Student Newspaper of the University of Southern California Since 1912 | www.dailytrojan.com | VOL. 178, NO. 11 | Thursday January 31, 2013
InDEX 4 · Opinion 	 5 · Lifestyle 8 · Classifieds 9 · Crossword 12 · Sports
What a gem: New jewelry
store Verameat opens in
Beverly Hillls. PAGE 5
Fight on: USC trump
crosstown rivals UCLA in
Westwood match. PAGE 12
Nation
By Isabella sayyah
Daily Trojan
President Barack Obama
announced Wednesday that
electrical engineering professor
Solomon Golomb will receive the
National Medal of Science, which
is the highest honor for scientific
innovation.
The Viterbi School of
Engineering professor will receive
the honor for his work in shift
register sequences at a White
House ceremony on Friday.
Golomb is one of 12 scientists
and engineers receiving the award
Obama to
give prof
top honor
President Barack Obama
will honor Viterbi Professor
Solomon Golomb on Friday.
| see Science, page 3 |
Ralf Cheung | Daily Trojan
Tommy Trojan tunes
Singer Bonnie Brooksbank and Derrick Wong (right) perform in front of Tommy Trojan
Monday afternoon. USC Program Board Concerts Committee hosts monthly noontime
concerts.
By austin reagan
Daily Trojan
The university has been known for
its thriving Greek community, with
about thousands of undergraduates
in a fraternity and sorority, and has, in
recent years, topped several national
lists for being an LGBTQ-friendly
campus. Still, members of both
communities recognize a divide and
dissonance in their intersection.
Every month, a group of out,
closeted and questioning Greek
students gather to discuss the
interaction of USC’s lesbian, bisexual,
gay, transgender and queer community
with the Greek community. The Queer
and Ally Student Assembly hosted one
such discussion at the Alpha Delta Pi
house Wednesday night.
About 15 students who identify
with one or both communities shared
their experiences and thoughts on the
growing population of Greek actives
who also identify as LGBTQ.
The discussion made clear that
both groups are tangibly divided.
Attendants, who spoke on the
condition of anonymity, were
almost entirely unanimous in
saying that much must be done to
bridge the gap between the Greek
system and the LGBTQ community.
Miscommunication and ignorance
are seemingly prevalent on both sides.
“People at USC don’t hate gay
people, but gay people don’t necessarily
fit in with the USC Greek system,” said
a gay junior in a fraternity.
One gay senior in a fraternity said
it was difficult to be a member of both
communities.
“As a Greek person and as a gay
person, I feel that I have been attacked,
in some respect, for both identities,” he
said.
On the other hand, lesbian students
said they felt the Greek system is
particularly hostile.
“What makes me uncomfortable
about the Greek system is the rampant
misogyny,” said a lesbian junior who is
not in the Greek system.
The group also discussed National
Coming Out Day, held on Oct. 11.
The consensus of the group was
that sororities had been much more
receptive to the LGBTQ community,
even though there are more openly
gay men in fraternities than openly
lesbian women in sororities.
One student attributed it to larger
acceptance of gay men in the United
States.
“Gay men are glorified way more
on this campus than lesbians,” said
one lesbian who is not in the Greek
system. “That’s not a USC thing, that’s
a country thing.”
One lesbian student in a sorority,
who joked that she is the only Greek
lesbian, said certain events reveal
the divide between gay students and
Greek students.
“Parties are when the antagonism
between the Greek community and
the gay community becomes most
apparent,” she said.
On the other hand, gay members
of fraternities said acceptance varied
from fraternity to fraternity.
“I was denied from a frat because
they thought I was girly,” said one gay
member of a fraternity.
One openly gay freshman, however
had a better experience having rushed
fraternities during spring rush and
received a bid from one of them.
“There are some frats that seem
very, very straight,” he said. “And there
are a few that seem more comfortable
with the idea of homosexuality in the
group.”
According to him, the emphasis
on heterosexual relationships plays
a large role in the fraternity culture,
which can be a tremendous deterrent
for LGBTQ members who are
interested in rushing.
“I’m not sure if I will end up taking
the bid – I’m still thinking about it but
am a bit reluctant.”
At the same time, LGBTQ students
remain interested in Greek life.
“There’s a lot of curiosity on both
sides,” said a gay freshman in a
fraternity. “I see it all the time.”
Not all students present spoke on
the condition of anonymity. Claire
Pires, a senior majoring in broadcast
and digital journalism and theatre,
was raised by two mothers and has
been a lifelong supporter of the LGBTQ
community. Though she recognizes
the merits of the Greek system, she
also acknowledges a stigma toward
homosexuality — particularly among
female Greeks.
“I know a few gay boys in
fraternities, but no gay people in
sororities,” Pires said. “I just don’t
think that gay people tend to flock
towards Greek life. Greek life can be
quite traditional. That can make it
fun, but it also doesn’t necessarily
appeal to the gay community.”
QuASA Director Mellissa
Linton emphasized the necessity of
discussions like this one to bridge the
gap between the LGBTQ and Greek
communities.
“I really hope that panels like this
can set a precedent for communication
and understanding between the two
groups,” she said.
LGBTQ, Greek communities work to bridge the gap with each other
QUASA began hosting Greek
Chat in 2010, but a gap still
remains in the community.
Greek
Shabnam Ferdowsi | Daily Trojan
Common ground · Queer and Ally Student Assembly Director Mellissa Linton leads a discussion about the
intersection of the LGBTQ and Greek communities. Greek Chat is held on the last Wednesday of each month.
By anshuman Siripurapu
Daily Trojan
Though USC has been inching toward it for nearly
a decade, this is the first year that fewer than half of
the applicants to the undergraduate freshman class are
from California, according to the Office of Admissions.
“In this year’s freshman applicant pool [of
prospective students], the students who will be
enrolling at USC this coming fall, only 49.5 percent
of our applications were from students in California,”
wrote Dean of Admission Timothy Brunold in an
email to the Daily Trojan. “This is the first time that
our applicant pool has ever been less than 50 percent
Californian.”
Though the university is still accepting and rejecting
applicants, the steady shift in applicant demographics
has been reflected in the matriculating classes of past
In-state apps in
minority for
first time at ’SC
The administration attributes the geographic
diversity of students to aggressive recruitment.
| see Admissi ons, page 3 |
Education