Maroon

              THE MAROON Loyola University New Orleans VOL. 81, NO. 21 FRIDAY, APRIL 4, 2003 "For a greater Loyola" Abanaka wins in third primary By Lola Thelin Staff writer After several problems in the elections for the Student Government Association, James Abanaka, marketing freshman, was named president of the College of Business Administration. The third primary for that position was held on March 27 and 28, the same week the second election was held. Due to the short notice and lack of publicity for the third election, many students were not aware of it. "There was one sign in the lobby and they asked if [business students] had already voted," said Randy Reid, marketing senior and candidate for president of the College of Business. According to Reid, it was more convenient for the SGA to hold the third run-off at the end of the week so it could swear in the new president and vice-president on Tuesday. Nathan Gaudet, chief justice of the Court of Review, disagreed, saying that the election was not held at that time for the convenience of court. Gaudet is a political science and history senior. "It was held Thursday and Friday because we wanted to make sure it got in before the deadline, the last day an election can be held, April 1, 2003," he said. "We just wanted to make sure they were all sworn in before the deadline." The first election took place in front of the Danna Center March 17 and 18 where students voted using the election booths supplied by the Louisiana State Board of Elections. The first problem occurred with the election booths. Each college was supposed to have its own machine for that school's students. QUIET PLEASE STAFF PHOTO BY GILL DICKER A brass band marches through the halls of the Monroe Library on Tuesday as part of the celebration for it's recent award. The library won the 2003 Excellence in Academic Library in the university catagory from the Association of College and Research Libraries. Feminists start Wandering Womb By lan Morrison and Sara Lezama Staff writers New 'zine part of activism to gain more rights Next week, campus feminists will take a new trail of student activism by way of the "Wandering Womb." The "girls," as the group calls its members, of the Women's Center plan to bolster the introduction of their new zine with a bake sale on April 10. "We try to charge guys more and charge girls less because of the wage gap. So it's kind of like a little protest," Barbara Webster, sociology senior, said. Last year, members baked phallus-shaped cookies. "The whole point of doing stuff like making penis cookies and making big signs that say 'vagina' on it is that we want to get people's attention," Webster said. April 14 will mark the second anniversary of "Vagina Week." Last year, feminist activists attempted to placard their way to university administrators attention, calling for a wider range of women health services on campus. "The big part about writing 'vagina' on a sign and making people look at it and think about their vaginas and eating a piece of a penis really opens things up," Julia Sorrentino, English writing junior, said. "Maybe they feel less comfortable but they'll still think. Thinking about it is the main thing and that obviously is a step toward conversation." Sarah Roy, president of Loyola Young Republicans and psychology junior, views education as the catalyst to thought. "The whole point of being in school and learning how to think is to learn how to sort out the facts for yourself and figure out what your values are and what you believe," Roy said. Social activism has another aspect seamlessly interwoven into the ideals of student activism. "I really think that's why feminism is important to us, because you can identify with something, and it gives you a core group of values that you identify with and you believe in," Erica Ciccarone, English writing junior, said. The feminists want to be heard. Roy thinks overt protest is not the answer. According to the Young Republicans, this week is "Military Appreciation Week." "There's not a list of things to do, but you can wear the yellow ribbon. We accepted donations to put together care packages. We're going to be able to send over six care packages through an organization," Roy said. She says she supports activism. In contrast, her tactical deployment differs. "Since I've been here, I've seen a growing movement of activism on really all sides. We're Former governor saves 167 prisoners from death row By Jill Scahill Staff writer Criminal justice system stands in state of disrepair according to Ryan The criminal justice system is rotten to the core and nobody seems to care, according to former governor of Illinois, George Ryan. Ryan was the 2003 distinguished speaker at Monday night's Gillis Long Poverty Law Center Awards at Loyola's law school. The ceremony honored students, faculty, staff and alumni who have advanced the study and practice of social justice work. The awards were followed by Ryan's address to the nearly full moot court room. "The capital punishment system just doesn't work," said Ryan, who also served as the state's lieutenant governor and secretary of state. "If you're poor and a minority the system is already stacked against you." Ryan's focus on the issue of capital punishment has been at the forefront of recent news. Ryan made a historical impact when, with a just a few days left in his term, he commuted the sentences of 167 people on death row in Illinois. County prosecutors in Illinois are still fighting his actions. "I needed to make a decision that wouldn't haunt me the rest of my life," Ryan said. Ryan said that he had never really given much thought to his stance on capital punishment until he became governor; he had never been challenged to give his opinion. His true test came in his first year as governor when he had to review the case of convicted murderer Andrew Kokoraleis. Ryan reviewed every detail of Kokoralies' case and decided the execution order would stand. "I made the decision to take another man's life, and that has gnawed at me ever since." he said. Ryan said he began to look into the justice of the capital punishment system in Illinois. He found that thirty-three of the inmates on death row had been defended by lawyers who were later disbarred. 35 African-American inmates on death row had been tried by all-white juries and two-thirds of the inmates were African-American. Ryan also discovered that since Illinois had reinstated the death penalty in 1977, 12 people had been executed and 13 had been found innocent and exonerated. "I don't know how I could do anything else "We need to do something about the system we call the criminal justice system in this country.... Now is the time to be a beacon ot light to the rest of the world." - GEORGE RYAN, FORMER GOVERNOR OF ILLINOIS, on the state of the criminal justice system today See ELECTION, Page 2 See FEMINISM, Page 3 See SPEECH, Page 3 Party for the planet WEB EXTRA Running Men pUblnTtoget^rUnity maroon.loyno.edu runner^Le^pin^tL