Student Newspaper of the University of Southern California Since 1912 | www.dailytrojan.com | VOL. 169, NO. 15 | Wednesday February 3, 2010
InDEX
2 · News Digest
4 · Opinion
7 · Lifestyle
12 · Classifieds
14 · Sudoku
16 · Sports
No gimmicks: Smashing
Pumpkins releasing a 44-track
album. PAGE 7
Talk back: Join students and political experts for
a discussion about the legalization of marijuana in
Doheny 223. Lunch will be served at 11:30 a.m.
By rebecca buddingh
Daily Trojan
The days of waiting anxiously in line as students
count out their coins at various campus eateries
might now be over thanks to the recent implementa-tion
of credit card machines at venues around cam-pus.
The gradual implementation of credit card ma-chines
took another step last forward week with
the addition of credit card capabilities to LiteraTea.
Credit card machines were also added to Café 84 at
the beginning of the month as part of a larger renova-tion
to the facility.
Director of USC Hospitality Kris Klinger said the
new credit card option was added at these locations
because of requests from students and faculty.
“There were quite a few people who were question-ing
if we accepted credit cards,” Klinger said. He add-ed
that people would sometimes leave when they dis-covered
that a certain location did not take credit
cards.
LiteraTea and Café 84 were two of the final steps in
the gradual addition of credit card machines across
campus, Klinger said. Trojan Grounds and The Lot
All campus
eateries now
taking cards
Hospitality has already seen an increase in sales
with the implementation of credit card machines.
| see cards, page 11 |
Mike Lee | Daily Trojan
Charge it · LiteraTea is the latest USC Hospitality venue to add credit card capabilities, after Café 84 added machines earlier this
month. Hospitality hopes the increasing number of credit card machines around campus will make these venues more accessible.
By whitney blaine
Daily Trojan
Beach cruisers are already a
common sight around campus,
but a new initiative proposed by a
member of the city council could
make bikes a common sight all
around the city.
The Los Angeles City Council
and the Metropolitan Transit
Authority are working on devel-oping
a bike-sharing program that
would focus on USC and sever-al
other locations. The program’s
aim is to provide L.A. residents
with another option for transpor-tation
beyond driving.
“We’re looking at the ‘first mile-last
mile’ dilemma in L.A.,” said
Cris Liban, the Environmental
Compliance and Services
Department manager at MTA.
“[That] first mile to get on a bus
stop and last mile where people
need to go from the bus — it’s
causing problems.”
The program was first proposed
by the MTA in 2008 but was put on
the back burner because of a lack of
funding. Now, City Councilwoman
Jan Perry has brought the issue
back into the spotlight, and the
city’s Transportation Committee
City mulling
bike sharing
program
No concrete plans have been
drawn, but students say they
would welcome the program.
| see bikes, page 11 |
By amanda pillon
Daily Trojan
The first swarm of newly admitted students
will soon descend upon campus, hoping to make
just as strong of an impression as the school hopes
to have on them.
Later this month, the applicants selected as
finalists for Trustee and Presidential scholar-ships
will visit USC to interview for the awards.
About 20,000 students applied for Trustee and
Presidential scholarships this year and, of those,
about 5.5 percent of the pool — 1,100 people
— were selected as finalists, according to Tim
Brunold, associate dean and director of under-graduate
admission,
“The hardest part of the process is being named
a finalist,” Brunold said. “Once that’s happened,
they can relax and be themselves.”
The Trustee scholarship pays a student’s full
tuition, and the Presidential scholarship pays half.
The required interviews for both are conducted at
Explore USC sessions held in late February and
early March.
Scholarship applicants who make the cut are
selected as finalists for either the Trustee or the
Presidential scholarship. The awards are not
guaranteed, however, and much hinges on the in-terview.
Trustee finalists could instead be given
the Presidential scholarship and Presidential fi-nalists
could earn the Trustee.
The percentage of scholarship interviewees
who don’t receive a scholarship varies from year
to year, Brunold said, but the number is typical-ly
low.
Brunold said the interviews are critical in dis-tinguishing
among equally qualified applications.
“Based on average test scores or GPA or class
rank, you would see very little difference on pa-per,”
Brunold said. “It’s about the things that
aren’t easily tallied or counted up. We look at the
entire person.”
The admissions office selects candidates for
scholarship consideration from the pool of schol-arship
applicants, Brunold said, and then the indi-vidual
schools pick the scholarship finalists who
are brought to campus for interviews.
A panel consisting of one staff member, one
faculty member and one student from the appli-cant’s
prospective school typically conducts the
interview. Karen Rowan-Badger, assistant dean of
USC College admissions, said the interviews gen-erally
last around 20 minutes.
The number of accepted students varies among
the different schools and is based on the school’s
size and enrollment. The Roski School of Fine
Arts, for example, only gives out about 10 or 12
Trustee and Presidential scholarships each year
because the school is so small relative to USC’s
other schools, Roski Dean Ruth Weisberg said.
To be selected as a Trustee scholar at Roski,
Weisberg said, students need a great academic re-cord
and an outstanding portfolio. But, she noted,
5.5 percent of applicants selected as scholarship finalists
Finalists must now come to campus to
interview with their prospective school
before final scholarship decisions are made.
| see admissions, page 2 |
Anticipated number of scholarships for the class of 2014
Associates Scholarship
Dean’s Scholarship
Presidential Scholarship
Trustee Scholarship
Total Trustee and Presidential scholarship applicants
Blair Tarnutzer | Daily Trojan
Number of Applicants not selected as
scholarship finalists (18,900)
Number of Finalists not using Trustee or
Presidential scholarships (800)*
Trustee Scholars attending USC (about
140)*
Presidential Scholars attending USC
(300-350, 150 awarded through
interview process)*
* numbers are based on projections