Maroon

              THE MAROON VOL. 74 NO. 10 ESTABLISHED 1923 Loyola University New Orleans FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1995 Freeport asks university to return money donated for chair By CHRIS BONURA Editor in Chief A week of controversy surrounding Freeport-McMoßan and the $600,000 gift it gave Loyola three years ago for a chair of environmental communications culminated when the company's CEO Jim Bob Moffett requested in a press conference Monday that Loyola give back the money. "Our shareholders put up that $600,000 in good faith, and nobody has done anything with it. Since the climate at Loyola has been for Loyola to give the money back, we requested that Loyola give the money back," said Thomas Egan, Freeport-McMoßan executive vice president. At a forum sponsored by Loyola University Community Action Program last Thursday, faculty and students expressed their opinions on the subject, even though the Rev. Bernard Knoth, S.J., university president, said the forum would only represent the opinion of ideologues. Knoth advised Egan not to attend the forum. Earlier on Thursday, The New York Times and The Times-Picayune ran stories reporting on the decision of the company's political-risk insurer to drop the company. The Overseas Private Investment Corporation is a government-funded company that provides insurance to companies operating in countries that lack a stable government. In an interview with The Maroon, OPIC's spokeswoman Allison Rosen would not say why OPIC dropped Freeport-McMoßan. On Saturday, protesters organized by Earth First and the Delta Greens assembled in front of Moffett's St. Charles Avenue home chanting "Jim Bob Moffett kills for profit." On Monday, Moffett held a press conference in which he challenged the protesters to back up their statements or retract them. He said that the protest was not the reason for the request that the university return the money; rather, the company was disappointed that after three years the professorship had not been filled. At the press conference, Joseph Mansfield, vice president for Institutional Advancement, said that the university's Board of Trustees would consider Freeport-McMoßan's request at its January meeting. Moffett criticized Loyola for not filling the chair soon enough, but Mansfield was quoted in an article in the Nov. 7 issue of The Times- Picayune as saying that there is no time limit on when the chair was supposed to be filled. Egan said that there had been talk about University Senate discusses allowing part-timers to hold seats By ELIZABETH KEENAN Copy Editor The University Senate tabled a motion Nov. 2 to change the faculty handbook to allow part-time teachers to serve in the senate if elected by their departments. Some members of the faculty senate argued that the issue of the role of parttime teachers in the university needs to be further examined, while others said that restricting part-time teachers from participating in the senate is discrimination. Julian Wasserman, English professor and the author of the proposal, handed out a letter addressing prejudicial generalities against part-time faculty. A prejudgment solely on the title of part-timer is the only reason that a faculty member would not want to allow a parttime teacher to serve on the senate, Wasserman said. "Prejudging is the etymological root of prejudice. What we have here is a case of prejudice," Wasserman said. "Many of these people who are being prejudged are extremely important. Many teach introductory courses, and teach them superbly." The letter also lists generalized views of part-time faculty as "1) ... transient, gypsy-like workers who are here today and gone tomorrow, 2) as outsiders who don't possess the true Ignatian values of the institution, and 3) as less capable as instructors than their full-time colleagues." Other faculty do not view the issue as one of prejudice. J. Stuart Wood, associate professor of business administration, said that part-time faculty do not belong in the senate. "If they do not have a full-time permanent contract, I don't think they should serve," Wood said. "They may be just as qualified, they may be deeply connected with the university, and they may spend more time at the university than many full-time faculty. That is not the issue. The issue is in the nature of the relationship." Wood said that he would prefer if only tenure-track faculty could serve on the senate. Wasserman said that because the senate is an advisory body that does not make policy, it should represent the entire faculty, not just the full-time professors. Knoth expects tuition to rise by 4.5 percent By LISA WULZYN Staff writer Loyola students can expect a tuition increase next year of no less than 4.5 percent and no more than 6 percent, the Rev. Bernard Knoth, S.J., university president, explained at Tuesday's open SGA forum. This increase comes as a result of many factors, including fund raising and endowment contributions, Knoth said. Some professors feel their salaries cannot compete with those of other institutions, he said. 'Teachers want to see salaries increase to compete with [teachers at other] institutions, and the difference with students needing to be here is financial aid," Knoth said. The largest amount of funding for aid comes from endowments and fundraisers, which account for a percentage of many students' tuition, Knoth said. However, approximately 14 percent of Loyola alumni are willing to contribute to the Annual Fund, of which a large partion of money goes toward university operations. This figure is the lowest of any of the Jesuit universities in the country, according to Knoth. Some students, like music senior Alfred Walker, say that the tuition increases would be acceptable if the quality of Loyola would also increase. "From my experience in the music department, I think that if we pay more, we should receive more," Walker said. On the other hand, graduate student Mike Daly said that the increase is necessary for the university. "I've been told many times that money is now coming out of the endowment," he said. "Eventually, they (Loyola) are going to have to say enough is enough. " Protest targets Moffett's home By NEAL FALGOUST Assistant News Editor Protesters gathered outside Jim Bob Moffett's home at 6145 St. Charles Ave. last Saturday evening to speak out against Freeport-McMoßan and its alleged human rights violations at its Indonesian gold and copper mine. Many also protested Loyola's financial connections with Freeport and called for the return of the $600,000 grant given to the university in 1992. According to a Nov. 7 article in The Times-Picayune, The Overseas Private Investment Corporation sent Freeport- McMoßan a letter claiming the mine had "substantial adverse environmental impacts which compel OPIC to deny all further coverage of this policy." The march, organized by the Delta Greens and Earth First, not Loyola University, attracted a crowd of approximately 50 people. The protesters met at Audubon Park and marched two blocks to Moffett's home carrying signs that read "Jim Bob out of Louisiana, New Orleans, Austin, earth" and "Freeport-McMoßan, giving something back and it's toxic" while chanting "Jim Bob Moffett kills for profit." According to reports by security guards at the mansion, Moffett was out of town at the time of the protest. However, some feel Moffett got the message they were trying to convey. "You can't hide from the truth," said Thad Crouch, former LUCAP chairman. Security officers at the mansion also seemed somewhat annoyed at the idea of a march at Moffett's mansion saying "A bunch of a—holes here, that's all." According to many people at the protest, the issue of Freeport-McMoßan and its domestic and overseas involvement with natural resource mining must be confronted. "By coming out here we are saying that we are not going to be silent," said Emily Drew sociology/communications junior and LUCAP chairwoman. "Silence is the voice of complicity. If we were to be silent, that would mean we agree with what is going on." Ramona Africa, human rights activist and lecturer, delivered a speech to the crowd in which she expressed her pride in the statement the group was making. "I am glad that people are not going to sit By DAN OBARSKI John Clark presents the "Poison Globe Award" to Moffett. See FREEPORT, Pg. 3 See PROTEST, Pg. 3 See PART-TIME, Pg. 4 Heated debate After meeting with Knoth, SGA stand on Freeport issue. ■ Women's volleyball ends season with total of 20 wins. The beat goes on Johnny Vidacovich hits 11 the skins with grace and grease.