Maroon

              THE LOYOLA MAROON VOLUME 69, NO. 11 LOYOLA UNIVERSITY, NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA 70118 November 9,1990 Loyola refutes Scariano's charges By Kevin Shank Editor in Chief In a response to a petition filed Oct. 26, Loyola denies the claims of Dr. Stephen Scariano, associate professor of mathematical sciences, who petitioned for payment of damages which he says he suffered as result of his suspension last fall. Loyola's answer denies every allegation in Scariano's Aug. 27 lawsuit with brevity, including his claim that the university, through various means, communicated a defamatory message about Scariano jeopardizing the physical safely of others. The Rev. George F. Lundy, S J., senior vice president and dean of Faculties, notifed Scariano in an Oct. 11,1989 letter that his termination was impending on grounds he falsified his academic vita. Lundy's letter also suspended Scariano from teaching, claimingthathis"outbursts" in the math department had some people in the department fearing for their physical safety. Twodiffercnttcnurecommitteesclearcd Scariano of the vita falsification charges, and he returned to the classroom in the spring. Thomas Rayer, attorney for Loyola, could not be reached Tuesday or Wednesday for comment, although William Miles, Scariano's attorney, said Tuesday the university took "a general stand" with its answer. "That's what any good lawyer does. Your first response is' I didn' tdo it'," Miles said. Scariano's petition stated that the university's placing security guards around the math department, The Maroon's reporting of the security guards and university officials' allegations about Scariano's physical threat in subsequent tenure revocation meetings all communicated injurious messages to third parties about the professor. Loyola's response denies these three claims, plus the claim that university officials conspired to discredit Scariano in their approval of the actions against him. The answer refutes Scariano's claim that the university denied him due process as outlined in the Faculty Handbook. Theßev.JamesC. Carter, S J., university president, had no direct comment regarding the university's answer Tuesday, except that the negotiations with Scariano were enacted with "good faith," that he had been given due process and that the university had implemented all committee recommendations concerning Scariano. Carter said he stands by the actions taken against Scariano. "The suspension was taken as a protective measure, not as a disciplinary measure," Carter said. Lundy could not be reached for comment Tuesday or Wednesday. Scariano could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Miles said he was in the process of obtaining access to Loyola's records from the University Conciliation Committee's review of Scariano's suspension. That committee, in a December 1989 report, found that Scariano's suspension was warranted because individuals were concerned for their safety. However, the committee said it was unable to conclude that Scariano did pose a physical threat to others and that certain "physical acts attributed to Dr. Scariano were questionable." Miles said he wants to look at the committee's files to find " a basis for the charges" against Scariano. "Unfortunately, 1 was forced to defend Dr. Scariano against hearsay allegations unattributed to any individuals," Miles said. "One cannot go around implying that an individual is dangerous without some truthfulness to what he is saying," he said. "One cannot go around implying that an individual is dangerous without some truthfulness to what he is saying" — William Miles Photo by Charles Baker Don we now our gay apparel —After weeks of enduring typically mild New Orleans weather, Mary McCormack, communications junior (left) and Mary Ohren, drama senior, enjoy a brisk November Activities Quad Wednesday. SGA seeks winning combination for sports fee By Angela Pulido Staff writer Attempts by SGA to formulate an acceptable resolution instituting a SlO sports fee through a student referendum are still in limbo. The most recent attempt was vetoed Oct. 30 by David Vandersand, management and marketing senior and president of the Student Government Association. Vandersand also offered suggestions on how to revise the resolution. Jean Duet, accounting and finance senior and congressperson at large, then rewrote the resolution incorporating some of Vandersand's suggestions rather than trying to convince Congress to override the veto. The revised resolution was then submitted to the Student Affairs Committee for review, but Vandersand said he was still not satisfied. "As it stands, the new resolution does not meet my expectations, nor do I believe it meets the expectations of Recreational Sports," Vandersand said. The SGA Student Affairs Committee is still reviewing the revised resolution. Congress will debate the resolution at Tuesday's SGA meeting, Vandersand said. "I don't want to veto it again. The wording on the last one was far too vague and nebulous," Vandersand said. 'The wording in this resolution will have to represent careful and rcflcctive thought," he said. "First, the resolution does not state that no athletic scholarships will be awarded. Sccond, the resolution does not allow a period of review where Congress can come back in four years or whenever and evaluate the program," he said. He said there are still some discrepancies as to what sports are entitled to the money. "Now they [thebill's advocates] are saying that the fee will be applied to all sports, but it is not clear whether they will be eligible to receive additional help from the SGA and Recreational Sports budgets," Vandersand said. Fourth, the resolution does not specifically outline what will happen to the 520,000 escrow accounts set aside for women, he said. "Again, they are saying that if no interest in women's sports arises in the next three years, the allotted 560,000 will be dumped back into the men's sports," Vandersand said. "To my knowledge, this is not in accordance with the government mandate that states that if we are to have men's sports, we m ust also have women' s sports." "Lastly, there should be some sort of clause in the resolution slating that the directors of the program should actively seek to start a female sports program," Vandersand said. "It shouldn't be a passive effort." "The new resolution is in a sense a compromising bill," Shannen Coffin, accounting and finance senior and SGA executive assistant to the president, said. "It is an effort of certain members of Congress to pacify the executive branch," he said. At press time Wednesday, Duet; Greg Suire, communications junior and baseball team president; B.C. Stolberg, political science junior and Arts and Science representative; and Vandersand were to meet yesterday to try and iron out all the problems and offer amendments to the resolution that will be acceptable to all sides. They will then submit these amendments to either the Student Affairs Committee or Congress for approval individually, Suire said. "I want all of us to get our ideas out on the table and go through the resolution point by point," Suire said. flB|R Entertainer see and Times ■ ■