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USC chronicle, vol. 20, no. 22 (2001 Feb. 26)
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USC chronicle, vol. 20, no. 22 (2001 Feb. 26)
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Content
by Bob Calverley
MALCOLM SNEAD is in awe of
t e e t h .
“ Teeth live in a cruel,
microbe-infested, acidic environ-
ment where they are pounded by
thousands of pounds of pressure,
and they survive,” he explained.
“The design of teeth holds won-
derful secrets.”
Snead, a professor of oral
pathology and a molecular biolo-
gist at the USC School of
D e n t i s t r y ’s Center for Cranio-
facial Molecular Biology, just got
a big boost in his quest to uncov-
er those secrets. He has received
a MERIT Award from the Na-
tional Institute for Dental and
Craniofacial Research (NIDCR).
The MERIT – Method to En-
hance Research In Time – will
extend his research support to a
total of 10 years. The idea behind
such awards is to encourage sci-
entists to tackle difficult, high-
risk research projects that are
likely to take longer than the life
of a normal research grant.
“In selecting your grant for
the MERIT Award, the NIDCR
is recognizing you as a leader in
biomimetics and is paying tribute
to your … contribution to that
field of dental and craniofacial
research,” said NIDCR director continued on page 7
February 26, 2001
Inside
R O B E RT L . BR AC KENB URY, 83 2
US C IN THE N EWS 3
SQ UIR ES DIR ECTS 5P21 C LI NI C 5
C A L E N D A R 6
C h r o n i c l e
Published for the USC Faculty & Staff
V O L U M E 2 0 N U M B E R 2 2
Dentistry’s Malcolm Snead
Receives MERIT Award
‘Decade of
Distinction’ V i d e o
Highlights State-
o f - t h e - U n i v e r s i t y
A d d ress on Feb. 27
IT WILL BE a celebration of the
e x t r a o rd i n a ry advances the uni-
versity has made over the past
10 years on the University Park
campus and the Health Sciences
campus, and the entire universi-
ty community is invited. Faculty ,
s t a ff, students, alumni and
friends of the university are en-
couraged to gather together to
s h a re in the experience.
In lieu of his annual addr e s s
to the faculty, President Steven
B. Sample will give a state-of-the
university address in Bovard
Auditorium on T u e s d a y, Feb. 27.
The hour-long event begins at
11 a.m., and will be preceded by
r e f reshments which will be
s e rved in front of the auditor-
i u m f rom 10:30 to 11 a.m. The
p resident of the Academic
Senate, William H. Dutton, will
welcome guests and give brief
r e m a r k s .
The event highlights the
university and the people who
have contributed to its success
in providing quality education
to students, conducting re-
s e a rch, advancing medicine
Lawrence T abak in his letter of
n o t i fic a t i o n .
SNEAD’S LONG-TERM r e s e a r c h
goal is to understand the genetic
process underlying the creation
of teeth and to use that under-
Census study shows
undercounts hurt everyone
in a community
5
Astronautics takes off at USC
8
Published for USC Students, Faculty & S t a f f
http://uscnews.usc.edu
T eeth have evolved over 300 million years. Molecular
biologist says, ‘The design of teeth holds wonderful secrets.’
Some Stern Notes: Violin Virtuoso Shares 65 Years of Musical Wisdom
With Students During USC Thornton School of Music Residency
by Inga Kiderra
IT’S WEDNESDAY, FEB. 7, in Bovard Auditorium on an
o v e rcast afternoon: USC Thornton School of Music stu-
dents, under the baton of Sergiu Comissiona, are playing
M o z a rt ’s “Jupiter” symphony . A slender man with a slight
stoop wanders up and down one of the aisles. His arms are
behind his back, his head is down and he’s listening car e f u l-
l y. Dressed in gray pants, a collared white shirt and a blue-
g reen velour pullover, he could be anybody.
O n l y, he’s not.
HE’S ISAAC STERN, one of the 20th centur y ’s for e m o s t
violinists, and he’s here to lead a music clinic at the start of
a four-day r e s i d e n c y.
When Comissiona and the students pause, Stern climbs
the stage slowly. Despite his earlier warning – “I may be a
little rude, and that’s my right to be. I love you all now.
Violinist Isaac St e rn works with USC Th o rnton School of Music students in
B ov a rd A u d i t o ri u m . At lef t , in red, is concertmaster Wi l s o n C h u .
continued on page 4
MERIT awards are given to individuals, but Malcolm Snead said his ongoing
r e s e a rch is a team ef f o rt. The award was given for work in biomimetics and
contributions to the field of dental and craniofacial r e s e a rc h .
continued on page 7
graduate centers in
G e rm a n y, Spain, T u r-
k e y, Greece, Belgium
and Thailand.
B o rn Oct. 22, 1917,
in Independence, Mo.,
B r a c k e n b u ry graduat-
ed from the University
of Chicago, earning his
B.A. and M.A. in 1939
and a Ph.D. in 1948.
During World War II,
he served as a naval
o fficer in the Pacific
f rom 1942 to 1945.
B R A C K E N B U RY b e-
gan his teaching
c a reer at a middle
school and high
school in Bedford and
Rhodes, Iowa. He was
a lecturer and assis-
tant professor at t h e
University of Michigan
b e f o re joining USC in
1 9 5 2 .
He is survived by his wife of
58 years, Opal; three daugh-
2 UN I V E R S I T Y O F S O U T H E R N C A L I F O R N I A C H R O N I C L E February 26, 2001
E d i t o r
Christine E. Shade
Associate Editor
Melissa Payton
W r i t e r s
Matthew Blakeslee Bob Calverley
Chrissie Castro Alicia Di Rado
Zsa Zsa Gershick Inga Kiderra
Brenda Maceo Jon Nalick
Lori Oliwenstein Gilien Silsby
Sharon Stewart Mary Ellen Stumpf
Jon W e i n e r
Staff Photographer
Irene Fertik
Technical Support
Glenn K. Seki
Executive Director, USC News
Alfred G. Kildow
Vice President, University Public Relations
Martha Harris
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UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
R o b e rt Brackenbury, Educational Philosopher, 83
by Gilien Silsby
R O B E RT L. BRACKENBURY, an
educational philosopher who
s e rved as a professor in the USC
Rossier School of Education for
t h ree decades, died Feb. 7 of Par-
k i n s o n ’s disease in Des Moines,
Iowa. He was 83.
As an educational philoso-
p h e r, Brackenbury focused on
how the ethics, values and ori-
gins of human knowledge r e l a t-
ed to education.
B r a c k e n b u ry taught courses in
p h i l o s o p h y, sociology and the
h i s t o ry of education.
R o b e rt L. B ra ck e n b u ry in a 1969 photo. He taught
courses in philosophy, s o c i o l o gy and the history of
e d u ca tion at USC.
ters; and four grandchildren.
A memorial service was held
Feb. 17 in Independence, Mo. n He was the author of
“Getting Down to Cases: A
P roblems Approach to Edu-
cational Philosophizing” and
“ B reaking Out of the Cultural
C o c o o n . ”
“ R o b e rt Brackenbury was
one of the few educational
philosophers who was able to
make philosophy a relevant
concept for teach-
ers,” said Leo
R i c h a rds, a USC
emeritus pr o f e s -
sor of education
who worked with
B r a c k e n b u ry for
30 years. “His b o o k
‘Getting Down t o
Cases’ was a criti-
cal work on how
philosophy may
be applied to
teaching.”
B R A C K E N B U RY SER V E D a s
c h a i rman of USC’s University
Senate (now Academic Senate) in
1969. He taught in USC’s overseas
“Robert Brackenbury was one of the
few educational philosophers who was
able to make philosophy a relevant
concept for teachers.”
– LEO R ICHARDS
Biomedical Pioneer
A l f red E. Mann
Elected to NAE
The National Academy of
Engineering recently elected
USC trustee Alfred E. Mann,
founder and chairman of
MiniMed Inc., to membership
in the NAE for innovations and
e n t re p reneurship in car d i a c -
pacing technology , insulin de-
l i v e ry and neural pr o s t h e s e s .
In 1998, Mann made a $112
million commitment to USC to
establish the Alfred E. Mann
Biomedical Foundation.
The university counts 23
members of the NAE among its
USC School of Engineering fac-
u l t y .
Election to the NAE is one
of the highest professional dis-
tinctions accorded an engi-
n e e r. Academy membership
honors those who have made
“ i m p o rtant contributions to
engineering theory and prac-
tice, including significant con-
tributions to the literature of
engineering theory and prac-
tice,” and those who have
demonstrated “unusual ac-
complishment in the pioneer-
ing of new and developing
fields of technology . ” n N e u r o s u rgeon Honored for
Pioneering Contributions
by Monika Guttman
USC NEUROSURGEON M i c h a e l
L.J. Apuzzo will be the Honored
Guest Laureate of the Congress
of Neurological Surgeons this fall
at the international or g a n i z a t i o n ’s
annual meeting.
The honored guest distinction
is generally considered the high-
est academic honor awarded in
his discipline.
The Congress of Neurolog-
ical Surgeons, an infl u e n t i a l
international neurosurgical or g a-
nization, is the principal global
o rganization dedicated to re-
search and education in the
field. Its annual meeting attracts
more than 7,000 surgeons, physi-
cians and scientists from around
the world.
As the Honored
Guest Laureate, Apuz-
z o ’s career focus, work
and objectives are the
basis for the develop-
ment and design of the
s c i e n t i fic agenda for the
m e e t i n g .
“This is an immense
honor for me, the univer-
sity and the work we’ve
done here for more than
27 years,” Apuzzo said.
“The only way I can
respond is to say that it’s
not an accolade for just
one person. What we’re
receiving is an accolade
for the environment that includes
not only my colleagues, whom
I’ve worked closely with, but also
the patients who have challenged
us and pushed us forward.”
The theme of the 2001
meeting, to be held from Sept.
29 to Oct. 4 in San Diego, will
be “Reinventing Neurosur-
gery,” in concert with Apuzzo’s
contributions and innovations
that have helped to redefine
the scope and state of interna-
tional practice.
APUZZO IS THE Edwin M.
T o d d / T rent H. Wells Jr. Profes-
sor of Neurological Sur g e r y, pro-
fessor of radiation oncology,
biology and physics at the Keck
School of Medicine of USC and
director of neurosurgery at the
USC/Norris Comprehensive
Cancer Center.
Since joining the USC fac-
ulty in 1973, he has devoted his
career to the refinement of
cerebral surgery concepts, the
advancement of neuro-oncolo-
gy and the development and
transfer of complex technology
from areas such aerospace and
the defense industries to the
operating room and other areas
of patient care.
He has made important con-
tributions in clinical areas of
deep cerebral microsur g e r y,
n e u r o e n d o s c o p y, imaging di-
rected stereotaxy, radiosur g e r y,
minimally invasive techniques
and the emerging field of cellu-
lar and molecular neurosur g e r y
with neurorestoration.
Apuzzo has made many con-
tributions to the scientific litera-
ture, including 35 published
v o l u m e s .
His principal atlas texts,
“ S u rgery of the Third V e n t r i c l e ”
and “Brain Surgery: Compli-
cation Avoidance and Manage-
ment,” are considered classics in
their fi e l d .
In 1985, Apuzzo was instru-
mental in bringing stereotactic
n e u r o s u rgery to the western
United States. He recently over-
saw the installation of a state-of-
the-art Gamma Knife Unit at
U S C .
The Leksell Gamma Knife
Model C is a 20-ton radiosur g e r y
device that provides non-invasive
treatment by delivering focused
beams of gamma radiation at a
precise location within the
p a t i e n t ’s brain.
Harboring a lifetime interest
in recreational and competitive
sport, Apuzzo has served for 22
years as a primary neurosur g i c a l
consultant for the USC depart-
ment of athletics.
HE ALSO HAS SER V E D as spe-
cial consultant to the National
Basketball Association, the Na-
tional Hockey League and the
National Football League.
The focus of the CNS meet-
ing is designed to inspire and
inform young practitioners and
r e s e a r c h e r s .
Over a 50-year period, pre-
vious honorees have included
physicians and surgeons who
have changed national and
internationally held approaches
to and techniques of neurosur-
gical practice. n “What we’re receiving is an
accolade for the environment that
includes not only my colleagues,
whom I’ve worked closely with,
but also the patients who have
challenged us and pushed us to go
forward.”
– M ICHAEL L.J. AP UZZO
Neurosurgeon Michael L.J. Apuzzo.
3 U N I V E R S I T Y O F S O U T H E R N C A L I F O R N I A C H R O N I C L E February 26, 2001
q A Feb. 1 P a s adena St a r - Ne w s
story reported that a jockey died
of a drug overdose involving a
combination of drugs. “The
addition of one plus one equaling
three or four is what’s critical
here,” said drug expert G re g o ry
T h o m p s o n, referring to the
compounding of the drugs’
e ff e c t s .
q T h e r e ’s nothing wrong with
President George W. Bush refer-
ring to religion and his personal
religious beliefs when talking to
the media or making a speech,
religion expert John P . Cr o s s l e y
J r. said in a Feb. 3 (Salt Lake
City) D e s eret Ne w s article. “It’s
just a question of whether people
like or don’t like the style,”
Crossley said. “I have some
doubts about his sincerity, so it
spoils it a little bit for me.”
q The appointment of John
Ashcroft – a Pentecostal – to the
post of U.S. attorney general
brings out in the open a branch of
Protestantism that has been ster-
eotyped as provincial and isola-
tionist, religion expert Donald E.
M i l l e r wrote in a Feb. 4 L o s
An geles T i m e s op-ed. “Pentecos-
tals are the fastest-growing group
of Christians in the world, and
they include a number of well-
educated, thoughtful and socially
responsible people,” Miller
wrote. “It is important to realize
that many Pentecostals, especial-
ly in the last five to 10 years, have
awakened to their social respons-
i b i l i t i e s . ”
q Sociologist K a ren Stern-
heimer was quoted Feb. 5 by
United Press Inter n a ti o n a l in a
story on media and violence. She
said the real problem is that
politicians encourage people to
make the media-violence con-
nection while ignoring other
causes of violent behavior. “It
makes the problem of violence in
the United States someone else’s
r e s p o n s i b i l i t y,” she said.
q T h e r e ’s a dismal future ahead
for over - t h e - a i r-broadcasting sta-
tions, Internet providers and
directory assistance via telephone
companies, telecommunications
expert A. Michael Noll said in a
Feb. 5 column for the T e l e-
dotcom Web site. “T echnology is
on a roll. Anything dealing with
the Internet, computers or
telecommunications seems to be
a winner. But not everything will
succeed, and some of today’s
apparent winners will become
t o m o r r o w ’s losers.”
q The time that television sta-
tions in 58 markets gave to news
coverage of the 2000 election was
“barely enough to clear your
throat,” political communication
expert M a rtin Kaplan said in
the Feb. 6 USA T o d a y. The story
reported on a survey conducted
by the USC Annenberg School
for Communication’s Norman
Lear Center. The survey found
that the stations aired an average
of 45 seconds of political dis-
course a night, far less than the
five-minute standard recom-
mended by a national panel.
q The Internet and other new
communications technology
could lead to communication
overload in interpersonal rela-
tionships, said William Dutton,
an expert on the social impact of
computers, in a Feb. 8 L o s
A n geles T i m e s article. “Sitting
there with the computer tends
to have a disinhibiting ef f e c t , ”
he said.
q Findings in a new book about
inequality in Los Angeles serve
as a “timely warning for the need
to share the region’s prosperity
more equitably,” urban policy
expert Michael Dear said in his
Feb. 11 Los An geles Ti m e s r e v i e w
of “Prismatic Metropolis.” The
book “invites us to adopt one
more ecology to unlock the mys-
teries of Los Angeles: race and
e t h n i c i t y. ”
q In a Feb. 11 Los A n geles T i m e s
op-ed, culture critic Neal Gabler
compared the tussle for suprema-
cy between basketball superstars
Kobe Bryant and Shaquille
O’Neal to the “classic struggle
between the individual, who
wants to demonstrate his excel-
lence, and the community, which
often demands that an individual
subordinate himself for the great-
est good.” Gabler concluded that
while the drive to stand out as an
individual may cost the Lakers a
championship, that attitude in
society “is costing us even more:
a better, stronger sense of com-
munity with which to face the
w o r l d . ”
q Business management expert
Kathleen Rear d o n d i s c u s s e d
her new book, “The Secret
Handshake: Mastering the Poli-
tics of the Business Inner Circle,”
in the Feb. 12 USA T o d a y.
“Politics is, like it or not, the way
things get done in most or g a n i z a-
tions,” she said. “And it’s high
time we started to train people in
how it works.”
q Amy Chen, 19-year-old high
school senior from T orrance who
is working with USC geophysi-
cist Steve Lund, was featured in
a Feb. 14 Los An geles T i m e s s t o r y
about the Southern California
Academy of Science’s Research
T raining Program for young
researchers. Chen is studying
samples of Pacific Ocean sedi-
ment to chart a history of the
E a r t h ’s magnetic field, part of
L u n d ’s larger project. “Her work
has been very substantive,” he
said. “What she has done is clear-
ly publishable.” n USC IN THE NEWS For more ITN and Quick T ake items, go to http://uscnews.usc.edu/, click on USC T o d a y, then scroll down to About USC people.
International reporting expert A.J. “Jack” Langguth waited 30 years before writing “Our V i e t n a m ”
because “it took that long for the North Vietnamese to accept the fact that an American might be inter-
ested in telling their side of the story, that I was neither an ideologue nor a CIA plant,” Langguth
responded in a two-page Q & A in the Feb. 18 L o s
An geles Times Mag a z i n e. According to a Los Angeles T i m e s
book review, “Our Vietnam” is one of the best nonfic-
tion works of 2000. It is also near the top of the list of
the most popular” books about Vietnam listed on
Amazon.com, according to a review of the book in the
Feb. 2 LA W e e k l y. “Langguth doesn’t offer a new theo-
ry of the causes of the war, new insight into its mean-
ing or a new explanation of why it ended. What he does
provide is a thorough and vivid narrative history,
employing a wide range of published sources and some
new ones.”
New Technology Provides a Powerful T o o l
Archaeologist B ruce Zucker m a n was featured Dec. 10 on C B S
“Sunday Morning” discussing a new imaging technology developed
by the Hewlett-Packard Imaging Labs. This new “variable light
view” technique was tested in cooperation with the USC W e s t
Semitic Research Project and the Yale Babylonian Collection at Y a l e
U n i v e r s i t y. Zuckerman explained that by using the new technology,
researchers were able to make out a
fingerprint imprinted into clay
thousands of years ago. “I’ve seen
so many of my colleagues struggle
doing painstakingly difficult work.
[This technology] gives them pow-
erful tools that not only allow them
to do the work faster but allow
them to see much more,” he said.
Zuckerman is director of the W e s t
Semitic Research Project.
Waiting Three Decades to Write the Whole Story
L a t e r, we’ll see.” – what he has to say is
l a rgely encouraging.
He calls the students’ rendition of
M o z a rt “prissy,” and he spends a few min-
utes lecturing on the composer not as
someone of “slippers, petticoats, lace
[but] very much a male fi g u re” (illustrat-
ing his point with Mozar t ’s personal let-
ters, which are rife with lusty thoughts
and scatological humor).
But that done, it doesn’t take long for
S t e rn to arrive at an appr e c i a t i v e
“ T h a a a a a a a a t ’s it!” after a par t i c u l a r l y
w e l l - t u rned musical phrase.
DURING THE COURSE of the class Stern
talks about understanding a composer as
well as the composer’s time. He talks
about capturing the composer’s intent,
getting all the notes and ar t i c u l a t i n g
them. “There are no unnecessary notes,
especially not in Mozart,” he says. “Every
note comes from somewhere and goes
s o m e w h e re.”
T u rning his attention to the strings,
S t e rn focuses on the fluid motion of the
bow arm. “A taut wrist is deadly,” he says.
He gives a tennis/Ping-Pong analogy: “If
you stop short, the ball goes wild, out of
c o u rt . ”
EIGHTY YEARS OLD, Stern peppers the
a f t e rnoon with bits of wisdom gleaned
f rom more than six decades on the stage:
“The notes alone are not music; it’s
what happens in between. How you get
to each note is where the music is.”
“If you’re talking, you can’t talk with-
out taking a deep breath. Music is the
exact same way. The dif f e rence is h o w
you br e a t h e . ”
“Sing the melody. Y ou’ll always sing it
right. Use the instrument to play the
music, don’t use the music to play the
i n s t rument.”
“Bring all your loving, all
your caring. Every note is a piece
of your gut. It’s hard, but the
r e t u rns are wonderful.”
Asked about the experience
of working with Stern, Megan
Julyan, an advanced studies stu-
dent at the USC Thor n t o n
School of Music and principal
second violin with the Thor n t o n
S y m p h o n y, said, “It was amazing, of
course. He’s one of the all-time greatest. It
was a real honor having him here. All of
us have so many of his recordings. I
heard recitals of his as a kid. He’s a vio-
linist whom most of us grew up admir-
ing.”
Julyan, who has been playing violin
since age 4, found Stern’s take on phras-
ing, “that every note is connected,” par-
ticularly helpful. “I’m amazed that he
can still do the things that he can do,”
she added. “In rehearsal, especially, I just
wanted to hold my breath, it was so
beautiful – his timing and the colors he
got out of his instrument.”
STERN’S RESIDENCY at the USC Thorn-
ton School of Music culminated in a Feb. 9
P re s i d e n t ’s Distinguished Artist Series con-
c e rt, his only Los Angeles per f o rmance for
2001. Conducted by Comissiona, the pro-
gram featured the Thornton Symphony in
Brahms’ “Academic Festival Over t u re” and
R a v e l ’s “Bolero.” Stern joined the sympho-
ny in Dvorak’s Romance for Violin and
O rchestra, Beethoven’s Romance for
Violin and Orchestra in F , Fritz Kr e i s l e r’s
“Leibesleid” and “Schön Rosmarin.”
Wilson Chu, an advanced music stud-
ies student and Thornton Symphony con-
c e rt m a s t e r, played a Viennese duet with
S t e rn in “Schön Rosmarin.”
“I feel really grateful that I got to play
t h ree phrases with Stern,” Chu said. “It
was a really important experience in my
life.
“That duet is two-voiced,” Chu added,
“but it should sound like one – and I tried
v e ry hard to play with him.”
Recently accepted into the San
Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Chu is
himself something of a master teacher.
When he mentioned enjoying Ster n ’s
discussion of bowing technique, Julyan
i n t e rrupted to say that Chu was instr u c t-
ing her in the same method last year .
Chu smiled. “The bow arm is very
i m p o rtant,” he said. “It really connects
e v e ry single note and makes the music
m o re cohesive.”
Sounds a little like a Stern successor in
the making. n 4 U N I V E R S I T Y O F S O U T H E R N C A L I F O R N I A C H R O N I C L E February 26, 2001
Isaac Stern at USC
continued from page 1
“Bring all your loving, all your caring.
Every note is a piece of your gut. It’ s
hard, but the returns are wonderful.”
– ISA AC ST ER N
USC W estside Center for Diabetes Opens on San Vicente Blvd.
by Alicia Di Rado
USC PHYSICIANS are now see-
ing patients at a center that of f e r s
a new model of care for diabetes
and endocrine disorders in W e s t
Los Angeles.
The USC Westside Center
for Diabetes pushes past a geo-
graphic boundary. Although
numerous USC physicians have
o ffices in the greater Los Angeles
community – apart from the
Health Sciences campus – the
new diabetes center is USC’s fir s t
major medical presence on the
c i t y ’s west side.
Anne Peters, professor of clin-
ical medicine, directs the new
c e n t e r, at 6310 San Vicente Blvd.
(west of Fairfax Avenue). She
envisions the center as a welcom-
ing place that offers a full spec-
trum of diagnostic, treatment and
preventive services for patients.
“ T ype 2 diabetes is a disease
of lifestyle, really,” Peters said.
“Adjusting lifestyle can help pre-
vent complications and make it
manageable. The idea is to pro-
mote behavior modification in
one unified, affordable program.”
With that in mind, the
Westside Center offers “connect-
ed” care, linking medical treat-
ment with specialized counseling
in exercise and diet.
Center physicians and staff
can perform a variety of tests for
patients, all in one location. They
can initiate and follow up on
patients’ insulin pump therapy, as
well as perform immediate phle-
botomies and measure HbA1c
(glycosylated hemoglobin) levels
to assess patients’ blood glucose
control. Computerized down-
loading of patients’ glucose
meters allows physicians to ana-
lyze data while patients are still in
the clinic.
THE CENTER ALSO focuses on
prevention, screening people
who are at high risk for diabetes
and using strategies to slow the
onset and progression of the dis-
ease.
Peters noted that the center
o ffers services for other endocrine
disorders as well. Physicians use
advanced endocrine testing,
assessing and treating patients
with adrenal and thyroid dis-
eases and growth hormone
and reproductive disorders.
T o mark its opening, the
center will host a March 1
reception for patients, the
community and referring
physicians from 5 to 7 p.m.
USC physicians at the
new Westside Center include
Peter Butler, professor and
chief of endocrinology; Fran-
cine Kaufman, professor of
pediatrics and chief of endo-
crinology and metabolism at
Childrens Hospital Los Angeles;
and Ruchi Mathur, assistant pro-
fessor of medicine. Faculty mem-
bers also will include an internist
and a cardiologist, Peters said.
The Westside practice builds
Anne Peters is director of the new diabetes
c e n t e r, USC’s first major medical pr e s e n c e
on the city’s west side.
on Peters’ longtime patient base
in West Los Angeles. Peters
came to USC last year from
UCLA, where she directed the
clinical diabetes program.
For information on the new
Westside Center, call (323) 931-
7525. n PHOTOS BT IRENE FER T I K
MARK HAMEL
IRENE FER T I K
5 U N I V E R S I TY O F S O U T H E R N C A L I F O R N I A C H R O N I C L E February 26, 2001
Census Undercount Costs Cities Needed Funding
by Gilien Silsby
THREE NEW NURSES, 1,240
library books and a part-time
police offi c e r.
These are just a few resources
the city of Long Beach could have
enjoyed if its nearly 16,500 under-
counted residents had been
included in the official 1990
Census totals.
Christopher Williamson, a re-
search associate professor of
geography in the USC College of
Letters, Arts and Sciences, was
commissioned by the presidential
members of the U.S. Census
Monitoring Board in December
to take a microscopic look at how
a single community would have
fared economically using the
adjusted 1990 Census figures –
which did include the under-
c o u n t e d .
“I studied only Long Beach,
but I think it’s safe to say that my
findings are indicative of many
l a rge cities,” he said.
W i l l i a m s o n ’s report, “How
Would Adjusted 1990 Census
Data Have Made a Difference? A
Case Study of Long Beach,
Calif.,” was presented to the
media Feb. 20 as part of a nation-
al research forum in W a s h i n g t o n ,
D.C.
The Bush administration will
soon decide which of the two sets
of census numbers are used – the
raw Census 2000 tabulations or
the adjusted tabulations that
include estimates of those over-
looked in the raw count.
Whether Long Beach resi-
dents failed to fill out a census
form or never received one, each
missed person represented at
least $56 in annual lost federal
funding during the 1990s. Spread
over 10 years, that
totaled nearly $10 mil-
lion, Williamson said,
not including state and
county funding.
“Most federal
funding received by
cities is tied to popula-
tion numbers,” he
said. “If you can’t count nearly
16,500 residents, you’re going to
miss out on a lot of money . ”
Rather than simply reporting
raw numbers, Williamson identi-
fied specific services that may
have been forfeited in Long
B e a c h .
For example, with additional
funding from the U.S. Depart-
ment of Housing and Urban
Development, lead paint could
have been stripped from 13 hous-
ing units. Three public health
nurses and a homeless case man-
ager could have been hired with
state health-care dollars. Funding
for parks under Proposition 12
w o u l d have been $193,000 higher,
and an additional
bus for Long B e a c h
T ransit could h a v e
been purchased
with federal transit
m o n e y, using ad-
justed population
fi g u r e s .
“ You can see t h a t
counting everyone
b e n e fits everyone in
a community,” said
W i l l i a m s o n .
Williamson is
one of eight re-
searchers across the
nation commis-
sioned to study the
impact of not using
the corrected data.
While President Clin-
ton supported in-
cluding population
undercounts in
Census 2000, it is feared that the
new Bush administration will not
back the plan, Williamson said.
(The administration said Feb. 16
that it is revoking the census di-
r e c t o r ’s power to interpret fi n a l
results of the Census 2000.)
POLITICIANS ARE expected to
review the researchers’ numbers
and use them in the upcoming
debate over whether to adjust
Census 2000 data.
Lee Boyle, a policy analyst
with the U.S. Census Monitoring
Board, Presidential Members,
said there’s a lot “at stake if the
Census Bureau doesn’t correct for
the Census 2000 undercount. Dr.
“You can see that counting everyone
benefits everyone in a community.”
– CHRISTOPHER WILLIAMSON
Christopher Williamson has studied and tracked the census for nearly a decade. He culled the
data for the Long Beach study from four years of USC work, most recently supported by USC’s
T r a n s d i s c i p l i n a ry T obacco Use Research Center. His book, “Making Sense of Census 2000,” is due
out in April. Above, he indicates the Long Beach ar e a .
USC researcher, using Long Beach as a model, is tapped by Feds to calculate the losses.
W i l l i a m s o n ’s study clearly shows
that the 1990 undercount cost
Long Beach millions of dollars in
federal, state, and local funding.
“If the Bush administration
ignores the experts at the Census
Bureau and blocks the corrected
data, Long Beach and the nation
better brace themselves for
another 10 years of underfunding
and planning woes,” Boyle said.
I t ’s not unusual for large urban
communities to have measurable
undercounts among minority
populations, Williamson said.
For example, 1990 census fig-
ures were off by about 3.7 percent
in Long Beach. But the Census
Bureau estimates Long Beach’s
African-American and Latino
population was undercounted by
9.4 percent and 5.3 percent,
r e s p e c t i v e l y.
Nearly half – or 43 percent –
of the undercounted were under
18 years old, and many of those
were infants.
“Some people say, ‘Well, if
they don’t fill out the census
form, that’s their fault,’”
Williamson said. “But what
we’ve found is that a sizable
percentage of the missed popu-
lation are children. They didn’t
have a say in whether they
were counted or not. They are
clearly affected by the loss of
services.” n by Alicia Di Rado
THE STORY SEEMS APOCR Y P H A L, she admits.
When Kathleen Squires was a little girl growing up over-
seas in places like Indonesia, she saw people around her
with elephantiasis – e n l a rged, bulging legs due to lymphat-
ic infection – and asked her dad why they suf f e red from the
d e f o rming condition.
“They don’t have good medical care,” he explained.
And so, though no one in her family worked in medicine,
she decided she would be a doctor .
T o d a y , she is one of the newest medical faculty members
of the Keck School of Medicine of USC, focusing on infec-
tious diseases. Specific a l l y , Squires – a visiting associate pro-
fessor of medicine – treats patients with HIV and AIDS and
p e rf o rms r e s e a rch on drugs that might better help such
p a t i e n t s .
She also logs long hours of administrative duties as the
new medical director of the LAC+USC Medical Center HIV-
AIDS clinic known as “5P21,” one of the largest AIDS clinics
in the nation.
These responsibilities have sidelined her one-time dr e a m
of working in the developing world, but Squires does not
m i n d .
“This clinic serves a population that is very disenfran-
chised and really in need of care,” Squires said. “The county
has made a commitment to providing multidisciplinary care
that HIV-positive patients need, in one building. The physi-
cian assistants – along with the nurses – are the backbone
of this clinic. And the whole mix of
physicians, from faculty to county,
makes for a very good model of
c a re for HIV-positive patients.”
S q u i res was born in Australia to
Australian and American par e n t s .
Her father’s work moved the fami-
ly around to locales such as
Indonesia, Nigeria and Brazil, but
by high school she had moved to
upstate New Y o r k .
In medical school, she grew in-
t e rested in women’s issues and did
her internship in obstetrics and gynecology . Later, spurr e d
by her overseas background, she pursued a fellowship in
infectious diseases.
AS AN INFECTIOUS DISEASES FELLOW in New York in
the 1980s, she began to learn about HIV and AIDS. “At that
time, mostly gay men were dying of this hor r i fic disease,”
she said. “I believe in causes, and we took care of people
who were being discriminated against actively. And when I
s t a rted seeing it in women, that really brought it all home
that this is a universal disease.”
Working with HIV and AIDS patients in an academic
medical setting seemed a perfect fi t .
“I didn’t want to work with lab animals or cell cultur e s , ”
she said. “Clinical r e s e a rch satisfied my need. I can ask ques-
tions of patients and treat them. Y o u ’ re caring for people,
but expanding the knowledge about a disease as well,” she
s a i d .
Along the way, she married Matthew Carabasi, a physi-
cian specializing in bone marrow transplantation. The cou-
ple nearly moved to Southern California in the early 1990s,
she for a USC job and he to City of Hope National Medical
Center in Duarte. But the University of Alabama at Bir m i n g-
ham of f e red them both positions, and they headed south.
S q u i res handled women’s care at the HIV-AIDS clinic at
UAB for more than seven years before Southern Califor n i a
again lured them west – but this time, USC tapped both
Carabasi and Squires. Carabasi is now a visiting associate
p rofessor of medicine in hematology and leader of the
U S C / N o rris Cancer Center’s Allogeneic Bone Marr o w
T ransplant Pr o g r a m .
USC IS THE PLACE TO BE to care for a wide range of peo-
ple with HIV , she said. “And USC is a major player in r e s e a rc h
into women and HIV ,” she added, noting that Alexandra
Levine, professor of medicine and chief of hematology,
leads one of the sites of the NIH-funded W o m e n ’s
Interagency HIV Study .
S q u i res is interested in looking at possible dif f e rences in
d rug effects on HIV in women and men; HIV drugs used
t o d a y , she said, were mostly tested on male patients. She
also pursues r e s e a rch into finding new drugs and vaccines.
“ T h e re ’s a lot we don’t understand about how HIV
works,” Squires said. “And there is a long way to go. But we
keep learning more and more.” n HIV/AIDS Expert Joins USC as New Director of 5P21 Clinic
Kathleen S q u i r e s
U N I V E R S I T Y O F S O U T H E R N C A L I F O R N I A C H R O N I C L E February 26, 2001
Calendar for Feb. 26 to March 5
Celebrating Contemporary Music: Ursula
Oppens and Donald Crockett
Distinguished pianist Ursula Oppens visits USC this week, per-
forming in USC Spectrum’s Chamber Music Series and joining
c o m p o s e r-conductor Donald Crockett, guest pianist Vicki R a y
and the Thornton Contemporary Music Ensemble in concert.
Oppens has won equal renown as an interpreter of the estab-
lished repertoire and as a champion of contemporary music.
Oppens earned her master’s degree at the Juilliard School and
made her New York debut at Carnegie Recital Hall in 1969. In
1976 she won an Avery Fisher Career grant, which led to a performance with the New
York Philharmonic. She is currently the John Evans Distinguished Professor of Music at
Northwestern University.
Oppens’ first appearance this week will be on Monday, Feb. 26, at 7 p.m., concluding
the 2000-01 USC Spectrum Chamber Music Series. The program includes Beethoven’s
Sonata in F major and Sonata in C minor. She will also perform from Frederic Rzewski’s
“The People United Will Never Be Defeated,” for which her Vanguard recording
received a Grammy nomination.
On Thursday, March 1, at 7 p.m., Oppens will join conductor
Donald Crockett and the Thornton Contemporary Music Ensemble
for a special evening of contemporary musical interpretation and col-
laboration, also featuring special guest alumna Vicki Ray on piano.
The program will include works by Rasmussen, Korf and Bartók.
Both events will take place in Newman Recital Hall; admission for
each is $20 general, $10 senior citizens and USC faculty/staff, $5 USC
students. T o make reservations call 213-740-2167.
This spring concert season the USC Thornton School of Music begins what will be a
yearly tradition: honoring one of its faculty composers on the occasion of a signifi c a n t
b i r t h d a y . First up is Donald Crockett, who turns 50 this year. In the words of a Los
Angeles Times critic, Crockett “assures one’s faith in the potential of new music to
remain fresh.” Past composer-in-residence with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra
and active as a conductor of new music, Crockett is being honored by the Thornton
School all year long.
On Monday, March 5, at 8 p.m., USC Thornton School faculty, students and special
invited guests will perform the work of Donald Crockett as part of the Music Masters
Series: Faculty and Friends in Recital. The program includes Crockett’s “Occhi Dell’
Alma Mia” and “La Barca.” This event, also held in Newman Recital Hall, is free. For
reservations call 213-740-2584.
M o n d a y , Feb. 26, 12:30 p.m.: E u ro p e a n
Union Series. “The Origins of Human
Rights Regimes,” by Andrew
Moravcsik of Harvard University’s
Center for European Studies.
Sponsored by the USC Center for
International Studies. Social Sciences
Building, Rm. B-40. Free. 213-740-0800
T u e s d a y , Feb. 27, 12:15 p.m.:
Consultation Liaison Psychiatry
Grand Rounds. “Rational Refusal of
T reatment,” by Bruce Abbott, resident
p r e s e n t e r, and Nancy McCarthy, assis-
tant professor of clinical psychiatry.
Hastings Auditorium, (Hof f m a n
Medical Research Center), Health
Sciences campus. Free. 323-226-5572
T u e s d a y , Feb. 27, 1 p.m. : Center for
Excellence in Teaching Brown Bag
L u n c h / U P C . “Dealing With Diffi c u l t
Classroom Situations” examines a series
of video vignettes. Grace Ford Salvatori
Hall, Rm. 329. Free. 213-740-9040
W e d n e s d a y , Feb. 28, noon : Center for
Excellence in Teaching Brown Bag
L u n c h / H S C . “Dealing With Diffi c u l t
Classroom Situations.” Norris Medical
Library Conference Room, Health
Sciences Campus. Free. 213-740-9040
W e d n e s d a y , Feb. 28, 12:30 p.m.: C e n t e r
for International Studies Scholar
S e r i e s . “Implementing Foreign Policy:
The T rue Story on U.S. Foreign Policy
Goals and International Af f a i r s
Resources,” by Steve Browning, diplo-
mat in residence, USC Center for
International Studies and USC School
of International Relations. Social
Sciences Building, Rm. B-40. Free. 213-
7 4 0 - 0 8 0 0
T h u r s d a y , March 1, noon: M u l t i d i s c i p -
l i n a ry Research Colloquium Series.
“Developmental Regulation Across the
Life Span: A Control-Theory
Approach,” by Jutta Heckhausen, pro-
fessor of psychology and social behavior,
UC Irvine. Andrus Gerontology Center,
Rm. 224. Free. 213-740-8242
M U S I C
F r i d a y, March 2, 8 p.m.: T h o rn t o n
Early Music Ensemble. James T y l e r
directs the ensemble, playing on period
instruments, in “The Passion of
Musick,” a program of music to soothe
and stir the senses. Newman Recital
Hall. Free. 213-740-2584
FILM & PERFORMING ART S
T h u r s d a y , March 1, through Sunday,
March 4:The Summer People. M a x i m
G o r k y ’s play, performed by the USC
School of Theatre junior BFA class and
directed by Stephanie Shroyer, is one of
the hidden treasures of early 20th cen-
tury Russian literature. It captures a crit-
ical moment in the life of a community
caught between the past, which it
rejects, and an uncertain future. Scene
Dock Theatre. Show Times: Thursday
and Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 2:30
and 8 p.m., Sunday at 2:30 p.m. $10
general, $7 senior citizens, students and
children under 12, $5 USC students.
2 1 3 - 7 4 0 - 2 1 6 7
E X H I B I T S
Opening Monday, Feb.26:
F e m m i l l o g i c a l . Graduating USC School
of Fine Arts students Erin Bilovsky and
Kara Chase explore feminine roles
throughout history . Reception on Feb. 26
at 6 p.m. Show continues to March 2.
Lindhurst Fine Arts Gallery , Watt Hall.
Hours: Monday to Friday , 9 a.m. to 4:30
p.m. Free 213-740-2787
Through Feb. 28: T rojans of Ebony Hue.
Featuring profiles and memorabilia of
USC black alumni who have made sig-
n i ficant contributions to Los Angeles
and the nation. Lewis Hall Gallery .
Hours: Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.
to 5 p.m. Free. 213-740-8342
Opening Monday, March 5: Living in
Huntington Park. Photographs by USC
School of Architecture seniors Pablo
Garcia and Maya Konieczny, document-
ing the streetscape, entrepreneurial
innovations, informal commercial activi-
ty and the ways people use formerly
neglected spaces. Show continues to
June 1. Lewis Hall Gallery . Hours:
Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Free. 213-740-0355
S P O RT S
T u e s d a y , Feb. 27:Intramural Bowling
T o u rn a m e n t . Entry deadline for March
3 off-campus tournament. Lyon Center
for application. $40 per team. 213-740-
5 1 2 7
T u e s d a y , Feb. 27, 5 p.m.: B a s e b a l l . U S C
vs. University of San Diego. Dedeaux
Field. $7. 213-740-GOSC
W e d n e s d a y , Feb. 28, 1:30 p.m.: M e n ’s
T e n n i s . USC vs. UCLA. Marks
Stadium. Free. 213-740-GOSC
T h u r s d a y , March 1, 7:30 p.m.: M e n ’s
B a s k e t b a l l . USC vs. Stanford. Sports
Arena. $15-20. 213-740-GOSC
F r i d a y, March 2, 11:30 a.m.:5K Spring
Fun Run. Open to students, faculty and
s t a ff. Check-in begins at 11:30 a.m.
Race begins at noon. Lyon Center.
Free. 213-740-5127
S a t u r d a y , March 3, 5 p.m.: M e n ’s
B a s k e t b a l l . USC vs. California. Sports
Arena. $15-20. 213-740-GOSC
S u n d a y , March 4, 1 p.m.: M e n ’s Club
L a c ro s s e . USC vs. Chapman University.
Cromwell Field. Free. 213-740-5551 n 6
For a full listing of events, visit http://www.usc.edu/calendar
USC Chr o n i c l e welcomes calendar list-
ings from all areas of the university. Items
should be submitted online at:
h t t p : / / w w w. u s c . e d u / c a l e n d a r
Click on “Add Y our Event”
T o be considered for a featured item
send any additional information and
photos to:
Lee Lawlor
KAP 249, MC 2538
University Park Campus
213-740-9344, fax 213-740-1746
e-mail: nlawlor@usc.edu.
T h e re is no March 12 issue. The
deadline for the March 19 issue,
which covers events through Mar c h
26, is noon W e d n e s d a y, March 7.
Student Chapter of the Associated
General Contractors of America. Social
hour begins at 6 p.m.; discussion starts
after dinner, at 7:45 p.m. T own and
Gown. $70 general, $40 students. 213-
7 4 0 - 0 6 1 2
F r i d a y , March 2, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.: 1 1 t h
Annual USC Center for Feminist
R e s e a rch and UCLA Center for the
Study of Women Graduate Student
C o n f e re n c e . “Thinking Gender . ”
Highlighting feminist research by grad-
uate students from USC, UCLA and
the UC system. T opics explore gender,
women, sexuality and feminism in the
humanities, social sciences, arts, law ,
social welfare and public health. U C L A
Faculty Center. 213-740-1739
LECTURES & SEMINARS
M o n d a y , Feb. 26, noon: Center for
Feminist Research Seminar. “ Wo m e n ,
Social Policy and the European Union,”
by Anita Gradin, former European
Union commissioner and former
Swedish minister of foreign trade.
Reservations required for a light lunch.
University Religious Center, Rm. 108.
Free. 213-740-1739
SPECIAL EVENTS
F r i d a y, March 2, 6 to 9 p.m.: 7 t h
Annual USC Associated General
Contractors Symposium.
“Design/Build: The Alameda Corridor
Project.” This multibillion-dollar pro-
ject, currently under construction, will
allow rail transportation from the Port
of Los Angeles to Union Station down-
town. A speakers’ panel will address all
aspects of the Alameda Corridor
Project – from initial planning and con-
cept to design, construction, delivery
and operation. Sponsored by the USC
civil engineering department and USC
7 U N I V E R S I T Y O F S O U T H E R N C A L I F O R N I A C H R O N I C L E February 26, 2001
standing to make biomimetics,
or biological substitutes, not only
for teeth but for other parts of
the body such as bones.
The outer covering of a tooth,
the enamel, is a highly ordered
bioceramic crystal structure that is
the hardest substance found in
vertebrates. Underneath the
enamel is dentin, a softer sub-
stance with a less ordered but still
o rganized orientation of crystals,
said Snead. Bone is a random ori-
entation of crystals.
“ T eeth are like an Eskimo
Pie, with a hard outer shell and
softer interior,” he said. “Bite into
an Eskimo Pie, and the hard
chocolate exterior shatters into a
web of cracks.”
T eeth, however, are highly
shatter resistant. When you
crunch down on a hard nut or a
piece of ice, your teeth are sub-
jected to thousands of pounds
per square inch of pressure. The
best materials scientists in the
world, Snead said, cannot dupli-
cate the interface between
enamel and dentin.
“How do the proteins that
control the mineral deposition
create those materials? What
genes are responsible for it? How
do they form the matrix that ori-
ents the crystals? How do dentin
and enamel fit together?” asked
the scientist.
SNEAD UNDERST A N D S s o m e
of it. He and other scientists have
painstakingly unraveled how,
early in embryonic development,
a specialized group of cells
known as ameloblasts secrete
amelogenin proteins. These pro-
teins form a matrix that acts like a
s c a ffold for phosphate and calci-
um ions forming the crystals that
make up enamel.
“The proteins are made in a
cell and then kicked out. After
they’ve done their job, they dis-
a p p e a r,” he said, describing the
elusive target. “At present there
is a paucity of information about
the dentin-enamel junction that
plays such a critical roll in the bio-
mechanical function of the tooth,
so this is a special focus of our
r e s e a r c h . ”
Snead does not expect to
solve all of the puzzles quickly.
He points out that teeth are
the products of 300 million years
of evolution. Creatures with suc-
cessful dentition survived, while
those without it did not. And that
is still true.
“The number of teeth in an
adult is directly related to cardio-
vascular health,” he said.
While MERIT awards are
given to individuals, Snead con-
siders this misleading: His re-
search, he said, is very much a
team effort. The USC team in-
cludes Alan Fincham; Yaping Lei;
Wen Luo; Janet Oldak; Michael
Paine; Shane White; Benton Yo-
shida; Larry Zhou; Dan Hong
Zhu; and Mehmet Sarikaya, Uni-
versity of W a s h i n g t o n ,S e a t t l e .
“It takes everything from
materials science to gene regula-
tion to protein assembly to do
this, and to claim that I have
experience to do all of it is not
true,” he said. “My job is to point
and dream.” n B ro a d c a s t e r s
Failed to Cover
C a n d i d a t e s ,
Lear Study Says
SERIOUS POLITICAL d i s-
course was given short shrift
by the nation’s television
b roadcasters during the Oct. 7
to Nov. 7 election cycle, ac-
c o rding to a recent study con-
ducted by the USC Annenberg
School for Communication’s
N o rman Lear Center.
A survey of campaign 2000
news coverage by 74 br o a d-
cast television stations in 58
media markets found that
most stations – the 51 that
had not made a public com-
mitment to a r e c o m m e n d e d
s t a n d a rd – aired an average of
45 seconds of candidate dis-
course per night, said Mar t i n
Kaplan, director of the Lear
Center and associate dean of
the USC Annenberg School.
“ F o rt y - five seconds is bare-
ly enough time to clear your
t h roat,” Kaplan said.
H o w e v e r, said Kaplan, the
other 23 stations – those that
had previously committed to
airing five minutes of candi-
date discourse each night –
“not only aired more candi-
date discourse, they also air e d
m o re issue stories, 60 per c e n t
longer candidate sound bites
and a higher percentage of
stories about state and local
e l e c t i o n s . ”
A 1998 nonpartisan gov-
e rnment r e p o rt r e c o m m e n d e d
that the television br o a d c a s t-
ing industry voluntarily pro-
vide five minutes each night
for candidate-centered dis-
course in the 30 days before
an election. Seven percent of
the nation’s 1,300 television
stations announced that they
would attempt to meet the
five-minute standard. But re-
s e a rchers found that even the
23 stations in the study that
made the commitment air e d
only an average of two min-
utes 17 seconds of candidate-
c e n t e red discourse per night.
Kaplan, the study’s princi-
pal investigator , said it mea-
s u red the total time that all
candidates for all levels of
o ffice were shown speaking
on local stations from 5 to
11:35 p.m., during the 30 days
b e f o re the election.
THE STUDY WAS c o n d u c t e d
under a Ford Foundation grant
to the Alliance for Better
Campaigns, which engaged
the Lear Center to per f o rm the
re s e a rch. The full text of the
findings can be found at
h t t p : / / e n t e rt a i n m e n t . u s c . e d u /
p u b l i c a t i o n s / c a m p a i g n n e w s .
P D F . n and science, working in the
c o m m u n i t y, building the uni-
v e r s i t y ’s endowment and liter-
ally changing the landscape of
USC through new building
p ro j e c t s .
A 15-minute video, “Decade
of Distinction: A University for
the 21st Century,” pr o d u c e d
and directed by D.J. Johnson,
a recent MFA graduate of the
USC School of Cinema-T e l e-
vision, will be shown, featuring
a host of faculty, students,
alumni, higher education ex-
p e rts and community leaders.
A LUNCH FOR F A C U LT Y
follows the program, at noon
at Trousdale Plaza, in front of
Mudd Hall of Philosophy.
R e s e rvations are r e q u i red; for
m o re information, call Liz
McCann at University Special
Events Services, (213) 740-
6786. n MERIT A w a rd
continued from page 1 Feb. 27 Event
continued from page 1
8 UN I V E R S I T Y O F S O U TH E R N C A L I F O R N I A C H R O N I C L E February 26, 2001
A s t ronautics Program Takes Off at USC
by Bob Calverley
ou don’t have to be a
rocket scientist to fi g u re
out that rocket science
is hot at USC.
“The prospects for space have
never been better,” said Mike
G runtman, professor of aer o s p a c e
engineering and founding dir e c t o r
of the astronautics program in the
USC School of Engineering. “There
is more and more commer c i a l
a c t i v i t y , and that it is now gr e a t e r
than the government space activi-
t y. Southern California has a huge
p a rt of the total space pie, maybe
25 per c e n t . ”
G runtman has been car e f u l l y
building the astronautics pr o g r a m
in the aerospace and mechanical
engineering department of the
USC School of Engineering for sev-
eral years now. (Astronautics is
space technology and r o c k e t ry . )
Praised as a graduate program by
both the space industry and gov-
e rnment r e s e a rch and develop-
ment centers, Astronautics was
first of f e red to undergraduates in
2 0 0 0 .
LAST F A L L, 25 freshmen signed
up for the astronautics pr o g r a m .
T h re e - q u a rters of aerospace engi-
neering students are in astr o n a u-
tics, and about half of the fr e s h-
men in the combined aer o s p a c e
and mechanical engineering de-
p a rtment are in astronautics, said
Philip Muntz, professor of aero-
space engineering. Muntz holds
the Arthur B. Freeman Pr o f e s s o r-
ship in Engineering and is chair of
the aerospace and mechanical
engineering department. Muntz
and aerospace professors Dan
E rwin and Joseph Kunc form the
p ro g r a m ’s core faculty.
ASTRONAUTICS IS ONE of engi-
n e e r i n g ’s dominant graduate pro-
grams because of the large num-
ber of students who work in the
local space industry while pursu-
ing advanced degrees, said Gr u n t-
m a n .
“ We are in a special niche
because of our location, and we
have one of the very few ‘pur e ’
a s t ronautics programs in the coun-
t ry ,” he said. “Except for military
institutions, most other pr o g r a m s
a re ‘aer o - a n d - a s t ro,’ which usually
means that, by tradition, aero
dominates.”
The space bug bit most of
U S C ’s astronautics students at an
early age; many are, as one puts it,
“ h a rd core.”
“A lot of the number cru n c h i n g
that we have to do for astr o n a u-
tics classes, well, I’d much rather
do that than write a paper . I’m also
m o re motivated to do this than to
c runch numbers for a business,”
said Roshal Y a t c h m e n o ff, a Hono-
lulu senior who said she was in-
s p i red by “Star Wars” movies and
science fiction novels by Arthur C.
Clarke and Piers Anthony .
Y a t c h m e n o ff worked as a data
analyst on Gr u n t m a n ’s Solar Helio-
spheric Obser v a t o ry (SOHO) pro-
ject for NASA. As a sophomor e ,
she went to San Francisco to pre-
sent the data at a major American
Geophysical Union conference, an
unusual achievement for an un-
d e rgraduate. She will graduate in
May and already has been of f e re d
a job with TRW, where she will
become part of Darren Garber’s
orbit determination gr o u p .
G a r b e r, 29, completed his mas-
t e r’s degree at USC last December ,
but has continued at USC as one of
the many industry adjuncts who
l e c t u re in astronautics classes.
“I’ve been helping teach de-
sign. I try to bridge the gap be-
tween the theory in class and what
happens in the real world,” he said.
“I’ve also tried to hire quite a few
of the students for TRW. Astro-
nautics students at USC will have
no problem finding jobs.”
ike Garber, Joel Rade-
macher has been buf f e t e d
by the demands of a full-
time job in the space
i n d u s t ry, a desire for an advanced
a s t ronautics degree and his pas-
sion for space. Rademacher has a
b a c h e l o r’s degree from the Uni-
versity of Colorado and a master’s
f rom Arizona State, both in aero-
nautical engineering, and has
been working on his Ph.D. at USC
for four years. He has worked on
many space projects, both as a stu-
dent and in his job.
“ T h e re are a lot of good people
in Colorado and Arizona,” he said.
“But we’re in the center of the
space industry here, and you can
tell that people here actually prac-
tice what they are teaching.”
At NASA’s Jet Pr o p u l s i o n
L a b o r a t o ry in Pasadena, where
Rademacher has worked for the
past five years, he is a payload pro-
ject element manager for the Mars
exploration rovers.
“ We ’ re building two rovers to
land early in 2004. The plan right
now is for the data to come back
and be posted directly on the
I n t e rn e t . ”
R a d e m a c h e r, 29, has been
hooked on space since the Chal-
lenger disaster, which occurr e d
when he was in eighth grade.
“I’ve applied to be an astro-
naut,” he said. “If I don’t make it
[into space] as an astronaut, I want
to buy a ticket.”
On the other hand, senior Jinny
H a rris will pass on being an astro-
naut. Flying a jet as a Navy ROTC
cadet, she discovered that she got
airsick quite easily .
She attends USC on an ROTC
scholarship and, like Y a t c h m e n o ff ,
has worked on space
r e s e a rch projects as an
u n d e rgraduate. Under
the supervision of pro-
fessor Darrell Judge at
the USC Space Sciences
C e n t e r, she calculated
solar “flux values” (the
amount of energy per
a rea) from spacecraft
d a t a .
H a rris’ original goal
was to get a degree in
physics and to concen-
trate on astr o p h y s i c s .
She switched her major
to astronautics, becom-
ing the very fi r s t
u n d e rgraduate to do
so, because “it was a
lot more hands-on. As
an engineer, you grad-
uate and start working on satel-
l i t e s . ”
hen Harris gradu-
ates in May , she’ll
begin her fi v e - y e a r
commitment to the
Navy at the Office of Naval
Reactors in Washington. She will
get training in nuclear engineering
and hopes to get her master’s
d e g ree in mechanical engineering
with an emphasis in nuclear tech-
n o l o g y. She may stay in the Navy,
or she may not.
“All this is very complicated. I
like mission planning, the big pic-
t u re stuff,” she said, “And in 10
years, maybe we’ll be going to
Mars. We’ll need nuclear to do
t h a t . ”
Redlands freshman Jeff re y
B rown wants to do it all. Astro-
naut? Sure, why not. He’d love to
work for NASA, but thinks it is
m o re likely he’ll end up with
a small company designing tiny
ion or plasma engines, which fasci-
nate him. Graduate degree? Cer-
t a i n l y, but he’ll go to work as soon
as he gets his bachelor’s degr e e .
U n d e rgraduate r e s e a rch? He’s al-
ready started assisting graduate
students and has even done some
calculations on pr o j e c t s .
B ro w n ’s father is a teacher and
a pilot, and he often took Br o w n
and other kids to the airpor t .
“I love to fly,” said Brown. “My
main group of friends in high
school are all into aer o s p a c e .
T h e re ’s one at UCLA and another
at Cal Poly , but neither of them has
s t a rted anything about aer o s p a c e
yet. I’m the only one who has. I
really love this astronautics cur-
r i c u l u m . ”
GRUNTMAN RECALLS the early
‘90s when Southern Califor n i a ’s
a e rospace industry staggered and
many companies put their space
plans on hold. Now that’s over,
and the space business is boom-
ing. He’ s found many industry wiz-
a rds who are eager to par t i c i p a t e
in his astronautics program. Other
countries – some quite surprising,
like South Korea and Chile – are
eyeing Southern Califor n i a ’s space
dominance and starting their own
space pr o g r a m s .
“Rocket science,” said Gr u n t-
man, “is back.” n Rocket science is back, and the ‘space bug’ bit these astronautics students at an early age.
Talking Digital at Davidson Get-T o g e t h e r
THE USC A N N E N B E R G
Center for Communication and
the Interactive Digital Software
Association co-hosted a confer-
ence, “Entertainment in the
Interactive Age,” at USC’s
Davidson Conference Center on
Jan. 29 and 30.
The conference br o u g h t
together game designers, critics,
r e s e a rchers and educators. In
the photo, at far right, Celia
Pearce, USC research associate
in interactive multimedia at
the Annenberg Center for
Communication, talks about
the day's agenda with, fr o m
lower left, clockwise: Raph
K o s t e r, creative director at Sony
Online Enter t a i n m e n t ’s Austin
studio; Janet Mur r a y, director of
G e o rgia T e c h ’s graduate pro-
gram in information design; Matthew Ford, production leader of Microsoft’s “Asheron’s Call” franchise; Tim
Schafer, president of the San Francisco-based video game studio, Double Fine Productions; and Ken Lobb,
director of game evaluation and marketing support for Nintendo of America. All were panelists on Jan. 30.
ALSO REPRESENTING USC at the conference were Paul Debevec and Larry Tuch, USC Institute for
Creative Technologies; Marsha Kinder, professor in the USC School of Cinema-Television; Albert “Skip” Rizzo
III, research assistant professor in the USCSchool of Engineering’s Integrated Media Systems Center; and
Eddo Stern, an artist and visiting lecturer in the USC School of Cinema-Television. n From the lef t , freshman Jeff Bro w n ; Joseph K u n c , ae rospace pr o fe s s o r; Mike Gru n tm a n ,
founding director of the astro n a u tics pr o g ra m ; and graduate student Roshal Y a t ch m e n o f f.
Th ey are standing in front of the cooling jacket inside a vacuum c h a m b e r.
Y
L
W
Abstract (if available)
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University of Southern California chronicle, volume 20, number 22 (2001 February 26). Published for the faculty & staff. Published weekly on Mondays, September throught April (except the week of Thanksgiving, two weeks before and after Christmas, and the week of spring break); and biweekly May through June.
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USC chronicle, vol. 20, no. 22 (2001 Feb. 26)
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