February 2007

Legendary writing

It's the stuff of legends, and senior Mike Huff gets to relive it each workday.
Like the 20-footer Bobby Joe Hooper sunk in overtime to beat the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers in the first round of the 1967 NCAA College Basketball Tournament.
Huff, a journalism major who has worked four years in UD's sports information office, writes highlights of the 1966-67 men's basketball season for the Budweiser Legend Series feature in game-day programs.
Last year, Huff began writing a series on greatest games dating back to the 1950s.
"It's cool when basketball fans tell me how they remember the game that I just wrote about," Huff said. "About a year ago, a gentleman that has been coming to UD basketball games for nearly 50 years was reading a legend series story I wrote on one of the 50 greatest games at UD Arena, UD's win over No. 3 ranked Depaul University in 1984. He told me that he remembered how amazing that game was and how the article brought back memories."
To research games played 40 years ago, Huff searches newspaper clippings, media guides, newsreels and the library before weaving the facts into his article. He often finds differences in sports jargon from present and past writing, as the 1967 journalists used "more old school" language, such as "triumph" instead of "win" or "goodies" instead of "free-throws."
Huff's job includes being a contact person for UD sports, conducting interviews and writing recaps of games played. He said he has always had a passion for sports and would like a career writing about sports or politics.
"After reading so much about a particular game from back in the '60s, I can really visualize it and feel like I'm actually there," he said.

by Caroline R. Miller ’07 2-28-07

Ready for 143?

The Flyers and Musketeers have played each other 142 times. Dayton leads the series 80 to 62 but lost at Xavier in January.
This Saturday is No. 143, and it happens at UD Arena where the Flyers have lost only once this season. Last year at the Arena, Norman Plummer scored 5 points in the final 59 seconds to lead Dayton to a 66-62 win. And this year? We'll find out Saturday.
Where will you see it? How about Santisi Brothers in Phoenix? Finley Dunne's Tavern in Chicago? Or Phebe's Tavern and Grill in New York City? You don't have to be in the Arena, or even in Dayton, to see the game with fellow alumni. In nearly 20 cities across the country, alumni will gather for game watches Saturday.
Check here to see what your local alumni chapter has planned. Want regular updates from your chapter? Register at the alumni site here and sign up to receive e-mail updates delivered right to your in-box.

by Matthew Dewald 2-20-07

Try your hand at UD real estate

Will you dominate with properties on Lowes or be sent to rot in public safety’s holding cell? Don’t forget to pay your library fines, and watch out for tuition increases.
Daytonopoly is based on a popular board game but caters to things unique to UD, such as streets, campus buildings and personalized “Blind Luck” and “Opportunity” cards. The game was envisioned by Allison Drummey and created by a team of five sophomores as part of the sophomore experience in the entrepreneurship program, in which students received $3,000 in capital to build their own business.
The Daytonopoly Co. team ran into its fair share of problems putting its product together, from running out of money to putting together a legal statement so the team members wouldn't get sued. They even traveled all over Dayton to track down 300 lost boxes they had ordered from China. Once they found the 300 boxes, the team packed three cars so full that one was able to make only left turns.
Ricky Schmidt, president of Daytonopoly Co., sees the team's problems as a valuable learning experience. Robert Green, the marketing director, agrees and adds that the problems they encountered helped them grow together as a team.
Daytonopoly is being sold for $30 ($25 for students) online at http://www.daytonopoly.com.
After repaying the $3,000 back to the University, the company’s profits will go toward an entrepreneurship conference for students and to Habitat for Humanity.
“We choose Habitat for Humanity because it kind of goes along with the theme of building houses,” Green said.

by Sarah A. Barnidge ’07 2-20-07

My Old House: 1522 Frericks Way

It has a bathroom the size of a phone booth and the “little room” upstairs. Maybe some alumni can explain the iron-shaped burn marks on the carpet?

by Anna Gebrosky 2-20-07

Room with a view

Vicki Costan Braun ’71 laughed as she related the reception she received as the first guest at the new Courtyard by Marriott University of Dayton on Valentine’s Day.
“They clapped and cheered and gave me a bunch of Valentine’s balloons and the biggest box of Esther Price candy sold in Dayton,” she said. “We took it to the room and then had to run home to pick up a few things.”
Braun and her husband, Ray, had watched the new hotel rise near the UD Arena and were determined to have the couple's annual mid-winter getaway there. About 4:30 p.m. Feb. 14, she called the new hotel to find out when it would open.
“They said, ‘We just opened the doors.' So my husband and I jumped in the car — we live in Oakwood, only about eight minutes away — and checked in.”
As a Flyer, she appreciated the little touches of UD. The hotel gift shop carries UD shirts and souvenirs and each room features photos from the campus, including the St. Joseph Hall cupola. Vintage campus photos adorn the walls of the lobby lounge.
“Ray and I both went there and we have so many UD friends,” she said. “We went to school with Debbie and Jack Proud — they were in our wedding — and now Jack is going to be the next chair of the UD board of trustees.
"I think it’s just so neat that the first guests at UD’s hotel have such strong ties to the University. We’re a real UD family.”

by Cilla Bosnak Shindell 2-19-07

Good causes

Learning how the recipients will divvy up and designate their $5,000 gifts is one of the highlights of the annual Lackner Awards dinner. Amy Lopez '86, director of Kennedy Union and conference services, committed $1,000 to Serenity Pines in memory of Joe Belle; $1,000 to the Marianist Student Community program; $1,000 to launch a catastrophic illness fund to benefit Ashley Kessler, who recently underwent brain surgery, and future students; and $2,000 to the Center for Social Concern for programs that foster social justice and fight discrimination. "We have a responsibility to name what's wrong and make an impact," she said.
Steve Mueller '74, executive director of counseling and health services, committed $1,000 to the student group REACH, which is dedicated to positive mental health; $1,000 to provide incentives for creativity and collaboration between student development staff and faculty in learning-living experiences at UD; and $3,000 to the Marianist Student Community houses, which he called a "building block for the future."
The $5,000 award has its costs, however. Mueller's wife, Cindy, after learning that he had been named a Lackner recipient, offered first her congratulations and then the realization of what the honor would also entail: "The dinner. We have to sit on stage in front of 350 people. We're going to have to go shopping."
Both Lopez and Mueller are also graduates of Marianist-sponsored high schools and between them, have five decades of service at UD.

Dressed for CNN success

After assistant professor of sociology Leslie Picca was quoted Feb. 1 by the Associated Press about racism among college students, she was barraged for a week with requests for media interviews. The rush culminated in an invitation to New York, courtesy of CNN, for an interview with Paula Zahn just one week later. To get to New York that Wednesday, Picca, who lives in Mason, had to juggle teaching classes, a winter storm, a traffic accident that shut down I-75 and detoured traffic causing missed and delayed flights. Adding to her stress were concerns about her wardrobe. Picca is six months pregnant with her second child and says she “dresses for comfort” not for television. So after a harried trip and late-night arrival, she hit Fifth Avenue the next morning to find something professorial. She found a great suit, went through a whirlwind of hair, make-up and interview at the CNN studio, only to have it bumped by the death of Anna Nicole Smith. The interview finally ran Feb. 13, and Picca has a great photo, a great suit and a great story to tell in class.

by Cilla Bosnak Shindell 2-14-07

Nibble, gobble, gone

After a freewheeling, 90-minute conversation with a dozen Dayton Early College Academy students who showed up on a snow day, Leonard Pitts didn't hesitate to share a first impression.
''You're the ones who are going to run the world in 30 years. Seriously."
The Pulitzer Prize-winning Miami Herald columnist quietly spoke about music, writing and the state of the American psyche to a group of high school students who engaged him in the issues of the day and the music of the moment.
On hip hop: ''It's not daring. It's about making money. Hip hop, to me, is a self-defeating formula. Most of what I hear in hip hop wouldn't be out of place at a Ku Klux Klan rally."
On writing: ''If you're not a reader, you can't be a writer. It's like saying I'm a singer, and I've never listened to a song. …This will sound strange because I teach writing classes, but you're not going to learn writing by academics. You learn writing by writing."
On the achievement gap: ''What other people expect you to be goes a long way to shaping what you become."
On Iraq: ''It's one of the worst foreign policy decisions in American history. It's a major screw-up. We don't have any good options — just bad, worse and worst."
Later, in a Distinguished Speakers Series address, he chastised the media and the public for allowing fear of terrorism to ''nibble away, some would say gobble away'' civil liberties in the name of security.
Why does he speak out so vehemently? ''I would rather go down in flames knowing I did the right thing than prosper by selling out,'' he said. ''What about next time? Will we remember the lessons of World War II, the McCarthy era, this era? Or will we force them to be relearned by a generation not born?"

by Teri Rizvi 2-14-07

Rosary rap

In ArtStreet in Studio B on a Monday afternoon, 23 students gathered together to share their faith in an unusual way. Led by Brother Tom Pieper, S.M., and accompanied by pre-recorded vocals, UD students learned how to rap the rosary in style. Bobbing their heads and tapping their feet, students recited their Hail Mary's by combining rhythm with prayer. The multicultural rosary event, part of Marianist heritage celebrations, was not restricted to rap, though, and students were encouraged to share their own rosary-praying style. Although not as musically inclined, some students shared their rosary style in other languages, including Spanish and Latin, and taught it as they went along. Unique in their style and brought together by faith, these Flyers want to know, how do you pray?

by Anna Gebrosky 2-08-07

Born to dance

"Why do you go to class?"
"Because we can't dance."
To see them tap, though, is to believe otherwise.
Annie Klapheke, a junior biology major who has been dancing since age 5, gave that answer to Sharon Leahy, director of Rhythm in Shoes, during last week's rehearsal. She and three other students will join professional dancers and musicians on stage at 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday for Rhythm in Shoes' winter concert at Boll Theatre.
For three weeks, they have practiced steps in "Swing Song" and "I Would Do Most Anything," including a complicated shuffle pattern with legs flailed outward for a split-second hang time. They first danced with Leahy in 2006 when she taught them choreography for "Red Scent," performed by the UD dance ensemble.
Adrienne Niess ’04, an MBA student and the facilities and communications coordinator at ArtStreet, said her biggest challenge is "tapping as fast as the ’Shoes." Her tactic is to rehearse the steps over and over, including shuffling on the linoleum floor of her kitchen while making dinner.
Brittany Walliser ’06, in the doctor of physical therapy program, will perform one step never taught in dance class: the chicken walk. "In 'I Would Do Most Anything' we get to be goofy — anything to make the audience laugh and have a good time," she said.
Lori Hanna, a junior mechanical engineering major, responds to "Why do you go to class?" with aspirations of developing renewable energy options for Third World applications. Last summer, she went on an ETHOS trip to Nicaragua to build solar cookers. While she has chosen the engineering profession, dance is a part of her she can never let go.
"When I went to Nicaragua, I taught ballet class to people who had never heard classical music. When I share myself, I share dance."

by Michelle Tedford 2-7-07

Spring in Paris, young alums?

And London, Florence and Rome too? The office of student involvement and leadership invites alumni in the classes of 2000-06 to join current students on a tour of Europe May 7-14. Space is very limited. For more information, contact Jenna Davis, assistant director in the office of student involvement and leadership, at 937-229-4114 or jenna.davis@notes.udayton.edu.

by Matthew Dewald 2-7-07

‘It’s easy’

“Easy” was the repeated refrain of Jacques Nyungura (leaping in photo) to a group of UD students at ArtStreet on Friday, Feb. 2. “It” was drumming the rhythms of Rwanda and its neighbor Burundi during a drum and dance workshop, the final event of a weeklong residency by World Rhythms Fellow Jean Paul Samputu (right), who brought with him Nyungura and another member of his band Ingeli.
Samputu, who lost his parents and four siblings during Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, brought a message of forgiveness and reconciliation during Human Rights Week at UD.
“Easy” wasn't a word any of the workshop participants threw around as casually as Nyungura, but there were lots of fairly steady rhythms and relaxed laughs. For sights — and sounds — from the workshop, click here.

by Matthew Dewald 2-6-07

Hybrid dilemma

Your company, which produces hybrid car batteries, has shipped you and its production to a small island nation. The company is regarded as a “socially responsible firm,” but you notice lead and mercury by-products are being dumped into rivers. What to do?
Quit. Go after the factory boss. Stay and fix the problem.
This is how students responded to this scenario Wednesday afternoon during a School of Business Administration Walk the Talk luncheon. Along with faculty members and local business leaders, students discussed moral and ethical issues encountered in the business world as a part of Human Rights Week.
One professor suggested that while the company was helping the environment in the United States by promoting hybrid cars, it was damaging the environment of a location far removed its consumers. He asked, “Is this a reasonable trade-off?”
Student Liz Grauel answered no, saying it was their moral responsibility to quit working for a company that not only damaged the environment but was hypocritical in its stance.
Others, such as graduate student George Mertz, argued that quitting would not solve the problem — it was their duty to “blow the conch shell” and publicly expose the company.
As the debate subsided, Sasha Lezhnev from Global Witness and Wednesday night’s Human Rights Week keynote speaker addressed the group. It’s important for people to do their own detective work about the companies they intend to work for, he said, to avoid ethically compromising situations.

by Kathleen Miller ’07 2-2-07