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

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Rising Above The Chaos We had all heard the rumors for years; about the special privileges athletes get; about the fact that they never go to class. Some felt this supposed practice would come crashing down upon us, and it did last summer when the Pac 10 announced that this university ' s football team would be banned from post season play and that the track team would lose its 1978 national championship as well as the eligibility of world-class runner Billy Mullins. We were not alone. Four other univer- sities were forbidden from bowl play; Arizona State, Oregon, Oregon State, and cross-town rival UCLA. Reactions were mixed, but the viola- tions and subsequent penalties did not come as much of a surprise. Rich Bonin, a writer for the DAILY TROJAN, had al- ready uncovered the discrepancies ear- lier in the year. There was a positive result of the fias- co; use continued to energetically up- grade its academic image not wanting to be considered a football school. With a new president we were on the road to a new image. Athletics was shaping up along with the rest of the university. Above: A BREAK TO STVDY—Paiiwla Denise McGee, basketball team member, studied in Heritage Hall. . M - TK . I ' ' CXr ' ' ; J-il , .•(«»•.— ' ««ia(»t«-.«3B »W« ' Above: PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE— Fooffw players continued to diligently workout despite no chance for a hozvl game. Opening

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grounds, culminating on one campus. Our goals, and expectations are disap- pointed as a sluggish administration, inefficient policy, and corruption threat- en our credibility. We see NCAA sanc- tions, the perennial stigma of being an athletic institution, a backseat under- graduate school, and shades of racism in our university life. Yet we see an at- tempt to change those problems. This is it, Trojan family, we ' re starting fresh. We step into a new decade and a second century, divesting ourselves of old images, policies, and uniforms. We have gained a new president, a score of new buildings, and a refreshing new en- ergy that arrives with incoming students. Yes, tradition is important to us, but we ' re attempting to peek our heads above the tradition we have been buried in. We are the University of Southern California, a changing and eclectic insti- tution. And We ' re Shaping Up. Student Life 18 Academics 82 Sports 138 Special Report 209 Seniors 228 Housing 322 Greeks 354 Organizations 418 Index 466 Opening

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Opening