Student Newspaper of the University of Southern California Since 1912 | www.dailytrojan.com | VOL. 169, NO. 31 | Monday March 1, 2010
InDEX
4 · Opinion
5 · Lifestyle
7 · Sudoku
8 · Classifieds
10 · Crossword
12 · Sports
Timeless: One-night only
reinactment of The Wall hopes to
come to college campuses. PAGE 5
Low balled: The USC men’s basket-ball
team fails to eclipse 50 points in
a loss to Oregon State. PAGE 12
By rebecca buddingh
Daily Trojan
The government is pushing to get
more veterans to take advantage of
the benefits offered by the Post-9/11
G.I. Bill, though the program was
plagued by logistical problems in its
initial year.
The Post-9/11 G.I. Bill, which be-gan
this year, helps veterans fund
their undergraduate or post-grad-uate
education by covering tuition
costs at any university equal to the
cost of the most expensive public
university in the state. Veterans at-tending
private universities can of-ten
receive additional funds through
the Yellow Ribbon Program, an opt-in
program in which the school of-fers
an additional scholarship at an
amount the Department of Veterans
Affairs agrees to match.
Because of debate over
California’s tuition costs — origi-nally
determined to be $0 — schools
at USC were hesitant to get involved
with the G.I. Bill this year; only two
of the graduate schools offered ben-efits
through the Yellow Ribbon
Program, though all undergradu-ates
were eligible. Twenty under-graduate
students and 17 gradu-ate
students at USC received Yellow
Ribbon Program benefits this year.
Though the problem with
California’s tuition costs was even-tually
settled, additional problems
arose when veterans tried to get
their benefits checks. Many checks
did not come in time, and veter-ans
were left wondering when they
would get their promised money.
Yet, despite the chaos of the G.I.
Bill’s inaugural year, USC is hoping
to expand the program next year.
Robert Morley, associate registrar
and tuition exchange liaison at USC,
said problems with the bill and its
late execution affected the ways in
which the university was able to use
it.
“The V.A. launched this program
without really being prepared to ex-ecute
it,” Morley said. “It was fair-ly
chaotic. All of the rules and the
regulations were not firmly estab-lished.
The program got released so
late that most schools had already
set their financial aid budgets.”
The only USC graduate programs
that participated in the Yellow
Ribbon Program this year were the
Rossier School of Education and the
School of Social Work.
Morley said he is currently hold-ing
meetings with some of the grad-uate
schools and the USC Financial
Aid Office to discuss the future of
this program.
“Right now I’m trying to contact
Veterans association wants to get more veterans covered by G.I. Bill
USC is considering expanding
its Yellow Ribbon Program to
more of the graduate schools.
| see Bill, page 2 |
By ALEXANDRA TILSLEY
Daily Trojan
The devastating 8.8-magnitude
earthquake that struck Chile this
weekend, killing more than 700 peo-ple,
hit close to home for many mem-bers
of the USC community, partic-ularly
four USC students studying
abroad in Santiago who had been
there less than two weeks and stu-dents
with family in Chile.
The four USC students, Andres
Blumer, a junior majoring in in-ternational
relations (global busi-ness);
Kaitlin King, a junior ma-joring
in anthropology; Marianna
Singwi-Ferrono, a junior majoring in
Spanish and international relations;
and Ryan Soderberg, a junior major-ing
in business administration, sur-vived
uninjured, but said the hours
after the quake hit Santiago were
dizzying. Because phone and power
lines were out, the members of the
group had a hard time communicat-ing
with each other and with their
families in the United States.
For students with family members
in Chile, communication was just as
difficult. Cell phone lines were down,
and many residents of Chile do not
have land lines.
Answers trickled in slowly for
both groups.
The four students verified that ev-eryone
in the group was OK but only
after driving around Santiago to find
each other. Students in Los Angeles
confirmed their family members’
safety but only after long hours
wrought with anxious anticipation.
And though their immediate ques-tions
were answered and their con-cerns
quelled, for many there is still
a felling of uncertainty.
Experiencing history abroad
The city of Santiago, north of the
earthquake’s epicenter, is at a rela-tive
standstill. Residents are staying
in, buildings are damaged, roads are
closed and public transportation is
down. The four students, who have
been in Chile less than two weeks,
are not sure when they’ll return to
school, when they’ll be able to use
their cell phones again and, for some
of them, when they will have power.
Just more than 24 hours ago, the
Students studying in
Chile safe after
8.8-magnitude quake
Power outages from
the earthquake made
communication difficult.
| see chile, page 3 |
Tim Tran | Daily Trojan
Tour of duty · Chris Roessner, a graduate student and a veteran, is
currently receiving financial assistance from the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill.
Heather Lee | Daily Trojan
Preach
USC’s Saved by Grace Gospel Choir performs at Bovard Auditorium on Sunday afternoon. The performance was the first
gospel choir showcase and the event included dancing performances in addition to singing. A number of choirs performed,
including Greater Los Angeles Cathedral Choir, Crenshaw High School Elite Choir and Theo Wilkins and Sounds of Praise.
By DAn Loeterman
Daily Trojan
A USC student was killed and
another injured on Saturday after
their car collided head on with an-other
vehicle in Kern County.
Sandy Roberts, a sophomore
majoring in cinema-television
production, was killed after the
car he was riding in passed a
truck, lost control and veered into
oncoming traffic on highway 46.
Roberts died after being trans-ported
to Kern Medical Center.
Nicole Deane, who was driving
the car and is a sophomore major-ing
in cinema-television produc-tion,
was airlifted to KMC, and is
in stable condition.
Deane was driving east on the
highway near Annette Street at
about 7:30 p.m. when she crashed
into a westbound vehicle going 55
or 60 mph, according to police.
Deane was trying to steer the car
back into the eastbound lanes af-ter
passing the truck, but she lost
control, police said.
“Our hearts go out to the fami-lies
of those involved and the fam-ily
of the deceased student,” said
James Grant, head of USC’s media
relations. “Nothing prepares us
for this kind of thing and it’s al-ways
a shock to us.”
Counseling will be available to
students who need it, Grant said.
One student killed, one injured in crash