Fall 2013

Cover Story

In and Out of Toon

Van Partible has a success story that’s almost too successful to be true: college student creates animation for senior thesis, graduates, takes a job to get by doing day care, then becomes golden when his professor shows the idea to a friend at Hanna-Barbera. Partible’s idea became the Cartoon Network’s hit “Johnny Bravo.” Imagine our surprise when, after we asked if he’d write about the experience, Partible said he wanted to write about failure.—The Editor.

Dear LMU — Letters From Our Readers, Fall 2013

Letters From Our Readers, Fall 2013

A Conversation with Hrag Hamalian M.A. ’07

Hrag Hamalian M.A. ’07 earned a master’s degree in secondary education through the LMU/Teach for America Partnership program in the LMU School of Education. As a TFA corps member, he taught ninth-grade biology at Locke High School in Watts. In 2009, he founded Valor Academy, a fifth- through eighth-grade charter middle school in the San Fernando Valley, where he is principal. Fred Puza ’10 spoke to Hamalian about the challenges of teaching and teacher education.

A Conversation with Judith Royer, C.S.J.

For four decades, Judith Royer, C.S.J., has taught almost all aspects of theater: from playwriting to acting, directing and producing. She has won national recognition, including the 2008 Outstanding Teacher of Theatre in Higher Education Award, given by the Association for Theatre in Higher Education. She is director of the Playwrights Center Stage new plays series. She has directed more than 35 revivals and 40 original scripts in the U.S. and the U.K. Royer is a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange. She was interviewed by Editor Joseph Wakelee-Lynch.

A Conversation with Richard L. Fox

Richard Fox, professor of political science, examines how gender affects voting behavior, elections and political ambition. He and his colleague, Jennifer L. Lawless, at American University in Washington, D.C., have found that a gender gap exists between men and women when it comes to political ambition. Fox’s op-eds have appeared in The New York Times and elsewhere. He was interviewed by Editor Joseph Wakelee-Lynch.

Aimee Ross-Kilroy

Aimee Ross-Kilroy is an avid reader and teacher of children’s and young adult literatures.

Dispatches Fall 2013

1953 Leo McElroy [LibArts] saw his most recent play, “Echoes in the Heart,” which he co-wrote with Susanne Sommer, premiered at Sacramento’s Geery Theater on March 8. The play tells the story of the escape of Sommer’s parents from the...

Sapphire Sandalo ’10 on Animated Films

Sapphire Sandalo ’10 co-founded Troll Free Productions, which produces two YouTube shows: “DeToonified,” which reviews and analyzes animated films, and “Toon Buzz” on Channel Frederator, a weekly animation news show. She recently worked on Comedy Central’s “TripTank” and “ADHD on FOX.” As an undergraduate, her animated music video won Best Animation at LMU’s 2009 Film Outside the Frame Film Festival. We asked her to tell us about her favorite short and feature-length animated films.

Tower Pizza

Before Tower Pizza, there was Mother’s, and Mother’s had no tower.

In and Out of Toon

Van Partible has a success story that’s almost too successful to be true: college student creates animation for senior thesis, graduates, takes a job to get by doing day care, then becomes golden when his professor shows the idea to a friend at Hanna-Barbera. Partible’s idea became the Cartoon Network’s hit “Johnny Bravo.” Imagine our surprise when, after we asked if he’d write about the experience, Partible said he wanted to write about failure.—The Editor.

Surge Control

In late November 1860, 10 years after statehood and the Gold Rush, botanist William Brewer, an Easterner, arrived in Los Angeles with the California Geological Survey to travel the state of California and study its natural resources.

Letter From Seattle

A letter to LMU from Lysandra (Sapp) Donigian ’00.

Steven Gonzalez ’04, M.A. ’12 and Dina Ramirez ’09

Ten dates. The punch card was the key. For Steven Gonzalez ’04, M.A. ’12 and Dina Ramirez ’09, punch cards became the symbol of their courtship.

Why Word Balloons Matter Today

I’m a writer, so I read. And I read quite a bit.

The J.D. Black Papers

A century ago, the completion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct, a 223-mile ribbon of water, slaked the thirst of an expanding City of Angels. Southern California was transformed, as was the Owens Valley, the water’s source. Click here to see images from the Owens Valley collected by J.D. Black.

Operation Huck Finn

“The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” is both a simple and profound story of a journey: The novel depicts Huck and Jim’s rafting trip down the Mississippi River, and Huck’s journey into self-understanding as well. In 1959, six Loyola undergraduates decided to re-create Huck’s fictional journey. This is their story.—The Editor.
You can see a slide show of images from the Mississippi journey of Loyola students in August 1959 here.

Bassam Yammine ’90, M.S. ’92

Bassam Yammine ’90, ’92 could have used his M.B.A. from the University of Chicago and his investment savvy to make things happen on Wall Street. But an idea kept nagging at him.

Gene Pingatore ’58

Most people in a position to rack up 1,000 wins over the course of their coaching career would probably revel in a milestone reached. Gene Pingatore revels in the work.

Read Between the Lines

When his teaching schedule permits, Professor Stephen Shepherd pours over the medieval poem “Piers Plowman,” one of the literary hits of the 14th century.

A Shorter Road to Treatment

For people with cancer in the gastrointestinal area, radiation therapy can be an ordeal as well as a path to better health. A 10-minute treatment may leave them with tiredness, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

Who’s the Shooter?

Charity Elliott, head coach of women’s basketball, preaches pressure and advantage.

To Disappear In Argentina

In March 1976, the Argentine military seized control of the country’s government, ruling for seven years. Some 30,000 people were “disappeared” — secretly arrested, tortured in unknown locations and eventually killed — by the regime. Alicia Partnoy, associate professor of Spanish, was among the few survivors. She spent almost three years in prison before being released. This fall, LMU launched Casa Argentina, a study abroad program in Córdoba that Partnoy helped plan. She was interviewed about her experiences and the project by Editor Joseph Wakelee-Lynch.

Tracking Fracking in L.A.

If a map of promising U.S. fracking sites were drawn, a second map depicting sites of heated controversy over the practice would almost be identical to the first. Prominent on both would be wells in states like North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Texas and Kentucky, where Catholic nuns have refused permission to oil companies to build on their property a pipeline carrying liquid byproducts of fracking. Add LMU’s backyard to those maps, specifically the Inglewood Oil Field in the nearby Baldwin Hills. Here’s why.—The Editor

A Risky Middle Road

Karima Bennoune, author of “Your Fatwa Doesn’t Apply Here: Untold Stories From the Fight Against Muslim Fundamentalism,” came to LMU’s Marymount Institute for Faith, Culture and the Arts in September to amplify voices.