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Oct. 9, 2008

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Ground broken on Magnano Centre entryway

Ground was broken Thursday on construction of an entryway on the newly named Magnano Centre dining complex at St. Bonaventure University.

The dining facility, which houses Hickey Dining Hall, Café La Verna, the Rathskeller and other dining areas, is being named for Olean businessman and philanthropist Louis Magnano, a major contributor to the university’s ongoing 150th Anniversary Campaign.

A gift of $2,030,000 from Magnano and his wife, Patricia, will fund construction of the new entryway on the northeast corner of the dining facility. The new vestibule will serve as a much-needed weather barrier for the entrance shared by the dining hall and the café, said Philip Winger, associate vice president for facilities at St. Bonaventure.

The Magnano gift also supports the Enchanted Mountain Scholarship fund at the university, which dramatically reduces the tuition for qualifying students in the Southern Tier and northern Pennsylvania. In addition, the gift provides an endowment for annual maintenance of the Magnano Centre as well as support of other university initiatives.

At a reception for the Magnanos in Café La Verna prior to the groundbreaking, Sr. Margaret Carney, O.S.F., S.T.D., lauded the couple for their commitment to projects across the region.

“They are not only patrons of St. Bonaventure University, but they support causes and initiatives throughout the Southern Tier,” said Sr. Margaret, adding one can’t drive through Olean without seeing another Magnano project in the works. “Where there are new and exciting things happening in Olean, Lou’s name is right there,” she said.

Louis Magnano served as a member of the St. Bonaventure University Board of Trustees from 1993 to 2001.

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Sustainable Bona's Day to target university's carbon footprint

St. Bonaventure faculty, staff and students might bleed brown, but they’re being asked to think green for a 24-hour period on Oct. 16.

Dubbed Sustainable Bona’s Day, the campus-wide initiative aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions for an entire day, primarily through energy use. Various campus departments, maintenance for example, will be examining ways to decrease motor vehicle use that day. The campus community is encouraged to conserve gasoline by carpooling and conserve energy by lowering thermostats in their offices and residence hall rooms.

Some of the plans for the day may be reminiscent of what Bona’s students may have seen on campus in the early 20th century — such as a horse trotting across the front lawn. A horse-drawn wagon will transport students in a loop from the Townhouses to Hickey Dining Hall during peak class hours (8:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.).

Faculty and staff are also encouraged to join students on the Bona Bus (click here for the schedule), which they can ride for free by showing their SBU ID.

In the dining hall, locally grown foods will be emphasized and recycling bins for soy containers and paper products (such as napkins) will be available. Diners will also be encouraged to select their meal without using a tray, to cut down on the water and energy used to wash dishes.

What can you do to reduce your carbon footprint on Oct. 16?

For faculty and staff:

Turn off lights in your classroom and office when not needed. Open your blinds to allow more natural light.

Consider use of technology and handouts in preparing class materials. For example, using a laptop to show a Power Point presentation uses fewer resources than distributing the same materials as a handout to go over in class.

Encourage students to participate in the event by minimizing their use of resources.

Think before you print — do not print materials that you do not need.

Use the recycle containers for papers, newspapers and cardboard. Containers can be found near most university copiers and printers, in the library, post office and in all the computer labs.

Recycle depleted batteries rather than tossing them in the trash. Bins for batteries can be found in the library, post office and Murphy Building.

Encourage carpooling or biking to work if possible.

For students:

Keep the lights turned off in your residence hall during daylight hours.

Unplug computers and other electrical devices when not in use.

Hang up laundry to dry instead of using dryers.

Use cloth towels instead of paper towels.

Use only cold water in sinks.

Keep the air conditioning turned off and/or setting your thermostat back to 68 degrees; setting fans to auto so they don’t run continuously.

Cut your shower short.

Philip Winger, associate vice president for facilities and chair of the SBU Green Commission, said the green goal of reducing the university’s carbon footprint by 50 percent for one day could translate into a savings of $2,500 on gas and electric. The university spends more than $2 million a year on gas and electric.

Sustainable Bona’s Day is just one component of the SBU Green Commission, which is studying ways the university should react to the challenge of global climate change associated with energy use and other activities of a modern society. Sustainable Bona’s Day is being planned by four subcommittees: Academic (Dr. Stephen Stahl), Co-Curricular (Stephen Pugliese), Land Use (Br. Joseph Kotula), and Building and Operations (Phil Winger).

Members of the Recycling Club are selling Sustainable Bona’s Day T-shirts for $10 in University Ministries between now and Oct. 16. The shirts will also be for sale at a table in the Reilly Center Friday afternoon and on Wednesday.

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Former journalism student Patricia Kennealy-Morrison to speak at Communications Day

Patricia Kennealy-Morrison, former journalism student and widow of musician Jim Morrison, will be the keynote speaker at the annual Communications Day at St. Bonaventure University.

Kennealy-Morrison will speak at 12:20 p.m. in Dresser Auditorium of the John J. Murphy Professional Building on Oct. 17. The talk is open to the public and sponsored by the Russell J. Jandoli School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Communications Day aims to unveil the possibilities of a journalism profession to high school students and teachers who may have a budding interest in magazines, radio/television, public relations, newspapers or advertising. The Communications Day speakers who are well established and successful in an area of the media, will hold sessions varying from feature writing to conducting interviews, hoping to garner high schoolers’ interests in their respective fields.

Kennealy-Morrison, author of her memoir “Strange Days: My life without Jim Morrison” and “The Keltiad,” a series of Celtic science-fantasy novels, grew up in Babylon, N.Y. She attended St. Bonaventure University before transferring and graduating from Harpur College (now Binghamton University) with a bachelor’s degree in English literature.

Kennealy-Morrison was the editor-in-chief of Jazz & Pop, a progressive music magazine, from 1968 to 1971, during which she interviewed and wrote on many musical artists of that time. She became a two-time Clio nominee, has been acknowledged as an authority on Celtic and Arthurian legend and has been included in numerous reference books.

Kennealy-Morrison is working on her ninth Keltiad book, “The Cloak of Gold,” and other projects including a mystery series, a historical novel on Guthrum the Dane and surfing spirituality according to surfer Laird Hamilton. Her recent work includes “The Crystal Ship: The Priestess and The Shaman—The Spiritual Voyage of Patricia & Jim Morrison” and “The Gates of Overwave,” a children’s book.

In January 1969, Kennealy-Morrison met Jim Morrison, the lead singer of The Doors, in a private interview. On June 24, 1970, the two were wed in a Celtic ceremony. Jim died on July 3, 1971, in Paris.

In 1990, Kennealy-Morrison was knighted as a Dame of the Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem (modern-day Knights of Templar) at Roslin Chapel in Scotland. She is a member of Mensa and has been a priestess in a Celtic Pagan spiritual tradition for 40 years. She lives in New York City.

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SBU Rocks the Vote!

The Campus Activities Board, The Buzz, the College Democrats and Republicans, and the History Club are collaborating to sponsor SBU Rocks the Vote!

The event is 1 to 5 p.m. on Oct. 18 at The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts in Rigas Family Theater.

The non-partisan rally is a response to St. Bonaventure’s No. 12 ranking on the Princeton Review list “Election? What Election?” Participants will be encouraged to vote and will be educated about the upcoming elections and issues.

The College Democrats and Republicans will have information concerning the elections and their parties. Both organizations will also be having guest speakers. The College Republicans will present New York State Sen. Catharine M. Young and the College Democrats will have a speaker of their own, with Dr. Mark Huddle being the introductory speaker.

The Buzz will bring in three bands, Ice Cream Social, Someone Say Something and Bears, that will serenade people as they participate in games and receive free T-shirts.

All students are invited to attend.

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Newsmakers for Fall 2008

Dr. Carl J. Case, professor of management science, Darwin L. King, professor of accounting, Michael D. Kasperski, lecturer of accounting, and Ann H. Lehman, registrar, had a paper titled “E-Social Behavior: Are Academic Class and Identity Theft Factors?” published in the journal Issues in Information Systems. The paper was also presented at International Association for Computer Information Systems 2008 Conference in Savannah, Ga., on Oct. 4, 2008.

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SBU to host seventh Girls' Day for technology

St. Bonaventure University’s Computer Science Department is sponsoring the seventh annual Girls’ Day event at 8:45 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 25.

The participants will be sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade girls from 32 area schools. Students interested in attending should contact their guidance counselors or technology teachers.

Students will have the opportunity to learn about robots, digital scrapbooking, computer-generated animations, encryption and other modern applications of computer technology through hands-on exercises in six different workshops presented by St. Bonaventure graduates and undergraduates and professional women in the computer science field.

St. Bonaventure students will also assist participants during lab sessions and as they walk around campus between workshops.

Suzanne Watson, computer science lecturer, started the Girls’ Day event after reading about the decreased interest in the sciences among middle-school aged girls. An article in the Wall Street Journal reported that the number of incoming freshmen women who declare a computer science major fell by 70 percent between 2000 and 2005. Watson made it her mission to change those numbers.

“If we can show them fun and interesting things, then perhaps we can keep this little flame that might be in there alive,” said Watson.

Notable graduates presenting at the workshops include: Heather Blersch, ’88, who works for General Dynamics IT as a program manager for the U.S. Coast Guard’s Telecommunication and Information Systems Command; Barbara McNally, ’93, who works at Birthday in a Box after spending 11 years at America Online; Barb Snyderman, ’93, proprietor of a web design business, BITS LLC, in Rochester; and Angela Colomaio, ’08, who works at Alcas Corp. as a web programmer.

“These girls need to see women who have succeeded in a technical career,” said Watson. “They need to see women students who are confident, capable and comfortable in what they are doing.”

The event will conclude at 3 p.m. after a panel discussion with workshop presenters. Throughout the discussion, participants will have the opportunity to ask questions regarding the computer science field.

For more information, visit the Girls’ Day Web site at http://www.cs.sbu.edu/girlsday or contact Dr. Watson at 716-375-4091.

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Bona rugby one win from state title game

Clarence Picard is still ticked.

Late in St. Bonaventure’s season-opening men’s rugby game with Hobart, sloppy SBU passing and tackling allowed Hobart to score in the second half.

“Yeah, that still kind of bothers me,” admitted Picard, the Outlaws third-year coach. Not that the score cost St. Bonaventure the game; the Outlaws managed to hold on, 42-5.

What the Hobart score prevented — so far anyway — is a perfectly perfect season. In four games, the defending New York state champs have outscored their opponents, 280-5.

“We’ve gotten much better, much more consistent over the last four weeks,” Picard said.

Talk about an understatement. The Outlaws, 4-0 and ranked 10th in Division II in the latest eRugbynews.com national poll, have beaten their last three opponents by an average score of 79-0, including a 92-0 win over the University of Rochester on Sept. 28.

“We actually scored more tries (touchdowns) against Fredonia, but we couldn’t kick the ball for conversions to save our life that day,” Picard said of the club’s 85-0 win at Fredonia last Saturday.

But this Saturday’s game with visiting Geneseo (1 p.m., McGraw-Jennings Field) doesn’t figure to be so easy. Geneseo (5-0) is also unbeaten and has won its games by an average score of 41-6.

“Not having been pressured at all by some of our competition is a concern for me,” said Picard. “We really concentrate on pushing ourselves so when we get to play Geneseo or Hamilton we’re as ready as we can be.”

The winner will win the Empire West Division II and clinch a berth in the Oct. 25 state title game, most likely against Hamilton. The winner of that game advances to the Northeast Rugby Union tournament in November.

“The evolution of Division II rugby is going to more and more stable coaching, and getting more support around the program, and that’s what St. Bonaventure has done,” Geneseo club president Darren Jurewicz told eRugbynews. “Even though we’ve been winning, we do realize that Bonaventure has beaten teams by much more than we have this season.”

Having been so dominant all season, Picard is trying to direct his club’s focus inward.

“We’re really pushing to just get better and working on our game,” Picard said. “Our goal is to demand more of ourselves than our opponents demand of us."

St. Bonaventure defeated Colgate to win the 2007 state title and beat Vermont to advance to the Northeast Rugby Union final four before losing to eventual D-II national champion Middlebury.

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Special deputy attorney general to visit campus for program on environmental justice

Katherine “Kit” Kennedy will discuss environmental justice and the role of the Environmental Protection Bureau in the Office of New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo during an Oct. 21 presentation at St. Bonaventure University.

The program, slated for 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 21, will be held in The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts and is free and open to the public.

Kennedy is the Special Deputy Attorney General for Environmental Protection and the Chief of the Environmental Protection Bureau in the Office of Attorney General Cuomo. The bureau enforces state and federal environmental laws, defends state agencies, and recovers the costs incurred in state hazardous waste cleanups. Recent initiatives include suing the federal Environmental Protection Agency over lack of enforcement of the Clean Water Act, reducing pollution from coal-fired power plants, cleaning up contaminated urban sites, improving water quality in the Bronx River, Hudson River, and New York City watershed, and preventing entry of invasive species into the Great Lakes. The bureau has also been on the forefront of efforts to prevent rollback of federal air and water pollution protections.

Kennedy’s discussion will focus on some of Attorney General Cuomo’s most recent initiatives, such as an emissions suit against the federal Environmental Protection Agency for failing to adopt regulations that control emissions of global warming pollution from oil refineries.

Kennedy worked previously for 18 years at the Natural Resources Defense Council, where she was a senior attorney and director of the Northeast Energy Project. She has worked on a range of issues, including clean energy, water and air pollution and land use issues. She has taught as an adjunct professor at Fordham University School of Law.

She earned a law degree from Harvard Law School in 1986 and a bachelor’s degree from Harvard College in 1982.

Kennedy’s visit to St. Bonaventure is sponsored by the university’s Franciscan Center for Social Concern.

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University addresses issues related to growing economic crisis

Several university business leaders and faculty members took part Wednesday afternoon in a special discussion with the SBU community on the growing financial crisis.

Speakers included School of Business faculty members Giles Bootheway, Jeff Peterson, Jim Mahar, Mark Wilson and Rodney Paul; trustees Laurie Branch and Ray Dee; area banker Sal Marranca; and Brenda Snow, St. Bonaventure’s senior vice president for finance and administration.

The hour-long presentation in Dresser Auditorium helped to explain the current economic crisis by examining its historical roots and what the federal bailout might mean in the short and long terms. Many speakers said the restoration of consumer confidence in the stock and retail markets will be a key factor in determining the length and depth of the crisis.

Snow wrapped up the presentation by addressing several topics of concern specific to the university, including:

Student Loans: “The lenders we work with most frequently – Citibank, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America — are processing with no problems.”

University Retirement Plan: “TIAA-CREF, our university retirement plan administrator, is on solid financial footing. Each faculty and staff participant, however, should be well aware of the investment choices they have made and decide if the risk of each investment is right for them at this time.”

University Investments: “The year-to-date investment returns for the university’s endowment through August were off 5 percent, through September we’re estimating being down roughly 15 percent, while the S&P 500 declined over 20 percent through September (and over 30 percent through today).”

Long-term Debt: “Our long-term debt interest rates are fixed percentages and we are not affected by the volatility in variable rates, CD’s or other synthetic debt and insurance issues.”

State Aid: “As the state budget and economy in general continue under pressure, it could affect TAP (Tuition Assistance Program) and HEOP (Higher Education Opportunity Program) programs and is also likely to result in an increased challenge in achieving our enrollment and fundraising goals.”

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Quick Center to present Act I of Richard Wagner's 'Die Walkure' with English supertitles

Friends of Good Music, in association with the Regina A. Quick Center for The Arts, will present a concert performance of Act I of Richard Wagner’s opera “Die Walkure” at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 17, in The Quick Center’s Rigas Family Theater.

The performance features soprano Meaghan Joynt, tenor Erik Nelson. Werner and bass Erik Kroncke, winners of The Quick Center for the Arts Performance Prize of the 2008 Liederkranz Competition in New York City. They will be accompanied by pianist Elizabeth M. Hastings.In a Quick Center performance first, supertitles will be projected above the stage so the audience can follow the plot with an English translation.

Joynt, in the role of Sieglinde, Werner as Siegmund, and Kroncke, who plays the evil Hunding, are the top prize winners of the 2008 Liederkranz Competition’s Wagner Division. They are among today’s most exciting Wagnerian singers, said Joseph A. LoSchiavo, associate vice president and executive director of

The Quick Center and a longtime judge of the finals of the Liederkranz Competition.

“Upon realizing that the top three prize winners this year are a soprano, a tenor and a bass, and all excellent Wagnerian singers, it immediately came to my mind to present them in Act I of ‘Die Walkure,” said LoSchiavo. “Act I includes some of Richard Wagner’s best known arias such as ‘Wintersturme’ (‘Winter Storms’) and ‘Du bist der Lenz’ (‘You Are The Springtime’) and stands alone as a self-contained drama. To our knowledge, this will be the first performance of some of Wagner’s vocal music in Olean.”

Ludwig Brunner, The Quick Center’s director of programming and a longtime judge of preliminaries of the Liederkranz Competition, added, “Providing an English translation by projecting supertitles above the stage has proven to be a tremendous help for audiences to follow the plot of the opera, which will be sung in its original German. Most opera companies in the United States have employed this technique and it has increased attendance. Audiences can better enjoy the often very intricate stories of the works being presented in foreign languages.”

Pianist Hastings returns to The Quick Center where she conducted the very successful February 2008 performances of the opera double bill “The Three Hermits” and “Hester Prynne at Death” by Stephen Paulus. Hastings is the music director of the Liederkranz Foundation and Opera Theatre and has guest conducted at many opera companies. She is also a sought-after coach and accompanist in New York City.

This performance is supported in part by the New York State Council on the Arts. For tickets and information, call The Quick Center at (716) 375-2494.

The Quick Center opens its galleries one hour before each Friends of Good Music performance and they remain open throughout intermission. Regular gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and noon to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Museum admission is free and open to the public, year round. For more information, visit www.sbu.edu/quickcenter.

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Career Center News ...

The Career Center’s On Campus Recruiting continues to move forward! Resume submission deadlines are fast approaching for companies such as Kersey & Associates, Dresser-Rand, and Lumsden & McCormick! To view the current recruiting calendar, click here!

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Friday Forum

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

Date: Friday, Oct. 10, 2008
Speaker: Dr. Mike Jackson
Time: Lunch starts at noon, Forum goes from 12:20 to 1:30 p.m., including Q&A
Place: University Club - Above Hickey
Title: Speaker: Dr. Mike Jackson
Topic: The Learning/Teaching Fellows Program at 5 Years
Abstract: The English department’s graduate fellowship program is currently in its fifth year, and I would like to take this opportunity to share our successes and future plans for continued development with the university community. Our English MA program has grown significantly since the introduction of the Learning & Teaching Fellowships and the realignment of the English graduate degree as a pre-professional program. My talk will focus on the development of the program over the past 5 years and will include data on the ways in which the unique combination of professional training in composition and traditional graduate course work has garnered a high level of success for our graduates in gaining admittance to PhD programs and earning teaching positions at the collegiate level.

Cost: $3 (pay upstairs)

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