USC GOES DRY FOR 2005 SCHOOL BANS ALCOHOL AT FOOTBALL GAMES.

Byline: Billy Witz Staff Writer

When USC begins pursuit of a third consecutive national championship next fall, the Trojans want to make it a dry run.

In a move announced Wednesday, the school plans to ban alcohol at its games at the Coliseum this season, a step USC president Steven Sample says is necessary to clean up increasingly unruly behavior and make Trojans games more family friendly.

``What we're looking for is a culture change,'' Sample said in an interview Wednesday. ``Anecdotally, there's a sense we're losing civility. You go to games and you hear more curse words, threatening behavior - physically and verbally - and it's gotten to the point where people are reluctant to bring their families.''

USC notified about 10,000 season-ticket holders of the change last week in a letter from Sample that was accompanied by the ``Trojan Spirit Code,'' which spelled out a code of conduct to which fans will be expected to adhere. The school also included the letter in the Trojan Family Magazine, which reaches another 190,000 supporters.

While the letter says that USC and the Coliseum Commission ``have agreed to end the sale of alcohol'' at Trojans games, Commission president Bill Chadwick said that no agreement has been finalized.

At issue is money. The Coliseum netted more than $700,000 in beer sales at USC games last season, a figure that represents just over half its $1.4 million profit in 2004. Chadwick, who has met several times with USC representatives in recent weeks - including Sample - said he wants USC to help account for the lost revenue.

``I thoroughly support Steven Sample's right to run his university however he sees fit, but there's a policy and there's an economic consequence of a policy,'' Chadwick said. ``We need to figure out a mutually acceptable way to make the Coliseum Commission whole.''

Sample said the Coliseum can make up the difference by raising the prices of other concessions and that soda sales should go up.

``People that can't drink beer will drink something else,'' Sample said. ``To say that all profits are going to go away, that's not going to happen.''

Yet alcohol sales have had a significant impact on revenues at the Rose Bowl. Food and beverage sales are typically more than 40 percent higher at the Rose Bowl game, which permits beer sales, than at a UCLA-USC game, which does not.

USC is the only Pacific-10 Conference school that allows alcohol to be sold at games, according to a conference official. Sample added that removing liability was a factor in his decision, too. If somebody who buys alcohol at the game is involved in, say, a car accident afterward, parties that sold the alcohol - the school and the Coliseum - could be sued.

``The Coliseum Commission should be more concerned about liability than profits,'' Sample said.

The movement to remove alcohol from USC games has been in the works for several years.

``What really triggered this was when I noticed that margaritas were being sold,'' Sample said. ``I couldn't believe it. That was the straw that broke the camel's back.''

To demonstrate his seriousness, Sample says that anyone caught with alcohol will be stripped of season ticket privileges and banned from attending games.

Also, fans suspected of being intoxicated upon entering the stadium would be subjected to a breathalizer test. Anyone over the legal limit would be denied entrance.

``If you've seen the concourse, what you see is a lot of beer parties that have nothing to do with football,'' Sample said.

Sample says he's addressed the proposed change with ``dozens'' of alumni groups and has the support of an overwhelming majority. However, not everyone is pleased. A group calling itself Trojans For Individual Responsibility and Freedom have flooded Sample and Coliseum general manager Pat Lynch with several hundred signatures asking them not to ban alcohol.

``It's throwing the baby out with the bath water,'' said Russ Slaybaugh, an alum who signed the petition. ``Why shouldn't I be able to have a beer and a dog? A number of pro sports teams do a great job of presenting a family atmosphere and still sell alcohol. What it says is the `SC football population isn't responsible enough to have alcohol available.''

Billy Witz, [phone]

billy.witz(at)dailynews.com

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