Los Angeles LOYOLAN
VOL. 47— NO. 6
A LOYOLA-MARYMOUNT STUDENT PUBLICATION
November 17, 1969
Phi Sigs
Organize
Tecate aid
On November 2, thirty Loyola-
Marymount students participated
in the Phi Sigma Kappa frater¬
nity’s workday in Tecate, Mexico.
This project assisted the Aid to
Baja California (ABC) orphanage
in Tecate. Fr. Henry Vetter, a
Passionist priest from Sierra
Madre, helped organize and pro¬
mote the drive.
The participating students
worked on various improvements
at the orphanage, including con¬
struction of a diversion dam and
digging of irrigation trenches.
They also aided other volunteer
workers in completing roof work
on a dormitory under construc¬
tion. Their efforts will enable girl
orphans to be moved to the new
dorm from the crumbling Tijuana
orphanage. Efforts for completion
of these projects are being push¬
ed to prevent flooding and de¬
struction from the upcoming win¬
ter rains.
The students also participated
in a Halloween party for the boys
of the orphanage. This activity
took place the evening of the
workday.
Phi Sigma Kappa plans more
efforts for the second quarter
of this year. The keynote will be
a clothing and fun d-raising
drive lasting two weeks. It is the
goal of the Phi Sigs to raise $2,-
000. Last year’s efforts produced
a showing of only $300.
CATHOLIC PEACE ASSOCIATION sets up booth to collect money
for Biafran relief fund. The drive was held last Monday and Tuesday.
The proceeds went towards buying food and medical supplies.
Peace association raises
funds for Biafran drive
By Linda Lester
Last Monday and Tuesday the Biafra with medical and food sup-
Catholic Peace Association staged plies.
Merrifield favors cuts
in theology requirements
By Richard Schwartz
Two weeks ago Fr. Donald Merrifield, addressing a meeting of
the theology department, advocated major change in its. curriculum.
He recommended the lessening of requirements and an entire
re-examination of the department
Merrifield proposed a shift in
emphasis from “religion courses
just for Catholics*’ to “theology
as an academic area of concen¬
tration.”
At present, all Catholic students
must fulfill the five course (three
lower division, two upper divi¬
sion) theology requirements. Only
one theology course is required of
non-Catholics.
According to Fr. Markey, the
acting chairman of the theology
department, “The way Fr. Mer¬
rifield proposed it was that there
would be two required and one
elective course. We had heard
that, there were requests made to
drop it completely, but he said ab¬
solutely no.”
“I am in favor of reducing, but
not eliminating, the theology re¬
quirement,” Merrifield said. “We
should have a wide variety of
courses. There are a number of
professors who are capable of
teaching religious studies.”
Q u a 1 i f i e d support for Mer-
rifield’s proposals came from sev¬
eral members of the department.
Dr. Lease commented, “My reac¬
tion is that it is a necessary but
inadequate step. We have an over¬
load of so-called Catholic theo¬
logy. This should be offered as an
elective.”
and the type of courses offered.
Fr. McCurdy stated, “Theology
should be studied as a science.
Loyola is a Roman Catholic col¬
lege, but I feel no shame about
teaching what I believe to be true.
A person can pursue the frame¬
work of reality found in theology.
We teach theology, not religion.”
Dr. Lease, however, declared,
“What we offer now doesn’t have
a place in the curriculum of a lib¬
eral arts college. Theology should
be only an academic com¬
mitment. The horizon of a faith
commitment is completely differ¬
ent from theology.”
Fr. Merrifield noted that the re¬
vised requirement should apply to
Catholics and non-Catholics alike.
However, he stated that there is a
need for flexible, individual edu¬
cation.
Fr. McCurdy stated, “I would
hope a non-Catholic could get real
meaning from any of our theology
courses. It’s important for every¬
one to know how pther people
think. There has to be respect for
the beliefs of others.”
He added, “I have no changes
to suggest right now. I want to go
into the curriculum of Catholic
and non-Catholic universities. I’ve
(Continued on Page 2)
Clothing, food, toys and other
donations will help to defray the
costs of running the orphanage.
The current budget is $1,500 a
month.
Donations of furniture to the
ABC thrift store in Sierra Madre
are also encouraged. Oversize
contributions are sold there to as¬
sist in the Mexico aid program.
The fraternity will schedule an¬
other workday during the third
quarter.
a fund-raising drive to benefit the
many starving people of Biafra.
During those days the CPA spon¬
sored a film, Mercy Bridge to
Biafra, circulated informative
pamphlets and collected dona¬
tions.
The CPA worked in conjunction
with several relief organizations,
principally the American Medical
and Ewd u catio n al Services
(AMES). This organization is
chiefly concerned with supplying
Commission formed to
examine new
Fr. Donald Merrifield, S.J., has
announced the formation of a
General Education Commission
for academic reform.
The commission’s functions will
include reviewing innovations at¬
tempted by other universities, and
formulating advisory recommen¬
dations on Loyola-Marymount’s
general education requirements.
It will be composed of seven
Loyola faculty members and
three Loyola students, together
with two Mary mount faculty
members and one Marymount
student.
curriculum
Fr. Merrifield has. already ad¬
dressed himself to the mechanics
of the Commission’s formation.
He has suggested conferring
academic credit on those students
who are appointed on a full-time
basis to the commission. And, he
points out, it may be possible to
reduce drastically the course¬
loads of some faculty members,
to enable them to devote them¬
selves to the commission free of
other pressures.
Interested students and faculty
are asked to contact Fr. Mer¬
rifield.
The Arnold Air Society also as¬
sisted the CPA. This organization
donated the proceeds from its sale
of homecoming buttons to the
Biafran relief fund. The frater¬
nities also aided the program by
contributing collective donations.
The film, Mercy Bridge to
Biafra, which was shown Monday,
November Id, portrayed the ef¬
forts of the relief airlift. It ex¬
plained that 20 relief services, in¬
cluding several Catholic organiza¬
tions, operate the airlift together.
This airlift attempts to aid the
nearly eight million people of
Biafra who have now been dis¬
placed to an area of about 5,000
square miles.
Only acutely needed supplies
are flown to Biafra, as the re¬
lief planes can only carry about
10 tons each. An average of 10
planes per night fly to Biafra
from the Portuguese island of
Sao Tome. Ocean freight is also
used. All handling is manual,
which, makes distribution addi¬
tionally difficult.
The film portrayed the massive
starvation of the Biafrans. It
showed the effects of their severe
malnutrition : thin limbs, bloated
Stomachs, ulcerated skin. The au¬
dience was reminded that such
extreme malnutrition leaves the
(Continued on Page 2)
LUCAP speaker discusses
Asian-American problems
On Wednesday, November 12, Stephanie Takenouchi of the Asian
Coalition spoke to a LUCAP social awareness class on “Racism
and the Asian-American.”
, Past LUCAP functions have been sparsely attended, and
Wednesday evening’s class was no exception. The handful of students
present decided to meet informally in the President’s Lounge.
In both her hour-long lecture
and the discussion which followed,
Mrs. Takeno u e h i indicted
“whites” for “racism and men¬
tal and physical genocide towards
Asian- Americans.”
She centered her approach
around both the past and the
present realities of Asian-Ameri-
cans in the United States.
‘ -The peak period of Chinese im¬
migration was from the 1850’s to
the late 1870’s. Most of them came
from the southern section of
China, and were characterized by
extended families.” |
News of the goldrush, Mrs. Tak¬
enouchi pointed out, caused mas-
s i v e immigration among the
Japanese, who were fleeing an
oppressive feudal system. Large-
scale Japanese immigration took
place between 1886 and 1907.
But there was, she emphasized.
a crucial difference between
them. “The Chinese wanted to
take their money and go home.
The Japanese wanted to stay
here.
“Exploitation began when
people began looking toward the
Orient for a cheap source of la¬
bor. An example was the sugar
plantations in Hawaii. By 1880,
thousands of acres of California
swampland had been reclaimed
through Chinese labor.”
By then Orientals controlled
California agriculture. Mrs. Tak¬
enouchi quoted California Gover¬
nor William D. Stephens, who in
1920 filed an official report with
the Secretary of State.
Stephens wrote, “The Japanese,
in our midst have indicated a
strong trend to land ownership
(Continued on Page 2)
