Volume LXXXVIll, Number 8
trojan
University of Southern California
Wednesday February 13, 1980
Police arrest former employee
Charged with embezzling $50,000
Los Angeles Police Department investigators have arrested a former employee of the university on a charge of embezzlement involving approximately $50,000, said Vance Peterson, director of Academic Relations.
Kathleen Marie Vadasz, 29, who worked as an administrative assistant for the Division of Humanities, Letters, Arts and Sciences, from 1976 to 1979, was arrested Tuesday in Modesto, California, by an LAPD detective.
During her employment, Vadasz was in charge of keeping track of the center's accounts and originating check requests for work performed by outside vendors, Peterson said.
She had established a bogus secretarial service called "K Secretarial Service" with a post office box in that name, said Peterson and Joe Boyle, a City News Service reporter who spoke with police officials Tuesday. She allegedly billed the center for fictitious secretarial
Ex- law dean is sworn in as federal appeals judge
Dorothy Nelson, former dean of the university's Law Center, was swom-in as a circuit judge in the U.S. Court of Appeals Tuesday before a large crowd of judges and friends in Bovard Auditorium.
In opening remarks made by judiciary and university leaders, all spoke warmly of Nelson and emphasized her great respect for justice.
Mayor Tom Bradley stressed this element and said that "her entire life illustrates that principle."
President John R. Hubbard said that Nelson was one whom many within the university respected and consulted for advice, particularly at times when the university was surrounded by controversy.
"The departure of Dean Nelson will leave an enormous void, but we all rejoice in her new assignment," Hubbard said.
Nelson was presented with a certificate of merit by Hubbard acknowledging her accomplishments.
Recognizing Nelson's efforts in assisting students during her tenure at the university, Michael D. Rumbolz, president of the Student Bar Association at the Law Center, announced the creation of the Dorothy Nelson Student Loan Fund to aid law students with financial need.
Others that remarked on Nelson's excellent performance at the university and as a lawyer were Orrin B. Evans, professor and Dean Emeritus of the Law Center, Samuel L. Williams, chairman of the Judicial Nominations Commission for the Ninth Circuit, and John A. Sutro, from the American Bar Association Committee on the Federal Judiciary.
The administration of the oath was presented by Nelson's husband, the Hon. James F. Nelson, who said that after 30 years of marriage, he felt he could accurately say that justice, equality, and human rights were all ways to describe her beliefs.
(Continued on page 10)
services, arranging for the money to be sent to the post office box account, Peterson said.
Neither David H. Malone, dean of humanities, nor police authorities were available for comment.
"I don't think this happened as a result of a lax in our system," Peterson said. "This is clearly the act of a criminal taking advantage of the complexities of the system."
Peterson said the administrative assistant who replaced Vadasz discovered "anomalies" in the center's ledger last July. The center then examined the ledger and found "evidence of embezzlement," Peterson said.
Internal auditors were immediately hired and concluded by August that Vadasz had embezzled about $50,000. The auditors handed over their report to Carl Levredge, director of Parking Operations, who then informed the LAPD of the alleged crime.
"The LAPD is involved at our (the university's) request," Peterson said. "We've worked with them and the district attorney since last October to get an arrest."
BOOK .. INFORMATION
Stafl photo by Slav* Hyman
TAKING A BREAK — Ardee Jamin, a bookstore employee, finds a place to relax now that the first week of the semester is over. Lines were long in the bookstore last week as students rushed to get books for their new classes.
MOVES TO STUDIO
Acting registrar resigns position
John Osborne resigned Monday as acting university registrar and will begin working in the corporate audit division of Twentieth-Century Fox after March 3.
His resignation has been officially accepted by James Jones, executive director of Student Administrative Services.
After holding the position of acting registrar for a year and a half without official appointment, Osborne said he has decided to "further my career with another organization."
His resignation comes only 12 days after the resignation of Jones and the resignation of Linda Berkshire, director of Resource Development, last semester. Osborne said there is no connection between these resignations.
Those associated with Osborne feel his greatest administrative achievement was in the implementation of the university's computerized registration system, used for the first time this spring.
"He certainly has been good for the university, especially in improving the registration system," Jones said.
Although Osborne is pleased with the results of the registration system, there are other points within the university which he has found disappointing.
"My major concern is over the environment in SAS and the conditions which have existed here for a long time," Osborne said, noting the lack of working space and the budget.
"A lot could be done, but it isn't being done because the decisions are not being made."
Osbome is also unhappy that a university-wide retention system has not been maintained to discourage students from leaving the university and feels that the student advisement system is in need of revision. He has begun designing a system based on one used at Brigham Young Univ-(Contmued on page 10)
Former law dean combines careers, family, Baha’i into successful blend
By Marsha Johnston
On a trip to Egypt, Dorothy Wright Nelson sat down for a chat with Mrs. Anwar Sadat.
Mrs. Sadat faced a woman who was serving as dean of the law school of one of the United States' most well-known universities. She wanted to lay some ground rules for the conversation.
"Before we start, Dean Nelson, let me say that I, too, believe in equal opportunity for men and women, but I also believe in the family. If someone were to ask me to choose, my family would come first."
Nelson replied, "Mrs. Sadat,
I am a Baha'i and we believe life is a bird. One wing is male and the other female. Without
both wings strong and working together the bird cannot fly."
The Egyptian First Lady seemed to relax and smiled at her secretary, dismissing him with a glance that said, "It's all right, she's not one of those types."
Nelson, dean of the Law Center and recently appointed judge of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, could easily be expected to be a woman consumed by ambition or a militant feminist.
Rarely do lawyers begin a federal judicial career at the appeals court level as Nelson has done. Judges are usually required to serve in the trial courts before adjudicating on the appeals court circuit.
Mrs. Sadat was delighted to find a woman who defied the image of the hard-hearted, cold woman who has rejected family life to excel in a man's world.
"I think Mrs. Sadat thought Dorothy was going to be some sort of radical feminist. But it takes only a few seconds to disabuse people of that notion," said James Nelson, her husband.
Nelson combines a loyal adherence to traditional family values with a legal career, that even the President of the United States recognizes as outstanding.
Nelson, 55, graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1950. The next
(Continued on page 7)