LESSER ROLE SEEN, SAID CITY HALL SOURCE
University involved in local revitalization project
By Brandon Bailey
Assistant City Editor
The university mav still be involved in a community revitalization project in south-central Los Angeles but will probably plav a lesser role in the project than originally planned, said a city hall source.
The university had been considered as the recipient of property on the comer of Vermont Avenue and Slauson Street, where a Sears, Roebuck and Co. department store currently stands. The project would involve developing the site into a shopping mall, possibly with federal funds.
The project, which was initiated by Sears in an effort to make use of the property after the store was closed in early 1976, is still under consiaeration.
After eight years of declining sales at the store, Sears concluded the community could not support a major retail outlet in that area, said a Sears spokesman.
On the advice of Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, Sears contacted the university for help with the project.
"Bradley suggested the university because of its reputation, tax-exempt status and involvement in the south-central Los Angeles community," the spokesman said.
Nat Read, director of public relations for Sears in the Los Angeles region, said he has been working with Leonard Wines, associate vice-president and executive director for university relations, and other community representatives through the Vermont-Slauson Revitalization Advisory Committee.
The committee, appointed by Mayor Bradley, concluded earlier that a mini-mall shopping center featuring a number of small retail stores would best serve the area.
Wines said last December that the university was interested in acquiring the property and helping with the project. But the university would first have to decide whether it could afford property taxes, insurance and maintenance costs which would come with the property, Wines said.
The committee has since encountered new develop-
ments which may rule the university out of the project •
The university may not be eligible for the federal grants which the committee wants to use to finance the project, said Anthony Lazarro, university vice-president for business affairs.
If federal officials decide the funds must be given to a non-profit group formed solely for the purpose of carrying out the community development project, the university will no longer involve itself in the project, Lazarro said.
But if the university is considered eligible to receive funds and Sears does donate the property, the university's function would be to coordinate the work of private developers, Lazarro said.
Officials are hesitant to reveal any details until plans for the project have been finalized, said Marva Smith, assistant economist representing the city's office of Economic Development on the committee.
Smith said concrete developments may be expected in a few weeks.
Moratorium declared on deportation of Iranians
By Joe Boyle
Staff Writer
The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service has declared a six month moratorium on the deportation of most Iranians who indicate an unwillingness to return to Iran. Students with F-l visas will not be affected.
The temporary stay will be granted because of the unstable political situation in Iran.
Departure for non-immigrants whose applications for temporary stay have been denied or who hatfe been ordered to leave the country, will not be enforced prior to June 1, 1980. Hearings for Iranians classified by the immigration service as deportable aliens or those involved in deportation proceedings will also be postponed until after June 1.
The extension is a "humanitarian aspect since there is a threat to the Iranians when they return to their country," said Berthe Von Allmen, of University Student Services.
"When it all settles down they'll be asked to go home," she said.
The new law will not affect students holding F-l student visas. Non-immigrant students who require more than one year to complete their studies will be allowed to stay in the United States for the duration of their studies instead of a fixed period of time as in the past. Students who plan to stay for one year or less will also be admitted for the time necessary to complete their studies.
"All students are required to establish that they will attend the school specified on their visa," said Ron Tasoff, of Tasoff and Tasoff law firm, Los Angeles.
'They must prove that they have sufficient funds to support themselves and will return to their home country after their studies have been completed," Tasoff said.
Under the same regulations students offered on-campus employment which will not displace a U.S. resident under terms of a scholarship or fellowship, are not required to apply for permission to work since that type of employment is considered part of the academic program.
Permission to work will be granted to those Iranians whose departure has been deferred and who establish appropriate need, or those willing to give up non-immigrant status and be granted voluntary departure.
"Of course any Iranian can still apply for political asylum if he or she can prove that they will be persecuted by the new regime because of politics, religion, ethnic group, or former association with the old regime," Tasoff said.
"The only Iranians who would be exempt from the new law are those who are willing to return to Iran or who have been convicted of criminal acts in the United States," he said.
trojan
Volume LXXXVII, Number 2	University of Southern California
Tuesday, September 18, 1979
Fee charged to international students to fund programs
By Brandon Bailey
Assistant Gty Editor
A $10 fee has been levied on international students for the first time this semester to help fund new programs and positions within the Office of International Students and Scholars.
The fee was first considered last spring by James Appleton, vice-president of Student Affairs, who consulted with members of the International Students Association. International students had lobbied extensively for improved services last year, but were not happy with the idea of the additional fee.
Appleton and James Callaghan, director of international students and programs, have both said they were opposed to the idea of the fee but could find no practical alternative to fund the new services.
International students have needs other students don't have, but the university just didn't have additional financial resources, Callaghan said.
Members of the association asked the university administration to find alternatives to the fee, saying it was not right for international students to pay extra when the programs and services paid for by all students are not designed to serve international needs.
Callaghan was hesitant to estimate the amount of funds the fee will produce because all students have not yet registered, but said he intends to use some of the money to pay for two new positions, a staff member to handle programs and counseling, and an immigrations secretary to handle paperwork at the office's front desk.
Inadequate staffing was a major complaint of both students and staff associated with the office last year. The new employees will bring the total staff to include three in charge of programming and counseling and three to work the front desk.
The university did provide additional funds to hire one of the current programming counselling staff, Callaghan said. The two additional employees will not be appointed immediately, until needs and resources can be evaluated, he said.
Callaghan said he intends to work with an advisory panel, composed of representatives from the association and the Student Senate, to form plans for use of funds raised by the fee. Some funds may be turned over to the association for its programs, he said.
About 3,800 international students attended the university last year. Estimating that a similar enrollment may bring 538,000 to the office, Callaghan said $5,000 might be contributed toward association programs.
A petition opposing the fee was submitted by international students to President Hubbard and the Board of Trustees last spring, but the fee was approved by the Board June 1.
Many of those students still oppose the fee, said Eisa Samonte-Nassiri. But he said he did not think the association would attempt further protests against the fee. International students supported by scholarships from the governments of their countries are less concerned, but those supported by their families are among those who still object, he said.
Staff photo by Rleherd Levin
rrs THAT TIME OF YEAR — The biannual exercise of drop and add returned to campus Monday and will continue in the gym through noon on Saturday. Drop and add lines open at 9 a.m. and close at 6 p.m. on weekdays. Registration for day dasses will also continue through Saturday in the gym.
Hoover redevelopment plan nears completion
The Hoover Redevelopment Project, begun in 1966, is nearing completion. While it was designed to give a facelift to the community, it also resulted in the expansion of the university.
Records show that the 166-acre project, which includes both sides of Vermont Avenue, Jefferson and Figueroa Streets, resulted in the tearing down of 800 structures.
Some of the structures were family homes that had been occupied for many years. In order for the urban renovation to occur, the area had to be declared a slum.
David D. Lewis, chairman of the project, said one of the biggest problems confronting the area was its high population density, with too many people living in too few houses (Daily Trojan, October 2, 1978).
But the homes were nice and did not fall in the slum category, said Sally Bebee, a retired schoolteacher who used to live in a neighborhood affected by the project.
University Village now occupies the land where her house once stood.
Most people left the community, she said, but the exodus didn't take place all at once. She said the city informed her about the project as early as 1956, but because there was no action on the project, many people did not sell their homes until it was too late.