January 2006

'Glory be to God for dappled things'

One day recently about three dozen people here gave up their lunch hour to hear a Marianist brother read to them. Brother Tom Wendorf, S.M., of the English department read from a story about a Bible salesman who called on a woman with a wooden leg and then stole it.
"If you're looking for uplift," Wendorf said, "you shouldn't go to Flannery O'Connor."
You could try Dante: "Abandon all hope ye who enter here."
Maybe Muriel Spark. Wendorf read from her novel Memento Mori, in which old people receive phone calls telling them they will die.
But so do we all. Perhaps a lunch at which we are munching upon a piece of chocolate imprinted with the chapel logo is as good a time as any to contemplate the four last things: death, judgment, hell and heaven.

Educación religiosa

''Every week Johnson (Romero, a graduate assistant) gives the staff a Spanish lesson. If the phone rings, we can at least say, 'Hola! Cómo estás?''' Sister Angela Ann Zukowski told representatives from dioceses across the United States.
The room exploded with laughter at the realization that UD's Institute for Pastoral Initiatives has launched online faith formation classes in Spanish without elementary knowledge of the language.
That's the beauty of what Zukowski has dubbed the ''Virtual Learning for Faith Formation'' program. It's a collaborative program that employs online facilitators to provide faith formation classes to learners who span the globe. UD is currently teaming up with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles to pilot four Spanish faith formation classes over the Internet in an effort to minister to Hispanics, the nation's largest minority group. In Los Angeles, they make up nearly half the city's population.
Zukowski gathered the diocesan partners together Jan. 19-20 to talk about VLFF's explosive growth and future opportunities. From its first course in Scripture offered in 1999 to lay ecclesial ministers, catechists, Catholic school teachers and youth ministers in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, the program has grown to include 28 diocesan partners and nearly 400 sections of courses per year, with plans to expand into Asia this year.
''We're not out there really marketing this. It's grown by word of mouth,'' she said.
And by Zukowski's energy and passion for expanding faith formation from the traditional classroom to cyberspace.
''Online learners can become lifelong learners,'' she said. ''We're always researching, we're always dreaming, we're always changing. The answer to the famous question, 'Can you form a community of learners in cyberspace?' is yes."

by Teri Rizvi 1-25-06

Lessons from a Nobel Peace Prize winner

Nobel Peace Prize winner John Hume made a brief visit at the University of Dayton board of trustees winter meeting and retreat Jan. 19. Hume, co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1998 for his efforts to bring peace to Ireland, outlined the principles upon which the peace negotiations were based:
* Respect for differences and an understanding for the diversity of ideas, races, principles and socio-economic status.
* Institutional representatives who are proportionally elected are the responsible parties.
* Parties that work together in the common interest, "the socio-economic interest," of the people and the nation. Through this work, they will shed "sweat but not blood," he said.
Hume's work was built on the idea that borders in Ireland were not lines on a map but in the hearts and minds of the people. Hume was a founding member of Northern Ireland's predominantly Roman Catholic Social Democratic and Labour Party, which he led from 1979 to 2001. The Nobel Committee cited Hume and Peace Prize co-recipient David Trimble, leader of the Ulster Unionist party, for their role in bringing about an agreement aimed at settling "the national religious and social conflict in Northern Ireland that has cost over 3,500 people their lives."
Hume, who retired from politics in 2004, said he found inspiration for his work when he visited the United States, learned more about the presidency of Abraham Lincoln and became fascinated with the concept of E pluribus Unum -- "through many, one." Hume urged trustees to consider ways in which the United States and European nations could come together to end areas of conflict throughout the world. He also urged the board to remember respect for diversity.

by Lynnette Heard 01-23-06

A semester with Adele

Soft-spoken senior Erin Anderson quieted Kennedy Union's Torch Lounge as she talked of living in community with four 70-years-plus nuns in small Agen, France, in spring 2005. Like the tiny nun who didn't look back as she dragged Anderson's 70-pound suitcase to the car on her arrival, Anderson's words and demeanor reminded one of the many manifestations of strength.
Her unusual study abroad experience was an effort to learn more about Adele de Batz de Trenquelleon, one of the founders of the Society of Mary.
"To get from the kitchen to the dining room, I had to pass by her tomb," she said. "At night the halls of the 17th-century convent scared the hell out of me. I found myself pausing to offer prayers of thanks and gratitude for this woman's life and great faith."
Reflecting on the meaning and purpose of Adele's life was really a way of thinking about herself, she suggested. Like Adele, Anderson picked up a pen and began writing old-fashioned letters to friends and family of her days helping teach at a local school and her trips in the area.
"I reckon some graduating seniors out there are like me, searching for mission and purpose," she said.
Anderson was one of a dozen speakers at the day-long Chaminade Day Teach-in today.

by Matthew Dewald 01-23-06

24-hour theater

On Friday, Jan. 13, after lecturing on the essential elements of a play to my Introduction to Literature class, I rushed off to Columbus, Ohio, to write a one-act play in less than 12 hours. For four years, BlueForms Theatre Group has been hosting "24 Hour Theater," in which six short plays are written, cast, rehearsed and performed in a period of 24 hours. This year's event, called "The Bride of 24 Hours," kicked off at 8 p.m. on a Friday night.
The 20 participating actors arrived in silly costumes, equipped with even sillier props. As they joked and laughed, I sat off to the side, deciding that the event was torture disguised as art. Randomly paired with four actors, I wrote for a woman in a white lab coat, a "goth" girl, a stylish 20-something, and a woman cradling a log. At 9 p.m., I felt like passing out. At 10, I soothed a mounting panic attack with fast food. At midnight, I hit upon a simple but quirky family scene and ran with it.
Watching the show the next night, I caught myself laughing hysterically -- not from lack of sleep but because I was having fun. I never thought I'd have fun, but I guess that's another element of a play, even the 24-hour kind.

by Anthony Fulton, lecturer in UD's department of English, 01-23-06

Patron saint of e-mail?

"O my God, my heart is too small to love you, so I will make you loved by so many other hearts, that their love will make up for the littleness of mine."
That's an excerpt from letter No. 325, written by Adele de Batz de Trenquelleon, founder of the Daughters of Mary Immaculate, the Marianist sisters. Written on May 14, 1818, it's one of 1,200 of Adele's letters that have been saved.
On Jan. 10, more than 187 years since that particular letter was written, more than 100 people gathered in Immaculate Conception Chapel for a vespers service to celebrate Adele's life and service and to hear excerpts from her letters. Later that evening in Stuart Hall Chapel, "Who's the Patron Saint of E-mail?", an event organized by Sister Laura Leming, FMI, introduced a new generation of frequent communicators to Adele, who began her ministry at age 15 through letter writing, encouraging others to live a life of faith and good works. Her letters document her passion for God and the many connections she made with others.
In Adele's spirit, Sister Leming encouraged participants to write their own letters to friends who may need encouragement or to share something good going on in their own lives.

by Shelby Quinlivan '06 1-18-06

75 dozen eggs

That's how many you have to scramble if you're going to feed 450 people at UD's annual Martin Luther King Jr. prayer breakfast. While guests are sleepily filing into Kennedy Union ballroom at 7:30 a.m., catering services supervisors and chefs have been at their posts since 5:30 a.m. and the service staff since 6.
In all, they'll cook 100 pounds of bacon, dish up biscuits and hash browns, pour 25 gallons of orange juice and 50 gallons of coffee and, in their black bowties and aprons, quietly maneuver among the crowded tables to deliver covered plates to each guest. Doug Lemaster, catering services' general manager, says it takes 138 hours of student labor and 40 hours of staff time to stage the annually sold-out event. Despite the early start, the UD students who make up most of the service and prep staff, clocked "nearly 100 percent attendance, and they really did an excellent job."
Melissa Clark, event coordinator, and Rosie O'Boyle of student development choose the menu in December. The week before the breakfast, catering management, supervisors and chefs all meet to plan the event down to the smallest details.
After a keynote address by columnist Clarence Page and the traditional singing of "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing," guests were back in their classrooms and offices by 9 a.m., bodies nourished, hearts challenged and spirits uplifted.
"I just love it when a plan comes together," Lemaster said.

by Deborah McCarty Smith 1-18-06

On tap Tuesdays

Shuffle-ball-change.
Among a few others, like toe-dig and heel-toe, that is what I learned at the Tuesday night Tap Jam at ArtStreet.
Sharon Leahy, UD artist in residence and artistic director of Rhythm in Shoes, hosts a weekly two-hour jam session for tappers of all levels. Some of the dozen-or-so women coming and going from 7 to 9 p.m. were well-trained and could keep up with Leahy’s fast feet. Others, like me, borrowed shoes from a bin and attempted to make some kind of clicking sound.
We began the session on a tapping board in a glass room, Studio A1. As Rick Good, Leahy’s husband, played the guitar, we stood in a circle and Leahy taught us a basic step. We all held the step together and then every other eight-count a new dancer added her own steps. My inexperience was noticeable but not shamed. Leahy was patient with the many beginners and took time to teach us a few moves.
Per Leahy’s request, Good then began a “swingy, mid-tempo” tune and we “traded in,” as Leahy called it. It was almost like a dancer’s challenge: one dancer completed a complicated (or not-so-complicated) eight-count and the second would either repeat her steps or create a more challenging arrangement.
And even if your feet have never filled a tap shoe, it is fun to watch the dancers click away and think, “I could never make my feet move like that! How are they doing it?”

by Kailyn Derck ’06 1-18-06

What pines?

Lee Gosink '62 e-mailed us noting that the January photo on his UD donor calendar is captioned "Our Lady of the Pines, Serenity Pines." But the tree behind Mary looks like a spruce.
It is.
The statue called Our Lady of the Pines existed long before that spruce, before the Mary garden called Serenity Pines and even before many of the pines on that meditative spot by the Marianist cemetery next to Marycrest.
In 1883 a building, where St. Joseph Hall is now, burnt. Onlookers feared for the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception. Brother Joseph Meyer, S.M., promised Mary that, if she would protect her chapel, they would erect a statue in her honor.
Thus, Our Lady of the Pines.
UD folk, however, may have always had some confusion with trees. Reportedly the original statue was surrounded by Norway spruce. So the statue's name, in the words of 1935 Marianist publication, is "more poetically beautiful than accurate."

by Thomas M. Columbus with information from archivist Kerrie Cross, biology professor Donald Geiger, S.M., and librarian and master gardener Kathleen Tiller 1-11-06

'This got me thinking'

What does prejudice have to do with me?
I was in the mood to be honest with myself as I toured the "Facing Prejudice" exhibit in the Roesch Library, so I answered this question scrawled across the first kiosk: "Not much." My answer seemed true before I encountered the exhibit. I mean, I'm not prejudiced. I don't support things I think seem prejudiced and I will voice this opinion when asked. Not that I'm very often asked.
The 28 students of the University of Cincinnati College of Design Architecture, Art and Planning who worked together to answer the question "What is prejudice?" -- posed by Racelle Weiman, director for the Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati -- compiled statistics, stories both personal and historic, and questions that educate, challenge and touch those who encounter them. Among other topics, the kiosks cover hate speech, violence, discrimination, xenophobia and silence. Along with reporting facts such as that there are 751 organized chapters of adult hate groups in the United States and that in the six genocides in the 20th century more than 20 million people were murdered, each kiosk offers a pamphlet with practical steps people can take to help face prejudice. Some are as simple as watching a foreign film to appreciate another culture. Some require that you get out of your comfort zone and accompany the police on a ride-along to truly understand the challenges of dealing with violence.
All month the library is offering programs to accompany the exhibit, which is one of six traveling exhibits. At the end of the month local high school students are coming to campus to see it. This got me thinking — if only they could set it up in all high schools, middle schools, malls and maybe even churches.
The exhibit will be on display in the lobby and downstairs in the Ryan C. Harris Learning Teaching Center through Jan. 31.

by Jessica Gibson-James ’06 1-10-06

Drawing a crowd

Hundreds of people crammed into RecPlex this afternoon to be part of the dedication and blessing ceremony that officially opened UD's new $25.3 million fitness and recreation complex.
"I've been informed this is the biggest turnout for a dedication ever on campus, and we don't have enough cookies," said Bill Schuerman, vice president of student development and dean of students, as he welcomed the crowd. "I'd like to remind you of your new year's resolution and that this is a fitness facility and of the Catholic tradition of breaking the cookies."
The formal ceremony also included comments from students, a blessing by Father Chris Wittmann, S.M., songs, and the cutting of red and blue ribbons draped from the main stairwell. After all the speechifying, the hundreds of onlookers fanned out to get a closer look of the impressive three-story facility.
" Whoa, you mean there's more back here?" one awe-struck visitor said as she was being led down the hallway to RecPlex's two multiactivity courts. "They thought of everything!"
Several people enjoyed frozen yogurt from The Chill snack and juice bar, the newest addition to the student-run Flyer Enterprises. Many walked up the large ramp that runs through the heart of the facility to Campus Recreation's administrative offices to purchase their RecPlex memberships.
"I'll see you here next time in gym shorts, right?" one UD staffer quipped to another as they waited to sign up. "But we've got to have iPods to work out here."

by Kristen Wicker 1-6-06

Off the wall

Kaitlin Wasik's parents may have to get used to a blank spot on their family room wall in Perrysburg, Ohio. "Snorkeling," Wasik's pastel self-portrait drawn from a photo taken in Maui when she was 4, will be on exhibit in Alumni Hall until Thanksgiving.
The piece is one of 18 works selected for the sixth annual Honors Art Exhibition, a juried show open to all students in the University Honors and Berry Scholars programs.
It's the first exhibit for Wasik, a first-year middle childhood education major. Sam Wukusick, a junior studio art major, is showing "Hosur Triptych," offering visitors a chance to see more of the work he created after his immersion trip to India.
Other students whose work was chosen include majors in chemical engineering, leadership, international studies, religious studies, biology, biochemistry, Spanish, visual communication design and art education.
The "Best of Show" award, a $1,000 scholarship, went to Helen Smith, a senior biochemistry major, for her digital photograph, "Waiting." Stop by Alumni Hall 125 and see the show.

by Deborah McCarty Smith 1-6-06

RecPlex open

Today, I ran into the cloudy blue skies over VWK.
The $25.3 million Fitness and Recreation Complex, dubbed the RecPlex, is open. Treadmills and their other cardio-cousins face in nearly every direction, offering vistas to distract the well-intentioned athlete. I picked one facing east out a wall of windows that showed students hoofing up Stuart Hill and hiking in from S Lot. Other angles feature basketball in the big gym, soccer in the small one and the climbing wall near the main entrance. There were no lines, no dry-erase board tallying how many exercisers were entitled to the equipment before you.
And that's only a snapshot of the athletic opportunities at RecPlex which, at 125,500 square feet and three stories high, is more than twice the size of the Physical Activities Center it replaces. Click on the photo to see a slideshow of RecPlex’s amenities, including:
-Courts for volleyball, racquetball, floor hockey, lacrosse and squash
-An aquatic center with an eight-lane natatorium and whirlpool
-An elevated indoor track
-A fitness center with more than 80 pieces of cardiovascular equipment and a line of Cybex Eagle strength equipment
-The Chill, a juice and snack bar run by Flyer Enterprises in joint venture with dining services
-Locker rooms, including some designated for family use.
Faculty, staff, graduate student and alumni rate information is available.

by Michelle Tedford 1-4-06

Postscript: Alumni can use RecPlex for a day fee of $5 by showing your alumni card. During normal office hours, stop at the guard shack at C lot off Evanston (click for map pdf) to get a parking permit. For details, call (937) 229-2731.

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