Searching for practical answers

By Jack Gillum and Liz Weeker

When University President Paul Locatelli, S.J., sat down with editors from The Santa Clara last Monday, it was a time to ask the four-term president much about the state of the university. But it was also a time for student reporters to be questioned for solutions.

The hour-long dialogue was representative of what Locatelli seems to do best: understand contemporary university problems and balance them with decades-old Catholic traditions.

In his 18th year as the university's leader, Locatelli has several challenging tasks ahead: raise enough money to start groundbreaking on the much-awaited Library for the 21st Century; focus on scholarships to avoid Santa Clara attracting only the wealthy; and find ways to curb excessive drinking, which took the life of an athletic trainer last summer.

Scholarships, Locatelli said, are an important cornerstone to financing a private education like Santa Clara's -- especially as tuition crests above $30,000 for next year. And in light of Congress' proposal to slash billions in federal student aid, these scholarships will only become more vital, he said.

"The Bush administration has turned its back on higher education," Locatelli said.

But balancing the needs of financial aid is tricky, Locatelli seemed to admit. Filling donation gaps of the $350 million Campaign for Santa Clara, which includes funding for the new Library, has been one part of the struggle.

"Balancing all of these factors is the biggest ongoing challenge we have," he said. The task is so challenging, he said, the university must find more people who can pay the full sticker price of admission to make up the difference.

Locatelli, who frequently has disagreed with President Bush in published op-eds, seems to, at times, embody a progressive mindset in finding practical solutions to never-ending problems among undergraduates.

Excessive alcohol consumption, he said last Monday, was perhaps the single greatest problem among undergraduates. "You solve that problem, you solve a lot of problems," he said.

He asked reporters for suggestions for curbing excessive consumption, which cost 46-year-old athletic trainer Jeannine Masch her life at an off-campus student party last summer. (Masch succumbed to alcohol poisoning July 21, 2005, after a "challenge drink-off," consuming 20 shots of vodka in less than a half hour.)

During the longest period of questioning, editors asked why Masch's death was not mentioned in community-wide e-mails, even though other deaths this year were, like those of students Moses Salcido and David Crowell, and faculty member Bill Spohn. Locatelli was cautious in answering such questions, defending the university response amid a police investigation at the time.

Locatelli's brand of practical problem solving can put him at odds with many progressive students on this campus, particularly regarding birth control. The president equated condoms, for example, to fighting tooth decay.

"We don't hand out toothpaste for cavities," he said, bluntly.

If there was one solution to pregnancy concerns among students, Locatelli pointed again to the problem with alcohol. He mused why students, who many times drink and throw their inhibitions to the wind, then question why they become pregnant.

"Sex is a dark side of this generation," he said. "When it doesn't go right, all of a sudden there are complaints: 'We went to a party, yes we got in to bed.' Well, hello! You can't drink and then end up in bed and then not expect to have something happen."

At least 22 students in the past year have required transport to the hospital due to alcohol poisoning, and 48 people have been examined by Emergency Medical Services for an alcohol-related injury, the university said fall quarter.

On the perennial football question? "It won't be back this century," he said.

Timithie Gould, Brian Witter, Christie Genochio and Ryan Groshong contributed to this report. Contact Jack Gillum at jgillum@scu.edu.