Loyola Marymount University November 22, 1982 Volume 60, Number 9
LMU security operations,
how do we measure up?
Alumni Joe Du Ross (class of 1928), hopes his
granddaughter Ann (class of 2001 j will be
Loyolan Editor as he was in the late '20s.
(Loyolan photo by Paul Bernal)
LMU hosts 'play day'
for skid row kids
By LISA THOMAS
Loyolan Staff Writer
BY LYNETTE ALDAPA
Loyolan Staff Writer
When one mentions “Skid
Row,” rim down hotels, rub¬
bish filled streets, destitute men
and women living on the streets,
usually comes to mind. Rarely
does one expect to see a child
among these sites. However as
many as 200 children live, play
and go to school in the Skid
Row area.
Loyola Marymount Univers]
ty’s Campus Ministry and Resi¬
dent Life’s Community Projects
are providing field trips and
various cultural and educational
programs for these children,
who are of poor, uneducated,
unemployed and transient
parents. Last October 2, 30
Children were guests of the
LMU community during a
“Day of Play.” This event,
sponsored by MEChA, APSA,
Circle K, the Pikes, Gryphon
Circle along with the RCLP and
Campus Ministry, allowed the
children to participate in games
in Sunken Gardens. The
children and 30 LMU students
joined in arts and crafts, food,
Ballet Folkloric (Mexican
ballet) dancing, a campus -wide
follow-the-leader excursion and
an ice cream social.
The children were guests of
LMU once again on October 29,
for. a Halloween Party, which
included a magic show, a tour
through Desmond’s “Spook
House” and trick-or-treating in
Sullivan Hall.
Major events have been plan¬
ned for the near future to raise
funds for the children. The
dance held last Friday in
Gefsten Pavillion kicked off a
seires of fundraising during the
holiday season.
Another fundraiser for the
children of Skid Row will take
place Tuesday, November 23
during Hunger Awareness
Week, sponsored by Peace
Studies Society. Tuesday has
been set aside as a day of fasting
in solidarity with the hungry of
the world. The monies collected
from those who fast will be
given to the Catholic Worker to
purchase food .forthe children
and their families.
Circle
К
is producing a varie¬
ty show entitled, “From the
Heart,” that will take place the
weekend of December 4th and
5th. It is a display of the many
talented dancers, singers and
musicians of LMU. The show
will take place in Mayer Theater
and tickets may be purchased
through
СТА.
Each event’s success depends
upon the LMU community’s
response and participation. If
interested in getting involved
with the RLCP, call Lynette
Aldaoa at 642-4483. _ _
Tickets for Mayer Theater
variety show event is available
through the Central Ticket
Agency.
With the realization of tight
fiscal times experienced today
by colleges and universities,
Harry Hueston, director of the
Department of Public Safety, is
working with the administration
to upgrade security for the
LMU community.
The Public Safety Committee
met last year to recommend
some operational changes,, pro¬
vided Hueston obtain informa¬
tion concerning other campus
security operations.
Hueston visited the Universi¬
ty of San Diego, Occidental, the
Claremont Colleges and the
University of Santa Clara.
These four schools were chosen
private and campare in relation
f
о
size.
The Committee assisted
Hueston in preparing a ques-
tionaire investigating:
(1) the nature of the school’s
security operations; (2) types
and frequency of crimes; (3)
alarm support systems; (4) star¬
ring salaries for officers; and (5)
security equiptment (i.e.
vehicles , uniforms , nightsticks ,
mace.)
Hueston stresses the necessity
of being prepared for the
emergencies that will inevitably
occur. The Westchester crime
rate shows an increasing burden
BY CLAUDIA TOUSSAINT
Loyolan Staff Writer
"When the first two hundred
letters canie, the guards gave me
my clothes back. Then the next
two hundred came, and the
prison director came to see me.
When the next pile of letters ar¬
rived, the director got in touch
with his superior. The letters
kept coming and coming: three
thousand of them. The Presi¬
dent called the prison and told
them to let me go. ”
Julio de Pena Valdez, Labor
Organizer
Dominican Republic
What is Amnesty Interna¬
tional?
AI is a worldwide movement
of people working for the
release of prisoners of cons¬
cience, for fair trials for
political prisoners, and. for an
end to torture and the death
penalty. Founded in 1961, AI
has grown to an organization
with 250,000 volunteers in more
than 130 countries. It occupies a
high level consultative status
with the United Nations and
was the recipient of the 1977
Nobel Peace Prize. AI is in¬
dependent of all gpvemments,
political factions, ideologies,
economic interests, and
on the Los Angeles Police
Department, so only serious
crimes — grand theft, burglary,
crimes against persons, etc. —
are handled outside of LMU’s
security department.
In addition to almost four
thousand calls handled by
security last year, officers lock¬
ed 18,479 doors (Of ad¬
ministrative buildings), and aid¬
ed 4,976 community members
(unlocking doors and cars for
students and faculty).
*1 need everybody
else ’s eyes and ears ”
“Unfortunately,” reports
Hueston, “I have found that
our officers do more in an eight
hour period and have more,
serious crimes than do the other
universities. 'We have more
crimes in one week than the
University of San Diego have in
one year. We pay a lower salary
than any of these universities,
we are short on equiptment and
have a higher entrance require¬
ment for officers than other
schools.”
Hueston continued, saying
that he hoped in the next three
months something could be
done to raise the pay scale and
correct other inequities in the
system.
religious creeds.
Except for some research and
documentation projects, most
of the work is done on the grass
roots level, meaning it depends
on everybody’s concern about
and responsibility for the fun¬
damental human rights.
Whenever AI headquarters
learns of violations of specific
human rights, it assigns the case
to a local group of volunteers
which will adopt the prisoner/
The members work to see that
person’s release by writing let¬
ters to the prisoner, the govern¬
ment and embassies of the
country violating the right.
A personal relationship is
established between the adop¬
tion group and the prisoners.
Many times groups will get let¬
ters back. The individual
prisoner is the focal point of AI.
AI has also established an
“Urgent Action Appeals” cam¬
pus network, for emergency
cases when death or torture is
imminent. These provide
students, faculty and staff with
an opportunity to help in¬
dividuals imprisoned.
The Peace Studies group of
LMU is interested in starting an
AI group on campus. If in¬
terested contact Claudia Tous-
saint, campus box 417.
“We have a dedicated group
of men who are trained to save
lives and start off at $4.25 or
$4.50 an hour. There are people
at LMU doing janitorial and
maintenance work who are ear¬
ning $2, $3 and $4 an hour.
That’s a dilemma for me. It’s
difficult to attract the kind of
people we want. One of the few
things going for us is our educa¬
tion.”
Security officers are eligible
to attend the Univeristy free,
after working three months.
This is to provide college-
minded men with an incentive
to work security at LMU.
Security has also hired retired
officers looking for a second in¬
come.
There are currently four posi¬
tions yet to be filled. Re¬
quirements for security can¬
didates include U.S. citizenship,
California driver’s license, cer¬
tification in First Aid and CPR,
and one year of security or
police experience.
Hueston states he would like
to see his officers provided with
nightsticks and mace, like other
campuses, provided they’re pro¬
perly trained.
“We’re talking about a train¬
ing program for 18 people at the
expense of $26 per man and
eight hours working time plus
two hours travel time for at
least five days. That’s a lot of
money... the proposal has to go
from the Public Safety Commit¬
tee to the Executive Staff and
then to the University Council,
and I’m not sure they’ll buy all
this.”
The Department has ex¬
perienced beneficial changes.
The move from Huesman to the
west end of Alumni Gym has in¬
creased operating space for
communications officers and
staff. Officers are also provided
with lockers and space to
change into their uniforms.
The Campus Escort Service
has doubled the number df
students which served last year.
The escorts, who are work-
study students, says Hueston
are “another set of eyes and
ears.”
“I need everybody else’s eye-
sand ears. If you see something,
give us a call so we can get
there. How do I deal with the
fact that if we have a student
assaulted up here, I’m going to
have 1 ,700 students saying
‘where was security?’ or the ad¬
ministration looking at me ask¬
ing, ‘where were your men?’.
And I’ve dealt with that, but
why do we have to wait? Why
must we always react instead of
act?”
Security can be reached at
642-2893 and the Escort Service
can be reached at 642-2875 or
-2876. The Escort Service is
available from 7-11 p.m., Mon¬
day through Thursday.
Peace studies to start
Amnesty International
