Maroon

              THE MAROON A LOYOLA TRADITION SINCE 1 923 • "FOR A GREATER LOYOLA" ONLINE EDITION AT LOYOLAMAROON.COM FRIDAY, JANUARY 16. 2008 • VOL 86, NO. 13 Loyola photographer handcuffed during church vigil By KATIE URBASZEWSKI NEWS EDITOR In his fight to save his Uptown church, university photographer Harold Baquet found himself on the roof of Our Lady of Good Counsel, trying to convince a police officer to arrest him. Baquet was one of several parishioners forced out of their churches that day by the New Orleans Police Department for protesting the closure of the churches. The Archdiocese of New Orleans announced in October that Good Counsel and other churches were closed in an economic move to consolidate parishes. In all, 36 churches have been closed. Members of Good Counsel on Louisiana Avenue, along with other parishes, began to hold 24-hour vigils in shifts at their churches to protest and prevent more closings. Baquet said he feels the Archdiocese's biggest mistake is trying to create "mega-parishes," which would move away from the first-century concept of the Christian community. "We're experiencing the love of Christ through the love of each other," he said. "The church is finally rediscovering this concept. And when you have a mega-community with several thousand families, you lose that. You lose the intimacy, you lose the family relationships that occur." Baquet was originally cited with criminal trespassing, and the charges were dropped. He has been undergoing chemotherapy treatment, but he continued to take part in the vigils and serve as one of the handymen for Good Counsel. Baquet was at the church not as part of his shift, but to barricade the door that New Orleans police would eventually break down to reach parishioners. "We had no idea they would come at us like this," he said. Before police arrived on the morning of Jan. 6, Baquet was examining a hiding place. Officers had entered the church before, and he wanted to make sure he had a place to avoid arrest if it happened again. He went up through the bell tower, up "seven little rickety chicken ladders" to the roof. Baquet came down to get his jacket and a hammer, and as he was coming back he heard the doors being bashed in. "So I ran back upstairs, and I had just come down all those chicken ladders and immediately had to run back up. I was soaking wet, I was sweating, I was tired." Police didn't find him immediately, and Baquet said his cell Common curriculum may change in the future By JAUNE JACKSON SENIOR STAFF WRITER While students are bracing themselves for a possible change in the grading scale in the fall of 2009, the possibility of another change to the academic identity of Loyola is also eminent. According to Edward Kvet, provost and vice president of academic affairs, the discussion of making changes to the Common Curriculum has been going on since pre-Katrina. "Essentially what the (Common Curriculum Committee) has done is reported to the Board of Trustees that for some odd years they have been SANDING AWAY THE PAST TOM MACOM/THE MAROON Workers sand paint from the flaking arches outside of the Communication/Music Complex on St. Charles Avenue Monday, Jan. 12. Matienance has been ongoing throughout the week. SGA wants to connect to students this semester By MASAKO HIRSCH ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR The Student Government Association jumps into the new semester, establishing plans for the rest of the school year and continuing to work on those launched in the fall. "(The goal is to have) a lot more joint effort in university or college initiative. I've seen students complain and 1 want to make sure student needs are met," said Ashley Shabankareh, vice-president and music education and music industry studies junior. One major way SGA seeks to do this is by emphasizing the role of the Director of Student Identity, a position that was created at the beginning of the school year. "(The Director of Student Loyola's student health services makes changes for spring semester By JAUNt JACKSON SENIOR STAFF WRITER With the Ochsner Health System as the primary health service provider at Loyola University, registered nurse, Rebekah Eustler, assures many past complaints about the Student Health Clinic, including wait times, will be problems of the past. When Loyola switched from the LSU Health System to Ochsner, Eustler said wait times and services provided by the clinic were the biggest complaints she received. "We are changing the way we see patients, it used to be on a first come first serve basis," Eustler said. "We would have walk-ins come in and they would possibly be seen before scheduled patients, now we will still see walk-in patients, but scheduled patients will get priority." Another complaint Eustler heard was that a doctor was not on staff fulltime, which meant a physician only came when available, leaving patients waiting a day or more to visit with a doctor. Eustler said Ochsner rectified the situation by hiring full-time nurse practitioner, Leah Bowers. Bowers will be able to diagnose minor illnesses, write prescriptions and perform minor surgeries such as stitching small wounds. "The great thing about having these services is if we are unable to help, we can refer you to a doctor within the Ochsner Health System and schedule an appointment also," Eustler said. Eustler said patients would still be able to get the same services before and more: pelvic exams, sutures and in-house laboratory work. Some students are positive about the changes to the Student Health Services at Loyola. "I've gone in the past and had to wait for a long time," Chanel Guada, mass communication senior said. "I went in today and I was out in like 15 minutes, so that's great." Bowers said not only should students expect better service, but faculty and staff also will be able to receive medical attention. "Most importantly," Bowers said, "is the fact that we will be reaching out to students on a regular basis and let them know we are here for them." Jaune Jackson can be reached at jmjacksl@loyno.edu. TOM MACOM/ THE MAROON Student Health Services is renovated and stocked with medical supplies. Students can have a wider-range of procedures performed. see BAQUET, page 12 see CURRICULUM, page 2 see SGA, page 13 Sober in the city 1 I -Sir M MAROON DIRECTORY: CAMPUS WATCH, page2 | EDITORIAL, page 14 | LIFE & TIMES, page 8 | SPORTS, page 6 | NEWS TIPS: 865 3535