Wednesday, June 14, 2017 | STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SINCE 1912 | VOL. 191, NO. 5 Summer Trojan Junior
McQuin
Baron won
college water
polo’s highest
honor, the
Peter J. Cutino
Award, last
week.
PaGe 8
2 · News 3 · Opinion 4 · Lifestyle 6 · Classifieds IndeX 7 · Sudoku 8 · Sports
Photo courtesy of usC student affairs
Work it out · When the gym reopens in early August, students will be able to enjoy a more open space and an increased number of strength
and cardio machines. They will also be able to swipe themselves into the facility, which will help to alleviate crowding at the front desk.
By aaRya KuMaR
Staff Writer
The Lyon Center, which was
originally built in the 1980s, has
been undergoing renovations
this summer and is scheduled to
reopen all of its facilities in early
August, well before move-in day.
Michael Munson, the associ-ate
director of facilities at the
Lyon Center, said that this re-model
would ref lect many exter-nal
changes that fitness centers
have introduced in the past few
decades.
“The building is 30 years old,
and needed some [updates],”
Munson said. “The design in the
’80s was very compartmental-ized,
and now the style is more
open.”
The construction is progress-ing
rapidly, with demolition al-most
done and structural fram-ing
currently taking place. The
lobby area will feature a glass
divider from the main gym as
opposed to an opaque wall, in or-der
to create the feeling of a more
open space. The gym equipment,
which will include new strength
machines, cardio machines and
fitness accessories, is scheduled
to arrive during the first week of
August, according to Munson.
The squash courts and
New Lyon Center renovations near completion
New improvements include
a glass partition as well as
additional gym equipment.
| see LYON, page 2 |
By sHauLI BaR-On
Staff Writer
The National Labor Relations
Board ordered USC this week to en-gage
in collective bargaining with
the adjunct professors from the Roski
School of Art and Design.
These professors are not on a ten-ure
track, and USC’s position is that
these professors are not entitled to
collective bargaining negotiations
through a union or otherwise.
According to USC’s website, only
1,200 faculty members of the 6,000 to-tal
are on a tenure track. Tenure-track
professors enjoy higher pay and great-er
benefits.
The upcoming legal battle adds
tension to the rocky relationship
between Roski’s faculty and the
University. In November 2015, the
non-adjunct professors filed paper-work
and sent a petition to hold union
elections. The NLRB approved and
certified the January 2016 elections
against USC’s wishes. Roski’s adjunct
professors then filed suit against USC
in September 2016, alleging unfair la-bor
practices and a delay in the union
vote. The NLRB sided with the faculty
in April 2016.
Despite the union elections, USC
has refused to engage in collective
bargaining with the faculty. The
University cites the 1980 NLRB v.
Yeshiva University Supreme Court
case as precedent not to engage in col-lective
talks.
In the Yeshiva case, the U.S.
Supreme Court found that full-time,
tenure-track faculty are managerial
employees and are therefore not cov-ered
by the National Labor Relations
Act.
However, a recent NLRB decision
involving Pacific Lutheran University
found that in order for faculty mem-bers
to be excluded from collective
bargaining, they must have an “ac-tual”
say in university affairs, rather
than what the Board considered “pa-per
authority.”
USC is appealing the case to the
federal courts on the belief that the
Supreme Court precedent is on their
side. USC believes the NLRB is not fol-lowing
the Yeshiva precedent in rec-ognizing
faculty’s role in university
management.
“We continue to defend the princi-ple
that at USC, non-tenure-track fac-ulty
are partners with tenured faculty
in our robust shared governance sys-tem,”
said Provost Michael Quick in a
statement.
The question a court will ultimate-ly
have to answer is whether adjunct
professors can be found to be mana-gerial
under the Supreme Court’s 1980
Yeshiva precedent.
USC ordered by NLRB to
bargain with Roski adjuncts
USC plans to appeal the
decision of the National
By eMMa PePLOW Labor Relations Board.
Editor-in-Chief
Alumnus and former USC
Alumni Association Board
of Governors President Rod
Nakamoto has been elected to the
Board of Trustees, the University
announced last week.
Nakamoto, who current-ly
serves as an adviser at the U
Group, received his bachelor’s de-gree
and Master of Business from
the Marshall School of Business.
He has served on numerous
alumni boards since his time at
USC, including the Asian Pacific
Alumni Association — of which
he served as president from 2011
to 2013.
During his time as president of
the USCAA Board of Governors
he focused on alumni engage-ment
opportunities and network-ing
events.
“USC is on an unparalleled
trajectory as an elite research
university,” he told USC Trojan
Family magazine back in Fall
2016. “I hope to encourage alum-ni
to rediscover and engage with
the university. I think they’ll be
surprised at how much it has
transformed.”
Nakamoto met his wife, Elsie
Nakamoto, as a student at USC,
and two of their three children
graduated from the University.
“Rod Nakamoto embodies the
closeness and commitment of the
Trojan Family,” USC President C.
L. Max Nikias said to USC News.
“He has invested countless hours
into this University, and he cares
deeply about its mission. His pas-sion
for his alma mater and his
insight will be of great benefit to
our board.”
The Board of Trustees is the
highest leadership board at the
University, consisting of 57 vot-ing
members. Trustees typically
serve five-year terms.
Nakamoto’s election contin-ues
a long legacy of past USCAA
Board of Governors’ presidents
continuing on to the Board of
Trustees, including his two im-mediate
predecessors, Michael
Adler and Amy Ross.
Rod Nakamoto appointed as trustee
Nakamoto has served
on several dif ferent
alumni boards in the past.
Photo courtesy of usC news
Success story · Nakamoto received both his bachelor’s and master’s from
the Marshall School of Business and currently serves as a financial adviser.
By eMMa PePLOW
Editor-in-Chief
A 21-year-old man was con-victed
of first-degree murder on
Thursday in the beating death of
USC graduate student Xinran Ji,
making him the second defen-dant
convicted for the 2014 case.
Jurors found Andrew Garcia
guilty for his role in the killing of
the 24-year-old electrical engi-neering
student after two hours
of deliberation. He is scheduled
to be sentenced on July 11.
Prosecutors say they are not
seeking the death penalty, but
Garcia could face up to life in
prison without the possibility of
parole.
Alejandra Guerrero, Garcia’s
co-defendant, was convicted of
first-degree murder in October
for her role in Ji’s death, and is
Defendant
convicted
in murder
of student
Andrew Garcia was found
guilty for the murder of
graduate student Xinran Ji.
| see MURDER, page 2 |