Students face charges in theft of official university seal embosser
By Amy Alpern
Aliiitaot City Editor
Two students have been charged with stealing a university seal embosser, which is used to officially validate university documents.
The embosser was stolen from the International Student Services Office in January, but no formal charges were filed until three weeks ago.
“The boys who took the embosser returned it 20 minutes later saying that they were just teasing the secretary. At the time we didn’t think anything, but now that the international students have been found to have an altered record card, it seemed like we should take some type of action against them," said Berthe Von Allmen, director of international student services.
“The students who took the embosser used to come into the office a lot, but since the incident has occurred, I haven’t seen them again,” Von Allmen said.
' There will be an administrative hearing for the two students within the next couple of weeks.
It is not know whether or not the students reproduced the embosser or used it to validate any documents, however.
“Whether or not the seal was used on any documents doesn’t really matter. It is a serious offense because it jeopardizes.the university’s validation system. It causes the validation to lose its credibility," said Robert L. Mannes, dean for student life.
Recently, the International Student Services Office made a new embosser.
The only other office on campus with a university embosser is the registrar’s office. “The registrar’s office embosser is slightly different from the one stolen, but it is hard to notice a difference,” Mannes said.
Since the seal is stamped into the paper rather than being inked on, it takes close inspection to detect differences between the stolen one and the one that the registrar’s office uses to validate transcripts.
In another development, three students expelled from the university for having illegally al-> tered record cards have appealed the decision.
The panel has not decided yet on whether it will hear the appeal. If there is an appeals hearing, it will occur in the next three weeks.
The appeal will be decided on by an administrative panel consisting of one student and two faculty members.
By appealing the decision, the students are allowed to attend the university until a final determination is made.
“I presume they will hear the appeal, but if the students graduate before the appeal is decided, on' and if the original decision is upheld, then the expulsion will have taken effect on the date of the original expulsion. They won’t be granted degrees,” Mannes said.
Daily § Trojan
University of Southern California
Volume LXXIII, Number 61	Los	Angeles,	California	Tuesday,	May	16,	1978
Instructor’s book influences court to overturn verdict in murder trial
By Robin Oto
SUfT Writer
A book written by Ed Cray, journalism instructor at the university, was one of the reasons the Juan Corona murder trial decision was overturned.
The 1973 conviction of Juan Corona was overturned by the California District Court of Appeals last week and a new trial may be set.
Corona was convicted of the largest-scale mass murder in California history. Twenty-five transient farm workers were found buried in Yuba City fields.
The court overturned the 1973 decision because the defense did not raise several pleas and
“The prosecution was ‘unbelievably bad’ and there were problems over missing bodies and search warrants
a possible conflict of interest between Richard Hawk, the defense attorney, and Corona.
The court said Corona, a citizen of Mexico, was unable to pay his legal fees and gave Hawk the exclusive rights to his life story in return for Hawk’s legal services.
Hawk signed a contract with Cray, who wrote the book, Burden of Proof, which was released 10 months after the original trial.
The court said Hawk might not have been as interested in defending Corona as in producing the book.
But Cray said Hawk had nothing to do with writing the book, which is a nonfiction work written about Hawk and the trial proceedings.
Although both Hawk and Cray signed a contract with the MacMillan Publishing Company, Cray said Hawk only signed the contract to assure his full cooperation in obtaining information for the book including access to Corona and obtaining cooperation from the judge.
“I’m not for hire. I’d be glad to show anyone the contract. The book contents were totally mine. Hawk didn’t change a word in it, he didn’t have the right,” Cray said.
Cray, who also works as a freelance writer, said his agent arranged the meeting with Hawk that led to the contract. Both men split the $20,000 advance for the book.
Cray sat at the defense table during the trial and said the prosecution, judge and others knew about his book.
“I’m no undercover ferret, I don’t work that way. I didn’t pretend — I wasn’t flying under false colors,” he said.
Cray said he had access to the “behind the scenes controversy,” including the private chamber sessions between the judge and the trial counsel.
Cray said the prosecution was “unbelievably bad” and there were problems over missing bodies and search warrants. Important documents were not turned over to the defense counsel. Cray said Hawk did not prepare an adequate defense because of these problems.
“It was a comedy of errors. Hawk assumed he had so destroyed the prosecution’s defense that he didn’t have to put on his own case. In his mind, the state proved the case,” he said.
Cray also said Hawk was a publicity hound who had many personal problems including
financial problems. Hawk was convicted of income tax evasion two years after the trial.
“Hawk is like all the rest of us, terribly human, terribly vulnerable, often insecure,” Cray said.
Cray said Hawk did not enter a plea of insanity because he did not feel Corona was insane and did not want him sent to a mental hospital.
Cray said Hawk’s decision not to enter an insanity plea along with other problems in the defense case influenced the jury’s decision against Corona.
“The jury didn’t vote against Corona but against Hawk. He made a series of judgmental errors in reading the jury,” he said.
AIM FOR FUTURE
Amateur stargazers find heaven at Stony Ridge
By Gigi Golden
Featare Editor
Most people would probably not be amazed to learn that undergraduate astronomy students at the university can do research on a 30-inch reflecting telescope, located relatively far from city lights.
But be amazed.
“Many graduate students have a difficult time getting use of a telescope like the one at Stony Ridge, even for their doctorates,” said Robert Shaw, a junior in astronomy.
Stony Ridge Observatory, located in the San Gabriel Mountains, is the second largest amateur observatory in the world. Built in the early 1960s by a group of 15. amateur astronomers, the observatory houses a reflecting telescope with a 30-inch lens that allows nonprofessional astronomers to do near-professional stargazing.
The university has a 10-year contract with the owner of the observatory to use the facility for student research and instruction.
Because the astronomy department has no graduate
program, undergraduates are the ones who benefit from Stony Ridge.
The idea of Stony Ridge came from an amateur astronomy club, the Society of Western Amateur Astronomers, which was active in the 1950s. The club was made up of members from all fields, from medicine to tool making, who had a common interest in the sky.
In the early 50s, the club decided to build an observatory instead of just holding star parties with individual telescopes. •
By 1957, the club has saved enough money to purchase a 30-inch mirror for the telescope. George Carroll, who had constructed telescopes for Lockheed Corp., began to build the reflector.
The observatory was finally completed in 1964.
David Thomas, one of the original builders of the observatory and an active member of the group, said the organization is careful of any person using the telescope because there is over $500,000 worth of equipment at the observatory.
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Investigation shows theft charges against security officer unfounded
Charges of theft made against Samuel Mak-simuk, a Campus Security officer, by a community youth have proved to be unfounded.
A full internal investigation by Campus Security has cleared Maksimuk of the charges.
Thomas Jones, the youth, has been unavailable for comment since leveling the charge May 8. He claimed he was taken away from the game room in the Student Activities Center at approximately
2	p.m. and robbed of $15 by two security officers near the Physical Education Building.
An investigation has failed to produce witnesses to agree with Jones’ allegation.
Maksimuk has offered evidence that he was responding to a call at Waite Phillips Hall at the time of the alleged incident.
Clifford Hackney, supervisor of the game room, said he did not remember any security officers in the area that afternoon.
Richard Kunes, administrative dean at Manual Arts High School, said Jones was not enrolled
there. Jones had claimed to be a student at the school.
Kunes said community youths often falsely claim to attend Manual Arts High School when they are arrested in the area. It is not uncommon for them to accuse an officer of taking money, he said.
Jones said his parents had planned to file a report with the Southwest Division of the Los Angeles Police Department. His parents have not followed through with that action.
When a meeting was arranged for Jones to supply more information about the incident to Daily Trojan reporters, the youth failed to appear.
James Bowie, chief of Campus Security, said if any officers were found guilty of such charges they would be terminated immediately.
Hackney contacted the Daily Trojan after Jones related his story to him. Jones was a frequent visitor of the Student Activities Center game room and -has not returned to campus recently, Hackney said.