Maroon

              The Loyola  MAROON Volume 70 No. 13 ''s Loyola University New Orleans. Louisiana 70118 / i January 24, 1992 Committee to reconsider scholarships By Charles Lussier Staff writer The Rev. James C. Carter, S J., university president, decided Wednesday to reconvene the Scholarship and Financial Aid Policy committee to revote on a measure that would eliminate full tuition Presidential Scholarships in favor of 100 more partial tuition merit scholarships. The committee approved the proposal at a Nov. 19, 1991 meeting despite a rejection of the same proposal by the Standing Council of Academic Planning. Carter also announced at the faculty convocation Jan. 9 that he was planning to hold an as-yet unscheduled open forum to discuss the proposal. "The decision was based on an attempt to balance the budget," Carter said. The Rev. George F. Lundy, S.J., senior vice president, and dean of Faculties, said he was in favor of the proposal. "I basically think it's in the best interests of the university," Lundy said. "I think of it as doing something when faced with two hard choices." Lundy stressed that the program was working well, but the program's success was not a factor in the committee's decision to eliminate it. Dr. Vemon Gregson, professor of religious studies, said he felt the university was making a mistake if it eliminated the program. "My understanding is thatTulane, LSU, and UNO are beefing up their honor programs and for us not to promote ours as much belies our statement of academic excellence and makes it even less likely for the best students to come here," Gregson said. "I have taught classes with Presidential Scholars and in general they are a real leaven of any class they are in," Gregson said. Dr. Conrad Raabe, professor of political science and director of the University Honors Program which was the required core curriculum for PS's until this academic year, said "I think the university faculty is very concerned that they will not be able to attract quality students." "We're finally getting the recognition we deserve and it's unfortunate that we can't continue with the programs that have given us this recognition," Raabe said. Carter's decision to reconvene the Financial Aid committee came after it was discovered that the membership on the committee was :nade up of two non-voting administrators who had been voting all, along thus making the faculty to administration ratio on the committee an even five to five rather than five to three. In a memo sent Tuesday from Dr. Norman Roussell, vice president for Administration, and Beverly Walsd jrf. Academic Affairs committee coordinator, Roussell correct A the rosier of the committee to make Nan Massingill, director of admissions, Human Chain—Thousands of people—including these two children —joined together on St. Charles Ave. last Saturday to protest the Roe v Wade decision that legalized abortion. / Photo By Rick Millbourn. Sorority rush sees record low By Sara Shipley Assistant Life and Times editor The deadline had passed. Only 60 women - about half the usual turnout-had signed up for spring sorority rush by Jan. 17. Some blame it on the economy; others say it's a national trend. Dwindling enrollment numbers, matched with a large spring sorority rush group, cut the pool of possible rushees. And most controversially, the new Panhellenic rule that restricted first-year women from attending sorority parties last semester, has raised questions for some members. For some, the low rush turnout was not unexpected. "I'm not surprised at all that the numbers were lower," Judy Deshotels, Panhellenic advisor, said. "To me it makes sense; we're in a national recession and people are more careful about spending. With the economy in poor condition, people are hesitant to take on the extra cost of a sorority." Deshotels said the lower rush numbers conform to a national trend, and that at some universities the number of women rushing has dropped significantly. However, the Executive Director of Delta Gamma sorority, Maggie Watkins, said Monday that at a November 1991 meeting of the National Panhellenic Conference in Washington, D.C., most women's groups reported steady membership. "While th? men's groups seemed to have a lower membership, there didn't seem to be much of a change for women," Watkins said. "On some campuses, quota will be up, and at others down, but our figures pretty much indicate evenness." Watkins attributed some responsibility for rush turnout to the intensity and breadth of Panhellenic efforts to reach all kinds of groups. "It depends on what your Panhellenic sees as its mission," she said. "Judy [Deshotels] has said it [low rush turnout) is a national trend," Heather Allred, Communications junior and Theta Phi Alpha president, said. "I don't want to follow that trend." "My freshman year, the quota was 28, and now it's half that," Amy Young, a 1991 Theta Phi Alpha alumni, said. "That's not a trend; that's pretty severe!" One notable trend that has occurred at Loyola over the past five years is the decrease in fall enrollment - a 25 percent drop since the Fall of 1987. That is a decrease of 299 students - enough to fill 10 classrooms full. Academic VP candidates cut to five By Michael Wilson Editor in Chief After months of careful deliberation, a list of approximately 110 candidates for the position of Academic Vice President has been narrowed down to five. A ranked recommendation of at least two final candidates will be submitted to the Rev. James C. Carter. S.J., university president, from the AVP Search Committee in early February, Dr. James Baskett, associate professor of Business Administration and chair of the committee, said. The position opened up last May when the Rev. George F. Lundy, senior vice president and dean of Faculties, announced his resignation as of the 1992 academic year. Of the 110 applications submitted before the Dec. 1 dead- The Search line, the five finalists were decided upon after several "marathon sessions" of the committee, "hundreds of letters" written to candidates, and a conference call, Baskett said. „ As of last Monday, the remaining five candidates began visiting the campus. The first of these visiting candidates was Dr. David Danahar, dean of Arts and Sciences at Fairfield University in Fairfield, Conn. In a speech delivered to approximately 85 members of the faculty and staff in Nunemaker Hall Tuesday, Danahar addressed problems he foresees in higher education in the nineties; namely, a "keen, sharp, and somewhat cutthroat" competition between Loyola's "sister and brother schools" for quality faculty, and a "declining pool" of prospective students made more selective by increasing tuitions in a sluggish economy. "It's not a particularly rosy picture I 'm painting but I think it's realistic," he said. see Scholars/ page 4 see Rush/ page 4 see Search/ page 3 Burn, Baby, Burn!! FD»11