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March 2, 2005

 

  1. Doino Awards to recognize outstanding Bonaventure community members
  2. SBU's Quick Center receives organizational award of merit
  3. St. Bonaventure senior creates first workshop for arts educators
  4. College Bowl team advances to national competition
  5. Noted medievalist to speak about Bayeux Tapestry at SBU's Quick Center
  6. Director sought for proposed Center for Academic Excellence
  7. Union-Endicott High School wins Department of Computer Science programming contest
  8. Friday Forum
  9. Career Center News...
  10. Newsmakers...

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Doino Awards to recognize outstanding Bonaventure community members

Has someone in the St. Bonaventure community made your experience better? Do you feel that someone’s Franciscan spirit goes unrecognized?

Give this person the recognition they deserve by nominating them for one of the Fr. Joe Doino, O.F.M., Honors and Awards.

The purpose of these awards is to recognize the exceptional contributions of individuals on campus. Fr. Joe, who died March 7, 1994, became the first faculty member to receive the Faculty Appreciation Award posthumously. Fr. Joe was known for his contributions to the University as a professor, scholar, musician, preacher and priest. He was also the Student Government adviser and served on the Student Government Awards Committee since its inception. In 1995, the ceremony was named in his honor.

Award categories are:
• University Ministries Volunteer of the Year
• Fr. Bob Stewart, O.F.M., Adviser/Moderator of the Year
• Program of the Year
• Donald L. Korben Community Service Award
• The Fr. Gervase White, O.F.M., Staff Person of the Year
• Organization of the Year
• Student Leader of the Year
• The Terry Bickel Student Life Award
• Heather Lohr Cabinet Member of the Year
• The Leo E. Keenan Jr. Faculty Appreciation Award

Nomination forms can be picked up in the Office of Student Life (Reilly Center, Room 203), the Student Activities Office (Reilly Center, Room 208) and University Ministries. Forms are also available from the Web by clicking here: The forms must be submitted to the Office of Student Life by Friday, March 17.

The campus community is invited to attend the awards ceremony at 4 p.m. on Thursday, March 30, in the Robert R. Jones Board of Trustees Room in Doyle Hall. A reception in Doyle Dining Room will follow.

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SBU's Quick Center receives organizational award of merit

St. Bonaventure University’s Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts is pleased to announce it is the 2005 recipient of the Organizational Award of Merit given by the Western New York Association of Historical Agencies (WNYAHA).

The award was given in recognition of the exhibition, “Glorious Lessons: The Idea of America,” which was displayed at the Quick Center from Sept. 24, 2004 through March 20, 2005. The exhibition assembled documents, letters, paintings and artifacts from private collections and institutions.

“Glorious Lessons” examined American colonial life, the struggle for independence, the Declaration of Independence, the Revolution and George Washington as our first national hero. Many of the objects had never been exhibited prior to the show and represented a unique opportunity for scholars, students and the public to view these rare primary documents.

As part of the educational component of the exhibition, Claude S. Harkins, one of the exhibition’s major lenders, visited fifteen elementary and high schools in one week. He engaged the students in a dynamic conversation about the Revolutionary War, George Washington and his own collection of Revolutionary War memorabilia.

“Glorious Lessons” set a new record for attendance at the Quick Center with more than 3,000 visitors. More than 1,200 school-age children from the 54 school districts in the University’s service area were given tours of the show. Private groups traveled as far as seventy miles to experience the exhibition. All of the school tours and in-school presentations were provided free of charge.

The award commended the exhibition’s “ambitious outreach component for local schools,” and went on to state that, “The project serves as a model for the region’s museums.”

The WNYAHA annually recognizes individual and institutional achievement as well as innovative community collaborations. Past winners have included Susan Green/Baker’s Bridge Historical Association, the Amherst Museum, Corning-Painted Post Historical Society/Painted Post-Erwin Museum at the Depot, Holland Land Office Museum, and the McClurg Museum Chautauqua County Historical Society.

Admission to the Quick Center galleries is always free and open to the public. Regular hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Group tours can be scheduled by calling Jason Trimmer at (716) 375-7686. For more information, call (716) 375-2494, visit our Web site at www.sbu.edu or e-mail Quick@sbu.edu.

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St. Bonaventure senior creates first workshop for arts educators

For the first time, St. Bonaventure University will offer a workshop highlighting effective public relations tactics for arts educators. The workshop is called Arts Smarts and was created by senior Andrea Michnik as the focus of her honors project.

The event is slated for 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 1, at the Quick Center for the Arts. The event is invite only. Invitations were sent out to various educators from Erie, Cattaraugus and Chautauqua counties.

All senior honors students at St. Bonaventure are required to propose and complete a yearlong research endeavor. In the beginning of the school year, students write a formal proposal to the honors board for acceptance. As Michnik was preparing her proposal in August she wanted to work on something different than the traditional research paper.

“I wanted to do something unique with public relations and service work, but I also had to make an event that was journalism/mass communication related. This way I am including three of my passions: the arts, education and public relations. The arts have always been a part of my life and I feel my project is important because it is the perfect mix of all my passions,” said Michnik. “I get to use my public relations skills for a cause that I feel strongly about, the arts in education.”

Because Michnik is not a fine arts major or an education major, she had to employ the help of the QCA staff and Dr. Peggy Burke, dean of the School of Education for the University, to help with gaining experience in the education and arts fields.

Michnik also received a $3,700 grant from the Journey Project for Arts Smarts, a grant that she wrote herself. Out of 16 people who applied, she is one of the four people to get the full amount requested.

Chris Mackowski, associate professor of journalism and mass communication, is serving as Michnik’s adviser for the project, as well as speaking on community relations for the event. Mackowski said Michnik’s project is unique because of its scope. He feels Michnik’s project is impressive because she has been working at a high degree of professionalism while managing an event of great complexity.

“She did a great deal of research to find out the areas that are of the most concern for local high school teachers who oversee school arts programs. Based on that research, she was able to create a line-up of programs that will help teachers address those challenges,” said Mackowski.

“She wanted this to be a very service-oriented project, which has turned out great because it actually involves many different levels of service: Andrea’s service to the University and the Quick Center for the Arts, the Quick Center for the Arts’
service of arts-in-education to regional schools and teachers, the teachers’ service
to their students, the students’ service through the arts to their communities,” said Mackowski. “Andrea’s work will touch a lot of people.”

Michnik is a native of Elma, N.Y. She lives with her parents, Ken and Donna Michnik and her two younger sisters Leanna and Jessica. She is a senior honor’s journalism/mass communication major with a minor in marketing and has made the dean’s list every semester at St. Bonaventure.

She is also member of the American Marketing Association and currently helps design ads and manages the Web site for the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. She also does public relations and free lance work locally for Mellon Technology in Olean. She will be attending graduate school at St. Bonaventure next fall to study integrated marketing communications.

The tentative schedule on April 1 is as follows:
8:30 a.m. – registration
9:00 a.m. – welcome from Andrea Michnik and Joseph LoSchiavo of the QCA and University president Sr. Margaret Carney, O.S.F., S.T.D.
9:30 a.m. – two sessions of presentations:
1) Chris Mackowski, associate professor of journalism and mass communication, to speak on community relations.
2) Karen Buchheit, director of Institutional Advancement and assistant to the president at The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, to speak on fundraising for the arts departments
10:20 a.m. – break
10:30 a.m. – second double session of talks
1) Panel discussion led by executive directors of the Erie, Cattaraugus and Chautauqua county arts councils - Dave Shien, Celeste Lawson, and Kim Driscoll.
2) Helga McKinnon of the Buffalo Chapter of Young Audiences to speak on special organizations that help arts educators.
11:20 a.m. – break
11:30 a.m. – third double session of talks
1) Tentatively scheduled for a presentation on school policy on the arts, such as censorship, ownership and copyright
2) Peggy Moffitt from the Coalition of the Arts Providers For Children
will be joined by Lucinda Ingalls, Executive Director of Musicians United for Superior Education and Chair of the Advocacy Committee of CAPC will speak and present a PowerPoint presentation on education resources.
12:20 p.m. – break
12:30 p.m. – lunch in the University Club w/ roundtable discussion – topics will be submitted that day.
2:00 p.m. – reconvene in the QCA main auditorium for the keynote speaker Cynnie
Gaasch, arts editor for the newspaper ArtVoice, who will present on “The importance of media coverage and the arts or schools.”
2:50 p.m. – Joseph LoSchiavo will speak on the QCA and its resources, new programs, scholarships and grants.
3:30 p.m. – tours of the Quick Center for Arts will run until 5 p.m.

The morning discussion sessions will be held upstairs at the QCA in the two choral rooms simultaneously.

If the project is a success, Michnik would like to see this event carried out in coming years, perhaps with a different focus, but still containing the central theme of arts education.

Michnik is looking for volunteers for that week. For more information, e-mail her at michniag@sbu.edu.

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College Bowl team advances to national tournament

ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y., Feb. 29, 2006 — St. Bonaventure University’s College Bowl team decisively won its regional tournament and will advance to the national championship tournament April 21-23 in Hartford, Conn.

With an 11-1 record, the SBU team defeated the University of Rochester, who won the competition in 2005. SBU also decisively defeated many teams from New York and New England including Northeastern University, Providence College, Rochester Institute of Technology and Syracuse University.

The team is co-captained by Sam Orlando, a five-year accounting major from West Branch, Mich., and Jason B. Schultz, a journalism and mass communication major from Rochester, N.Y. Other team members are Tim Randel, a Spanish major who was the second-highest scorer in Saturday’s games and the top scorer in Sunday’s playoffs; Bill Kenney, a journalism and mass communication major from Fairport, N.Y.; and Ray Prendergast, a history major from Little Neck, N.Y.

“This has been a great experience. When we left for Marist University, I don’t think any of us went expecting to win. I think we knew we had a chance and our confidence just kept growing after every match,” said Randel

College Bowl at SBU is sponsored by the School of Arts and Sciences and is moderated by Dr. Lauren De La Vars of the Department of English and Dr. David Matz of the Department of Classics.

De La Vars thinks the team has represented the University well and also believes that the team’s success is a direct correlation of the academic standards of St. Bonaventure. “I think our team’s success represents the quality of education students receive at St. Bonaventure. I am convinced that Clare College allows students to obtain a core understanding of all different facets of academic knowledge,” she said.

Matz has helped moderate the College Bowl team for many years and says that the Bonaventure team exhibits a unique confidence in competition. “It’s kind of like a David vs. Goliath situation in a sense when you are going against institutions who really practice for this kind of thing. But our team is composed of remarkably bright young men who are also in touch with the University. They represent Bonaventure values, but they are also just typical Bonaventure students.”

College Bowl is a rapid-recall game of general and academic knowledge. The questions range from all categories, including physics, European history, music and much more. The team usually practices at least once a week with different trivia games and occasionally competes against a team on campus made up of faculty members.

At the national tournament Bonaventure will face these teams who won their regions: UCLA, University of Illinois, University of Minnesota, Northwestern University, The Ohio State University, Washington University-St. Louis, Baylor University, Seton Hall University and Bucknell University.

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Noted medievalist to speak about Bayeux Tapestry at SBU's Quick Center

World-renowned medievalist Jacques Dalarun will present a free public lecture at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 14, at The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts at St. Bonaventure University.

Dalarun will be speaking as part of the closing-week events for the center’s exhibition of a 210-foot-long replica of the Bayeux Tapestry, “Stitches in Time: The Bayeux Tapestry – A Medieval Narrative Recreated,” which closes Sunday, March 19. The exhibition will be open an hour before and after the lecture.

Dalarun refers to the Bayeux Tapestry as a “strange strip cartoon, which actually works more like a movie,” that tells the story of the conquest of England by William, Duke of Normandy. Scholars continue to debate its dating, origin and sponsor, as well as its exact meaning. However, there is no doubt that this embroidered story is an exceptional testimony to the material and mental aspects of medieval life.

Dalarun is senior researcher at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris. Previously he worked as director of the Medieval Department at the French Academy in Rome and was the former director of the Institute of Research and History of the Texts.

He spent last year in Olean as the Joseph A. Doino Visiting Professor of Franciscan Studies at the Franciscan Institute at St. Bonaventure. Dalarun has written numerous books, mainly on religious life in the Middle Ages.

The Bayeux Tapestry is seen as an important primary historical document intended for a sophisticated audience, many of whom had lived through the events it portrays. Its illustrations provide scholars with much information regarding daily life and depict more than 1,500 different objects, animals and figures. Still, it remains a remarkably unified and comprehensible narrative account.

The original Bayeux Tapestry was created around 1077 as a narrative account of the Norman conquest of England. Though actually embroidery, the work has come to be known as the Bayeux Tapestry after the town where it has been displayed for hundreds of years.

As well as documenting an important historic event, the original work is critically important as a record of costumes, arms, customs, styles and details of early medieval life. It is surprisingly sophisticated in its approach to storytelling, as each part of the story is given its own section and the actions of the figures are easily decipherable providing momentum to the reading of the narrative.

The recreation on display at the Quick Center was created over a period of 11 years by Raymond J. Dugan, a professor of French at the University of Waterloo who became fascinated by the Bayeux Tapestry on his many trips to the small town of Bayeux in the north of France.

Admission to the Quick Center galleries is free and open to the public, Tuesdays through Fridays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays from noon until 5 p.m. For more information, call 716-375-2494. For information on group tours, please contact Jason Trimmer at (716) 375-7686. For general information, call (716) 375-2494, visit www.sbu.edu or e-mail Quick@sbu.edu.

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Director sought for proposed Center for Academic Excellence

St. Bonaventure is submitting an application to the U.S. Department of Education Title III: Strengthening Institutions grant program. One of the purposes of the 5-year grant is to improve and strengthen academic quality at the institution to which it is awarded.

The main activity in our proposal is the creation of a Center for Academic Excellence. The Center would serve as the main University resource for faculty development. Initial topics to be addressed by the Center include:

1) use of classroom technology (the grant has a budget of nearly $500,000 for classroom technology)
2) effective teaching methods
3) working with students with disabilities; 4) writing across the curriculum
5) advising

In addition, the Center would sponsor competitive grant programs for course improvement and development as well as student-faculty research.

Should the grant be awarded, the position of director of the Center for Academic Excellence would be created and begin in October. The position would be a 10-month appointment (academic year plus one summer month). It would be full-time with the option of teaching one course per term until June, 2008. The position would then reduce to a 2-course release per term until June 2010, followed by a reduction to a 1-course release per term, where it would remain.

The grant would provide funds to replace the director in his/her department at a Visiting Professor level until May 2008, with support provided at the adjunct level thereafter. The director would oversee a programming budget of approximately $400,000 over the 5 years of the grant.

Reporting to the provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, the director of the Center for Academic Excellence would have as direct reports a half-time disabilities education coordinator and a half-time administrative assistant.

The successful candidate will possess excellent written and oral communication skills, strong organizational skills, a demonstrated commitment to teaching excellence, and the ability to work constructively with faculty. Tenured faculty status preferred.

Interested individuals should submit electronically a 1etter of application and current curriculum vitae to Dr. Carol Fischer, Chair, Search Committee (cfischer@sbu.edu) by Friday, March 24, 2006.

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Union-Endicott High School wins Department of Computer Science programming contest

Union-Endicott High School from Endicott, N.Y., won the 18th Annual Invitational High School Programming Contest at St. Bonaventure University on Friday, Feb. 24. The Union-Endicott team was the only team to solve six of the eight problems correctly and did it in a total of 620 minutes. Fox Lane High School from Bedford, N.Y., placed second, solving four problems in a total of 289 minutes. Ithaca High School from Ithaca, N.Y., placed third, correctly solving four problems in a total of 344 minutes.

Teams consist of up to four team members, all of whom must be enrolled at their respective high schools. Teams were given a set of eight problems, a computer in one of the University’s labs, and three hours in which to solve as many of the problems as possible. Teams are ranked based upon the number of problems that they solve and the time in which they solve them.

Sixteen teams from Western New York and Northwestern Pennsylvania, as well as New Jersey, Maryland and Delaware, competed in the one-day contest which was sponsored by the St. Bonaventure University Department of Computer Science. Also key to the success of the competition was the assistance of Dan Donner and Wayne Oonk from the University’s Technology Services department and Doug Patrone from Bright Plan, IT. Approximately 20 computer science majors contributed time and expertise to the set up, administration, monitoring and judging of the contest.

During the competition, the teams’ faculty advisers met in one of St. Bonaventure’s technology classrooms. Dr. Paul Tymann, from Rochester Institute of Technology, discussed recent changes in the Java programming language with the faculty advisors.

The winning team from Union-Endicott consisted of Liana Greer, Jiri Stehlik, Matthew Asher and Jeff Galkowski; Ms. Eileen Lane accompanied the team as their adviser. The Fox Lane team consisted of Kathryn Bambino, Dana Hoffman, Andrew Marshall and Spencer Brody; Leigh Ann Sudol served as their adviser. The third-place team from Ithaca consisted of Rachel Zax, Seth Wraight, Johnathan Schultz and Jeremy McCall; Roselyn Teukolsky served as their adviser.

In addition to the top three teams, the competition included students from the following schools: Allegany-Limestone High School, Archmere Academy, Atholton High School, Canandaigua Academy, Fairport High School, Hinsdale Central School, John P. Stevens High School, Lancaster Country Day School, Livonia High School, North Allegheny High School, Upper St. Clair High School, Warsaw High School and Webster Schroeder High School.

Contest results, including contest questions, previous results and contest rules, will be available on the World Wide Web at http://web.sbu.edu/cs/contest.html.

Further information can be obtained by calling the contest director, Dr. Steven K. Andrianoff, at (716) 375-2053.

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Friday Forum

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

Date: March 3, 2006 (this Friday)
Speaker: Jason Trimmer
Time: Lunch starts at noon, Forum goes from 12:35 to 1:30 p.m., including Q&A
Place: University Club - Above Hickey
Title: "An Introduction to the University's Art Collection"

 

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Career Center News...

For information on "How to Make a Career Fair Work for You" and CareerFest '06 Advanced Registration, be sure to check out the Career Center Events Web page.

 

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Newsmakers...

Dr. Robert P. Amico, professor of philosophy, and Charles Virga, former diversity consultant for St. Bonaventure, were invited keynote speakers at Jamestown Community College for Faculty Development Day. Virga spoke on multicultural competency and Amico spoke on curriculum transformation. The Four-College (SBU, Alfred University, Alfred State College & Jamestown Community College) faculty summer seminar in curriculum transformation is entering its fifth year this summer.


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Dr. Carl J. Case, associate professor of management science, and Dr. Kimberly S. Young, associate professor of management science, presented their paper “A Gender Analysis of Student Music Downloading Behavior and Ethics” at the American Society of Business and Behavioral Sciences 13th Annual Conference held in Las Vegas on Feb. 23-26.

 

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