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S I N C V. 19	12
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Student newspaper of the University of Southern California
THURSDAY
November 16, 2000
Of interest...
A pair of young setters have helped the Women of Troy to success this season / 20
News Digest	2	Opinions	4
'SCrihbles	4	Weekend	7
Classifieds	16	'SComix	17
Crossword	17	Sports	20
vol. CXXXXI, no. 56
www.usc.edu/dt
Students displaced by flood
Accident: Apartments in Troy Hall under water after a fire sprinkler goes off; clean-up continues
By AMANDA CARACCI
Staff Writer
Three apartments in the Troy Hall residential complex received an unexpected shower early Wednesday morning when a fire sprinkler went off just after midnight, flooding a third floor apartment and the rooms below it.
“(The vents) exploded like Dante’s peak," said Barris Shao, a senior majoring in economics and a resident of a drenched apartment on the first floor.
When brown, smelly water began
pouring through the air vents, Shao and his two roommates ran through their apartment to close the air vents just seconds before the building's alarm sounded.
Water poured in from above due to a heater duct resting against a sprinkler between the third floor and the roof, said Jeff Urdahl, director of Housing Administration. The sprinkler spewed 60 gallons of water a minute, flooding the hallways and bedrooms on the south side of the complex, Rooms 309, 209 and 109, Urdahl said.
Shelton Leung, a junior majoring in electrical engineering, said he heard a loud pop and water began squirting from the heater room through the vent and into his room.
Lung and his roommate Jonathan Block, a junior majoring in cinema-television critical studies.
ran around frantically for about a minute before the fire alarms alerted tenants to evacuate the building, Leung said. Their roommate, Nick Wagner, a junior majoring in theater and cinema-television, said he evacuated the building immediately when he heard the alarm sound.
“We were just three dumb guys,” Leung said. He and his roommates were unsure about how to protect their belongings or stop the flow of water into their apartment. Leung moved his valuables away from vents and off the floor. He then stacked newspapers between the hallway and the living room to prevent extra damage before wandering into the hallway to find help.
“It seems all of our residents are okay, and that’s what we’re happy about,” said Glenn Managa, assistant
I	see Accident page 14 I
Residents say Staples Center harmful to area
Downtown: Violence and noise near new complex has been on the rise '
By ROBB FERRIS
Contributing Writer
Members of the communities surrounding the Staples Center in Downtown Los Angeles see the stadium as the source of increased gang violence, traffic and noise and the loss of affordable housing, they said at an emotional meeting with convention center representatives Wednesday.
“When there are games, gangs come from all over the city," said Patricia Pineda, a resident who has been living in the area for six years. “They fight in the parking lots, and they urinate in the alleys. We are decent hard-working people and we have to get up in the mornings and
go to work.”
Guadalupe Aleman, a resident who has lived in the area for 10 years, was equally adamant
“There is a lot more traffic now,” she said. “It isn’t, possible for our children to go out into the streets any more. Also, when we have to take our children to school, we do not feel safe, because there are so many crazy drivers flying up and down the streets."
The meeting that took place at the First United Methodist Church on the corner of Olympic and Flower streets was originally intended to address the concerns of residents over the new Staples Center development proposal.
A diverse assembly of residents and local business owners packed the church and shouted out their questions, impassioned comments I see Downtown, page 14 I
"When there are games...they fight in the parking lots, and they urinate in the alleys. We arc decent hardworking people and nr have to get up in the mornings and go to work."
—♦— PATRICIA PINEDA
Three years after banning, burning a forgotten tradition
"...there are a few students who would like, at least, the bonfire back.'
—♦— M1NL1NG CHUANG, Trojan Pride president, undergraduate majoring in business
Rivalry: Graduating senior class is first to never have participated in the controversial Troy Week event
By SOPHIA KAZMI
Contributing Writer
A once popular USC tradition is now a faded memory.
The "Burning of the Bruin,” a night bonfire held just before the USC-UCI.A football game in which a giant stuffed teddy bear is hung by a noose and burned, is unknown to many USC students, most of whom have never participated in
the event.
This year’s graduating senior class is the first to never have witnessed the burning, which was banned by Student Senate in 1997.
Since then, other traditions have come to take its place, but the “Burning of the Bruin" was perhaps one of the most controversial.
Beginning in 1995, the Black Student Union, a division of the Black I see Rivalry, page 18 I
ShirvYee Yao I Daily Trojan
Hungry? Students and staff attend the International Student Assembly's International Food and Culture Fair in Alumni Park Wednesday afternoon.
Jim Carrey is transformed into the Grinch in the feature-length film adaptation of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas” /
7
Randall Young I Daily Trojan
A wet situation. Students had to evacuate Troy Hall early Wednesday morning after a fire sprinkler went off and flooded several apartments.
Decisions, decisions