Maroon Dec. 9, 2022 Issue

THE MAROON

SGA President vetoes flea market

By Ava Acharya aaachary@my.loyno.edu @avaallene

Adele Colson, a Loyola psychology senior and student government senator for the arts and sciences, was excited to begin planning Loyola’s Flea Market, in which students have an opportunity to sell their own work and fundraise for so cial causes. Colson said she assumed the event would become an annual tradition because last year’s flea market was “the largest (SGA) event of the year.”

She said this excitement vanished as Loyola’s Student Government Associa tion President, Stephanie Oblena, vetoed Colson’s legislation, effectively eliminat ing SGA funding for the flea market.

Oblena said her reasoning behind her decision was based on her understand ing that any profit made from the flea market would not be going directly back to the student population.

Oblena further said that the flea mar ket “didn’t feel like a priority” because it would not directly benefit students.

Last year’s flea market served as a fundraising event for the student hard ship fund, which donates money direct ly to students in need. This year, Colson

planned on using the event to support both a recent Loyola graduate, named Ella Blue, dealing with extensive medical expenses, and an experimental course at Loyola, called “Futbol/Soccer: Cultural Texts and Contexts,” which focuses on supporting the Tzunun’ Ya’ Youth Soccer Academy in Guatemala.

“If there is going to be a profit, then it needs to go back to the students,” Oblena said. She further said that the flea mar ket would not directly impact students because significant funds would be do nated to the soccer academy rather than some aspect of the student body.

Colson said that she disagreed with this reasoning, as student artists would be able to profit directly from the sale of their work and funds raised by the sale of tables would go towards the student ser vice learning project. Colson further said that last year’s flea market was very suc cessful, and each student vendor made $200-$400 from selling their work.

According to Colson, her flea market bill asked for a $1,500 allocation and was passed unanimously in the student senate. Colson said that this bill was only struck down by Oblena’s veto. Addition ally, Colson did not find out about this veto until two weeks after the fact, and

roughly two hours before the next sen ate meeting. Colson further said that Oblena’s email informing the senate that the flea market bill had been vetoed did not include Oblena’s reasoning behind her decision to veto the bill.

“I had no room to make amendments, so that we could vote on it that night,” Colson said. She further said that, in this next senate session, several senators abstained from voting on the bill even though it had previously passed unani mously.

Colson said she found this especially shocking, as the previous flea market bill was written with the intention to create an annual event on campus.

“I was completely blindsided,” Colson said.

Oblena said that she was open to approving Colson’s legislation, if it was amended to more directly benefit stu dents. For instance, Oblena said she sug gested that the event’s profits go towards the Student Hardship Fund, as they did last year.

In response to this, Colson said that she offered a revised version of the bill which would lower the cost of renting tables, effectively lowering the amount of money donated to the soccer acade

my. Oblena, once again, vetoed this bill because she failed to see how the event would directly benefit students.

“I am confused,” Colson said, as she had previously been told during SGA meetings that they had around $2,000 left in the budget for the fall 2022 semes ter, and were looking to use that money before the semester ended.

After the flea market bill was vetoed for a second time, SGA sent out an email which read that they no longer had the funds to support this event, as they had only $200 left in the budget.

Colson also said that during this time period, Oblena was able to pass four pieces of legislation.

Colson further said that there is an overall lack of transparency with SGA’s budget, and it is difficult for senators to know exactly how funds are being spent. Colson said she has since asked SGA’s leadership to use a line item budget, in which each monetary allocation is clear ly laid out to ensure future clarity.

“The budget right now is not compre hensive,” Colson said. “Because there is no line item.”

Students react to work study raise

Lack of police cause parade route changes

Women’s basketball remains undefeated

Photos courtesy of Macie Batson & Adele Colson

SGA president confident in presidential search process

By Kloe Witt kgwitt@my.loyno.edu

Loyola’s search for a new university president is still underway, and despite only one in-person meeting so far, Stu dent Government Association President, Stephanie Oblena, said she is confident in the presidential search committee.

The search began in February of 2022, when former Loyola President Tania Tetlow resigned to become president of Fordham University in New York. In her absence, former Loyola Vice President for Mission and Identity, the Rev. Justin Daffron, S.J., stepped in as the interim university president.

Oblena, an environmental studies junior, said that the search committee asked her to step in as a representative for the student body during the search process.

“It was comforting for me to see how receptive and eager the other committee members were to hear my input,” Oble na said.

Rachel Hoorman, Loyola’s vice presi dent of marketing and communications, said that her role in the search is to keep the Loyola community informed over the process, but that the process as a whole is confidential, so updates on po tential candidates will be limited.

Hoorman said that the school is look ing for someone “who will ensure that Loyola University New Orleans realizes an incredibly bright future.”

The most recent update came from an email sent to all staff and students on Nov. 9, which said that the search com mittee’s website was up and running.

“The successful candidate will build on the university’s recent progress, ex ecute our bold plans for the future, and bring their own big ideas to move us even further forward,” Hoorman said.

Oblena said that she believes in the committee’s process because by taking their time, they would be able to com pare candidates and ensure they make the right choice.

“It gives the search committee the opportunity to consider how candidates compare to the profile and compare strengths and weaknesses,” Oblena said.

Oblena added that, as a student, she brings a new perspective to the search committee on what qualities she feels the student body will appreciate in the new president.

“I think it’s important that a president knows how to interact with students and communicate effectively,” Oblena said. “The future president should be empa thetic and patient but also financially literate.”

While some students participated in the stakeholders’ meetings in early Sep tember, Oblena said she will be the only student actively taking part in the meet ings and interviews moving forward. She emphasized that the ability to form a re lationship with all students is one of the most important qualities in a new leader of the university.

“I think as a student it’s super easy to let the title university president itself cre ate distance, but if there’s no relationship with the students, you can’t exactly ex pect us to have trust or feel safe,” Oblena said. “Loyola isn’t like any other Louisiana school, or even Jesuit institution, and I think it’s abso lutely crucial that this individual under stands we're a little bit peculiar, widely diverse, and all experiencing these ob stacles together.”

A step in the right direction

Work study students say pay raise is good but not enough

By Macie Batson mmbatson@my.loyno.edu @maciembats

Loyola students said they felt “en couraged” and “ecstatic” when the Office of Student Employment announced Loyola’s work study pay being raised.

Loyola's federal work study pay will be raised to $10 per hour from $7.25, and community-based work study pay will be raised to $13 per hour from $10 early next year, according to student employ ment. Student employment also said that most Federal Work Study awards will be increased by $400 from $1,600 to $2,000.

Louisiana has the lowest possible minimum wage in the country, which may surprise some out-of-state Loyola students when they receive their first paycheck.

Deshaun Douglas, a computer infor mation systems sophomore and Me dia Services assistant, said that he feels encouraged that Loyola's pay is being raised as it shows that Loyola does not ignore students and the financial aid that is needed. However, he said more should be done.

“While I’ll admit that I personally feel that $12 an hour should be the minimum and that there should be more energy working towards financial assistance on all notions for students, as a student, I’m satisfied to an extent,” Douglas said.

Student Employment Coordinator Emir Bailey said the pay increase will allow students to earn their award at a

faster, more reasonable pace.

“We want to ensure that students have a viable path to award comple tion so they can feasibly earn all the funds that are made available to them for earning,” Bailey said.

Bailey added that student em ployment has put aside funds from the Federal Work Study budget in the event that stu dents use up their award, and that work study super visors would be able to request more funds for their employees. He also said that additional funds can be provided if the student still has financial need as de termined by the Office of Financial Aid.

Morgan Love, a psychology sopho more and tutor at Holy Name of Jesus El ementary School, said she believes that no student deserves to work for such a low rate to pay for school. She added that as Loyola continues to raise the price of tuition, the institution should ensure that student and faculty incomes are ad justed to reflect this increase.

“The wage could definitely be higher. Students work extra hard to continue working during school and they deserve the highest pay for their sacrifices,” Love said. “Working during school is not ide

al. Students deserve their free time after class. They deserve to not be in an office all day after being at a desk all day.”

Bailey said that student employ ment commends every student who commits to work ing while in school.

“Being a scholar and student em ployee is a very hard thing to ac complish,” Bailey said. “We applaud anyone who takes on this responsibil ity as it takes a cer tain level of com mitment and balance to manage the two worlds.”

This pay increase will have a positive impact on student morale, Bailey said, as students are more likely to earn the en tirety of their Federal Work Study award and take care of the necessary financial obligations that they set out to.

“Students are excited to work a wage that allows them to have a more bal anced schedule with their studies,” Bai ley said.

Glendis Lacan-Sontay, a biology sophomore who works as desk staff at Monroe Library, said he is delighted about the wage increase and that many of his peers have been asking for it for a long time.

“The pay raise is definitely a great motive for students to stay on campus to work and get the experience from it as well,” Lacan-Sontay said. “Many face financial struggles such as myself, in which the minimum pay could not help as much as we want, so it’s great to hear that’ll change a bit,”

For the fall semester, Bailey said stu dent employment implemented a new process in which students can submit an appeal to determine if they are eligible for Federal Work Study if not previously awarded.

Bailey recommends students fill out the appeal form and check their finan cial aid packet or LORA Self-Service for rewards. Bailey added that The Office of Financial Aid has been “extremely responsive” to students' inquiries about their Federal Work Study status.

However, according to Bailey, com pleting this form does not guarantee that it will be awarded. Rather, Bailey said it allows the Office of Financial Aid to de termine whether there is available fund ing and additional financial need based on the respective student's Free Applica tion for Federal Student Aid information and overall current award package.

“We want to see more students work on campus, knowing that the connec tions you build with our departments serve as excellent mentoring and growth opportunities,” Bailey said.

More information about Federal Work Study is available on the Federal Work Study Program Page on Loyola’s website.

“Working during school is not ideal. Students deserve their free time after class. They deserve to not be in an office all day after being at a desk all day”

— Morgan Love Psychology sophomore, tutor at Holy Name of Jesus Elementary School

A photo illustration features a student with money in their back pocket. Work study students will now be paid higher wages. Anna Hummel/ The Maroon.

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Krewes react to shortened Mardi Gras routes

By Macie Batson mmbatson@my.loyno.edu @maciembats

As the Crescent City prepares for its biggest celebration after the holidays, Carnival krewes and businesses are hav ing to brace themselves for the effects of parade routes shortening for the second year in a row.

Short staffing in the New Orleans Police Depart ment, which came about due to the COVID-19 pan demic, has led to the changes in the route. Parade goers and float riders alike are figuring out how to keep the fun go ing throughout the season regardless.

Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s Mardi Gras committee an nounced in October that parade routes would be curtailed in 2023 as they had been in 2022, citing a lack of manpower to line the routes.

Uptown parades will begin on Napo

leon Avenue and Prytania Street rather than Napoleon Street and Tchoupitou las Street, a nine-block cut that effec tively bypasses Magazine Street. This has caused krewes to adapt and plan accordingly, and has urged businesses along Magazine Street to plan for a loss.

The Krewe of Tucks' parade route cut has frustrated Lloyd Frischhertz, cap tain and founder of the group. Krewe of Tucks has been parading since 1969, when it started out as a group of Loyola students.

“We absolute ly want those six blocks back,” Frischhertz said.

“There’s no reason to cut ours short.”

Frischhertz add ed that, while he recognizes the po lice force's current staffing constraint, the route Tucks takes does not re quire as much po lice surveillance as the lengthier routes do.

“That is a family area,” Frischhertz said. “The parade starts at noon, no one is

drinking, no one is drunk, and the crowd is never out of control.”

Captain of the Krewe of Freret and Loyola alumnus Bobby Hjortsberg sec onded Frischhertz. He said that while the route shorten ing is understand able and that the number one priori ty is for everyone to be safe, it’s difficult to not feel discour aged.

“It's disappoint ing because you put so much time, money, effort, and everything into pro ducing the parade, so you want to be out there as long as possible,” Hjortsberg said.

The Krewe of Freret has been rolling since 2011, when it was established by seven Loyola graduates who wanted to “preserve the Mardi Gras tradition, unify enthusiastic young professionals, support local industry, and infuse vigor into Carnival while revitalizing the Freret corridor,” their website said.

Hjortberg argued that there might be some areas that are going to be overpop

ulated due to shorter routes, closer to Napoleon and St. Charles avenues but that he's confident it won’t have a big ef fect on safety.

“There's no one in the world bet ter at dealing with crowds than New Orleans,” Hjortsberg said. “We've got that down to a science, if nothing else.”

Mass commu nication professor and next year’s Krewe of Freret King Ty Lawson said that the short ening of the route didn’t bother him much last year, but said that was due to “post-Covid excite ment” to have Mardi Gras rolling again. He said he doesn’t think it will be a prob lem next year either.

“If this year was any indication, I think it will be fine,” Lawson said. “Mardi Gras is organized chaos that we absolutely love.”

Lawson said that he assumes the pa rade routes will stay shortened until the NOPD shortage is addressed, but that won’t stop krewes from celebrating.

French President visits NOLA

By Kincaid Leger rkleger@my.loyno.edu

Emmanuel Macron, president of the French Republic, visited New Orleans to discuss the climate and celebrate the cultural connection between New Orle ans and France.

The French President met with Lou isianan politicians including Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards and New Orleans Mayor, LaToya Cantrell on a range of topics including a green energy agree ment, Louisiana and France’s shared his tory, and the expansion of foundations supporting French language education in Louisiana.

This marked the first visit to the Cres cent City by a sitting French president in nearly 50 years.

After being greeted by Edwards, Ma cron went to Jackson Square to give a news conference with Cantrell, Lieu tenant Governor Nungesser, and other current and past Louisiana politicians.

According to New Orleans native Marigny Hemenway who met the pres ident, Macron and his wife Brigitte Ma cron enjoyed their reception and were excited to be in New Orleans.

“They kept talking about their arrival at the airport with the brass band and Mardi Gras Indians,” Hemenway said. “They truly enjoyed themselves, and for myself, it was truly an experience I will never forget.”

A Climate Agreement

Later that afternoon, the French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna, and Louisiana Gov ernor John Bel Edwards, signed a Mem orandum of Understanding on climate, overseen by Macron.

According to an official press release from the Office of the Governor, “The MOU establishes the intention to in crease the respective parties’ presence in the energy sector with an emphasis on clean energy, and formally creates a French technical expert position for the energy transition to be based in Louisi ana.”

France is Louisiana’s second largest foreign job creator and already accounts for over $1 billion in trade each year, the press release said. According to the MOU, both the French and Louisianan Government will seek to further pro mote mutual economic investment.

The agreement cites Louisiana’s unique historical connection to France, and the dire threat of climate change to Louisiana as a rationale for mutual cooperation in addressing future clean energy developments.

Macron’s Speech Promises New French Language Programs

Macron gave a speech in French at the New Orleans Museum of Art in a private venue later that evening. The president told guests that the shared language and history of New Orleans and France gave him a sense of "familiar difference” and of home.

Macron praised francophone groups in Louisiana for giving rise to the unique cultural milieu of the state.

He also connected the history of these groups to recent endeavors to re vitalize the language.

“It's disappointing be cause you put so much time, money, effort, and everything into producing the parade, so you want to be out there as long as possi ble."

— Lloyd Frischhertz Captain and founder of the Krewe of Tucks

“Mardi Gras is the greatest free show on earth for a reason. No one is going to let anything ‘rain on our parades.’”

— Ty Lawson Mass communication professor & Krewe of Freret King 2023

The SassyRacs Krewe rolls during the Tucks parade on Feb. 26 as a police officer guards the street. Parades like Tucks will continue to decrease the length of their routes due to a lack of police presence. Gabrielle Korein/The Maroon

Loyola flea market raises funds

Flea market proceeds will go to Loyola alumni and Guatemalan soccer academy

By Macie Batson mmbatson@my.loyno.edu

“I’m looking around and I’m seeing a community of people coming together to support our artists, and my heart feels so full,” said Loyola psychology senior Adele Colson, who organized the flea market.

Colson said she worked all semester with art history senior Mica Desimone to put together the Loyno Flea Market, and despite some funding issues, she was able to pull it off. and the Loyola Costume Shop, who sponsored the event, hosted over 40 vendors and musi cians last Friday to showcase their work.

“This is why we need arts programs. This is why we need community sup port, because our artists are here and we show up and show out,” said Colson.

The event's main purpose was to raise funds for a student service learning proj ect for an experimental course called “Futbol/Soccer: Cultural Texts & Con texts,” which focuses on the Tzunun' Ya' Youth Soccer Academy in Guatemala, according to Colson.

The event was also organized to raise funds for Ella Blue, a recent Loyola grad uate who has been burdened by exten sive medical expenses.

Kateri Shimansky, an environmental biology junior in the class organizing the fundraiser said that the class has been raising money all semester for the Tzu nun' Ya' Youth Soccer Academy.

The student service learning project

will take place in Guatemala next year, with students working with the soccer academy to build soccer fields for dis advantaged youth who cannot afford to play in organized soccer leagues.

Art prints, handmade crochet work, vintage clothing shops, customized jew elry, and holiday cards were among the items being sold at the flea market.

Many Loyola artists also performed live, including Aubrey Jane's debut, folk singer Tabitha Marie, solo vocalist Von La Rae, and a dance performance by Loyola's K-Pop Dance Club.

Kaci Thomassie, costume director for Loyola's theatre department, ran two tables this year at the flea market, one of them being the donation table for Ella Blue, and the other selling vintage or no longer useful items in Loyola’s theatre department.

Thomassie said that they asked all of the vendors who were participating at the flea market to donate a blue item to Blue’s fundraising table, to help cover the cost of her medical bills. She further said it was exciting to see the community's participation at the event.

“It’s so great to see all these amazing ly talented students come together and share their work,” Thomassie said. “Espe cially this time of the year, it’s magical,” she said.

Colson said she is graduating next spring, but hopes that she can leave the legacy of the flea market for future gen erations to come.

Justice Madison sells crochet accessories under their brand "Bitch n' Stitch." The Loyola flea market had over 40 vendors in attendance. Sophia Maxim/The Maroon

Aubrey Jane performs at the Loyola Flea Market on Dec. 2, 2022. The event had nine live acts, ranging from dances to live band performances. Sophia Maxim/The Maroon

Students stand behind the vendor booth dedicated to Loyola alumni Ella Blue. A portion of the funds will be donated to Ella Blue for medical expenses. Sophia Maxim/The Maroon

A student checks out earrings at one of the vendor booths at the flea market. The flea market was sponsored by the Loyola Costume Shop Sophia Maxim/The Maroon

Pictured is Loyola Costume Shop's booth full of holiday decorations and gifts for sale. Art prints, handmade crochet, vintage clothing, customized jewelry, and holiday cards were among the items being sold at the flea market. Sophia Maxim/The Maroon

BALL OUT

Women's basketball hits top 10 ranking

By Matthew Richards mlricha2@my.loyno.edu

The women's basketball team has had a successful first half of the season, highlighted by a ranking of No. 10 in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics top 25 polls.

This is their highest ranking since March of 2015. The team opened the season with a 84-68 upset victory over Southeastern University in Florida, who were ranked No. 6 at the time.

“I’d say that we’ve done really well so far this year,” said head coach Kellie Kennedy. “This team is very experienced

and very talented and has been playing really good basketball. We’ve got some really great young women on the team right now, and I think our ranking is a reflection of that,”

The roster is full of veteran players this season, as their eight senior and fifth year players have led the team through their strong start.

“They’re a really smart group of wom en, and their knowledge of what we’re trying to do and what I expect from them has all kind of seamlessly been imple mented,” Kennedy said. “And that really gives us the flexibility to add new things to our system and have the players pick

it up easily because of the foundational knowledge that they already have.”

Senior forward Sandra Cannady has led the team averaging 17.4 points and 11 rebounds per game, good for fourth and third place in the Southern States Athletic Conference.

“Because we had so few changes on the roster, I know who I’m playing with, where they’re going to be, what they’re going to do,” Cannady said. “And because we have that chemistry and we’re all on the same page, it’s allowed us all to get better.”

Those statistics have also earned Cannady two Conference Player of the

Week awards this season.

“It felt great, honestly,” Cannady said. “It’s the first time I’ve received the award in my career, so it was pretty special. I changed my approach and mentality this year because I didn’t finish last sea son the way I wanted to, and that award helped validate that I’m headed toward where I want to be and help my teammates win.”

The team is heading into conference play with the goal of defending their regular season conference title from last season, but are making sure to maintain focus on each game in front of them, ac cording to Kennedy.

“Our mindset isn’t a whole lot differ ent heading into conference play than it was at the beginning of the year,” Kenne dy said. “We’re still taking it one game at a time. The team has a focused mindset of what they want to do, where they want to be, and what it takes to get there. We know that there’s pressure on us to de fend our title, but we’re used to that. We view the pressure as a privilege because of what we were able to do to get it.”

The Wolf Pack will start the second half of the season with a matchup against Faulkner University in Montgomery on Jan. 3, and will return home on Jan. 7 to face Talladega College.

Men's basketball has strong first half of season

By Matthew Richards mlricha2@my.loyno.edu

The men’s basketball team began the year with the main goal of keeping their title as national champions. They boast a 10-1 record currently and are riding a 20-game winning streak in the Southern States Athletic Conference as confer ence play ramps up after winter break.

“I think the season has been great,” said head coach Donald Reyes. “We’re still kind of learning each other as a group with all the new guys we have, and working to become a more cohesive unit.”

Loyola won its fourth consecutive season opener in October with a score of 101-93 against Clinton College. Jalen Galloway played a key role in the win as he scored a career-high of 40 points and 12 rebounds during the game.

The rest of the first half of the season has gone well for the Wolf Pack, as they were able to stretch their National Asso ciation of Intercollegiate Athletics-lead ing winning-streak to 28 games before losing their first game since Jan. 17 of this year. The schedule included three major tests for the team in Division I opponents Southeastern Louisiana University, the University of Southern Mississippi and the University of Louisiana, which Reyes said has done wonders for the team.

“It is the highest level of college bas ketball and unfortunately, we weren't fully healthy for all three games,” Reyes said. “That really allowed for other play ers to step up, compete, and test them selves against elite level competition.”

Galloway has led the team this year in points and rebounds per game, averag ing 19.7 and 6.8 in both categories which placed him No. 3 in the SSAC in scoring, and earned him three out of the first five Conference Player of the Week awards.

“We’ve really been growing and learn ing how to play together this year,” Gallo way said. “We hang out a lot off the court, and those relationships carry over onto the court, so I'm feeling confident head ing into Christmas break as to where things can go for this team.”

The second half of the season will be exclusively conference matchups, and Reyes said the Wolf Pack is looking for ward to defending their conference title.

The team is currently undefeated at 4-0 in conference play, Reyes said. “We had a chance to see some of the teams in our conference play when we went to Panama City for a tournament earlier this season, and I feel confident that we will be where we need to be as a group in order to be successful, win our confer ence, and also make it back into the top 25 of the NAIA rankings.”

The two top teams from the SSAC get a bid to nationals, Galloway said.

“We really want to solidify our spot, so that places a lot of importance on each conference game,” he said.

The Wolf Pack will begin the second half of their season in Montgomery, Al abama on Jan. 3 with a matchup against No. 7 Faulkner University before return ing home to The Den on Jan. 7 to face Talladega College in a rematch of last season’s NAIA National Championship.

Senior forward Jalen Galloway shoots a free throw at the game against William Carey on Dec. 1. Galloway has led the team this season in points. Ryan Talley/The Maroon

FRANCE: French President visits

NOLA

Though he did not make any specif ic promises, Macron announced that new foundations meant to promote the French language will be added to al ready-existing programs in Louisiana, funded in part by the French govern ment.

Since the 1960s, French language re vitalization measures, pioneered by the state-run Council for the Development of French in Louisiana, have relied heav ily on French funding and French teach ers who came to Louisiana to teach, ac cording to Nola.com.

After further discussing the history of French speaking communities in Loui siana, Macron ended his speech by de claring "vive La France, vive la Louisiane, et laissez les bons temps rouler!"

Macron meets with Musk

Macron’s visit to New Orleans came at the tail-end of his larger visit to Ameri ca, which began last Tuesday.

Macron tackled a range of issues, from the war in Ukraine to the declara tion of the baguette as a UNESCO in tangible cultural heritage, and met with high-ranking officials including Presi dent Joe Biden, said French newspaper Le Monde.

While in New Orleans, Macron also met with American billionaire business man Elon Musk, according to the As sociated Press. Macron discussed with Musk, the majority shareholder in elec tric vehicle company Tesla, the produc tion and distribution of electric vehicles as a part of France’s green energy goals.

The state-owned French news agen cy France 24 reported that Macron had voiced concerns about content moder ation on Twitter, the social media plat form Musk purchased earlier this year.

After their meeting, Macron tweeted “transparent user policies, significant re inforcement of content moderation and protection of freedom of speech: efforts have to be made by Twitter to comply with European regulations.”

Les Bons Temps

Macron finished his trip to the Big Easy with a late-night venture down Frenchman’s Street, alongside former Mayor of New Orleans and Senior ad visor to President Joe Biden, Mitch Landrieu, Nola.com said.

While Macron was walking, he was serenaded by a local trombonist, Lisa Q. Mount, playing the French national an them, “La Marseillaise,” Nola.com said.

Macron also enjoyed live music at three clubs he visited, as well as watched at least two street performances. After visiting the Royal Frenchman Hotel, Ma cron wished goodbye to Landrieu and drove away on Dauphine Street, to the shouts of “laissez les bons temps rouler” from the crowds.

VETO: SGA President vetoes flea market

Continued from page 1

“The budget right now is not compre hensive,” Colson said. “Because there is no line item.”

According to Oblena, SGA’s budget was lower for the fall of 2022 compared to previous semesters. Oblena said that the decrease in the budget is a result of overall low enrollment.

Colson said that the lack of organiza tion, specifically within SGA’s budgetary allocations, makes her less inclined to continue working within student gov ernment, especially because senators are not paid for their work and contribu tions.

“It made me ques tion, ‘is this really what I want to do?’” Colson said.

This lack of clarity is specific to the new SGA administration, Colson said. She said that in the past she felt that it was much clearer how money was being spent.

ble-majoring in mass communication and music industry studies, also feels that there is a lack of representation of the arts in SGA, specifically as it pertains to student musicians.

“I went into it wanting to do some thing for the school of music and media,” Bernier said about her decision to join SGA this past semester.

She said a part of her goal was to expand the music industry studies pro gram into a broader entertainment stud ies program.

“I feel like I was thrown into it without much support,” Bernier said.

In the past semes ter she said she has not had the oppor tunity to present any of the legislation she initially joined SGA to pursue.

them to hold the flea market on Dec. 2, 2022.

Colson described the recent flea mar ket as “a smashing success!”

She added that the event served the entire community, by giving everyone a place to support each other and mean ingful social causes.

“I’ll be graduating in the spring and hope that with enough support we can leave the legacy of Loyno Flea Market for future generations,” she said.

Oblena said there is certainly a need for more events which showcase the arts.

“I’ve definitely seen the need for these events on campus, I just think there are different ways to go about it,” she said.

contributed to this report.

Loyola

Oblena credited this lack of clarity to a general misunderstanding of how allo cation within SGA works. She added that both she and her vice president, Viviana Alvarez, have taken a pay cut in order to help even out SGA’s budget.

Colson said that the whole situation is reflective of an overall lack of repre sentation for arts students, and student artists, within SGA.

“Thrown into it”

Colson is not alone in this feeling. Chloe Bernier, a Loyola junior dou

Bernier saw the flea market as an op portunity for all arts students, including students involved in both visual arts and music, as last year the flea market offered a venue for music stu dents to perform and gain an audience.

Oblena acknowledged that musi cians and artists have less representa tion in SGA, when compared to other areas of study. She also said that her ad ministration is exploring ways to boost arts involvement in student government, but it can be difficult as often these stu dents, particularly musicians, are very busy and have many competing time commitments.

Colson, along with other organizers, were able to receive funding from the Loyno Costume Shop which allowed

Macie Batson and Patrick Hamil ton

“I’ll be graduating in the spring and hope that with enough support we can leave the legacy of Loyno Flea Market for future generations.”

— Adele Colson

psychology senior and student government senator for the arts and sciences

Who should lead the pack?

What we want to see in Loyola's next president

With finals and the end of the fall semes ter approaching, it's easy to lose sight of the university's ongoing search for its next pres ident.

Since Tania Tetlow’s move to Fordham University as its 33rd president, the Rev. Jus tin Daffron, S.J., has served as Loyola’s inter im president until a permanent replacement is found. But what does Loyola expect of the new president?

As stated on the university’s presidential search website, the kind of president they are looking for is one who is “an inspirational and engaging leader who understands the cur rent higher education market, who has ex tensive leadership and financial experience, who will be a highly effective fundraiser, and who will ensure that Loyola University New Orleans realizes an incredibly bright future.”

From an administrative standpoint, all of that is fine and dandy. Heck, from a student’s perspective, some of this makes sense. Hav ing someone who understands what higher education means and how to provide it to more people would be fantastic qualities to see in a school leader. But, as students, we have even more streamlined thoughts as to what traits should be prioritized in our future leader.

The top characteristic we would like to see in our next president is someone who

is down to earth and accessible. One of the best parts of having Daffron as our school’s interim president is how often he is seen walking around campus interacting with students. Whether it means going between meetings or seeing him playing with his dog, Parleaux, it has been nice to have a leader who has been visible and shown himself to be human.

Someone who is able to communicate effectively with the student body and com munity is a trait that is necessary for the next president. One thing that we can all agree on is that when Tetlow was president, there was always a new email from her to look at. The fact that she was so transparent with stu dents on what the administration was doing was one of her best traits as president.

Adaptability is another key trait we hope to see in our future president. With how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted Loyola over the past three years, it cannot be under stated how necessary the shift from in-per son to virtual learning was. However, it is also important to point out how rough the transition was for many of us, teachers and students alike. For professors, managing stu dents online and in-person was tough. For some students, virtual learning allowed for flexibility whenever circumstances arose such as mental health or personal situations,

but also presented new difficulties as they adapted to new styles of learning. As stated previously, we want the next president to communicate with us, but it is only a true conversation when both parties listen and respond.

These months in a post-pandemic world have provided us with greater precedence to work with in the event that anything similar happens again. However, it would still be im portant for this school to have someone who can adapt to extremes like this in order to en sure we get the best education possible. After all, that is what we are paying for.

Hiring someone who will be able to pro vide an educational experience like no oth er by being transparent, down-to-earth, and adaptable will benefit and expand our stu dent body.

With all of these characteristics in mind, we would like to make it clear to the univer sity that, above all, we want a president who reflects the student body. We don’t want you to default to tradition and put another Jesu it priest in charge unless they are someone who takes diversity, equity, and inclusion seriously. We need someone who can repre sent and advocate for the unique communi ty that we have built here at Loyola and will help to cultivate an even better future.

HOWLS & GROWLS

HOWL to pointy spoons GROWL to air dryers

HOWL to the holidays GROWL to lactose intolerance

HOWL to pizza crusts GROWL to electric bills HOWL to the baby kangaroo GROWL to hot Decembers

EDITORIAL BOARD

Macie Batson & Jackie Galli Editors-inChief

Cristo Dulom Managing Editor for Print

Ava Acharya Managing Editor for Digital

Devin Cruice Maroon Minute Executive Producer

Maleigh Crespo Design Chief

Gabrielle Korein Photo Editor

Patrick Hamilton News Editor

Abigail Schmidt Life & Times Editor

Aron Boehle Worldview Editor

TBA Sports Editor

Lance Longo Opinion and Editorial Editor

Mia Oliva Reviews Editor

TBA Equity & Inclusion Officer

Sofia Luciano Senior Staff Writer

Torrie Shuff Senior Staff Photographer

Heather Rabassa Copy Editor

Violet Bucaro Copy Editor

EDITORIAL POLICY

The editorial on this page represents the majority opinions of The Maroon’s editorial board and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Loyola University. Letters and columns reflect the opinions of the authors and not necessarily those of The Maroon’s editorial board.

The Maroon does not represent the opinion of administration, staff and/or faculty members of Loyola.

Letters are subject to editing for length, grammar and style. Please limit submissions to 400 words. Submissions are due no later than 4 p.m. the Sunday before publication.

Please send all submissions —

The Maroon, 6363 St. Charles Ave., Box 64, New Orleans, LA 70118.

Email us your letters — letter@ loyno.edu.

Submissions may also be made online at www.loyolamaroon.com.

Abigail Schmidt/The Maroon

Only you can judge yourself

Gabriella Killett Outgoing Editor in Chief of The Maroon

I, like any person, have gone through difficulties in my life. In some cases, I’ve even overcome the unimaginable. This includes people having been ruthless ly mean to me - in a variety of spaces – throughout my childhood and early adulthood.

But for some reason, now, when I am the happiest I have ever been in my life, in a relationship in which my partner is 14 years older than me and I am help ing him to raise his 5- year-old son at 21 years old, I have been disrespected over and over again about my choice to engage in my relationship. Some people have even suggested to me that I’m be ing manipulated. I’m not.

Before this era of my life, I had been, and I felt sometimes like someone who had an eating disorder but who was be ing complimented on their weight loss: desperately sad but luckily able to hide it.

But now is not that. I am more sure of myself than I ever have been, and I am open about it. I am happy. I am safe. I am grounded. I am strong. I am powerful. Brave. Healthy. Professional. Intelligent. Successful. Sure. Absolutely, positively sure that I am doing the right thing.

So, I’m curious. Why is anyone con cerned about me when I’m happy but no one was quite as interested in my private life when I needed help?

If you think this is about you, it’s not. I promise. Really, it’s about each of us, including myself, actually, who think it’s okay to judge someone else’s reality or to try to guess someone else’s reasons they make any particular choice.

The world has made us so nervous and intimidated that age-gap relation ships or really anything out of the blue concerning major life decisions can only be exploitation or mistakes. And a 21-year-old person like myself who is making these decisions is often seen as a baby or a freak – and even by her own peers.

But I wish each of us asked just one question before judging the people around us: is this hurting anyone? If it’s

not, why don’t we look the other way?

I’m happy, and that’s all that matters, and that’s all that should matter to you, too, right?

I can travel wherever I want. I can meet whoever I want. I can eat whatev er I want, sing whatever I want, exercise however I want, raise whoever I want and most importantly, love whoever I want. And I can do all of these things with the people I adore most in the world, all while showing Oscar, the fiveyear-old, that generational trauma stops for my family with me.

Listen. I did the ‘hookup culture’ thing. I did the ‘long term high school relation ship’ thing. I did the ‘take time for myself’ thing, ‘make as many friends as possible’ thing, ‘make the relationship work at all costs’ thing, ‘spend all your time with your family’ thing, ‘go out by yourself’ thing, ‘come home late when you have to get up early’ thing. Even the ‘I have a paper due tomorrow, but I spent tonight on a person I am not actually physically attracted to’ thing. I’ve done the ‘let’s date because you’re nice’ thing, the ‘our last hook up was bad, but I’m lonely so I’m calling you tonight’ thing, the ‘spending all of your time with friends who don’t try to reach you when they know you’re depressed’ thing. The ‘I am going to do everything physically possible to get the people around me to like me’ thing.

And Nothing Ever Has Worked

Quite like my life does right now – in assuring that I am happy, healthy, and able to make an impact on the world around me.

I am stable. I am at peace. I am free. I am unapologetically allowed – within my own home and with a loving partner and with a sweet little one who looks up to me – to be me.

Finally, no matter what happens, or where we’re going, or why we’re going there, or how we’re going to get there or who we become in the process, I am allowed to exist – just as I am. With my family right there lifting me up. Waiting to catch me if I fall.

Doesn’t that sound beautiful? Doesn’t that sound like something I deserve? Well, it is.

But also, it might not be your version of peace, and you deserve whatever that looks like for you, too.

As long as you’re not hurting anyone including yourself and as long as you’re

working towards your goals and making your best guess as to what is going to get you there, you’re on track. And you are the only one who gets to decide who you become, or more so, who you unbe come.

Shed the past that is holding you back, release self-judgment, forget that people who are hurting will always have

something to say, and jump.

And for all those who are judging someone else’s life choices right now, I hope you get the courage to jump, too.

Because everyone deserves this free dom, and if I leave any kind of legacy here at Loyola as I round off my last se mester, I hope that sincerely it’s this: love isn’t supposed to hurt.

So follow the love that doesn’t hurt and even more so, follow the peace. Mine might not look like yours, and yours might not look like mine, but that is how it was always meant to be.

And That Is Okay.

No, the customer is not always right

Macie Batson Incoming Editor in Chief of The Maroon

Today's service workers are increas ingly being treated like crap. Why? To me, it appears that there is a power strug gle going on, in which customers, partic ularly those who have never worked in customer service, believe that service workers are inferior to them, making them easy targets for their rage.

To be blunt, the customer knows ab

solutely nothing about whatever they believe they know about your job. You were the one who was trained, you know the rules, you know the customs, and you most likely know what is right and wrong in the scenarios at hand. Have they read the manual? No. Have they been behind the cash register? No. And, finally, were they the ones who hired you? No.

With all of this in mind, there is no possible way that the customer can al ways be right, simply because they do not have the same knowledge of the way the establishment works the way that us service workers do. While custom er complaints, whatever they may be, should be treated seriously and fairly, service workers are often abused with this ideal that is considered to be a “good

practice.”

My interest in expressing this was sparked by, you guessed it, my current occupation as a manager in the service industry. I regularly witness bad cus tomers and have been a victim of their abuse. To be honest, it's difficult not to cry, scream, and yell all at once. It's tru ly incomprehensible to me that people are capable of treating someone who is only there to help with condescension. As a manager, I make it a point to remain calm and prioritize my coworkers and employees in situations involving obsti nate customers, not only because they are people I care about, but also because no one deserves to be treated the way some people treat service workers.

Some customers, I hate to say it, but

particularly the older generation, will treat employees, especially those who are younger, as if they are not actual peo ple. Whether the employee is right or not, the frequent outbursts from custom ers that we service workers witness on a daily basis are completely unnecessary and immature, and that enough makes them wrong.

Customers can be wrong. It is just a fact. Customers will be wrong, and when they are, they will sometimes act rude and violent and go as far as to threaten the employee. So, if management sides with these sorts of customers, it will al most certainly leave a bad taste in the employee's mouth, leading to the con clusion that there is a lack of confidence in them and, in turn, decrease retention

within that company. Employees need to feel supported first and foremost; there needs to be an established trust there, and then you can address custom er complaints as a team.

We should not be blamed for mistakes or misunderstandings as a result of this phrase. To prioritize the customer over the employees is harmful. It shows them that they are not as valuable as the profit the customer provides. Sometimes, not all customers are worth keeping.

Margo Weese/The Maroon