Maroon

              The MAROON Vol. 64, No. 20 Loyola University, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118 April 4,1986 Four PKTs sue LU for $2 million By Becky Westerlund News Editor Four Loyola students have filed suit against the university for almost $2 million. The students are members of the former Pi Kappa Theta fraternity who were suspended for wearing PKT jerseys on campus in violation of a university policy. That policy, announced last fall, states that any student who in any way supports PKT on campus will be suspended. The students who are suing Loyola are: Chris Young, public administration senior; Bill Robins, history junior; Charles Laßarbera, finance junior; and Charles Goletz 111, communications sophomore Young, Robins and Laßarbera were suspended after wearing PKT jerseys in the Orleans Room Jan. 31. Goletz and two other PKT members were suspended in separate incidents. All are suspended for the rest of this semester. Thomas Rayer, the university's attorney, said that Loyola will not change its decision on the suspensions,suspensions, which were upheld by the University Board of Appeals and the Rev. James C. Carter, S.J., university president, last week. Each of the four students filed a separate claim against Loyola University, Joseph K. Kavanaugh, assistant vice president for Student Affairs, and Vincent P. Knipfing, vice president for Student Affairs, in federal court March 23, seeking compensatory and punitive damages of $475,000 for defamation of character, breach of contract and constitutional violations. George W. Healy IV, who, along with Richard V. Kohnke, represents all four students, said Knipfing and Kavanaugh were named in the suit because, "Those two individuals furthered the constitutional violations against our clients." The allegations of the four students are: •The students' First Amendment rights of freedom of expression and association and their 14th Amendment rights of due process were violated. •Kavanaugh and Knipfing conspired to violate the First and 14th Amendment rights of the students and manipulated the university Board of Review by preventing the students from receiving procedural due process as provided in the student handbook and the 14th Amendment. •The defendants breached their contractual obligations to the students in violation of the university handbook. Sanctions were imposed that were contrary to the handbook, and the students were deprived of their rights and privileges outlined in the handbook. •Defendants also breached their contract by failing to provide a review board as required by the handbook.•Security guards, who are licensed by state and municipal authorities, acted under state law in detaining and evicting the students from campus. The university maintains the process spelled out in the handbook was followed, Rayer said. He added that the Board of Review was appropriately constituted as set forth in the handbook and had a quorum of members. Kramer, Roppolo clinch runoff bids in president's race By Mary Caffrey Assistant News Editor David Kramer and Steve Roppolo will be in a runoff for Student Government Association president April 7-8. Both qualified in the March 24- 25 general election in which 1,289 votes were cast. Kramer won the primary with 478 votes, or 38 percent. Roppolo received 421 votes (34 percent), while Mary Casente received 357 votes (28 percent). Bill Robins was declared ineligible after losing an appeal of his suspension from the university by the Office of Student Affairs. Although his name did not appear on the ballot, Robins received 12 write-in votes. Kramer won every college except the law school, where Casente received 52.9 percent of the vote. While Roppolo did not win in any college, he finished only five votes behind Kramer in the College of Arts and Sciences and 30 behind in the College of Business Administration. Kramer said he was pleasantly surprised by the election results. "Basically, 1 have to work on getting the votes of all the people who voted for Mary, specifically in the law school," he said. "I'm going to have to campaign like crazy." Roppolo said his goal is simply to get the most votes. "There are two things I plan to do. One is concentrate more on the law school; I think 1 have a good shot there." His other concern is the low turnout in the music school, he said. Only 26 music students voted and some did not vote for president. In the race for Arts and Sciences president, Michele Barrere edged out Julie Kringas with 50.8 percent of the vote. Barrere received 284 votes to Kringas' 275. Tom Delahaye, SGA vice president, defeated Jeff Lynch in the race for Senior Congressperson-atlarge, receiving 762 votes, or 69 percent. In City College, Joe Hamilton and Johanna Trepagnier were elected as representatives. Hamilton received 65 votes, while Trepagnier received 55. Raymond Waguespick received 44 votes. Julie Madere finished first in the race for Arts and Do the Bird! . Students dance to one of the seven bands that played Saturday, March 22 in the residential quad. The\ bands played to promote Youth Ending Starvation Day at Loyola. —Photo by c hris »imem SGA seeks opinion on fee hike By Katie Duffy Assistant News Editor Students will go to the polls April 7-8 to decide if they want to continue to pay $20 each year to fund the Student Government Association. The referendum is non-binding, meaning the increase could remain even if students vote against it. The final decision on whether the SGA will keep its money will be decided by the university Board of Trustees after the student election takes place, Byron Arthur, SGA president said. The fee increased from $10 to $20 in fall 1985. The money funds the Loyola Union's speaker series and also provides additional money for SGA student programs. The 1984-1985 SGA decided to make the election non-binding, Arthur said. He said he has heard from no current congresspersons who want to make the referendum binding. The Rev. Gerald M. Fagin, S.J., a member of the Board of Trustees, said he would strongly consider the results of the student referendum as well as financial obligations of the university in deciding whether to keep the fee increase. "Student expression of opinion is a strong piece of data," Fagin said. Steve Roppolo, chairman of the union's Ideas and Issues committee, which receives $5 of the SGA fee to fund its speaker series, said he would hate to see the money go because it would mean a decrease in the quality of speakers the committee brings to campus. However, Roppolo believes the referendum should be binding because the student's voice is important. Roppolo said he is confident the measure will pass. Arthur said he thinks the referendum will pass because the extra money has been put to good use. See PKT/page 6 See Election/page 5 See Referendum/page.?