Professor to gauge Hearst competency
By Sherie Stark
staff writer
Much to his personal and professional reluctance, Seymour Pollack, professor of psychiatry and public administration, has recently become something of a national figure.
Since he was appointed last week to determine if Patricia Hearst is competent to stand trial, he has been approached by more than 100 reporters throughout the country, he estimated Monday.
Because of the nature of his involvement in the case, he has consistently refused to be interviewed by any journalists.
Pollack is one of the three psychiatrists appointed to the Hearst case by U.S. District Judge Oliver Carter. The others are professors at Stanford and UCLA.
Although he would not comment on the case itself, Pollack granted an interview to the Daily Trojan Monday in which he discussed the role of the media in cases with elements of sensationalism.
“These kinds of cases have me involved in such a way that considerable confidentiality is necessary on my part,” he said.
Pollack has been involved with notorious cases in the past, having recently testified in the trial of the woman in Long Beach who allegedly killed a man who had raped her.
He was also involved with the Sirhan Sirhan trial and has only recent granted a televised interview for a documentary on the case.
“Unfortunately, in cases such as these, the psychological opinion reached can be crucial to the outcome of the trial,” Pollack said. “Any statement I might make even remotely regarding the case could be misconstrued, which would be unfair to everyone concerned.”
Pollack said a balance between the public’s need to know and the interests of a fair trial must be maintained within the press. The press may be overly eager to publicize sensational aspects of such cases, he said.
“There is a positive value to society to have a knowledge and understanding of what’s going on, so that it can be better prepared to handle issues that arise,” he said. “On the other hand, there is the problem of information that is inherently sensational, in that it tends to immediately fan out and promote additional problems.”
He said that the public attention given to the
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Firearms training law may have no effect on Campus Security
Daily §§| Troian
By Wayne Walley
associate city editor
State regulations requiring training in firearms and legal procedures for private security officers, recently signed into law, should have no effect on the university’s security force, John Lechner, director of Campus Security and parking operations, said Monday.
The regulations, which require such training for the first time, will make it illegal after Jan. 1 for guards to carry a weapon on duty without having successfully passed a 14-hour state-conducted firearms-use and safety-training course.
In addition, all such guards, whether they carry weapons or not, will be required to complete by Jan. 1, 1977, a one-day state course on the power of arrest, search and other basic legal procedures.
“If this would have happened a year ago, I would have been worried, but now we should not be hindered in any way by these regulations,” Lechner said.
“All our officers had to be weapon-trained last spring, and now, although they are not peace officers, they are trained well enough to be such.”
Lechner also stressed that the university’s willingness to improve security was a key factor in its not being held back by the passage of these regulations.
“The university was rocked last year by the double homicide and we could push through things we wanted much easier,” he said.
“By April, all the officers will have been trained, we should have the new facilities, and it should be pretty nice.”
Three years ago when the university decided to reorganize security operations, the service was housed in a two-room facility before moving to their present location.
“Now, with these new regulations, there is something like a new awareness of security,” he said.
“It seemed as though security was an afterthought. In eight months, when we will have our new facilities, and with our
training, the university will benefit in public relations from the security system,” Lechner said.
The regulations were issued by the Bureau of Collection and Investigative Services, a branch of the Department of Consumer Affairs.
The regulations were adopted amid contentions that the evergrowing number of private guards in California were operating without proper training and supervision.
“We want to make sure guards carrying guns know when and when not to use them,” Douglas Faigin, chief of the bureau in Sacramento said.
“We believe these regulations are the toughest in the nation.”
The state’s firearms course will be divided into three sections: moral and legal aspects of firearm use, including civil and criminal liability for misuse of firearms; firearms care and handling; and firing range qualification.
Last spring, all campus security officers were required to participate in a three-day course which included such training.
As incentive, the officers were given a 5% pay increase for attendance.
Officers who also attended a semester course in Industrial Security Academy at Rio Hondo College in Whittier were given an additional 5% pay increase.
Of 42 officers, 26 have attended the course at Rio Hondo.
Lechner explained that the officers not attending the course were former police officers or will be taking the course this spring.
The state’s training classes will be presented at community colleges and other educational institutions throughout the state. After passing the course, guards will be required to pass annual written and flring-range tests administered by the bureau.
Lechner expects the university to offer a similar training class by next year.
University of Southern California
Volume LKVIII, No. 11	Los Angeles, California Tuesday, September 30, 1975
Only half of students ’ needs filled by more music rooms
By Peter Fletcher
staff writer
The number of music practice facilities of the School of Performing Arts has been doubled from last year. But the facilities still only fill half of the students’ needs, Grant Beglarian, dean of the School of Performing Arts, said.
Last year’s practice facilities consisted of 14 practice rooms in Clark House, an old mansion on Adams Boulevard, that has since been torn down. Students protesting the conditions in Clark House threatened to strike last October, but the strike never materialized.
This year, in response to the students’ needs, Barracks N, located on 36th Place, across from Olin Hall of Engineering, has been remodeled, adding 23 practice rooms.
Beglarian called the school’s acquisition of Barracks N a considerable improvement because the building is located on campus and almost doubles the number of practice rooms.
“With the practice rooms being used from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week, we can guarantee every student one hour of practice time a day, but the students should get two hours of practice a day,” he said.
The barracks are only a temporary solution to the school’s shortage of practice space. “We would like to find something more permanent,” he added.
The barracks are on land earmarked for use by the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. Beglarian said that the School of Performing Arts should have use of the barracks for the next five years.
The feasibility of different types of permanent practice facilities has been discussed by the faculty, music students and the administration.
“We feel a dormitory with practice facilities is the most feasible solution to our problem,” Beglarian said.
The dormitory approach is more desirable than a separate practice facility because of problems in financing a separate facility, he said. If the dormitory approach is taken, the university can sell bonds that the federal government will guarantee to finance construction.
The fund-raising at the university is now geared to finishing projects that have already been started. Beglarian said that no fund raising is being done for a separate facility.
Beglarian and Anthony D. Lazzaro, vice-president for business affairs, have been planning how much space will be necessary in the dormitory for practice facilities and how to pay for it.
“We are now in the feasibility area; we have no specific timetable,” Beglarian said. “We must as-
sure the university there will be enough students to use such a facility if it is built,” he added.
There may be a problem putting music practice facilities in a dormitory because the type of bond that would be sold to build the residence hall can only be used to build living facilities.
It must be determined if music practice rooms are considered living facilities. If the practice facilities can’t be paid for through the use of the government guaranteed bonds, they would have to be paid for by a donor, he said.
“We are going to live with what we have this year and see how it works out. We don’t want to strain the fiscal resources of the university. We are looking for the most feasible and economic solution to our problem. We have solved our immediate need and we don’t foresee any great problems for about five years,” Beglarian said.
BUDDING LOUIE ARMSTRONG?—The number of
music practice facilities for the	—----- -
SchoOt of Performing Arts has doubled this year. But the exj space fills only half of the dents' needs, according*
Grant Beglarian, dean of school.