Daily Trojan 08-09-18

STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SINCE 1912 | WWW.DAILYTROJAN.COM | VOL. 165, NO. 17 | THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 18, 2008

After 11 years, Kappa Alpha returns to USC Fraternity rechartered, hopes to return by spring, have residence near Row by fall 2009. By KEVIN GASENDO Daily Trojan

The rail line has 38 crossings, and 36 have been approved by the California Public Utilities Commission. But it is these final two which are causing the controversy. Community members said plans call for a 225-ton train to run at 55 mph as close as 10 feet from the Dorsey High School’s property line. They’re also worried that the tracks will be crossed by students more than 1,000 times per day. Community members say the train will run 50 feet from seven neighborhood schools including Foshay Learning Center, which is accessed or attended by

After an 11-year hiatus from The Row, the Kappa Alpha fraternity is coming back for an encore in an attempt to reshape its image. Kappa Alpha Order is in the process of re-establishing a chapter at USC and will soon join the Interfraternity Council. The 143-year-old fraternity had been at USC since 1926, but it was disbanded on the orders of the fraternity’s national headquarters after a series of disciplinary infractions in the mid-1990s. Jesse Lyons, Kappa Alpha’s director of chapter development at USC, said the plug had to be pulled not because of a specific event but a buildup of problems at the house. “It was a multi-year decline marked by discipline troubles and violations of risk management,” he said. “It was a lack of being a fraternity and more of being a social club.” Kappa Alpha has 130 undergraduate chapters across the country. According to the fraternity, there are more than 1,000 USC alumni who were members of the house. Lyons said the gap between the closing and re-establishment of the chapter was necessary in order for the house to reshape its image. “Sometimes a clean break is needed,” he said. “This way, we get new people who don’t have ties to what happened before.” Ray Carlos, assistant director at USC’s Office for Fraternity and Sorority Leadership, said the disbanding and revival of fraternities and sororities is common with Greek organizations. “It’s been so long that whatever culture Kappa Alpha had that forced them to leave before, it’s gone now,” he said. “You take a break and come back fresh with new people.” As of now, Kappa Alpha doesn’t have any members and didn’t host IFC rush, since its charter process is not

| see RAIL, page 3 |

| see FRAT, page 2 |

Jonathan Wong | Daily Trojan

Derailed · Students cross the street near Foshay Learning Center, next to construction on the new Expo Line. Some community leaders said the line will run too close to two local schools, where students cross hundreds of times each day.

For community, light rail is no blessing Residents say the new train will pass dangerously close to local schools. By CALLIE SCHWEITZER Daily Trojan

USC students might gripe over the inconvenience caused by the Exposition Light Rail Transit Line, but not being able to make a left turn on Figueroa Street pales in comparison to the frustration felt by some South Los Angeles residents who think “environmental racism” is what’s keeping their voices from being heard. Some community members said the rail line, which will run along Exposition

Boulevard when it is completed in 2010, will have permanent negative effects on the community. Their concerns hinge on a city decision to place the rail at street level in hightraffic areas near local schools, where students cross hundreds of times each day. One of the most vocal groups opposing the train is the Citizens’ Campaign to Fix the Expo Rail Line, a coalition of local residents, administrators, teachers and students. They said the line will run too close to some neighborhood schools and want a four-mile stretch of the track, between Figueroa Street and La Brea Avenue built underground.

On Constitution day, a talk on gay marriage Stepping up their game Students gather to debate the merits of Proposition 8, which would ban gay marriage. By SHWETA SARASWAT Daily Trojan

On Sept. 17, the day set aside for Americans to look back and appreciate the Constitution, USC students and faculty engaged in a discussion regarding the constitutionality of one of the most heavily debated issues today: same-sex marriage. “The political science department was called upon to host a lecture on a Constitution-related issue,” said Arthur Auerbach, lecturer in political science and organizer of the event. “The Supreme Court has been pretty active lately, and the [samesex marriage] issue is very current. ... It has both a judiciary perspective and an electoral perspective. We want people to be aware of the issue and what’s involved.” The date was initially called Citizenship Day, until Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) added an amendment

INDEX 2 · News Digest 8 · Classifieds 4 · Opinion 9 · Crossword 5 · Lifestyle 12 · Sports

Gary Fung | Daily Trojan

David Cruz

to a bill passed by Congress in 2004 creating Constitution Day. The amendment mandates that all schools that receive federal funding to hold some sort of lesson regarding the Constitution. USC made its contribution with a lecture by David Cruz, a professor at the Gould School of Law, who discussed the consequences of voting for and against the ban on same-sex marriage.

There was an obvious emphasis on Proposition 8, which would place a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in California and overrule the May 15 Supreme Court of California decision that struck down the previous ban. “[This is the] first time voters are asking to take a court-granted right away from a group of people,” Cruz said. But Thomas Woods, Jr., co-author of “Who Killed the Constitution? The Fate of American Liberty From World War I to George W. Bush,” disagreed, and said the Constitution’s text vindicates the ban. “There is nothing in the federal Constitution that would prohibit a state from [instituting a ban on same-sex marriage],” Thomas said in an interview. “The states … ratified the Constitution, they are the principles. … Almost everything is in their hands.” Cruz discussed the differences between an amendment and a revision, which, he said “changes the | see PROP 8, page 3 |

Beach Boy: Brian Wilson’s impact on SoCal’s image is recognized by the city. PAGE 5

Alexandra Tapley | Daily Trojan

Dance · Members of the Iota Beta and Alpha Kappa Alpha performed dances in McCarthy Quad for National Panhellenic Council’s annual yard show.

Court Date: USC cornerback Shareece Wright pleads not guilty in arraignment. PAGE 12

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3,400 students on a daily basis. “The grade-crossings adjacent to these schools will expose their students to serious risk at least twice a day, every school day for the next 50 to 75 years,” said USC professor of civil and environmental engineering Naj Meshkati, who testified on behalf of the community at a hearing about the Expo Line last week. Though rail lines in wealthier areas such as USC and Culver City have negotiated deals to have underground or elevated crossings, South L.A. residents believe the diverse makeup of their region has caused the city to largely ignore their views during the train’s planning. “The MTA bows to communities they think are too powerful,” said Damien Goodmon, the leader of the Citizens’ Campaign. “And the way our country works, the areas that can provide the least amount of defense against larger companies tend to be poor or majority minority areas. ... This is an issue of environmental justice and racism.” Mike Ureña was president of the North Area Neighborhood Development Council when the light rail was first proposed. Ureña and the council supported the line at first, when plans had it running east of the I-110 freeway. The line’s contractor and USC then worked out a deal to move the line without keeping the community’s interests in mind, he said. “They both got what they wanted,” Ureña said. “[The contractor] spent extra money in areas where only white people live. We want it safer where it goes by the schools. That’s our right. That’s why people are pissed off.” But Bing Cherrie, USC’s associate vice president of planning, said USC wasn’t involved in the railroad’s relocation from Hill Street to Flower Street. “It was more the guidance of

Jonathan Wong | Daily Trojan

Walk · Some community members say the light rail running along Exposition Boulevard would disrupt local schools and learning centers. the MTA,” he said. “They felt they wouldn’t be serving a large population on Hill Street. ... USC’s position has been to try and represent what’s in the best interest of the campus.” Community leaders aren’t the only ones worried about the train’s safety. In a May 2007 study, Gloria J. Jeff, then-general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Transportation deemed walking routes near USC “not safe for pedestrians” on special event days. Samantha Bricker, the chief operating officer for the Expo Construction Authority, which is constructing the line, said the line is safe. “We are in the business of building a safe, efficient transportation system,” she said. The PUC is scheduled to make a decision in November as to how the Farmdale Avenue and Harvard Boulevard crossings should be

built. Ureña said he and other council members were originally under the impression that the train would be like a two-car trolley reaching a peak speed of 35 mph. “But it’s not,” he said. “It’s gonna go faster than hell.” Goodmon said the MTA can “get away with these projects” when communities act too late or are disorganized when it comes to uniting behind the cause. To Ureña, the needs and wants of the South L.A. community are clear. “All we’re saying is we want to entrench,” he said. “We’re talking about real basic safety issues. The more you look at it, [the more it] shows that there’s so much inequality in our country still between people who live in a fancy neighborhood and people who don’t and how their politicians behave and support them.”

“There is nothing in the federal Constitution that would prohibit a state from [instituting a ban on same-sex marriage]. The states … ratified the Constitution, they are the principles. … Almost everything is in their hands.” ···

THOMAS WOODS constitutional scholar

how we make our voices heard.” Brendan Barth, a junior majoring in political science, came to the lecture undecided on the issue of samesex marriage. “To be honest, I’m here with an open mind. I’m interested in both sides,” he said before the lecture began. Afterward, Barth said he had made a decision. “The issue is complex and has been hard-fought for a long time. It comes down to equal protection under the law,” he said. “And I’m

otherwise “discrimination against [polygamists].” “I think that Ellen DeGeneres is having a victory lap a little too early on this one,” said Myers, who predicted that “voters will give us the constitutional ban.” Many USC students are active in the gay rights movement throughout campus, including the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Resource Center, members of which can be seen around Tommy Trojan, fliers in hand. The organization was not able to be reached for comment.

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definitely going to vote against Prop 8, and I’m definitely going to keep my eye out for the amendment-revision issue.” While the USC College Democrats have decided to vote against Prop 8, USC College Republicans chairman Ben Myers felt that there are too many opinions among the group’s members to reach a consensus on this issue. “Though it is my personal opinion that we should have a ban on gay marriage, we haven’t reached a group decision,” Myers said. “There’s a lot of variety [in opinion].” Myers, who calls the same-sex marriage lobbying “a full-on assault on traditional American values,” feels that if same-sex marriage is allowed, then polygamy should be legalized as well. He called anything

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underlying principles on which the Constitution rests.” Proposition 8 might be considered a revision, he said, since it changes the meaning of equal protection by “depriving a social minority rights by vote of the minority of the electorate.” Cruz argued that if the ban is deemed a revision after being passed, it could be rendered void because it was not born in the state legislature, as required by the state constitution. But regardless of party or stance, participating in the democratic process is essential, he said. “Be engaged,” Cruz said. “What California does on Nov. 4 will have huge repercussions on same-sex couples throughout the state. Democracy depends on participation. Voting is

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