Maroon

              The Maroon J/T Loyola University New Orleans FRIDAY, DECEMBER 3,1999 VOL. 78 NO. 12 ESTABLISHED 1923 Bishops look to claim degree of control By Pierce Presley Staff writer The threat of a tectonic shift in Loyola's relationship with the Catholic Church's hierarchy has left some community members worried they are on shaky ground. The National Conference of Catholic Bishops adopted a form of the Papal document Ex Corde Ecclesiae Nov. 17. What was adopted was a set of specific guidelines, or norms, that explain how to carry out the requirements of ECE. While students have mixed opinions, administration and faculty members seem concentrated on one side of the spectrum. David Danahar, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, said he is uncomfortable with the proposed norms put forth by the National Conference ofCatholic Bishops. However, he said he would wait and see how they are applied. Some faculty members say they feel the norms signal a move backward in time and counter to the thrust of U.S. higher education. "Rome has never understood the greatness of the American vision of freedom, with all its messiness," said Vernon Grcgson, religious studies professor. "[The Church] has opted for control and obedience, which are the Church's legacies from the days of emperors and monarchs. over freedom and creativity," Gregson said. He said he sees this as directly countering Loyola's tradition of preceding Rome's changes to Catholic teachings, especially in the areas of capital punishment, inclusion of Jews and ecumenism. Gregson said he sees Catholic higher education as a success story because of its open-minded tradition. He said ECE threatens that tradition. 'Catholic colleges and universities are one of the greatest achievements of Catholicism in the United States. They provide a rich ecumenical atmosphere of learning where about one-third of the students have other-than-Catholic backgrounds," he said. "I would hate to see that ecumenical breadth lost through a narrowing of Catholicvision and trust." This contraction could hurt not only Catholic schools, but those outside the walls of academia. •"I would hate to see the creative edge which universities can bring to issues, and thereby serve both Church and society, dulled by a narrowness which can only engender fear and mistrust." However. Loyola pastoral ministers hope that the Episcopal authorities won't leap into precipitous action that could Loyola ranked 99th most dangerous By Marcy McCall Staff writer New Orleans may have cleaned up its reputation, but that doesn't make Loyola students safe, according to a new study. Results published Nov. 10 from APBnews.com rank the Loyola community Wth most likely to experience crimes committed against a student out of the nation's 1,497 college communities. The College Community Crime Risk study from APBnews.com ranks the risk for violent crime in college communities across the nation. While most college campuses use a program designed by the FBI to calculate statistics on reported violent crimes. APBnews.com uses a new system that attempts to predict future violent crime. The study indicates that the schools most at risk are those located in urban areas of the Southern United States while those with the least risk of crime are in the Midwest. Violent crime, defined as murder, rape or robbery, is anticipated by the use of a statistical model tailored for individual neighborhoods. Using the zip code input system at APBnews.com, the 70118 zip code area is rated 7. This means, according to the study, that the risk for crime in the Loyola area is seven times greater than the national average. Some students say they don't feel in danger, despite the school's high ranking. "I feel safe on campus," said Sharon Sibley, English writing freshman. Although she said crime statistics weren't an issue when she chose Loyola. "This is information parents and students should know and need to know," Mark Sauter said on the ABPnews.com Web site. Sauter, a former FBI investigator, is now Chief Operating Officer of APBnews.com. The College Community Crime Study is an analysis of demographic data and federal crime records using CAP Index's CRIMECAST model. CAP Index, which stands for "Crimes Against Persons" uses a computer model to evaluate crime risk. The model compares socioeconomic data with past reports of crime. Factors driving the estimates include household income, family structure, migration patterns, housing values and the average educational level of the community. The model does not use information on race or ethnic origin. According to Sauter, Fortune 500 companies and the U.S. Department of Justice use the CAP Index crime risk assessment. "Now, for the first time, that same quality of crime risk information is available to the average citizen," said Robert Figlio, CEO, CAP Index and former University of Pennsylvania criminology professor, in an APBnews.com article. CAP Index claims its risk assessments have proven to be 70 to 90 percent accurate in predicting levels of actual crime. The company refuses to disclose exactly how its statistical methods work. 'That would be like Coca-Cola giving Celebrations abound for New Year s THE TEST OF TIDE PRRTHOFH By Jennifer Cernich Public Relations Director The millennium is upon us. Thoughts of Y2K, panic and changes in the Church are weighing heavily on the minds of millions. However, there are still going to be celebrations all over the world for when the calendar turns to '00. Cities around the world claim to have the largest party in the world. Whether staying at home or going to the biggest bash in the world, the millennium parties will Millennium celebration guide be numerous. These are just some of the parties going on across the United States. Boston will be the first city in the United States to celebrate the New Year. According to USA Today, they will begin their millennium celebration along with our neighbors across the sea in Greenwich, England. Greenwich is the city through which the Prime Meridian is located and the point from which all time zones are based. The celebration in Boston will continue with the First Night Boston celebration. According to Firstnight.com, First Night began in 1976 and is America's latest and oldest New Year's celebration. This year's event is expected to be the largest event in Boston's history and expected to attract more than three million people. The celebration will begin Dec. 31 and continue until Jan. 2, 200(). More than i,2(X) artists and 500 performances will take place over the course of the weekend. Some of these performances include laser Vigils, protest mark martyrs' anniversaries By Robert Treadway News Editor They were killed, it was said, because they promoted justice and reached out to the poor. It was the early hours of Nov. 16, 1989. Salvadoran soldiers stormed into the Jesuit residence on the campus of the University of Central America. Their order was for the death of UCA's president, the Rev. Ignacio Ellacurfa, S.J., and to "leave no witnesses." By dawn six Jesuits — Ellacurfa, Segundo Montes, Ignacio Martin-Baro, Amando Lopez, Juan Ramon Moreno and Joaquin Lopez y Lopez —their cook, Elba Ramos, and her 15-yearold daughter, Celina Ramos, lay dead on the ground in the front yard for the public to see in the morning light. According to an article in the fall issue of Company Magazine, a magazine for American Jesuits, by the Rev. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, S.J., Jesuit superior general, "For years and years they (the six Jesuits killed) worked as an intellectual group to promote justice in El Salvador and to help the poor to come out of their misery. That was sufficient for the military to consider them as dangerous." Ten years alter the massacre the victims, for which our Peace Quad is named, are still heralded as martyrs for Jesuit values. These Jesuits were at the top of their professions and were cutting edge diplomats. In the same issue of Company Magazine, the Rev. Michael Czerny, S.J., remembers his experiences with the victims. He remembers attending a Jesuit education meeting in Lima in 1976 with Ellacun'a where he "sketched out his design for a university that would be a critical conscience for a nation." Three years later Ellacun'a became UCA's university president, a post he held for a decade. Monies, whose presence and stature earned him the nickname Zeus, was remembered as a "gentle giant." He often STAFF PHOTO BY LASHA HARDEN Students light candles and sing in rememberance of the six Jesuits murdered at the University of Central America. See ECE, Pg. 4 Sec CRIME, IDg. 4 See PARTY, Pg. 4 See MARTYRS, Pg. 3 New York fV • Traditional Times # Square celebration # with fireworks and a f lr new ball made out of 1 DAD TSI Boston Waterford Crystal. 1 * K • First Night 2000 V NATION j Choir performance Los Angeles Miami • Sky show • The "Big Orange" • Light show \A will rise at midnight • Choir performance * Fireworks r •wh New orleans Source: Cities Websites , parade and Jazz funeral for old millennium staff graphic by robert treadway NO MAROON: This is the final issue of this semester. The Maroon will resume publication in the spring semester.