ACTION EXPECTED TODAY
Trustees split over university administration
By Carole Long
Assistant City Editor
Dissension among members of the Board of Trustees over university governance may result in the resignation of certain trustees at an executive committee meeting today.
One faction has pushed for the resignation of President John R. Hubbard, J. Robert Fluor, chairman of the Board of Trustees, and more recently, Zohrab Kap-rielian, executive vice-president, sources said.
Sources confirmed that four trustees, Leonard Firestone, Montgomery Ross Fisher, Herbert Hazeltine and Frank King, met Friday with two faculty members, Solomon Golomb and John LeBIanc, to enlist support in plans to remove Fluor and Kaprielian.
Deans and other trustees later learned of the topic of the meeting's discussion, but did not approve of the plan, sources said. The majority of the board has supported Kaprielian and Fluor.
In response to the lack of support, Firestone decided to abandon the plan.
With search committee proceedings just underway, the four trustees feared that Kaprielian's extensive ties throughout the university would prevent a new president from gaining full control. Three of the four trustees are members of the presidential search committee.
As a result, no proposal to remove Kaprielian will be introduced at today's meeting of the executive committee of the Board of Trustees. Trustees are furious, however, the clandestone attempts to
discredit the executive vice-president, sources said.
The four trustees will be challenged by the board for their actions in an attempt to resolve the conflict, sources said.
A solution to the problem could mean the resignation of certain board members or an agreement to work together in harmony.
This "warring of the factions" has existed for 10 years, sources indicated, but came to a head last April when the Office of University Affairs was reorganized.
Thomas Nickell, vice-president of university affairs, was relieved of handling the public relations of the university. He remains as the university's official fundraiser.
The deans supported the reorganiza-
tion, yet Nickell accused Kaprielian of making a power play to put public relations under his auspices, sources said. Public relations is now under the supervision of Vance Peterson, director of academic relations, who reports to Kaprielian.
Sources said the four trustees often sided with Nickell in his criticism of Kap-rialian.
Kaprielian said he has told members of the board and many officials within the university that he will not fight for a position in the new administration.
"I would like the new president to have 'carte blanche' for anything he wants to do. He should have all the authority. If we can't find that sort of a person for the presidency, the university is in serious trouble," Kaprielian said.
Gay hiring policy may change if bill passes
By Alice Ragenovich
Staff W'riter
The university will have to formulate a specific employment policy making discrimination against gays illegal if pending state and senate bills are passed.
State assembly bill number 1 would change state law and homosexuals would be included in the minority nondis-criminatory guideline statement. State Assemblyman Art Agnos from San Francisco introduced the bill into the assembly. Senator Milton Marks, also from San Francisco, introduced a similar bill into the senate.
'The passage of assembly bill number 1 would be the culmination of a long fight. Since 1971 we have been trying to get the university to adopt a nondiscrimination policy on the basis of sexual orientation," said Steve KJar, president of the Gay Student Union.
In 1976 the Law Center passed a policy that forbade discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. When the university administration found out about this, it asked the Law Center for a revocation of that policy. The university’ has since refused to specifically prohibit discrimination against gays in
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trojan
Volume LXXVI, Number 38
University of Southern California
Wednesday, April 4, 1979
Recreation center may be low priority, senator says
By Shari Cookson
Assistant City Editor
Administrators may not support the Student Senate's proposal for a university center because they hope to purchase the athletic structures that may be built near the Sports Arena for the 1984 Olympics, said Jeff Gates, senate chairman of student affairs.
The possibilitv of acquiring these structures mav give administrators an excuse to ignore the currently inadequate student facilities on campus, he said.
The Senate has proposed a university center that would house recreational facilities for students.
Olympic athletic structures could be converted for student recreational use.
The university could probably buy the Olympic facilities and the financially-troubled Sports Arena for less than $10 million — about half the cost of the proposed university center. Gates said.
Then the administration
would only have to construct a building to house nonrecrea-tionai student facilities such as music rooms, meeting rooms and eating places. Such a structure would cost about $5 million, he said.
The Olympic Committee, however, has not yet decided if and where these athletic structures will be built.
The Senate is asking the administration to reserve university land for a center until the Olympic Committee makes a decision that will probably come within the next 18 months.
To make sure administrators are aware of student need for facilities, the senate will present them with a statement signed by various student organizations. The statement begins:
"As you undoubtedly know, student facilities of USC are plainly inadequate. Campus organizations are stranded without sufficient meeting space. Student recreation facilities are archaic and unsatisfactory in com-(continued on page 7)
Washington semester defended as valuable despite student criticism
By Karen Holloway
Staff Writer
University administrators have expressed their approval of the academic component of the Washington, D.C. Semester which some student participants have criticized.
"From where I sit it seems like an appropriate academic experience," said David Mars, associate dean for the Center of Public Affairs.
"I w ould Tx? very suspicious of a program which got only glowing remarks," Mars said.
Paul Hadley, vice-president of academic affairs, said he would look into the complaints lodged against the seminar and stressed the value of the program for university students.
"I think it (the program) is terribly important and valuable. I would certainly want it to be continued and, if necessary, strengthened,'' he said.
Preston Dent, associate dean for curriculum and instruction, said there w>as absolutely no reason to question the academic value of the program.
The program appears to be "a rigorous and rewarding experience," Dent said.
Changes in the semester programs are made each year with student consultation, Mars said.
"Students always have a method of appeal," he said.
Eight units are given for the seminar, or classroom, portion four units for the independent study projects and four units for the internships.
Several student participants have complained they should be given more units for the internship part of the program.
Candy Duncan, program coordinator, admitted the difficulty in quantifying the internships into an educational program.
"It's hard to have a field experience and make it academic," she said.
"I would be just as happy if we gave no units for the internships," Mars said, adding that this would not be acceptable to the students.
Dent said it was conceivable that the university would give eight units of credit for an internship program, but "it has to be justified on the basis of what happens in the internship."
When the number of academic units given for a course is changed, it must be approved by curriculum and instruction.
"If students want credit for internships, we provide the academic housing for it," Mars said.
The university would be opposed to giving eight units of credit for an internship because of the burden imposed on those who take responsibility for the interns, Duncan said.
Many people w ho are willing to sponsor interns are not willing to take on a professorial role, she said.
If the number of units for the internships w’ere doubled to eight units, those who receive a student as an intern would in effect become his professor, Mars said.
People offer internships for a variety of reasons — for ego gratification, for the additional work force and as a public service to the university, he said.
"Basically they are doing us a tremendous favor," he said
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WATER HOLE — The aesthetic beauty of this fountain was abandoned for its more utilitary purpose when students found relief from the warm spring sun.