The Los Angeles Loyolan, Volume 90, Issue 2 - September 8, 2011

THUR FRI SAT SUN 70‘-62‘ 72“-63‘ 71 ‘-64’ 73‘-65‘ ESTABLISHED 1921 September 8, 201 1 Volume 90, Issue 2 Your Home. Your Voice. Your Newspaper. Loyola Marymount University www.laloyolan.com A DECADE LATER LMU lays off staff members Several employees lose their jobs following budget reduction. Sophomore reflects on 9/11 FIRST-PERSON FEATURE By Michelle Badillo Contributor Without any need for dramatic embel¬ lishment, I can say that the morning of Sept. 11, 2001 dawned unseasonably and uncharacteristically bright, warm and blue for the people of New York. As usual, at 8:20 a.m., my mother dropped my sister and me off at elementary school and then set off for work in mid¬ town Manhattan. For about the first 30 minutes of school, all was as it should be. My class was excited at the prospect of the nice weather allowing us to have recess out¬ side and the birthday cupcakes some¬ one’s mother was bringing in later that day. By 9:00 a.m., seven kids had been pulled out of my class. All outside activi¬ ties had been cancelled due to mysteri¬ ous “construction” that was clearly not happening. Our teachers, who seemed to give up all hope of teaching, gathered in the hallway to whisper with each other. By noon there were only 10 kids left in my class, myself included. The school administrators had decided our young minds were too fragile to hear the truth about what had happened, so we were forced to come to our own wild See 9/11 | page 4 By Kenzie O'Keefe Editor-in-Chief As a part of a University-wide cost-reduction plan, LMU laid off nearly a dozen employees last spring. Following a 2 percent University-wide budget cut, nine to 10 individuals from the division of Administration, the President’s Of¬ fice, University Relations and Student Affairs were let go between mid-March and mid-May, explained Rebecca Chandler, vice president of Human Resources. Chandler described the layoffs as “a small piece of a broader plan in reducing budgets. . . . Vacated positions were not filled. In some in¬ stances the work went away. In others, it was easily deployable to other people.” University President David W. Bur chain told the Loyolan, “We want to make sure we’re being good stewards of students’ tuition money. [Layoffs] are the last thing we want to do, but [salaries and benefits] are where most of our costs are,” he added. Burcham was quick to point out that there will be no net losses to the budgets of the col¬ leges and schools. “We want to make sure that the academic program remains robust and even grows,” he said. He stressed that regardless of the layoffs, the University is in good financial health. “Because of the discipline that the [budget] committee . . . and the Board of Trustees have shown we are in truly fantastic financial shape, and we want to stay that way,” he said. Senior Vice President of Student Affairs Elena M. Bove had to lay off one employee from Student Affairs this past spring. She re¬ ported that this was the first time in 24 years of working at LMU that she had to do so, and it was no easy task. “While to some folks these decisions may look arbitrary and capricious, I can assure you that they are not. The calculus for a serious decision like this is complicated and multiple-layered. I don’t like to think that any of our employees are expendable,” she said. Anthony Cummings, a former assistant director in Student Leadership and Develop¬ ment, is one of the University employees who was laid off in May. He worked with student clubs and organizations on campus - such as See Layoffs | page 4 The Loft hopes for a more successful year The Loft collaborates with LMU Hospitality by Sodexo to provide alcohol safely. By Brigette Scobas Asst. News Editor Students last year were confused and upset when The Loft abruptly closed down, only to open again with a severe cut in hours. However, those who work with The Loft are hoping to combat that confusion and make this year run smoothly and in conjunction with their mandated guidelines. The Loft’s Student Manager, Brian Pede, a senior business major, and Isaiah Arocho, a senior economics major, are planning on keeping The Loft a consistent and safe setting for those 21 and older to drink and hang out with fellow students. “We promote responsible drinking [and] we promote being smart about it,” said Pede. While The Loft was open five days a week last year, it now operates only at specific times on Thursday nights. The Loft’s new hours are 4:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Thursdays, in addition to some special hours that are reserved for certain events throughout the semester which will be announced in advance. So far, the Thursday schedule has been a success. Last Thursday was the first evening The Loft was open this academic year. “Over 270 people came, which was the biggest night ever. It’s special when it’s open only that day because more people come,” Pede said. “We had a great turnout for our first event of the year last Thursday, and we hope that the students of LMU will continue to enjoy the Pub Nights that we’ll be hosting on Thursday nights this year,” said Assistant Director of Campus Recreation Carolyn French. So, even though The Loft is open just one dav a week, the change has been See Loft | page 2 Liana Bandziulis | Loyolan Located nexttotheTenderich Apartments, the Loft has committed to a new regularschedule. STUDENTS Asst. Opinion Editor Anna Escher explores why the Princeton Review ranked LMU students 1 9th for where students study the least. Opinion, page 5 Index Opinion . 5 A&E . 10 Classifieds . 1 2 Sports . 1 6 The next Issue of tin: Lao lan will be printed on September 12, 201 1 More than a dozen programs will be shown to honor the 1 0th anniversary of the tragedy. TELEVISION SPECIALS HONOR A&E, page 1 1