University of Southern California
DAILY m TROJAN
VOL. LXIV
NO. 107
LOS ANGELES, CLAIFORNIA
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19, 1972
EXPLANATION—Bob Rawitch (left) and George Reasons, two Los Angeles Times reporters, were on campus Tuesday talking about how they uncovered
evidence of fraudulent loan grants supplied to San Fernando Valley residents. Photo by Tony Korody.
Times writers say investigative reporting protects public interest
By ANGELA CURCURU Campus Editor
The more opportunity public officials have to cheat and steal from the public, the more investigative reporters are needed, George Reasons, reporter for the Los Angeles Times, said Tuesday.
Reasons and Bob Rawitch. also a Times reporter, spoke at a noon program on “The Role of Investigative Reporting."
The discussion, based upon their coverage of the fraudulent loan grants to alleged earthquake victims in the San Fernando Valley, was sponsored by the campus chapter of Sigma Delta Chi. professional journalistic society.
After 10 weeks of investigation and writing, the two men had a front-page story April 11, with enough evidence to prove many rumors throughout the Valley regarding the misuse of loan funds.
“Within six hours after the story hit the street. Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.) called for the Senate subcommittee to reopen its investigation." Rawitch said. “Ken Hahn, county supervisor, called for a county grand jury investigation.”
Both reporters are satisfied with the governmental response to their stories. Their basic hope behind the investigation was to bring about a change in the Small Business Administration and its methods so that problems like this would not develop again.
“We are not interested in convicting some little guy in Sylmar. We just want the laws changed so that this won’t ever happen again,” Rawitch said.
“There were rumors flying all over the Valley. We wanted to go beyond those second-hand rumors and document exactly what happened, how it happened and why the SBA allowed it to happen.”
The men interviewed 40 to 50 contractors, numerous homeowners, tax assessors, Internal Revenue Service spokesmen and members of the city’s Building and Safety Department. Although they were asked to
reveal the sources of their information, the reporters refused, under cover of the California shield law that protects newsmen’s sources.
“Another reason why we didn’t print names is because we don’t want to publicly identify these people as crooks,” Reasons said. “Some of the people we interviewed admitted misuse not knowing it was misuse.”
“You have to realize that when you’re doing an investigative story, you can’t alw ays go out and say that you’re a reporter for the L.A. Times and then ask someone if he stole money from the federal government to get a new roof for his house, w'hen there wasn’t anything wrong with it,” Rawitch said.
Although both Rawitch and Reasons believe they could have spent more time on the story, they said it would have only been a more detailed account of other misuses of funds.
“There was such a mass of evidence. all telling us the same thing,” said Rawitch. “There didn’t seem to be any conflicts. There could have been more
detail, but I think we proved our point.”
The SBA did not deny any of the alleged fraud told of in the Times article, but it did deny that the misuse was as widespread as the article made it appear. “They couldn’t give any evidence to disprove it, though,” said Rawitch.
“The satisfaction comes with getting a good story. I’ve sent a couple of people to jail with my other stories, and I don’t particularly enjoy that,” Reasons said.
“The real excitement is alw ays in the hunt.”
Band to play
Kid Chaos, a rock and blues band, will perform at noon today at the Student Activities Center patio.
Kid Chaos consists of Lucky McCall, lead guitar; Juke, piano and lead vocal; Jim O'Rourke, bass; Bill Johnson, drums.
This is another free concert sponsored by the ASSC.
New course study set
By JEAN JARVIS
President John Hubbard has set up a university-sponsored course evaluation committee of both students and faculty, taking the Course Evaluation Guide out ofthe hands ofthe trouble-ridden ASSC committee.
The newly formed Teaching Evaluation Committee will meet soon under the direction of Robert Smith, associate professor of education and previously the chairman of the University Senate ad hoc committee on teaching evaluation. It will review and revise the instruments used for teaching evaluation, and then plan work for evaluations in the 1972-73 academic year.
“This joint venture will provide an awful lot of expertise that we’re lacking,” Fred Labankoff, Course Evaluation Guide director, said.
Before the formation of the new committee, both faculty and student committees had different methods and criteria for evaluation.
The original proposal of the ASSC was that a guide evaluating courses should be published by students for students to aid in selecting courses.
The student administrators met with a number of setbacks, however, including lack of faculty response. Volunteer student workers often failed to show up and the committee has recently faced budgetary problems, which would limit the edition to 2.000 copies.
However, Labankoff is optimistic that 7,000 copies will be published by May 10, now that the ASSC has increased the guide’s budget from $2,025 to $2,500.
ASSC endorses abolition petition
By RICHARD SIMON Staff Writer
The ASSC Executive Council endorsed a petition Tuesday night that would, if finally adopted, greater alter the present student government, at least temporarily.
The petition, which began circulating late Tuesday afternoon, calls for immediate suspension of the ASSC Constitution and bylaws, thereby halting student government operations.
However, in order to suspend the ASSC, President John Hubbard must withdraw his authorization of the present constitution.
The drive was started by Lee Blackman. ASSC vice-president for academic affairs; Joel Rosenzweig, ASSC vice-president for programs; Dan Smith, interim director of the Topping Student Aid Fund; and Mark Spitzer, former independent representative.
The petition asks the administration to replace temporarily the student government with a special board to run ASSC programs. “It would administer the ASSC until a new government is created by the students,” Spitzer said.
In endorsing the petition, the council stipulated that the student members ofthe board must be “people experienced in running programs, not tired, worn-out politicians.”
The board of five students, two members of the student affairs division. and one faculty member, would also develop a new student government by May, 1973, in accordance with Hubbard’s plan for university governance, still unreleased, and the work of the Commission on Student Life.
“We recognize that such widespread alienation, as was expressed in the recent election ... is the result of an organizational model which is at best archaic, legally unsophisticated, and highly susceptible to personal and political manipulation,” the petition states.
Spitzer estimates he can get 5.000 signatures. “We expect to present the petitions to Dan Nowak (acting vice-president for student affairs) at the end of the week.” he said.
Nowak refused to comment, but he said that the two faculty members assigned to help him study the current ASSC election situation will be announced today.
An organizational meeting to discuss the petition will be held today at 4:30 p.m. in Student Union 311.
In other action Tuesday, the 12 council members present commended the ASSC elections commissioners, who resigned Friday, and the three Daily Trojan reporters who covered the ASSC this year—Cathy Meyer, executive editor; Laurinda Keys and Peter Wong, news editors.
Kent Clemence, ASSC president, was not present, and he may challenge the legality of the meeting. Vice-President Rosenzweig presided in Clemence’s place.
China conference to feature Asian expert
Alfred le Sesne Jenkins, director of the Department of State’s Office of Asian Communist Affairs, will head the list of China experts in today’s conference, “China and the World: A Turning Point?”
The conference, in Edison Auditorium, Hoffman Hall from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., will be presented by the Institute of World Affairs and the International Relations Department. Admission is free.
Jenkins, who is considered one of the nation’s top China experts, will speak on “The United States and China: Where Do We Stand?” at 1 p.m.
The theme from 9:30 a.m. to noon will be “Chinese Power and Politics.” Speakers will include Allen S. Whiting, who will speak on “Chinese Power in the Seventies.” Whiting is a professor of political science at the University of Michigan and a former deputy consul-general in Hong Kong.
Harold S. Hinton, professor at the Institute of Sino-Soviet Studies, George Washington University, St. Louis, will speak on “Chinese Policy-Making Since the Cultural Revolution.”
“China and the Great Powers” will be the theme from 1 to 3 p.m. Speakers will include Jenkins; Roger Dingman, associate professor of history, whose topic is “Troubled Encounter: America in the Far East;” Paul F. Langer, whose topic is “The Great Power
Quadrangle: Peking, Washington. Moscow, Tokyo.” Langer, a senior staff member of the Santa Monica-based RAND Corporation, is the author of numerous works.
The theme from 3 to 5 p.m. will be “Chinese Foreign Policy: Action and Reaction." “Change in Continuity in Chinese Foreign Policy” will be the topic of Henry Harding, assistant professor of political science at Stanford University. Claude A. Buss, professor of history at San Jose State University, will speak on “Repercussions in Asia.”
Concluding comments will come from Carl Christol, professor of political science; Tosh Lee, visiting assistant professor of political science; Rodger Swearingen, professor of international relations; Michael J. Fleet, assistant professor of political science and international relations.
Jenkins began his study of the Chinese during World War II. He studied the University of Chicago under the U.S. Army Specialized Training Program, and joined the U.S. Foreign Service in 1946.
After studying in China, Jenkins was made chief of the political section of the U.S. mission in Hong Kong in 1949. A year later he was transferred to Taiwan as political officer, and returned to the State Depart-
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