volume Ixv, number 68 thursday, february 8, 1973
DatXy tp Trojan
university of southern californi los angeles, California
Reverse racism not issue at Law Center
DT photo by Barry Brown
High water brings hell to residents of Touton Hall
By David Van Iderstine
Residents of Touton Hall awoke Wednesday morning to discover that the heavens had once again opened.
For the second time in a month, heavy rains had flooded the lobby and basement of their humble abode and the cars parked nearby.
The high-water mark in the basement was just under five feei. Jim Wainwright, second floor resident advisor, taking a damage survey from a floating set of box springs, found the washers and driers flooded, the television set in the recreation room floating, and the pool table awash.
In addition, the hot water heaters were extinguished, and there was no hot water for showers. A telephone repairman reported that 90% of the phones in the hall were out of commission.
As the flooding occurred during the early morning hours, most Toutoners, however, were unaware and slept blissfully through it all.
Los Angeles Fire Company 15
The attorney of Johnny Lee Harbert. the man accused of the kidnap-murder of Susan Schuler, said it is probable that his client has confessed to the crime.
When asked about the possibility of a confession from his client, Earl C. Broady, Jr. appeared surprised and said he personally had no knowledge of such a confession. However, Broady added, ‘ If the district attorney said Harbert confessed, he probably did. The question now is whether that confession was voluntarily given or what.”
Roger Kelly, prosecuting attorney in the case, recently told the Daily Trojan that Harbert had confessed to
responded to a call for help by sending a pumper truck and five men. “We pumped for two hours, from 5:40 to 7:40 a.m.,” said Capt. William Willard.
When asked how he felt about such an early-morning call, Capt. Willard replied, “We’re paid for emergency duty 24 hours a day. If yo’u w'ant my personal opinion, I'd much rather be asleep.”
Touton Hall was flooded once before on Jan. 16 in the early evening. The residents accepted what was apparently the will of God with typical Touton aplomb. Some swam in the thigh-deep water outside, some surfed, others played water polo.
Precautions are now being taken in an attempt to protect Touton from the next rainstorm. Sandbags are being placed at the front door. However, Wainwright said, “The sandbagging in front doesn’t do much but cut down the undertow in the lobby.”
Los Angeles law enforcement officers.
Kelly said Harbert had admitted forcing his way into Miss Schuler’s car at gunpoint in the parking lot near the USC Apartment Towers, then riding with her to San Bernardino County where he raped her. Kelly added Harbert admitted he then drove with Miss Schuler to Imperial County where he shot her.
Kelly said Harbert’s alleged confession does not necessarily mean the defendent will plead guilty. He said the plea will depend on the circumstances surrounding the confession.
The preliminary hearing has been postponed until Feb. 20.
Charges of admissions discrimination against nonminority students, currently occurring in some law schools in the country, apparently are not widespread or numerous at the USC Law Center.
Cases of reverse racism, the denial of law school admission to WASP students in favor of less qualified minority applicants, have been claimed at universities nationwide.
A notable recent case is that of Marco De Funis, a former University of Washington student, who claims that his application for admission to that school’s law school was rejected in favor of 38 less qualified minority students.
But at USC, the admissions director at the law school, Olive Anderson, says that a major complaint has yet to be registered.
“There have been a few questions raised,” she said, “but after explaining our admissions process to these people, we feel we have satisfactorily answered those.”
Anderson related that the law school’s policy is to increase the size of their admitted class rather than to turn any qualified applicant away.
The current statistics on students in the law school indicate that 63 out of 435 are minority students.
A spokesman for the Chicano law students agrees that students with sufficient grades fulfilling other admissions criteria are generally accepted into the school.
“No qualified student is ever rejected because a Chicano student is admitted,” the spokesman said. “There is a tendency to simply increase the size of the class.”
Unlike some law schools, USC apparently has no rigid quota system for admitting minority applicants.
“If such a quota system does exist at USC, it is informal and indirect,” said Keith Keener, a second year lawr student. “There are student members on the admissions committee and I'm sure if there was a quota system here, word wrould get out about it.”
Keener did indicate, however, that
Helpline applications are available in the Student Activities Center, EVK Residence Hall, and the Student Health Center. Helpline hopes to begin receiving calls by March.
Helpline, cosponsored by the Student Health Center and the University Counseling Center, is intended to be an outlet for those who need help or just want someone to talk to between 5 p.m. and 9 a.m. during the week.
Calls Helpline expects to receive are boyfriend-girlfriend problems, unwanted pregnancy, and those of loneliness. Helpline will refer the students to the proper agencies or people who can best solve their problems.
However, Helpline is not intended to be only a referral service. Staff members will also counsel in person because they think that many individuals may need more time than a two-minute telephone conversation to solve their problems.
Helpline orientation will be Tuesday. Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. in the Student Activities Center. Attendance at this meeting is mandatory.
subtle discrimination against nonminority students may occur after students have been admitted at USC.
“There have been certain occasions when white, economically well-off students have not been given the benefit ofthe doubt in grading procedures,” Keener noted. “One professor in particular—who no longer teaches at USC—tended to let minority comments in class discussions get excessive once a point had been made.”
USC’s law school participates in the Legal Education Opportunity Program with the law schools of UCLA and Loyola University. Under the program, minority applicants automatically apply to all three schools when they fill out forms to any one of them.
At USC, however, it appears that the only ones complaining about whites being turned away to make room for minorities are some WASP applicants.
Steve Knowles, a prelaw senior, said, “There is discrimination most definitely at USC. It’s not even subtle. The standards are overtly lower for minorities. I don’t think they even try to hide that.”
Bob Rosso, a senior in political science and also a prelaw student, agrees with Knowles. “I think schools should be blindfolded with respect to racial origin,” said Rosso.
A second year lawr student at USC, however, complained because he believes the minority admissions at USC are too low.
The general tenor of those questioned at USC, however, said they believe admissions policies should be equitable—for all concerned.
“It’s got to be done on a one-to-one basis,” said one law student. “If they're bumping a kid wrho is possibly marginal and has worked all his life to get into law7 school for a minority who is definitely marginal, it’s wTong. Just because an individual is a minority or a Caucasian doesn't give him a prescriptive right to anything. Each case should be viewed on an individual basis,” he said.
Training will be conducted from Feb. 13 to March 13 on Tuesday and Thursday nights in the Student
Activities Center.
One part of the training will be a lecture by an expert from the L.A. Suicide Prevention Center. Following the lecture, the traineers will role play the discussed topic. This role playing helps the counselors understand the type of pressure that students may experience because of their problems.
Another lecture entitled “Crisis Intervention” will be given by a staff member of the Counseling Center. He will discuss situations that require immediate action, such as drug overdoses.
Continuous in-service training will be conducted by the Helpline staff to investigate the types of calls and problems unique to USC.
Helpline’s Executive Advisory Board consists of members from the Counseling Center and the Health Center Staff. The professional advisory board consists of lawyers and doctors. Helpline codirectors are Lorrie Herzberg and Susan Frank.
Attorney says confession probable in coed murder
Telephone counseling service begins in March; volunteers to be trained