Maroon

              THE LOYOLA MAROON VOLUME 69, NO. 2 LOYOLA UNIVERSITY, NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA 70118 AUGUST 31,1990 It's over: Loyola finally sells WWL By Charles Lussier News Editor The saga is over and a new era is beginning.Loyola's association with the broadcasting world ended with a note of finality Monday as WWL-TV and Loyola University of ficially relinquished contact with each other. In a final meeting, Loyola representative John Eckholdt, vice president for Business and Finance, and the principals forßampart Operating Partnership, a group made up of WWL-TV employees including station manager and head principal Mike Early Sr., formally transferred properties and a sum of $ 102,850,000, Roddy Wolper, director of University Relations, said. The Rev. George F. Lundy, S J., senior vice president, was unavailable for commentThe process started almost a year ago at a Board of Trustees meeting in September 1989 when the Board voted to put the station up for sale. Loyola signed an agreement with Rampart Dec. 21 to sell the station. United Communications Inc. filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission March 22, 1990 to stop the pending sale. The complaint claimed that the sale violated the Sherman Act and The Federal Trade Commission Act. According to the complaint, several employees of WWL, including Garland Robinette, former news anchor, and Angela Hill, news anchor, threatened to retire en masse if Loyola did not sell WWL to Rampart. Despite these obstacles, the sale has finally gone through. However, Wolper said, one provision of the contract allows Loyola to maintain a 5 percent stock ownership of WWL-TV. The $102 million sum, Wolper said, raised from interested investors and WWL employee contributions, will be reinvested in a wide variety of stocks, property, etc. Loyola, however, kept a clause in the contract allowing the university to keep ownership of 5 percent of the stock. "The action is a little more than symbolic so it's notacomplete divorce," Wolper said. He said the money generated from the sale will be used to maintain and increase the present endowment. The dividends, he said, may be used sometime in the future to offset the drop in directcash funds that WWL supplied Loyola from its yearly profits. The selling of WWL-TV and last year's sales of two of Loyola's radio stations marks the formal exit of Loyola from New Orleans broadcasting. "Loyola started in radio way back in the '305," Wolper said. 'They used to broadcast out of Marquette Hall." Loyola then continued into the television world with the forming of WWL-TV in spring 1957. WWL started broadcasting on Channel 4 and soon picked up a large regional audience.By the 1980s, WWL was a ratings force in the New Orleans area, with longtime news anchors Robinette and Hill becoming New Orleans cultural icons. Despite continually remaining the highest rated station in New Orleans, WWL could not keep up with Loyola's need for funds, and the general recession of New Orleans' economy in recent years proved to be the final blow. The Loyola communications department, Wolper said, may still have some connection with WWL, but the sale will make the prospectof interacting with other stations more appealing. "I guess having the number one rated station in the city made us less likely to look at other stations as options," he said. Wolper said he was certain that the last obstacle had been passed. "It's completely over and done," Wolper said. Loyola is entering a new time, he said. "It's definitely the start of a new era for Loyola," Wolper said. Arroyo assumes provincial duties By Charles Lussier News Editor The General for the Society of Jesus has appointed the Rev. Edward Arroyo, SJ., part-time assistant professor of sociology, the new provincial for the local province. The appointment was announced to the Jesuit community August 24. The General made his choice from a list of prospective candidates prepared for him by the province, Arroyo said. Arroyo will assume the duties of provincial Monday. "Ithinkit'sagreatopportunity,"hesaid. The Rev. Gerald Fagin, S.J., the former provincial, said he resigned the post August 4 after only one year in charge. "I resigned for some health reasons," he said. Fagin would not discuss any specific ailments, but he cited the stress of the job as a reason for his resignation. Fagin said the Rev. Al Louapre, S J., is the acting head of the province until Arroyo relieves him of duties on Monday. Arroyo said he felt excited about taking office. "I feel I have a lot of energy. I hope I can be of service to the Jesuit community," Arroyo said. He cited his experience in higher education, the training of young Jesuits and international missions as qualifications for the position. He also said he had served in the provincial office as assistant for social and international ministries for the past four years. The responsibilities of the provincial, Arroyo said, mostly involve coordinating the interrelations of Jesuits with the lay community. He said the province covers four high schools, two colleges, 14 parishes and 70 individually missioned priests. The provincial, he said, is in charge of the ministry of 320 Jesuits in the province. "The provincial has some say in who runs the individual ministries of the province," Arroyo said. The provincial is also on the Loyola Board of Directors and therefore has some say in who becomes president of Loyola, he said. Fagin said he enjoyed the challenge of the job. "It is really a job of service to the Jesuit community in the province and I enjoyed that," Fagin said. Arroyo said he had to resign his parttime teaching position in order to assume the duties of provincial, but he said his loss would not be a major loss to the university faculty. "I've only taught one complete course in the past ten years," he said. Arroyo said he is leaving Tuesday, only his second day of duty, for Loyola, Spain to attend a conference of the 70 Jesuit provincials in the world. He said he will not return until the end of September, and in the interim, the Rev. Larry Moore, S J, associate professor of the Law and acting rector of the Jesuit community, will assume his duties. Photo by Charles Baker Calm before the storm —The Rev. Edward Arroyo, S.J., relaxes in his Thomas Hall residence Wednesday. On Monday, he will take over as new Provincial. WHERE'S  THE