The Los Angeles Loyolan, Volume 70, Issue 3 - September 9, 1992

VOL. 70 • NO. 3 LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY September 9, 1992 Budget Crisis Affects LMU Financial Aid Service Groups Unite Cal-Grants Cut By 15,2%; University Will Attempt To Make Up Difference Matching Grant. This is a one-time nonrenewabie award, set up as an emergency fund to help you cope with this reduction in state assis¬ tance.” Palmer stated, “The point of all this is to have students help them¬ selves as much as they can. That is why we offer work first, a ban sec¬ ond and only after all that, grants and scholarships. We are also hop¬ ing that we can find some founda¬ tions to back us up because that would take some of the pressure off of us.” Palmer was very proud of Loyola Marymount in being able to put up these extra funds to help the stu¬ dents. She said, “There are many students in other universities state¬ wide who are in worse shape be¬ cause the school is not able to help them.” This pride is expressed in the closing paragraph of the letter sent to the students: “LMU is pleased that it is able to offer this to you. While few other schools are offer¬ ing assistance in any way, LMU is proud to be able to commit its re¬ source during this time. We hope that by making an investment in your future now you will recall your years at LMU with fondness.” your state grant; however, it is a tated goal of the University to par¬ ticipate actively in the good of the campus community. “Therefore, during this difficult period, the University has decided to make funds available to help alleviate any pain this budget crisis may create.” The University has revised exist¬ ing programs in response to this crisis: work study, loans, grants and scholarships. According to a letter about policy changes, the following programs have been made effective immedi¬ ately: “Students who do not have at least $2,400 of work in their pack¬ age will be offered this type of in¬ crease first. If you previously de¬ clined your work, it has been re¬ offered.” “Students who do not have at least $2,600 in a Stafford student loan or $2,200 in Perkins student loan will be offered an increase in their loan. If you previously declined your loan, it has been re-offered.” “Only students with the maximum work and loan have been offered monies in the form of grant funds. This! increase would be in your Fed¬ eral SEOG, Burns Grant, a named scholarship, or the LMU State By LynnSegas News Editor In an effort to balance California’s state budget, there has been a 1 5.2% cut in Financial Aid through¬ out the state of California,” said Loyola Marymount Director of Fi¬ nancial Aid, Donna Palrfier. “These cuts will directly affect 750 stu¬ dents on this campus,” she contin¬ ued. To compound this problem, 69% of the first-year students are on financial aid, which is ten percent more than last year. However, Palmer said, “Because times are so hard due to the reces¬ sion, many students are on finan¬ cial aid for a shorter period of time. It may not need to carry forward for all four years.” LMU is playing an integral role in helping the students. “We knew in July that a cut was coming, we just didn’t know the numbers,” Palmer said. “So we started revising awards.” In a letter to the students de¬ scribing the changes in financial aid, the Financial Aid office ex¬ plains, ”lt is not the responsibility of LMU to make upforthe reduction in Editor's Note: In the September 2, 1992, issue of the Loyplan , Chip Schaefer, former trainer for the Loyola Marymount Lions was con¬ fused with Dr. Ben Shaffer, of the Kerlan-Jobe Clinic who is cur¬ rently involved in the suit brought by the. family of the late Hank Gathers. Mr. Schaefer is not a defen¬ dant in the suit, as was reported in last week’s paper. Doctor Testifies Gathers Left Court Alive Shaffer Says He Felt Pulse, Athlete Was Responding to Verbal Commands By Ray Watts Editor-in-Chief Dr. Ben Shaffer, who served as the doctor on duty on the night of Hank Gathers’ death, testified last week that Gathers was in fact, alive and had a strong pulse when he made the decision to remove him from the court before any defibriilation had been induced. Gathers collapsed during a West Coast Conference game in Gersten Pavilion on March 4, 1 990. He was pronounced dead later that night. According to an LA. Times re¬ port, Shaffer, who testified last Wednesday , commented that Gath¬ ers was responding to commands at the time of his collapse. “As we lifted him on the stretcher, he was breathing and responding to my commands, and we pro¬ ceeded to what we thought would be the training room,” said Shaffer. Shaffer is being sued by three members of Gathers’ family, who contend that the doctor’s negli¬ gence caused them undue emo¬ tional distress on the night he died. Shaffer is an orthopedist who was employed by the Kerlan-Jobe Clinic in Inglewood is one of three defendants, along with the clinic and Dr. Dan Hyslop, who works in the University Health Center. Shaffer reported that as they left the court, Gathers’ condition dete¬ riorated, “As we neared the corner to turn toward the training room he [Gathers] appeared to me to have clinically deteriorated and we sat him down outside the exit door.” Shaffer then reported that once Gathers was set down outside, the pulse he felt was much more faint. “After we lifted him up on the stretcher, he had a pulse,” Shaffer said. “He responded to my commands to take a deep breath, and there was no change in his status.” Bruce Fagel, attorney for the Gathers family, contends that Shaffer’s attempted move of Gath¬ ers to the training room was negli¬ gent. Fagel also contendslhat Shaffer should not have ordered former Loyola Marymount trainer Chip Schaefer to get the stretcher, and should have defibriilated Gathers on the court. LMU had purchased a defibrillator, a device that shocks the heart back into rhythm, after Gathers’ first collapse in December of 1989. Schaefer kept the defibrillator with him at all LMU games. But Shaffer and Schaefer both contend that a defibrillator should continued on page two Annual By Lynn Segas News Editor Mass of the Holy Spirit Thursday Catholic institutions within the first versity involved in the mass,” said on tne feast day of a saint. Mass of “We were looking for sort ■he annual Mass of the Holy Spirit will be celebrated in Sa¬ cred Heart Chapel on Thursday, September 10,1992, at Convoca¬ tion Hour. “Because we are a Catho¬ lic institution, we gather together to ask for God’s blessing for the com¬ ing year on our personal, spiritual and academic life,” said Fr. Wayne Negrete, coordinator of the Liturgy. Mass of the Holy Spirit is a tradi¬ tional mass that takes place at all few weeks of school. Negretecommentedon the posi¬ tive influence that this mass has on our community: “It encourages the various groups within our commu¬ nity to come together in prayer to thank God for all the gifts we have received.” “A couple years ago, Fr. Mike O’Sullivan and Alpha Sigma Nu took the initiative to get Student Devel¬ opment Services, the Service Or¬ ganization, Greek organizations, faculty, Deans from the Colleges and Administration from the Uni¬ versity j Negrete. "This made it a more joy¬ ful celebration, because we were able to include more people in the celebration.” Rev. Thomas P. O’Malley, S.J., will preside at Mass and Fr. George Wanser, S.J., will prepare the mu¬ sic. Wanser has included a couple of gospel selections, a few Span¬ ish selections and, the traditional English hymns, thus giving the mass a multi-cultural flavor. “In the Middle Ages and the Re¬ naissance, classes always started the Holy Spirit is the continuation of that tradition,” Fr. O’Sullivan, mod¬ erator of Alpha Sigma Nu, com¬ mented. “We pray to the Holy Spirit for knowledge because it is the seed of wisdom.” “At LMU, the tradition of Mass of the Holy Spirit is longstanding, as well. It was present at Loyola Uni¬ versity and Marymount College before they merged," Fr. O’Sullivan * said. “AIN first got involved when Loyola Marymount was approach¬ ing its 75th Anniversary. something special to kick off the school year. We focused on getting student or¬ ganizations to participate,” Fr. O’Sullivan continued. “So, we approached the honor societies, service organizations, Greek organizations, ASLMU, Stu¬ dent workers, and student devel¬ opment services to take place in the procession, along with the fac¬ ulty and administration.” “The student participation has become an integral part of the mass, now. This mass has become a tra¬ dition over the last four years.”