Maroon

              THE LOYOLA MAROON VOLUME 68, NO. 17 LOYOLA UNIVERSITY, NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA 70118 FEBRUARY 9, 1990 Loyola faces lawsuit for negligence By Christie Fox Staff writer The family of Marc Waidner, an 18- year-old Loyola University student who died after being pinned down Oct. 28,1988 by a Biever Hall vending machine, has filed a lawsuit against Loyola and several other defendants, alleging negligence that led to Waidner's death. In Mary Alice Wood vs. Aulomatique of New Orleans, the plaintiff, Waidner's mother, is suing several parties for negligence, according to the lawsuit filed May 30,1989. The defendants in the lawsuit are Automatique, the owner of the vending machine; National Vendors, a division of Crane, manufacturers of the machine; Boes Iron Works, Inc., designer of the metal cage that surrounded the machine; Loyola; and the insurance companies that insure each of the defendants, according to the lawsuit. "The suit was filed against the university as owner of the premises," Tom Rayer, of Denechaud and Denechaud and attorney for Loyola, said. "The principle argument is against the machine — that it was built, designed and constructed in an inferior way so that it easily toppled over, fell on him and crushed him," he said. Wood alleges in the lawsuit that Loyola is responsible as the owner of the property where the vending machine was located. Loyola provided the machine for profit and "invited its use by students, faculty and the public," according to the court documents. Wood also alleges in the lawsuit that Loyola "breached the duty of care to" Waidner by failing to provide adequate security, failing to take all steps to prevent such accidents and failing to maintain property in a safe manner. The document also alleges that Loyola is responsible for "strict premises liability and for strict liability for the dangerous instrumentality under its control and supervision." "There are no allegations that [Loyola] failed to do anything," Rayer said. "There are no eyewitnesses of what occurred or where it occurred." Rayer filed an answer in the coui thouse files on behalf of the university that states that Loyola "denies, all and singular, the allegations for lack of sufficient information to justify a belief therein." The document specifically denies that Loyola was in any way responsible for the supervision and placement of the vending machine. The contract between Loyola and Automatique states that "all vending equipment, together with the contents thereof are and shall remain the property of the vendor." "The Vendor shall indemnify Owner against any loss or damage caused by Vendor's negligent acts of omissions," the contract states. Photo by Steve Wimberg This blood's for you — Katherine French, English freshman, gives blood during the drive held Wednesday and Thursday in the Audubon Room. The Tulane Blood Center will use the blood today in three pediatric heart surgeries. Spring brings highest enrollment in four years By Dan De Leo Staff writer Loyola University is experiencing its highest spring enrollment in four years, according to anenrollmentreport submitted to the Office of Admissions. The report was constructed from the registrar's records, Dr. Ncrman Roussell, vice president of Administration, said. Loyola's spring enrollment increased by 221 students to 4,783, over a projected 4,562, according to the report. There is also a lower decrease in enrollment between fall and spring semester this year than expected, according to the report. The percentage decrease between fall and spring enrollment was 2.71 percent, the second lowest in six years, according to the report. Roussell said the decrease is possibly due to recruiting efforts. "This is the first time we recruited for the spring semester," Roussell said. "We actively recruited at Delgado University, expeditiously processed applications and set up information sessions for City College students." Loyola experienced its largest difference between fall and spring enrollment in the 1986-87 school year when the number of students enrolled in the spring fell 365 short of fall, according to the report. Roussell said an average of 5.4 percent, calculated from past trends, is used to measure the projected drop in spring enrollment. This common decrease in enrollment is the result of fall graduation, voluntary withdrawal, and involuntary withdrawal, he said. City College, Loyola's evening division, increased its spring enrollment to 543, a 10 percent increase over fall 1989 enrollment, according to the report 'These figures form a solid base with which to build 1990 summer and fall enrollment," Roussell said. He also said students overall are doing a better job of handling college work and the retention rate has gone from 68 to 78 percent, a 10 percent increase. When asked about the recent 11 percent tuition hike and its possible effects on enrollment, Roussell said that despite the recent 11 percent tuition hike, Loyola will still be a bargain to people looking at schools in the $10 to $15 thousand range. "[The tuition increase] won'timpactthe needy students," he said, because "more students will be eligible for financial aid," he said. "We will continue to improve as an institution," Roussell said. According to an Office of Admissions recruitment report for fall 1989, Loyola admitted 89 percent of freshman with completed applications. Of those accepted, 45 percent actually enrolled. According to the report, 29 percent of 1989 freshman had a high school grade pointaverage of 3.5 or above and 27 percent had a GPA from 3.0 to 3.49. The mean GPA was 3.138 for 1989 fall freshman, according to the report. Statistics from the report also disclose that 1989 Loyola freshman students had mean SAT verbal scores of 500 and math scores of 520. "The means of each of the SAT subtests for the Loyola freshmen class were above the means for the 1989 national college bound testing population," according to the report. The report also includes a survey of 518 randomly selected freshman enrolled in 1989 where they were asked why they chose Loyola. According to the report, 39.6 percent of freshmen said they chose Loyola because of location, 27.8 percent because of academic reputation and 17.6 percent because of academic curriculum. "Ethnic minorities represented 24.2 percent of the entering freshmen class: 11 percent black, 9 percent Hispanic, 3.2 percent Asian, and 1 percent American Indian," the report states. "This reflects a 2.6 percent increase from the 1988 freshmen class in which the ethnic minorities represented 21.6 percent." Out of the 689 freshmen enrolled in 1989, 52.2 percent were from out of suite and 47.8 percent were from Louisiana, the report states. See Waidner/page 5 Inside This Week ZpSvJho's fe, .: W Now? C£ See L&T, page 9.