The Los Angeles Loyolan, Volume 77, Issue 17 - February 3, 1999

Perspectives Groundhog Day — Is it really necessary? A&E ‘Hamlet’ celebrates Shakespeare in Little Theatre. Page 9 S PORT S Men’s basketball split weekend games to even record. Page 17 о n g l February 3/1999 U о y о l a Marymount University Volume 77, No. 17 WEz эр»* CHRIS MORRING / LOYOLAH Tim Kennedy takes a shot in the Lions’ Homecoming game. The Lions lost to the Univeristy of San Diego 76-67 on Saturday, Jan. 30, in Gersten Pavilion. Homecoming Spirit Shines Despite loss by Roy Rufo Jr. Asst. News Editor Nadia Gonzalez Staff Writer Despite losing the homecom¬ ing basketball game against USD last Saturday, the LMU commu¬ nity still considers last week’s fes¬ tivities a great success. Although the game was a major focus of the homecoming activities, the vari¬ ous organizers of homecoming week rallied spirit by emphasiz¬ ing unity among the student pop¬ ulation. The scheduled events were sponsored by various campus organizations in an effort to pro¬ mote school spirit and involve as many students as possible. The school attempted to do this by allowing the creative input of dif¬ ferent organizations in the plan¬ ning of homecoming. “ASLMU wanted to work together with sports this year,” said Shivohn Q. Valdecantos, ASLMU executive vice president. “We worked early on in the year with Alumni Relations, Athletics, arid Lion Pride to produce home¬ coming.” The events kicked off on Proposal from Vatican Sparks National Debate Ш Proposed: Canon 812 law sparks disagreement between U.S. bishops, Catholic university leaders and the Vatican over proposal for reform. by Daniel Wolowicz Editor in Chief Over 200 Catholic universities and colleges in the United States are currently involved in a dia¬ logue regarding a proposal set forth by the Vatican to determine new guidelines for more stringent con¬ trol over Catholic universities. Currently, presidents of Catholic colleges and universities are reviewing a new draft of “Ex Corde Ecclesiae” (from the heart of the church), a propos¬ al which allows for local bishops to have control in the hiring of theological studies professors, as well as influencing the selection process of board of trustee members. Ramifications include the possi¬ bility that Catholic colleges and universities would lose their privileges to state and federal funds— including scholarships. “Ex Corde Ecclesiae” was announced in August of 1990 and welcomed by the educational leaders in the Catholic community. At that time, it focused on two major objectives. First, it was to develop a “model of a Catholic uni¬ versity that was ‘really Catholic, * even if not under the judicial control of canon law.” The second was to insure that “local bishop’s conferences, working with their Catholic universities, should develop appropriate applications of “Ex Corde Ecclesiae” for institutions in their regions,” according to a 1998 editorial by Thomas J. Reese, S.J., editor of “America” magazine. The second objective was created because of the vast diversity of Catholic universities throughout the world This second point was the spark that lit the debate in the United States* when the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) appointed a committee to establish a basis of norms for Catholic universities within the U.S. The 1993 “Ex Corde” draft circulated to bishops as well as to presidents of Catholic colleges and universities. Upon review, many educators in Catholic educa¬ tion found fault with the proposal’s alignment with the “canonical obligation of Catholic teachers of the¬ ology to obtain an official approval of mandate (mandatum) from the local bishop,” wrote Reese. Canon 812 is the disputed law. “There is no problem with the proposal itself,” said Fr. Thomas R Rausch. S.J., chair of the theo¬ logical department at LMU. “The problem comes with the ordinances that follow the proposal. Most notable is the conflict over Canon 812.” In effect, Canon 812 would leave the hiring of theology professors in the hands of local bishops, who would be more inclined to promote Catholics Within the schools. The canonical law would thus be in conflict with American civil law, which man¬ dates equal opportunity hiring practices regardless of race, religion or sex. Concern regarding the proposal also revolves around the recommendation that Catholics should hold as many seats as possible on boards of trustees as well as faculty members and presidents at Catholic colleges and universities. Furthermore, those hired would make a profession of faith and take an oath of fidelity once in office. To find more agreeable terms, Catholic educa¬ tional leaders and U.S. bishops established a Com¬ mittee which “was to examine ‘Ex Corde,’ while also taking into account American law, culture and her¬ itage,” stated a 1997 article published in “The Vatican /page 2 Thursday during convocation hour with a pep rally coordinated by Lion Pride. Students partici¬ pated in dance contests and cre¬ ative games while Power 106 blasted hip hop to catch the attention of passers-by. Another way to reel in a broad crowd was to offer free food. Students stood in line to get their servings of hamburgers and hot dogs. Activities Of the hour included prize giveaways and an enthusi¬ astic routine by the talented Lion Pride dance team during the pep rally. “The rally was well orga¬ nized and it got people excited about the [homecoming game],” said John Coelho, vice chair for activities planning commission. After the men’s basketball game against St. Mary’s on Friday night, students migrated to the Alumni Gym where Power 106 was once again blasting hip hop beats for the first ever Groove Dance. “It was important that [the Groove Dance] followed the game,” said Sandrell Doerr, direc¬ tor of the Office for International Students & Scholars (OISS). “We were there as LMU students sup- Homecoming: page 3 Last Budget Balloting Yields for Organizations by Jasmine Marshall news Editor Liz Otis Staff Writer In what is expected to be the last round of direct voting in the Budget Ballot process before it is replaced by club allocations, students turned out in record numbers, result¬ ing in a stunning turnaround from last semester’s results. A total of 1,033 students voted, allocating $10,101 to 88 student clubs and organiza¬ tions, Last semester’s Budget Ballot was prompted a second round because of low voter turnout during the second week of September, It yielded a total allocation of only $9,853.75. This semester, Delta Gamma garnered the most funds with a total of $513 dollars. Men’s lacrosse was second with $488, while the Loyola Rowing Association was third with $460. Delta Gamma was ' among the student organizations which received over $300 last semester, but men’s lacrosse was not registered as a club for the balloting process at the time. Na Kolea and I sang Bansa, which placed first and second respectively iri last semester’s Budget Ballot, were sixth and seventh in this semester’s allocation rank¬ ings. Loyola Rowing Association president Mark Mason noted that he believed they benefited from the public’s support of LMU’s former crew team mem¬ bers in the wake of last semes¬ ter’s loss of the team shell house and the Athletic Department’s decision to dis¬ continue the program for the 1998-99 academic year. “We had talked to several other athletes, and they were also supportive of our requests to donate funds,” Mason sqid. “[Budget Ballot] allows us to rent our equipment, as well as pay for transportation and entry fees at races, Which the school is not covering this year.” Former Delta Gamma pres¬ ident Andrea Tazioli said, “I’m totally excited we did so well. We had talked about the Budget Ballot: page 3 INDEX News 1 Perspective 6 Arts. & Entertainment 9 Classifieds 1 6 „Sports 20 On the Web: