Loyola University • New Orleans • Volume 97 • Issue 17 • February 1, 2019
THE MAROON FOR A GREATER LOYOLA
Fair Grounds goes wild Camels, ostriches and zebras raced the Fair Grounds' tracks By Andrew Lang awlang@my.loyno.edu @langand87
New Orleans Fair Grounds was filled with thousands of fans hotly anticipating a race of the world’s largest birds. Capable of speeds up to 40 mph in the wild, the ostriches were the finale of the exotic animals. Five birds darted down the track typically occupied by horses. Crashes took out two of the five competitors. As Flock Star Racer separated from the pack and held his lead by several lengths, jockey Jorge Mo n s e r a t e took his second win of the day, — the first
having been atop the camel Winsday. Rather than exclusively trotting out the horses, the Fair Grounds Race Course and Slots went wild and featured some abnormal offerings with three exotic animal races alongside nine thoroughbred horse races Saturday, Jan. 26. The unusual race offerings featured camels, zebras and ostriches. People came in droves to see the races. Between 12,000 to 15,000 people attended, according to Senior Director of Marketing Mark Connor’s estimate. While the usual bettors and spectators came out, this event was targeted at bringing in families and other people who weren’t usual attendees of the horse races, according to Conner. In an effort to do just that, the event also featured three inflatable bounce houses. There was no
“The zebras made me concerned for their species in the wild." — Lowell Smith Psychology junior
betting on the exotic animal races with the Fair Grounds, but the Fair Grounds did encourage “side bets.” It worked for psychology junior Lowell Smith, who won $5 in a bet with a friend. The zebra race ended up being the most chaotic, with three of the four racers crashing, which Smith thoroughly enjoyed. “The zebras made me concerned for their species in the wild,” Smith said. Former Loyola mass communication major Caleb Beck said the zebra race was his favorite of the three because of the chaos. “As much as I enjoyed (the ostrich race), the zebras was a s--- show that was dysfunc-
tional from the moment it started,” Beck said. Some families, however, left early, in part due to the chilly weather after the sun went down. It was close to 50 degrees, but felt colder with wind chill by 6:30 p.m., and the ostriches had yet to race. Brad Hayes, who came with his wife and two children, lamented they didn’t start the event at 12 p.m. like they start some races, but rather 3 p.m. “Now here we are at 6:30, 7 and we are all freezing our butts off. And it was a beautiful day, you know, and they could have run a little earlier,” Hayes said. Hayes also struggled to get his kids a good view due to the crowds. “With this last one, the zebras, we literally could not even see it, because the crowd was so huge and everyone was standing on the tables and standing on the rails,” Hayes said. “And, of course, they are like 3 feet tall and we were trying to lift them up and stuff, and w e literally could
not see a thing.” Fans came up with the names of the racers through a Facebook competition. Every single race featured an animal named with a joke about the missed call in the NFC championship between the New Orleans Saints and Los Angeles Rams. RefereeCatcher represented the camels, ImNotAnNFLRef represented the zebras and OstracizedNFLRefs represented the ostriches. Only one racer, Jermal Landry, went for the trifecta and rode on one of each animal. Landry ended up taking the victory riding ImNotAnNFLRef in the zebra race after being the only competitor not to wipe out. He said his winning strategy was to “hold on.”
Jorge Monserate riding the ostrich Flock Star Racer and Tavis Smith atop camel MikeMikeMikeWhatDayIsIt both participated in the exotic races at the Fair Grounds Race Course and Slots. The exotic races took place on Saturday, Jan. 26, 2019. SINDEY OVROM/The Maroon.
Loyola's janitorial staff placed under new management By Emma Noble ennoble@my.loyno.edu
After spending six years on submarines for the United States Navy and 25 years traveling the country with his wife, John Andrews has joined Loyola's community as the new site manager of the school's custodial services. Andrews works for WFF Facility Services, Loyola's janitorial maintenence provider, as the director of custodial services. Andrews is in charge of ensuring clean interior spaces on campus and will also manage setup for various on-campus events. Although Andrews now calls the Crescent City "home," his experience reaches far beyond New Orleans, and even the U.S. Due to his wife's position as a government employee, Andrews has been able to travel across the country. He previously worked facility
maintenance for Jewish community centers and YMCAs in upstate New York for eight years. He then moved overseas to west Africa in 2010 to be a facility manager for the U.S. Embassy in Dakar, Senegal. In the six years following his move to Africa, Andrews worked as the operations and security manager for the International School of Dakar. "It was an incredible experience," Andrews said. "We took a place that was not in a good position, and we brought them up to become the highest-rated school in Africa. It was very rewarding." When asked how he found himself in this particular field, Andrews said he has always been good at fixing things and making processes work. Those skills led him to his current position at Loyola — a university Andrews said holds a special place in the hearts of those at WFF. "Our company, WFF, has man-
aged the custodial services on this campus for over 40 years," Andrews said. "They were our original client and we have grown immensely since then." Andrews said WFF now manages more than 42 universities across the United States. Outside of work, Andrews is an avid sportsman, spending much of his time hunting and fishing with his two dogs. When he isn't outdoors, he enjoys reading science-fiction novels and spending time with his wife. During his time at Loyola, Andrews said he hopes to achieve a higher level of customer satisfaction and provide the university with consistent and reliable service. "It's a dirty business," he joked, "but we are fully committed to giving Loyola the highest level of service that WFF is possible of putting forth."
John Andrews, the new WFF janatorial services manager at Loyola, smiles in the peace quad on Jan. 29, 2019. SHAMARIA BELL/The Maroon.
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