University of Southern California
Volume LXVIII, No. Ill	Los Angeles, California	Thursday, April 8, 1976
Daily
Trojan
ORIENTAL DANCE—As part of International Festival Week activities, a Chinese student performed a peacock dance on the Student Activities Center patio Wednesday. The presentation by the Chinese students included a martial arts demonstration.
Requirement for final exams may change
The requirement for final examinations for every undergraduate course may be changed if a recommendation by the Commission of Academic Standards is accepted.
The Faculty Handbook now requires a final examination be given in every undergraduate course conducted as a class.
If the recommendation is approved by John Cantelon, vice-president for undergraduate studies, who must approve all of the commission’s actions, the individual faculty member will have the option of giving a final examination, assigning a final paper or project or any combina-tion of these. The proposal would require that one of those be given.
The proposal also reinforced the statement already in the Faculty Handbook prohibiting any deviations from the final examination schedule. It provided that no student would be allowed to take a final examination in advance and no instructor would be allowed to change the date of a final examination from the date printed in the Schedule of Classes without advance permission from the commission.
Don La Plante, a student member of the commission and author of the proposal, said it
was designed to make the rules conform to the practice.
“The rule requiring final examinations was unenforceable and being ignored all the time. The new rule would more accurately reflect what the actual practice is,” La Plante said.
“Hopefully this rule will also solve the problem of instructors switching dates for the final. Now, since a final is not required, if they give a final there is no reason not to hold it at the scheduled time.”
As reported in the Daily Trojan on Wednesday, the commission also voted to change the requirements for graduation with honors. Under the system approved by the commission, and subject to Cantelon’s approval, only the top 15% of students in the various schools and divisions will be able to receive honors at graduation.
The present grade-point averages of 3.25 for cum laude, 3.60 for magna cum laude and 3.90 for summa cum laude will be retained, but only as minimums.
The new rule provides that no more than the top 15% of the graduating class will be able to receive honors of any kind. Only the top 1% could receive summa cum laude, and only the top 6% would be allowed to receive
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Senate to seek return to official student government
By Diane Slezak
Staff Writer
An upcoming referendum sponsored by the Student Senate could result in the first oficial form of student government since 1972.
The referendum, in which all students would be eligible to vote, would ask whether the senate should be officially sanctioned by the general student body.
It is scheduled for early May and, if approved, it would make student government more influential, said David Blackmar, chairman of the senate. The untimate goal is student control over student affairs.
“As it stands now, anytime the administration has a strong disagreement (with the senate), they can say that the student body at large might not approve,” Blackmar said.
“It’s a psychological thing—if a student government is student-approved, it is thought to be stronger.”
Blackmar said he feels the timing of the referendum is important because of administrative changes that will occur this summer.
As part of an administrative reorganization plan by President John R. Hubbard, some of the vice-presidential posts will be eliminated and a provost, who will be in charge of academic affairs, will be appointed.
“The administrative changes make it advantageous to have an official student goverment during this period,” he said.
“The influence that it would have would be
strong. It would take the initiative to get into areas of student affairs so they are accountable to students.”
Blackmar said the offices dealing with student affairs at other universities are under the direct supervision of students. Here the same offices are responsible to the administration.
Some responsibilities Blackmar would like to see under student supervision are the operation of the Student Activities Center and the Student Union building, the regulation of student organizations and removing the middlemen in the distribution of student fees*
“We’re receiving services from the student affairs offices, but we have no say as to how they’re being formulated,” he said.
Blackmar stressed that he had no dissatisfaction with the way the offices were run, just that since student affairs are being dealt with, students should be running them.
The senate still needs to approve the referendum at a future meeting, but Blackmar foresees no problems there. “It’s something we’ve wanted fora long time,” he said.
He said he feels that administrators would also favor the change although he has not talked to them about it.
“I think the administration would like to see the students take on a little more responsibility.
“The important thing is to have students organized behind the referendum so administrators will recognize student strength,” Blackmar said.
“This will be the final step in convincing the administration.”
Committee proposes 24-hour visitation in women’s dorms
By Peter Fletcher
Staff Writer
EVK-Harris and College-University Residence Halls are one step closer to the implementation of a 24-hour visitation policy.
The Student Affairs Committee of the President’s Advisory Council has approved, with certain changes in language, a proposal to extend the policy now observed in men’s and coeducational housing to the two women’s dorms.
Before it becomes effective the proposal must be approved by the executive council of the
committee and President John R. Hubbard.
The proposed change in the 24-hour-visitation policy is being made in response to Title IX expectations and a student survey, taken during the first two weeks of February, 1975.
The survey of the residents of the Women’s Complex showed that 88% of the 518 residents who responded favored some form of 24-hour visitation.
The proposal is that College-University and EVK-Harris would be provided the 24-hour-visitation policy option, (with actual determination of
individual floor implementation in the fall) with the exception of the two non-visitation wings in University Hall. College-University would provide 148 spaces for those women desiring to live in a hall that has the present policy of no male visitors after 2 a.m. as an alternative.
The proposal also states that any floor under the 24-hour-visitation program may, at any time, decide to return to the present visitation policy or to impose any other visitation restrictions it feels is neessary.
The proposal, if approved,
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Songfest host Steve Allen to buy ad in support of farm workers
Steve Allen, this year’s Songfest host, said he will purchase a full-page ad in the 1976 Songfest program in support of Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers.
The ad is the result of recent controversy over Gallo’s donation of up to $1,000 to Songfest’s philanthropy, the John Tracy Clinic, and Gallo’s purchase of an advertisement in the Songfest program.
Six student groups have protested against Gallo’s involvement and have threatened to picket the university’s musical revue.
Dale Olson, Allen’s press agent, said the reason for the ad is that “Allen wants it to be understood that his appearance in Songfest is in no way supporting the grape industry.” He also said that Allen felt there should be representation of the farm workers in the program to
Our Table, about the farm workers’ plight.
The advertisement has not yet been received by the Songfest committee, however, the rough draft says in part:
“It would be unwise to view the farm laborers’ predicament as a controversy pitting workers against growers and then, on the basis of one’s social biases, choose to support one side or the other. Both forces must be supported.
“Even the wealthiest farmers are faced with a cost-price squeeze and they are certainly as entitled to a profit as employers in any other industry. But that same understanding should be accorded those decent men ad women without whose labor the farm owner would be out of business overnight.
“One of the philosophical foundation-stones upon which
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STEVE ALLEN
counter the Gallo advertisement.
Allen, known as a comedian, actor, composer and lyricist, is also an accomplished author. Among his works is The Ground’s