VOL. 70
»
NO. 1
LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY
August 26. 1992
Orientation Welcomes Class of 1996 to LMU
Louie Vitello presents his 'O' group to the LMU community .
By Lynn Segas
News Editor
ШИе
students and parents of the
class of 1996 were welcomed
onto the Loyola Marymount Uni¬
versity campus on Saturday by
biue-shirted orientation leaders,
housing staff, members of service
organizations and administrators,
who were all eager to make the
class of 1996 feel welcome and
help them begin their transition into
the LMU community.
As transfer student, Vicky
Limjoco said, 'People here have
been outrageously friendly ever
since I stepped on campus.”
In their opening addresses, Dr.
Joseph Jabbra, Academic Vice
President and Fr. Thomas P.
O'Malley, S.J., President, wel¬
comed the class of 1996 to the
LMU Community. Fr. O’Malley de¬
scribed LMU as a microcosm of our
nation: "The way that we are is the
way that America is going to be. We
are diverse, culturally, ethnically,
and socially. Because of this, my
greatest challenge for you is to
listen, listen, listen. Listen to points
of view which are different from
your own.”
However, the main focus of Presi¬
dent O’Malley’s welcome was in
the opportunities available to the
LMU community, “The most impor¬
tant course you will take at this
University is one in which you will
not receive a grade, or even credit.
It is called Uses of the University.”
He urged the students to get to
know their faculty on a personal
level and to take advantage of the
many resources of this school.
"Study something you love and
something that will excite you, not
something practical. If you stimu¬
late your mind, in twenty years it is
the people you met and how your
hearts and minds were shaped by
the classes you took that you will
remember, "O’Malley emphasized.
He closed by saying, “Take the
world seriously on its own terms.
The world is basically a good place,
despite situations like those that
exist in Yugoslavia, Somalia. Dis¬
cover yourself, because then you
will be able to better understand
the world filled with change.”
Freshman Mish L. Salamy com¬
mented on her experiences thus
far and said, 'The best thing about
it is the 'O' leaders because they
guide us in every single aspect
every step of the way.”
Katy Bogen said, ”LMU is so
special because everyone is con¬
cerned about the individual.”
Dr. Lane Bove, Vice President of
Student Affairs, praised the Orien¬
tation program: "The attitude has
been wonderful and the 'O 'Lead¬
ers have been very helpful. On
Saturday, I personally introduced
myself to about 150 parents and
they all had only positive things to
say.”
Freshman Alison Flynn said, “So
far, it’s been a tot like summer
camp. Reality really hasn’t hit yet.”
Rodney Hanoon commented on
the 'Olympics, "Every college
showed a tot of spirit and everyone
seemed to have a good time.”
Intramural Coordinator Lona
Bennion said, "Other than a few
hassles with the balloons, every¬
thing ran pretty smoothly. Every¬
one seemed to be enjoying them¬
photo by ftlsr Artiles
selves and getting into the true spirit
of the day. Tensions got high as the
events came to a close and we
approached the final scores.”
'O' Leader J.P. Shields summed
up the spirit of 'O' week, ”1 try to be
more than just someone who shows
them how to register. I am their
friend and someone in whom they
can put their trust. That does not
end when 'O' week ends-it extends
throughout the year.”
O'Malley Shares Hopes, Goals for Future of LMU
University President Comments On Plans
for Development, Current Budget Crisis
By Ray Watts
Editor-in-Chief
@ne year can seem like many
things to many people, but
few would say that last year at
Loyola Marymount was boring. With
many changes in personnel, con¬
flicts with neighbors over Leavey
Campus, a new President, and the
riots after the Rodney King verdict
in April, all of us were constantly
reminded that we are no longer
isolated from the rest of the world
by the bluff.
Rev. Thomas P. O’Malley, S.J.
was inaugurated as LMU’s thir¬
teenth President on March 3, 1991 .
He took time out to speak with the
Loyolan about his views of the year,
as well as his outlook on the future.
QUESTION: What were your goals
for last year? Which ones do you
feel were accomplished, and which
ones do you feel that you are still
working toward this year?
ANSWER: It’s a little complicated,
but one of the goals was to get to
know the University, and curiously
enough, I have made a great deal
of progress there. But I am not as
far forward as I thought I would be.
I do know far more about the place
than Ididayear ago at this time, but
I still have a great deal to do. There
was a time at Boston College when
I knew the core curriculum of the
College of Liberal Arts and Sci¬
ences inside and out when I was
Photo by Peter Artiles
Father Thomas P. O'Malley SJ„ shares his hopes and fears for the
future of Loyola Marymount University .
dean. It was a much larger school,
but the College of Liberal Arts and
Sciences was about the size of
LMU’s total undergraduate popula¬
tion. But it didn’t have the complex¬
ity of all the colleges and programs
that are found here.
I don't have that control of the
core curriculum, but I knewfrom the
beginning that I had to know the
place in order to sell it. You have to
have examples, you have to know
how the engineers study, you have
to know the movie business for the
film school. I am satisfied with my
progress.
I was able to meet several under¬
graduates; that really pleased me
very much, and while it is not easy
for me to get to the students, I am
very pleased with the progress.
I felt I had to get to know the
Board of Trustees, and I made ex¬
cellent progress there.
I announced two goals for this
year: to be able to get the approvals
for the Leavey campus and turn the
shovels in the ground in the fail of
1992. That might be possible. My
second goal was to have a good
size freshman class; that we did not
do.
QUESTION: I heard that we are
short about 90 freshmen.
ANSWER: That’s about right. We
also made a budget revision, and
we hope that we do not have to
make another one. We are suffer¬
ing through a very, very serious
shortfall. Immediately, it turns out
the program for next year is to pay
a great deal of attention to diversity
on this campus, and to make it
work. We are also focusing on the
Admissions off ice to produce a 750-
member freshman class for next
year, which is no small task given
the current economy of Southern
California.
QUESTION: What steps have you
taken to reach out to students who
feel underrepresented on this cam¬
pus?
ANSWER: I have appoionted Dr.
Fernando Guerra to serve as my
resource person for Faculty Re¬
sources. Fernando is going to work
very hard to find potential faculty to
join us, in cooperation with the de¬
partments and the deans. He is also
going to be a point-person for the
programs which have been recom¬
mended by the Commission on the
Future, and The Multicultural Af¬
fairs committee. The first thing we
are doing is trying to be responsive.
We are going to have a number of
courses in the area of Multicultural
interests. We won’t have everything
in place, for this semester, but I
hope in second semester, we will
have a pitot program which might
serve as a model for a core class.
QUESTION: What is your concept
of that class. What would the con¬
tent be?
ANSWER: It will tiave to be man¬
aged, unified by someone who
brings in different kinds of people.
The focus here, as elsewhere, will
be on multi-culturalism in the Los
Angeles Area. For example, it is
one thing to have an academic study
program as we do with Asian- Ameri¬
can studies, but it is entirely another
to see how they interact in the
Greater Los Angeles area. Sum¬
ming up, I hope we will have al¬
ready, at the end of this summer,
demonstrated to these students a
responsiveness to their needs and
requests and demands. Not
everything will be in place, but we
are heading in the right direction.
QUESTION: What is one lesson
the University learned through the
riots and the events of last spring?
ANSWER: Well I know one thing
that I learned was in talking about
this place in public, I was rejoicing
that we have so many people here
from so many different back¬
grounds, and for months I have
said that the way we are is the way
that America is going to be. But now
I realize that we have to work harder
in two ways; the first is that we have
to be more responsive to these
people, to their educational inter¬
ests and needs, and that means a
certain amount of reaching out so
that their needs are reflected in the
curriculum. The second is that we
have to be more conscious as a
community about how to make it
work, which is everyone’s business.
QUESTION: Earlier you mentioned
a revision to the University budget.
I am wondering as a student, how
the crisis will affect me. Will there
be a cut in some programs? Will the
students feel the tangible effects of
this crunch?
ANSWER: Good question. I would
be hard pressed to say that any
specific program would be touched.
As you know, we have instituted a
hiring freeze until September 15.
All of the Vice Presidents and my¬
self have been looking for ways to
save, and we have all found some.
We have not laid off one single full¬
time faculty or staff member. So the
curriculum has not been changed.
No one will have to stay here longer
because of it. There will not be as
many part-time faculty teaching the
freshmen, but that is due to the
fewer number of freshmen who are
enrolled.
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