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LOYOLAN
EST. 1921
Sick of the gym? Check
out these alternative
fitness ideas.
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Read about the
shooting star of LMU's
women's basketball.
Page 12
VOLUME 92 I ISSUE 28
Applications set new record
LMU’s applicants for the
class of 2018 are greater in
number than ever before.
AN Swenson
News Editor
@aliswenson
As LMU’s class of 2017 further deepens
its roots in the University’s courses,
extracurricular activities and culture in
the first weeks of the spring semester, the
incoming class has already begun to sow its
seeds for the future.
The applications for LMU’s undergraduate
class of 2018 are in, and there are more of
them than ever before.
“We have received 12,028 applications for
the class of 2018,” said Matthew Fissinger,
director of undergraduate admission. “This
is the first time we’ve eclipsed 12 thousand
applications, meaning also, of course, that
this is the most applications we’ve ever
received. This represents an increase of 7.5
percent over last year.”
While it is not certain what the increase in
applications should be attributed to - there
were 11,474 applicants last year, according to
the LMU undergraduate admission website
- one sector of the applicant pool has seen
a marked surge: international students.
Having grown in number by almost 25
percent, international applications make up
6.1 percent of this year’s applicant pool, a full
percentage point more than last year.
Additionally, more students from outside
of California have submitted applications to
LMU this year than ever before.
“The percentage of applicants from
California is 65 percent, compared to 67
percent last year,” said Fissinger. “Much of
the increase in non- California students is due
to the increase in international applications,
but we have also seen sharp increases
from some cold -weather states, including
Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and
See Applications | Page 2
LMU has received
more than
12,000
APPLICATIONS
for the class of
THAT'S A 7.5%
INCREASE FROM
LAST YEAR
Information compiled by News Editor Ali Swenson: Graphic: Tyler Barnett | Loyolan
Family
Weekend
offers
variety
Some students plan to attend
scheduled programs; others will
enjoy family time elsewhere.
Michael Busse
Copy Chief
@mrbusse
Starting on Friday, LMU will host hundreds
of parents, siblings and grandparents for the
20th annual Family Weekend .
The weekend wall include a variety of events
catered toward each family member, including
a tour for younger siblings and a session for
grandparents highlighting the history of LMU.
When registration closed last week, nearly
1,500 guests were signed up for the weekend’s
festivities, according to Vanessa Arredondo,
associate director of Parent Programs and
Parent Giving. Arredondo’s small office staff
is responsible for putting on the program.
Although pre -registration is closed, walk-
up registration is still encouraged. A fee of
$35 per family covers the cost for most events,
including Friday’s reception with the dean
of each school and breakfast with President
David W. Burcham on Saturday morning.
“We try to offer different things to give them
an idea of what it’s like for you on campus,”
said Arredondo. “Especially for the students
whose families live far away or are not able to
come visit them that often and maybe don’t
have a great sense of what your day-to - day is.”
One student who falls into that category is
freshman health and human sciences major
See Family Weekend | Page 3
«Till
Del Rey Players present Shakespeare
classic in Bollywood style
Kevin Halladay-Glynn | Del Rey Players
Sophomore dance major Abbi Samson, as the fairy Puck, spies on junior theatre arts major
Jessica Long in the Del Rey Players' Bollywood version of "A Midsummer Night's Dream." The
play will premiere in Del Rey Theatre tonight and run for the next two weekends.
Lecture on education
kicks off weekly series
The L.A. school district
Superintendent joined the LMU
community for a conversation.
Kassi Stephenson
Contributor
@LALoyolan
The Forecast L.A. Lecture Series
began Tuesday, Feb. 4, in the Ahmanson
Auditorium. Political science professor
Fernando Guerra, who directs the Center
for the Study of Los Angeles, led a
lecture about education reform. He was
joined by L.A. Unified School District
Superintendent )ohn Deasy and LMU’s
Dean of School of Education Shane
Martin.
About a hundred students filed into the
lecture room, joined by some staff and
faculty, filling the room to capacity.
Many of the students in the room were
required to attend the event for a class
or specific major. Junior education major
Courtney Krail explained, “In our class,
we’re focusing on changes happening in
local schools and how that is supposed to
affect us as teachers.”
Guerra began the lecture by introducing
the two speakers. An LMU alumnus and
proud father of an LMU graduate, Deasy
received his Ph.D. from the University of
Louisville.
After graduating, he became a teacher
and then principal of a school in New
York, going on to work at the Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation, then a youth
prison center.
“Sounds like you can’t keep a job,”
Guerra joked to Deasy.
The lecture discussed several pressing
matters in the education system and how
these issues have transformed over the
years . One of the key issues both Deasy and
Martin addressed was the accessibility of
knowledge.
The goal is for every child to have access
to technology. “When the people who are
silent are able to be heard,” their voices are
his motive, Deasy said.
Another crucial issue the lecture
addressed was the benefit of cohesion
among people and ideas.
Having worked at LMU for about 20
years, Martin noted the University’s
successful shift from having previously
independent programs to more group-
based ones. He said that the LMU
community came together and shared
their visions, and all sorts of doors opened
up.
Martin attributes a great deal of this
success in these ventures to the basic
priwnciples in which LMU prides itself.
See Lecture | Page 3