September 2008
Come blow your horn
Get ready to blow your horns. It is almost time for the band alumni weekend, Bandcoming, Oct. 3-5. The alumni band will perform selections from the 1978 movie Animal House at the Oct. 4 home football game.
However, the band is short on members. Instruments still needed include two alto saxes and three tenor saxes. If you are interested, contact Mark Buchwalder.
Band alumni will stay at the UD guesthouses on Brown Street and feed the Pride of Dayton students homemade cookies.
My Old House: 452 Kiefaber
Paul Mattie ’04 likened his time in this Kiefaber house to being on a cruise ship, a comparison current residents relate to.
Quicker route to class
Every time I leave class, the bike racks are full. As I walk, I feel the breeze of passing bikes. What is going on?
The number of bikes on campus has increased across the country. At Michigan State University, bike registration has increased three-fold in five years. No one has counted UD’s bikes, but students are talking about their rising popularity. Katie Sunday, a junior living on the Darkside, has noticed other people riding bikes and full KU bike racks.
Some students want to get to class faster and some either don’t have a car or want to save money on gas. Still others bring it for fun.
“I find that I really like riding my bike home,” Sunday said. “It literally takes 30 seconds. I also have meetings late at night, and I feel safer riding my bike home when it’s dark.”
Junior Tracey Horan brought her bike to school because she does not have a car. She also goes on bike trips with the River Stewards program. "There are some great bike paths near campus,” she said.
However, there is a downside: “The worst thing is when it rains during class and then you get on your bike,” Sunday said. “That’s no fun.”
One thing is clear: If biking becomes any more popular, UD is going to need more bike racks.
Perspective
After weekend windstorms took out power, downed trees, blocked streets and forced a television holiday in the student neighborhoods, students have done well at putting their predicament in perspective.
In comparison to Texas, where Hurricane Ike’s wake includes washed-out highways, energy shortages and a public health crisis, Dayton’s storms paled.
Though the power was still out for more than 2,400 students:
* Water is running.
* Dining halls are open to any student with a UD student ID.
* Toilets are flushing.
* And though the milk in the fridge has long gone sour, the Velveeta’s good well into 2009.
As students strolled by fallen limbs on their way to classes Monday morning, tree-trimming crews and groundskeepers were beginning to make a dent in the days-long task of cleaning up the debris that covered the campus. A crane had been dispatched to lift a tree off the house at 401 Irving Ave., and by Sunday night UD had made reservations with area roofers to repair damaged shingles on residence halls, academic buildings and more than 40 student houses.
When Beth Keyes, assistant vice president for facilities management, drove to campus Sunday afternoon to begin assessing the damage, the scene was surreal. A severe storm with hurricane-force winds – unofficially more than 70 mph – was passing through, yet with the absence of rain and dark clouds, many were undaunted.
“It was 80 degrees, hot and sunny,” she said. “People were out walking around and looking at stuff, hanging out on their porches, trying to listen to the (Cincinnati Bengals) game. It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon if not for the storm.”
Destined donation
It took more than a year to make it happen, but 31 computers donated by the School of Engineering arrived this week at Instituto Chaminade Marianistas in Callao, Perú. Just one thing was missing: senior John Ventimiglia.
The ETHOS student spent his summer at the technology vocational school providing hardware support. He also took over the donation project started by Jon Obergefell ’07, the institute's 2007 summer volunteer. One obstacle was the several thousand dollars it would have cost to conventionally ship the computers. Obergefell's father, Dave Obergefell ’75, instead added the computers to a container of supplies his 
company shipped to Perú. They just didn’t arrive before Ventimiglia headed back to UD.
"I would have liked to have seen how they were received ... getting the full circle thing. I literally loaded them at UD on the truck," Ventimiglia said.
The institute's founder, Brother Felipe Melcher, S.M., wrote UD a letter of thanks: "Every volunteer has been a delight for us and is positive testimony to the great technical-académico-Christian formation they receive at UD. Thanks for helping with the PC donation and sharing your students with us."
25 feet away
While most Americans watched the Republican National Convention from their living rooms, Dave Luketic ’06 experienced it as a delegate. He started his days with the hotel’s buffet breakfast at 7:45 a.m., followed by a 5-15 minute speech from the likes of Mitt Romney. Shuttles nicknamed the GOP Express took delegates to the convention around 5 p.m. There was no food on the convention floor, so Luketic dashed off for a concession-stand hot dog.
During Gov. Sarah Palin’s speech, Luketic sat dead center, six rows back – 25 feet from her. Being that close made it seem like the speakers were talking directly to me, Luketic said, a feeling lost through television.
Delegates were shuttled back to the hotel around 11:15 p.m. Luketic hit the hotel bar, open until 4 a.m. to accommodate delegates, for a pizza before heading to bed near midnight, only to rise for a 7:45 breakfast the next day.
Moving music
Sometimes, you just can’t sit still. MBA student Julie Roth has to stand up and jive 
to Slavic Soul Party! (click here to listen), the group kicking off this season’s Arts Series.
“Slavic Soul Party! intermixes their classical experiences with popular music, incorporating their hip-hop, classic rock and folk influences,” Roth said. “The unique combination of instruments is unlike anything I have ever seen in the past, with a collection of marching band brass and an accordion.”
Roth’s enthusiasm played a role in bringing the band to campus; she first heard the group at the Association of Performing Arts Presenters in New York City and reported back to the Arts Series committee: Bring them to UD.
As a voice, piano and guitar performer, Roth found a new perspective on the arts at UD. “It was great thinking, 'What would students come to, in a sense both of entertaining and learning?'” she said.
Slavic Soul Party! performs at 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 18, in Boll Theatre. Tickets are available online and through the UD Box office.
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