Alcalá View 1992 8.9

Mail Center's Daughrity Attacked and Robbed By Jacqueline Genovese Being attacked and robbed of $160 by three men he describes as skinheads wasn't the worst thing that happened to Ken Daughrity this past Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Neither was being subjected to repeated racial slurs from his attackers. No, the soft-spoken mail center clerk says, the worst thing that happened to him on January 21 was that nobody helped him. As he was being attacked at noon at a Wells Fargo A1M in the Rosecrans shop- ping center, some 15 people looked on. Nobody ran to his aid. Nobody shouted at the men to stop their kicking. Nobody called the police. Nobody did anything. "I can't believe nobody helped," Daugh- rity says, shaking his head. '1t's inhuman, when somebody is hurt, not to help them". Things got worse that day for the Per- sian Gulf War veteran. When he went to a shop next door to call the police, the employee there would not let him use the phone. "I asked them 'Can I use your phone to call the police? I was just mugged.' The guy there said 'No man, I can't do that, sorry'". When Daughrity flagged down a police car, the officers refused to file a report. "They told me I didn't look like I had been mugged," Daughrity says, his eyes wide with disbelief. "I asked them 'what am I supposed to look like, have my head busted open and blood all over the place? 111 When Daughrity returned to work dazed and upset, his co-workers asked him if he was okay. When Daughrity told them what had happened, they were too stunned to speak. Danny Marines, a mail center assistant and friend of Daughrity's, said they were shocked. ''We couldn't even l@ University of San Diegoi Publications Office Maher Hall Room274

believe it had happened. We felt so bad for Ken." After an article about the attack appeared in the San Diego Union, Daughrity received dozens of phone calls from con- cerned San Diegans, and Marines fielded several of the calls. "One older man called and said 'I'm old, but if I had been there, I would have done something,"' Marines says. "Other people called to say how sorry they were that the whole thing happened .'~ Other callers included local TV and radio stations, and three City Council members. Daughrity was slightly embarrassed by the phone calls, and says he didn't want the in- cident to affect his work schedule. "I don't want the other guys here to work harder be- cause of the phone calls and the attention focused on me." Daughrity mustered out of the Navy last January, and began working at USO this Oc- tober. "Getting this job was the best thing that has happened to me," Daughrity says, smiling for the first time. "The people here talk to me, and treat me like an individual. They don't seem to stereotype people be- cause of color." The 24-year-old Daughrity plans to apply to enter USO next year, and says h~ would like his wife, Carla, and one day his one-year-old son, Kenneth Jr., to be able to go to school here. ''When I came on cam- pus, I couldn't believe how beautiful it was. It is so peaceful." . The Chicago native says he grew up in a crime-ridden neighborhood, and always dreamed of going to college. "I would like to go to college, and then go back to my neighborhood in Chicago, to give some- thing back," he says. Mail center employees are currently taking a collection to replace the $160 that was stolen from Daughrity. If you would like to participate, please send contributions to Pat Helm, mail center superoisor. For more information, call Helm at ext. 4259.

Benefit Briefs Tuition Rem~ion Update Exclusion of an employee's first $5,200 of graduate tuition remission benefits from taxable income has been extended from Dec. 31, 1991, to June 30, 1992. Financial Aid Deadline Revision Feb. 21, NEW undergraduate students; March 1, Law Stu- dents; March 2, NEW graduate and continuing students, both undergraduate and graduate. Remember, financial aid awards are issued early in the calendar year for classes taken during the following academic year. Tuition remission benefits are requested and approved on a semester by semester basis. Drafts of the new tuition remis- sion form and financial aid ques- tionnaire are currently being reviewed for changes before they are sent to the printers. Full-time students will be re- quired to complete both forms when applying for tuition remis- sion. The status of a student, full or part-time, is determined by the number of units the stu- dent is taJcing each semester. Undergraduate students are con- sidered full-time if they take 12 or more units per semester; graduate, 9 units; law, 8 units. Full time students must plan ahead Check your eligibility for financial aid before Fall 1992 filing deadlines... Federal regulations allow employees to change the amount they contribute to their retirement plan once during the calendar year. This change is not limited to the month of January. Changing the contribu- tion enables you to shelter large amounts of taxable income, plus helps your retirement plan to grow faster. Contact Vicki at ext 8764 for complete informa- tion... You may still apply for a medi- cal subsidy if you carry USD de- pendent medical coverage and your family income is $25,000 or less. The subsidy will start at the first of the month following approval. Applications are avail- able in Human Resomces.