Maroon

              THE MAROON VOL. 79, NO. 18 Loyola University New Orleans FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 2002 | MAROON.LOYNO.EDU Nagin a no-show for debate Pennington fields questions alone while opponent attends Jefferson fund-raiser By Curie Veronica Jones Staff writer Ray Nagin did not show up for a scheduled debate with Richard Pennington at Loyola Wednesday. The Black Law Student Association was supposed to hold a mayoral debate between candidates Ray Nagin and Richard Pennington at Loyola Law School on February 27. Nagin never arrived, but Pennington participated in a questionand-answer session, discussing his record and issues such as education and the economy. A few minutes after the debate was supposed to begin, organizers announced that Nagin would not attend. Disappointed sighs were heard from the audience after the announcement. "We did not know until ten minutes before the debate and until a representative from his campaign told us,." said Tanzanika Ruffin, corresponding secretary for the Black Law Student Association. Bill Quigley, director of the law clinic, said he thought they knew 90 minutes ahead of time that Nagin was not coming. "I guess they were hoping against hope (that he would attend)," Quigley said. About an hour before the event, Ruffin told The Maroon that both candidates had committed to participating, and she was sure one of them was coming. Nagin's camp said he had prior engagements. "All I can do is apologize," said Jim Carvin, Nagin's campaign manager. "He had a fundraiser in Jefferson Parish tonight." Carvin also said Nagin had believed that the debate had been called off. According to another source, Nagin also missed out on a fund-raising breakfast that morning, where he was supposed to receive $1,700 dollars. Although STAFF PHOTO BY DANIELLE PALMATIER Mayoral hopeful Richard Pennington fields questions at the Law School on Wednesday afternoon. The Black Law Student Association invited mayoral candidates Pennington and Ray Nagin for a debate, but Nagin did not attend. New program aims to bring unity to campus Week-long celebration to focus on bringing Loyola together By Joe Kutner Staff writer Waking up at the crack of dawn may not be necessary to get a Zulu coconut. On Monday, the University Programming Board will begin Unity Week, and one of the events has a Zulu coconut as the grand prize. The UPB hopes to bring the Loyola community closer together through the Unity Week celebration with five days of events sponsored by different Loyola organizations. "We want to create a better understanding between organizations on campus," said Maria Landrum, English writing senior, UPB vice president and Unity Week coordinator. The booths , which will be set-up on Monday and Friday, will accomplish this, Landrum said. "|The booths] will give organizations a chance to talk about why they are here," she said. One of the week's highlights will be the scavenger hunt on Tuesday, Landrum said. The hunt will not be for physical items; it will be a hunt for knowledge. "We asked some organizations to submit thought-provoking questions," Landrum said. "They aren't the kind of question that you can go look up the answer on the Internet. (The contestants) will need to talk to different student organizations." With help from the Krewe of Zulu and Doug Howard of the Loyola Bookstore, the UPB was able to obtain one of the few Zulu coconuts and will give it away to the winner of the hunt. Landrum said the idea for the program was developed last semester. "(We) wrote out the organizations at Loyola... |and| drew lines between ones that could work together," Landrum said. "It's a really amazing concept." Landrum said that in addition to the events, each day of Unity Week will have a theme based on one of Poor reaction to theft alleged By Curie Veronica Jones Staff writer Some victims of the thief who slipped into the New Residence Hall last week say that they are unsatisfied with the manner in which University Police handled the situation and that they are worried the man may strike again. The man stole from several rooms on different floors, taking such items as wallets and keys, before a student grew suspicious and chased him out of the building. Several students fear that the robber was able get into their rooms because he had copies of keys. "There wasn't enough time for him to pick the locks of all our rooms," said Sarah Turner, psychology junior. "He also ran into the technical data room, and they are always locked. Right now we are comfortable because they changed our locks, but 1 feel that everybody else in the dorm is in danger because they didn't get their locks changed." Roger Pinac, captain of University Police, said he doesn't think the intruder had keys. 'There's nothing to indicate their rooms were locked ... and all the |master| keys were accounted for," Pinac said. Victims said they believe otherwise. "We can tell you for a fact that our door was locked. We are 100 percent sure," Turner said. According to a BOLO report issued on Feb. 22 by University Police, a man was able to gain access to the New Residence Hall at approximately 7:20 a.m. on Feb. 20. He is described as black, approximately six feet tall with a medium build. He is estimated to be 21 to 27 years of age, and he was wearing a baseball cap, a plaid polo-shirt and dark-colored pants. He had on a dark backpack. Police say a student let him into the building. Police investigations indicate that the suspect may have previously attempted access to other buildings on campus as well. "We are unhappy with the way University Police treated what we said," said an victim who wished to remain anonymous. "The investigation is not going to come of much. They are not listening and are unwilling to look for other things." Knoth begins applying Ex Corde By Philip Braun Staff writer The Rev. Bernard Knoth, S.J., university president, has begun to incorporate Ex Corde Ecclesiae into Loyola's academic policy by sending certain faculty members packets explaining how to apply for approval from the Archdiocese to teach Catholic theology at Loyola, said Kenneth Keulman, chair of religious studies. The acknowledgement is called a mandatum. The Loyola faculty members who will need a mandatum are those Catholic professors in the department of religious studies or who are part of the Loyola Institute for Ministry and teach Catholic theological disciplines. Earlier, Knoth said that he had refused to cooperate with the archbishop when he was asked to provide a list of Catholic faculty members and instead referred him to "public" information about the professors posted on the Loyola Web site. However, according to the Rev. Terry Tekippe, Archbishop Alfred Hughes said he never asked for such a list. Tekippe is a theology and philosophy professor at Notre Dame Seminary and an associate of the Archbishop. Hughes felt "puzzled" after reading a Maroon article on the subject, Tekippe said. "Archbishop Hughes told me clearly that he never asked for the list," Tekippe said. Knoth declined to comment. Archbishop Hughes met privately with the Archdiocese's Catholic university presidents last fall to "hammer out" the language of a WORLDLY TRAVELERS STAFF PHOTO BY CURIE VERONICA JONES Robert Dewell (left), associate profesor of modern foreign languages, Khalil Jetha (center), International Student Association treasurer, and Marielyn Hogarth, ISA president, discuss international travel during a forum Tuesday night See RELIGION, Page 3 See PENNINGTON, Page 3 See UNITY, Page 3 11 %M L UFEAND™ES Nothtn' But llet| ■ v * - \\wwjkriz PROFESSORIN It Wi baskftrai. 1 HIH n PURSUIT OF SOCIAL | \ J fcV HASKEIBALL ||fU JUSTICE pg.9 CHECK THE WEB ; ■ ADVANCES IN iHMH ■ «■ IS TOURNEY pg.4 THE MAROON WILL NOT APPEAR NEXT WEEK