[OS X TeX] Modifying a thesis cls file

[Phil Trinh]

My department offers a standard cls file for writeups, but
unfortunately the current format is rather difficult to read. It uses
the standard report class as a basis, with only small modifications.
However, I find it much easier to read paragraphs that are doubled
spaced, and not indented (like the dutch artikel3 style). I have tried
something like,

\setlength{\parskip}{2ex}
\setlength{\parindent}{0pt}

But this messes up some of the document formatting like for the table
of contents. Is there an easy way for me to obtain this change in
paragraphing and indenting? I do want a rather easy fix and don't want
to spend a long time messing with the nitty-gritty formatting.

Thank you,
- p