The Los Angeles Loyolan, Volume 58, Issue 7 - October 13, 1980

- Volume 58, Humber 7 Loyola Marymount University October 13, 1980 ~ — - Fr. Donald Merrifield, S.J., greets the mother of an LMU freshman as part of the annual Parents’ Day celebration held yesterday. All in¬ terested parents were invited to tour the campus, and enjoy an after¬ noon of food and entertainment in the Sunken Gardens. Class overcrowding plagues LMU by Tina Welsh As John walked into the large classroom , it seemed almost empty. There were his nine classmates , the entire enroll¬ ment for that particular section of the course , seated and prepared for the professor. Later that day, Bill walked into the class he attended with 60 other people. Both John and Bill were enrolled in the same class, but the later class proved more time¬ ly among students causing over¬ crowding. Class overcrowding at LMU has become a major problem for students, faculty and ad¬ ministration alike. According to Richard Williamson, Dean of the College of Business Administra¬ tion, part of the problem lies with students attempting to register for classes in the late morning-early afternoon period. As a result, too many students and too few desks are often the predicament in the 10:10 and 11:10 classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Williamson cites Business Law (BA 301) as an example. The problem is exaggerated because the course is also open to non¬ majors. In Business Law, like all other classes, there is a ceiling on the number of students allowed enrollment. But LMU allows classes to be petitioned, permitting students to be placed in a closed or filled class. Williamson claims petitions are primarily allowed for those who really need them. For exam¬ ple, if a senior needs a particular course to fulfill his major, his petition most times would be ap¬ proved. “When a class is large in size, we try to find an instructor capable of handling it. The stan¬ dards we set for our faculty are very high,*’ Williamson says. Selecting the proper classroom also presents a pro¬ blem. Sometimes a small class finds itself in toq large a room. Often when this happens, class swapping occurs, a larger class may end up trading rooms with a smaller class. Williamson acknowledged the fact that overcrowding perhaps occurs much more often than it should, but he hopes the propos¬ ed expansion of classroom facilities will decrease this pro¬ blem. He views class over¬ crowding as a serious problem at LMU because one of the University’s goals is to provide for low teacher-student ratios. Dr. Frank Carothers, Acting Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, presents a more optimistic view of the overcrowding pro¬ blem. In his college many of the core curriculum courses did not exceed the maximum limit. For example, two sections of Econ¬ omics 150 were exactly at their maximum capacity and only one section of English 110 exceeded it slimit. “LMU has grown a lot,” Carothers said, “But despite its expansion, it has always main¬ tained that closeness between faculty and students which is so important.” Carothers views the proposed merger of the colleges of Fine and Communicaton Arts and Liberal Arts as possibly worsen¬ ing the class overcrowding pro¬ blem. Doman discusses election issues; criticizes Peck by Dennis Dlugos and Jerry Wenker “I am up against a young unemployed liar who can’t tell the truth even when he wants to,” Republican Congressman Robert K. Dornan said Thursday, in reference to Carey Peck, his Democratic opponent in the 27th Congressional district race. In a three hour interview with the Loyolan, Dornan was highly critical of Peck, the 30 year old son of actor Gregory Peck. Dornan cited several ex¬ amples where he asserted Peck convoluted the truth. At the end of the 1978 Con¬ gressional campaign, Peck received $13,000 in campaign contributions from James H. Dennis, a man later convicted of fraud and sentenced to a AVz year prison term. Federal election law prohibits contributions of more than $1000 from any one person. Dennis circumvented this by using the names of 12 other per¬ sons in addition to himself when donating the money. Peck does not deny accepting the $13,000. He does claim that after becoming aware of the il¬ legalities he returned the money to Dennis. Dornan denies this. Based on an April 30, 1979 meeting with Dennis at the federal prison in Alabama where Dennis was be¬ ing held, Dornan claims, “Peck gave Dennis a $13,000 check payable to Dennis which Dennis immediately cashed at a bank and Dennis merely handed the $13,000 cash over to Peck all in the same transaction. Moreover, Dornan claims Peck violated Federal Election Laws by not reporting the $13,000 as “suspicious.” “In the FEC code you are supposed to wire the FEC concerning suspicious checks. Peck didn’t,” according/to the Congressman. Dornan has also accused the Justice Department of not con¬ ducting a thorough investigation into the Peck affair. “There has been a year long squelch by the Justice Department,” Dornan angrily commented. Dornan indicated that a Republican Justice Department might reach a different conclu¬ sion on the Peck-Dennis issue. “Peck had better hope that Ronald Reagan loses on elec¬ tion night, because if Reagan wins, we’re going to clean house on election night. The Carter Justice Department is just as politicized as it was, disgracefully, under the Republican reign of John Mit¬ chell,” Dornan said. “Ronald Reagan ran a scandal-free administration in California. He is a quality guy and will hopefully hire quality guys in his administration,” Dor¬ nan noted. Dornan blasted Peck for the support he receives from the gay community and from pro¬ abortion groups. Flashing a pic¬ ture of Peck in an underground gay newspaper, Dornan asked, “Have you ever seen such a wimp in your life? MGregory Peck is a honorable, elegant man worthy of a better son than this,” the Republican said. (Continued on page 5) Republican Congressman Robert Dornan has leveled severe charges against Democratic challenger Carey Peck. Dornan labeled Peck “a totally unconscionable liar.” The Congressman is shown during a Loyolan interview last Thursday. (Loyolan photo by Jerry Wenker) Inside CMI Fights to Be On Ballot. . . . 2 The California Marijuana fniative after failing to make the ballot due to not enough signatures, has now decided to take its claim to court. CMI organizers charged harassment of their petitioners by local police and other hindrances against their campaign. Proud LA’s Her Home. . . . . ... .7 Jeri Lowenbach writes a view piece in which she refutes news editor Dennis Dlugos’ vignette about Los Angeles. She charges that Dlugos is a ‘myopic, malicious and uninformed resident.’ SAGA Soldiers Serve Proudly . . . . .8 Eileen McAndrew reports on what the nightly routine of the SAGA is like from behind the counter. Eileen has the benefit of experience in writing the story as she is a former SAGA worker. Blithe Spirit Opens At Strub. . . , . . . . . . 12 LMU’s production of Noel Coward’s play proves to be a worthwhile event. Jack Treacy’s review of the event is on page twelve.