Maroon

              The Maroon ESTABLISHED 1923 VOL. 75 NO. 1 FRIDAY, AUGUST 30, 1996 Loyola University New Orleans $1.4 million now unavailable By ROSE FRENCH News Editor Because fewer students registered for the fall semester than administrators expected, a decision was made to withhold spending to ensure a balanced budget for the school year. In January, the university budget committee passed a budget based on an expectancy of the equivalent of 3900 fulltime students for the 1997 fiscal year. Because the number is currently down by 120 students, $1.4 million of the university's budget is now in escrow, meaning the money is not available for spending at this time. "Escrow is not a permanent cut," said dean of arts and sciences, Robert Rowland. "It's [funds] not currently available for spending." The part of the money in escrow is roughly a third of the college of arts and science's $650,000 operating budget. Initially included among department escrows for arts and sciences was a freeze on the college travel budget for teachers. Department chairmen, however, voiced serious concern over the issue during a council of chairs meeting in July. "Our concern was the loss of travel funds, especially for untenured faculty who need to participate in conferences in order to do their publications," said English department chairwoman Mary McCay. The dean has now dissolved all travel Knoth says not yet to multicultural office plan By MEGHAN HOLAHAN Staff writer After iwo years of debates, discussions and reports, the Rev. Bernard Knoth, S.J., university president, announced at his fall convocation that Loyola will not have an office of multicultural affairs. "We're not ready for one," Knoth said. "We need to work with the groups presently on campus to approach mulliculturalism." The decision had been left to Knoth by the former university president, the Rev. James Carter, S.J., now university chancellor, after his resignation in 1994. Knoth said that his decision was based on various forms of information presented to him, including a report created by the multicultural committee, and some research he did on his own. In the course of his research, Knoth had lunch with various groups on campus, including the Student Government Association, the International Student Association and the Black Student Union, in order to discuss the multicultural issues that face Loyola's campus. "It provided a chance to see and talk about campus diversity with a large cross section of people," Knoth said. He then decided on a basic definition of multiculturalism representative of the many reports regarding the subject, yet void of the political agendas that some people bring to it, he said. . His definition: Multiculturalism is a "celebration of diversity." Loyola, Knoth said, is not prepared to celebrate diversity. "People seem in large part to gravitate toward their own comfort groups. I don't see a lot of young people here who seem A&S 1997 ESCROW AMOUNTS Department Escrow Amount A&S $101,600 Cmmn 12,024 Chemistry 8,143 Drama Production 3,824 English 3,184 Film Buffs Institute 4,419 Guest Lecturers 10,404 Math/Comp Sci 9,080 Undergrad Bio 10,541 Visual Arts 4,823 Note: Selected amounts from A&S total budget Armed robberies in neighborhood begin the new semester By CHRISTINE LABOURDETTE Copy Editor While freshmen partied in the Quarter, other students who decided to stay Uptown were welcomed back to school last week by the barrel of a gun pointed at them. A Loyola law student was robbed at gunpoint near the Broadway campus last Friday, and four other students were held up on Freret Street last Wednesday. The incident involving the law student occurred in the 300 block of Millaudon Street around 3 p.m. According to Roger Pinac, public safety investigator, a man approached the female victim and asked her for the time. When she looked up from her watch, the robber had pulled out a revolver. He demanded money from the student and took her bookbag. No injuries were reported. The robber is described as approximately 17 to 21 years old. He is black, about 6 feet tall, and has short hair and a slim build. On Wednesday night, one female and three male students were the victims of an armed robbery on Freret Street across from Tulane University's Howard Tilton Memorial Library. Two men approached the group and demanded the woman's purse.The students did not actually see a gun, Pinac said, but one of the robbers motioned with his hand underneath his shirt, implying that he was armed. The two men took the purse and walked to a nearby vehicle where another man was waiting. The robbers were both described as black and about 25 years old. One robber is about six feet tall with braided hair. The other is about 5 feet 8 inches tall. No description of the driver is available. They drove away in a 1993 four-door, light blue Chrysler Sundance heading toward Calhoun Street. No suspects have been questioned in either incident, said Pinac. Pinac also said that an armed robbery and a carjacking occurred on Tulane's campus last Friday.The perpetrators of GRAPHIC BY STEPHEN STUART those crimes were described as 14 or 15- year-old black males. Pinac advised students to travel in large groups, not to wear flashy jewelry, and not to resist demands for property. By BETH McGOVERN Mad Dash Last Friday, afternoon showers forced Loyola students to dash for the shelter of the Danna Center. Search for Freeport chair ends By STEPHEN STUART Editor in Chief The university, after nearly three years of searching nationally for a candidate to fill the Freeport-McMoßan-endowed chair for environmental communications, chose a local environmentalist to fill the position. Robert Thomas, vice president for environmental policy at the Audubon Institute, will move into his Loyola office within a month. He will start teaching environmental communications classes in the spring semester, said William Hammel, communications department chairman. Thomas gained recognition when he became executive director of the fledgling Louisiana Nature and Science Center in 1978. Serving as director of the center, Thomas built up the center's eastern New Orleans location and oversaw its merger with the Audubon Institute in 1994. Thomas will occupy one of the few positions of its type in the country. "Environmental communications as an academic endeavor is an emerging field in the U.S." he said. David Danahar, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, who made the announcement Monday, said that Thomas brings to the job the combination of scientific study and work experience in communications. The Rev. Bernard Knoth. S.J., university president, agreed. Thomas has See BUDGET, Pg. 5 See CHAIR, Pg 5 See OFFICE, Pg. 4 Knoth's convocation signals the arrival of the 1 new school year. fmhjmj rg. 11