Student Newspaper of the University of Southern California Since 1912 | www.dailytrojan.com | VOL. 166, NO. 50 | Tuesday April 7, 2009
InDEX
2 · News Digest
4 · Opinion
6 · Sudoku
7 · Lifestyle
12 · Classifieds
16 · Sports
Ring out: Review of L.A.
Opera’s latest show, ‘Die
Walküre.’ PAGE 4
High above the rest: Incoming
star Christina Marinacci will use
height to her advantage. PAGE 8
Taking charge
Andrew Chia | Daily Trojan
T-shirts protesting sexual assault were hung along Alumni Park Monday as part of Take Back the Night Week, an annual week long
series of events sponsored by the Women’s Student Assembly and Center for Women and Men. The week is designed to raise awareness
about sexual assault and centers around Wednesday’s Take Back the Night, which will feature presentations by various student groups.
By Kate Mather
Daily Trojan
Eight days after a fatal hit-and-run
rocked the USC community, a vehicle
struck a bicyclist at the intersection of
28th and Hoover streets before fleeing
the scene.
The female student — who was
not injured — was riding her bicycle
westbound on Hoover Street Monday
when a car, which was traveling
southbound, clipped the rear wheel
of her bicycle, causing her to lose her
balance and fall, Department of Public
Safety Capt. David Carlisle said.
The incident comes after a car
struck and killed freshman Adrianna
Bachan and severely injured freshman
Marcus Garfinkle at the intersection
of Jefferson Boulevard and Hoover
Street — four blocks away from
Monday’s hit-and-run.
While the student in Monday’s
incident has declined to press charges
against the driver or file a report with
No injuries in
another local
hit-and-run
Students and officials question
crosswalk safety after two hit-and-
runs occurred within days.
| see Crosswalk, page 11 |
By Ana Cosma
Daily Trojan
John Edward Blankenchip, emeritus pro-fessor
of the USC School of Theatre, died last
Wednesday after being hospitalized for an age-related
illness. He was 89.
Best known at USC for his dedication to
the School of Theatre and his unique classes
in directing and experimental theater,
Blankenchip came to the university in 1955
where he was a part of the discussions that
shaped the creation of the Bachelor of Fine Arts
and Master of Fine Arts theater programs.
A noted theater designer and director,
Blankenchip was also the founder, producer
and director of Festival Theatre USC-USA, a
company of USC theater students and alumni
famous for performing at the Edinburgh Fringe
Festival. Blankenchip received a Masters of
Fine Arts degree from Yale University and
spent time working professionally in theater
and on Broadway.
Jack Rowe, associate dean and senior lec-turer
for the School of Theatre who first met
Blankenchip in 1964, said Blankenchip’s con-tributions
as a professor helped make the
School of Theatre what it is today by empha-sizing
the importance of classes in directing
and design.
“He was very concerned that the work we
did was reflective of the text of the play we
were performing,” Rowe said. “He had very
high standards about the quality of the work
and the completeness of it.”
Rowe, who had planned to pursue a career
in economics before he took a class from
Blankenchip, said he was one of many students
whose lives were changed by Blankenchip’s
enthusiasm for theater.
“I think he first of all had more passion and
love for theater than any person I have ever
known, and he was somehow able to ignite that
same passion in his students,” Rowe said.
Taryn Goldstein, a senior majoring in theatre
who took a directing class with Blankenchip
this semester, said he was one of her most in-teresting
and knowledgeable professors.
Goldstein said she thought Blankenchip’s
teaching style was particularly effective
because he focused on practical application
and physically showed students how to apply
directing and theater design concepts.
“Learning about directing and having him
as a teacher and being a director … changed
my perspective on what I want to do with my
career,” Goldstein said.
Although she had only known Blankenchip
for a semester, Goldstein said she considered
him one of her mentors because of his will-ingness
to help her work on her acting. When
Goldstein asked Blankenchip to critique her
practicing a monologue from “The Vagina
Monologues,” she said he responded in a very
honest but encouraging way.
“I really wanted to get his opinion above all
others’ before I performed,” Goldstein said. “I
was really nervous … but he gave me a lot of
helpful advice.”
To honor Blankenchip’s contributions to
USC, the John Blankenchip Visiting Artist
Endowment was established in 2005 by the
School of Theatre.
Blankenchip’s students and colleagues
agreed that he was known within the School of
Theatre for his bluntness, charisma and sense
of humor.
Mary-Joan Negro, a senior lecturer for the
School of Theatre, said Blankenchip quickly
Blankenchip, 89, remembered for devotion to theater
The professor was known for his unique
teaching approach and his important
contributions to the School of Theatre.
| see Professor, page 2 |
By alexandra tilsley
Daily Trojan
The woman suspected to be the driver in last Sunday’s
fatal hit-and-run pleaded not guilty to the charges brought
against her at an arraignment Monday afternoon.
Claudia Cabrera, 30, was charged with misdemeanor
vehicular manslaughter and felony hit-and-run driving —
because the incident involved physical injury — with an
additional allegation of causing great bodily injury, which
could add time to Cabrera’s possible sentence.
The vehicle struck two students at the intersection of
Hoover Street and Jefferson Boulevard — freshman Adrianna
Bachan, who was killed, and freshman Marcus Garfinkle,
who was injured but is now in stable condition.
Police originally booked Cabrera for gross vehicular
manslaughter, which is a felony, LAPD First Assistant Chief
Jim McDonnell said in a press conference Friday.
The charges filed against Cabrera by the district attorney
differ from those originally suggested by LAPD because the
decision ultimately rests with the DA, said Jane Robison, news
secretary for the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office.
“The difference is the police arrest on suspicion of, but
Charges filed
in last week’s
hit-and-run
Claudia Cabrera pleaded not guilty to charges of
vehicular manslaughter and hit-and-run driving.
| see charges, page 11 |
Photo courtesy of Marcus Gualberto
Memorial Information for Adrianna Bachan:
Los Angeles
Tuesday April 7 – 7:00 p.m.
St. Anthony’s Croatian
Catholic Church
712 Grand Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Santa Barbara/Montecito
Wednesday April 8 – 1:00 p.m.
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish
1300 E. Valley Road
Santa Barbara, CA 93108
Leon Russo | Daily Trojan