Cuts affect childrens hospital
Child abuse treatment continues
By Jerrold Dale and Pamela Savage
Despite a massive cut in its staff, the child abuse program at Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles is continuing to operate
The program was severely altered last May when hospital administrators made drastic cuts in several of its programs due to a lack of money.
The Division of Psychiatry, which housed child abuse treatment, was abolished and seven of the 10 child abuse team members were fired.
The three remaining members, headed bv Dr. James Ap-thorp of the Countv-L'SC Medical Center, have continued to diagnose abused children, but psychological treatment is no longer being done at Childrens Hospital.
Melissa Hubbard, a clinical social worker, said the treatment now takes place at Childrens Institute International, a privately funded agency specializing in child abuse.
The seven dismissed team members are now working tor the Childrens Institute, which has excellent child care facilities, she said.
A complication has arisen however, involving a 5103,000 grant to the child abuse team from the Atlantic Richfield Company. Last June, the ARCO Foundation made the grant to Childrens Hospital for the abuse team after selecting it from a list of hospital programs in need of funding.
Although a majority of the team's members have moved to Childrens Institute, the hospital has refused to forward the grant to the institution.
“Technically the program still exists (at Childrens Hospital)," said Hubbard, who now spends two days a week at the Childrens Institute. A meeting to settle the grant issue has been scheduled.
Hubbard said that the abused children have not been adversely affected bv the changes in the child abuse program. Prior to the switch to the Childrens Institute, many of the children were already receiving some of their treatment there because of the outstanding dav care facilities it offered. Hubbard added that the number of cases has remained steady despite the cuts in the program.	y
The financial difficulties at the hospital have also directly affected university staff members Approximately 100 faculty are regularly assigned to the hospital, where they teach, do research or treat patients They
are appointed, promoted and earn tenure in the same way as other faculty and are paid from the same payroll. The affiliation agreement between the university and the hospital dictates that for faculty, "the policies of the university shall be binding upon the hospital."
The budget cuts at Childrens Hospital last May resulted in the dismissal of 16 faculty members who were on staff at the hospital. Those who were fired were told bv university administrators that they had been placed on "indefinite leave without pay." They have since hired legal counsel and taken their cases to court, claiming that their dismissals were violations of their contract and tenure status.
Although some of the faculty have since been reinstated, five are still on indefinite leave of absence. In a letter to the editor of the faculty newsletter, faculty members were told that, "This action established a precedent whereby faculty may be dismissed at administrative whim, without due process."
not surprising that Tommy Trojan s fall look is Republican
Volume LXXXIX. Number 17
trojan
University of Southern California	Wednesday. October B. 1980
290 Students need housing, facilities to be built
By John Iki
The university housing occupancy rate is 100 percent and there is a watting list of 290 students who desperately want housing, said David Lee, direc-lor of housing and residence halls.
Housing is so scarce that bunks have been moved into studv rooms in Birnkrant Residence Hail and several rooms designed tor two students now house three.
The university currently
provides housing for more than 4,800 students, not including those in fraternities and sororities, but the supply of housing never seems to meet demand, Lee said.
Three housing facilities will open within a year, however, to help combat the shortage.
One building. The Pacific, on Severance Street, will accommodate 54 to 56 students beginning this spring. Two other apartment buildings, The Embassy, 2638 Portland St.; and
The Terrace, 1275 W. 29th St.; will house about 250 residents after they open next fall.
Once a student succeeds in obtaining housing, however, many of his problems begin, starting with the cost of moving in.
Housing costs have increased more than 12 percent over last year, Lee said.
Students can do little to keep housing costs down, as they inevitably increase every year, but energy costs — the second
SEIZED AFTER MEETING
University employee murdered
By Kate Flaherty
Sun IVritn
A university employee in Student Administrative Services was found murdered in her home Friday night.
Barbara Beasley, 30, was apparently kidnapped on the wav home from a club meeting and forced into a car bv two men who made her drive to her house, near East 32nd and San Pedro Streets, said Cheryl Beasley, her daughter.
The bodv was found that evening by a friend of Beasley's.
The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating the murder but was unavailable for further comment bv press time.
"We're still reeling from this, it is a horrendous thing to happen. It's just horrible," said Trudy Gerston, assistant to William Wagner, dean of Natural Sciences and Math.
Beasley worked at the university for six years, the last three in the Academic Information Systems Office as a computer terminal operator supervisor.
"She was one of those invisible people who didn't have any direct contact with the students, but what she did was vitally important to anyone who had any contact with financial services
here," said Mike Halloran, director of Automated Services for Financial Aid.
Her co-workers in the office spoke of her as a "Mom" figure in the office and referred to her as "Mrs B
"She made the office more like a family," said Doris Tvler. a co-worker in the office. "She had a little profanity jar on her desk, and if anyone used a four-letter word thev would have to put a nickel in the |ar. Thev had to go out of the office to swear and it was all in fun. That's just the classy kind of person she was, she wanted that kind of happy atmosphere."
Known to be active in church activities, Beasley attended a weekly Christian luncheon held near the Town and Gown. The luncheon group met to hear different religious speakers and gather for a fellowship.
Beasley leaves a son, a daughter and two grandchildren. Funeral services will be held at the V'ictor Baptist Church on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
"She was such a calm, happy person, with a smiling face all the time," said Maria Pickens, a co-worker. "She was too good a person for that to happen to."
largest expense for students — can be controlled, said Brad Gordon, energy conservation coordinator in the Housing and Residential Life Office.
An energy management center will soon begin operation. Its three departments will in-
clude engineering, marketing and supervision.
The engineering center will conduct energy audits, structural modifications and replacement of wasteful machinery with more energy-efficient ones, Gordon said.
University Security curbs high officer attrition rate
By Craig Gima
Assistant City Editor
University Security has apparently been successful in curbing the high attrition rate of its officers.
In past years, the rate had been as high as 35 percent annually, but until last week — when two officers left lor positions in the Los Angeles and Monterey Park police departments — security had hot lost anyone in six months.
"In most places the attrition rate is about 12 to 15 percent..We went from very high to very low, though I expect it to level off at about 12 to 15 percent." said Steve Ward, chief of security. "In a given year we will lose four or five officers.".
Ward attributes the high retention rate to three factors: a selection and training program started two years ago, two pay increases since January and more variety and responsibility on the job
Two classes of recruits, which graduated from security's new training program, have bolstered the force.
They were screened through a process similar to one used bv the Los Angeles Police Department, Ward said. The applicants had to pass a written examination, oral interviews with a' panel composed of students and staff, agility tests, psychological screening, a medical examination, over 700 hours of training and a probationary period before becoming fulltime officers.
"The job is much more desirable because it's harder to get," Ward said, adding that officers are less likely to quit because of the effort they put into qualifying.
Many of the new security officers are looking for jobs in municipal police agencies and the university serves as a training ground for them. Ward said.
"1 don't think that's negative, if we keep them for a long period of time," he said.
Because local police departments hire at different times. Ward believes the attrition rate among new security officers will vary throughout the year. The exception to the rule would be if the Los Angeles Police Department gets the funding it is seeking to hire
1,400 additional officers.	___ .
(Continued on page 61