Volume 67
Issue 1
Circulation 3,000
August 30, 1989
New Activities Highlight 1989 Orientation
Class of 1 993 Offered Hometown
Club and Intramural "O" Olympics
By Thomas M. Lynch
News Editor
Eoyola Marymount Univer¬
sity’s Orientation program
featured some new additions to
the activities schedule this year
that were described by Co-Di¬
rector Olivia LaBouff as “over¬
whelmingly successful**. The
Hometown Club, held Friday,
August 25, and “O” Olympics,
held Sunday, August 27, pro¬
vided the class of 1993 two more
opportunities to network and
become better acquainted.
Designed specifically for
out-of-state Freshmen, the
Hometown Club was a social
gathering created to help these
students understand the diffi¬
culties they may face when a
majority of the campus popula¬
tion leaves during holidays and
long weekends. “The Hometown
Club was a risk but it turned out
that it satisfied a need for the
students to network with others
in similar circumstances. There
were many ‘O’ leaders who had
gone through the same experi¬
ences and were veiy willing to
help** states LaBouff. Labor Day
weekend is the first long week¬
end these students will face. In
the spirit of the Hometown Club
the Resident Advisors from each
dorm have prepared activities
for the remaining students to
alleviate the situation.
The “O’* Olympics also made
their debut on the Orientation
activities agenda this year. The
series of athletic competitions,
sponsored by LMU’s Intramu¬
rals program, included such
events as volleyball, tug-o-war,
the dizzy relay, ultima frizbee
and the shopping cart relay. “O
Olympics worked so well be¬
cause everyone just needed to
let of some steam after all the
speeches, registration and bu¬
reaucracy they’d been through**
said Mary Ann Fotinos, student
coordinator for many of the
activities. The Olympics also
helped to unite the students
from each college and prepare
them for the lip sync contest
held Tuesday evening.
The traditional Orientation
events, such as the Ho-Down,
1
Intramurals personnel keep score
the Deserted Island Dance,
Comedy Night and Will Keim
provided activities for the Fresh¬
men and 162 40* leaders as well.
Described as the “spirit** of Ori¬
entation by LaBouff, the ‘O*
leaders worked first-hand with
the new students and attempted
to make all the events success-
ay Freshmen and "O" leaders participate and watch the "0” Olympics .
fill. “I think the 40* leaders did a
great job. You don’t feel like a
Freshman, you just feel like one
of them** stated Jenn Howard
from the class of 1993.
The full five-day schedule
was compiled and moderated
by LaBouff and her Co-Director
Jonathan Sack who joined the
Orientation program in August
and will continue to serve LMU
as a member of the 1989 coun¬
seling staff. In addition, several
organizations contributed to the
program, including ASLMU,
Residence Housing Association,
Intramurals, Student Managers,
and Marriott . E3
Library Paves Way for New Computers
By Margaret Ann Simonian
Contributor
И
oyola Marymount University
students who have personal
computers with modems may
soon discover that they have
home access to Von Der Ahe
Library’s catalogue, according
to Head Librarian Dr. G. Ed¬
ward Evans. This is just one in
a list of potential benefits to be
afforded by die implementation
of a new computer system in the
library.
All books in the library’s
collection will be represented
and searchable within the sys¬
tem, a fact which will limit the
use of card catalogues to
searches for call, numbers of
Dewey-labeled books. The most
valuable part of the process, as
Evans sees it, is maximal infor¬
mation-gathering ability with
minimal input. Instead of being
required to know the title or
author of a specific work, the
user need only have a general
idea about the subject he wishes
to research.
Automation of the library
was initiated last year, when
consultant Evan Reader was
presented with the terms of the
library’s request for proposals.
Innovative Interfaces was se¬
lected as first choice by a library
staff of nine, including Evans,
on August 29.
The chief concern in the
making of this decision, Evans
says, was the functionality of
each system. The chosen sys¬
tem, for example, had to be
equipped with a circulation
system, acquisition and serials
control, and an on-line cata¬
logue. Important, too, was the
response time of the computer,
which was to be no more than
two seconds 95% of the time.
Funding for the system is
being provided largely by a grant
from the Jones Foundation,
which donated $261,000 in July,
1989, as well as $1 00,000 three
years ago, for library automa¬
tion. The Champlain Founda¬
tion gave two gifts of $15,000
each, one in January 1987, used
to purchase four personal com¬
puters, and another in Janu¬
ary, 1989, used to pay consult¬
ants' fees. Thus the library has
almost $315,000 in hand. Says
Evans of the academic vice presi¬
dent, “(Fr.) Koppes has said that
the university will supply what’s
needed to make up die differ¬
ence. . .we don’t have to wait for
money to be raised to move for¬
ward.**
The purpose of the present
library construction, then, is to
make room for the terminal and
power and data lines required
for the new system. Nine or ten
student access terminals will be
located in the present card cata¬
logue area, while the upper and
lower levels will each house one
public access terminal. Evans’
guess is that the work will be
completed by the end of the
second full week of full classes.
As to the implementation of
the new computer system, Evans
emphasizes that it is not wise to
predict or expect a “wonderful
and perfect” transition. While
he hopes that the system is op¬
erational by the outset of the
spring semester, he suspects
that completion will occur closer
to the end of the academic year
and be ready for use by the fall
of 1990.
The most positive aspect of
such a computer system, ac¬
cording to Evans, is that it pos¬
sesses functions that cannot be
duplicated by the use of the
present card catalogue. The
system will not simply be a more
convenient way of gathering
information, he asserts, but a
completely new way of doing
research. Though the library
currently has 2 1 4,000 titles, “the
cumbersome nature of the card
catalogue” causes many stu¬
dents to become frustrated and
give up the search, believing
that the information is either
not available or too hard to find.
Evans foresees that “students
may be surprised to find what’s
in the collection.” m
(r
Freshman Class Profile Fall '89
Profile By College
25 %
Я
Business
6 Commun. & FA
E3 Liberal Arts
E3 Science/Engin.
Profile By Sex
Profile By Ethnicity
2.05*
5.17*
15.64*
1 4 44*
0.72*
Male Female
■ Black
S3 Caucasian
Щ
Indian
E2 Asian
□ Hispanic
iH Unstated
61.97*
news
LMU founding father dies
at age 79 . . . page 2
Construction readies LMU
for next decade. . . page 2
features
Little known LMU trivia facts
uncovered. . . page 3
A Look behind the scenes at
Orientation’89 . . . page 4
opinion
Freshmen reassured by
Editor in Chief. . . page 6
Letters to the Editor criteria
explained. . . page 6
a & e
Venice Beach, an entertain¬
ment alternative. . . page 8
Casualties. . . a different kind
of war. . . page 8
sports
Brian’s Box Seat examines
American League. . . page 11
Lions graduate
leagues. . . page 11
to major
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