This week's stories:
Student input helps change University Forum
By Jim Miller In response to student criticisms offered at an assessment meeting in October, changes in the meeting times of the plenary sessions and textbook prices for University Forum, Clare 401, are planned for next semester. According to Michael Chiariello, dean of Clare College, the topic of the course, held twice a week with a larger plenary session once a week, will be food production and the environment. "It's the kind of topic that needs to be addressed in a university as we look towards the future," Chiariello said. According to the Oct. 26, 2001, issue of The Bona Venture, students complained that the schedule for the plenary sessions was not announced before registration and that the textbooks, priced at $56 for each of the two texts needed during the semester, cost too much. Chiariello said he has never resented student criticism. "I hope that students can see that we are trying to respond (to their concerns) in very specific ways," he added Next semester, the course should be more "student friendly," Chiariello said. The plenary sessions are scheduled for 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. on Wednesdays, but students only have to attend every other week. In most cases, the same presentation would be repeated two weeks in a row. This should make the number of students in each session much smaller than last semester, Chiariello said. He hopes to have about 100 students in each section. According to Chiariello, the schedule for the plenary sessions last fall was inconvenient for faculty as well as students. "We didn't realize how much of that time had been taken over by other classes and functions," he said. Chiariello added that the 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. time slot in which the plenary sessions are now held used to be free for everyone. He hopes that the new time slot will prevent conflicts with other required courses. Chiariello also hopes that in the future, the plenary sessions will include more debate, and possibly videos or other media as well. "A forum is supposed to be a place for discussion, and that's what we want this class to be," he said. Junior Shannon Reed, who plans to take the course next semester, is pleased that the schedule has been announced in advance, but still has doubts about the course. "I've heard the speakers (at the plenary sessions) were not always the most engaging people," she said. According to Chiariello, the textbooks for last semester cost $30,756 to produce, including printing costs and fees which paid for permission to use the articles. This was the reason the books had cost so much, he said. According to Sharon Godfrey, administrative assistant to the dean of Clare College, the university bookstore set the price for the books after reimbursing Clare College for the money spent in their production. Drew Franczak, bookstore manager, said the the textbooks had also been a problem for the bookstore. Of the 800 books ordered for the class, only 341 have been sold, he said. This means that the bookstore will lose almost $12,000, unless the remaining books are sold by the end of the semester. According to the Registrar, 352 students took the course this year. This means that if each student had purchased the two required books, the bookstore would have made a profit of approximately $9,000. Next semester, the textbook will be hardcover instead of a paperback compilation of photocopies, and the price should be significantly lower, Chiariello said. He added that students might also be required to purchase a few low-cost paperback books. Describing this year's University Forum as a "shakedown cruise" for the course Chiariello acknowledged that there had been problems with the textbooks, including out of date articles. Senior Jennifer Morgan, who took University Forum last semester, is pleased at the changes, but wishes that they had come sooner. "Let's just say people were not happy about it because they were very disorganized," she said. Rod Hughes, associate professor and chair of the philosophy department, led the assessment meeting last fall and helped to design the course. He also taught three sections of it last semester and acknowledged that the course was "designed on the run." The seminar portion of the class went well, but the plenary sessions were "a big logistical nightmare," especially when seeking speakers in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, Hughes said. Some of the speakers, he said, had clearly not sparked student interest. He noted especially a Franciscan sister who spoke about Franciscanism, and ended up leading students in a lengthy singing prayer service. He said, however, that students had responded well to Robert Perkins, a naturalist who has worked in the arctic and spoke near the end of the semester. Despite criticism, Chiariello remains proud of what he described as a "multidimensional course." "Given that there was so much pessimism regarding the very possibility of a University Forum in time for the class of 2002, I have to say that I am more than satisfied with this year's course," he said. Chiariello added the course will continue to evolve and that he made its development his primary task when he became dean of Clare College in January 2001. "The faculty who put this first course together did a heroic job, and I was really happy with that," he added. Students may have more input in the future, according to Patrick Dooley, Board of Trustees professor of philosophy, who serves on the committee which is developing the course for next year. He hopes to hold a meeting of this year's sophomore class to help determine future topics for the course, he said. Chiariello said the course has three purposes: to give students an in depth view of a contemporary social issue, to tie together the skills, approaches and ideas from previous Clare College courses, and to help the faculty assess the success of Clare College itself. "I doubt there are more than a handful of universities that do something like this," he said. Hughes, too, is hopeful about the program's future. "It's never going to be as successful the first time as it can be," he said.
Toby Keith to perform in RC Arena
By Holly McIntyre St. Bonaventure will host country music artist Toby Keith at 7:30 p.m. on April 13 in the Reilly Center Arena. Fellow country acts, Jamie O'Neal and Emerson Drive, will open the concert. Steve Plesac, director of student activities, stressed that this concert is not the annual spring concert and will not be sponsored by the university or the student body. Boston-area band, Guster is scheduled to play the Reilly Center on April 22, according to the band's Web site and Pollstar.com. Plesac would not release information about the spring concert. Plesac said the Toby Keith concert's promoter, Clearchannel, chose to bring Toby Keith to the university because "we have a very good reputation in terms of hosting major country concerts. Country shows we have had in the past have done very well." For example, the university has hosted country acts Aaron Tippon, George Jones, and Kenny Rogers multiple times, he said. He said, "St. Bonaventure is the smallest venue (Toby Keith) is playing in the entire country. As a university, we are very pleased he is coming here." Toby Keith's tour includes other venues, such as The Erie Civic Center in Erie, Pa., Jamboree in the Hills in Morristown, Ohio and Country Jam USA in Eau Claire, Wisc., according to Pollstar.com. Plesac added, "The university is always trying to bring in major entertainment for the Southern Tier communities as well as the students." Shows like Toby Keith's promote name recognition for St. Bonaventure and the surrounding area, he said. According to Plesac, Clearchannel, Keith's promoter, expects the concert to sell out. There should be about 3,700 seats available for the concert, depending on the stage position and handicapped seating. He added that the appeal to students might be limited, but that the concert is open to students, not designed for them. Tickets cost $37.75 for students and non-students. "We know there is some student audience for country music and we are getting a lot of demand already within the university community," Plesac said. He expects the majority of the audience to come from outside the university. "Judging by the response before tickets even go on sale, we expect a significant audience from the Buffalo and Niagara areas," he said. Tickets can be purchased at the Reilly Center ticket office, Movie World in Olean, Salamanca and Bradford, or through Ticketmaster.
Senior to present thesis in Canada
By Kelly Zientek Senior Melinda Clemens proved that St. Bonaventure students have more to boast about than just their athletic accomplishments. Saturday, Clemens will present her senior thesis at the 2002 Peace Symposium at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Her thesis, entitled "Solutions to Conflict: A Comparative Study to the United Nations War Tribunal and the South African Solution," was selected out of a pool of other undergraduate submissions from across North America. A nonviolence and political-science double major, Clemens said she had to find an idea that applied to both majors. James Moor, chair and professor of the political science department, said of the papers submitted for this undergraduate symposium, "some are accepted and many are rejected. The fact that her paper was accepted says a lot for her." The undergraduate symposium, in its third year of existence, accepted "submissions in any creative form," according to the McMaster University Web site. Essays, poetry, art, drama, and music, are among the mediums used to convey this year's theme: "The Art of Peace." "It is a collaborative group of people getting together to talk about peace," Clemens explained. She will be the only student from the United States to present at the symposium. Clemens has half an hour to present her paper, after which there is a discussion session where she will answer questions about her thesis. Her thesis compares the United Nations war time tribunals and the South African Solution. Clemens says she took the best qualities of both and suggested a United Nations Truth and Reconciliation Commission. "It revamps our definition of the word justice, and searches for truth and forgiveness, while seeking to end genocide and conflict," she said. Clemens' paper was one of 18 other senior capstone projects guided by Moor who described Clemens' paper as "refreshing," in the way it approaches problems to conflict. "That's what made it stand out," he said. The road to McMaster began late last spring for Clemens when she began working on her thesis, according to Barry Gan, associate professor of philosophy, who also assisted Clemens. Gan said she continued her work through the summer and worked really hard this fall before finishing in early December. Early this semester, Gan sent Clemens a notice about the McMaster symposium. "It looked to me like it would be appropriate for her paper," he said. Clemens then submitted her paper to be considered for the symposium. The paper was selected, "entirely on its own merits," Gan added. Recommendations were not needed to submit a piece of work to the symposium. "I think we as Bonaventure students are really lucky to have a nonviolence program," Clemens said, "We are able to explore other alternatives. Dr. Gan is a great man to teach that." Several other students and Gan plan on accompanying Clemens to the symposium to hear her presentation.
By Holly McIntyre The Diversity Action Committee has planned new programs for students and faculty to encourage open-mindedness about race relations at St. Bonaventure. Robert Amico, chair of the committee and professor of philosophy, said the reasons for developing diversity at St. Bonaventure include "studies show students learn better in a multi-cultural environment and that students have to work in a multi-cultural world." Along with the deans of the five schools, the committee has sponsored a series of diversity speakers who spoke about race and diversity issues, including Helen Hatab Samhan, executive director of the Arab American Institute Foundation, Elaine Brown, former chairperson of the Black Panther Party and Chanrithy Him, survivor of the Khmer Rouge regime of Cambodia. Beverly Donofrio, author of "Riding in Cars with Boys," will speak April 4 about issues of women and gender, Amico said. The committee has organized a summer faculty development seminar for curriculum transformation in conjunction with Alfred University and Alfred State College. "There are deficiencies in many courses in terms of how they disseminate information dealing with women and minorities," Amico said. The seminar should "make them inclusive of all the facts." For example, in his Philosophy of Economics class Amico hopes to cover the issues of economic discrimination more than he currently can. Amico said St. Bonaventure, Alfred State and AU hope to continue with more programs, like diversity workshops, sharing visiting scholars from abroad, joint faculty appointments and joint international student events. He said the Diversity Action Committee held a Multiculturalism Weekend with the Jamestown Community College and the Olean Cultural Dialogue Group March 1 and 2 to encourage diversity in the community as well as at the university. The deans, the committee and other university departments sponsor these events and all three universities provide the funds for the Faculty Development Seminar, Amico said.
Game conflicts with food forum
By Jessica Galasso Zero attendance forced the cancellation of the food services forum on Wednesday evening. Junior Jon Wright, Student Government Association secretary of food services, planned the forum in The Rathskeller without realizing the possibility of the St. Bonaventure basketball game in Syracuse at the same time. Wright said he hoped to get ideas for improving Hickey Dining Hall at the forum. "I wanted to get input from students as to what they want (in the dining hall)," Wright said. "There are always ways to improve things," he said. Danielle Germer, board operations manager for Sodexho, also hoped to generate ideas for the future and get feedback from changes made this year. "We can get more ideas from more people than the two of us," Germer said referring to herself and Wright. Wright said SGA tried surveys in the past to get student feedback regarding food services on campus but it was difficult to get the surveys returned. He hoped he would have better luck with a forum. Students watching the basketball game in The Rathskeller said they did not know the forum was planned for Wednesday night and would not have gone anyway. "I don't eat in the dining hall, so I would not have gone," said senior, Katie Lynch. Wright said he plans to organize another forum near the first week of April. He said he wants to give the next SGA secretary of food services, who takes office April 3, a head start.
Endowment brings 50k for vocations programs
By Allie Herryman St. Bonaventure recently received a $50,000 planning grant from the Lilly Endowment, a worldwide foundation to fund religious activities. Over 300 schools applied for the grant and St. Bonaventure was one of 50 chosen. Application was open to all accredited, four-year, church-related, liberal arts universities. The grant money is scheduled to be used over the next six months to put together a proposal due Sept. 1 for an additional $2 million grant given by the Lilly Endowment as part of its Programs for Theological Exploration of Vocation. A nine-member planning committee, comprised of faculty from various departments, have already been meeting to brainstorm possible program ideas that could be carried out with the $2 million, according to Chris Stanley, associate professor and chair of the theology department. The Lilly Endowment seeks to establish or strengthen programs that "assist students in examining the relationship between their faith and vocational choices, provide opportunities for young people to explore Christian ministry as their life's work and enhance the capacity of a school's faculty and staff to teach and mentor students effectively in this area," according to the Lilly Endowment Request for Proposals. Stanley said, "In colleges with a church orientation a thing you want to encourage is to integrate faith with career and promote programming for students to reflect that," Stanley worked on the committee to write the initial proposal for the grant money. He added, "of the 50 schools who get the planning grant, 30-40 will get the $2 million." In St. Bonaventure's proposal narrative for the grant, which was submitted to the Lilly Endowment for review, the committee identified five primary areas it wished to take action in if receiving the rest of the money. These include recruiting more ministry students, assisting current students with decisions about careers in ministry, challenging undergraduates to become engaged in ministry, improving student awareness of vocational issues at the pre-college level and encouraging alumni and other adults to explore a second career in full time ministry. "It gets students who aren't going into ministries to view careers as ways of serving God," Stanley said. The proposal narrative also stated, "one of the key goals of a Franciscan education is to help students to imagine and embrace a pattern of living in which their time and talents are devoted to the service of God and others - in other words, a life of vocation." Members of the committee included Charles Sagona, director of foundation relations; the Rev. Dan Riley, O.F.M., university minister; Sister Mary Gurley, O.S.F., associate professor of education; the Rev. Jud Weiksnar, O.F.M., director of the Franciscan Center for Social Concern; Larry Orsini, professor of accounting; Stephen Horan, associate professor of finance; the Rev. Xavier Seubert, O.F.M., associate professor of theology; and Brother Basil Valente, O.F.M., lecturer of journalism and mass communication.
Petix, Solan decline to comment on punishment
By Annette Boglev Junior Mike Petix, responsible for charging the St. Joseph's mascot at the Bonnies' last home game on Feb. 28, meet with George Solan, vice president for student life, March 7 to plead his case and receive his punishment, but the penalty delivered is currently unknown to the public. Petix preferred not to divulge any further details. "I don't think I'm supposed to disclose any information, but I will say that I think the punishment was fair," Petix said. Solan followed suit and said, "The university does not comment on specific disciplinary proceedings." Although the actual outcome of Petix's hearing is unavailable, his punishment could have been as much as a one year suspension, according to Solan. Petix was accused of "harassment and disruption of a university activity by the athletic administration," according to Solan According to the Student Handbook these actions constitute Level II violations. Petix underwent an administrative process consisting of at least two meetings with Solan, one of which informed Petix of his charges and the other which allowed Petix to plead his case. Solan made it clear that in future cases such as this, the university will not hesitate to press criminal charges against offenders.
SAAC seeks student participants The Student Academic Advisory Counsel (SAAC) is looking for interested students to participate in discussions of academic life with Skip Saal, vice president for academic affairs. The counsel plans to meet once a month over lunch to work with Saal in identifying positive and negative aspects of academic life at St. Bonaventure and suggesting changes to improve the quality of education. Only 12 students can be selected from the applicants for the committee, which must include at least two freshmen, two sophomores, two juniors, three seniors and one graduate student. All must be full-time students with a 2.3 cumulative GPA. Those interested must e-mail Cristin Chase, Student Government Association secretary of academics and technology, by March 22. The e-mail must include the student's name, phone number, P.O. box, year, number of years attending St. Bonaventure, major, minor and a list of activities in which a student participates. Those accepted to the counsel will be notified as soon as possible. Poetry reading at StartUps Deli Cafe StartUps Deli Cafe, at 100 West Main St. in Allegany, will host a free poetry reading and writers workshop on Sunday. Arthur Sze will give the reading at 1:30 p.m., followed by the workshop at 3 p.m. Sze, whose poetry has won several awards, is currently a professor of creative writing at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe. His books include The Silk Dragon: Translations from the Chinese, and The Redshifting Web: Poems 1970-1998. Dawn Snyder, '88, owner of StartUps, hopes that this will be the first in a series of events. "Part of StartUps' mission is to provide not only unique food but unique cultural events," she said. The presentation is funded by the New York State Council on the Arts, and is presented in conjunction with the Olean Public Library. English department hosts social The English department is sponsoring a free social for current English majors, potential English majors and English professors. The social will be held from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesday in the Burgundy room of the University Ministries Center. Candidates to debate on Wednesday Students running for Student Government Association office will participate in debates at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Dresser Auditorium in the Murphy Professional Building. Elections are scheduled for 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday in the Reilly Center. Elected officers will take office on April 3. Currently there are no candidates for SGA Press Secretary or Sophomore Class Treasurer.
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