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University of Southern California
A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE Photo by Steve Boiinger Photographer’s use of fish lens gives fountain in Alumni
Park a new lcok
Director defends research center
By TIM PERRYMAN
Lack of knowledge about the Western Research Application Center (WESRAC), has given the group the image of being impractical, A. Kendell Oulie. director of the campus-based organization said yesterday during a colloquim presented by the School of Engineering.
WESRAC, an information disseminating center sponsored by NASA, was established at USC in the spring of 1967 in cooperation with the School of Business.
The purpose of yesterday's lecture, entitled “WESRAC—Computerized Technology at Your Fingertips,” was to orient students and faculty to the time-saving research system available through the research center located at 809 W. 34th St., next to the Methodist Church.
The computerized research system employed by WESRAC, has 750.000 reports and documents on computerized tape, with this number increased by at least 6,000 each month.
Oulie said because computerized research is neither as time consuming or nerve-racking as library research that the tremendous backlog of information at WESRAC makes these research methods obsolete.
One of WESRACs major sources is the NASA Data Bank, which itself adds almost 6.000 points of information to the WESRAC computers monthly. Oulie said.
Of the NASA sources that are added. 65 percent are from the United States. 14 percent from the free world (excluding the United States i and over 20 percent from the Soviet Bloc nations.
Later in the program. Oulie presented a short film on WESRAC which further explained how the available facilities of this organization could be put into practical use by industry and other groups.
Testimony from people who had used WESRAC s facilities and who had received good results was also included on the film.
Charts were presented to the audience as further audio-visual aids in how the research center operates its system of computerized investigation of material after the film presentation.
Anyone interested in making use of the facilities operated by WESRAC, which are administered through the School of Business, should contact the WESRAC Center.
VOL. LXII NO. 52
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 1970
BSU rally to climax week of controversy
By RIVIAN TAYLOR
Associate City Editor
Tonight USC will meet Brigham Young University for a basketball game in the Sports Arena. The match will climax a week of controversy dealing with whether the Trojan team should play because of alleged racism at BYU.
Three campus organizations, which had earlier this week passed resolutions asking that the game be cancelled and if it wasn’t cancelled that students go to the game and demonstrate, yesterday confirmed their endorsement of to-nite’s planned rally and demonstration. They expressed hope that the demonstration would be peaceful.
The Black Students Union, ASSC and USC Young Democrats have announced their support of a rally tonite at 6:30 at Tommy Trojan at which time the gathered students will proceed to the Sports Arena and hold a demonstration outside the USC entrance to the arena.
Henry Blackburn, BSU president, said the demonstrators will want to make themselves visible to all who attend the game. He also said that most of the demonstrators plan to attend the game, but will not enter the arena until just before the game begins in an attempt to maximize the number of people who see that “students at USC are peacefully demonstrating against the playing of this game.”
“I don’t want to see this thing turn into violence, but if we are attacked, we’re going to fight back,” he said.
Earlier this week the Trojan Young Republicans issued a statement objecting to the ASSC resolution and two executive council members told the Daily Trojan they thought the resolution was an unwise step.
A petition in favor of the game being played was circulated on the row and in the dorms and gained about 115 signatures. The resolution, written by a junior majoring in business administration, who wished to remain anonymous, expressed sympathy for groups opposing BYU’s beliefs. The resolution said “We believe opinions are expressed best outside the Sports Arena.” It urged the black athletes to participate in the game and defeat BYU.
Ernest L. Wilkinson, president BYU, wrote a letter to the Daily Trojan yesterday denying that there is racial discrimination at BYU.
Wilkinson's statement reads: “We commend the students of the University of Southern California, and especially black students on campus, for their concern for equal human rights for all peoples. We at Brigham Young University share that concern and are doing everything we can to make true equality a reality for all.”
He said the Mormon Church accepts all the concept of equality and brotherhood. “The Book of Mormon also has many references to the brotherhood of man. which are an important part of our religious beliefs . . Those who are really interested in knowing the truth
about Mormon doctrine concerning blacks and other groups will find Mormonism filled with strong doctrine denouncing racism ...
“There is a religious belief confirmed by each prophet of our church that blacks of African lineage may not. at the present time, hold the priesthood, but that the time will come when they will have the opportunity to hold it.”
A quote of Wilkinson’s yesterday in the Daily Trojan was incorrectly attributed to Ed Butterworth, a member of BYU’s university relations staff.
Blackburn, after reading Wilkinson's complete statement, said. “The man is trying to insult black people’s integrity by saying that they believe in the equality of man. This is the same thing the United States has said since its conception. But look at the condition blacks and other minority groups have lived under.” Blackburn also said the statement should have mentioned certain facts. “He talks about Brigham Young University, yet he finds it very convenient not to talk about the number of blacks who attend BYU—a number substantially less than USC. ”
The University of Arizona sent a fact-finding committee to the BYU campus last January to investigate charges of racial discrimination at BYU. “Though Institutional Research department reports are not final until November, preliminary estimates say the number of blacks enrolled in the 25,000 member student body will not exceed 15, including four or five Nigerians,” was one finding of the search committee.
The committee’s report, however, did go on to say: “The fact-finding committee could find nothing to indicate that Brigham Young University is a racist institution or that there may be any more or less racism present than at any other school.” The report also said the committee believe that black people rightfully perceive a doctrine of the Mormon Church preventing blacks from attaining the Mormon priesthood “as a racist, discriminatory doctrine.”
Blackburn responded to Wilkinson’s statement concerning possible future black admission into the Mormon priesthood:
“One day I know that black people and all other oppressed people in the world will be free. The issue now is just a matter of when. The question is that it could be tomorrow or that it could be five million generations from now.”
To counter charges that BYU's affiliation with the Mormon Church is insufficient reasons for the controversy, Blackburn said racism must be fought against on all levels.
The BSU has made a commitment to fight racism in all its forms.” Blackburn said. “Thus we are opposed to the presence of BYU in our community.”
Blackburn charged that the Mormon Church controls virtually every aspect of life in the state of Utah. “One need only ask a black
Brian Clay: a Row tragedy remembered
By MARY ANN GALANTE Assistant City Editor
At dusk in South-Central Los Angeles, as the traffic begins to pile up on the downtown freeway, a white university stationwagon slowly begins to cruise the Row. Smoothly it rolls down the long, well-tended avenue, past the fraternities, the sororities, and the few vacant lots. The car slows for an intersection, stops, then pulls away again. The exhaust sputters against the pavement as the elderly officer driving takes the machine slowly, deliberately through the gears. A few black youths stroll down the street, laughing, occasionally jabbing each other. The officer glances toward the rear view mirror, turns to appraise the boys.
Approaching the corner of University and 28th. he backs off slowly on the accelerator, then cruises on past one of the two alleys. It's a Monday night, known as Chapter Night on the Row. so students are beginning to accumulate on the sidewalks.
It was on just such a Monday night two
years ago this week that Brian Clay, an 18-year-old freshman, was stabbed in front of his fraternity house. So the officer is particularly cautious of roving bands of neighborhood interlopers. But it's early yet. Not much going on. The officer driving shifts up again through the gears, the white car pulls in next to the curb of the intersection— to watch and wait.
Focus
Though Brian Clay died in December 1968. there’s hardly a student now attending USC who hasn't at least heard of his murder. Petite sorority girls are still warned during afternoon rush teas, groups of fraternity pledges are cau-
tioned on dark porches during initiation week. Commuters generally read about the incident when it occurred.
Oddly enough, the situation really hasn't changed much on Fraternity Row in the past two years. Students still fear walking to class after dark from 28th and Hoover. The presence of university police has done little to quell their fears. The majority of student opinion echoes the same fears that plagued students in 1968:
“We know the police are here, so they help because of their presence. But as far as a major crime fighting force, they're old men.” said one student. “After 10 o'clock they just sit at the intersection,” another complained. “You can usually spotem at the Vagabond. too.”
Physically, 28th Street's appearance hasn't changed significantly either in the past two years. The well-tended fraternity and sorority houses still give mute testimony to the protected image of USC's carefully nurtured proteges. LAPD patrol cars continue to prowl
the block during the day hoping to glimpse the blonde sorority girls. And those Monday Chapter Nights still draw the same student crowds to the sidewalk after dusk.
The relatively crowded appearance of 28th Street on Monday evenings may have been partially responsible for the first Row tragedy involving a student and a member of the surrounding community.
On the evening of Dec. 8. 1968. Brian Clay watched the Supremes' “Take Care of Business ” show on television with a pledge brother. Dennis Ekstrom. Ekstrom. a senior in business, recalls Clay went to get a fraternity brother's pipe from a car outside. The first thing his fraternity brothers heard was Clay's screams of. “Help! Get me an ambulance! ”
“At first we thought somebody was RF-ing us. Then we thought maybe Brian had fallen on a sprinkler." said Ekstrom. He recalls the trail of Clay's blood on the fraternity house steps.
(Continued on page 6)