Burns Center Is Dedicated to the Arts
n its rudimentary stages (conception to do with the realization of Burns,
and planning) and in its physical Representing the Trustees was Chair-
realization (the actual construction), the man of the Board, Tom Grojean, who
Fritz B. Bums Fine Arts Center has been a graciously offered thanks to those who
part of this campus for over seven years, had donated time and money to the Burns
But it was just last Wednesday that this project. Pat Russell, Councilwoman for
edifice was officially embraced by the the Sixth Council District, was to have
LMU community. With Dr. Peter do- delivered an address to the crowd, but
thier — Dean of the College of Fine and because of her job’s demands, she sent a
Communication Arts — acting as Master staff assistant in her place. The assistant
of Ceremonies, the Burns Center was discussed the Burns Center as an excellent
dedicated last Wednesday, November 14, addition to the Westchester community,
with more than 500 people in attendance. In his speech, ASLMU President Chris
After the National Anthem was sung by Silva emphasized the importance of the
Rodger Guerrero, who was accompanied caliber of people who work in the Fine
by pianist Peter Hunter, Rev. Donald P. Arts Center over the actual center, itself.
Merrifield, LMU Chancellor, delivered Rev. Charles S. Casassa, Chancellor
the invocation to the crowd that gathered Emeritus, introduced the major benefac-
in the new Murphy Recital Hall. tors of the project: the Fritz B. Burns
Rev. James N. .Loughran, University Foundation, the James Irvine Founda-
President, offered his welcome to those tion, the Thomas and Dorothy Leavey
who attended the ceremonies. Following Foundation, Mr. & Mrs. Edward Hogan,
him was Sr. Raymunde McKay, Mr. and Mrs. Walter H. Laband, and Dr.
R.S.H.M., past President of Marymount and Mrs. Howard Murphy.
College (prior to the merger). McKay of- After comments by principal speaker
fered her sentiments on the new center, Robert J. Fitzpatrick, president of the
saying that the joint planning of Loyola California Institute of the Arts, the
and Marymount, coupled with the actual crowds adjourned to the Central Court-
merger over ten years ago, had a great deal yarci for a celebration of the dedication.
Members of Loyola Marymount University — students, faculty, staff, ad -
ministration, and benefactors — gathered in the Fritz B. Burns Fine Arts Center
courtyard after the dedication ceremony in Murphy Recital Hall . There they
were delighted by the musical contributions of the Brass Ensemble under the
direction of Conductor, Bogidar Avramov, LMU Professor of Music . Rev.
Thomas Rausch, S.J., of Campus Ministry, offered the Blessing.
Advertisements Sell Negative Attitudes
By PAMELA MARSHALL
Loyolan News Writer
■ t the peak of your favorite episode
of Hill Street Blues, the station
breaks to a commercial. Attention turns
to a familiar scene: Dad, Son, and
Daughter glare angrily at Mom. The old
bag did it again — she made too much
dessert. Comfort yourself in knowing that
you can buy Betty Crocker’s Snackin’
Cake for those times when a big cake is
just too much.
Sound ridiculous? It’s not. Advertising
such as this has an incredible impact upon
our lives. Many women are subconscious¬
ly convinced that if they make less dessert,
their families will love them more. (Does
this sound like your family? It hardly
sound like mine.)
Other women are coerced into believing
that if they use a particular brand of
makeup, they can be a “natural woman.’’
Were they synthetic in the first place?
Women are highly exploited in today’s
advertising world. Marilyn Becker, a pro¬
fessor of communication arts at LMU, il¬
lustrated this last Thursday in a presenta¬
tion which included the film, “Killing Us
Softly: Advertising’s Image of Women.’’
Becker noted that last week was Wo¬
men’s Health Week and commented that,
“ Health is a mental attitude. What affects
one of us really does eventually affect all
of us.” As women are tom apart and
dehumanized by the media, all of society
is affected.
The film showed just how much of a
societal danger modem advertising is. It is
one of the strongest socializing powers in
our culture.
Television statistics alone are shocking;
an average of 500 commercials are aired
on any given channel each day. Becker
pointed out that by the time a person
graduates from high school, he will have
seen 350,000 commercials. And by the
time a person is 60 years old, he will have
seen 50 million.
Becker also revealed that young
children watch 30 hours of influential
television per week while the average adult
watches a minimum of 6 hours per day.
What do we learn from all these com¬
mercials? Becker highlighted that all
women are portrayed as one of two types:
“sex objects or moronic housewives.”
The film made it clear that neither of
these views is near to the truth. “The im¬
age of women is negative,” stated Becker.
The media presents the feminine stan¬
dard of beauty as flawless. It is
abominable to think that women grow
old, get lines and wrinkles and gain
weight. The narrator of the film pointed
out that for “good women,” it is un¬
thinkable to have pores.
Becker claimed that this attitude of sex¬
ual and sensual perfection separates
women from each other and turns them
into objects. How can two women be
friends, she questioned, when they are
competing for the affections and attention
Professor of Communication Arts, Marilyn Becker,
world’s detrimental image of women.
exposes the advertising
of the entire male population? Society has
been programmed to think that happily
married men will leave their wives for a
stranger clad in “shapely, sexy” Hanes
pantyhose..
Society is separated even further by the
view that if a woman is not infallibly
gorgeous, she is undoubtedly a patholog¬
ical cleaning fanatic. Picture the delirious
housewife: She is on the verge of suicide
because, even with a hammer and chisel,
she cannot remove that grimy mildew
from her bathroom tile.
Realistic? Hardly. Nevertheless,
women buy specific brands of cleanser to
save themselves from the deadly sin of
having germs.
This domesticated view of women says
that the home is the woman’s world, and
since she can barely manage there, she will
never make it in a man’s world.
According to Becker, advertising’s
message to audiences is that women will
never be as competent as men when it
comes to being full human beings.
Commercial: Housewife struggling
over her hopelessly filthy floor. Then,
like a miracle from God, the voice of
Mr. Clean booms down from the
heavens to save the day... and, perhaps,
the woman’s life and integrity as a
housewife. The media consistently
presents women as subordinate to men.
Women are alienated from other wo¬
men, as well as all men, as a result of this
traditional misrepresented portayal, said
Becker. Advertising forces all females to
stand alone in a world that is impossible to
conquer,
Can it be a surprise that women have
always been thrown into the backseat of
society? Not when the media perpetuates a
low regard for women and is a constant
reminder for them to remain “little
ladies.” ■
