Maroon

              The MAROON V 01.62, No. 17 Loyola University, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118 February 16,1984 Battle for St.Charles; Loyola in controversy By Ted Mahne Residents of St. Charles Avenue are up in arms to prevent Loyola University from breaking a "gentleman's agreement" by purchasing land across the avenue. Attorney Bruce Oreck, president of the St. Charles Avenue Association, said that his organization is trying to prevent Loyola from purchasing the parsonage of the St. Charles Christian Church, 6200 St. Charles Ave., claiming it would be the first step to expanding to the river side of the avenue. Because the church is in financial trouble, it would like to sell part of its property and use the resulting funds to keep the church open. According to an article in Monday's edition of The Times-Picayune/The States-Item, Loyola offered the church $285,000, which was the highest bid the church received. According to Loyola's attorney Thomas Rayer, in order for Loyola to buy the property, the City Planning Commission must allow it to be divided. As it stands, both the church and the parsonage are on one piece of property. If the commission decides to divide the property under two separate titles, Loyola could purchase the parsonage, Rayer said. According to Oreck, Loyola was given permission in 1983 to tear down Seton Hall, Cummings Hall and Mac Donald Hall if the university agreed not to develop land across St. Charles Avenue. These three buildings will be torn down this summer to make way for the second phase of the Communications/Music Complex. Rayer said that he was not involved with making this gentlemen's agreement and said it is in no way legally binding. Oreck said his organization will fight to prevent the university from acquiring the property because it does not want it to be rezoned to allow any land-use changes. Oreck added that the area is currently an S-l zone, which he described as one of the most restrictive typed of residential zone. Rayer was quoted in the article as saying, "We have no nefarious plot or scheme to invade the neighborhood. Loyola's not a big octopus eating up property." Rayer also said that Loyola didn't seek the land across St. Charles. "The church came to us," he said, and the agreement allows Loyola to consider accepting other offers. Oreck said that Loyola offered the church about $100,000 more than the property is worth in order to gel a 50- year option to buy the rest of the church if it were put up for sale. According to Rayer, Loyola will use the property as it is for a residence but could not predict what the land would be used for in the future. He said that it would be irresponsible for the university to predict what might happen years from now. He said that 50 years from now some other administration and Board of Trustees might decide to do something else with the land. Rayer added that the protests of the preservationists are "much ado about nothing." Send in the clowns The Royal Lichtenstein Circus performed Monday in the residential quad. Students were treated to an afternoon of magical stunts and tomfoolery. —Photo by Nancee E. l ewis Future of two departments up in air By Rene Sanchez The Standing Council on Academic Planning has recommended that the dental hygiene and medical technology departments be "phased out" over a two-year period beginning in Fall 1984. Dr. Edward Levy, Jr., dental hygiene chairman, said, "My entire faculty and I feel it is an unfair report and should not be adopted. However, we feel the damage has already been done and the mission of SCAP has been accomplished. The data and the assessments are not valid, in our opinion, and were too subjective." "We're unhappy with the report," Barbara Cretini, medical technology chairman, said. "We're very distressed about this decision because [if approved] it would be a loss within our field." Dr. Robert Preston, vice president for Academic Affairs and chairman of SCAP, had no comment on SCAP's recommendations concerning the two departments. "I would rather wait until SCAP has made its final report," Preston said. "Since there are possibilities that we will still be considering alternatives, I would rather wait until SCAP is finished." Both Cretini and Levy said enrollment in each program has dropped in recent years. According to Cretini, medical technology has 38 majors as of last fall, an approximate 30 percent decline during the past five years. Levy said there are currently 79 majors in dental hygiene, down from 160 in 1975. Of the 20 departments within the college of arts and sciences, dental hygiene was ranked seventh in total number of majors, and medical technology was ranked twelfth through the fall, 1983. Although Preston declined to comment on why the recommendations were made, SCAP's booklet, Planning for the Future: Loyola University in the Next Decade, contained reasons why a decision to "phase out" a program would be necessary. "When times change and student interest begins to decline, the constituencies of the program continue to support it even though the reasons that originally justified its inauguration no longer warrant its continuance," the booklet says. The booklet adds, "However, when a university continues to support several such programs it is in effect squandering its resources." "The overall student population has declined, so there are not as many students to draw from as there once were," Cretini said. "The economics of education are quite expensive. Other "The community would 105e... if we were phased out." See Land/page 2 See SCA P/page J r —  Classes are cancelled tomorrow for undergraduate day students because of Est-, pi oration *84,