University of Southern California
DAILY • TROJAN
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23, 1969, VOL. LX, NO. 108
Some of the allegedly unsanitary debris around the County-USC Medical Center is shown above.
Photo by Hal Goldman
Sanitation probe at Medical Center
LOS ANGELES (CNS)-An immediate probe into alleged unsanitary conditions at County-USC Medical Center was ordered today after it was reported that garbage and refuse was strewn throughout the hospital.
The Board of Supervisors ordered the investigation after receiving an emergency telegram from Mrs. Eleanor M. Glenn, general manager of Hospital Workers Union Local 434.
Mrs. Glenn said conditions at the hospital’s incinerator and loading areas were disgusting and dangerous to both employees and patients.
Refuse, garbage, and contaminated materials were dumped on the floors of the
areas, she said, and spread by the wheels of carts rolled throughout the hospital.
Debris blows all over the area and food unloaded at the dock is in danger of contamination by the germ-laden refuse, she said.
Mrs. Glenn noted the Health Department had been interested once before but “now it is starting all over again.”
In asking for board help, Mrs. Glenn said she had gone through the routine chain of command but had been subjected to much buck passing.
Ernest E. Debs, board chairman, winning agreement from other supervisors, ordered an immediate investigation and evaluation to be presented to the board.
SMOTHERS TO SPEAK
Tom Smothers, comedian and singer, is scheduled to speak to Telecommunications 445 tomorrow at 10 a.m. about what he terms censorship of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, his TV show.
The television program was recently cancelled because the singing and comedy team did not hand in its films in time to be examined by the censorship board, the CBS Network said.
Reservations can be made by contacting Telecommunication Office, 746-2167. The room for the meeting has not yet been decided.
ROTC target of bitch-in
Students rising one after the other to gripe about the ROTC was the prevailing pattern at the bitch-in held yesterday in the Open Forum area.
The bitch-in was highlighted by talk given by Dave Druker, who said that he was in the ROTC last year and for the first part of this year.
“I quit because I couldn’t have my own mind,” he told the crowd, which was only a fraction of the size of the one across the way in Alumni Park
MHA votes invalid; new election plan
The votes cast in the Marks Tower Complex in a run-off election lor Men’s Hall Association (MHA) president yesterday have been invalidated.
Another election will probably be held tomorrow for the residents of Marks Towers, Marks Hall and Trojan Halls only, Mike Bacon, MHA president and coordinator of the elections, said.
The final decision for the new election is pending a mediating decision by Roland (“Happy”) Trope, chief justice of the ASSC Student Court.
Bacon said the votes were invalidated because of mishandling of the distribution of ballots. The two candidates running are Chris Hynes, freshman, and Nader Oskoui. sophomore.
attending the International Festival.
“I want to help people, and that is not what the Navy is all about,” he said.
The bitch-in was set up so that students could air their views about the place of the armed forces on a university campus. The issue first came up two weeks ago when the Daily Trojan published an editorial calling for an end to credit for ROTC courses.
On April 10, the day after the editorial appeared, about 40 students appeared at the ROTC’S afternoon inspection and proceeded to peacefully, although at times noisely, demonstrate their feelings about the ROTC.
Tony Orr, who was one of the leaders of the April 10 demonstration, also spoke at yesterday’s bitch-in, telling students that the university should quit making bargains with the federal government.
The government gives universities large grants for chemical and biological research and, in return, expects the universities to allow them to maintain ROTC units on campus, he said.
Bill Mauk, ASSC president, said that he felt the ROTC was not the real issue.
“The real issue is the war in Vietnam, and what we can do to contribute to stopping the war is to get rid of the ROTC,” he said.
Terry Poplawski, a cochairman of the Students for a Democratic Society, told the audience the United States should be a leader in ending violence as a means of dealing with problems.
“The university should say no to military means of handling world problems,” he said.
Other speakers at the bitch-in included Larry Kulessa, the other SDS cochairman, Mark Savit, newly-elected ASSC vice-president of academic affairs, and Lowell Ponte, a graduate student and KUSC host.
Mauk sees BSU victim of mix-up
Bill Mauk, in yesterday’s Executive Council meeting, reiterated his belief that the Black Student Union’s Songfest entry be reinstated and emphasized that the controversy should not be considered a racial issue.
“In judging the situation I attempted to eliminate any consideration of race and to deal with the appeal in the strict sense of a two-party controversy,” he said.
“I wish to caution all concerned parties not to deal with the emotional accusations of the participants but with the fact of the matter.
“Once emotionalism is allowed to penetrate the dispute, the question of race is unavoidable and ultimately will determine the outcome.”
“If we are to allow racial antagonism to overshadow the fact involved, then the choice must be made in settling the dispute between white racism or black racism. Neither is defensible and will simply prejudice the consideration of fairness and justice.”
Mauk said that he felt the controversy was started by a misunderstanding on the part of the BSU as to their status as a Songfest participant.
“The BSU,” he said, “was under the impression that they were being invited not as competitive participants, but rather as invited guests.”
But the Songfest Committee, according to Mauk, sent the same form letter to the BSU as to all other participants. “They were also under the understanding that they were to be judged prior to final performance,” he continued.
The ASSC president then said that the controversy also centered on the nature of the BSU’s performance as a small group entry, and the question of their entry’s coincidence with “the traditional Songfest format.”
The BSU entry had eight participants, which meant that it had to be classified in the small group division, rather than in the novelty division where it wanted to be classified.
The performance included a three-minute narration. Narration is allowed in the novelty division, but not in the small group division.
Mauk said that Ronald Broadwell, advisor to Songfest, Songfest cochairmen, Laurie Lynch and Dennis Kirshner, cited the narration as the largest single consideration in their failure to qualify.
Mauk stated that when the BSU requested permission to perform with the narration, they were advised to add musical background.
The BSU then added vocal music to the narrative segment. “Kirshner finally granted permission to present the monologue,” Mauk said, “but qualified himself by saying that he could not guarantee acceptance by the judges..
“Upon being granted permission to perform the narration, the BSU considered the issue dead. Nevertheless, the judges felt otherwise, which is understandable considering that they were unaware of Kirshner’s decision to allow the narration,” Mauk said.
Mauk then read from two sections of the Songfest Regulations and Guidelines which state that the Songfest Committee is the overall student governing body of Songfest, and that they shall establish and enforce all rules and procedures relating to Songfest.
“It would be my understanding,” Mauk continued, “that according to these clauses the Songfest Committee has not only the authority but the responsibility for answering questions of the type raised by the BSU.
“The decision of the cochairmen to permit BSU’s narration was thus appropriate and did not need qualification. Unfortunately, as it worked out the cochairmen’s authority was not as binding as it appeared to the BSU.
“My conclusion is that the BSU was a victim of circumstances. Having asked for permission to include its monologue, and having been granted permission by the ‘only organization with current and authoritive information about Songfest’ (Article VIII), it performed, and was disqualified for violating the same rule which they had been given permission to violate.”
In regard to the question of the BSU’s status as a non-Greek entry, Mauk said that the question of de facto, but not de jure, discrimination could be raised.
He said that the co-chairmen wished to change the traditional format of Songfest. “It was generally understood,” Mauk emphasized, “by all participants in the dispute, that Songfest is typically a fraternity and sorority event. This is my impression of the traditional Songfest format.”
Mauk said that great effort was taken by the Songfest Committee to invite non-Greek groups.
He continued, “Despite the new concept of Songfest 1969 held by the co-chairmen and the committee, the judges retained a traditional concept of Songfest.
“Again the BSU was caught in a circumstantial misunderstanding which had little to do with the quality of its performance,” Mauk said.
Mauk said that part of the reason for the Greek dominance of Songfest results from the fact that fraternities and sororites are better organized and practice longer than independent groups.
But he also made it clear that he felt there was de facto discrimination against non-Greek entries, and that this partially caused the BSU’s disqualification.
The Executive Council also unanimously passed a resolution calling for the Student Behavior Committee to hear the appeal of the ASSC Student Court decision ordering a new election for Junior Representative.