FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY FACULTY AWARDED MORE THAN $2.2 MILLION IN ACADEMIC GRANTS IN 2004

Funded Initiatives Include Working with Campus Alcohol Offenders, African Americans and Their Relationship with the Environment, And Korean Patterns of Communication, Among Others

October 22, 2004 –The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse (NIAAA) have awarded Loyola Marymount University Assistant Professor of Psychology Joseph LaBrie, SJ, a grant totaling $671,289 to explore solutions to alcohol use and abuse by female college students nationwide. The grant is funded under the “Rapid Response to College Drinking Problems” initiative and is one of only five grants awarded nationwide.
“This NIH award is significant for our research team, but it is equally significant for LMU,” says LaBrie. “It further highlights LMU’s emergence as a first-rate Catholic University where quality research flourishes and students benefit from the best of the Jesuit tradition of an education of the whole person.”

LaBrie’s team will work with freshmen women, women who violate campus alcohol policies, and campus women’s groups to examine gender-specific variables and develop strategies to reduce the negative consequences of drinking.
Including LaBrie’s award, faculty members at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles have garnered more than $2.2 million in grants during 2004 to support research and special academic initiatives. The grants – awarded from a variety of federal, state, and foundation sources – include support for study abroad programs for underrepresented populations, research on Korean Patterns of Communication, organic chemistry research fellowships, civic engagement through science, a documentary on Fr. Junipero Serra - Franciscan padre and founder of California’s Missions, and a summer research program in engineering for Community College undergraduates, among others.

LMU’s Acting Academic Vice President Albert P. Koppes, O.Carm., said this year’s faculty grants reflect the wide-ranging interests and current needs of the modern world.

“The diversity of this year’s awarded initiatives – from fellowships in organic chemistry research to projects that will explore 19th century Japanese customs – reflects the diversity of the LMU faculty,” said Koppes. “The areas of study range from science to arts to study abroad programs to environmental issues and reflect the vast array of academic interests that reflect our all encompassing and ever- changing modern world. Specialized research initiatives are at the heart of a great university,” Koppes concluded.

Among the grants awarded to LMU faculty this year are a $401,128 grant from the U.S. Department of Education Fund for the Improvement of Post Secondary Education (FIPSE) given to the University’s Project for Learning Abroad, Training and Outreach (PLATO) headed by Christopher Key Chapple, associate academic vice president of LMU Extension, and Gray Rhodes, director of the Center for Global Education at LMU. PLATO is an integrated, multi-dimensional program that addresses the needs of Study Abroad students before, during, and after their experience abroad and seeks to encourage underrepresented populations to participate in Study Abroad programs.

Edmundo F. Litton, acting associate dean and assistant professor in the School of Education received $365,000 for this year in support of his Teaching for Social Justice intern program. This award from the State of California's Commission on Teacher Credentialing brings his total awards received to $1.085 million over 2003-2005. The Intern Program at Loyola Marymount University is a collaborative effort between the Los Angeles Unified, Lennox, Santa Monica, Compton, and Lynwood School Districts that recruits, prepares, and guides up to 290 novice teachers to promote equity, high achievement, and social justice in schools that serve students with exceptional needs who are culturally and linguistically diverse.

Other grants awarded to LMU faculty include:

About Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles
Founded in 1911, Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles is the eighth largest of the nation’s 28 Jesuit colleges and universities and the largest Catholic university in Southern California. With a strong base in the liberal arts, LMU consists of the Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts, the College of Business Administration, the College of Communication and Fine Arts, the Frank R. Seaver College of Science and Engineering, the School of Education, the School of Film and Television, the Graduate Division, LMU Extension, and Loyola Law School. For more information, please visit the LMU website at http://www.lmu.edu. Loyola Marymount is an equal-opportunity/affirmative-action institution.

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