Student Newspaper of the University of Southern California Since 1912 | www.dailytrojan.com | VOL. 166, NO. 54 | Monday April 13, 2009
InDEX
2 · News Digest
4 · Opinion
5 · Lifestyle
8 · Classifieds
11 · Sudoku
12 · Sports
FIA not MIA: The Fashion
Industry Association puts on
its fifth fashion show. PAGE 5
Pigskin: Freshman Matt Barkley
shines in scrimmage at Coliseum on
Saturday. PAGE 12
By nicole dailo
Daily Trojan
As many universities’ campus media outlets strive to
deal with changes in the journalism industry, two new
student publications are braving the news marketplace
at USC. The SeeSaw, an independent student newspa-per,
and Neon Tommy, a news website sponsored by the
Annenberg School for Communication, hope to act as
alternative news sources for the campus community.
Originally created as a project for MDA 365: The
Art and Adventure of Leadership, a course taught by
USC President Steven B. Sample and professor Warren
Bennis, The SeeSaw publishes issues on a weekly ba-sis
and operates independently from the university.
Its funding comes entirely from advertisements, said
Catherine Lyons, editor in chief of The SeeSaw and a
senior majoring in international relations and print
journalism.
The SeeSaw aims to give students from all academ-ic
backgrounds the chance to write, edit and design
in a news forum that is not dominated by journalism
majors, unlike most of USC’s student media, Lyons
said.
Many of the writers pitch their own stories rather
than having them assigned by editors — an arrangement
which has helped differentiate The SeeSaw from other
campus media, she added.
“We hope we can be that alternative voice where
important issues are discussed in a more open, honest,
opinionated way,” she said. “We’re not meant to be an
objective news source. We want people to express their
opinions on different events and different happenings
and issues.”
While Neon Tommy also endeavors to provide a
different take on the news affecting USC students,
More student
media outlets
come to USC
Editors say the two publications cover different
topics than existing news outlets on campus.
| see media, page 3 |
Chantelle Takata, a sophomore majoring in kinesiology and East Asian languages and cultures, performed a traditional Japanese
dance with the USC Nikkei SoTrad traditional dance group. The USC Nikkei Association presented its second annual culture show,
“Who Cares about East First Street?,” Saturday night at Bovard Auditorium, which featured a play about evictions in Little Tokyo.
Cultural connection
Nathaniel Gonzalez | Daily Trojan
By malia makowicki
Daily Trojan
While some students are feel-ing
the negative effects of the fal-tering
economy, others have found
the silver lining to the recession.
Many film students have strug-gled
to finance their projects as a
result of the economic downturn,
yet those involved say financial
constraints have forced them to
become more creative.
“When the economy has been
really tight in the past, like dur-ing
the Great Depression, the best
films have been produced,” said
Megha Subramanian, a teaching
assistant for CTPR 290: Cinematic
Communication. “When there
is the most chaos, the most art
evolves.”
Undergraduate films range from
costing nothing to thousands of
dollars, and students are trying
to cut back on their spending,
said Alexander Gao, a sophomore
majoring in cinema-television
critical studies.
“As an independent filmmaker,
I always try to make films for as
cheaply as I can,” Gao said. “So
now I am not spending money on
things that aren’t as necessary.”
Film students said budget con-cerns
are forcing more people to
help others and to work for less in
return.
“People are more desperate,
so they are more willing to listen
to students and fresh faces and
fresh ideas … where they normally
would not have,” said Catherine
Youell, a graduate student study-ing
cinema-television production
who is currently working on her
thesis film.
These new ideas have result-ed
in more innovative production
techniques — students said they
are using more props from thrift
stores or borrowed from friends.
“Generally in filmmaking, you
usually get more creative options
when you are caught in a bind,”
said Brad Crowe, a graduate stu-dent
studying cinema-television
production. “The more restrictions
that are placed on me force me to
come up with more solutions be-cause
I have to think creatively.”
Technology has fueled creativi-ty
on a tight budget as well, as the
switch from film to digital tech-nology
has helped students who
are strapped for cash.
Digital is cheaper and allows for
students to pack more filming into
one day, Crowe said. It also gives
students more mobility in their
filming, meaning they can shoot
in more diverse, potentially cheap-er
locations.
“Films are increasingly mobile,
so you can really pick up and go
anywhere that will give you a good
deal,” he said.
To cover these tightening bud-gets,
some students are also turn-ing
to other sources for funding —
including their families.
“You really stretch out all your
contacts and family to get some-thing
that you really can’t afford,”
Crowe said.
The School of Cinematic Arts is
also willing to give students a bar-gain.
“We are making financial aid
more accessible and advertising it
more, but we have always made it
a high priority,” said Cedric Berry,
program coordinator for the School
of Cinematic Arts. “We’ve always
taken our student financial aid
very seriously because we know it
is an expensive discipline.”
The school offers two types
of scholarships, merit-based
In downturn, film students strapped for cash
Students say the need to cut
costs has forced them to be
more creative with their work.
| see funding, page 2 |
More than one week after
the arrest of the suspected
driver in the March 29
fatal hit-and-run, the car’s
passenger and the car itself
are still missing.
“There are no updates since
the last updated information,”
LAPD Media Relations said.
Claudia Cabrera, the
suspected driver, was arrested
on April 2 as the result of a
tip that First Assistant Chief
Jim McDonnell said gave
details of the accident and
the name of the driver and
passenger. The tip identified
the passenger as Cabrera’s
husband, Josue Luna, 31.
Luna is being sought as a
person of interest in the case
and LAPD is also searching
for the car Cabrera was
driving at the time of the
incident, believed to be a
2000 Infiniti four-door sedan
with California license plate
6DUG665.
Hit-and-run update
By Alexandra tilsley
Daily Trojan Still searching for:
Amy Schilit | Daily Trojan
• Josue Luna
• A green
200 Infiniti
four-door
sedan, Calif.
license plate
6DUG665
Police have asked anyone with
more information to call South
Traffic at (323) 290-6063 from
7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday
through Friday or the South
Traffic Watch Commander at
(213) 485-7336 at all other times.