Summer
Trojan
Vol. LXV1, Number 3
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, California
Tuesday, June 26, 1973
Alcohol problems in state told by senator
By Patta Steele Editor
Senator Alan Short (D-Stockton) was the opening speaker yesterday at the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Conference which is being held on campus this week.
Short has done a considerable amount of work in the area of alcohol abuse in California, and his committee in the state senate has compiled a great deal of information that will be soon made publicly known concerning state alcohol problems and how California compares with other states in this field.
From the findings of his committee. Short quoted figures and statements made by witnesses whom had been call in to testify about alcohol and the problems it has caused both on state level and on a national level.
“It costs the state of California $5,318 per person annually to keep a person in prison because of alcohol problems. It costs the state $9,094 to keep a young person in prison for a year due to alcoholic problems. And if that isn't a waste of money. I'd like to know what is,” Short said.
Drunks are not skid row bums as people tend to think. Findings indicate that three to six per cent of business executives are alcoholics. Forty-five percent of all alcoholics are those persons who can be clas-siifed as professionals or who hold managerial positions.
Alcoholism is not limited to those 21 years or older who can legally buy liquor, Short said. Problems with alcohol abuse are common children as young as 12 were reported at the International Conference of Drug Abuse.
In California the problem has been augmented by the makers of pop wines, which are sweet fruit wines
Caspar W. Weinberger. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare will -speak in Bovard Auditorium Thursday morning at 1:30. Weinberger is a featured speaker in the Conference on Alcohol and Drug Abuse.
that are sold with young drinkers in mind.
“The Gallo brothers are the largest buyers of apples, probably the largest buyers in the world, and they make Boone’s Farm apple wine. In
1971	they sold more wine in that category than anyone else in the world/’ said Short.
Short concentrated on findings in drug abuse that mainly related to his home, San Joaquin County, and the things being done there to combat problems.
”‘In my own county, San Joaquin, which has 300.000 total population, $2 million has been spent for drug rehabilitation.” Short added that more was needed for education as a preventive meaxure for drug abuse.
Education should be a key means of fighting alcohol abuse, as the recommendations that will be released by Short’s committee point out. But information on the whole subject of alcoholism is very inadequate and something must be done to alleviate this important problem before any constructive work can be done.
Short said that the government should also shoulder some of the responsibility in alcohol abuse cases. One way the government could help is raise the tax on alcohol and channel that money into rehabilitation facilities for alcoholics.
Short’s committee also recommends that the social stigma attached to alcoholics be removed.
(Continued on page 2)
DRUG ABUSE SPEAKER—Michael Son-nenreich also addressed the Conference on Alcohol and Drug abuse yesterday morning. Sonnenreich is executive director of the National Commission on Marijuana anc Drug
Abuse. He stressed the need for change in American attitudes toward drug use, because popular attitudes are inconsistent and founded on misconceptions. Photo by Steve Wright.
Students learn new skills in telecommunications workshop
By Bill Moylan Crespi Carmelite High School Encino
Don Smith, chairman of the Telecommunications Department, is currently conducting a workshop for high school students in that field.
The workshop, which began June 18 and will run through July 20, will cover everything from audio control to camera operation to newscasting to script writing. For convenience, it was split into two groups of ten students each.
The students, either incomgin college freshmen or high school upper-
classmen, have little knowledge in the field of telecommunications, though some have a backgrourd in radio. “These students get no opportunity in this field in high school,” said Smith, “so we're glad they can get some training here.”
Smith is the sole instructor of the course and has been teaching the summer workshop, which is in its nineteenth year, since he arrived at USC in 1960.
Before coming here, he taught in the telecommunications field for 11 years at the University of Alabama.
Chicano students learn about college opportunities at seminar
GUEST LECTURER—100 Chicano students who attended the College Skills Seminar here last week had an opportunity to hear Ed Moreno, a commentator for KCET-TV. Moreno and other speakers advised the high school seniors about college major requirements and other things they would need to know this fall when they entered college. The Youth Opportunity Foundation helped sponsor the seminar. Photo by Steve Wright.
By Nancy Shinabargar Hoover High School Glendale
USC and the Youth Opportunity Foundation sponsored a College Skills Seminar for 100 Chicano high school seniors last week.
The five-day seminar acquainted disadvantaged students from central and east Los Angeles with the services that universities provide. All the students have been accepted for admission to a college, and each has received a full or partial grant fr 3m the Youth Opportunity Foundation (YOF) to attend that college in the fall.
The lecture and discussions dealt with college major requirements, the library nd writing skills, higher education today, the Mexican-American and the Mexican Revolution, and student services. USC faculty members delivered many of the lectures. Outside guest speakers included Eduardo Moreno of KCET-TV, and Dr. Simon Gonzales, Assistant to the Chancellor at UCLA.
YOF is a Chicano-run organization that has gradually taken over the responsibility of helping Chicano students get into college. It provides students with scholarship information and financial assistance. Funds come from the Office of Economic Opportunity and private donors. This is the first time USC and YOF have worked together.
“There are many things USC can do in terms of community involvement,” said Raul Vargas, USC Coordinator of Mexican-American Projects. “Usually though, USC has
reservations about such projects, particularly how much they’re going to cost.”
Vargas managed the seminar and used resources the university already had available to cut the cost. Faculty members provided the expertise for the lectures, and Vargas was given the use of classrooms. YOF bussed the students to USC each day.
“We’ve received a lot of cooperation from the university, especially from James Appleton (Vice President of Student Affairs) and his staff. They contributed greatly toward the success of the seminar,” Vargas said.
Vargas was hired a year and a half ago to serve as a link between USC and the Chicano community. He explained it wasn’t a public relations gimmick but an attempt to find out what USC and the community can do for each other.
“Very realistically, USC needs to project a different image than the one they're projecting now. People living in East L.A. don't look on USC as being very responsible to the minority community,” he continued.
Originally YOF. USC, and five other colleges around Los Angeles were scheduled to conduct a College Skills Seminar this summer. The Office of Economic Opportunity, which was to subsidize most ofthe project, cut the funds completely a few months ago. USC was the only school to continue on with the seminar, and along with YOF. is supplying the money and manpower.
“USC has benefited from the seminar from the standpoint of gaining an iota of credibility in the minority community.” Vargas said.