April 11, 2013
Local News & Culture Marina del Rey
Westchester
Free S a n ta M o n i c a
P l aya d e l R e y
P l aya V i s t a
M a r V i s ta
Del Rey
VenicE
Twenty-First Century Vision for LMU
BY GARY WALKER Running a well-known university can be an enormous challenge. Compound that with becoming the first lay president of an established Jesuit university in the nation’s second largest city, overseeing a multi-billion-dollar campus renovation and improving upon the university’s long history on academic success and social justice, and the challenges can become daunting. Loyola Marymount University President David Burcham made history in 2011 when he became the Jesuit institution’s first non-Jesuit to lead the Westchester school, succeeding Father Robert Lawton. He also shepherded the university through the yearlong events of its centennial last year and is now in the process of shaping LMU as a school that can meet the academic challenges of the 21st century. In a recent interview with The Argonaut, Burcham, a former dean of LMU’s law school and senior vice president, talked about the difference of going from a law school dean to president of the university, how he is handling the concerns of LMU’s residential neighbors regarding student behaviors, and gave an update on the university’s signature initiative of recent years, its ambitious master plan. Burcham said the university’s 20-year campus renovation, which he calls the school’s “blueprint for the future,” is moving steadily along. “The new life science building, with 372 underground parking spaces, is slated to be built next. This structure will feature laboratories for biochemistry, chemistry, biology as well as faculty offices and research facilities,” Burcham said. “We really think that this will allow us to raise the bar in terms of our faculty research as well as undergraduate research, and we think we have a real niche here in Southern California.” LMU officials have long thought that having the infrastructure in place for students and professors will allow the university to be able to compete on a global scale for faculty and undergraduates. “We pride ourselves in our undergrad program with having very small class sizes, with very low faculty to student ratios, and that carries over into some areas that are traditionally reserved for graduate students,” the university president explained. “By that I mean the sciences, in biology and chemistry, where the research assistants for students at many places is reserved for students in the graduate pro(Continued on page 10)
•This Week• Photo by Venice Paparazzi
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The Second Annual Venice Beach Surf & Skate Fest, showcasing vintage skateboards and gear, will be held at the Venice Farmers Market lot Saturday, April 13.
LMU President David Burcham and Vice President Lynn Scarboro in front of the Chapel of the Sacred Heart.
Del Rey
Annenberg will not make council presentation on wetlands center this month By Gary Walker Representatives of the Annenberg Foundation will not be making a presentation of their proposed interpretive nature center before the Del Rey Neighborhood Council as they had planned to last month. The decision not to offer the presentation to the full board on Thursday, April 11 comes a month after the foundation’s representatives showed the local council’s Land Use and Planning Committee their plans for their $50 million interpretive center, which would be located in what is known locally as Area C of the Ballona Wetlands. Those plans include a 46,000-square foot site
that would be equipped with an auditorium, classrooms, a public lobby, exhibits on wildlife and domestic animals, facilities for an animal adoption and care program and veterinary facilities for animals. The proposed building would be adjacent to the Culver-Marina Little League fields on Culver Boulevard between Playa del Rey and Del Rey. Liza de Villa Ameen, a former spokeswoman with the Annenberg Foundation, said the foundation might lend a hand in improving the nearby baseball fields, which are in need of repair. “All of Area C has been neglected and can be enhanced and improved,” she said. “At this time, (Continued on page 11)