trojan
Volume LXXV. Number 38 University of Southern California Wednesday, November 15, 1978
GEORGE FISCHBECK
Rain of failure leads to sunshine of success
By John Frith
Staff Writer
George Fischbeck may be the most popular weatherman on Los Angeles television, but he doesn't see that as his most important role.
'i'm basically a schoolteacher who got shanghaied into this field," he said before a crowd of about 150 persons in Bovard Auditorium Tuesday.
Fischbeck appeared as a part of Troy Week activities.
He spoke about failure or more precisely on how to achieve success by doubling your failure.
"Failure is nothing more than something you didn't expect to happen," he explained. "You have to make the most of things that go wrong."
He said he wouldn't miss these failures for anything.
"Our farm burned down when I was a kid, dunng the depression," the 56-year-old Fischbeck said. "My family then had to move away If they hadn't, I would have been a farmer.
"Things that go wrong can be a blessing in
disguise."
Fischbeck was a science teacher for many years before becoming a meteorologist. He started doing a TV science program in New Mexico in 1958. "1 was the Mr. Wizard of Albuquerque," he
said.
As a result of this exposure, he said he taught one-fourth the population of New Mexico.
"As a teacher, 1 guess I've had more failures than anyone west of the Mississippi. As a weatherman, I'm going on a national reputation," he
said.
One such failure as a teacher occurred when he tried to make a carbon dioxide fire extinguisher out of baking soda and vinegar in a glass bottle. The vinegar and baking soda would cause a build-up of the gas, which would force water in the bottle out of a small tube.
"I didn't know that different vinegars had different degrees of acidity. This vinegar must have had an acidity of one-half of 1%, because instead of a steady stream of water, all that came out was a slow drip, drip, drip.
"I'm kind of slow on my feet anyway, so what I said was, 'I can do better than that myself.' I got all kinds of mail on that one, from Methodist ministers and so on."
He said many discoveries came about as a result of failure.
One such case involved a Miami bakery, which caught fire one day. The gas ovens were immediately shut off, and after the fire was put out, the baker discovered the rolls in the oven were only half done.
Rather than throw the rolls away, he sold them as brown 'n' serve rolls, the first time anyone had done so.
Fischbeck said one of the worst things a teacher can do is fail a student.
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Limited funds may spell end of JEP
By Gail Harris
Staff Writer	•
The Joint Educational Project may be discontinued at the end of the semester as a result of insufficient funds.
The project has asked the university for $33,000 to pay for its staff and materials.
Most of the funding for the program comes from sources outside of the university and are grants for specific programs, said Barbara Gardner, the director of JEP.
Gardner said she had been warning the university of the project's financial problems for the past year and now the crisis has arrived. JEP does not have enough funds to continue beyond this semester, she said.
Gardner said the project is waiting for an answer from the administration but cannot function properly until they get it.
"JEP gave the university detailed information about the financial situation. They (the university) said they are looking for money. . .you can’t plan on the basis of that. Right now we can't do anything or even plan for next semester," Gardner said.
If the project gets the money, $29,300 will be used as salaries for about four employees and $3,700 for materials, she said.
Without these employees it is impossible for JEP to perform normal daily operations, Gardner said. This includes placing 900 to 1,000 university students on field assignments each semester, she said.
The project has received an annual budget from the university for the last five years, but in spite of inflation and other factors influencing economics, the budget has remained the same.
The university allocates $3,300 to JEP and pays salaries for the director and the assistant to the director, she said.
In addition to this, it occasionally gives special funds to the project, but this year the amount has declined by 18%, Gardner said.
Some of the total staff are paid by grant funds and others by university funds, Gardner said. The grants are for programs and not salaries she said.
For example, The American Fund for Dental Health gave JEP money to develop a tooth-tutoring program, which teaches fifth graders proper tooth care. After this, the students show second graders how to brush their teeth, Gardner said.
Gardner began JEP in 1972 in an effort to create interaction between the university and community. Since then, she said the project has
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Athletes offered ways to manage pro dollars
By Amy Alpem
Feature/Focus Editor
In the Muhammad Ali-Leon Spinks heavyweight boxing match, the real fight occurred outside of the ring.
"Spinks had 12 agents at the time, all bickering and fighting over how they wanted to spend his money. Spinks was pushed into the background," said Neal Allen, a junior in business and an athletic consultant.
Allen and Bruce Brooks, a 1977 football player here, have set up an athletic consulting business they consider to be different from others existing today.
They realized it was not the "golden arm quarterback" or the "impossible to tackle" running back who made all , the big money.
In every major professional sport, there are people who negotiate athletes' contracts with teams and advise players how to manage their money.
"We think that it is important to let the athlete realize that we are working for him instead of the other way around," Brooks said.
He said that sometimes the consultants change the situation around to where the athlete ends up working for the consultant.
"The idea of having consultants is not brand new, but we are trying to renovate the practice, "Allen said.
"Our policy is to let the player see exactly where his money is at ail times. This way he can be sure his money is not buying some swampland in Florida," Allen said.
Brooks and Allen feel that if the athlete is not 100% confident that his money is being handled properly, he will not be able to perform at 100% on the field.
"There is a lot of incompetency in that business now, but that is because it is a reasonably new idea," John Robinson, head football coach said.
"A lot of the consultants think they can persuade an owner about the abilities of players when they really can't," Robinson said.
But Brooks and Allen feel that it is essential to be honest and allow the athlete to see just how marketable he may or may not be.
"What is usually lacking in this business is an open line of communication between the athlete and his agent," Brooks said.
They explained that sometimes agents invest athletes' (continued on page 2)
Christmas housing may not be offered
By Tony Pattiz
Staff Writer
The university may not be able to provide housing for residents, especially international students, during the Christmas recess.
Because of the present political situation in Iran, students from that country do not feel it is safe to return home.
"Even though the university is unable to provide housing for all residents during the vacation, the gravity of this situation is forcing them to determine how desperate the problem is," said Krishnan Narayanan head resident of Marks Hall.
An international student who lives in Iran said, "I am very concerned with the present situation because I am not a Moslem and the military government has threatened to kill all non-Moslems."
"The university is not in the position to make any rosy promises, but they are very aware of this problem," Narayanan said.
Ron Wilkinson, manager of housing and collections, said a subcommittee has been set up to study the problem.
Three possibilities are being considered:
•To utilize the Alumni Assn. to help find families who would be willing to provide temporary homes for students;
•To provide temporary bed space in Marks Hall; and •To alert students to this problem in the hope that they would be willing to provide temporary housing.
"We have to distinguish those who have a genuine need from those who would simply like to stick around," Wilkinson said.
Narayanan said the problem could be solved if students,
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