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Nov. 6, 2008

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CNN's Blitzer to speak at Commencement

Buffalo native Wolf Blitzer, who will anchor CNN’s Election Night coverage this evening, will be St. Bonaventure University’s Commencement speaker when the class of 2009 graduates on May 17.

Blitzer, 60, is the anchor of CNN’s “The Situation Room,” a three-hour weekday political news program. Blitzer also hosts “Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer,” the only Sunday talk show seen in more than 200 countries and territories.

Blitzer is CNN’s lead anchor for the network’s political coverage. He has moderated several of CNN’s presidential primary debates in 2007 and 2008 and has anchored coverage of the key primary and caucus nights. He led CNN’s Emmy-winning “America Votes 2006” coverage and “America Votes 2004.”

In addition to politics, Blitzer is also known for his in-depth reporting on international news. He reported from Israel in the midst of the war between that country and Hezbollah during the summer of 2006. In 2005, he was the only American news anchor to cover the Dubai Ports World story on the ground in the United Arab Emirates.

Blitzer began his career in 1972 with the Reuters News Agency in Tel Aviv. Shortly thereafter, he became a Washington, D.C., correspondent for The Jerusalem Post. After more than 15 years of reporting from the nation’s capital, Blitzer joined CNN in 1990 as the network’s military-affairs correspondent at the Pentagon. He served as CNN’s senior White House correspondent covering President Bill Clinton from his election in November 1992 until 1999.

Among the numerous honors he has received for his reporting, Blitzer is the recipient of an Emmy Award from The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for his 1996 coverage of the Oklahoma City bombing and a Golden CableACE from the National Academy of Cable Programming for his and CNN’s coverage of the Persian Gulf War.

He was also among the teams awarded a George Foster Peabody award for Hurricane Katrina coverage; an Alfred I. duPont Award for coverage of the tsunami disaster in Southeast Asia; and an Edward R. Murrow Award for CNN’s coverage of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2001. He is the recipient of the 2004 Journalist Pillar of Justice Award from the Respect for Law Alliance and the 2003 Daniel Pearl Award from the Chicago Press Veterans Association.

In November 2002, the American Veteran Awards honored him with the prestigious Ernie Pyle Journalism Award for excellence in military reporting, and, in February 2000, he received the Anti-Defamation League’s Hubert H. Humphrey First Amendment Freedoms Prize.

Blitzer is the author of two books, “Between Washington and Jerusalem: A Reporter’s Notebook (Oxford University Press, 1985) and “Territory of Lies” (Harper and Row, 1989). The latter was cited by The New York Times Book Review as one of the most notable books of 1989. He also has written articles for numerous publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Times.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in history from the University at Buffalo, and a master’s degree in international relations from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C.

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Greater Olean to recognize Sr. Margaret and the university with business leadership awards

St. Bonaventure University and its president have been selected to receive the “Business Enterprising” and “L.O.U.I.E.” awards at the Greater Olean Area Chamber of Commerce (GOACC) Annual Dinner on Thursday, Nov. 6, at the Premier Banquet Center in Olean.

University President Sr. Margaret Carney, O.S.F., S.T.D., will receive the L.O.U.I.E (Love of Olean United In Enterprise) for her inspiring and outstanding leadership and achievement in service provision and advocacy on behalf of people in our communities.

Ted Branch, GOACC board president, said that the L.O.U.I.E. is presented annually to an “exceptional person who epitomizes the enterprising spirit and the qualities embodied in the life of Louis Marra; Sr. Margaret is deserving of that award and recognition.” Sr. Margaret was named president of the university in 2004.

Erick J. Laine, chairman of the board of Alcas Corporation and a previous L.O.U.I.E. Award recipient, nominated Sr. Margaret for the honor.

“Sr. Margaret has a marvelous skill of approaching people in the community, getting to know them and then having them become ‘one of the Bonaventure team.’ She has consciously worked to reach out to engage the community. Through her very capable leadership, Sr. Margaret Carney gave people in the community and at the University, the faith to start rebuilding,” said Laine.

The 2008 “Business Enterprising Award” will be presented this year to St. Bonaventure, which began its 15-month Sesquicentennial celebration in March. The Enterprising Business Award is the highest distinction for a business given by the Chamber’s 733 members. The award is given annually to a privately-owned business in the greater Olean area that demonstrates a well-planned, thorough and serious approach to business development and exemplifies the unique “hometown” charm of the area in manners of administration, customer service and quality of product.

“Over the past 150 years, St. Bonaventure has earned a reputation for academic excellence and the extraordinary character of its students, paving the way for the success of its 25,000 graduates,” said John Sayegh, GOACC chief operating officer.

Tickets for the event are $40. An informal reception will start at 6 p.m., with the dinner slated for 7 p.m. Patron dinner tickets for $50 and corporate tables of eight for $500 are also available to reserve. Patrons and corporates receive a listing in the dinner program. Please call Greater Olean Area Chamber of Commerce at 372-4433 for reservations or more information on the dinner ceremony.

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Award-winning Carducci String Quartet to perform at Quick Center for the Arts

The Carducci String Quartet, winner of the 2007 Concert Artists Guild Competition and considered one of Europe’s top young quartets, will perform at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 10, at St. Bonaventure University’s Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts.

The performance will include quartets by Dvorak, Philip Glass, Haydn and Schubert. It is presented by Friends of Good Music in association with The Quick Center.

The Carducci String Quartet was hailed by The Times of London as “stunning … clearly musicians of high intelligence.” In addition to winning the Concert Artists Guild Competition, the quartet also captured first prize at Finland’s Kuhmo International Chamber Music Competition and major awards at chamber music competitions in Bordeaux, London and Osaka.

“Through our longstanding collaboration with Concert Artists Guild we have been able to present some of the most outstanding young musicians from both Europe and the United States to the Olean audiences in innovative programs,” said Joseph A. LoSchiavo, associate vice president and executive director of The Quick Center. “The Carducci String Quartet now joins the Antares chamber ensemble, the Amstel Saxophone Quartet, violinist Jessica Lee, and the Quartet New Generation as audience favorites at The Quick Center. It is always exciting to host these young artists on the way to their international careers.”

After its current North American tour, which includes a Carnegie Hall debut at Weill Recital Hall, the quartet heads to the studio to record the string quartets of Philip Glass for the Naxos label. The ensemble has established its own record label, Carducci Classics, and launched it with a CD of Haydn quartets and two discs featuring 20th century works by Graham Whettam and Joseph Horovitz.

The Carducci String Quartet is composed of two married couples, one English and one Irish. The name “Carducci” was bestowed upon the quartet by the mayor of that Italian city after he heard the ensemble in numerous concerts at the Castagnetto-Carducci Festival. The Carducci Quartet has been in residence at the 2006 Aldeburgh Festival and recently launched its own festival in Gloucestershire, England.

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

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Buffalo, Rochester alums tapped for '40 Under Forty' honors

Business First of Buffalo’s “40 Under Forty” honorees Eboni Hayes and Michael Lawley share more in common than professional success at a young age – both of them graduated from St. Bonaventure University.

The 17th annual Business First “40 Under Forty” class includes a group of honorees that span from private-sector executives to the top educators in the area. A six-member panel of past honorees made the selections based on how the honorees contributed to the community and to their professions to make Western New York a better place.

Eboni Hayes, ’98, of Buffalo, N.Y., explained the significance of receiving the award.

“It means a lot to me to be selected as a 40 Under Forty honoree,” said Hayes. “To have recognition in my hometown for doing something positive is reassuring and simply amazing.”

Although Hayes first worked at a large real estate company in Washington D.C., after graduation, she ultimately missed her hometown of Buffalo and moved back to further her education in the communications field. She received her master’s degree in integrated marketing communications at St. Bonaventure in 2006.

Hayes manages planning and development at the Erie Niagara Area Health Education Center (AHEC). In an effort to right the unequal distribution of the health care work force, the center focuses on recruiting and retaining health care professionals to practice in underserved communities.

“I love working at AHEC,” said Hayes. “It gives me the opportunity to be influential in eliminating disparities in health care and education, which are causes that I’m passionate about.”

Michael Lawley, ’92, of Buffalo, N.Y., graduated from St. Bonaventure with a bachelor’s degree in business administration before taking a job in New York City on the employee benefit sales team at Cigna Healthcare. In 1995, Lawley joined Lawley Service Inc., a full-service independent insurance agency, as an account executive. He became a partner and director of sales in 1999.

In that position, Lawley oversees sales activity in all offices and is involved in the writing and handling of large accounts. Lawley Service Inc. manages major clients such as HealthNow New York, Ellicott Development Company and Orville’s Appliance.

In addition to a successful career in the private sector, Lawley either serves on the board or is an active volunteer for several community organizations, including Boys and Girls Club of Buffalo, United Way Emerging Leaders and Sisters Hospital Foundation.

The 40 Under Forty award luncheon will be held on Nov. 13 at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center, where more than 800 people are expected to attend. Individual tickets for the event are $50. For ticket information, contact Kim Schaus at (716) 541-1656 or kschaus@bizjournals.com.

St. Bonaventure alumni Mark Murphy, ’91, and Paul LeFrois Jr., ’93, will receive a “40 Under Forty” Rochester Business Journal honor on Nov. 18 at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center. Murphy, of Penfield, N.Y., is the regional vice president for Frontier Communications, and LeFrois, of Rochester, N.Y., works for NaturalNano Inc.

The event is slated from 12-1:30 p.m. Nov. 18. Individual ticket prices are $50. For information or reservations, contact the Rochester Business Journal events department at 585-546-8303, ext. 102.

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Author and death penalty opponent Sr. Helen Prejean to speak on campus

It was following the 1984 killing of Patrick Sonnier in Louisiana’s electric chair that Sr. Helen Prejean’s mission was born — to take people on the spiritual journey she had taken so they could be brought face to face with the death penalty in America.

Sr. Helen, a native of Louisiana, is known internationally for her tireless work against the death penalty. She was instrumental in sparking national dialogue on the issue and in shaping the Catholic Church’s newly vigorous opposition to all state executions.

St. Bonaventure University will welcome Sr. Helen to campus Tuesday, Nov. 11, for a public lecture.

The university’s Franciscan Center for Social Concern is sponsoring the program, “Dead Man Walking: The Journey Continues,” which begins at 7 p.m. in the Reilly Center Arena.

The event is free and open to the public.

Sr. Helen is a member of the Congregation of St. Joseph. She spent her first 24 years with the Sisters teaching religion to junior high school students and working within her community, first as religious education director and then as formation director.

At the age of 40, she realized that being on the side of poor people was an essential part of the Gospel. She moved into the St. Thomas Housing Project in New Orleans and began working at Hope House, a center that assists public housing residents.
Prejean, SBU alumnus Dan Barry to be honored

Sr. Helen Prejean and New York Times columnist Dan Barry, a 1980 SBU graduate, will receive Gaudium Awards in New York City on Monday, Nov. 10. For more, click here

During this time, she was asked to correspond with a death row inmate. She agreed, and so began a new journey. In 1982, she started visiting Patrick Sonnier in Louisiana’s Angola Prison. She became his spiritual adviser, worked to prevent his execution, and finally, walked with him to the electric chair. She did the same thing with a second prisoner, Robert Willie. Concerned with the plight of murder victims’ families she founded “Survive,” which provides counseling and support for grieving families.

And then she sat down and wrote a book about the experience. The result was “Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States,” which Random House published in 1993. The book became a best-seller, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and spawned an Oscar-winning movie and an internationally acclaimed opera. Tim Robbins has made it into a play that is being performed by high school and college students across the country.

Since 1984, Sr. Helen has divided her time between campaigning against the death penalty and counseling individual death row prisoners. She has accompanied six more men to their deaths. In doing so, she began to suspect that some of those executed were not guilty. This realization inspired her second book, “The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions,” which was released in 2004.

Sr. Helen lives in New Orleans and works with the Death Penalty Discourse Center, the Moratorium Campaign and the Dead Man Walking Play Project. She is presently at work on another book — “River of Fire: My Spiritual Journey to Death Row.”

SBU Theater will open its fall season this week with the stage version of “Dead Man Walking,” which will run at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 5-8 in The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts. An audience talkback session will be held after the Thursday, Nov. 6, performance.

Tickets for the theater production of “Dead Man Walking” are available by calling the Quick Center for the Arts Box Office at (716) 375-2494. The play contains adult subjects and language.

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SBU Theater to present 'Dead Man Walking'

St. Bonaventure University’s Theater program delves into a serious theme — the death penalty — for its fall production of “Dead Man Walking," which takes the stage this week at The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts.

Performances will run at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. The Thursday performance will be followed by a talk-back session involving the audience and cast members.

“Dead Man Walking” is the stage version of Sr. Helen Prejean’s Pulitzer Prize-nominated book by the same name. It was also made into an Academy Award-winning movie directed by actor and activist Tim Robbins, who worked with Prejean in developing the 1995 film.

"Dead Man Walking" tells of Prejean's early experiences ministering to inmates on Louisiana’s death row. It focuses particularly on Prejean’s relationship with inmate Matt Poncelet, on death row for rape and murder.

Playing the roles of Prejean and Poncelet in the campus production are students Erin Lowry, ’11, of Shanghai, China, a theater and journalism and mass communication major, and Alex Sanders, ’09, ajournalism and mass communication major from Howell, N.J.

“I chose Lowry and Sanders to play Sister Helen and Matt Poncelet because they brought emotional reality and resonance to the text, which I recognized as having potential to grow through the rehearsal period and become, in performance, living character,” said Dr. Ed. Simone, chair of the Department of Visual and Performing Arts. “I am also confident in their dedication and commitment to the emotional and physical processes of developing a role.”

Sanders is a first-timer with SBU Theater, but a veteran of theater classes, while Lowry has appeared in two previous SBU Theater productions: “Revenge of the Space Pandas” and “Scary But True: One Act Festival IV.”

“I was excited (to be chosen to play Sr. Helen), but it was also a little overwhelming,” said Lowry who said she is generally cast in more humorous roles.

“Dead Man Walking” was chosen as the theater program’s contribution to St. Bonaventure’s 150th Anniversary Celebration because of its strong social justice and nonviolence themes.

“I hope people come in with an open mind,” Lowry said. “Our goal is to make them think about their own views.”

One talk-back for audience members is scheduled after the Thursday performance.

The stage version of “Dean Man Walking” is part of the national Dead Man Walking Theatre Project, which is only available to colleges, universities and some secondary schools. Its goal is to educate and promote social action. Thus, in conjunction with the theater production, St. Bonaventure will offer special death penalty and social justice lecture opportunities.

Dr. Barry Gan, associate professor of philosophy and director of the Center for Nonviolence on campus, is offering a special topics philosophy course on the death penalty. In addition, “Dead Man Walking” was chosen as the fall selection for Alle-Cat Reads, making the book a topic for discussion and debate among readers in Allegany and Cattaraugus counties.

On Tuesday, Nov. 11, Prejean will be on campus for a lecture, “Dead Man Walking: The Journey Continues,” and book signing. The event, which is free and open to the public, will start at 7 p.m. in the Reilly Center Arena and is sponsored by the University’s Franciscan Center for Social Concern. Lowry said she plans to attend Prejean’s lecture and would love to meet her in person.

Tickets for the November theater production of “Dead Man Walking” are available by calling the Quick Center for the Arts Box Office at (716) 375-2494. “Dead Man Walking” contains adult subjects and language.

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St. Bonaventure falls just short in bruising playoff loss to Coast Guard

The game was as close and as punishing and as nerve-jangling as Clarence Picard had imagined. If only he could rewrite the final scene.

Before more than 800 fans on a beautiful November afternoon, St. Bonaventure’s remarkable rugby season was sunk by the Coast Guard, 24-22, in the Northeast Rugby Union first round, dashing the Outlaws’ hopes for a national championship in their last game in Division II. Their New York State Rugby Conference title earned SBU the right to compete in Division I next season.

“They were a strong, tough team, but we weren’t outmanned,” said Picard, SBU’s third-year coach. “We left it all on the field and have nothing to be ashamed of. I couldn’t be prouder of the way these guys fought.”

What looked early like a Coast Guard blowout turned into a fiercely contested battle stopped several times to attend to injuries.

Coast Guard jumped in front 12-0 midway through the first half, but St. Bonaventure finally took advantage of its speed on the wings on long try (touchdown) runs by Will Atkinson and Darren Kmicinski to tie the game 12-12 at halftime.

But Coast Guard flexed its muscles again early in the second half, bulling in a try from two yards out. Kmicinski hit about a 25-yard field goal in between the two scores to cut it to 17-15, but a try and conversion put Coast Guard up more than one score, 24-15, just 10 minutes later.

“They just battered us and were able to keep possession too often in the rucks, and we just didn’t do enough to stop them,” Picard said.

The Outlaws, however, didn’t wilt, scoring on a darting 35-yard sprint by Mike Hanrahan and a Kmicinski kick to cut the lead to 24-22 with about 12 minutes to play. With less than five minutes left, a dangerous breakout by the Outlaws up the left wing left Coast Guard Coach Andy McGurer with a lump in his throat.

“I have to be honest, we were concerned the whole game with their breakaway speed and their ability to score so fast,” McGurer said. “They have well-conditioned backs and great, slashing running. They are definitely the best Division II team we played this year.”

Unfortunately, an attempted lateral to senior Gabe Martinez was ruled a forward pass, thwarting the advance. The Outlaws never threatened again, leaving the field after the final whistle with heads bowed in disbelief. They were greeted with a standing ovation.

McGurer, in his ninth year coaching the longtime national power, was just as impressed.

“We thought the only way to stop them was to slam them hard and not let them get the ball on the outside,” McGurer said. “You could see how superb their ball handling was. It has to be the best of any Division II team I’ve seen, including Radford who beat us last year in the nationals.”

Dejected but not disappointed, Picard has his eyes trained on the jump to Division I next year and facing the likes of UB, Syracuse and Brockport. The novelty of winning games by an average of 70-1 has worn off.

“We just need to refocus, get better and work on new things. It’s always exciting having a new challenge,” Picard said. “I’m still excited about the way this season went. Coast Guard is as good as it gets. … A lot of D-II Northeast teams can compete with D-I Northeast. There aren’t 10 D-II teams in the country that could beat Coast Guard.”

Coast Guard, which has advanced to four national semifinals and won the 2005-06 national title, advances to next weekend’s NRU final four at West Point.

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Newsmakers for Fall 2008

Dr. Leslie Sabina, professor of music, presented a paper at “Brownie Speaks: A symposium and concert series celebrating and documenting the life, music, and legacy of Clifford Brown” on Oct. 30, 2008, at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Sabina’s paper was titled “Clifford Brown’s Approach to the Blues.” Kendor Music, Inc. recently accepted three of Sabina's big band jazz compositions for publication and has commissioned an arrangement of W.C.Handy’s “St. Louis Blues” for saxophone quartet. “Follow My Lead,” “Squares Be Gone,” and “Rooster Tail” are scheduled for early 2009 release.

Dr. Kimberly Young, professor of management sciences, was quoted by Forbes.com, the Toronto Globe and Mail, and Parentscentral.ca. The story in Forbes titled “Tech Addicts” focused on the growing problem of Internet addiction and, specifically, how an addiction to online gambling is creating social and financial problems for individuals. The story in the Globe and Mail, “40, Married, Gaming Addict,” described the phenomenon of adult gamers and the impact to their marriages and jobs when they become addicted. Finally, the story in Parentscentral.ca titled “Parents fear Internet addiction” focused on the growing problem of online gaming addiction among adolescents in Canada.

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Friday Forum

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

Date: Friday, Nov. 7
Speaker: John Mulryan
Time: Lunch starts at noon, Forum goes from 12:35 to 1:30 p.m., including Q&A
Place: University Club - Above Hickey
Topic: The Roman goddess of love and her cherubic son parade shamelessly through poetry and painting during the Renaissance. In Bronzino’s Allegory of Love Cupid seduces his own mother, while Venus becomes enamored of her own image in the Rokeby Venus of Vel?squez. A buff goddess arrests the fleeing Adonis in amorous embrace in Titian’s painting of the two, and in Shakespeare’s verse narrative Venus and Adonis she manhandles the youth. What does the mythographic record reveal about the way these ancient celebrities comport themselves?
Cost: $3 (pay upstairs)

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