NO RAISES
Parking workers may join union
ization was attempted.”
"We want the union to come in because we don't have anyone to stand up for our job," said the other attendant, who asked to remain anonymous. "We need a fair shake." The attendant said he felt his job was very important and he wanted to give a good impression to visitors at the university, but his job was made more difficult by poor working conditions.
"We're doing a great job with the things we have to contend with," he said. He also said not all the attendants were pro-union. He said some of the older workers were content with conditions.
"If I didn't have a family, I wouldn't worry about pay," he said.
Carl Levredge, director of security and parking operations, said he was surprised when the petition was presented to him, but said it was not the first he had heard of it. Levredge admitted the complaints about pay are legitimate, but blamed a limited budget as the cause.
"There are marked differences between what they make and what- PLA's (parking lot attendants) at other institutions make," he said. "They (Continued on page 12)
Staff photo by Wayn* Lavina
MYSTERIOUS MUSIC — Psyche Kehr, a member of the group Los Gauchas, dances to exotic sounds at Monday’s food fair.
(ok% trojan
Volume LXXXVIII, Number 30 University of Southern California Tuesday, March 18, 1980
Students tricked into bad deals
Legal service offers them aid
In a list of over 30 grievances, .attendants protested poor communications between themselves and directors, poor office conditions, lack of job description and training, and lack of weekend supervisors.
Kincaide said that union activity had brought reprisals from the university.
"There have been threats of cancelling our raises, which are due July 1," he said. He also said there had been threats of job loss. These threats were confirmed by another attendant who said a co-worker was told he could lose his job if union-
Marine Research Center delayed by complications
By Cindy Dole
Salesmen peddling merchandise ranging from cookware to cutlery regularly call university students, trying to sell their wares. Some students give in and buy these expensive items and are content with the purchase. Others, however, regret the purchase and try to find ways to get out of their commitment.
For those who feel they acted hastily or were duped by a salesman, the university Legal Service offers free legal aid to solve problems with expensive and binding contracts.
Although the cookware and other companies do not necessarily act illegally, they take advantage of students who, because they are naive or gullible, sign contracts for goods they may not need or be able to afford. (An 18-piece set of cookware, a common sales item in this area, can go for as much as $700.)
Signing such a contract is a binding legal document and a person over 18 in California may be held to the terms of a contract.
Inexperience with making large purchases and especially contracts, is one of the reasons why the student is considered ideal prey for the salesman, said Leo Lacy, an attorney at the Legal Service, sponsored by the Health Center.
One common example of those who sell to students are the cookware salesmen.
These salesmen, for the most part, do not make their sales on a door-to-door basis. University housing contracts prohibit any form of soliciting "for the protection and privacy" of the student and state that "no selling of articles or services in the residential community is allowed, unless the university approves such services."
Salesmen, however, get around the no-soliciting rule by having "parties." At a student's invitation salesmen come to the student's home and demonstrate goods ranging from cookware and tup-perware to cutlery and chinaware. Since the salesmen are invited guests, they are not considered solicitors and thus get around the no-solici-. , • u t(Contiqued on, page 7).,
Staff photo by Wayna Lavtna
A TASTE OF THE MID EAST — Khalil Airai serves one of several Arabian dishes to a student at yesterday's International Food Fair
By Nancy Harlow
Staff Writer
Complaining of poor working conditions, low pay, and no cost-of-living increase, parking lot attendants at the university have petitioned to join the Teamsters Union.
In a meeting Feb. 21, attendants met with parking operations management to present the petition, and some complaints about low salaries.
"They told us they can pay us anything they want to pay us," said Lee IGncaide, one of the attendants at the meeting. Kincaide said attendants had no recourse without a union contract.
By Tim Lynch
Staff Writer
The university has applied for a new permit to resume construction of its marine research center at Los Angeles Harbor, but several legal complications could further delay completion of the $700,000 facility.
The South Coast Regional Commission revoked the original permit March 3 because the university failed to notify
Wilmington because parts of the 65-year-old building were structurally unsafe. Since the harbor department leased the land to the university, it offered the school a handful of alternate sites for a new center.
The harbor department then decided unilaterally to abolish the ice house and to lease the nearby property to the university. Local fishermen objected to
‘The university is being held hostage by fishermen to get to the harbor department.'
the occupant of an ice house that operates within 100 feet of the construction site.
The commission has set a hearing for March 31 to determine whether it should issue a new permit, but a major conflict has developed between the university, the Los Angeles Harbor Department and local fishermen, who are faced with the loss of the only ice house in the harbor.
The problem began when the harbor department condemned
the plan and resolved to fight the issuance of the new construction permit because they maintained they could not do business without the means to preserve their catch.
"The real problem is that the fishermen must have ice accommodations," said Don Reach, deputy director of the Institute for Marine and Coastal Studies for the university. "We want the harbor department to state that they're responsible for selecting the new site and
for abolishing the ice house, which they will do on April 1 regardless of whether the center is built."
The fishermen recognize the importance of a research center in the harbor, he added, but they see the university as a part of the faction that will abolish the ice house. And harbor department officials have not clarified whether they will authorize construction of another ice house.
"The university is being held hostage by the fishermen to get to the harbor department," Keach said. "It's a very delicate situation. It's very important that we get the backing of the fishermen. If they don't want us, there are going to be problems."
If the university overcomes the obstacle of reaching an accord with the fishermen, it still faces a problem with the California State Coastal Commission.
Six months before the university applied for its first construction permit, the Los Angeles City Planning
Commission issued a recommendation against the research facility because it was not included in either the city or state master plans for development of the port.
The state commission will meet tomorrow in Santa Barbara to adopt the master plan, and there is some question whether the research center meets the requirements of the plan.
"As far as I know, we are compatible with the (master) plan, but interpretations are under review of the state," said Eugene Veek, associate director of facilities for the Marine Coastal Studies Center.
However, Jim Ryan, a spokesman for the South Coast Regional Commission, said he did not believe the university had submitted a formal request (Continued on page 10)