The Los Angeles Loyolan, Volume 62, Issue 5 - October 15, 1984

THE LOS ANGELES Volume 62 Issue 5 Loyola Marymount University October 15, 1984 Students Challenge $10,000 Deductible В 1 Ц^Я| V "-;. |Ц V- • ^ V-;- Г «II Л;Л-:. as ! ми Loyolan photo by Bob Sanregret The LMU Lion resembles MGM’s Technicolor mascot after a recent midnight paint¬ ing. Students must bear costs of repeated vandalism, despite humorous intent. By KRIS GIANNINI Loyolan News Editor How easy it is to criticize a shortcom¬ ing, recognize the need for change and step back to let someone else take care of it. There comes a time, however, when the problem has advanced so greatly that action must be taken. Such is the case in the Communication Arts Department. Student complaints have piled up in suggestion boxes and faculty board rooms, but they have not been acted upon. The Communication Arts Society has roused itself to action for the good of the department, as well as the students. The group is composed of both CA and FCA majors and anyone else with an interest in the film and television industry. While it has become known for previewing movies, throwing screening parties, and bringing celebrity speakers to campus, the Society’s inherent purpose runs much deeper than this . v p Originally instituted by students who found a need for change and improve¬ ment in the department, the Society’s in¬ tention is to be a unifying force. By pro¬ viding a forum for students to voice con¬ cerns and complaints, it serves as a com¬ mon meeting ground for the different em¬ phases within the diversified program. As the department stabilized and modernized — allowing students a certain satisfaction with the results — the urgency of the cause which gave birth to the Socie¬ ty began to recede. Last year, however, sparks started to fly again over the general condition of equip¬ ment and facilities. A report evaluating the state of all aspects of the department was compiled and student interest was ig¬ nited once more. Yet, it has only been in the past weeks that definite action has been taken. Irate over both the condition and lack of equip¬ ment, CA students turned to the Society for quantitative support. One of their biggest concerns deals with the University’s insurance policy as it relates to film, video and sound equip¬ ment. The deductible, previously $250, has risen to $1000. While this is a low figure for the University as a whole, it is an amount almost completely out of fiscal reach for most individual students. In re¬ cent months, the deductible jumped to an impossible $10,000. Their concern is understandable. They must use department equipment for pro¬ duction classes, or purchase their own, an option which is, for 9.9 out of 10 students, a financial impossibility _ Faced with full financial responsibility, students are nervous. Much of the equip¬ ment is in disrepair and damage can and does occur, regardless of safety precau¬ tions. Attempting to remedy the situation, CA students have been meeting to devise a proposal that would lower the deductible. A student committee, chaired by Alice Celia (a junior TV writing major) has been formed with that intent, as well as the up¬ dating and improvement of the equipment and facilities. Acting Associate Vice-President for (Continued on page 3) LMU Students Falsifying Timecards By KELLY TOBIN Loyolan News Writer Forged and falsified timecards have always been a concern of Loyola Marymount’s Work Study office, as well as to the rest of the campus community. Many work study students often confuse their work study with other grants and scholarships they are awarded as financial aid. an opportunity for students to earn their education, rather than having to repay a compiled mass of exorbitant loan payments after graduation. When a studeni is suspected of cheating on his or her timecard, he or she is called into the Work Study office and is asked directly if the timecard has been falsified. The office contacts the student’s super¬ visor to learn more information about the particular case. Then, the case is reviewed "„this multi-million dollar University isn't going to miss a few dollars on my account" The allotted work study funds can seem like money in the bank and, unfortunate¬ ly, the jobs are sometimes viewed as not being “real” jobs. It is this mentality that promotes cheating on time cards. When asked why she adds unearned hours on her timecard, one work study student replied, “The money has already been awarded to me, even if I don’t work all the hours.” This is a problem. The philosophy behind work study is that it is by an impartial person who decides whether disciplinary steps should be taken. According to Work Study Director Mary Morgan McCarthy, punishment is not the idea behind disciplinary pro¬ cedures. The Work Study office would rather have the student undo the damage through repayment of the money that was not actually earned. The next step is to have the student receive counselling, a positive way of fostering the appropriate values. Since the money for work study is granted to the University by the govern¬ ment, falisifed timecards could be con¬ sidered a federal offense. However, the Work Study office prefers to handle the cases without governement intervention. In extreme cases, students have been suspended from school and work study awards have been revoked. There are certain preventative measures that can be taken to help curb the amount of cheating on timecards. One student commented, “Many people get away with it. Some professors don’t even keep track of their worker’s hours.” Undoubtedly, steps should be taken by the supervisors to make sure their workers are, indeed, working. Their roles as super¬ visors demands this of them. Also, copies of the timecards could be made and students could be asked to sign a log in the office that would record the exact hours worked. And yet another way to verify time cards is to have other employees of a given department or office check to make sure the student is working the hours he or she is recording. One work study student feels that “this multi-million dollar University isn’t going to miss a few dollars each semester on my account.” But such an attitude is not feasible; it is the integrity of the individual student that makes work study a viable financial aid program. If everyone felt that the University would not “miss a few dollars,” the work study program could not exist. Unfor¬ tunately, these students might not ap¬ preciate the benefits of this program until after graduation — when they realize that they do not have another $4,000 loan to repay. ■ Inside: Just You Weight p.3 Readers write in P-4 Bad Poetry p.15