...and their memories

Darryl Adams
I first joined the DT in Spring of '80. Robin Oto was my 1st editor,and I go back to The R. Jane Zacharys', Linda Lebovics, Steve Padillas of the world. Made my USC mark by serving as BSU President from 81-84. One of very few staffers to write a Page 1 story and later become a Page 1 story. I remember... My first semester being in awe of Rich Bonin, Michael Schroeder, R. Jane Zachary, Carol Long, Holly Houston (Boy did I have a crush) and Margaret Bernstein.. As one of a handful of African Americans on the staff at the time, Margaret mentored me and became a good friend. Over the years, Casey Wian, Steve Padilla, Mark Gil, Mark Ordesky , Marci Brown, Carmen Chandler, were very influential and enjoyable to work with. Some of the articles that we first dealt with included the story of the USC football team getting placed on probation for courses they did not take, Black Student Services, The Student Senate and Apartheid divestment issues. Thanks to Mr. Cray and all the editors on the DT who allowed me to dabble as a writer and political operative. Shouts out to Carmen Chandler, Steve Padilla,The Marks (Brown, Gil and Ordesky) Belma Johnson & Margaret Bernstein. ( A classy writer for the DT, now in Cleveland) Add your own memory

Kahlil Bendib
Guest remembrance: "I remember first seeing Bendib's work in the DT when I was a freshman in the fall of 1980. Particularly memorable was a cartoon he drew after John Lennon was murdered...it showed the three surviving Beatles walking with their heads down. Powerful stuff back then. Another cartoon I remember was one that showed people dancing in the streets in the rain saying, "The trickle-down effect! It's happening!" (or something similar). The last panel showed President Reagan standing on the roof of a skyscraper, urinating over the edge. -- Submitter: Trisha Duron (Trisha Martinez), class of 1984 Add your own memory

Terri Bingham
I remember a great editor named Jim Corning. His family was the Corning Glass people. He was bright, but laid back. Tommy Trojan was trashed by the Bruins, we didn't like that much. I also had a Japanese man edit some of my work, he was good. Songfest was a big deal, I covered that, I still remember one frat, maybe Sigma Chi, coming out dressed as many Kermit the Frogs. I covered the Brixton riots in London, and ran an article on Bob Marley. I'd review albums too. Being an entertainment staff writer didn't pay much, maybe $50 a semester. But every little bit helped, I was so broke, and didn't have a car. I got my pic in the paper one time when I was at ceramic class using the potter's wheel, thanks to some unknown photographer that worked for the paper. They demonstrated against the Shah of Iran on campus a bit, I remember that. There was a beautiful girl, Lisa Messersmith or something like that that joined the staff the year after me. I worked there several semesters, she joined because she wanted to be like me, and then they gave her my position and she was horrified because she wanted to work with me, not instead of me! Apparently I had inputting the Songfest story myself, in the middle of the night the computer crashed, dropped the whole thing. The editor reentered the story and left out a sentence. The frat guys wrote to complain that I hadn't mentioned their skit. But I had, the editor goofed but because my name was on the byline, they blamed me. Add your own memory

Carmen Ramos Chandler
If I remember correctly, I started out as a news side reporter at the DT, then served as assistant city editor and investigations editor. The big news at the university, at least at the DT, was the booing of Walter Mondale and a harassment of his supporters by Trojan Republicans during a presidential campaign visit, the rape of a female student during a fraternity party and at sit-in in the Bovard by about 160 students to in support of fellow students at UCLA who took over their administration buildings to pressure the UC system to divest from South Africa. The protest occurred during my last semester my senior year, and I ended up leaving the DT to help lead the protest. We, the protesters, spent a week living in Bovard outside of administrative offices. It was during finals week and we were stunned by how many students participated, including South African students whose families faced reprisals if the South African government found out. We made the news, even more than our colleagues at UCLA because USC was known as a major Republican campus. The rape led to a heated argument among the DT editors regarding. I remember distinctly arguing, along with Laura Castaneda who was opinion editor at the time, with some of our male colleague over what constitutes a rape. By the way, the riots were in 1992, I covered them, and the preceding verdict in Simi, for the Daily News, and I'll never forget them. Add your own memory

Ron Chavers
I was only there for a short while and then did features for what we called So Cal Magazine (not sure if it exists still). Events of the day included some athletic scandals (this was when the first football cheating scandal occurred that eventually led to probation and John Robinson leaving for the first time. We also had a very controversial Middle East Studies Center funded by the Shah of Iran. We had Iranian students (Pro Ayatollah/Pro Shah) rioting etc... It was the beginning of the Reagan Era. That's about it. Add your own memory

Ezell Marcus Gray Jr.
Just a college newspaper staff member enjoying being on the DT. Mentors Roy Copperud, Jack Langguth and Bill Farr. DT experience and collegiate years at USC were excellent. Loved every minute; despite being a loner. Add your own memory

Galen Gruman
As for DT recollections, boy was that a fun, crazy, yet defining period: I came into the DT my freshman year ready for the big time, since I had been editor of my high school and junior high school paper. Then I got the set-yourself-straight comment from one of the editors who interviewed me, Carole Long: "We were all editors of our high school papers." My next experience was with Robin Oto -- "Roto" -- who delighted in telling guys she wanted to sit on their face and with Mike Schroeder, who loved to roar "What, do you think we're trying to put out a paper around here?" It was "Lou Grant" meets L.A. Carole, Robin, Mike, and Steve Padilla were incredible mentors, and I credit them for much of my journalistic formation. But it was also a blast -- I loved writing stories for the paper, and was particularly proud of two. One uncovered a scam targeting Iranian students (this was right after the Shah was deposed) that ran in our paper. It promised to get the students papers to stay. The other was right after the end of semester in what was to be my last story in the DT: a controversy over the appointment of the new journalism school dean. The press release seemed off to me, so I called the president's office to confirm. Whoops, there was no announcement, and the guy named definitely wasn't the new dean. Even more embarrassing, the release had come from the head of the school's PR division. Beyond that, a lot of late, pizza-filled nights, since after finishing my duties as first a reporter, then later as the new editor (a sort of deputy managing editor slot, working with Managing Editor James Grant and an editor named Mary Ellen Hickey whose job I can't remember but our teasing conversations I'll never forget), I switched over to the production side and spent the night doing the typography and layout for the paper as part of my work-study program. (I'm almost as big a production geek as Schroeder, though my big passion remains editing.) There, I got to spend laughter-filled nights with production chief Denice Killian and a particularly zany photographer named Kenny. I also became close friends with Laura Nicholson and Matthew Kane, though I lost touch with them a few years after we all graduated. My third proudest moment was my one and only issue as editor of SoCal magazine (cut short by a silly dispute between me and Jane Zachary), where we sent a reporter to cover the first space shuttle launch and I got to go to the first space shuttle landing (college press was not allowed, so Matt and I whipped up credentials as WJM-TV reporters on the DT publishing system -- if the NASA press people nopticed the joke, they didn't let on) -- for us, this was a fundamentally Southern California-created event, given the aerospace industry's influence and fit the magazine team's mission to expand coverage beyond the school (perhaps because most of us happebed to come from out of state, and L.A. was a phenomenon to us in its own right). It's funny how college both redefines and reinforces who you are -- the DT certainly did that with a great group of colleagues and sometimes competitors and adversaries. Add your own memory

Thomas "Tom" Hoffarth
Maybe the highlight of the time on the DT was the Blood Bowl against the Daily Bruin when we recruited this gangly baseball player who happened to take pictures to be our tight end. Randy Johnson wasn't very coordinated, but we thought he'd be good. QB John Soo-Hoo, who is now the Dodgers' official photographer and his art is used alot by the team, kept hitting RJ over the middle, but he kept dropping the passes. Add your own memory

Tina Kannarr
What was the DT like in those days? We had a lot of fun, I do remember that. There were some amazingly talented people there, like Pauline Yoshihashi, Steve Padilla, Casey Wian, John Lamb, Paul Vercammen, Mark Gill, George Aguilar, and Darren Leon. I felt very lucky to work with them. Add your own memory

Gary Karr
[I've got] fond memories of late nights/early mornings. Was there along with Casey Wian, now CNN business reporter, Paul Vercammen, now CNN Entertainment reporter, and Mark Gill, now film honcho. I'm wondering in that article on Randy Johnson and his story on The Who concert whether I'm the guy who wrote the review. I was Entertainment Editor then, I believe. I remember going to that show. The Clash opened up... Add your own memory

Mitch Lichterman
I left USC and the DT because of financial hardship. These were the Reagon years and after he got elected he cut back on student grants. I had also received a student loan but somehow my papers were lost by Chasse Manhattan Bank and after a semester of working with someone at SC to resolve they ultimately couldn't provide the loan. Thus, I had no choice but to transfer out of SC. I was paying my own way through school. I enjoyed writing for the DT and my editor was Marshall. But I didn't have too much interaction with the staff. I never felt welcomed and I doubt anyone remembers me or cared too much when I left. I have two big memories about my time at the DT. One good and one bad. The good was getting a chance to cover one of SC's football games and going down in the locker room after to interview Marcus Allen. This was the year he won the Heisman. The bad was my experience covering the SC waterpolo team. I got involved in a slight controversy when a group of 3 players became distraught with the coach and the playing time they were getting. The team was losing and these players were lashing out. One of them wanted me to write about it. I was concerned it was just a bit of sour grapes but after talking with my editor he believed it was a worthy story. I again confirmed with the player and he wanted it printed. I ran it and it ultimately made him look like sour grapes. After that the player hated me and the team didn't want me around. It was not fun. Add your own memory

Paul Michael "Zeke" Virga
My memories are fading fast after being away from USC for over 25 years but some of my fondest were getting to see my drawings in print! And hanging out with the DT staff after a football game. The place was always a bee hive of activity. My major at USC was Business Administration with a minor in Fine Art and the experiences of getting assignments to do drawings at the last minute have actually carried with me to this day. I was also a Marine Corps NROTC Midshipman during the '78 - '82 years and so my perspective, I am sure, was way different than others at the DT. The Shah of Iran died, Saddam Hussein invaded southern Iran, Lebanon was terror central, Hinkley shot Reagan and I was drawing pictures of psilosybin mushrooms for a story on them in the DT. There are a couple of individuals that I do remember: Laura Rodriguez, she was assistant city editor and in a ceramics class with me one summer. She was beautiful, intelligent, and the person that talked me into doing illustrations for the DT. Staake, to this day, one of the sharpest and best editorial cartoonist I have ever seen. Add your own memory

Back to Top