August 2007

It's a bird ... it's a plane ... it's pizza dough

By the time world champion pizza dough spinner Casey Cole finished his demonstration, the 3- to 5-year-olds at UD's Bombeck Family Learning Center had a grasp of the difference between a circle and a square.

A Bombeck Center teacher invited Cole to her classroom after seeing a TV news report about the Franklin, Ohio, pizza shop manager's gold medal at the sixth annual International Pizza Competition of Naples, Italy, in May.

The kids shrieked as they learned about circles, gravity and the sound pizza dough makes when it thwaps the ceiling. Click the image for video highlights by Liz Sidor ’08.

As of this posting, the Bombeck Center has classroom space available for children ages 3 to 5. Call Jane Falck for information at 937-229-2158.

by Matthew Dewald 08-31-07

Storyteller

Everyone has a story to tell — and this summer I was the one listening.

I talked to best friends enlisting together in the Army and a 10-year-old girl who, as the youngest stock car driver, broke the Guinness World Record.

From feature stories to front-page news, I was an intern reporter finding the story behind the story for The Chronicle-Telegram, a daily newspaper in Elyria, Ohio.

I talked to people of all ages — from 6-year-old high-tech kids creating video games to an elderly couple selling 57 acres that affected the entire town.

I sat in the yellow kitchen of their centennial family farm and scribbled notes of the interstate highway that split it in half. Through their words, I realized selling was the last thing they wanted to do, but the farm wasn’t thriving in the developed area. The farmland would be rezoned to increase revenues for the local schools.

Back in the office, the police scanner was blaring. The metro editor shouted his daily mantra: “It’s 4:01, where are my stories?”

I added my byline and the story was off.

by Rania Shakkour ’09 08-31-07

A-mazing

The goal was to get the marble down the maze-like track. But the marble had a mind of its own.

First, it flew off the track. Then, it stalled out and just sat there. Meanwhile, Chen "Roro" Lihua watched the marbles of her engineering technology classmates cross the finish lines and complete the assignment to create a working track out of found objects.

"I was very sad that day," said Chen, who had worked on the maze until 4 a.m. before the competition with partners Wu "Sophia" Jia Jia and Zhu "Apollo" Junjie. "If the marble maze cannot pass the test, it [is] just like a stack of trash."

Chen didn't accept defeat. "I told myself, I must finish it. I [said], 'Everything has an ending.'"

The next day, she finessed the track and fixed a problem with the motor meant to propel the marble. This was for pride and satisfaction, not a grade. Then, she sent her professor a YouTube link to show her work.

This project, she said, incorporated so much: wisdom, teamwork, honor, creativity, persistence and belief ("our members always think our marble project is the best"). See for yourself.

by Michelle Tedford 08-30-07

Wheels for friends

Surrounded by mountains of spare parts, the New Engineer Program’s freshman volunteer group Wheels for Kids replaced gears, fixed frames and repaired wheelwork on bicycles, donating the bikes to a different group of recipients.

The renovated bicycles usually go to 6- to 14-year-olds. Last Thursday, several UD engineering majors fixed bikes with 12 students from Shanghai Normal University in China, who will ride them during this school year.

“We cooperated well with each other. Well, the boys fixed the spools, and I found and handed them the tools,” laughed Gong “Jo” Jun, senior mechanical engineering technology major (pictured above, right). “People are very nice. I think I’ll send my partner a thank-you letter.”

According to professor David Herrelko, Wheels for Kids had a surplus of adult-sized bikes in its “donation dungeon” located in the Mechanical Engineering building. They loaned the extras to the Chinese students, who returned to their apartments last Thursday night riding the patched-up bikes.

Wei Yuan, known as “Webb” to his UD friends, rides his bike to class. He and his classmates look forward to exploring Dayton on their renovated wheels.

by Rachael M. Bade ’10 8-28-07

When Mary came to Marianist Hall

Noticed the new statue of Mary at the Feast of Cana outside of Marianist Hall? Click the image for a look at how she got there.

by Deborah McCarty Smith 08-23-07

Well, it says a 'joyful noise'...

The joint was jumpin', but it wasn't the usual joint. Or the usual jumping. Doing the jumping were 40 to 50 3- to 7-year-olds. Their joint was Christ the King Catholic Church in Richland, Wash., at the tail end of 9:30 a.m. Mass.

"They brought the house down," said Eric Meyer '90, the kids' music leader and guitarist.

When Meyer began singing with the children of his church to help out during Sunday Mass, he had trouble finding music that kept the kids' attention.

His solution? Write their own. So, with the help of the kids, including his daughters Regan (8), Rosie (6) and Emilia (2), they developed their own repertoire of songs with titles like "Elephant" ("If Jesus was an elephant/he'd be the strongest") and "Macaroni and Jesus" ("Macaroni is just like Jesus/So so good and always feeds us"). It went over so well that he took the songs and six of the children into the studio with him to record Mr. Meyer's Graceful Ruckus.

"I hope it's a ministry that doesn't go broke," said Meyer, who recently relocated to the Phoenix area. "When I was in our little Sunday school (in Richland), I was the only male leader in the entire program. I think there's a place for younger fathers in the spiritual part of our lives, and I want kids to see you can be a father and be involved in that."

by Matthew Dewald 08-21-07

Welcome, Class of 2011

The following is excerpted from "The Academic Challenge to the Class of 2011," an address delivered yesterday in the Frericks Gymnasium by Julius Amin, chair of the history department, at the 2007 convocation. Classes began today.

To our incoming first-year and transfer students on campus, I welcome you to the University of Dayton. You stand at the threshold of a critical time in your life. I ask you to use the next four years to establish a foundation for the rest of your life. It is today a truism, whether or not it pleases us, that we live in a global village. During the next four years, I ask you to find and then use your voice in the context of this global village.

Let me start by telling you a few things about myself. I was born and raised in Cameroon, West Africa. My village is known as Lewoh. The village is the bedrock of most Sub-Saharan African societies. From the village, residents receive their identity, sense of purpose and direction. Throughout my journey from West Africa to Dayton, Ohio, I have been told by well-meaning folks that I have done well. I always thank them for the compliment but also correct them by stating, "My family has done well, and my village has done well." For I know that no matter how far I journey in life, I will always be part of a group, a family, a community.

It is not too much to assert that this is a defining moment here on our campus. The University's Vision of Excellence demands the best from everyone. It challenges people to become both thinkers and doers in a rapidly changing global environment. I have found it both a privilege and an honor to be part of this community.

This is your moment. Your time here will be filled with joy, challenges and opportunities. You should strive to make a difference in your community and broadly, within the global community. I challenge you to find your voice, discover your passion and then excel in it.

The foundation of your future work begins now. In Alan Lightman's Einstein's Dreams, he writes, "This is a world of changed plans, of sudden opportunities, of unexpected visions. For in this world, time flows not evenly but fitfully and, as consequence, people receive fitful glimpses of the future." Incoming students, this is your opportunity to begin to chart, and perhaps, change that future.

The full text of Amin's address, including his discussion of the first-year students' summer reading text, is available here (in PDF format).

by Matthew Dewald 08-21-07

E-book options lighten back-to-school load

For several classes this fall, required reading will go from the tangible to the virtual.

Students will have the option to learn about psychology, history and biology through electronic textbooks instead of traditional paper copies for the first time this year.

The University of Dayton Bookstore will offer 20 titles —from Biology Essentials to Analysis for Financial Management — in both electronic and hard-copy form. Students will buy pass codes from the bookstore to access their e-books, said Nina Huart, textbook manager for the store.

Brother Dan Klco, S.M., who will use an e-book in one of his BIO 101 classes, praised the perks of e-books, saying they're less expensive than regular books and offer supplemental media that the regular texts don’t have. Then there's the cost. New hardcopy of Biology Essentials: $140. E-book: $85.

Plus, the e-book saves paper — an environmental concern that's a key lesson in a biology class, Klco said.

The biology e-book will be offered through a statewide pilot program with the Ohio Board of Regents and OhioLink. UD is one of three schools involved in the program, which is seeking ways to lower costs for university students while improving learning tools.

by Yvonne Teems ’08 8-17-07

SCLC honors Curran, UD

At the Southern Christian Leadership Conference's 50th anniversary celebration in Atlanta on Tuesday, the Rev. Dr. Joseph E. Lowery presented the civil rights organization's first Human Rights Legacy Award to UD President Dan Curran.

Lowery, who founded SCLC with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., said the award acknowledges UD's historic and long-standing emphasis on social justice and human dignity. "Dr. Curran and the University of Dayton have demonstrated strong leadership over many years, and SCLC's partnership with the University shows us that we must continue to fight together to assure civil rights for all people," he said.

In accepting the award, Curran highlighted UD's collaboration with the Rev. Raleigh Trammell, SCLC board chair, and the Dayton SCLC chapter on the community’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Celebration. "We are helping our community function effectively in diverse settings as part of the University's commitment to human dignity," Curran said.

"It was a grand evening for UD," said Lynnette Heard, executive director of the president’s office, who joined Curran in Atlanta along with the Rev. Paul Marshall, S.M., rector of the University. "The University was the only institution of higher education to be recognized during the evening, and many guests stopped Dan to congratulate him and were excited to know that UD is such a special place for learning, leading and serving."

Photos — Top, Curran (center) receiving the award from Lowery (front row, second from left). Bottom, Curran with Trammel (center) and Marshall (left).

by Cilla Bosnak Shindell 08-10-07

The art of seeing

Eleven nature images by Julie Jones '07, taken at Mount St. John in Dayton, now grace the lobby of Marianist Hall. The images will be accompanied by reflections written by people who live and work, pray and play at Mount St. John, the 150-acre campus that is the home of a nature preserve, the Marianist Environmental Education Center, the Marianist novitiate, Gallery St. John and numerous other Marianist ministries.

Jones was a UD artist in residence this summer, one of eight students charged with creating art to be displayed in student residence halls. "I want to capture the beauty that is here and to bring forth the experience of Mount St. John," Jones said, noting that the project deepened her understanding of the connection between the environment and spirituality. The images portray the diversity of Mount St. John: there are photos of Brother Tom Wendorf's garden, the forest, prairie and earthwork.

by Deborah McCarty Smith 08-08-07

My Old House: 607 Irving Ave.

Sister Annette Schmeling, UD's new vice president for student development and dean of students, could have lived a lot of places. She chose UD's student neighborhood.

by Johnnie Kling ’09 8-2-07