Student Newspaper of the University of Southern California Since 1912 | www.dailytrojan.com | VOL. 168, NO. 38 | Monday October 19, 2009
InDEX
2 · News Digest
3 · Sudoku
4 · Opinion
5 · Lifestyle
8 · Classifieds
12 · Sports
Classic twist: Portland
Cello Project performs at the
Echo on Friday. PAGE 5
South Bend stance: USC holds off
Notre Dame on the goal-line in final
seconds. PAGE 12
By somto ugwueze
Daily Trojan
After a hiatus that lasted more than a year, a group
of students have revived the International Relations
Undergraduate Association to improve networking
within the student body and provide avenues for stu-dents
to publish their views on global affairs.
The club was originally founded in the early 1990s as
a representative body for undergraduates studying in
the School of International Relations, offering students
a weekly meeting and occasional seminars and din-ners
with professors. The club became dormant in 2006,
when most of the senior members graduated and no one
continued the club.
In May, senior Julian Leuthold and sophomores Leah
Mireles and Lindsey Patin decided that USC needed an
outlet for students to meet and work with each other
outside of the classroom, which led to the repurposed
IRUA.
“I noticed from the engineering school and the busi-ness
school that there is a lot of organization and interac-tion,”
said Leuthold, who is majoring in business, and ur-ban
planning and development. “The by-product of this
is that everybody knows each other. That hadn’t been
nurtured in the international relations department. We
wanted to promote a tight network and friendship.”
Patin and Leuthold said they wanted to avoid the
gradual disinterest that caused the original club to
stop activity, and are planning to achieve that through
Students revive
international
relations club
Club is focusing on recruiting a core of new
members to carry on activities in future years.
| see irua, page 3 |
Stephen Venardi (left), a junior majoring in economics and a member of the intramural soccer team “5th Floor Crew,” guards the ball from
Michael He (right), a senior majoring in computer science and a member of “The Real USC.” The two teams faced each other in the quar-ter
finals, held on the Intramural Field on Sunday. They played with six people on each team, fighting for T-shirts and bragging rights.
Tim Tran | Daily Trojan
Kicking it
By ariele pratt
Daily Trojan
In an effort to recognize the im-portance
of teaching, the Rossier
School of Education partnered with
2tor, Inc — a company that pro-vides
online education along with
universities — to create an innova-tive
platform to show appreciation
for teachers, using new media.
The website, “My Teacher, My
Hero,” was launched in conjunc-tion
with the Rossier’s new Masters
of Arts in Teaching online course,
MAT@USC. The website allows
people to upload videos of them-selves
thanking their teachers and
emphasizing the importance of the
profession.
“[It] shows people who are con-sidering
becoming teachers how
important and impactful the pro-fession
is,” said Margo Pensavalle,
associate professor of clinical edu-cation.
The purpose of My Teacher,
My Hero is two-fold, said Jeremy
New website
promotes
good teaching
Website is user-friendly to
allow students to upload
videos and content easily.
| see teachers, page 3 |
By ebony bailey
Daily Trojan
In the coming weeks, the Los Angeles
Department of Transportation will be analyzing
its transit services to find ways to deal with im-pending
budget deficits.
Though officials say it is unlikely the changes
will affect the DASH that runs near USC, fares
may increase and other lines may be cut in order
to keep up with a rapidly depleting budget.
“As funding has shrunk, it’s important to
put the limited resources where they can count
most,” said Bill Gillman, a spokesman for
LADOT.
Gillman said LADOT is overdue for a
line-by-line analysis evaluating the DASH,
Commuter Express and Metro.
Philip Aker, transit planner and project devel-opment
head, said a study conducted by an out-side
consultant projected that LADOT will face a
$23-million deficit next year and a $260-million
deficit in 10 years.
“We are going to have to increase revenue, cut
services or a combination of both,” Aker said.
Aker said LADOT will likely need to increase
its fares. Though he could not yet say what the
fare raise would be, he did say it would be rela-tively
small.
There are still no specific plans for what routes
LADOT will cut, but spokesman Bill Gillman
said the likelihood the F DASH — the line that
runs near USC — will be cut is low because of its
strong ridership.
The LADOT should have preliminary
recommendations in the next two weeks and a
more concrete plan on how to combat the pro-jected
budget deficits in four weeks.
“This is just the very beginning of the very be-ginning
of the stages. We have nothing specifi-cally
planned,” Gillman said.
Students who use LADOT services said the
potential changes were worrisome.
Elisa Bravo, a freshman majoring in Spanish,
said even a small fare increase for the transit ser-vices
could affect how often she rides the Metro.
“I ride the bus because I use it to get around,
LADOT considering higher fares and cuts to bus lines
Projected budget deficit will force the Dept.
of Transportation to make decisions about
fares and bus service schedules.
| see LADOT, page 3 |
Vicki Yang | Daily Trojan
Wheels on the bus · The F DASH, which runs from USC to downtown daily, will likely remain
in operation, but other lines may be cut and fares may go up as LADOT tries to save money.