2005-12-01 IB

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Dec. 1, 2005

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SBU master’s program in English students earn high marks for publication

St. Bonaventure University’s first cohort of Learning/Teaching Fellows, a high-level master’s program in English geared toward those who plan to continue toward a Ph.D., has already compiled an impressive track record, which was celebrated during a congratulatory program luncheon hosted by University president Sr. Margaret Carney, O.S.F., S.T.D.

The eight Teaching Fellows in the program have already either published a paper or presented at a panel or conference at the professional level; most have multiple credits.

“Among the first cohort of Fellows, professional achievement has been extraordinary by the standards of any graduate program, and may be unprecedented among schools with terminal MA degrees,” said Dr. Charles Gannon, associate professor of English and creator/director of the program. “Indeed, the program's focus on pre-professional preparation and writing/scholarship has become a showpiece.”

Gannon noted that three of the Fellows presented at the last two New York College English Association conferences; at this year’s conference, one was awarded the prize for Best Paper by a Graduate/Ph.D. Student. Five have presented at prestigious, well-established national or international conferences.

Four of the Fellows have a total of 35 articles either published or forthcoming in reference texts to be published by Salem Press, in “The Greenwood Encyclopedia of American Poetry,” a seven-volume set, or in “A Companion to the British Short Story.” In addition, two are on the editing staff of the journal Modern Theology, and another edits the newsletter of The Journey Project, an SBU initiative funded by a nearly $2 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc.

Perhaps most importantly, the program is helping the students to achieve their personal goals.

“I feel that the Fellowship program has really helped me to develop as a writer, scholar, and teacher,” said Alisa Smith-Riel from Salamanca, a nontraditional student who returned to St. Bonaventure — her alma mater — after teaching in public schools.

“Even though I came to the program with six years of teaching experience in public schools, the opportunities and experiences I have had over the last year and a half have given me a clearer understanding of academic life and the confidence to proceed with my goal of teaching in a university,” she said, noting she expects to complete her Ph.D. within five years.

The Learning/Teaching Fellows program was launched in fall 2004, when the first group of eight students began their first year as Learning Fellows, during which they received intensive academic coursework and mentoring in preparation for teaching. Now in their second year, as Teaching Fellows, they are each teaching a required freshman course in Composition and Critical Thinking, for which they have also received excellent reviews.

Associate professor Dr. M.W. Jackson, the acting program director, explained that “providing the Fellows with a year of mentorship before they are allowed to teach has been thoroughly vindicated. Students in the Fellows’ classes are learning their material at least as well as do students studying under most other Composition and Critical Thinking instructors, and they give the Fellows extremely high marks for preparedness, mastery of subject matter, and engagement with — and support of — students.”

Alexandra Svendsen, a Fellow from Allegany who received her undergraduate degree in visual arts, found the academic and mentoring preparation thorough.

“Before I began the program last fall, I had no teaching experience, and was rather nervous to be in front of a roomful of students. As the semester, and then year, progressed, I found that my knowledge and confidence had grown enormously,” she said. “When the time came for me to teach by myself, I was so well prepared that I wasn’t surprised I was completely capable.”

Jason Stupp, a Fellow from Seneca Falls, N.Y., has found the interaction with different departments has broadened his perspective, while one-on-one mentoring from English department professors has improved his teaching.

“This program has allowed me to interact with members of different departments in a more professional atmosphere, which has given me a better idea of what college-level teaching involves,” Stupp said. “The professors in the English department have been more than willing to help us and give us advice, which is something I don't believe one would find in a larger, more impersonal setting that is characteristic of some schools.”

“The innovative energy of this program creates a momentum that has a marked and wonderful impact upon faculty morale, undergraduate productivity and progress, and graduate enrollment,” commented President Carney, who hosted an Oct. 21 luncheon for the program directors and Fellows. “The direction Drs. Jackson and Gannon are taking not only contributes to the success of their department, it provides a model for others who seek ways to increase graduate enrollment and to attract top tier candidates to SBU.”

Also present at the luncheon was Visiting Lenna Professor Dr. Alan Dobson of Dundee University, who worked with the Fellows during his visit and praised the program as “a singularly innovative and effective English Master’s program.” He also cited it as a major factor in his desire to formalize close cooperative ties between his institution and SBU, remarking that “the quality of these students, and this program, is a general indicator of just how advantageous a relationship with SBU will be.”

For more information on the English Master’s program in general, or the Fellows program in particular, please contact Dr. Charles Gannon, program director, at cgannon@sbu.edu or Dr. M.W. Jackson, acting program director, at mjackson@sbu.edu or (716) 375-7879.

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Final demolishing of Castle marks end of era

The demolition of the Castle, across from St. Bonaventure University, culminates in the demolition of the Castle Restaurant this week. The property, a 17-acre lot consisting of four motel buildings, a restaurant, and three commercial properties, has been in the process of demolition for a month.

The University signed a sales agreement with COR Development in January of 2005. COR plans to have the property include retail shops, restaurants, and potentially, office space and a residential area. The proposed physical layout of the development will include a mix of small and larger retail shops and restaurants, consisting of architecture reminiscent of that seen on the St. Bonaventure campus.

“We could not be more pleased with the plans for the property, which will complement the University in appearance and architectural style as well as in the make-up of the tenants it will attract,” said University president Sr. Margaret Carney, O.S.F., S.T.D. in an interview in January of 2005. “We have achieved the goal we set when we began acquiring the property more than two years ago. This will free us to focus on our primary mission of education as we continue to pursue the goals in our strategic plan.”

While the University should enjoy benefits of the new development, many alumni are sad to see the Castle go. Mark Scott, the news director at WBFO 88.7 in Buffalo and a former employee of the Castle Restaurant, is one of these alumni.

“First of all, I'd like to say that I'm pleased St. Bonaventure has acquired the property and is moving ahead with plans that will complement the campus,” said Scott. “Obviously, the Castle Restaurant and Inn were not going to come back. Still, its demolition is personally painful because of the memories it holds for me and my family.”

Growing up, Scott and his family vacationed at the Castle Inn each summer. His father, a 1952 graduate, would spend a few days each summer swimming, playing golf, eating at the restaurant or spending time on campus. Scott worked at the restaurant for the first semester of his freshman year in 1973, but had to quit to be able to watch the Bonaventure basketball team.

“But over the next four years, I would often take a date to dinner at the Castle, hoping a dinner at Olean's most exclusive restaurant would impress her,” said Scott. “Then, a month after graduation, I spent a couple of days living at the Castle until I could find an apartment when I was hired by Olean radio station WMNS. The rate: $11 a night. What a deal!” During his time as an Olean news reporter, Scott also remembers covering countless dignitaries who would come to the Castle Restaurant to speak before various groups.

After getting married and starting a family, “there was only one place we would stay when visiting Olean, and that was the Castle.” However, Scott and his family noted the deterioration setting in to the property. “And on our last stay there, in the summer of 2000, it was sad because the place was a shadow of its former self,” he said.

“The demolition of the Castle is truly the end of an era in Olean. It was the place to be.”

The University put the Castle property, totaling approximately 17 acres including four motel buildings, a restaurant and three commercial properties, up for sale in fall 2003. It had purchased the Castle Motel property at tax auction in August 2002 and acquired the former Castle Restaurant, Castle Cinemas and Domino’s Pizza/Bamboo Kitchen properties in August 2003.

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St. Bonaventure University to honor alumnus Thomas Ryan with Gaudete Medal

St. Bonaventure University will honor 1952 alumnus Thomas A. Ryan with the Gaudete Medal on Dec. 16 in recognition of his outstanding work and service for more than 35 years, including serving as CIA station chief in Warsaw from 1980 to 1982 during the rise of Solidarity and the Lech Walesa years in Poland.

One of Ryan’s most notable accomplishments included protecting Col. Ryszard J. Kuklinski, a highly placed member of the Polish General Staff and a source from whom the CIA had been receiving uniquely valuable intelligence about the intentions and plans of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact for more than nine years. In November 1981, when Kuklinski was about to be exposed and arrested for being a spy, Ryan and his wife, at considerable personal risk, picked up Kuklinski, his wife, and two grown sons on a remote street corner and smuggled them into the U.S. Embassy, from which another station team carried them out of Poland the same night.

The Gaudete (gow-DAY-tay) Medal honors business and community leaders who exemplify the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi through their joy, hope, positive outlook on life, sincerely compassionate spirit and desire to serve humankind. Recipients of the Gaudete medal, such as Ryan, have inspired, encouraged and enlightened others through their personal and professional lives.

Ryan is featured in a new book, “A Secret Life,” written about the Cold War. Author Benjamin Weiser, a reporter for The New York Times, writes about the Cold War in a detailed biography of Kuklinski and his one-man war against the Soviet communists. Ryan and his wife play significant roles in the book’s later chapters of the book.

Both Tom Ryan and his wife of nearly 50 years, Lucille, were born and reared in the same neighborhood in the Bronx in New York City. They attended the same parish elementary school, graduating just one year apart. Afterward, each attended a Catholic high school, still in New York.

Tom moved on to attend St. Bonaventure University, while Lucille attended Hunter College in New York City. In 1952, he graduated from St. Bonaventure with a bachelor’s degree in English, magna cum laude, and was named a Distinguished Military Graduate of the ROTC program, receiving a Regular Army commission. He was commissioned a second lieutenant, Infantry, in the U.S. Army.

He immediately entered active duty as an infantry officer for three years, which included more than two years in Japan and Okinawa during the Korean conflict. He returned to New York City in 1955, at which time he became reacquainted with Lucille. They were married in July 1956 at their parish church in the Bronx.

In the meantime, he applied for and received an appointment to the Central Intelligence Agency in 1956. The couple moved to the Washington, D.C., area, living in northern Virginia. He served in the CIA for 35 years, from January 1956 until his retirement in May 1991. Ryan served his entire career in the operational component, with two tours in Japan and tours in Thailand, Brazil and Australia in addition to his tour in Poland.

Since his retirement, Ryan has continued to work with the agency as a contractor. Over the years, the Ryans became parents of five children and now are also proud grandparents of five girls and three boys. The Ryans now live in Vienna, Va., with all of their children and grandchildren within easy reach.

Ryan will be honored and presented with the award at a dinner on campus Friday, Dec. 16, as well as honored at the University’s December Recognition Ceremony at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 17, in the University Chapel, located in Doyle Hall. For more information about attending the dinner, contact Patty Thibodeau at (716) 375-2334.

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St. Bonaventure inducts 20 students into counseling honor society Chi Sigma Iota

St. Bonaventure University has inducted 20 students into Chi Sigma Iota, an international honor society for counselors-in-training, counselor educators and professional counselors.

To be eligible for the SBU chapter, Phi Rho, students must be enrolled in graduate-level counseling programs with a grade point average of 3.5 or above. Membership in CSI provides students and professionals with a network of others, who like themselves, reach for high standards of scholarship and practice in the field of counseling.

Dr. Mary O. Adekson, associate professor of counselor education, is the faculty advisor for Phi Rho at St. Bonaventure University. The honor society president is Jamie Fitzpatrick-Halpainy; secretary is Patricia Dean; Jessica Hall is treasurer.

Dr. Craig Zuckerman, the Counselor Education Department Program Chair distributed certificates and pins during the ceremony, which took place Tuesday, November 15.

Chi Sigma Iota was established Jan. 1, 1985. The motivation for forming an international honor society in counseling was to provide recognition for outstanding academic achievement as well as outstanding service within the counseling profession.

The 2005 inductees from New York were:
- Christopher Anderson from Allegany
- Lauren Barbati of Lancaster
- Stephannie Bickell from Great Valley
- Jennifer Carolla from Allegany
- Jessica Dieteman from Silver Creek
- Daniel Driscoll from Weston Mills
- Michele Erbacher from Newfane
- Jessica Hall from Kenmore
- Adam Hino from Orchard Park
- Cheyenne Jumanah from Buffalo
- Michele Kamas from St. Bonaventure
- Nicholas Kicior from St. Bonaventure
- Casey Kloiber of Holland
- Melissa Nagel from West Valley
- Jennifer Serwinowski from Buffalo
- Amanda Stromberg from Olean
- Melissa Switzer from West Seneca
- Kellyrose Wright from Lancaster

The student inducted from Pennsylvania was Adria Paterniti from Bradford.

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Welcome the holidays with SBU's Advent celebration

University Ministries at St. Bonaventure University invites students and the community to enjoy the holiday season by participating in a series of Advent events.

At 10 p.m. Monday, Dec. 4, Advent Evening Prayer will be held in the St. Joseph Oratory.

At 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 6, a dedication of the Crèche for St. Elizabeth’s Motherhouse will be held out front of the Motherhouse. The Crèche details the story of St. Francis of Assisi giving thanks and coming into the presence of God and contemplation of Bethlehem during the time of the birth of Jesus Christ.

At 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 7, an Advent prayer service will be offered in the University Chapel.

At 9 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 8, a Christmas at Greccio celebration presented by the Friars of St. Bonaventure will be held in the Friary. Greccio refers to the city in which St. Francis and his brothers celebrated the Crèche.

All are invited to the Friary Chapel to listen to a retelling of the story of what Francis did at Greccio and reflect on the fresco Giotto painted to depict that event in the late 1290’s in the church of St. Francis of Assisi. Song and prayer will accompany the storytelling and conversation to celebrate the birth of Jesus and the feast of Christmas. Refreshments will follow in the Friary.

At 12 a.m. Saturday, Dec.10, a midnight Mass will be celebrated in the University chapel. It will be the third Sunday of Advent and the last Mass at night on campus before Christmas Break. The Mass will recapture the tradition of midnight Christmas Mass in the Catholic Church.

The Advent celebration continues with a Mass at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 11, in the University Chapel.

At 11.pm. Monday, Dec.12, a midnight breakfast will be held at the Hickey Dining Hall on the University campus.

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President re-appoints advocacy officers

University president Sr. Margaret Carney, O.S.F., has re-appointed six of St. Bonaventure University’s faculty and staff to service as advocacy officers for the 2005-2006 academic year.

The appointed officers are Dr. Richard Reilly, Board of Trustees Professor of philosophy, Dr. Craig Zuckerman, director of counselor education, Dr. Margaret Mazon, department chair of modern languages, Dr. Carol Fischer, professor of accounting, Dr. Patricia Parsley, assistant professor of biology, and Dr. Lauren De La Vars, associate professor of English.

“We appreciate the devoted service of these individuals,” said Sr. Margaret. The officers oversee the University’s policies concerning equal opportunity, affirmative action and sexual harassment.

The appointments are annual ones, subject to reappointment, with terms ending May 31, 2006.

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Holiday festivities planned at St. Bonaventure's Quick Center

All are invited to a tree lighting ceremony at 11:30 a.m., Friday, Dec. 2, in the museum atrium of St. Bonaventure University’s Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts.

The tree lighting is part of the Quick Center’s Christmas celebration, which also includes:
• Two special exhibitions, “Tidings of Great Joy: Crèches from Six Continents, and Old St. Nick: Christmas with Thomas Nast” on view until Jan. 8, 2006.
• A public performance of James Sewell Ballet’s “Amahl and the Night Visitors,” at 2 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 3.
• An SBU Christmas concert at 2 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 4.

The Quick Center’s Christmas tree honors SBU’s Franciscan heritage by celebrating St. Francis’ preaching to the birds. A special six-winged seraph tree topper based on the symbol in the SBU seal represents the seraph of St. Francis’ vision while praying on the mountainside. The tree topper was designed and made by fiber artist Mary Kochevar of Kirtland, Ohio.

The 18-foot tree will be illuminated with 4,500 lights. Bursts of peacock feathers courtesy of Olean resident Tina Bailey and hundreds of bird ornaments of every variety — realistic birds, abstract birds, birds made of wood, fabric, wire, beads, metal and paper fulfill the theme. There are folk art birds made of straw from Lithuania, tin birds from Mexico and paper Japanese origami birds. Volunteers and staff made or contributed all of the bird ornaments.

The tree lighting ceremony will be held after a special 10 a.m. (sold-out) school day performance of “Amahl and the Night Visitors.” Rev. Cheryl Parris of University Ministries will bless the tree. SBU alumna, guild chairperson and supporter Marianne Laine will be on hand to introduce and welcome home Jim DiRisio, admissions director at SBU and a major in the U.S. Army Reserve, who will light the tree.

DiRisio recently returned from a yearlong deployment in Baghdad as executive assistant to the commanding general of the Coalition Military Assistance Training Team. In 1991, he spent five months as a civil affairs officer with the 1st Armored Division in Iraq and served as squadron civil affairs officer in Bosnia for seven months with the 4th U.S. Cavalry.

The tree lighting ceremony, exhibitions and SBU Christmas concert are free and open to the public. Tickets for the 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3 performance of “Amahl and the Night Visitors” are $10 at full price, $9 for subscribers and employees and $5 for students.
Admission to the Quick Center galleries is always free and open to the public. Holiday hours: Open Thursday through Saturday Dec. 29-31, closed Dec. 23 through 28, Jan. 1 & 2. Regular gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. For information on group tours, please contact Jason Trimmer at (716) 375-7686. For general information, call (716) 375-2494, visit our Web site at www.sbu.edu or e-mail us at Quick@sbu.edu.

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SBU welcomes new professor to Franciscan Institute faculty

Professor Alison More, Ph.D., recently joined the faculty of the Franciscan Institute at St. Bonaventure University.

More said she is primarily teaching Franciscan institute classes, such as Clare and Franciscan Women, The Body in Franciscan Tradition, and The Franciscan Mystical Tradition. She will teach a special topics course on Beguines and Franciscans next year.

“I am focusing on courses that deal with various aspects of Franciscan theology and social history,” More said. “As the focus of much of my research has been women’s religion in the middle ages, I am particularly looking forward to teaching the course Clare and Franciscan Women.”

More is also teaching The Intellectual Journey, the Clare 101 course offered to undergraduate students. She said the students vary in their enthusiasm, but are lovely to work with.

More received an honors bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Toronto, and a master’s degree in history from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. She recently received her Ph.D. in Medieval Social and Religious History from the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom.

Before coming to Bona’s, More taught English and Canadian history courses at Queen’s University from 1999 to 2000. She later taught Medieval Latin and Medical Ethics from 2001 to 2005 at the University of Bristol.

More said she has had a wonderful experience being introduced into the St. Bonaventure University community so far.

“The faculty and staff are extremely welcoming and supportive,” More said.

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St. Bonaventure grad makes the news for research on homelessness

Dennis Culhane, a 1985 St. Bonaventure graduate, was recognized for his pioneering research for combating homelessness in an article written by Democrat and Chronicle columnist Mark Hare.

As an undergrad at St. Bonaventure, Culhane spent part of a summer working at The Warming House, the University’s student-run soup kitchen. The experience piqued his interest in and compassion for the homeless.

While working on his doctoral degree in social psychology at Boston College, Culhane spent several weeks living in a shelter and said he became “very skeptical of putting more money into shelters.”

After earning his Ph.D., Culhane landed a job teaching social welfare policy at the University of Pennsylvania. Research he did here in the 1990s proved that permanent supported housing for the chronically homeless is only marginally more costly than shelters and is more humane.

The chronically homeless, about 200,000 people nationwide, represent about 10 percent of the total homeless population, but account for about half of the dollars spent on the homeless. This is because they spend the majority of their lives in the shelters and because they require a broad range of services.

Chronically homeless persons cost taxpayers about $40,000 a year when various support services, trips to the emergency room and nights in jail are included. For about $900 more, those same individuals can be housed in safe, permanent homes.

Culhane’s research focused on New York City, where, beginning in 1989, the city and state committed to building 3,600 permanent housing units (with support staff and services) for the chronically homeless. This support system helps residents with everything from the administration of medications to buying groceries.

“Landlords who would ordinarily be very reluctant to rent to this type of client,” Culhane said, “are willing, even eager, to have them once they realize that there is a support system.”

His research has captured a lot of attention. Culhane, who spent two years helping the Bush administration develop a program for housing the chronically homeless, is widely quoted as an expert on homelessness in national newspapers and magazines. An article about his research appeared in the Spring 2003 issue of the BonAlumnus, St. Bonaventure’s alumni publication.

For his work, Culhane has been named one of Esquire magazine’s 30 “Best and Brightest” for 2005. Culhane cautioned Hare not to make too much of this honor.

“That’s just like him, said his mother, Mickey Culhane, of Greece. “He’s more modest than his mother.” Culhane, 42, is the fourth and youngest child of Mickey and her husband, Morey.

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Career Center News ...

For information on upcoming career fair deadlines, practice interview sign-ups and how to create a college central account, visit the Career Center Events Web page.

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Newsmaker ...

Dr. Robert P. Amico was an invited speaker at a symposium on the Difference, Power and Discrimination (DPD) Curriculum Program at Oregon State University on Nov. 18, 2005. For the past five years, Amico has been involved in adapting OSU’s DPD Program model of curriculum transformation for use at St. Bonaventure. The result has been the Annual Tri-College Faculty Summer Seminar in Curriculum Transformation involving Alfred University, Alfred State College, St. Bonaventure University and now Jamestown Community College. The creators of the DPD Program at OSU are writing an anthology about their model for curricular change and Amico has been asked to write a chapter describing our St. Bonaventure adaptation model. The anthology will be published by Lexington Press in 2006. In June 2005, Amico co-presented, with OSU’s Dr. Susan Shaw and Dr. Donna Champeau, “Curriculum Transformation: Alternative Approaches to Change” at the 18th Annual National Conference on Race & Ethnicity in American Higher Education (NCORE) in New York City.

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Friday Forum

All SBU faculty, staff and administrators are welcome to all the Friday Forums.

Date: Dec. 2, 2005 (this Friday)
Speaker: Ronald E. Zwierlein
Time: Lunch starts at noon, Forum goes from 12:35 to 1:30 p.m., including Q&A
Place: University Club - Above Hickey
Title: "2005-06 St. Bonaventure Athletics; Academic Honors; Individual Milestones; Team Accomplishments"

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