Another Student Murder at USC

<p>I meant to say justice is not usually brought to white collar/corporate crimes</p>

<p>Steve Lopez, whose book inspired the film “The Soloist,” wrote this article about the attack for the LA Times: <a href=“Protecting innocence to quash crime”>http://www.latimes.com/local/crime/la-me-0803-lopez-paysinger-20140801-column.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Not quite sure what the point of the Lopez article was (and The Soloist was an awful film), but we need to make sure ICE locks up the illegal alien for life or that he gets the death penalty. Each of these juveniles will be charged with homicide under the felony murder doctrine, under which anyone involved in a felony that results in unintended death is guilty of murder. They’ll all be sentenced to life imprisonment, a small price to pay for slaying a Trojan. </p>

<p>Where is Nikias? Boy he needs to go!</p>

<p>Punish them and their idiot parents for being so clueless and failing miserably. Article said Nikias was on “scheduled travel” which sounds like vacation. I know nothing about him and his leadership which you have often mentioned @seatteTW, but ya, it was disappointing he couldn’t find time for this event and Xinran’s family. Instead USC’s does a blatant PR move of naming a scholarship for him to be given to a kid from China. Maybe spending that money on security to keep the ones already here safe would be a better move. </p>

<p>Someone said that USC was akin to the old AOL, aka America on Hold, remember that? USC is growing logarithmically and wants the Chinese students and their cash but is unable to house and protect them. Further, this is a classic example of a fundamental failure of leadership. Nikias is where? - and instead of calling in to the press conference by phone or Skypeing, especially in this day and age of the internet, he sends Dickey, the empty suit, to address the Trojan family. That’s incompetence, pure and simple. A Trojan has been slain and our chief executive officer is radio silent and AWOL. I’m ashamed of USC’s incompetent administration.</p>

<p>BTW,</p>

<p>Isn’t Nikias president of the “prestigious” Association of Pacific Rim Universities? How ironic.</p>

<p>Equating USC with AOL was my line - USC is marketing and growing itself but doesn’t have the underlying infrastructure - housing. AOL never had the capacity to handle all of the people who dialed in during the 90s, consequently people were “bumped off” the service after a certain amount of time.</p>

<p>Has Nikias resigned? I thought he was out of town but Garrett was mentioned TWICE yesterday as the “acting president” of the university. I’ve never heard the term used in that way before and I don’t see anything, although I doubt the trustees would act to publicly and unceremoniously dump a president. But this is definitely a trustee-level issue at this point.</p>

<p>I too am embarrassed and angry, with a mix of sorrow as well. The library was open until midnight and yet the Campus Cruiser only ran until 10pm (?). Consequently a good, hard working kid gets beaten to a pulp on his way home from a study session. Completely and totally unnecessary and absolutely inexcusable. The university should’ve thought this kind of thing through a LOOONG time ago.</p>

<p>I am out of town and couldn’t make the service (but would’ve liked to be there) and while it sounds like the USC suits said all the right things, frankly, I’ll believe it when I see it. These kinds of issues are absolutely unacceptable, made worse by the fact that the university has a $3.9 billion endowment and now charges each kid over $60,000 per year.</p>

<p>I don’t like to speculate, but Nikias could be undergoing or recuperating from surgery…regardless, the admins should inform the USC Trojan family of his whereabouts.</p>

<p>So on-campus housing is not guaranteed at USC by the looks of it?
Feel bad for the deceased student and his family, maybe is racism playing a role in these murders? I lnow the victims 2 years ago too were Asian.
I’m not sure there is an effective solution to this other than building new dorms to house all students. And do campus cruisers stop at 10pm? So there is no escort after 10pm for students to get home? I think it wouldn’t be all that expensive to have campus cruisers run 24/7, </p>

<p>Of all of the top ten or eleven senior admins, only Pat Haden has walked the streets around USC as an undergrad late at night. I recall stupidly posting fliers at 3 a.m. one semester for my student group. Decades later I still know where I’d post security guards. If indeed Nikias is incapacitated, now is a propitious opportunity to give Haden the reins. He’ll know how to protect all USC students year round. I’m fuming that USC has a barricade around campus yet a broken off campus security system. What an ivory tower the admins live in…</p>

<p>P.S.: I’d post lit signage that cameras are recording one’s movements, employ drones and security robots that record at night, and make security perform military style watches I and others did in the Army. I’d also let the public know by signage that they are entering a USC safe zone. One of the best outcomes of this tragedy is that bad kids now realize they are being recorded when they venture into the USC security zone.</p>

<p>@theanaconda It’s only guaranteed for undergrads, for 2 years. The Village’s supposed to guarantee a 3rd year, which will be ready in 2017. Very few colleges offer grad housing…</p>

<p>There’s definitely a race/gang issue at play, which can’t really be fixed by housing, sadly…</p>

<p>If only the local schools received more funding…Get the (to-be-gang-members) kids off the streets, nip the problem in the bud.</p>

<p>Housing is guaranteed for two years but only freshman year is on campus. After that all housing is off campus. I don’t think they are just targeting international students. I know a few kids from California who have been held up by gun point including one right on the row in front of the pi phi house. Luckily that time the bad guy was shot by a guard but it easily could have gone the other way. I can’t believe campus cruiser shuts down before the library. That is insane! </p>

<p>There’s still Parkside Apartments on campus, but yeah, one building isn’t enough…Ahhh I thought campus cruisers worked all night?? :o Not that I’d stay out that late, but some people do…</p>

<p>A couple of notes. The campus itself is pretty small, 2 miles all the way around, so there is in no way room to house every undergrad on campus, let alone grads as well. The UV project will help, and should allow the university to house more grads.</p>

<p>For me the biggest issue is Summer security. Since there are not nearly as many students around, they have fewer services available. Campus Cruiser is one, and that is likely hamstrung by the fact it’s hard to find enough student staff. As mentioned earlier, CSC security ambassadors are also reduced. I think it’s important that security in the summer not be reduced and I do believe they have already addressed that.</p>

<p>I also imagine they will hire more officers. I think some of the issue is the student population is now living in a wider area than they were even 5 years ago. I was a student in the mid 90’s when students who lived in the neighborhood pretty much just lived in the area directly north of campus. Now students live west to Normandie, north to the Freeway and even west. The DPS patrol area keeps growing, and as such more staff will be needed to keep the officers visible.</p>

<p>That said, it’s still in Los Angeles, so crime will still happen. Last week, there were reports of burglaries around UCLA’s campus and a student was accosted by a man with a knife near the campus. No where in LA will be 100% safe especially near a college campus where students make attractive targets. </p>

<p>3.9 billion endowment. They can put some people to work in security.</p>

<p>And maintain it this time, not let if fall off like they did in the last 12 months. Security was not just reduced in the summer.</p>

<p>One thing I don’t agree with is charging the children (<18) as adults. They’re not adults for the presumed reason that they lack the maturity and capacity to execute the responsibilities and rights that a 18 year old has and thus lack many rights (voting, serving on a jury, restrictions on working, many rights being (legally lost to parents), restrictions on driving) etc so it’s morally reprehensible and highly hippo critical to charge them as adults which would indicate that they bear the full responsibilities an adult would have while lacking several fundamental rights that an adult would have.</p>

<p>Children? They are not children they are savages and no value to the planet. 16, 17, 18, and 19, all old enough to know better. Prosecute the parents too for raising such animals and not knowing what they were doing at 12:45 am.</p>

<p>People are charged as adults for far lesser crimes than murder all the time. Every day.</p>