on
trojan
Volume LXXXIX, Number 39
University of Southern California
Tuesday, November 11. 1980
Star of ‘Little House’ — an ’80s renaissance man
Freshmen to live on campus
New plan also affects graduates
Bv Claudia Eller and James Grant
Feature Editor Michael Landon, star of Little House on the Prairie, may be considered a renaissance man of the I980’s. Assuming the various roles of star, executive producer, director and writer of the NBC series, Landon brings new meaning to the word "diversity."
Landon was at the university last Sunday to film a special two-hour episode of Little House on the Prairie entitled "To see the light."
In an exclusive interview.
Landon was jovial, direct and articulate exuding a down to-earth quality which parallels his family man image he has typified on television since 1959, the first season of Bonanza. Landon discuseed his creative motivations, his upcoming film, and his experiences as a student at the university.
"I love being involved with all aspects of production. I'm bored if I am just acting because I am always playing the same person. I have only played two different people in 22 years," Landon said.
(Continued on page 5)
DIRECTOR LANDON - Michael Landon was also the star and executive producer of this episode of Little House on the Prairie filmed on campus.
Vietnam lives on for vets affected by Agent Orange
By Karen Klein
and Pauline Yoshihashi
For most Americans, the Vietnam war ended in the mid-1970s.
But many Vietnam veterans are still fighting personal wars of frustration, pain and uncertainty connected with the use of a chemical defoliant known as Agent Orange.
Agent Orange, the code name for a chemical compound shipped in barrels with a large orange stripe, contained a minute quantity of of the toxic chemical dioxin.
In laboratory experiments, animals exposed to dioxin had a high incidence of miscarriages, birth defects and cancer. The effects of dioxin on humans has not been determined.
Widely sprayed to reveal enemv hiding places and destroy Viet Cong food crops until 1970, Agent Orange has been implicated in major health problems ranging from a skin disease known as chlor-acne to possible birth defects.
The possible connection between herbicides like Agent Orange and the mental and physical disorders seen in some veterans has opened a pandora's box of social, political and medical issues for the alleged victims and those who work with them.
Because there is so little knowledge of the effects of dioxins on humans, the Veterans Administration says that Agent Orange-related claims will onlv be filed for further reference and study.
Dr. Bernard Siegel, the Agent Orange coordinator at the Wadsworth Veterans Administration Hospital, said that any veteran who comes to the hospital with health problems will be treated regardless of the cause. "You're going to get treatment whether it's due to Agent Orange or an orange popsicle," he said.
"The decision as to whether veterans receive compensation for Agent Orange exposure is an administrative decision, not a medical one," he said.
Jeffery D. Shulkin, director of Human Genetics Update service, explained that the lack of medical knowledge about dioxin poisoning frustrates everyone involved.
(Continued on page 8)
By Kathy McDonald
Assistant City Editor
All freshmen applying for university housing will be assigned to residence halls on campus beginning next fall, as a result of an approved proposal submitted by the Housing Policy Advisory committee.
Graduate students will also be affected by the proposal. They will be assigned in four buildings west of Hoover: University Regent, which is already exclusively for graduate students, Helena Apartments, Jewel Manor and another building, which will be completed sometime next fall.
"James Appleton (vice president of student affairs) and Anthony Lazzaro (vice president of business affairs) both OKed the proposal," said Jeremv Stringer, assistant vice president of residential life and chairman of the committee.
"It wasn't necessary for it (the proposal) to go as far up as President Zumberge.
"Now most graduate students are scattered," Stringer said. "Thev have different needs and concerns, so they should not have to live among undergraduates with other concerns. I’m not sure if the move will be mandatory' for the graduate students."
The decision to group freshmen together was made to ease their adjustment to college life, and to enable upperclassmen to choose to live exclusively with other upperclassmen. Stringer said.
"Before, some freshmen were isolated, placed with upperclassmen. This will prevent that," he said.
Troy Hall and a!l the residential facilities on campus and will meet a freshmen quota, with the exception of Harris Plaza and Marks Hall.
"Harris Plaza is a self-directed cooperative," Stringer said. "It is all upperclassmen and enables them to be more independent. Marks Hall houses many international students, so there is a special interest there too."
This year freshmen numbered 33 percent of the total number of students in university housing. Next year, with the implementation of the new plan, 1900 freshmen will be housed and that figure will increase bv two percent.
"The same lottery’ system for assignment which has been used will be continued," Stringer said. "Everyone who is in university housing now is still guaranteed a space, and they have first priority to live in that same space if they want to."
The onlv exception to this, he said, affects those students who now live in the lower floors of Webb Tower. As part of the proposal, these apartments will be assigned exclusively to freshmen. But Webb Tower residents can apply to live on one of the upper floors, where upperclassmen will be housed.
In the residence halls, freshmen will continue to be assigned among upper classmen, Stringer said. "The upperclassmen can provide the leadership they need."
Marks Tower and Elizabeth von KleinSmid-Har-ris are the onlv buildings that will experience any substantial change as a result of the policy, Stringer said. Marks Tow’er will be 75 percent freshmen next year, as opposed to 45 percent this year. EVK-Harris will also be three-quarters freshmen. This year 45 percent of its residents are freshmen.
Stringer said he does not foresee any complaints about this because the amount of requests to return to the dormitories does not exceed nousing's capacity to fill them.
As a result of the new policy, freshmen who apply for university housing will not be able to live in any off-campus apartment except Troy Hall, leaving those facilities open onlv to upperclassmen.
Rent will not be affected by the policy, Stringer said.
Reagan appoints 2 trustees
President-elect Ronald Reagan has named two university trustees, Theodore Cummings and Justin Dart, to his transition appointments committee.
The committee will review recommendations and seek out qualified persons for cabinet and sub-cabinet administrative positions.
Cummings is involved in real estate and investments and Dart is chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Dart Industries, Inc.
William French Smith, a Los Angeles attorney, is chairman of the committee, which is made up primarily of long-time Reagan associates.
Other members of the committee are Alfred
Bloomingdale, Glen Campbell, William Casey, Michael K. Deaver, Jaqelin Hume, Earl Nl. Jor-gesen, Sen. Paul Laxalt, Edwin Mease, William Simon, Daniel Terra, Holms Tuttle Caspar Weinberger, Charles Z. Wick, William Wilson and Jack Wrather.
Arthur Laffer, a university professor who advised Reagan on economic matters during the campaign, is famous for his theories on sup-piv-side economics and the Laffer Curve but has not been asked to serve in the Reagan transition team "If I was asked to go to Washington I would be flattered but right now my job is as a professor. I love it here at USC," he said."I will continue writting and offering my profesional opinions.”