May 2008

Spirit soars

The Marianists have honed a reputation for being humble, hospitable, gracious. As I listened to the eulogies for Brother Stan Mathews, S.M., I realized he could be the poster child.

"He was a quiet, calming, but powerfully influential person," said Brother Michael O'Grady, S.M., at a Mass of Christian Burial yesterday in a nearly full Immaculate Conception Chapel. "Stan went through life not wanting to be noticed. If we spend too much time on Stan here, he'll be furious."

Father Thomas Schroer, S.M., called the soft-spoken, unfailingly kind man "one of the giants of the former Cincinnati Province of the Society of Mary during the post-Vatican II period of our history."

Brother Stan (pictured on right) appeared as comfortable in the stacks of a library or the stands of a Cincinnati Reds' game as he was at the helm as principal of Chaminade High School or UD's first rector. He possessed a razor-sharp memory for detail.

"Stan remembered the events of people's lives," said Father Jim Fitz, S.M., who presided over the Mass. "He could remember all the stories — not in a judgmental way but in a compassionate way. He showed us how to be compassionate."

As O'Grady eulogized, "He was a brother since the day he was born."

by Teri Rizvi 5-28-08

Walk of faith

The Marianist charism, it’s physically everywhere on campus from crosses in classrooms to brothers on front porches. But as those in the office of the rector realized, what’s not as common is an understanding of its meaning. So they enlisted student help.

A few years ago, these students mapped out a walk around campus and transformed it into a learning experience. The hour-long Marianist Heritage tour is a visual journey through the five Marianist charisms: Mary, inclusivity, community, faith and mission.

Recently, six members of the Dayton alumni chapter began the tour at the towering 100-year-old statue of Mary outside of Roesch Library. They crossed the street to St. Mary Hall (a representation of inclusivity) and continued to St. Joseph Hall (community). Pausing in front of pictures of the 1987 fire, the group reminisced of how crushed they had felt far away from UD, helplessly watching as images of a burning St. Joe’s flashed across their TV screens.

Up toward Marycrest, the group came upon Serenity Pines and students relaxing in the peaceful garden built in memory of Joe Belle ’73. Be it reading, studying or an occasional marriage proposal, numerous embodiments of faith have taken place there, said Joan Wagner, director of Marianist strategies.

The tour ended at Mary Seat of Wisdom in the cemetery. This statue of a middle-aged woman, sitting with open arms and an inviting lap, represents mission. Father Chaminade believed that Mary would guide Marianists as well as she did Jesus.

And it seems she has, all around campus.

by Jennie Szink ’09 5-27-08

My Old House: 9 Evanston

It was a duplex, but now it's a six-person house. This summer, it's getting another facelift.

by Jennie Szink ’09 5-27-08

When an earthquake half a world away hits home

As this week's earthquake shook Sichuan, China, Tony Liu lay in his Dayton bed asleep. "A friend called: 'Wake up. There's a huge earthquake in your home town."

Ya'an Sichuan is located among three fault zones, so Liu knew it was serious. A call to his parents' house just rang and rang. He tried their mobile phones, but the system was down.

Finally, he got through. "When I heard their voice, it was such a great relief for me," said Liu, who is in his final semester of the electro-optics master's program. His family home was heavily damaged. Mom, Dad and Grandma are living in the family car, surviving for now on bread and water.

"I could not just sit there and do nothing," said Liu Thursday as he manned a table near the KU food court with members of the Chinese Students and Scholars Association, collecting money for relief efforts. "I had to make a difference to them."

by Michelle Tedford 5-15-08

Politics, prepositions

English professor Jim Farrelly and Christopher Kelley, visiting assistant professor of political science at Miami University, talked political words and meanings May 2 on a WMUB-FM call-in show. The conversation included irritation, aggravation, straight talk, Winston Churchill, sentence-ending prepositions, hubris and nemesis. Conspicuously missing from the show: Lockbox. Strategery. Nuke-ular.

Farrelly, who teaches classes in film and popular culture, noted that the race for the Democratic nomination has reminded him in recent weeks of a hit 1946 Broadway musical starring Ethel Merman.

"Barack Obama's 'Yes, you can' — really, 'Yes, I can' — immediately got me thinking of Annie Get Your Gun and Annie's — Hillary Clinton's as-yet unexpressed — 'No, you can't,'" he said.

He volunteered the following slightly edited version of Irving Berlin's original lyrics for the first verse:

I'm superior, you're inferior;
I'm the big attraction, you're the small;
I'm the major one, you're the minor one;
I can beat you shootin [off my mouth!], that's not all.

Anything you can do, I can do better ...

by Maureen Schlangen 5-7-08

Addicted to song

Kelsey Faludy gets knocks on her 3 Middle Marycrest dorm door daily: "I voted for you."

It's not just friends and dormmates voting for Faludy's song, "Nicotine." It's thousands of MTV fans who have flocked to Addicted To Noise to hear new artists and vote for their favorites.

Faludy, a first-year vocal performance major, wrote "Nicotine" after a trip to New York City. In the refrain, she captured the feeling of late nights, caffeine and people wrapped up in their own lives: "Girl, you're too busy for my pity. You suck the life from me like you do nicotine."

Voting closes May 5, with winners getting time before record executives and a chance to be featured in an MTV show.

She's been singing since she could speak, but many of her friends didn’t know about her artistic ambitions until this contest. "I was focusing on my schoolwork," she said from her cell phone a bit breathless as she walked out of one final on her way to two more.

by Michelle Tedford 5-01-08

Words to live by

Inspired by a dying Carnegie Mellon University professor's upbeat words, UD theologian Dennis Doyle came up with a dozen reflections he'd impart to students in a "last lecture."

Topped by a philosophy of St. Augustine, these are words to live by:

1. Love God and do what you will.

2. Realize that life is about human relationships.

3. Be yourself in a way that attends to your relationships with others.

4. Live authentically within the context of a religious tradition.

5. Remember that what you do is important and that it makes a difference.

6. Stick to your guns in such a way that you know that you might be wrong.

7. If someone is irritating you, try to disconnect your buttons.

8. If contrary things appear to both be true, try for a while to live within the tension.

9. Reach out to people on the margins.

10. Don't be afraid to reach out to others for help.

11. Never commit suicide.

12. Examine critically what your society regards as "success."

by Teri Rizvi 5-01-08