Maroon

              The MAROON Vol. 65, No. 11 Loyola University, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118 November 14, 1986 Vatican reaffirms position on gays By Lisa Francis Assistant Managing Editor In an attempt to stifle debate within the Roman Catholic Church about the morality of homosexual lifestyles, the Vatican has written a letter to its bishops reaffirming church teaching against homosexual behavior. The 15-page statement, approved by Pope John Paul 11, said that the condition of being homosexual is moral, but that voluntary homosexual acts are sins. The letter also stated that Catholics should not help pass civil rights ordinances which condone homosexual behavior. These civil statutes, such as the one which is scheduled to come before the New Orleans City Council on Dec. 4., suggest that, "homosexuality is at least a completely harmless, if not entirely good, thing," according to the letter. The proposal would amend the city's civil rights ordinance to prohibit discrimination on the basis of an individual's sexual orientation. The council defeated a similar proposal in 1984. Archbishop Philip M. Hannan of New Orleans has said he is opposed to the ordinance. The Rev. Neal W. McDermott, 0.P., dean of Campus Ministry, said Hannan opposes the ordinance because if it passed, practicing gays would have to be accepted as teachers and therefore role models in the Catholic school system. "He [Hannan] is not opposed to all homosexual rights, just to this particular wording," McDermott said. The Vatican's letter states, "Homosexual activity is not a complementary union, able to transmit life .. . This does not mean that homosexual persons are not often generous and giving of themselves, but when they engage in homosexual activity they confirm within themselves College costs out of control, Bennett says By Mary Caffrey News Editor WASHINGTON — The federal government cannot be forced to subsidize the escalating costs of higher education, Education Secretary William Bennett said Nov. 7 at the Associated Collegiate Press convention here. "We've got a runaway train and we have to slow it down," Bennett said. "It's a constant spiral. Institutions raise prices and then point to the government and say 'you've got to give more.' " Bennett said if the federal government places a cap on the amount of financial aid it will provide, colleges will be forced to stop raising their prices. At present, every qualified student has access to a college education, he said. Bennett's remarks came two days before the head of a national commission on higher education criticized the Reagan administration's attempts to cut college aid, calling it "national suicide." The commission, headed by Terrel H. Bell, former Secretary of Education, asked colleges to keep their tuitions as low as possible to help recruit minorities and stop the growth of an American underclass. Bell said that with a high school dropout rate ranging between 25 and 50 percent and 10 percent of the population functionally illiterate, the nation's officials cannot deny that there is a massive group of undereducated people. "Public officials who propose budget reductions in education at a time when the republic is handicapped by the burden of an undereducated populace are unthinkingly abetting an act of national suicide," the Bell commission reported. Higher education actually has a larger budget than ever, Bennett said, but colleges continue to raise their Just walkin' on by Two unidentified students pass the Free Speech Ailev microphone without a glance during the weekly — and usually quiet — event sponsored hy the Ideas and Issues Committee of the Loyola Union. I.ast Friday not one person stopped to express an opinion. , ~ r I'holo hy Vary Htr\ 'Maroon' receives National Pacemaker The Maroon was named one of the top four college newspapers in the country Sunday at the convention of College Media Advisers and the Associated Collegiate Press held in Washington, D.C. The Maroon shares the honor of a National Pacemaker with three other newspapers from four-year universities: The Crimson White from the University of Alabama, the Kentucky Kernel from the University of Kentucky and The State News from Michigan State University. The Maroon was the only weekly newspaper to win. This is the The Maroon'% second National Pacemaker. It received its first in the fall of 1983. Editorial staff members from The Washington Post judged the 13 finalists of the competition, which began with 638 newspapers. "It's extremely satisfying to know that of ail those papers, we're among the very best," said Rene Sanchez, editor in chief for the spring 1986 semester. "Part of it is because we have had good writers and editors, but most of it is because the staff is never really satisfied; we're always trying to improve what we do. And I think we have." "We are proud to be in the company of the other winners," Leslie Parr, last year's staff adviser, said. Parr added that she was especially proud because The Maroon represents the smallest school of the top four. "This is definitely a great honor, but we shouldn't just step back and simply reflect on our accomplishments," Becky Westerlund, current editor in chief, said. "We must look ahead to the challenge of improving the paper each week." For the 1985 fall staff, Lou Berney was editor in chief and Sanchez was managing editor. During the spring 1986 semester, Sanchez was editor in chief and Scott McLetchie was managing editor. Other members of the editorial board for the 1985-86 academic year were: Judi Hymel, Marc Guidry, Kevin Whelan, John McCusker, Scott McLetchie, Victoria Newsome, Monique Garsaud, Becky Westerlund, Michael H. Kleinschrodt, Mary Degnan, Rennie J. Truitt 111, Michelle Slocum and Mari Bari. See Vatican/page 7 See Bennett/page 7