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Jan. 12, 2006

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Martin Luther King Week celebration finalized

St. Bonaventure University will recall both Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the late civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks during its celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Week, Jan. 16-20.

A highlight of the week will be the SBU Student Showcase on Thursday, Jan. 19.

Prior to the semester break, SBU students registered for the Third Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Oratory Competition. Each student is asked to make a 3- to 5-minute oratory presentation in the form of a self-written speech, original poetry or the memorization and delivery of a speech/work of a civil rights leader, focusing on this year’s theme, “In the Steps of a Pioneer.”

The oratory competition will be held Thursday, Jan. 19, beginning about 4:30 p.m. in the Robert R. Jones Board of Trustees Room. The competition will be preceded by performances by the step team, SBU Steppers, and the men’s a cappella group, Last Second, at 4 p.m. in the adjacent Doyle Dining Room.

Following the oratory contest, at approximately 5:30 p.m., St. Bonaventure will recognize winners of its middle school essay competition, which is being judged by SBU student teachers. Top essay winners in each grade (6-8) will also have their essays published in The Times Herald.

A dessert reception will follow.

Another highlight will be a concert at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 17, in the San Damiano Room, Francis Hall, by blues artist K.J. James, sponsored by the Campus Activities Board.

A full list of activities planned for the week follows.

Monday, Jan. 16

4 p.m., prayer service in The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts atrium
4:30-7 p.m., formal dinner in Hickey Dining Hall for members of the campus community. Faculty, staff and students not on a meal plan can pick up tickets for the dinner from Nichole Gonzalez in the Reilly Center. During the dinner there will be a reading from Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.
Tuesday, Jan. 17

noon, prayer at the Peace Pole near the Thomas Merton Ministry Center
8 p.m., music by blues artist K.J. James in the San Damiano Room, Francis Hall, sponsored by the Campus Activities Board. James is one of the country’s most celebrated bluesmen, having earned four consecutive Campus Entertainer of the Year nominations and won national acclaim for his contribution to the internationally recognized “Salt City Blues” project.
Wednesday, Jan. 18

Care packages for guests of The Warming House will be delivered on Wednesday, Jan. 18, as students, faculty and staff prepare and serve the evening meal at The Warming House. The campus community is encouraged to donate toiletries or create their own care packages and drop them off in University Ministries by Tuesday, Jan. 17. Please contact Connie Horan in Admissions at (716) 375-2429 or Trevor Thompson in University Ministries at (716) 375-2601 with questions.
Thursday, Jan. 19

4-6 p.m., Student Showcase in Doyle Hall 4 p.m., performances by SBU Steppers and Last Second, Doyle Dining Room 4:30 p.m., SBU student oratory competition, Robert R. Jones Board of Trustees Room
5:30 p.m., recognition of middle school essay competition winners, Board of Trustees Room
5:45 p.m., dessert reception, Doyle Dining Room
Friday, Jan. 20

12:30 p.m., Friday Forum, University Club (for University faculty and staff). The Rev. Cheryl Parris and students who will be studying the Civil Rights Movement in Alabama during Christmas break (Jan. 12-16) will be the presenters.
3:30 p.m., prayer service in the Thomas Merton Center
Also during the week, special movies will be shown on SBU-TV Channel 9 at 4:30 p.m. The lineup for the week is: “Martin Luther King Jr.: The Man and the Dream,” “Crash,” “Mississippi Burning,” “Amistad,” and “Remember the Titans.”

The Martin Luther King Jr. Week celebration Web site will contain any additional information as plans are finalized: http://www.sbu.edu/index.cfm?objectid=ED517608-1143-EB9C-3AABFE43343AD198

For more information about Martin Luther King Jr. Week 2006, contact Lt. Col. Rick Trietley at (716) 375-2565 or rtrietle@sbu.edu. The annual observance is organized through the Diversity Action Committee’s Subcommittee on Student Life.

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University community mourns Fr. Regis Duffy, O.F.M.

The St. Bonaventure University community is mourning the death of Fr. Regis A. Duffy, O.F.M., S.T.D., Board of Trustees Professor and longtime member of the University community, who died Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2006.

A funeral Mass was celebrated at 10 a.m., Saturday, Jan. 7, in the University Chapel, Doyle Hall, with Fr. Dominic Monti, O.F.M., Vicar Provincial of the Province of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, as celebrant and Fr. Xavier J. Seubert, O.F.M., Guardian of the St. Bonaventure Friary, as homilist. Visitation began at 9 a.m. with the Friars' Office of the Dead.

Fr. Regis was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. on Oct. 15, 1934. He was professed a Franciscan friar in 1955 and ordained to the priesthood in 1961.

On May 11, 2002, during the Baccalaureate Mass during which Fr. Regis — a gifted speaker known for interweaving characters from the comic strip “Peanuts” into his homilies — had served as homilist, then-University President Dr. Robert J. Wickenheiser announced that Fr. Regis had been named a Board of Trustees Professor.

The University’s Board of Trustees established the designation in 1996 to recognize select professors who have “truly distinguished themselves in their teaching, devotion to students, professional publications and contributions, and service to the University throughout the years.”

“Fr. Regis is widely respected as a theologian and in particular as a liturgist, often viewed as the liturgist’s liturgist,” Wickenheiser said, recognizing the friar as “a scholar who never sacrificed being a teacher who cared about students; a scholar and a teacher who never sacrificed being a friar in service to others. He brought theology and Scripture alive in the written word, in the classroom, and in the homily; with scholarly sources, with anecdote, and with Lucy, Peanuts and Linus.”

Fr. Regis was the first Franciscan scholar-in-residence at The Franciscan Institute at St. Bonaventure, which serves the Franciscan family and scholarly world through its research, publications and teaching program.

For 20 years, he was the regular Sunday preacher at the Jesuit parish of Holy Trinity at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., while teaching for 18 years at the Washington Theological Union. He also taught for six years at the University of Notre Dame (Ind.)

He published five books, including "An American Emmaus: Faith and Sacrament in the American Church," which was honored by the Catholic Press Association in 1996, and "Liturgy in the Catechism: Celebrating God’s Wisdom and Love." He also wrote numerous scholarly articles and edited books and encyclopedias.

Since earning a bachelor’s degree from St. Bonaventure in 1957, he earned six additional academic degrees, including two from the Institut Superieure de Liturgie in Paris and a doctorate of sacred theology from the Institut Catholique de Paris. In 1997, he served as Commencement keynote speaker and received an honorary doctorate from Christ the King Seminary in East Aurora, N.Y., an interdiocesan graduate school of theology, divinity and pastoral ministry.

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Christian rock band Casting Crowns to play SBU on March 19

“Are we happy plastic people/Under shiny plastic steeples/With walls around our weakness/And smiles to hide our pain/But if the invitation’s open/To every heart that has been broken/Maybe then we close the curtain on our stained glass masquerade.”

With bold questions like the ones above set to memorable melodies, songs like “Stained Glass Masquerade” leave no room for doubt that the platinum-selling, seven-piece youth ministry band Casting Crowns continues to challenge the Sunday morning status quo. The band will be headlining a Christian rock concert at St. Bonaventure University Sunday, March 19.

Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday, Jan. 13, and will be priced as follows: Gold circle seating, first 15 rows on the floor – $40; Back section of the floor – $22; Blue seats – $25; Bleacher seating – $22; and upper-level red seats – $19. Also, groups of 10 may purchase red seats for $15 each. Tickets may be purchased in person at the Reilly Center Ticket Office, at all Tops Friendly Markets, by phone at (888) 223-6000 or online at tickets.com. For more information call the ticket office at (716) 375-2500. All seating is reserved.

“Casting Crowns’ music has captured the attention of not only modern Christian music fans, but across the musical spectrum, including the writers at Rolling Stone magazine,” said Steve Plesac, director of student activities at St. Bonaventure University. “We are excited to welcome the band and their fans, and we feel there could not be a better venue for this concert than St. Bonaventure University.”

Opening acts include music artists Nichole Nordeman and Josh Bates, and guest speaker Tony Nolan. Only 12 weeks after its Aug. 30, 2005, release, “Lifesong,” the band’s sophomore release, has earned gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America for selling more than 500,000 copies.

The band earned its first Grammy nomination for best pop/contemporary gospel album last month by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences for “Lifesong,” which debuted at No. 9 on Billboard’s Top 200 Albums Chart, one of only two Christian artists to break the top 10 on the Billboard Chart in 10 years.

The band was also recently nominated for favorite artist in the contemporary inspirational category at the 33rd American Music Awards last month, and was featured in the Sept. 26, 2005, issue of Rolling Stone magazine.

“Lifesong” continues in the same vein as Casting Crowns self-titled debut album two years ago, bringing focus to topics the band feels aren’t being talked about enough.

“I think people are willing to listen to the hard truth if you’re being transparent about your own life, your own struggles with doubt and fear and failure,” said lead singer and songwriter Mark Hall. “These songs, like all the songs I write, are simply about where we all live.”

By Katie Fish

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Civil rights immersion trip departs for Alabama

Six St. Bonaventure University students, along with four faculty and staff members, journeyed to Samford University in Birmingham, Ala., beginning Jan. 11 to participate in a national student conference called Faith in Action.

During the trip, which is sponsored by Samford University’s “Samford In Mission” (SIM), a grant initiative funded by the Programs for the Theological Exploration of Vocation of the Lilly Endowment, Inc., students and faculty will visit seminal civil rights venues and discuss faith, learning and justice.

“The conference is set up so that students can experience the role of faith in past, present and future social movements,” said the Rev. Cheryl A.E. Parris, director of SBU’s social ministries program.

The goal of this immersion experience is to provide an opportunity for students and faculty to further integrate faith into their academic studies at St. Bonaventure, their future career choices and their service commitments.

Topics to be explored during the conference include racial equality, women’s rights, social justice, human rights, community service and service learning, international justice, environmental protection, sustainable development and peace making.

“This trip is about making things real,” said Parris. “We’re very good at talking. This trip will hopefully inspire us to make our dreams and aspirations real. We want to bring the experience back to campus in hopes of doing that.”

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Quartet New Generation to perform at QCA on Jan. 20

Friends of Good Music, in association with The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts at St. Bonaventure University, presents “QNG: Quartet New Generation” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 20, as the fourth in a series of seven classical music and jazz concerts.

Quartet New Generation members will also present a free lecture/demonstration at 12:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 20, in the Rigas Family Theater. The public is invited to the 45-minute lecture to learn about the many different recorders that will be featured in the performance as well as a sampling of the music. The lecture will be followed by a 15-minute question-and-answer session.

Performing with more than 20 different recorders of varying sizes and shapes, QNG’s innovative style of programming combined with mesmerizing stage presence has attracted enthusiastic audiences throughout Europe and South America. Hailed as “four recorder virtuosos” by The New York Times, the members of recorder collective QNG are dedicated to contemporary music, collaborations with emerging composers globally, and proving to international audiences the recorder’s ability to be a modern classical instrument. The instruments played by the collective include a large number of accurate copies of authentic historical instruments plus modern recorders called “Pätzoldbasses.”

These square box-like recorders produce a different structure of overtones and extraordinary sound. In March 2004, QNG was awarded first prize in the 2004 Concert Artists Guild International Competition, as well as the Victor and Sono Elmaleh Prize, a new video/recording prize. In the 2004-05 season, the ensemble made its official U.S. debut at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. Engagements for 2005-06 include Chautauqua Institution, Merkin Concert Hall in New York City and Washington Performing Arts Society.

QNG was founded in September 1998 by Susanne Froehlich, Andrea Guttmann, Hannah Pape and Heide Schwarz, who met during their studies at the Amsterdam Conservatoire and at the University of the Arts, Berlin. This performance is sponsored in part by The New York State Council on the Arts. For tickets and information, call the QCA at (716) 375-2494.

The QCA will extend its gallery hours, opening one hour before and one hour after each performance. Regular gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday noon to 5 p.m. Museum admission is free and open to the public year round. Visit us at www.sbu.edu

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Volunteers pitch in as The Warming House receives 1,100 boxes of food

More than 68,000 items in 1,100 boxes arrived in three trucks to St. Bonaventure University’s Warming House, one of the nation’s oldest student-run soup kitchens.

St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute, a high school for boys in Kenmore, N.Y., has been participating in the drive – called the “food basket” – for 35 years, and has been delivering food to The Warming House for more than 20 of them.

“The founder of the food basket and history teacher at St. Joseph’s, Chuck Ende, has particularly desired to make the rural poor the target of this food drive,” said Trevor Thompson, director of The Warming House. “I went to St. Joseph’s twice in November when the drive started and spoke to some classes and saw how this happens. It literally takes over the school.”

Thompson said that with the tradition and energy of the program, the students really rally around the whole project. There is a leadership team of about 50 students who receive the items early in the morning. The number of items and homeroom of the student is noted to provide a tally of the total number of items each class brings in. This year, the junior class won with almost 30,000 items.

“I went up for the school assembly where the entire school gathers and finds out the tallies and celebrates the competition of the drive,” said Thompson. “After the assembly the students load the trucks. It took them 45 minutes to load and nearly two hours to unload at The Warming House.”

This drive provides The Warming House with nearly 85 percent of its non-perishable food items for the year. This year, The Warming House offered 200 boxes to the Olean Area Food Pantry to spread the abundance of food to a greater cross-section of the community. The Warming House donates to the program throughout the year.

“We had more than 30 people from the community helping us unload the three Ryder trucks,” said Thompson. “The people represented staff, faculty, students, Warming House guests and Olean-area residents. Many remarked how glad they were to have come and helped. They said it was even fun! It was beautiful to see the community be a part of this gathering; it truly is the season to deliver gifts, gifts that sustain, gifts that nourish, gifts that give dignity and hospitality. It is what Christmas time is all about; it is a living Nativity,” said Thompson.

By Katie Fish

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SBU unveils new scholarships for Chautauqua, Warren counties

St. Bonaventure University has announced two new scholarships designed especially for Chautauqua and Warren County (Pa.) County students.

The scholarships, available for the first time for students entering in fall 2006, will aid all qualifying graduates of high schools throughout Chautauqua and Warren County, offering $12,000 per year to help finance a top-quality education at St. Bonaventure.

“We welcome high-achieving students from surrounding counties and invite them to achieve their educational goals at St. Bonaventure,” said St. Bonaventure University president Sr. Margaret Carney, O.S.F., S.T.D. “These scholarship will help to ensure that all deserving students can attain a high-quality education at a private institution, launching them to successful careers and a life of service to the communities in which they live.”

Students must be graduates of a Warren or Chautauqua County high school and have maintained a high school average of 84 percent or higher, based on their official transcript. They also must receive a score of 1050 or better combined on the SAT (math and verbal) or a 23 on the ACT. Students must register full time at St. Bonaventure to receive the scholarship, which is renewable annually, at the same amount, if the student maintains a minimum grade point average of 2.5 or better.

"We consider it a privilege to serve the surrounding community by helping all students who deserve a university education to receive one," said Mary Piccioli, dean of enrollment and director of institutional research at St. Bonaventure. "These scholarships join our Enchanted Mountain Scholarship, which aids students in Cattaraugus and Allegany counties in New York and McKean and Potter counties in Pennsylvania, to expand the region in which we offer this very special and valuable scholarship opportunity."

There is no special application for these scholarships — all eligible students will be considered. Details may be obtained by contacting St. Bonaventure’s financial aid office at (716) 375-2528, or apply for admission online through the St. Bonaventure Web site at www.sbu.edu.

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Quick Center plans 250th birthday bash for Mozart

In celebration of the 250th anniversary of the birth of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart this year, The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts at St. Bonaventure University will pay tribute to the prolific career of one of the greatest composers who ever lived with two films – “Amadeus” and “The Magic Flute” – and a birthday cake contest. All events are free and open to the public.

Mozart (1756–1791), a child prodigy, composed his first symphonies at the age of 9. Although he had written a student opera, “Apollo and Hyacinthus,” in 1767, his first legitimate commission was “Bastien und Bastienne,” commissioned by and performed at the home of Dr. Anton Mesmer in 1768 in Salzburg. Mesmer had a theory of the healing power of magnets and it is from his name that we get the word “mesmerize.”

In 1981, Joseph LoSchiavo, executive director of the Quick Center, wrote an English translation of “Bastien and Bastienne” and produced it in a small theater in a settlement house in what was then called the “Hell’s Kitchen” section of Manhattan. The tenor in that production was Barry Lenson, the son of the painter Michael Lenson whose work is currently on view in the Quick Center’s Kenney Gallery. Two paintings on view have been given to the center by Lenson and his family. Lenson later abandoned his operatic aspirations and has been a very successful writer for the past 20 years or so.

“Although we have not seen each other in more than 10 years, Barry and I kept up our acquaintance which has had the happy result of the gift of the two paintings,” said LoSchiavo. “So, it is because of this obscure work of Mozart that the Quick Center comes to own two of the more significant 20th century works in our collection.”

After fulfilling courtly duty in Salzburg and an engagement as court organist, Mozart supported himself after 1781 as a free-lance composer and musician. He was commissioned by Emperor Josef II early in his career to write a German national lyrical drama, from which “The Abduction from the Seraglio” transpired.

Mozart was appointed Imperial Chamber Composer in 1787, yet not even this could halt his financial decline. His health also deteriorated and on Dec. 5, 1791, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died totally impoverished, his brilliant musical achievements unrecognized.

A composer of opera, symphonies, songs, string quartets, divertimenti, serenades and concertos, Mozart has influenced every major composer. His name summons up visions of powdered wigs, aristocrats, concerts halls and opera houses. The music of this 18th century genius permeates society as the soundtrack in cartoons, movies, elevators and just about anywhere there is music.

Mozart’s Birthday Weekend Celebration at the Quick Center Timeline:

Wednesday, Jan. 18: Deadline to register an entry for the cake contest. Call (716) 375-2494.
Friday, Jan. 27: Mozart’s Birthday 7 p.m., film: “Amadeus,” 1984. Winner of eight Academy Awards. Directed by Milos Forman. “This was music I’d never heard before,” says Salieri in the film. “It seemed to me the voice of God.” Rated R. Run Time: 3 hr. 33 min.
Sunday, Jan. 29: 12:30 p.m., cake entries due at the Quick Center.
1 p.m., cake contest – three prize categories awarded by a New York state judge.
1:30 p.m., coffee and birthday cake for all.
2:30 p.m., film: “The Magic Flute,” 1975. (age: 10+) Directed by Ingmar Bergman. “Bergman has said that the making of this film ‘was the best time of my life: You can’t imagine what it is like to have Mozart’s music in the studio every day.’ Actually, watching the movie, one can,” said film critic Pauline Kael. Not Rated. Run Time: 2 hr. 15 min.

Prizes will be awarded for the most delicious (best overall) cake, best decorated (most original) cake, and the audience’s favorite cake. The Honorable Jeremiah J. Moriarty III, judge of the New York State Court of Claims, will award first prize in the cake contest. Second prize will be awarded by Salzburg-born Ludwig Brunner, program consultant for the Quick Center. Third prize will be audience awarded. All are welcome to enter a cake, and to help celebrate Mozart’s 250th birthday.

Admission to the Quick Center galleries is always free and open to the public. 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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Housekeeping services consolidated

University housekeeping services are being consolidated into the Department of Maintenance.

Previously, some housekeepers reported to the vice president for Student Life because they worked primarily in the residence halls. The change will allow George Solan, vice president for Student Life, to dedicate his time to his primary area of Student Life services, judicial and disciplinary functions, as well as working with other Cabinet officers in developing the strategic plan for future Student Life activity and facilities.

“This new arrangement allows us to streamline responsibility for plant operations and frees some time for George Solan to dedicate to his primary duties, which support student engagement and co-curricular activity,” said University president Sr. Margaret Carney, O.S.F., S.T.D.

Sr. Margaret explained that as the University embarks on construction at the library and DeLaRoche Hall this summer, the Cabinet is examining developing needs for campus maintenance. A single source for assigning work and evaluating staff will help the administration to achieve new operational goals.

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Career Center News ...

For information on how to utilize a career fair, on-campus recruiting, resumé due dates, registration for job quest deadline and day-of-event details, visit the Career Center Events Web page.

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Newsmaker ...

Robert F. Keenan, associate director of planned giving and athletics gift officer, was elected to the Board of Directors for the Western New York Planned Giving Consortium at a meeting held in Buffalo on Dec. 13, 2005. He is also the president of the BOCES Board of Education.

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