Daily ip Trojan
University of Southern California
Volume LXVI, Number 26	Los Angeles, California	Wednesday, October 24, 1973
'* Nixon-Congress Battle May Stall Student Aid
-as
PEACE AND QUIET—This room, known as an anechoic chamber, is designed for the study of jet aircraft noise pollution. The walls of the chamber consist of several sets of fiberglass wedges which completely absorb any noise emitted in the room.
Grant Awarded
BY BRIAN ROBINETTE
Staff Writer
For years the main concerns of environmentalists from Pomona to Pittsburgh have centered upon the evils of air and marine pollution.
But as anyone who has ever lived on or near an airline approach pattern can attest, the screaming whine of a big jet overhead adds yet another dimension to the pollution problem.
IN AN EFFORT to combat the corrosive and potentially hazardous effects of noise pollution, the Department of Aerospace Engineering has been awarded a three-year, $200,000 contract to study the basic causes of noise in high-velocity aircraft engines.
The contract, awarded by General Electric Co., is regarded as one of the most ambitious cooperative project with private industry at-
BY PETER WONG
Managing Editor
Because of USC’s depen-denceon federal fundsasthe major source of financial aid for students, the director of the Student Aid Office is worried, especially this year.
Pamela Walbom. the director, fears that if the Nixon administration continues its attempts to abolish two major student-aid programs in defiance of congressional intent, “it's going to be another one of those years.”
THAT CAN MEAN only bad news for students. Financial-aid funds for the 1974-75 academic year could again be delayed because of another confrontation between President Nixon and Congress over the amount of funds and which programs they should go to.
tempted by the School of Engineering.
John Laufer, department chairman and program director, expects the effort will serve as a catalyst for other major joint programs that can successfully blend the technical experience and facilities of the university with those of the private industry in curing some of the country’s most urgent maladies.
If this happens, financial-aid officers will not be able to inform both current and entering students of how much they can expect for next year. Students, parents and university officials will again face confusion and last-minute worries.
Because another increase in tuition is possible for 1974-75, the question of federal student aid becomes even more critical to the university.
“THERE'S NO question that federal aid will again be our major resource,” Walbom said in an interview. “But it’s a cause for tremendous frustration, because control of the funds is not wholly within the university.”
Student-aid funds at the discretion of the university
LAUFER WAS enthusiastic about the possibilities of the present research contract, as well as any future grants.
“We were working on this for a couple of months. I think it's a very good start,” he said.
“We hope to expand our cooperative program to other industrial concerns. This could be any firm concerned with noise, or one that manufactures noise that’s an environmental hazard.”
MUCH OF THE research will be gleaned from experiments conducted inside a vast system of rooms in Vivian Hall of Engineering.
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total $9.7 million this year, as opposed to $5.7 million in
1972-73. However, nearly all of the increase came from additional federal support.
The budget confrontation may come sooner than expected.
The Senate passed Oct. 4 an appropriations bill of $33.4 billion for the Departments of Labor and Health, Education and Welfare. This is $1.8 billion more than President Nixon requested in his budget.
THE MONEYT. although included as part of the 1973-74 budget, will be spent in 1974-75.
Of the increase $1.1 billion is for education programs, including student aid.
The Senate version contains $500 million more than the bill passed by the House. The differences must be resolved in a House-Senate conference committee, and a bill is expected to be sent soon to President Nixon, following final approval by both houses.
The bill was sent to conference Oct. 9.
However, even a compromise version would probably appropriate more money than Nixon wants spent — and could well invite his veto. Nixon has vetoed HEW-Labor appropriations bills five times.
ON THE OTHER hand. Congress has overridden such vetoes before by the required two-thirds majority, because education programs have had broad congressional support.
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Prof Initiates Campaign For Food Improvement
for Noise Study
BY SARAH HECK
Staff Writer
Complaints have been slung constantly at the USC food service with little constructive criticisms and ideas for improvement offered, until now.
Walter Wolf, professor of biomedicinal chemistry, has started discussions about the quality and price of Grill food with Guy Hubbard, director of auxiliary services, and Anthony D. Lazzaro, vice-president for business affairs.
AFTER EATING a deluxe hamburger from the Grill. Wolf decided that something had to be done. He wrote a memo to President John R. Hubbard complaining of paying 75 cents for a hamburger that weighed .055 pounds and contained 25 grams of meat and cereal along with a bun, two slices of tomato, a piece of lettuce and two slices of pickle.
Stapled to the memo was a deluxe hamburger patty approximately 2Vz inches in diameter.
In Wolfs opinion the quality of the hamburger was in no way consistent with the price.
THE MEMO WAS referred to Lazzaro, who replied that everything possible will be done to maintain the quality ofthe service and food while absorbing the increase in cost.
Wolf found this to be an unsatisfactory answer and so pursued it futher. Another memo to Lazzaro suggested ideas for definite action to be taken, such as:
(1)	Posting the nutritional value of the foods served at USC and the contents of those foods: for example, percentage of meat, fat and cereal in the hamburger.
(2)	Reviewing the pricing policy by means of a commit-
tee of students, faculty and staff.
(3)	Establishing an advisory mechanism for food services to really improve quality, variety and economy of the USC cafeteria.
“IN SUBSEQUENT meetings, Guy Hubbard and an assistant assured me that quality would be improved and that, specifically-, the hamburger has improved," Wolf said.
Wolf didn't go to the Daily Trojan earlier. he explained, “Because I wasn’t sure a public polemic at that point was going to achieve anything. Public polemic makes
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