1. Sr. Margaret to be honored for interfaith efforts in life, on campus
2. Music is Art partnership brings WNY recording artists to SBU
3. SBU house band to rock the Rathskeller this semester
4. ARAMARK trimming the fat with new trans fat-free oil
5. Richter Center designer honored with award from American Institute of Architects
6. University upgrades Internet access
7. Friday Forum

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Sr. Margaret to be honored for interfaith efforts in life, on campus

St. Bonaventure University President Sr. Margaret Carney, O.S.F., S.T.D., will be honored this month for her efforts to promote interfaith dialogue and environments, including the establishment of SBU’s multicultural Damietta Center.

The National Federation for Just Communities (NFJC) of Western New York, formerly the National Conference of Community and Justice of Western New York, will honor three organizations and 38 individuals for their service to others in the Buffalo area during its 2007 Community Leaders Awards Luncheon at noon Thursday, Jan. 18, in the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center.

Opened in September 2006, the Damietta Center celebrates the diversity of the University’s students, faculty, staff and administrators and provides cultural, intellectual and spiritual enrichment. Available programs, services and facilities will enhance and create a community environment that recognizes the University’s desire to learn and appreciate cultural similarities and differences while cultivating a campus-wide environment for cross-cultural interaction.

“Sr. Margaret is so deserving of the NFJC Community Leader Interfaith Award,” said Lana Benatovich, executive director of the federation.

“She exemplifies everything that we stand for as an organization and is a true role model for both adults and children. Sr. Margaret reaches out to people of all faiths in a compassionate and inclusive way. Her Franciscan heart is so much a part of her work and her life.”

Sr. Margaret has a long history of embracing interfaith issues. She attended the first World Day of Prayer for Peace in Assisi in 1986. The inspiration of seeing the leaders of the world’s religions stand in spiritual solidarity has marked her life as a Franciscan scholar and leader.

Prior to that event, she worked closely with the late Thaddeus Horgan, a Franciscan friar who served in the principal library and ecumenical center of Rome during the meetings of the Second Vatican Council. The relationship with Fr. Thaddeus and the sisters and friars of the Atonement also formed her convictions about Franciscan approaches to Christian Unity.

Twice in the last five years she has been invited to address a gathering of Franciscans of Catholic, Lutheran and Anglican churches.

Sr. Margaret’s experience as a student in Italy led her to friendship with Don Aldo Brunacci, a priest of the Diocese of Assisi who assisted in the rescue of more than 200 Jewish refugees during World War II. Sr. Margaret brought Don Aldo to the campus of St. Bonaventure on two occasions, promoting opportunities for Christian-Jewish dialogue about the Holocaust. This month the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts of St. Bonaventure University is preparing an exhibition of Don Aldo’s story that will be shared with the national Holocaust Museum of Washington, D.C.

Sr. Margaret’s family includes several members of the Jewish faith and she has developed a sensitivity to inter-faith marriage and parenting issues that such families face.

As part of her inaugural address in 2004, Sr. Margaret urged the University to strive for inter-religious literacy as a hallmark of its students’ success. She believes that competent world citizens must be conversant with the principal beliefs of the world’s religious creeds, an important element of work for peace and the cessation of hostilities that impact the world.

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Music is Art partnership brings WNY recording artists to SBU

As part of a new partnership with the organization Music is Art, the Office of Student Activities and Campus Activities Board will kick off a bi-weekly live concert music series in the campus Rathskeller at 9 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 1.

The series will feature Western New York recording artists associated with Music is Art, a privately funded organization whose mission is to keep the arts in education alive in Buffalo Public Schools through financial and material donations, mentoring and instruction from the private sector.

Every other Thursday, the Rathskeller will host a different recording artist or band, ranging from pop to alternative and hip-hop to metal. The concerts are open to all SBU students, their guests and all members of the University community. Admission is free.

Robert Takac, founding member and bassist for the GOO GOO DOLLS, is president of Music is Art. The organization’s two-day festival in Buffalo last year featured close to 100 recording artists and bands covering all genres of music, attracting more than 100,000 people. Music is Art has also produced CDs to raise awareness and funds for various charitable organizations.

A few of the programs produced by Music is Art include the High School Awareness Tour, which features live performances by recording artists in the Buffalo Public High Schools; an annual instrument drive for the schools; co-sponsorships with not-for-profit-groups such as Cradle Beach and Compass House; a weekly Music is Art LIVE at the University of Buffalo Center For the Arts; a “Rockin At the Knox” series (Albright- Knox Art Gallery); and the Western New York Teen Battle of the Bands.

The live music concert series dates for the spring 2007 semester are as follows: Feb. 1, Feb. 15, March 1, March 15, March 22, March 29, April 12, April 26, and May 3.

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SBU house band will rock the Rathskeller this semester

The St. Bonaventure Office of Student Activities and Campus Activities Board are assembling a group of area musicians from the Southern Tier region and the University to form a “house band,” which will practice, jam and perform live music in the Rathskeller every Wednesday from 8 to 10 p.m.

The house band concept will not only provide entertainment in various music formats, including rock, pop, folk, alternative and urban, but it will also encourage student musicians to bring their instruments and join the band onstage to perform various songs in an open mic format.

“Providing a venue, forum and mentoring situation for our student musicians and singers is something we are all looking forward to doing,” said Steve Plesac, director of Student Activities. “We will also have extra guitars on hand should a student musician not have his or her guitar with them on campus.”

In addition to guitars, the band will also utilize a drum set, keyboards and bass guitar. Students who are singers are encouraged to attend these sessions, and will be given the opportunity to sing with the band in a live band karaoke format.

Full tech and production support will be provided, including sound and lights, and a technician to run the mixing boards. The house band will begin its first practice/jam session on Wednesday, Jan. 30. It will take a few weeks to practice before opening the door to musicians from the University to perform with it. A Notice Board announcement will let students know when the open microphone concept is up and running. However, students are encouraged to attend the practice sessions every Wednesday night.

The members of the house band have been chosen not only for their musical ability but also for their interest in mentoring students and other members of the University community. A list of the members and a short bio on each will be released in the near future.

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ARAMARK trimming the fat with new trans fat-free oil

Riding the wave crashing over the nation’s food service industry, St. Bonaventure University has converted to a trans fat-free fryer oil in all of its dining locations on campus.

The University’s decision comes just months after cities such as New York, Chicago and Boston enacted or proposed legislation to ban trans fat oils in their restaurants, and fast-food chains Taco Bell and KFC eliminated trans fat oils altogether.

St. Bonaventure’s announcement is in response to research conducted by ARAMARK, the University’s dining provider, that shows consumers are more concerned than ever with their intake of trans fats. The decision affects all deep-fried foods.

ARAMARK worked with suppliers, dietitians and chefs to identify a product that provides the same great taste consumers enjoy in a non-hydrogenated corn and sunflower oil containing zero grams of trans fats. The new trans fat-free oil is now being used at many ARAMARK-managed locations across the United States.

“ARAMARK is committed to identifying and providing a wide range of choices to help our clients and customers manage their consumption of trans fats and saturated fats,” said Anthony Criscone, senior food service director at St. Bonaventure. “After an in-depth product review, it’s clear that this new oil offers the best combination of value, performance, taste delivery and health profile.”

Trans fat (also known as trans fatty acids) is a specific type of fat formed when liquid oils are made into solid fats such as shortening. However, a small amount of trans fat is found naturally, primarily in some animal-based foods. Trans fat behaves like saturated fat by raising low-density lipoprotein (LDL or “bad”) cholesterol that increases your risk of coronary heart disease.

Trans fat is made when hydrogen is added to vegetable oil, a process called hydrogenation that increases the shelf life and flavor stability of foods containing these fats. A zero-grams trans fat fryer oil is defined by the Food and Drug Administration as having 0.5 grams or less per serving. According to the 2006 ARAMARK Nutritional DiningStyles Research, 27 percent of American adults feel strongly about limiting their trans fats intake in meals purchased away from home, up from an average of 21 percent in 2005.

This research, a comprehensive, nationwide study of the away-from-home eating habits, nutritional preferences and perceptions of Americans, is conducted each year to better understand consumer preferences and tailor dining programs to fit consumer needs.

ARAMARK has been working with its registered dietitians and manufacturers to develop ways to identify and reduce both saturated fats and trans fats in recipe ingredients and prepared foods. All packaged goods have trans fat information reported on the nutritional label in response to the January 2006 FDA regulation requiring prepared food manufacturers to provide the information.

ARAMARK Higher Education provides a wide range of food, facility and other support services to approximately 500 colleges and universities in the United States.

To learn more about the movement to ban trans fats, visit www.bantransfats.com.

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Richter Center designer honored with award from American Institute of Architects

St. Bonaventure’s new recreation center ranks high with more than just students.

The Buffalo/Western New York chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) presented Cannon Design a 2006 Honor Award for its design of The Sandra A. and William L. Richter Center, a state-of-the-art, 43,000-square-foot recreation facility located at the heart of campus.

“We’ve always thought it was an outstanding facility, so we’re not surprised it won the award, but we are very pleased to be recognized by the AIA,” said Brenda Snow, vice president for business and finance at St. Bonaventure. “Cannon did a wonderful job in the planning and design of the center.”

Cannon is also the architect for St. Bonaventure’s new gourmet coffee café (opening this spring), the William F. Walsh Science Center (fall 2008), and the Bogoni Rare Books Addition to Friedsam Memorial Library.

A $3 million donation by the Richters laid the foundation for the $6.2 million facility, which opened in September of 2004.

Among the other WNY buildings cited for their architectural significance were Buffalo City Tower (concept by Cannon Design), Strong National Museum of Play expansion, UB’s Alfiero Center, and Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center.

Since 1857, the AIA has represented the professional interests of America's architects. As AIA members, more than 80,000 licensed architects, emerging professionals, and allied partners express their commitment to excellence in design and livability in the nation’s buildings and communities.

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University upgrades Internet access

Students, faculty and staff will enjoy faster Internet access this spring due to an upgrade of the University’s Internet access. The access was upgraded from15 to 20 megabits, a 33 percent increase.

“The demands on our Internet bandwidth continue to increase,” said Michael Hoffman, executive director for Technology Services. “Fortunately access charges for commodity Internet bandwidth have continued to fall,” Hoffman said.

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Join us for this week's FRIDAY FORUM!

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

Date: Friday, Jan. 19, 2007
Speaker: Dr. Leigh Simone and the Department of Foreign Languages
Time: Lunch starts at noon, Forum goes from 12:35 to 1:30 p.m., including Q&A
Place: University Club - Above Hickey; please sign in and pay $3 at the front desk before proceeding upstairs.
Title: "Modern Language Matters"
Abstract: Some helpful insights for advisers into some modern languages other than English at SBU

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