L o s * A n g e 1 e s
LOYOL A N
VOL. 71 -NO. 18 LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY February 23, 1994
Special Games Begins Practices For Big Day
Athletes Meet with Student
Coaches in Preparation for
March 19 Festivities
Special Games Coach Leah Bishop celebrates opening practice with her athlete.
Frank Sullivan Social
J ustice Advisory Committee
Hosts Forum on Respect
By Janies Keane
Assistant News Editor
Bast Saturday, February 19,
marked the opening event of
the 1994 Special Games, with
Loyola Marymount students flock¬
ing to the Sunken Gardens at 8:15
a.m. for a day of initiation to the
Special Games for newcomers and
of reacquaintance with old friends
and athletes for veterans of the an¬
nual program. Saturday was the
first of two practices for coaches
and athletes before the Special
Games Big Day. This year’s theme
is “These Are The Days.”
The next practice is scheduled
for Saturday, Marsh 5. Special
Games Big Day will be held on
Saturday, March 1 9, from 9:00 a.m.
to 4:00 p.rrv Total attendance for
Big Day is expected to be over 1 ,000,
making it the largest philanthropic
event of the year for Loyola Mary¬
mount.
Almost 300 students volunteered
to serve as coaches this year, along
with 31 team leaders. Almost three
hundred athletes also participated,
and over 100 miscellaneous volun-
By Lynn Segas
News Editor
Bn February 19, from 9 p.m. to
12:30 a m., the Office of the
President and ASLMU co-spon¬
sored the 2nd Annual Charter Ball.
The event was a semi-formal affair,
free of charge to all LMU students.
It featured a live band, a DJ, food
and beverages. Over 2,200 students
attended the event.
ASLMU President Frances
Young said, ‘The best aspect was
that everyone had a good time. It is
the only social event of the year that
invited the entire student body.”
Theplanning forthis event started
early last semester and there wasa
tremendous amount of troubleshoot¬
ing done from last year. Young con¬
tinued, “We just about doubled ev¬
erything. We increased the amount
of food, drinks, beer, and th&size of
the dance floor.”
She elaborated, “Because there
was no rain, we were able to utilize
the patio as part of the event. We
moved the food outside along with
one beer station. We wanted to
make sure that the event went
smoothly because with the entire
student body invited the possibility
for disaster was big.”
teers helped run individual events
and ensured that the day went
smoothly.
Athletes for the Games come from
nineteen different agencies in the
Los Angeles area, from agencies
specializing in the care of eitherthe
physically or mentally handicapped.
While new agencies often sign up
for the Games, some have been
sending participants for over a de¬
cade.
Thetaames are designed to be a
non-competitive program, with all
athletes receiving medals in the fi¬
nal ceremonies for their participa¬
tion in the day's activities. In addi¬
tion to the athletics planned, there
will be entertainment, dancing, and
smaller games.
Special Games began at Loyola
Marymount in 1977, quickly joining
with the California Special Olym¬
pics to form the LMU Special Olym¬
pics in 1978. That first year was
marked by the lighting of the Olym¬
pic Torch on Sullivan Field and
speeches by then-Mayor Tom Bra¬
dley and other dignitaries.
LMU later broke away from the
California Special Olympics to rec¬
reate the Special Games in order to
‘There were fans inside the facili¬
ties and heat lamps on the patio to
try to make the event more comfort¬
able. We even shut off the air in the
building to make sure that there
would be no problems during the
event.”
Young said, ‘We also hired eight
Public Safety Officers to make sure
that everything ran smoothly and
they did a good job ensuring that
there were no problems. One Op¬
erations and Maintenance em¬
ployee was also hired to monitor
and restock the bathrooms.
“We contracted an outside beer
company this year. It was much
better-because they brought their
own beer and their own equipment
and they also had professional bar¬
tenders, who knew not to sejye beer
to minors*” she said.
JFr. O’Malley greeted students at
the door and Dr. Jakubowski, Dean
of Science and Engineering, mod-*
erated the event. The Student Af¬
fairs division was* also well-repre¬
sented. “This made the evening into
a truly University-wide event, ’’Young
emphasized. “The feedback I have
heard has been very positive and if
seedms as though everyone had a
good time. It looks as though this
event will take place again next
year.”
include the mentally handicapped
in the festivities as well as the physi¬
cally handicapped. The games are
currently planned, organized, and
executed each year by a Planning
Committee of Loyola Marymount
students who are guided by univer¬
sity personnel serving as advisors.
The Planning Committee for the
Games is made up of fourteen s tu?
dents serving as volunteers. Due to
the enormous amount of prepara¬
tion and organization needed for
such ^program, the committment is
year-round.
Numerous campus organizations
lent a hand to the Special Games
Committe; Na Kolea will sponsor
the VIP lunch on Big Day, and will
also provide lunchtime entertain¬
ment; the Belles and Gryphon Circle
will be making extra lunches for
athletes who forget to bring lunch;
the Ignatians are donating equip¬
ment and monitoring games; other
clubs spopnsoring booths and pro¬
viding volunteers include the Jesuit
Alumni Club, IEEE, Sursum
Corda,and others.
In addition, the LMU Men's Bas¬
ketball team and Head Coach John
Olive will march in the Big Day Pa¬
rade, and will also perform a “half¬
time skills demonstration” for the
entertainment of the athletes.
“The ultimate day for celebration,
fun, and sharing will be Big Day,”
said Vi Tp, the Special Games Di¬
rector for 1994. “Everything thus far
is going strongly. We have a rela¬
tively young Volunteer Planning
Committee, but everyone is talented
and extremely motivated.
‘This year we've had better re¬
cruitment, as well as better equip¬
ment for the athletes to use. Plus,
we've been tapping into new agen¬
cies to attract more athletes to the
Games.
“Also, the LMU faculty and ad¬
ministration are very active in giving
their support this year,” To com¬
mented. “We have many volun¬
teers who are coming out for Big
Day.”
Anyone with questions is urged
to contact the Special Games Corn-
mittee at 82728.
By Lynn Segas
News Editor
R espect” will be the theme of an
"Oprah'<style forum that will
take place on Thursday, February
24, at 12:15 - 1 p.m in Seaver 100.
The discussion is presented by
the Social Justice Committee and
sponsored by the Office of Campus
Ministry and the Office of Interna¬
tional Affairs.
It will serve as a springboard for
the Frank Sullivan Social Justice
Committee, which has chosen "Re¬
spect" as their theme for the next
two years.
Les Rangel-Santos, Chair of the
Social Justice Advisory Committee,
said, ‘This is not the end-all forum.
We hope to go into other program¬
ming from this forum. We wpuld like
to sponsor events to deal with is¬
sues about respect for diversity,
respect for women and respect for
children.”
A panel of students, faculty and
staff will be engaging the “studio
audience”in a dialogue that will try
to explore the many facets of re¬
spect. The panelists include Marga¬
ret Ford, Nurse Practioner in the
Student Health Center; Aki
Maehara, Assistant Director of Asian
Pacific Student Services;
Rosemarie Bustos, RD, Doheny/
Sullivan; and Dr. John Connolly,
Theological Studies.
Santos said, “We did not want
more than four panelists because
we only have 45 minutes in which to
conduct this forum. More than four
would have been too many;
“We recognize thdt there are
many differences in defining respect,
but we believe that self-respect is
the" most important. Respect for ev¬
erything and everybody else, stems
from respecting yourself. If you re¬
spect yourself, then respect for oth¬
ers will follow.”
ifiSl
::ЛжЩ18|1
Charter Ball Attracts Crowds,
Allows University to Gather
in Social Atmosphere
