LOYOLAN
Read one staffer’s
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EST. 1921
VOLUME 92 I ISSUE 33
Student frustrated
by DSS response
Student persisted in long
and lengthy pursuit of
disability accommodations.
Zaneta Pereira
Editor In Chief
@zanyzaneta
After 15 hours of continuous testing and
evaluation over winter break, junior art
history major Lauren Miller was presented
with a report that she found hard to take in
immediately. She had been diagnosed with a
learning disability.
Miller had been evaluated by the Help
Group - UCLA Neuropsychology Program,
and the report produced by the two program
psychologists Ani Khatchadourian and Philip
Levin laid out in meticulous detail their
diagnosis of Miller with “a Specific Learning
Disability in Reading, due to impaired
comprehension skills and fluency.”
According to the report, this disability
is distinct from dyslexia and is “a separate
subtype of reading disorder that is due to
impairments in reading comprehension
often associated with oral language skills and
specific patterns of cognitive strengths and
weaknesses.”
Despite the evaluation confirming her own
expectations, it took Miller some time to
adjust to the feet that her lifelong struggles in
the classroom now had a formal explanation.
“It took me a minute to digest it, but then I
was like, ‘Okay, this is what it is, now I have
the proof that’s going to help me get the tools I
need to improve at school,’ ” she said.
However, after submitting her request for
accommodations and the UCLA report to
LMU’s Disability Support Services office
(DSS) at the beginning of the Spring semester,
Miller was surprised to be informed through
a letter from Priscilla Levine, director of
DSS, that “although your testing does show
some processing limitations, in the absence
of real life limitations, a disability cannot be
established.”
As a result, Miller’s request for the six
academic accommodations recommended
by the UCLA report - extended time on
exams, separate testing environment, use of
computer and calculator, priority seating,
permission to audio -record lecture and note¬
taking services - was not approved.
According to Levine, in order for DSS to
approve accommodations for a student,
“There has to be a history of accommodation
. . . [and] there has to be a discrepancy between
their abilities versus their achievement."
Prior to her testing in December 2013,
Miller had never been formally diagnosed
with a learning disorder and thus did not
have a history of accommodation during her
secondary education. According to Miller,
this was because “getting a test, like the one
I did at UCLA was as expensive as it is today,
which is $2,500.”
Additionally, as a continuing student,
24 -year- old Miller is several years older
than the average LMU undergraduate
student. As noted in the letter of appeal that
Khatchadourian, the UCLA psychologist,
wrote for her, Miller “comes from a
generation of students with disabilities
who did not routinely receive such
accommodations through schools as has
become legally mandated and implemented
in more recent years, precluding her ability
to provide documentation of history of
accommodations.”
DSS has a formal appeal process for students
who are displeased with the decisions of the
office. As Levine explained, “We never deny
a student an accommodation; we send them
a letter and in that letter we let them know
that, at this time, documentation doesn’t
support the request, but we would like you to
provide us with so-and-so documentation
and we’ll have it re-reviewed. And often
times, in the re-review process, they receive
the accommodation.”
In the letter sent to Miller Levine asked
that she provide DSS with “earlier academic
records, including standardized test
scores, that demonstrate you have been
at a disadvantage. Reports from tutoring,
high school transcripts or letters explaining
unofficial accommodation would all be
See DSS | Page 3
Library packed in
midst of midterms
Caroline Burt | Loyolan
Senior political science major Nicole Zapata was one of many students to settle in at
the William H. Hannon Library one evening this week. Various classes are finishing
up with midterm exams and papers before Spring Break next week.
Career fair presents
varied opportunities
Emilia Shelton | Loyolan
The first floor of University Hall was bustling with students and company representatives
Tuesday at Convo hour for Career Development Services' Career Expo. All students were
welcome to mingle with various companies in pursuit of job opportunities.
Kairos is 'Gods time
Last weekend, students got
away to Lake Arrowhead for
a spiritual retreat experience.
AN Swenson
News Editor
@aliswenson
In the heart of midterm season, many
students are wondering if there are
enough hours in the day to get everything
done. However, 42 LMU students opted
to forgo their cell phones, their campus
obligations and their busy schedules last
weekend to live on “God’s time” for two
days, taking part in LMU’s 13th Kairos
retreat.
Thirty-five student participants and
seven student leaders attended the retreat
in Lake Arrowhead over the weekend,
leaving Friday afternoon and returning
Sunday. A peer- led program rooted in
Ignatian spirituality and Catholicism,
Kairos, which translates as “God’s time,”
is meant for high school and college
students. It intends for them to take
time to focus on themselves, the other
individuals alongside them and God.
Five years ago, when he came to LMU,
Director of Campus Ministry Fr. fames
Erps, S.J. brought Kairos to the University
because “he had seen how powerfully the
retreat affects students,” according to
Christine Nangle Koehl, director of the
Kairos retreat program at LMU.
Koehl elaborated on the connection
between Campus Ministry and Kairos,
saying “Kairos really encompasses the
mission of Campus Ministry, which is
to belong, to become and then most
importantly, to believe. And it’s based on
the spirituality of St. Ignatius of Loyola.
And so it really serves students time and
time again in profound, impactful and
life-changing ways. “
Since Koehl took the job as retreat
director four years ago, over 400 students
have attended the retreat, and about 80
students have participated as leaders.
Koehl explained the ways in which
Kairos is distinct from the other retreats
that LMU offers, such as the First Year
Retreat and the Senior Retreat.
“The retreat is a little bit different from
other retreats because it really invites
and provides students with space to be
their truly authentic self,” said Koehl.
“Students do tend to be more vulnerable
on Kairos than other retreats.”
The structure of Kairos is centered
on a series of talks throughout the
See Kairos | Page 2
