Death of transient, recent assaults raise concern

Sunday, July 14, 1996

Amid sympathy lies increased focus on safety, civil libertiesBy
Karen Duryea and

Han N. Pham

Summer Bruin Senior Staff

He had always been there, in the midst of students crammed too
full of future dreams to notice. That was until June 21, when any
glimmer of hope for his future went out.

When the body of Eugene Moore, a 57-year-old transient, was
found in the second-floor Kerckhoff study lounge last month,
members of the UCLA community reacted. Candles and flowers were
left in the lounge later that week in his memory, proving that more
than a few students take notice of the homeless population that
frequents the campus.

The figure of Moore hunched over the glowing screen of his
laptop was a familiar one.

"He’s been here at least three years, as long as I’ve been
working here," said Lina Davidian, a fourth-year political science
student. "I saw him everyday. (Other students) said he was working
on music."

But while Moore kept to himself, some students have reported
less than friendly encounters with transients on campus.

In May, computer science student Suresh Singh Thakur was
studying late one evening in Boelter Hall, when a man who appeared
to be a transient began to punch the student and stab him with a
screwdriver.

Another student was assaulted by an unidentified individual in
April who was suspected by police to be a vagrant or mentally ill.
The suspect jumped on the student and began punching and kicking
him, according to police reports.

The Boelter Hall assault case is still ongoing.

"We have some probable suspects in mind, however, no one has
been arrested," said Sgt. James Vandenberg of the university
police.

Currently, there are no specific laws against vagrancy or
panhandling, said Sgt. John Adams of the Community Oriented
Policing (COP) and Support Services division of the UCLA
police.

"(The harasser) can be considered a public nuisance if a person
feels that the vagrant is pushing and constantly harassing them,"
Adams said.

Under Public Code 370, an individual may be charged with being a
"public nuisance," a misdemeanor, for "unlawfully obstructing the
free passage of free use of public locations."

However, Adams warned that to do so would be difficult.

"The person that feels he is being hassled by the vagrant must
be the one to make the citizen’s arrest by filing a complaint," he
said.

And, in order for the state attorney to press charges, many
people must make complaints to the police about the same
individual.

Often, homeless persons or vagrants are dealt with in a variety
of ways, Vandenberg said.

"Sometimes they are arrested, … sometimes they are warned and
advised and escorted off of campus," Vandenberg said. "If they are
a danger to themselves, we place them in 72-hour psychiatric
hold."

The police deal with homelessness and vagrancy frequently on
campus, Vandenberg said.

"Homeless people do commit crimes at the university, how much I
don’t know," he said. "Some of them are serious criminal offenders
and some are not."

However, the homeless on campus feel that people stereotype them
in response to "a few bad apples," said homeless Vietnam veteran
activist D.J. Schulte.

"I think it is just a reflection of society as a whole," Schulte
said of the recent assaults on campus. "You could be harassed in
Brentwood, Bel Air … everyone gets blamed for the action of a
few. I’ve run into very few aggressive homeless, most just want to
be left alone."

Despite the university claiming its facilities are open to all
citizens, Schulte says the police have made it very unpleasant for
him to stay here, for instance telling him to move from where he
likes to read at the LA Tennis Center.

"It seems that they have a better use for their time then
telling a person to move from a breezeway," Schulte said. "On the
steps of Ackerman … students are sitting there all the time, no
one tells them to move or that they are in the way."

Davidian, who was Kerckhoff Hall building manager at the time of
of Moore’s death, expressed concern over the homeless community on
campus due to safety and space.

"It brings up a lot of concerns about security," she said.
"Personally, I feel that the study lounges and other student
facilities should only be used by students.

"I know that it’s ideal and impossible to enforce, but when
non-students use the study lounges, it takes up room other students
would have used to study," she concluded.

When asked if the homeless presence poses a problem for
students, Adams stated that homelessness is not necessarily
indicative of a violent nature.

"Yes, some homeless do have mental problems and have been
admitted to a hospital, but you have to take it on an individual
basis," he said.

Adams added that not every homeless person poses a danger. In
fact, some students recognize the homeless at UCLA on a regular
basis.

"There’s different types of homeless: some are always begging
while others are very kind, like the man who sells his newspapers
in front of Powell," said Annie Wong, a third-year biology
student.

Students voiced their concern primarily over the victims of
homelessness rather than questioning their own safety.

"The fact that (Moore) died in a UCLA facility is irrelevant,"
said 1996 graduate Sean Anglon. "If anything, it’s sad that he had
nowhere else to go, no one to take care of him."

And despite the attraction of homeless people to West Los
Angeles due to pleasant weather and the proximity of the beach,
others stated that the homeless problem at UCLA was beyond the
campus’ realm to solve.

"The entire country needs to do something ­ but I don’t
think it’s forthcoming," said Elana Simpson, a third-year
neuroscience student.

According to Craig Harvey, Chief of Investigations for the LA
County Coroner’s Office, Moore died of atheroscleortic
cardiovascular disease, a natural condition of age.

There are no known next of kin.