Maroon

              THELOYOLA MAROON VOLUME 67, NO. 1 LOYOLA UNIVERSITY, NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA 70118 AUGUST 26, 1988 Carter urges Mac purchase; Apple will push development VlacUniversity By Hank Stuever News Editor Welcome to the Computer Age — here at last. It didn't come to Loyola in the form of room-sized boxes whirring together a mush of numbers and equations within their hulls. It didn't happen with dreaded machines that cancel class reservations and accidentally double tuition bills. It came, rather, from a little white machine emitting a warm, blue glow. A machine that smiles, hums songs and even offers a polite belch when it hands back a diskette. A machine that can do a term paper the right way in one all-nighter. A miracle? More simply, an Apple Macintosh. A multibillion dollar industry that has swept the nation in a tidal wave of user-friendly machines and software, the Macintosh is quickly teaching its users the fine art of editing and revising. This industry has Loyola's official seal of approval in the form of a commitment between Loyola and Apple to integrate personal computing into the university's curriculum. This commitment is so strong that the Rev. James C. Carter, S.J., university president, wrote and mailed a letter this summer to every student and his or her parents, urging them to buy a microcomputer to help integrate computing into the Loyola degree. Preferably, the student or parent would buy an AppieAppie Macintosh, recommended by the Academic Computing Systems Advisory Committee. "I didn't write the letter," Carter said. "Mr. Nickles [Herbert L. Nickles, director of Academic Computing] wrote the letter and I revised it about five times before it went out." The letter says the recommendation to buy a computer reflects both Loyola's desire to keep up with the computer age and its need to standardize student and faculty computers. Carter said the letter was not meant simply to endorse one product "We're not committed to that," Carter said. "The reason I've hesitated in the past to go with only one vendor was that exchanging software from one computer to another was very difficult." "Apple tells us that is becoming less of a problem. By standardizing with Apple, we aren't necessarily forcing everyone to use Apple, since the software is becoming more compatible with other systems," he said. Carter said one reason the letter was revised so many times was to avoid a product endorsement. "No decision [about requiring computers] is imminent," Carter says in the letter. However, the university did promise to promote Apple sales on campus in return for equipment grants totaling about $250,000 from Apple, funding for the new Business Solution Center and Apple's commitment to the "progenitor project," the Rev. George F. Lundy, S J., senior vice president, said. Photo by Erin Stephens Housing crunch puts 16 students in Tulane dorm By Robert Landry Assistant News Editor Sixteen male upperclass Biever Hall residents were transferred to Tulane University's Patterson Hall dormitory last week because of a campus housing shortage, Robert Reed, director of Residential Life, said. According to Reed, a disproportionate number of residents are accepted each year because a certain percentage of new students inevitably drop out. "The situation is such that you never know who's going to show up," Reed said. "It seems like paying a $50 deposit [on a dormitory room] should guarantee you getting the room you sign up for," Jay Powers, psychology sophomore, said. Powers and his roommate, Andre Doucet, biology sophomore, were two of the residents asked to move. Housing crunches are nothing new to Loyola residents. Every year, a few incoming students are housed in study lounges and with resident assistants until space becomes available. By Tuesday afternoon, nine students were still residing in study lounges and RA's rooms. According to Reed, rooms became available for all nine by Wednesday afternoon. However, students in Patterson Hall will remain there for the duration of the fall semester, and possibly throughout the spring semester. Reed cited a higher than average percentage of returning upperclassmen and an unusually large influx of freshmen as the main causes behind this year's housing shortage. Another factor is the increased number of local students who choose to live in the residence halls. New DC elevator increases access By Chris Doyle Editorial Editor A refund from New Orleans Public Service, Inc., has meant the long-awaited addition of an elevator for the Danna Center, according to a letter from the Rev. James C. Carter, S.J., university president. The letter, presented at the faculty convocation Aug. 18, did not specify the amount of the refund, but calls it the "principal source of funds" for the project The entire construction project, which will cost less than $302,000, includes a second floor walkway connecting the Academic and Residential Quad sides of the Danna Center, Vincent P. Knipfing, vice president for Student Affairs, said. "I think it's a great idea, and it's long overdue," said the Rev. John F. Keller, S J., previous director for minority recruitment and retention at Loyola's law school. See Overcrowding/page 11 See Computing/page 9 See Elevator/page 12 Inside this week Secrets of the city See Ufe & Times/ page 17 a ■ l.iU