · Sudoku
7 · Lifestyle
12 · Classifieds
16 · Sports
Beantown exports:
Dropkick Murphys played in
Hollywood Friday. PAGE 7
So close: Trojans can’t complete
sweep of Long Beach State, lose 5-4
Sunday. PAGE 14
Spiritual Gathering
Johnathan Wong | Daily Trojan
By rohan venkataramakrishnan
Daily Trojan
The executive board of the Undergraduate Student
Government today launched an “internal fact-finding
committee” to look into the conduct of USG officials
over the course of the tumultuous election period,
which saw a number of grievances and hearings,
a 36-hour campaign sanction and a candidate
disqualification.
USG Vice President Tony Jercinovich and Treasurer
Tim Fehr will be conducting the fact-finding mission.
Fehr said the committee was set up in response to
the amount of questioning USG heard from various
sources about the election. Committee members are
hoping that they will be able to present a review of the
election with complete transparency.
“Some people have expressed concerns about the
elections, and out of an abundance of concern and
in order to respond to the constituents, we decided
to look at the possible misconduct of an USG officer
during the elections,” Fehr said. “We’re hoping to see
basically if anyone broke the rules.”
Among the seven senior executive members of USG,
Jercinovich and Fehr were chosen because they were
in the best positions to fairly interpret what everyone
has to say, Jercinovich said.
“We needed in-house people who had no bias for the
campaigns and enough know-how about the organiza-tion
that we could start right away,” he said.
The committee has already compiled a list of peo-ple
heavily involved in the election, from within USG
as well as from each of the campaigns, but Jercinovich
said they were also open to hearing from anyone who
has information about the elections.
“We’ll be asking questions to everyone about their
role in the elections and what their opinion is of how
others acted,” Jercinovich said.
The fact-finding mission will not have the authority
to act as an appeals court, and cannot second guess the
USG launches
misconduct
investigation
While the investigation might not change the
election’s outcome, USG officials say they want
to address concerns of bias and wrongdoing.
| see conduct, page 6 |
By Madeline Reddington
Daily Trojan
USC student political groups
are voicing their opinions about
Measure B, a controversial propos-al
on the March 3 ballot that would
require the Los Angeles Department
of Water and Power to produce at
least 400 megawatts of solar power
energy by 2014.
The measure, which is also
known as the “Green Energy and
Good Jobs for Los Angeles” act,
would create a program within the
DWP in charge of installing solar
panels on properties within the city
and on city-owned airports.
The solar panels will be connected
to the city’s existing electrical grid,
and a report from the DWP stated
that the measure allows for volun-tary
participation by commercial,
industrial and institutional cus-tomers
to have panels installed on
their properties and maintained by
the DWP for potential incentives.
According to the DWP, the
measure is part of the “Solar L.A.
Initiative,” which is designed to
generate a total of 1,280 megawatts
of solar energy in plants serving Los
Angeles by 2020.
The proposition has been
endorsed by Mayor Antonio
Villaraigosa, but is widely criticized
in Los Angeles, and some of USC’s
political student organizations are
divided over the measure.
Many people disagree about
how much the plan will cost for
ratepayers. Some supporters say
the rates will initially increase, but
will then decline as solar power is
further developed and becomes a
more efficient power source.
The measure describes financing
guidelines within its text, but the
actual financial implementation
plan will not be issued until 90 days
after the measure’s effective date,
associate political science Professor
Jefferey Sellers said.
USC Hillel
cuts Friday
dinner costs
| see Hillel, page 3 |
Like other schools, USC Hillel is
depending on students to make
Shabbat dinners less expensive.
By rohan
venkataramakrishnan
Daily Trojan
Maya Babla, the vice presi-dential
candidate of the Caine-
Babla ticket that was disqualified
Thursday by the Judicial Council
for “improper solicitation,” said
that she and Owen Caine have
appealed the council’s ruling
to the Undergradute Student
Government Senate.
“We are basically asking that
the Senate evaluate the Judicial
Council’s ruling,” Babla said.
“The election process from our
standpoint seemed flawed and we
wanted to address that.”
Babla said that she spoke to
a graduate adviser about the
potential to appeal and decided
that this was the right action to
take.
“It seems to me that all those
voters who were disenfranchised
by the council’s decision should
have a voice,” she said.
Babla did not indicate whether
they planned to appeal the verdict
or the sentence.
Tony Jercinovich, the vice pres-ident
of USG, said he would call a
special Senate meeting Monday
night, where Caine and Babla will
present their arguments against
the Judicial Council ruling and
the Council would act as the
defendant.
According to Babla, a five-sixths
majority in the Senate
would be required to overturn the
Disqualified
candidates
file appeal
Caine-Babla ticket will present
arguments to Senate against
Judicial Council decision.
Student groups and civic leaders divided over Measure B
| see Engery, page 6 |
The proposition is criticized as
an inefficient and costly way
of bringing solar power to L.A. Measure B
as outlined on the March 3 Ballot
Measure B
would create
a Department
of Water and
Power program
to require the
production of
400 megawatts
of solar power
by 2014.
Participation in the • program by commer-cial,
industrial, and institutional customers
would be voluntary.
• The systems would be maintained and
operated by the Department of Water and
Power inexchange for incentives.
• The proposition would establish a job pro-gram
and training academy to meet partic-ipation
demand.
• Local solar power equipment manufactur-ers
would receive contract bid preferences.
• Quarterly oversight committee reports
and annual City Controller audits would
monitor the program.
• The program would utilize a variety of
funding mechanisms.
An audience assembled Saturday at Bovard Auditorium for “A Sufi Celebration: Revelations of
an Illuminated Heart,” presented by the M.T.O. Sufi Association at USC. The event included
| see aepl, page 3 | music, poetry, meditation and presentations on Sufism, the inner, mystical dimension of Islam.
Amy Schillit | Daily Trojan