University of Southern California - El Rodeo Yearbook (Los Angeles, CA)

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The environment of our university may be considered in two different aspects: the physical and the intellectual. As far as the immediate physical surroundings are concerned, our campus does not differ greatly from other American schools exist ing over a period of time. There are high rise dormitories which contrast with build- ings from other periods of architecture, and there is a certain amount of grass and trees and a few quiet spots where a per- son can be alone with his thoughts. Parts of our campus are undergoing a physical transition which will provide better facili- ties for the interaction of students and teachers. Finally too, our campus is becom- ing more of a unit. Long ago. University Avenue was blocked off, then came the walls of Troy, and recently, Hoover Boulevard and Hoover Street lost the dis- rupting influence of public thoroughfare. However, in becoming a unit, we become doubly aware of the outside environment, the community. Here, our school joins the special class of urban universities, or streetcar schools. Adjacent to us are museums, businesses, boulevards and freeways, and people largely from a low economic group. This outside environment naturally influ- ences the more intrinsic one, the intellec- tual, cultural, and social life. Being near the heart of Los Angeles eliminates the horrendous distance factor of getting to plays, operas and concerts, however, our students sometimes travel many miles to attend parties in private homes.

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Now the Master Plan can solve the physi- cal aspects of the social and intellectual environment, but the students themselves and the faculty must solve the mental aspects. In the traditional friendly atmos- phere of use, we find many students who are interested in serious discussions, who do not necessarily want answers, but points of view. In this respect, the students are lucky, for our large school is unique in the amount of personal contact that exists between the professor and the individual student. In coping with our particular environment, we certainly do not relate to it by looking down upon the deprived community. Work in the university sponsored Troy Camp, and in tutorial programs for high schools shows an increased sense of social involvement on the part of our students. The university plans for urban redevelop- ment and it is and should be asking the community for ideas. On the campus, beautiful buildings will be nothing if we have no dedicated professors or students of diverse backgrounds to fill them, or cultural events to be held in them. The problems of growth require imaginative leadership and financial support. Whether students or not, we can help by contrib- uting ideas and supporting that for which any university should stand, freedom of thought and expression. Perhaps we could form a cultural equivalent for the football supporting Trojaneers. USC ' s new growth is especially exciting, for its is the urban university which realistically faces the great challenge of the educated man ' s relation to the world outside. Ruth Caldwell