DAILY TROJAN, Vol. 60, No. 60, January 09, 1969 |
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University of Southern California DAILY m TROJAN LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA. THURSDAY, JANUARY 9. 1969, VOL. LX, NO. 60 Violence follows students back to state colleges Compiled from Wire Services Violence returned, only two days after the students and police returned from Christmas vacation, to the San Fernando Valley and San Francisco State College campuses yesterday, leaving four injured. The S.F. State disturbance began when police attempted to clear a corridor through the now traditional picket line at the main entrance to the campus early in the afternoon. Striking teachers had agreed to the police request to form a corridor through the line so that the entrance could be used by those not on strike to enter and leave the campus. Student dissidents, however, did not agree with the faculty on the desirability of such a corridor, and responded to the police directive with chants of “Solidarity Forever.” Police then gave two dispersal orders, nearly drowned out by taunts of “Kill the pigs. Kill the pigs” and “Power to the people,” and marched on the crowd, which hurled rocks, bottles and sticks. The 200 or so demonstrators yielded by the greater force of the police and retreated across the street, leaving in a wake of obscenities. The brief encounter left two persons injured, one a Los Angeles newsman, although not seriously. Volunteer medics from the University of California Medical Center gave emergency treatment until ambulances arrived. Among the eight arrested was Nesbit Crutchfield, a BSU leader, for whom police had a prior warrant. Within an hour police restored order and the picket line rose again to about 1,000, its strength earlier in the day. Later in the day, Gov. Ronald Reagan moved to cut off the salaries of striking teachers who plan to spread their walkout to other schools. The State College Trustees also took action, obtaining a temporary injunction in San Francisco Superior Court to ban picketing by union teachers at S.F. State. Disorder at Valley State followed a two-hour outdoor rally sponsored by the Black Students Union, when an estimated 400 students gathered at the school’s Administration Building demanding to see Dr. D.T. Oviatt, the acting president. About 75 helmeted police officers prevented their entrance. Los Angeles police ordered the crowd to disperse. When the directive was ignored, the police moved into the crowd to effect the dispersal. Eleven were arrested in the resulting friction, while two, not identified, were injured. FINALS DO NOT A PRISON MAKE(?)—With finals only a week away, study dominates student life. And to at least two coeds, the Venetian blinds on the Von Kleinsmid Center are looking more and more like bars. Photo by J.P. Baldwin SERIES TO VIEW BLACK HISTORY "Of Black America," the Experimental College film and discussion series, will continue tonight at 7:30 in Student Activities Center 205. The film tonight is CBS' "In Search of a Past" in which three black American high school students will examine their African heritage in a six week visit to Ghana to determine its relevancy to American life. Pat Oyesbike, a former Peace Corps volunteer who served in Brazil, will be joined by Tim Huntley of Delta Chi fraternity, on the panel. Movies and discussions will not be held over the weekend. Court censures SDS; asks for new rules LOWELL PONTE Ponte wins, loses, wins in contest The judging of the Daily Trojan essay contest on the Alumni Park incident has brought two responses, one expected and one not. The expected response came from Lowell Ponte, a graduate student in international relations and self-styled member of the New Right, who was judged the winner of the essay contest by a journalism professor who choose to remain anonymous. Ponte did not receive the $35 check which Noel Finley, an alumnus, had sent to be given to the winner of the contest, because the anonymous professor felt that Ponte was unethical for also writing another essay presenting the opposite viewpoint. He said that Ponte deserved “an A for effort, but an F for ethics.” The second, and unexpected response, came from Carl H. Amme, of Menlo Park, who felt that Ponte deserved the award and therefore sent him a $35 check. Ponte said, “I thought it was an exciting competition to see who could best present a written proof, in essay form, that Steve Rados and his vigilantes acted in keeping with the American Democratic Tradition ...” Charging that the judge saw the contest “as a means to determine who really believed that Rados was in the right,” Ponte defends his ethics in writing the two opposing essays by saying. “Six years of varsity debate taught me that every issue has at least two sides: those years also taught me that there was nothing unethical about honestly presenting the best possible case for any side, because only in that way can one honestly seek after truth.” In a letter to the Daily Trojan, he said. “The fact that Ponte is able to view a situation objectively and present rational arguments for two opposing views is the essence of intellectual honesty—a purported goal of a university. By LARRY SHEINGOLD In a dual action Wednesday night, the Student Court voted to censure the Students For a Democratic Society (SDS) for rule violations in November and to recommend that the university policy which made the court’s actions necessary be revised. “Civil disobedience should be the last recourse in attempting to alter university policy and procedures,” Roland Trope, head of the Student Court, said. “Even though we might share the motivation behind disagreements with present procedures,” he explained, “there are established channels which should be used for creating channels.” On Nov. 15, a national draft card tum-in day, SDS and The Resistance sponsored a “celebration of life” in Alumni Park including singing and a talk by Father Arthur Melvillee, a former Catholic priest. Neither the program, which developed into a shouting match with other students, nor the location of the tum-in were scheduled with the Student Activities Office—they were held without prior consultation or approval, a court member said. S DS also violated the policy governing the presentation by student organizations of speakers from off-campus, the court said. The letter of censure is expected to be issued tomorrow. The decision to send it followed the appearance of the organization’s co-chairman, Terry Poplawski, in Student-Court. Poplawski said SDS did not preschedule their event with the Student Activities Office 10 days in advance as required. In a letter which will be sent to the ASSC and to the Student Life Committee, the Student Court will recommend that groups be required only to register programs far enough in advance to attract the largest number of students possible while still allowing the university time to resolve any conflicts for the use of facilities and to provide adequate security protection. In addition, the court will suggest that speakers be scheduled by a simple nonapproval registration. “What we would like to see is the elimination of both the time limit and the need for university approval of the speakers,” Trope said. In explaining why other participants in the November disturbances had not also been called before Student Court, Trope said that the court handles only organizations. Conflict in universities to be topic A confrontation on the subject of “Conflict Within the University” will be held at 4 p.m. Feb. 4 in Bovard with Dr. Norman Topping, Bill Mauk, ASSC president; Justin Dart, chairman of the Board of Trustees, and Chester Hyman, chairman of the Faculty Senate, scheduled as participants. The four will be the only participants in the confrontation, sponsored by Alpha Kappa Delta, the sociology honorary, and the ASSC. The discussion will be open to the entire university. The format calls for each participant to direct his remarks toward a Harper’s Magazine review of The Academic Revolution, by Riesman and Jenck. The main points of the review, John Fischer, former editor of the magazine, said are: • College Boards of Trustees have been reduced to the status of caretaker organizations. • Administrations have lost control of the decision making process. • Faculties have the power to serve their own interests rather than those of the university. • Students have become alienated. “The purpose of the symposium is to provide a place to synthesize the various conflicting viewpoints,” said Henry Heald, president of Alpha Kappa Delta, “and particularly to provide a foundation for concrete proposals for meaningful change in the future.” “It should be a most interesting confrontation,” he said. “There should be a number of things at issue, including whether or not Bill Mauk is actually representative of the entire student body.” Heald said the confrontation should be timely, considering the disturbances at San Francisco and San Fernando BSU, UMAS get right to recruit for scholarships By MIKE PARFIT Editor Representatives of United Mexican-American Students (UMAS) and the Black Students Union (BSU) met yesterday with Dr. Topping and administration officials and when it was all over, felt that they had made progress. The meeting was held to discuss the four demands that the two minority groups had presented to the university in December and the 31 scholarship slots the administration had said were available. The BSU and UMAS had asked for a total of 100 openings. “I was surprised today,” said Truman Clemens, chairman of the BSU. “They (the administration) were more or less cooperative. They told us what they had for us and we had an intelligent discussion about the technical aspects of getting these students in.” The administration has made funds available for 31 minority students to have free tuition for four years. The students who will receive these funds will be selected through a system in which the BSU, UMAS and the Financial Aid Office will each have a part. “The BSU and UMAS will recruit the students,” Clemens said. “We will see that they fill out the necessary forms and present these forms to the Admissions Office and the Financial Aid Office.” The forms have to be completed and in the represetive offices by the end of next week. Clemens did not foresee any problems in finding enough students to apply. “We will review the financial aid applications first,” he said, “and place our recommendations on each one. The final decision will be made by the Financial Aid Office. It will be a joint effort.” At the time of the meeting a statement was given to the two groups outlining the administration’s position on the demands and the 31 slots. The statement will be made public tomorrow. Although Clemens did not comment on the statement, he did say that he felt the administration was being cooperative. The key administration man in the procedure of selecting the students will be Dr. Paul Bloland, dean of students. Clemens said that while the funds would provide full four year scholarships for only 31 students, they will probably be used to benefit far more, For instance, a junior college transfer only needs two years assistance, opening up an extra transfer slot. Also, some of the scholarships will be partial aid only, permitting the funds to be spread out as thin as possible to meet the need. Clemens said he could not speculate on how many students will be affected. “We will first put emphasis on those students who need full tuition,” Clemens said. ‘Then we will start breaking it down according to need.” The funds will be split between the BSU and UMAS. Clemens was not sure what the two groups will do when they have completed the job of selecting next semester’s new students. Members of the groups have indicated that, while they feel the 31 slots are a step in the right direction, more openings should be made available. “I think our primary emphasis right now will be on these 31,” he said. “We’re pressed so much for time right now that I don’t really want to give the future too much thought.” Some of the other demands, dealing with the establishment of a black and brown curriculum, have also been acted upon, Clemens said. “There is a strong possibility that we will have four or five courses for the coming semester,” he said. “Once we get something definite there will be a big publicity campaign, ard some type of arrangement will be made for a simple way to drop and add for those people who want to get into these courses.” Plan for pass-fail P.E. classes to be reviewed The university’s Curriculum Committee will review a proposal by Tom Levyn, sophomore representative, that all physical education classes be placed on a pass-fail basis today. It is expected that representatives from the P.E. Department will be there to debate the issue. The meeting will be held at 2:15 p.m. in the President’s Conference Room in the Administration Building. Levyn’s proposal calls for: • The P.E. classes to be made pass-fail except in the case of departmental majors. • A minimum pass grade would be equivelant to a “C” grade now. • The program will only apply to courses 100 through 159. • Fail grades would not be counted in the student’s overall grade average. Levyn made the proposal for a number of reasons, including the overwhelming vote for pass-fail in student elections last spring (89 per cent to 11 per cent) and the chance of a poor grade in P.E. preventing a deserving student from academic honors. Dr. Tillman Hall, chairman of the P.E. Department, has drafted a paper placing the department’s position solidly against Levyn’s proposal. The report has already been mailed to members of the Currciulum Committee. “Were all the general education courses graded on a pass-fail basis, then we would quickly agree to the same,” the report stated. “But to push one part of the totality into a separate category is to label it as of lesser consequence.” Dr. Hall based some of his report on a questionnaire which was presented to all the students enrolled in day P.E. activity courses. Within the report. Dr. Hall recommended that the present practice of giving evaluating letter grades in one-unit PE courses, including the letter grade on the cumulative GPA be retained. He further recommended a comprehensive study of the whole process of grading all general education courses. Interest hike may not hurt aid office By HEIDI FLYNN Students and USC in general will probably not be adversely affected by the recent increase of the prime interest rate that banks charge their best customers. Banks nation-wide raised the prime interest rate to seven percent, a record high, from a previous rate of 6.34 per cent. This is the third hike in five weeks. According to Edwin Robbins, lecturer in finance at USC “The increase in the prime rate on Tuesday makes the spread between the discount rate charged by the Federal Reserve banks and the rates commercials banks charge their very best customers one and one-half per cent. “It has been normal for the rate spread to vary between one and on and one-half percent so this falls within the normal pattern. The raise in the prime rate is in response to the Federal Reserve Board’s recent move to raise the Federal Reserve requirement in an attempt to curb inflation. Once the inflationary swing of the conomy has been broken, it is expected that the Reserve requirements, as well as the prime interest rates charged by commercial banks, will again go down, Robbins said. In the meantime, the effects of higher prime rates will possibly include a dip in the stock market, and a decrease in small private loans, he said. Dr. Carl Franklin, vice-president of Financial Affairs, explained that it is more expensive for banks to make small loans, when they could earn seven per cent interest on one large loan that would not require as much preparation. “If a bank has to pay five and one-half percent or six per cent for its money, it cannot afford to make many small loans.” he said. What will be the effects on student loans, which would normally come under this “small loan” category? Franklin replied that as things stand now, the prime interest hike will have little or no effect on loans given to students, either by banks, or the university. There are several loan programs open to students, including National Defense Education Act (NDEA) loans. Federally Guaranteed loans, loans sponsored by donors and given through the school, and those that USC finances out of its own loan fund. In all these cases, the interest rates are fixed and are not subject to the fluctuation of commercial rates, Franklin said. The rate on the NDEA loans is three and one-half per cent. This rate, as well as the seven per cent on a Federally Guaranteed loan, have been fixed by an act of Congress and cannot be changed without changing the basic law behind it, Franklin'said. The NDEA loans are administered by the university, but a Federally Guaranteed loan is given out by the student’s bank. The Financial Aid Office said that the interest rate will not rise, the number of Federally Guaranteed loans given out may drop for one of two reasons. First, the banks may not be willing to make as many small loans when they could be earning such a high per cent on a single transaction. Counseling students and doing all the necessary paperwork makes it much more troublesome than one multi-million dollar deal with a large company, the office said. The second reason concerns the student who may not be willing to accept a loan if he must pay a higher rate. While he is still in school, the government pays the interest on the loan, but after graduation, the student becomes responsible for repaying the loan and the interest. The unversity loans money at a rate of six per cent, much lower than commercial banks, and will not raise that rate unless it is absolutely compelled to do so, Franklin said. He added that many of the loans that the school gives are donated by private parties who specify what the interest rate shall be, and those will change under no circumstances other than by a request from the donor. As far as the university’s plans for new construction on campus go, Franklin said he felt that there would be little effect, since their federal loans almost constitute a subsidy. The school pays back at about three per cent the money it borrows from the government for the construction of new buildings. Most of the construction however is financed by private donation, which conceivably could be decreased if the prime rate hike produces a recession, Franklin said. “If it turns out that the present attempts of the federal government to put the breaks on inflation actually causes a mild recession, a drop in the price of securities and a slowing down of business activity, then it could have an adverse affect on gifts by individuals and corporations,” said Franklin. “However, before any such recession occurred, the policies to curb inflation would be reversed in order to stimulate activity in the economy. “Hence, this temporary increase in the money rates is not likely to have any adverse effects on gifts to use or the financial situation of the students.”
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Title | DAILY TROJAN, Vol. 60, No. 60, January 09, 1969 |
Full text | University of Southern California DAILY m TROJAN LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA. THURSDAY, JANUARY 9. 1969, VOL. LX, NO. 60 Violence follows students back to state colleges Compiled from Wire Services Violence returned, only two days after the students and police returned from Christmas vacation, to the San Fernando Valley and San Francisco State College campuses yesterday, leaving four injured. The S.F. State disturbance began when police attempted to clear a corridor through the now traditional picket line at the main entrance to the campus early in the afternoon. Striking teachers had agreed to the police request to form a corridor through the line so that the entrance could be used by those not on strike to enter and leave the campus. Student dissidents, however, did not agree with the faculty on the desirability of such a corridor, and responded to the police directive with chants of “Solidarity Forever.” Police then gave two dispersal orders, nearly drowned out by taunts of “Kill the pigs. Kill the pigs” and “Power to the people,” and marched on the crowd, which hurled rocks, bottles and sticks. The 200 or so demonstrators yielded by the greater force of the police and retreated across the street, leaving in a wake of obscenities. The brief encounter left two persons injured, one a Los Angeles newsman, although not seriously. Volunteer medics from the University of California Medical Center gave emergency treatment until ambulances arrived. Among the eight arrested was Nesbit Crutchfield, a BSU leader, for whom police had a prior warrant. Within an hour police restored order and the picket line rose again to about 1,000, its strength earlier in the day. Later in the day, Gov. Ronald Reagan moved to cut off the salaries of striking teachers who plan to spread their walkout to other schools. The State College Trustees also took action, obtaining a temporary injunction in San Francisco Superior Court to ban picketing by union teachers at S.F. State. Disorder at Valley State followed a two-hour outdoor rally sponsored by the Black Students Union, when an estimated 400 students gathered at the school’s Administration Building demanding to see Dr. D.T. Oviatt, the acting president. About 75 helmeted police officers prevented their entrance. Los Angeles police ordered the crowd to disperse. When the directive was ignored, the police moved into the crowd to effect the dispersal. Eleven were arrested in the resulting friction, while two, not identified, were injured. FINALS DO NOT A PRISON MAKE(?)—With finals only a week away, study dominates student life. And to at least two coeds, the Venetian blinds on the Von Kleinsmid Center are looking more and more like bars. Photo by J.P. Baldwin SERIES TO VIEW BLACK HISTORY "Of Black America," the Experimental College film and discussion series, will continue tonight at 7:30 in Student Activities Center 205. The film tonight is CBS' "In Search of a Past" in which three black American high school students will examine their African heritage in a six week visit to Ghana to determine its relevancy to American life. Pat Oyesbike, a former Peace Corps volunteer who served in Brazil, will be joined by Tim Huntley of Delta Chi fraternity, on the panel. Movies and discussions will not be held over the weekend. Court censures SDS; asks for new rules LOWELL PONTE Ponte wins, loses, wins in contest The judging of the Daily Trojan essay contest on the Alumni Park incident has brought two responses, one expected and one not. The expected response came from Lowell Ponte, a graduate student in international relations and self-styled member of the New Right, who was judged the winner of the essay contest by a journalism professor who choose to remain anonymous. Ponte did not receive the $35 check which Noel Finley, an alumnus, had sent to be given to the winner of the contest, because the anonymous professor felt that Ponte was unethical for also writing another essay presenting the opposite viewpoint. He said that Ponte deserved “an A for effort, but an F for ethics.” The second, and unexpected response, came from Carl H. Amme, of Menlo Park, who felt that Ponte deserved the award and therefore sent him a $35 check. Ponte said, “I thought it was an exciting competition to see who could best present a written proof, in essay form, that Steve Rados and his vigilantes acted in keeping with the American Democratic Tradition ...” Charging that the judge saw the contest “as a means to determine who really believed that Rados was in the right,” Ponte defends his ethics in writing the two opposing essays by saying. “Six years of varsity debate taught me that every issue has at least two sides: those years also taught me that there was nothing unethical about honestly presenting the best possible case for any side, because only in that way can one honestly seek after truth.” In a letter to the Daily Trojan, he said. “The fact that Ponte is able to view a situation objectively and present rational arguments for two opposing views is the essence of intellectual honesty—a purported goal of a university. By LARRY SHEINGOLD In a dual action Wednesday night, the Student Court voted to censure the Students For a Democratic Society (SDS) for rule violations in November and to recommend that the university policy which made the court’s actions necessary be revised. “Civil disobedience should be the last recourse in attempting to alter university policy and procedures,” Roland Trope, head of the Student Court, said. “Even though we might share the motivation behind disagreements with present procedures,” he explained, “there are established channels which should be used for creating channels.” On Nov. 15, a national draft card tum-in day, SDS and The Resistance sponsored a “celebration of life” in Alumni Park including singing and a talk by Father Arthur Melvillee, a former Catholic priest. Neither the program, which developed into a shouting match with other students, nor the location of the tum-in were scheduled with the Student Activities Office—they were held without prior consultation or approval, a court member said. S DS also violated the policy governing the presentation by student organizations of speakers from off-campus, the court said. The letter of censure is expected to be issued tomorrow. The decision to send it followed the appearance of the organization’s co-chairman, Terry Poplawski, in Student-Court. Poplawski said SDS did not preschedule their event with the Student Activities Office 10 days in advance as required. In a letter which will be sent to the ASSC and to the Student Life Committee, the Student Court will recommend that groups be required only to register programs far enough in advance to attract the largest number of students possible while still allowing the university time to resolve any conflicts for the use of facilities and to provide adequate security protection. In addition, the court will suggest that speakers be scheduled by a simple nonapproval registration. “What we would like to see is the elimination of both the time limit and the need for university approval of the speakers,” Trope said. In explaining why other participants in the November disturbances had not also been called before Student Court, Trope said that the court handles only organizations. Conflict in universities to be topic A confrontation on the subject of “Conflict Within the University” will be held at 4 p.m. Feb. 4 in Bovard with Dr. Norman Topping, Bill Mauk, ASSC president; Justin Dart, chairman of the Board of Trustees, and Chester Hyman, chairman of the Faculty Senate, scheduled as participants. The four will be the only participants in the confrontation, sponsored by Alpha Kappa Delta, the sociology honorary, and the ASSC. The discussion will be open to the entire university. The format calls for each participant to direct his remarks toward a Harper’s Magazine review of The Academic Revolution, by Riesman and Jenck. The main points of the review, John Fischer, former editor of the magazine, said are: • College Boards of Trustees have been reduced to the status of caretaker organizations. • Administrations have lost control of the decision making process. • Faculties have the power to serve their own interests rather than those of the university. • Students have become alienated. “The purpose of the symposium is to provide a place to synthesize the various conflicting viewpoints,” said Henry Heald, president of Alpha Kappa Delta, “and particularly to provide a foundation for concrete proposals for meaningful change in the future.” “It should be a most interesting confrontation,” he said. “There should be a number of things at issue, including whether or not Bill Mauk is actually representative of the entire student body.” Heald said the confrontation should be timely, considering the disturbances at San Francisco and San Fernando BSU, UMAS get right to recruit for scholarships By MIKE PARFIT Editor Representatives of United Mexican-American Students (UMAS) and the Black Students Union (BSU) met yesterday with Dr. Topping and administration officials and when it was all over, felt that they had made progress. The meeting was held to discuss the four demands that the two minority groups had presented to the university in December and the 31 scholarship slots the administration had said were available. The BSU and UMAS had asked for a total of 100 openings. “I was surprised today,” said Truman Clemens, chairman of the BSU. “They (the administration) were more or less cooperative. They told us what they had for us and we had an intelligent discussion about the technical aspects of getting these students in.” The administration has made funds available for 31 minority students to have free tuition for four years. The students who will receive these funds will be selected through a system in which the BSU, UMAS and the Financial Aid Office will each have a part. “The BSU and UMAS will recruit the students,” Clemens said. “We will see that they fill out the necessary forms and present these forms to the Admissions Office and the Financial Aid Office.” The forms have to be completed and in the represetive offices by the end of next week. Clemens did not foresee any problems in finding enough students to apply. “We will review the financial aid applications first,” he said, “and place our recommendations on each one. The final decision will be made by the Financial Aid Office. It will be a joint effort.” At the time of the meeting a statement was given to the two groups outlining the administration’s position on the demands and the 31 slots. The statement will be made public tomorrow. Although Clemens did not comment on the statement, he did say that he felt the administration was being cooperative. The key administration man in the procedure of selecting the students will be Dr. Paul Bloland, dean of students. Clemens said that while the funds would provide full four year scholarships for only 31 students, they will probably be used to benefit far more, For instance, a junior college transfer only needs two years assistance, opening up an extra transfer slot. Also, some of the scholarships will be partial aid only, permitting the funds to be spread out as thin as possible to meet the need. Clemens said he could not speculate on how many students will be affected. “We will first put emphasis on those students who need full tuition,” Clemens said. ‘Then we will start breaking it down according to need.” The funds will be split between the BSU and UMAS. Clemens was not sure what the two groups will do when they have completed the job of selecting next semester’s new students. Members of the groups have indicated that, while they feel the 31 slots are a step in the right direction, more openings should be made available. “I think our primary emphasis right now will be on these 31,” he said. “We’re pressed so much for time right now that I don’t really want to give the future too much thought.” Some of the other demands, dealing with the establishment of a black and brown curriculum, have also been acted upon, Clemens said. “There is a strong possibility that we will have four or five courses for the coming semester,” he said. “Once we get something definite there will be a big publicity campaign, ard some type of arrangement will be made for a simple way to drop and add for those people who want to get into these courses.” Plan for pass-fail P.E. classes to be reviewed The university’s Curriculum Committee will review a proposal by Tom Levyn, sophomore representative, that all physical education classes be placed on a pass-fail basis today. It is expected that representatives from the P.E. Department will be there to debate the issue. The meeting will be held at 2:15 p.m. in the President’s Conference Room in the Administration Building. Levyn’s proposal calls for: • The P.E. classes to be made pass-fail except in the case of departmental majors. • A minimum pass grade would be equivelant to a “C” grade now. • The program will only apply to courses 100 through 159. • Fail grades would not be counted in the student’s overall grade average. Levyn made the proposal for a number of reasons, including the overwhelming vote for pass-fail in student elections last spring (89 per cent to 11 per cent) and the chance of a poor grade in P.E. preventing a deserving student from academic honors. Dr. Tillman Hall, chairman of the P.E. Department, has drafted a paper placing the department’s position solidly against Levyn’s proposal. The report has already been mailed to members of the Currciulum Committee. “Were all the general education courses graded on a pass-fail basis, then we would quickly agree to the same,” the report stated. “But to push one part of the totality into a separate category is to label it as of lesser consequence.” Dr. Hall based some of his report on a questionnaire which was presented to all the students enrolled in day P.E. activity courses. Within the report. Dr. Hall recommended that the present practice of giving evaluating letter grades in one-unit PE courses, including the letter grade on the cumulative GPA be retained. He further recommended a comprehensive study of the whole process of grading all general education courses. Interest hike may not hurt aid office By HEIDI FLYNN Students and USC in general will probably not be adversely affected by the recent increase of the prime interest rate that banks charge their best customers. Banks nation-wide raised the prime interest rate to seven percent, a record high, from a previous rate of 6.34 per cent. This is the third hike in five weeks. According to Edwin Robbins, lecturer in finance at USC “The increase in the prime rate on Tuesday makes the spread between the discount rate charged by the Federal Reserve banks and the rates commercials banks charge their very best customers one and one-half per cent. “It has been normal for the rate spread to vary between one and on and one-half percent so this falls within the normal pattern. The raise in the prime rate is in response to the Federal Reserve Board’s recent move to raise the Federal Reserve requirement in an attempt to curb inflation. Once the inflationary swing of the conomy has been broken, it is expected that the Reserve requirements, as well as the prime interest rates charged by commercial banks, will again go down, Robbins said. In the meantime, the effects of higher prime rates will possibly include a dip in the stock market, and a decrease in small private loans, he said. Dr. Carl Franklin, vice-president of Financial Affairs, explained that it is more expensive for banks to make small loans, when they could earn seven per cent interest on one large loan that would not require as much preparation. “If a bank has to pay five and one-half percent or six per cent for its money, it cannot afford to make many small loans.” he said. What will be the effects on student loans, which would normally come under this “small loan” category? Franklin replied that as things stand now, the prime interest hike will have little or no effect on loans given to students, either by banks, or the university. There are several loan programs open to students, including National Defense Education Act (NDEA) loans. Federally Guaranteed loans, loans sponsored by donors and given through the school, and those that USC finances out of its own loan fund. In all these cases, the interest rates are fixed and are not subject to the fluctuation of commercial rates, Franklin said. The rate on the NDEA loans is three and one-half per cent. This rate, as well as the seven per cent on a Federally Guaranteed loan, have been fixed by an act of Congress and cannot be changed without changing the basic law behind it, Franklin'said. The NDEA loans are administered by the university, but a Federally Guaranteed loan is given out by the student’s bank. The Financial Aid Office said that the interest rate will not rise, the number of Federally Guaranteed loans given out may drop for one of two reasons. First, the banks may not be willing to make as many small loans when they could be earning such a high per cent on a single transaction. Counseling students and doing all the necessary paperwork makes it much more troublesome than one multi-million dollar deal with a large company, the office said. The second reason concerns the student who may not be willing to accept a loan if he must pay a higher rate. While he is still in school, the government pays the interest on the loan, but after graduation, the student becomes responsible for repaying the loan and the interest. The unversity loans money at a rate of six per cent, much lower than commercial banks, and will not raise that rate unless it is absolutely compelled to do so, Franklin said. He added that many of the loans that the school gives are donated by private parties who specify what the interest rate shall be, and those will change under no circumstances other than by a request from the donor. As far as the university’s plans for new construction on campus go, Franklin said he felt that there would be little effect, since their federal loans almost constitute a subsidy. The school pays back at about three per cent the money it borrows from the government for the construction of new buildings. Most of the construction however is financed by private donation, which conceivably could be decreased if the prime rate hike produces a recession, Franklin said. “If it turns out that the present attempts of the federal government to put the breaks on inflation actually causes a mild recession, a drop in the price of securities and a slowing down of business activity, then it could have an adverse affect on gifts by individuals and corporations,” said Franklin. “However, before any such recession occurred, the policies to curb inflation would be reversed in order to stimulate activity in the economy. “Hence, this temporary increase in the money rates is not likely to have any adverse effects on gifts to use or the financial situation of the students.” |
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