<p>I just came from a meeting for the IFC (Interfraternity Council) where Dr. Sample gave a presentation. Here are some highlights:</p>
<p>-Stats of applicants continue to go up. I didn't get my pen out quickly enough to write down exact details but test scores and GPA of new freshman are up to record levels.<br>
-USC enrolled 244 National Merit Scholars this year. That puts USC at #4 in the nation. Fifteen years ago, USC enrolled 33 NMS.
-The newly appointed California Poet Laureate is Carol Muske-Dukes, a USC English Professor.
-Annenberg dean Ernest J. Wilson III was appointed to Obama's Transition Team as an advisor.
-Five faculty members from the Music department were nominated for Grammy awards.
-8000 new residential beds are being added by Fall 2009 (administered by USC.) This includes 2000 beds at the Gateway project (which also will include lots of parking and retail stores) on Figueroa and Jefferson. Gateway was built by a private company but will be managed by USC.
-University Village is planning a major remodel.
-The Campus Center (where the old Student Union was located) is planned for opening Fall 2010. This will be a central meeting hub for students, staff, and faculty.
-Cinematic Arts has a new 200,000 sf building of classrooms, theaters, production rooms, etc. from a $275 million donation from George Lucas. </p>
<p>Dr. Sample stated that one of his top priorities is Safety. Although there have been some recent incidents, the crime rate has decreased dramatically in the last few years. These are some changes this year to address safety concerns:
-USC had pledged $4 million for loans to the fraternity/sorority houses for house safety improvements.
-Fourteen new Public Safety Officers have been hired bringing the number to 230 staff at DPS (Division of Public Safety.)
-USC has made an agreement with Yellow Cab to be on call for USC students and allow them to use money from their discretionary accounts.
-Tram hours have been extended and a new route has been added.
-Five new Campus Cruiser vehicles have been purchased.
-DPS is working on a goal of a wait time of 15 minutes or less for transportation (Campus Cruiser, tram, or taxi.)</p>
<p>Dr. Sample has written Four Important Safety rules for students:
1. Never walk alone or in small groups outside of the central campus (near Tommy Trojan.)
2. Always use Campus Cruiser, tram or taxi outside of campus.
3. Never invite strangers in apartment or dorm.
4. Don't be drunk- especially outside apartment or dorm.</p>
<p>In reference to the Global Financial Crisis:
-USC had a 25% loss in their endowment. Dr. Sample grew the endowment from $500 million to $5 billion over his tenure of 18 years. The loss was about $1 billion last year.
-The loss of endowment does not affect the university's operation as much as other schools because USC is less endowment dependent and more tuition dependent.
-The cuts in state funding will not affect USC as it will the UC's.
-There will be a modest increase in tuition in Fall 2009, the lowest increase in Dr. Sample's 18 years. But USC has committed to an aggressive campaign to work with families needing financial aid. </p>
<p>A question was asked about the parking problem. Dr. Sample said that three new parking structures were built recently on Figueroa but he acknowledged this is an issue. He says he encourages students to park in remote structures and use a bike on campus.</p>
<p>A question was asked about when USC would pass UCLA rankings on US News and World Report. He said that one ranking does not mean everything except he loves to exploit the numbers when it serves USC well! He loves to quote the fact that USC students' average SAT score is higher than Berkeley's. He also speculated that the state budget cuts could affect UCLA so maybe next year we will pass them up.</p>
<p>That's about all I could write down- here's a photo I took. He looks pretty severe here but he did tell a lot of jokes and was a very interesting speaker.
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