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              THE MAROON Loyola University New Orleans Established 1923 • "For a Greater Loyola" VOL 78 NO. 13 http://maroon.loyno.edu FRIDAY, JANUARY 21, 2000 Renovation costs up, 'tripling' down By Sarah Sparks Staff writer Residence hall renovation and construction costs have risen to more than $21 million since estimates in 1997 placed the price at $19 to $20 million. And that is assuming that the current estimates are correct. Renovation of Cabra Hall has not even begun. But dorm news is not all bad: The number of students "tripled" in dorm rooms is down to 27 from 70 at the end of last semester. Upping the Ante Though the Rev. Bernard Knoth, S.J., university president, said Biever Hall is 30 percent complete and on time for its August opening, renovations have not been without problems. Construction surprises and inaccurate price estimates have kept Residential Life on its toes. "When you're dealing with a project as big as the renovations or the new residence hall -- there are four volumes of specs just for the new hall -- you're bound to find things you didn't expect." said Robert Reed, director of Residential Life. The big shocker came with the price tag. It became obvious toward the end of the new dorm's construction that the contractor's cost estimate was sharply amiss. Despite the elimination of the building's center stairwell and some outside architectural features, the new residence hall still came in between $11-12 million after an original estimate of $9 million. The university is still searching for ways to make up the difference, in particular waiting for a major donor for whom to name the new residence hall. "It was a shock to us too, that it was way over," Reed said. "Once we knew he was off for the new hall, we knew he was also going to be off for Biever and he was going to be off for Cabra." Timing is everything in construction. Over the four years of the project, dorm-building has become a popular business. Several universities, including Loyola, Xavier, Tulane and Dillard have started renovating or ripping down ' old residence halls they built about 30 years ago. As each university takes the plunge, the others must build in order to compete, Reed said. As most local colleges got into the act, labor costs went up. Some other pitfalls were harder to STAFF PHOTO BY LASHA HARDEN Biever Hall bathrooms are gutted and redesigned as study lounges. Completion date is June 30. Mansfield moves to N.C.; opts for early retirement By Ellen Pivach Staff writer MANSFIELD After serving for nearly six years and raisng more than $60 million,- for the university, Joseph Mansfield, vice president for Institutional Advancement, decided to resign. The Rev. Bernard Knoth, S.J., university president, announced Mansfield's retirement to the faculty Jan. II at the President's Convocation. Mansfield will leave at the end of the semester. Mansfield said he resigned because his wife, Nancy, received a job offer in North Carolina, where the couple had planned to retire. Unwilling to see his wife pass up an employment opportunity, Mansfield said he chose to seek retirement early. As vice president for Institutional Advancement since December 1993, Mansfield has overseen universitywide programs involving alumni relations, public relations and fund raising. Under his leadership, the university raised $51.3 million for the Thresholds campaign. When Mansfield arrived in 1993, the university brought in $2.2 million through fund raising. This number has increased dramatically under his supervision, rising to a total $8.4 million for 1998. "We've made a dent in the private sector of fund raising, built endowment so that money can flow in for scholarships for students and faculty, and created facilities to attract students and enable faculty to develop skills," Mansfield said. Students get $4 grand from food tax foul up By Elizabeth Stuart Staff writer An extra four grand will go into the pot for student organization allocations for the spring semester. That $4,000 is money the university overcharged students in sales tax on food items, said Chris Carneron, director of the Danna Center and Student Activities. The money could not be returned to the overcharged students because the software used for the Express Cards cannot isolate those students accurately. Administrators decided to give the money to the Student Government Association to give back to the students at its discretion. i'l'm fine with whatever they decide to do with it," Cameron said. The decision to give that money to SGA was made by Cameron, along with Jim Eiseman, vice president for Student Affairs, Rhonda Cartwright, vice president for Business and Finance, Leon Mathes, director of Internal Audit, and Alice Boucvalt, internal accountant for Dining Services. According to Megan Pollman, SGA vice president and biology junior, SGA will put the money into organization allocations. Cartwright said she approves of SGA doling out the money. "I agree that giving the money to the SGA was the fairest solution possible." The Express Card accounts were affected by the mix-up. The university has 16,500 activated Express Card accounts though only about 5,500 students attend Loyola. "When we started [to trim down the number|, there were 35,000 accounts and we knew that wasn't right," Cameron said. Details fuzzy following Friday's fall By Danielle Mastropiero Assistant News Editor Everton Edmondson, biology freshman, went to the hospital last Friday night after falling 10 feet from the balcony of 2039 Calhoun St., where six members of Beggars fraternity live. He was released from the hospital the next day with minor injuries. Edmondson received stitches in both lips and suffered cuts on his face and some cracked and loose teeth. Inhospital MRI and CAT scan tests detected no swelling. He will return to class Monday. Edmondson said that he had been drinking shots of rum at The Boot before the incident, but said he isn't sure whether or not he drank at the house. "I don't remember hardly anything about that night. I just woke up in the hospital. Apparently, I fell on my head," he said. Gino Morada, political science senior. Beggars president and resident of the house, said Edmondson told him that he was at The Boot earlier that evening. "He was falling over, and we asked him to leave, but he eventually came back." Morada said. Morada added that after being asked to leave the first time, Edmondson was "not belligerent and complied." But, according to Morada, when Edmondson returned he "got rowdy" and grabbed a guest by the throat. That's when Edmondson fell backwards off the balcony, Morada said. Morada refused to identify the person Edmondson allegedly grabbed. However, Whitney Feagin, general studies freshman, identified this person as a Beggars member. She said she recalls a different version of the story. Feagin said that Edmondson pushed the guest first. The guest then grabbed Edmondson by the neck, and Edmondson fell, she said. "He probably meant to push [Edmondson| against a column but pushed him off the balcony instead." Feagin said after Edmondson fell, an ambulance followed by a television news team and University Police officers arrived on the scene. A television crew was following the ambulance that night for a story and was not responding to the incident. "People told the Beggars to take their shirts off, and one of the Beggars pushed a camera," Feagin said. Both Feagin, who was at the house, and Morada said that they didn't see Edmondson at the house with a drink. 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