cation and utilities restoration. The structural and geologic

hazard assessment of the campuses will involve both seismic studies of the soil and the perfor- mance of specific tests to deter- mine how well buildings could withstand the rapid swaying that accompanies a major earthquake.

The soil studies will be per- formed under the direction of Thomas Henyey, chair of the geological sciences department and a recognized expert in the field of earthquake research. Henyey was a fixture on local tele- vision news programs after the earthquake in Northern California last October.

Five seismometers, each about the size of a can of soup, have been planted in the ground at points on the University Park campus. During the following six months the instruments will measure any shaking — no matter how small — in the Los Angeles basin.

After that time, data obtained from the seismometers will be analyzed to determine how the soil has responded to weak earth- quakes. According to Henyey, that information can be used to predict soil movement in the event of a strong tremor.

The same process will be repeated on the Health Sciences campus.

Tests of building strength will be conducted with the assistance of a device that simulates the accelera- tion of the earth. A team led by Mihran Agbabian, chairman of the Department of Civil Engineering, will perform this phase of the study.

Agbabian traveled to Soviet Armenia immediately following the devastating earthquake in December 1988. He spent several days closely studying the construc- tion of buildings in the area.

"In order to understand how a major earthquake would affect the buildings on this soil, we have to do these studies," said Moran of the USC assessment. "What happens on this soil could be very different from what happens in the San Fernando Valley, or Pasadena.”

-C/arlier, the city of Los Angeles checked buildings on the Universi- ty Park campus built before 1934 for compliance with the earth- quake code adopted that year. Of the 19 buildings cited, nine were eventually corrected or exempted from the code; another nine are being demolished; and one — Bovard Administration Building — will be renovated.

But most of USC's buildings were constructed after 1934. The

Geologist Henyey (left), administrator Moran and civil engineer Agbabian in front ofBovard Administration Building: "In order to understand how a major earthquake would affect the buildings on this soil, we have to do these studies. What happens on this soil could be very different from what happens in Pasadena."

USC TROJAN FAMILY MAY 1990

structural assessment being con- ducted throughout this year by the Department of Facilities Planning and Management is strictly an internal evaluation, prompted by predictions of a large earthquake in Southern California sometime in the next 20 years.

While not the catalyst for these steps, the Northern California earthquake of last fall has focused campuswide attention on preparedness, Moran said.

In fact, he joined William Regensburger, emergency planning coordinator, Steven Ward, executive director of security services; Leo Wade Jr., executive director of the Office of Safety and Risk Management; and Robert Hascall, associate vice president for facilities planning and manage- ment; on a northern fact-finding mission following the quake.

The quintet visited the campuses of the University of Cali- fornia, San Francisco; San Francis- co State University; Stanford University; and the University of California, Santa Cruz to learn what went right or wrong in the face of this very real disaster.

"We learned that in many instances emergency preparations had been made, but the equipment failed, or did not function as expected," said

Moran.

He offered examples: emergen- cy generators started as planned, but did not produce power because the transfer switches failed. Emer- gency lighting installed in the stairwells did not work. University telephone systems stopped operating, although individual cellular phones continued to function.

Aside from these practical con- siderations, Moran pointed out several factors involving human behavior that were noted by the USC visitors.

"A lot of students had no impact on their lives from the earth- quake," he said. "But there was a group of students who were dis- placed from their housing; they couldn't even go back into the building to get their belongings. They also had to move to other quarters. They had a lot of anger toward those students who weren't affected. Here they were struggling, and everyone else thought it was kind of a lark. And these students had the same academic expectations placed on them as did the others."

While administrators grapple with these possibilities, there is also the thought that the so-called Big One might choose to strike when most people are asleep. Moran and company have consid- ered that as well.

"It's very important to train a large group of people, because fre- quently key people are not avail- able. If the earthquake were to occur at 2 in the morning, many of the administrators of the Universi- ty would not be on campus, or able to get to the campus quickly. The people who are here are going to have to cope."

Tom Waldman

Fine Arts Santa Monica satellite gallery closes

1 he USC Atelier, the satellite gal- lery of the School of Fine Arts anda presence in the avant-garde art world of Los Angeles, has closed.

Fine arts dean Lynn Matteson says the school, plagued by finan- cial