NEWS
February 3, 2023 THE MAROON
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On-campus residents return to upgraded Wi-Fi By Natalie Thomas nethomas@my.loyno.edu
The Information Technology Department upgraded the Wi-Fi systems in residence halls over the holiday break as a first step toward a campus-wide update to improve the speed and stability of our system and prevent future outages, according to Alan Schomaker, chief information officer at Loyola. Phase two will focus on administrative and academic areas and will take place this spring and summer, Schomaker said. The university has been planning this upgrade for the last two years and has selected a company to host and provide Loyola’s Wi-Fi services, according to Schomaker. He also said that the bulk of the wiring and access point installation work in the residence halls that was completed during winter break also included a full review of completed systems. Loyola students have complained about problematic Wi-Fi systems for nearly a decade. In 2015, a Loyola student created a Facebook group that protested the slow Wi-Fi, and it gained over 700 members. In 2020, The Maroon reported on a “five-hour-long Wi-Fi outage that affected students during finals week, disturbing the studying of many students and work of many professors.” In 2021, Alan Schomaker said, “Loyola’s campus has a sufficient number of 1,068 access points, which are wireless routers with radios that allow devices to connect to the internet.” However, problems continued to persist into the present school year as seen in an October 2022 email to students. “With any technology or computer systems, updates need to be made regularly to software, firmware, and hardware. The hardware for the Wi-Fi network on campus is seven years old and has reached its end-of-life for support, so
Senior criminology major, Amid Bautista stands in front of his laptop in Buddig Hall. Bautista is connected to internet through the new router installed in his room over last winter break. Torrie Shuff/The Maroon
we have to replace all access points on campus,” Schomaker said. As a result, Loyola has updated their network design – placing an access point
in each dorm room of every residence hall on campus to provide increased efficiency, capacity, and redundancy. The rollout of this network upgrade
has been an investment of resources for the school and has primarily been handled by the IT department, Schomaker said. Schomaker added that any further
inquiries or concerns should be made to the help desk which can be reached at 504.865.2255 or by email at support@ loyno.edu.
Communication professor New dorm to take over Mercy Hall wins top faculty award By Kloe Witt
Faculty photo of Cathy Rogers courtesy of Loyola University
By Maria DiFelice mldifeli@my.loyno.edu @maria_difelice
The chair of Loyola's Strategic Communication Department, Cathy Rogers, was awarded the “Dux Academicus” award by the Rev. Justin Daffron, S.J, interim University President, The award was presented to Rogers during the President’s convocation on Jan. 20. According to Loyola’s website, this annual award honors one distinguished faculty member for their exceptional teaching in line with the university’s Jesuit philosophy. Rogers is the 45th recipient since the award was established in 1978. Nominations are submitted by faculty and Loyola’s Student Govern-
ment Association and Rogers said that winning the award was an “overwhelming honor.” “It makes me feel more seen by the academic community,” Rogers said. Rogers started her academic career at Louisiana Christian University where she studied journalism. She then transferred to Louisiana State University for her graduate degree in journalism, and later earned a Ph.D. in journalism at Ohio University, she said. Rogers said she began her professional career in teaching as a journalism professor at Louisiana Christian University from 1982 to 1983. Soon after, she said she commenced her career in 1984 as a public relations representative at The Woman’s Hospital in Baton Rouge, and stayed there until 1986. She joined Loyola in 1990. Rogers said she loves watching her students succeed and that they are the reason she remains so passionate about teaching. “I get a lot of satisfaction and pleasure from just helping my students figure out who they are and what they want,” Rogers said. Rogers said she practices the Jesuit values in her day to day life. She said she looks towards Magis in her teaching by making sure her students are okay and able to put their best foot forward. “I am really grateful for the confidence the people at Loyola have in me,” Rogers said.
kgwitt@my.loyno.edu
If all goes according to plan, this year's first-year students may also get to experience another first at Loyola — the first class to live in the soon-to-be-built residence hall. According to the Rev. Justin Daffron, S.J., interim president, construction on the new residence hall is scheduled to begin in early 2024, with plans to open the doors to residents by fall of 2025. Patricia Murett, Loyola’s director of public affairs, said the project shouldn’t impact housing costs, which are based on market rates, and are subject to change each year, regardless of a new dorm or not, she said. Housing costs typically increase between 2.5% to 4.5% each year, but larger and smaller increases have occurred based on the housing market, Murret said. The new residential hall will be constructed on the site of Mercy Hall, and all current administrative offices and classrooms will be moved to other locations on campus, according to Loyola’s Chief Operating Officer Carol Markowitz. Daffron said the new building is expected to provide over $7.5 million in annual revenue for the university, and construction is planned to be partially funded through fundraising campaigns after approval from Loyola’s top donors.
A Loyola student stands with a suitcase outside Mercy Hall, the planned site of the new residence hall that is expected to be built by 2025. Sophia Maxim/The Maroon
“The donors who know us best see clearly the possibilities that improved residential capacity will open up for our students and Loyola,” Daffron said. At the end of 2023, all offices and classes located in Mercy Hall are planned to be relocated to other spaces on the main campus, according to Murret. Murret said the administrative offices will be relocated to Thomas Hall, St. Mary’s Hall, Founders Hall, and Stallings Hall, so as to not affect student classroom space on campus.
One of the main drivers pushing the university to build the new hall is the belief that having more students on campus is not only financially beneficial for the university, but it will also have a positive impact on the students themselves. “Students will be safer living on campus, will have fewer obstacles to attending classes, and they will have more opportunities to form friendships and build closer ties to the university,” Markowitz said.