Watergate U: In this rapidly changing world...

Watergate U: In this rapidly changing world of ours, it’s reassuring to know that there are some constants, such as political scandals at USC.

The latest involves allegations that members of the Student Senate wiretapped a female rival’s telephone conversations--some of a personal nature--and threatened to make them public unless she abandoned a recall campaign.

This is, of course, the school that spawned such Watergate figures as Ronald Ziegler, Dwight Chapin and Donald Segretti. Misdeeds over the years have included the theft of Daily Trojans that contained election endorsements, the sprinkling of manure around polling places to keep women away, the convening of Student Supreme Court meetings in the middle of the night, and, in 1989, Chicago-style ballot-box stuffing that caused one election to be invalidated.

The “Senate Saga,” as the Daily Trojan dubbed the current high jinks the other day, took almost two entire tabloid pages to recount. Oops. Recount is a touchy word among USC election officials.

A lesson in voodoo economics? Ron Nussbaum of Silver Lake called to point out that Ronald Reagan’s star on the Hollywood Boulevard Walk of Fame rests beside a defunct business (see photo).

Lists of the Day: It says something about the condition of the nation that when Glendale-based Baskin-Robbins asked customers to nominate ice-cream flavors for George Bush and Bill Clinton, “Rocky Road” was the winner for each.

Other suggested varieties for Bush were: “Broccoli Delight,” “Budget Crunch,” “Dessert Storm,” “Nut to Be Trusted” “Read My Chips” and “That Vanilla Thing.”

Nominees for Clinton included: “Better Than Nut’n,” “Cannabis Candy,” “Cheatin’ Cherry,” “Lusty Lemon,” and “Slick Willy Walnut.”

Ross Perot was not on this ballot because he had dropped out of the race just as the poll was being commissioned. No doubt the poll was the real reason for his abrupt departure.

As a public service, Only in L.A. is calling upon readers to gather at a Town Hall meeting to propose Perot flavors--or at least fax us some suggestions. We like: “Owns the Mint.”

Would you settle for another radio personality?A Youngstown, Ohio, man phoned The Times’ library (“morgue” has pretty much disappeared from newspaper use) and asked for copies of all the stories this newspaper has written on Daryl Gates. He was turned down even though he had a good reason. He needed the clippings, he explained, for “my daughter’s homework assignment.”

miscelLAny:

Writers Barbara and Rudy Marinacci note that Mission San Gabriel once used a “T” for temblor on its fierro , or cattle brand. It stood for de los Temblores , an addition to the mission’s name because of frequent earthquakes there.