Week of May 30, 2005
Annual contracts for the 2005-06 academic year Louisiana College
faculty members contained a new clause specifying the possibility of
termination of faculty in the event of financial exigency (or
emergency). A declaration of financial exigency would allow the college
to dismiss faculty members, even if they are tenured, in order to
address the emergency. Such a process already is outlined in the
faculty handbook. But a clause related to that possibility has not
appeared in previous contracts distributed to faculty members. LC
President Joe Aguillard said the clause was included in this year’s
contracts on the advice of attorney Joe Bertrand of Metairie, who
serves as counsel for the college board of trustees. “He advised us
that institutions he has worked with in the past have used this
clause,” Aguillard noted. “By doing so, the college has put itself in
the right position contractually.” However, Aguillard emphasized there
were no plans to use the clause to dismiss faculty members in the
upcoming year. “We do not anticipate using it,” he said.
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to rule on a state law requiring
parental notification when an underage girl seeks an abortion. The high
court announced it will review a lower court decision striking
down New Hampshire’s parental notification law. Oral arguments in the
case will be heard in the court’s next term, which begins in October. A
three-judge appeals court panel ruled in November that the New
Hampshire law is unconstitutional because it does not contain an
exception to protect the health of the mother and its exception for a
threat to her life is too narrow. The 2003 law says a parent must be
notified in person or in writing by an abortion provider when a female
under 18 has requested the procedure. The notice must be given 48 hours
prior to the abortion. The law also includes a provision permitting the
girl to seek a judicial bypass to avoid the notice requirement. Laws
requiring parental notification or consent are in effect in 24 states.
Florida lawmakers are trying to outlaw a machine that vaporizes alcohol
with oxygen to produce a no-carb, hangover-free buzz before it becomes
a dangerous fad. The device resembles a hookah-like asthma nebulizer
and is being sold on the Internet by a European company called AWOL,
which stands for “alcohol without liquid.” The machine consists of an
oxygen generator that blasts air into a hand-held vaporizer containing
the liquor of choice, and it ranges in size from desktop- to
industrial-sized pipes for multiple users in a club. Bipartisan support
in the Florida legislature is behind a bill that would make the use of
such devices illegal. The measure is backed by the distilled-liquor
lobby, touted as public safety legislation and seems to have no major
opponents. Thirteen other states are considering similar legislation.
A criminal trial for four former Baptist Foundation of Arizona
officials who are accused of defrauding investors of some $570 million
has been postponed from August to September because of scheduling
issues. Four top officials of the foundation are charged with felony
fraud, racketeering and theft in crimes that occurred during the
largest non-profit charity bankruptcy in history. Three other former
foundation officials already have pled guilty to lesser charges and
agreed to cooperate with investigating officers. The four still charged
are accused of selling worthless investment funds to persons, under the
pretense that they were as safe as putting money in a bank and that
part of the earnings would go towards supporting Arizona Baptist
churches. Many of the investors were older and lost considerable
savings, even life savings. As of last December, investors in the
failed foundation had received between 55 cents and 69 cents on the
dollar of their original investments.
Six faculty members at Louisiana College were honored at the close of
the recent spring semester as they retired from their posts. Retirees
include: Laura Johnson, associate professor of education; Ann
McAllister, chair of the Division of Humanities and professor of social
work; Wayne McGraw, professor of chemistry; Daphne Robinson, professor
of education; Philip Tapley, professor of English; and Carlton Winbery,
chair of the Division of Religious Studies and professor of
religion.
The Canadian Liberal government recently survived a critical vote of
confidence, meaning a measure that would legalize same-sex marriages in
the nation remains alive. The Liberals faced a vote that would have
forced an election one month later and threatened their hold on the
government. They survived the vote by the narrowest of margins when
Liberal House Speaker Peter Milliken broke a 152-152 tie. A bill that
would legalize same-sex marriages apparently now will have time to
pass. The bill currently is in committee and is expected to receive a
vote in the House of Commons before it adjourns this summer. Same-sex
marriages already are legal in seven of the nation’s 10 provinces and
one of three territories. The pending bill would legalize the marriages
nationwide, joining Canada with Belgium and the Netherlands as the only
countries to legalize same-sex marriages.
About 40 members of the Tennessee Baptist Convention executive board
and staff prayerwalked downtown Nashville, Tenn., in preparation for
the annual Southern Baptist Convention this month and its corresponding
evangelistic Crossover initiatives. The prayerwalkers formed three
groups. One group prayed in the downtown area. The second prayerwalked
the Downtown Ministry Center, a nonprofit ministry started by First
Baptist Church in Nashville. The third group prayerwalked Tennessee’s
legislative plaza, distributing personalized Bibles to legislators and
praying for them. Tennessee Baptist Convention prayer specialist Don
Pierson coordinated the prayerwalk. In a concluding prayer session, he
asked the three groups to continue praying for the upcoming annual
meeting and for the 12,000-plus volunteers who will be participating
the Crossover evangelistic outreach across Nashville and the
surrounding area.
A Canadian hospital has sparked the ire of some citizens and public
officials for its decision to take Bibles out of its patients’ rooms to
help stem the spread of germs. A spokesperson for the Dr. Everett
Chalmers Regional Hospital in Fredericton, New Brunswick, said the
Bibles – along with phone books and hospital directories – were removed
from seven related facilities to stop the spread of germs. Critics
charge the hospital with trying to do away with Christian symbols.
Canadian hospitals have been increasingly concerned about infectious
diseases since the SARS virus claimed dozens of lives in Toronto in
2003. Hospital spokespersons said Bibles still would be available on
request. However, a hospital chaplain said the Bible is no greater
threat than other objects in a hospital room. “If the Bible is a threat
in a drawer, where does it stop?” he said. “Is it possible for these
germs to reside and live on lampshades, curtains?” Another critic of
the move said the patients most likely to be affected by the ban are
those who are not actively religious and who might not feel comfortable
asking hospital staff for a Bible. “When you’re transitioning from life
to death, it can be bigger than you can handle,” he said. “If you’re
not a religious person, it can be so personal that you don’t want to be
calling, ‘Can somebody go get a Bible?’