University of Southern California
Volume LXVII, Number 113 Los Angeles, California Wednesday, April 23, 1975
Hearings for financial aid grievances set for Friday
BY LINDA CIRIGLIANO
City Editor
Students will testify on problems they have encountered as a result of financial aid policies at a hearing scheduled for Friday.
“We plan to hold the hearing to document the concerns students have about financial aid and to take a look at the financial burden the university puts on students through its policies for appropriating money,” said Michael Williams, a senior in political science and one of the organizers of the hearing.
Robert Robinson, a junior in electrical engineering, said plans for the hearing grew out of concerns about the Financial Aid Office’s methods of distributing aid funds to all students, and particularly minority students.
At the first meeting ofthe recently formed Black Student Council on April 11, the 80 students present set an investigation into financial aid policies here as one of their top priorities, Robinson said.
A delegation of nine students from the council presented the following list of concerns to James R. Appleton, vice-president for student affairs, on April 18:
•Students are awarded financial aid on a year-to-year basis, and each year, a student is expected to supplement his aid to a higher degree. Many minority students do not have the resources to earn more money during each successive year they attend school.
•Because students are evaluated for aid on a year-to-year basis, there is no guarantee a student will receive funds for the next year even if his need remains constant. Returning students should be given priority for aid allocations.
•Award letters are issued too late in the school year to enable students to make the necessary plans if their aid has been decreased. The announcement of aid should be made by Jan. 1.
•Because a proportionately large percentage of black students receive aid, cutbacks in financial aid affect black students more than any other student constituency.
•The Financial Aid Office staff is not sensitive to the needs of minority students.
•The Finicial Aid Office has made only feeble attempts to communicate deadlines, policy and procedure to students.
“Appleton said we would have to provide documentation,” Robinson said. “He said the con-
cerns of nine students weren’t enough to show the overall characteristics of the entire student body. So, we decided to hold a hearing.”
The hearing, scheduled for 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday in Law Center 103, will be open to the entire campus community.
Financial aid policy-makers will be invited to the hearing. However, only students will be allowed to testify, Robinson said. Student testimony will be tape recorded or taken down by a stenographer. Students who cannot attend the hearing may complete questionnaires or submit written statements.
Evidence gathered from the testimony, questionnaires and statements will be presented to William G. Wagner, special assistant for academic record services.
Wagner declined to comment on plans for the hearing, but Pamela H. Walbom, director of the Financial Aid Office, said, “I’m concerned they (the students) didn’t come to us with their concerns. It seems unfair for them to hold hearings without giving us a chance to respond.”
Robinson said the students attempted to contact Walbom with their concerns last Thursday.
“Her appointment secretary told us to talk to a subcounselor first, and then if our concerns seemed justified, we could talk to a counselor, and then if we were deemed important enough we could talkto the assistant director, and then we could talk to Walbom,” Robinson said.
Walbom commented on the students’ concerns point by point.
She denied that students are expected to supplement their financial aid each year on a graduating scale. A standard figure of$l,000has been set as the amount of money a student must contribute toward his own aid each year, Walbom said.
The $1,000 figure is based on statistics from the university’s Office of Institutional Studies, which say that the average student earns between $1,200 and $1,500 each year.
“That self-help figure of $1,000 doesn’t have to come from employment,” Walbom said. “It can come from a loan.”
In answer to the students’ second concern, Walbom said that federal regulations say that a university cannot guarantee a student financial aid for a period of more than one year.
“We’re all for continuing students at the same level from year to year, but we must make the
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Music students still unhappy with practice room conditions
BY PETER BOYER
SUff Writer After months of registering complaints with various administration officials, students and faculty members of the School of Music remain dissatisfied with what they consider deplorable practice conditions.
Last October, music students had threatened to strike over conditions which forced many students to practice behind buildings, in the bushes, and in the office of Brandon Mehrle, assistant dean of the School of Performing Arts But the strike never materialized.
Students protested conditions at Clark House, an old manison on Adams Boulevard, which has been converted into a less-than-ideal practice facility for them In response to students’ complaints, the Student Affairs Committee, comprised of students and faculty, conducted a survey of the facilities at Clark House in early March. It was hoped that documentation ofthe conditions there would result in some improvement.
Nancy Bricard, an assistant professor in the school and chairman ofthe committee, said the survey showed that Clark House was “a disaster.”
“There were 14 practice rooms with 15 pianos, all out of tune,” Bricard said. “There were only nine piano benches, no music stands, three pianos with missing or unworkable keys, and 12 pianos with unworkable pedals.”
Bricard said that she had expected the repairs to be made over Easter break, but when classes resumed the conditions remained unchanged.
Mehrle has since promised that repairs will be made, and said he didn’t know why the situation wasn’t improved during the spring break. “We have technicians who aren’t university employees, and for some reason the repairs just weren’t made. I'm very disappointed ”
Music students will have to live with the facilities at Clark House until June 1, when the building will be torn down and a parking lot will be built in its place. At that time. Barracks S and N. located on 36th Place a-cross fromOlin Hallof Engineering, will have been remodeled and practice facilities installed.
Conditions there will he slightly better than at Clark House—students will have 25 practice rooms and, it is hoped, a
bench for every piano, Bricard said.
“But the students will not accept this as a permanent solution,” she said. “What we are working for is a permanent housing facility which would have practice facilities, editing cubicles, working rooms and work spaces.”
Approximately 200 students have petitioned the university for such a facility, but Bricard hinted that she didn’t expect the idea to materialize very soon.
“The response from (Anthony D.) Lazarro, (vice-president for business affairs) was that this would be a highly desirable and ideal situation which we may be able to achieve someday.’ Someday.”
Mehrle cautioned the students against pressing for a new' building, saying, “It is probably inappropriate to build 400 or 500 new spaces when ten years from now, due to the decreasing pool of col-lege students, there will be empty spaces in the rooms we already have.”
Mehrle added that he was a little aggravated about the slowness ofthe university in improving the conditions.
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DT photo by Shuf Ito
Movie critic speaks
How well a film reaches its intentions is what Charles Champlin said determines whether or not it succeeds.
Champlin, Los Angeles Times entertainment editor, spoke to a standing room only crowd of more than 300 people on Tues-
day for Contemporary Literature Week.
He told the students that if he looks at a movie on the basis of its intentions, he can judge films individually ranging from a “shoot ’em up Western’’ to a creative piece such as Cries and Whispers or The Conversation.
Focus
Veterans face money problems
BY MIKE MEYER
Senior Staff Writer
A military veteran who chooses to attend USC is at a distinct disadvantage compared to other students receiving financial aid.
The educational benefits provided for him by the Veterans Administration, particularly by the GI Bill, don’t vary in accordance with his college’s tuition.
Approximately 1,800 veterans are attending the university. They receive no special status and are treated the same as the average student.
The Financial Aid Office is open to them, but they are less likely to obtain scholarships or grants, since they are already getting some funds from the Veterans Administration.
“If you go to an expensive school and you’re strictly on the GI Bill, that’s your prerogative. Therefore, you have to pick up the difference,” said Tim Kelley, a representative of the Campus Office of Veterans Affairs.
But if a veteran goes to a state university, where the tuition is much lower, there is usually quite a bit of money left over for him to live on, he said.
An undergraduate who is a veteran and is receiving the maximum amount from the VA would have to pay an additional $150 each semester to meet tuition costs if he were a full-time student here.
“If he wants to put all ofthe VA funds toward tuition, he can do it, but he still has to worry about books, supplies, transportation to and from campus, food and rent, which is a big bite,” Kelley said.
The main problem encountered by veterans in the past was late VA award checks, but a new program, “Vet Rep On Campus,” has cut the difficulty to a minimum.
People who were formerly VA employees act as intermediaries between the VA and the student.
Bob Jones, the other VA representative on campus, said, “Before that, the VA was responsive to a certain extent, but an interface was lacking between the two. They decided this was the best way to go.”
The main function ofthe office is to insure that the proper paper work is done and the VA forms are handled correctly.
“We find out where the vet’s check is, why it wasn't paid, what the problem is,” Jones said.
Kelley said, “It’s a big bureaucracy. But because we’re VA employees, we’ve been schooled and trained to know exactly what paper work to do at what time.
“This was the big breakdown in the past. The veteran actually didn’t know how to fill the form out, and didn’t know which papers to submit to the VA.”
He said the new program has reduced the number of complaints about late checks, but the office still has the same amount of work to do.
“It’s just that now we’re doing it more efficiently. We still get quite a few veterans in here, especially around registration time, because they have to sign up every semester (for the VA funds),” he said.
Besides helping the veteran obtain money for educational purposes, the office helps him get life insurance, pension, counseling, burial benefits and medical, dental and drug treatment.
“And one of the most important things—overlooked by most veterans—is discharge changes. We can petition for a change.” Jones said.
“If they have a bad discharge—less than a general discharge—they’re reluctant to say anything to anybody about it. They just sort of sit on it.
“If they come to us we know who to petition to have it reviewed. There is a chance that the discharge can be turned around. There are a lot of guys who don’t know this and are really hurting themselves.”
A greater percentage of veterans are taking advantage of the educational benefits today than when the GI Bill was first instituted, after World War II.
Though education was viewed as a luxury then, it is seen as almost a necessity now.
Veterans usually receive a maximum of 36 months of payment. but undergraduates who still haven't received a degree at the end of that time can apply for a nine-month extension.
Compared to other California colleges, USC has a lower percentage of undergraduate veterans, but the percentage of veterans in graduate school is
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