1. AlleCatt Reads, Bona's collaborate on death penalty discussions
2. Faculty and staff journal creations on display in Friedsam Library
3. Jim Mahar responds as alumnus, professor and relief organizer
4. Bona's introduces new major in international studies
5. St. Bonaventure and its president to be honored by Greater Olean Area Chamber of Commerce
6. Newsmakers for Fall 2008
7. BonaResponds sets Oct. 4 Local Service Day and midterm break trip to Iowa
8. Career Center
9. Friday Forum

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AlleCatt Reads, Bona's collaborate on death penalty discussions

AlleCatt Reads and St. Bonaventure are sponsoring several fall programs centered on the issue of the death penalty.

AlleCatt Reads is a collaborative effort, spearheaded by the Cuba Library, Wellsville Library and the Olean Public Library, to encourage citizens of Allegany and Cattaraugus counties to read and discuss the issues of a chosen book. This fall's selection, "Dead Man Walking" by Sr. Helen Prejean, C.S.J., is about her early experiences ministering to inmates on Louisiana’s death row. Prejean’s book was also made into a controversial film starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn and directed by Tim Robbins, who worked with Prejean on the screenplay.

Sr. Helen will visit St. Bonaventure for a lecture and book signing in November.

Upcoming events:

Movie Showing
"Dead Man Walking," based on the book by Sister Helen Prejean, C.S.J.
6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 1
Olean Public Library Art Gallery

Book Discussion of "Dead Man Walking"
1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 8
Community Room, Cuba Library
Free and open to the public

Speaker
Dr. Barry L. Gan, professor of philosophy at St. Bonaventure
7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 15
Olean Public Library Art Gallery
Presentation Title: "The Death Penalty: Current Facts and Issues"
Gan will discuss the various facts and controversies that surround the death penalty: What is its history? Where is it practiced? Does it deter? How does it compare with life imprisonment as a deterrent? What do polls show about Americans' opinions about it over the years? What is the current status of the death penalty in the U.S.?

Speaker
Aaron Routhe, assistant professor of sociology at Houghton College
7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 15
Community Room, Cuba Library
Presentation Title: "History of the Death Penalty"
Free and open to the public

Book Discussion
"Dead Man Walking" by Sr. Helen Prejean, C.S.J.
7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 29
Olean Public Library Art Gallery
Moderated by librarian Mary DiRisio

SBU Theater Production
“Dead Man Walking”
7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 5 – Saturday, Nov. 8
Quick Center for the Arts, St. Bonaventure University
To purchase tickets, call the QCA Box Office at (716) 375-2494.

Author Appearance and Book Signing
7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 11
Sr. Helen Prejean, C.S.J., author of "Dead Man Walking"
Reilly Center Arena, St. Bonaventure University
This program is free and open to the public.

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Faculty and staff journal creations on display in Friedsam Library

A new exhibition of Imaging Journals is on display in the glass cases of Friedsam Memorial Library on campus through October.

A diverse array of faculty and staff joined together in June in the beautiful third floor studio of The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts to enjoy creative fellowship in a workshop titled “Imaging Journal: Inward Journey.” The workshop was facilitated by Constance Pierce, associate professor in visual and performing arts, who was awarded a Keenan Grant for support of the hands-on summer project.

Faculty members who engaged in the Imaging Journal workshop, and who are featured in the library exhibition are Maureen Cox, chair of the Department of Mathematics; Carol Fischer, professor of accounting; Patrick Vecchio, lecturer in journalism/mass communication; and School of Education faculty members Kayla Zimmer, Elizabeth Cashing, Anne-Claire Fisher and Paula Kenneson.

A number of University staff also participated in the summer creativity workshop, including Angela Wolfe of the Counseling Center, Andrea Barrone and Kim Carney of the Franciscan Institute, Dee Higley, assistant to the director of construction services, Cora Niver, secretary to the faculty of Arts and Sciences, Della Moore, director of the Bona Buddies program, Kathy Boser from the School of Journalism/Mass Communication, and Renee Caya-Bizzaro, assistant director of Career Services.

“Aspects of both journal writing and image making are joined together in potent combination in creating an Imaging Journal,” said Pierce. “Part soul retrieval, part personal narrative, the process allows imagery to surface from memory and imagination. Explorations in monotype, watercolor, collage and expressively designed text prompt the writing. The journal reveals and illuminates the artist’s interior life and its healing connection to the sacred whole.”

Vecchio reflected, “I would do it again in a heartbeat …What a wonderful way for faculty and staff to gather in an atmosphere where there are no hierarchies of any kind. I think it helped all of us get to know each other better than we otherwise might have.”

“I intend to keep working on my book. It affords me a vehicle for self-exploration … Participating in the workshop provided us unique insights into each other, which builds camaraderie,” said Cox.

Fischer, who noted that she has limited opportunity to express artistic creativity in her discipline, “found the workshop incredibly engaging and refreshing. I literally felt renewed each time we met.”

Cashing agreed: “Life is really hectic sometimes and to give myself permission to work creatively outside of my normal sphere of written word and teaching was luxurious.”

Others, such as Moore and Niver, discovered a hidden artist.

“The workshop allowed me to realize that I had a hidden talent in art,” said Moore.

“I find myself creating and re-creating new forms of art … I am playing with words and phrases … I am rediscovering long forgotten poets and authors. Seeing what my classmates accomplished spurred me to become — and cherish — an improved version of myself,” added Niver.

Pierce has pioneered and taught her Imaging Journal courses at numerous institutions, including Yale Divinity School, Cleveland Institute of Art’s National Summer Program, Smithsonian Institution’s Campus on the Mall, and the graduate art therapy summer program of Ursuline (Ohio) College. Her own sketchbooks were recently featured in an exhibition at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C., and the Yale Divinity School Library.

The display in Friedsam Library will run during regular library hours throughout the month of October.

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Jim Mahar responds as alumnus, professor and relief organizer

by Tim Gross, ‘11

In the classroom, Dr. James Mahar,’88, fills young minds as an associate professor of finance at St. Bonaventure University. In homeless shelters in the community and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) disaster sites along the East Coast, he provides relief and promotes serving others as a college-led disaster relief group’s founding member.

Mahar said he felt inspired to help in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. “After the storm, I was watching CNN, and there were still bodies in the street in New Orleans. I said, ‘someone’s got to do something,’” he said.

He wanted to be that someone

Mahar said he planned to go down and assist at local grocery stores, armed with the experience he collected at the Park ‘N’ Shop chain stores owned by his family.

With the help of colleague Dr. Todd Palmer, an associate professor of management sciences, Mahar and eight others flew to the Gulf Coast, providing relief in Biloxi, Miss.

“Everyone there looked at us like, ‘There’s no way they’re going to be able to do anything,’” he said.

However, by the time they boarded the plane to return to Western New York, Mahar said he and his crew had received financial offers to cancel the flight and remain in the area.

“From that day, I think the bar was set very high by the students,” Mahar said.

BonaResponds was off the ground.

Mahar said he returned to the Gulf Coast in December of 2005 and the following spring, bringing volunteers with him each time — 300 during the latter trip.

Since 2005, BonaResponds has made six more trips to the Gulf Coast and trips to six other FEMA disaster sites, Mahar said. The group, funded primarily by donations, has provided relief in Enterprise, Ala., and Buffalo, N.Y.

Mahar said he remembered a saying from Biloxi that would influence him and the group’s spectrum of service.

“Just because we go home doesn’t mean we have to forget.”

Mahar said the saying inspired him to steer BonaResponds to the community he grew up in. The group has performed service throughout the Olean area, volunteering at the SPCA, serving food at homeless shelters and building homes.

Before his teaching career, Mahar attended St. Bonaventure University, running track and cross country and graduating with degrees in management and finance.

Recalling his days as an undergrad, Mahar said the finance and accounting classes helped influence him, along with the English courses he took with Dr. Richard Simpson.

“Anything, anytime I write something, I think of him,” he said.

Mahar said Bonaventure was his only choice. “I grew up basically on campus with basketball games and everything else,” he said.

After earning his M.B.A. at the University of Rochester, Mahar returned to work in management for Park ‘N’ Shop until he applied for a job teaching at the university. In order to stay on the payroll, Mahar said he was required to pursue a Ph.D. He earned a Ph.D. in finance at Pennsylvania State University.

Mahar teaches courses in corporate finance, financial management and students in money management.

He said BonaResponds is one of the most rewarding parts of his job.

“When we left Biloxi, we were going to the airport, and total strangers…came up to us and started hugging us and crying and saying, ‘Thank you. You don’t know what this means for you to come down here,” Mahar said. “You just can’t put a figure on that.”

In three years, what started as one man’s mission to help hurricane victims has expanded to include anyone wanting or needing help.

“We’ll help anyone. We’ll work with anyone,” Mahar said. “Everyone has something to contribute.”

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Newsmakers for Fall 2008

Dr. Barbara Trolley, associate professor of counselor education, has had several presentations and books accepted. In regard to her Cyberbullying-Cyberbalance work, Trolley is an invited speaker at the New York State Mental Health Association Conference to be held in Albany in October. She, along with her colleague and counselor education alumna Connie Hanel, had a proposal accepted on the same topic by the International Conference on Education. The conference will be held in January in Honolulu, Hawaii. A third conference presentation involving Trolley, Hanel, and another counselor education alumna, Linda Shields, was accepted by the American Counseling Association, whose conference will be held in Charlotte, N.C., in March. Two book proposals on this topic were also accepted, "Browser the Mouse and His Internet Adventure" (In Press, Youth Light Publications), and "Cyberkids, Cyberbullying and Cyberbalance" (Corwin Presss, due to be released in the winter).

In addition, Trolley, along with Karen O'Donell, Olean autism specialist, and Abbie Abdo, current graduate student in counselor education, will be presenting at the New York State School Counselor Association in November. The topic of the presentation is autism, and is tied into the Children's Guild grant Trolley received for the School of Education's Collaborative Clinic's Autism Program. Her book with counselor education alumnae Heather Haas and Danielle Patti, "A Special Education Guide for School Counselors" (Corwin Press) is due out late fall/early winter.

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BonaResponds sets Oct. 4 Local Service Day and midterm break trip to Iowa

While many students will be packing their bags ready for a few days of rest and relaxation, during midterm break the volunteers of BonaResponds are planning to return to Iowa to help victims of June’s devastating floods.

The trip, scheduled for Oct. 10-14, is the second trip to the Cedar Rapids area for BonaResponds; the first was July 7-13.

The flooding was the worst in Cedar Rapids history and the worst Midwest flooding in 15 years. Almost one week after the storm 25,000 people had been evacuated from the city. In many of the small area communities, almost all of the homes sustained flood damage.

BonaResponds volunteers will be working with other disaster-relief groups, such as Hands on Disaster Response and Randy’s Rangers. For student volunteers, work will include cleanup, gutting interiors, mold abatement, putting up drywall, painting, rough electrical work and more.

For those not interested in carpentry work, volunteers are needed to cook and clean the camp, run errands, help organize work orders and interact with victims.

For those who want to help but can’t make the trip, there will be a Local Service Day on Saturday, Oct. 4, in line with the university’s 150th Anniversary of Francis Week and the Feast of St. Francis Celebration.

Saturday’s work will begin at 10 a.m. and wrap up at 4 p.m. Sign-in will be at 10 a.m. in the Dresser Auditorium of the John J. Murphy Professional Building. Volunteers will work with the following organizations: City of Olean, SPCA, Archbishop Walsh High School and Bob's Woods as well as several private residences in Cattaraugus and Allegany counties. The day will include continuing work on building two homes.

Volunteers are invited to join the university in celebration after the service day. At 5 p.m., the Feast of St. Francis Liturgy will be held at Bob Lanier Court in the Reilly Center Arena; at 8 p.m. the New Orleans Jazz Tribute Concert will honor those who have contributed to hurricane relief efforts in the Gulf States and will also take place at Bob Lanier Court. And at 9:30 p.m., there will be Anniversary Fireworks sponsored by Pepsi Bottling Group behind the Reilly Center Arena.

BonaResponds was created in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. It has taken approximately 500 volunteers to the Gulf Coast and led just as many volunteers in service projects throughout Western New York. BonaResponds aims to be a world-class organization whose mission is to help people in need, as well as to build better leaders and better communities. The group, comprised of students, faculty, staff, alumni and local residents, is run completely through donations.

BonaResponds welcomes new members, regardless of affiliation with St. Bonaventure. For more information regarding BonaResponds, visit www.bonaresponds.org or e-mail bonaresponds@sbu.edu.

Bona's introduces new major in international studies

International Studies put its name on the map this semester at St. Bonaventure, receiving status as one of the university's undergraduate courses of study. The multidisciplinary major provides opportunities for students interested in global issues and expects to draw heavily from students torn between various disciplines and from those seeking a second major.

International Studies coordinator Dr. Joel Horowitz said initial planning on the new program began nearly two years ago. Committee and Faculty Senate approval at the university took place before the New York State Department of Education was approached. The state's approval of the curricula took less than one month, according to Horowitz.

"The idea is to be interdisciplinary, to use St. Bonaventure's resources," Horowitz said of the new bachelor of arts degree.

International Studies comprises 22 faculty and staff members from the theology, modern languages, political science, philosophy, history, sociology, marketing, management sciences and accounting departments, as well as University Ministries. Horowitz said that the major encourages wide faculty involvement and this should allow the program to expand.

"We work to create a real interdisciplinary focus on separate regions of the world," Horowitz said.

In addition to the Clare requirements, a math course and electives, the curriculum for the new major consists of five areas of study. Three classes are required in the major: Introduction to International Studies, Global Catholicism and Senior Thesis. Three classes are also to be chosen from a group of foundational courses selected from three categories: World Comparisons, Social Issues or International Business. Each student majoring in International Studies chooses a regional concentration, taking courses on Asia, Latin America, the Middle East or the Transatlantic. A methodology course in a discipline must also be taken. Proficiency in a foreign language is stressed, as well, and incorporated into the requirements.

There are three international studies majors this semester.

Horowitz is excited about the future of the program. He believes that students will realize the major's pertinence and broaden their international knowledge, and in this way prepare for a career in this interconnected world.

"To compete in this world of growing globalization," he said, "you need to know more about what is beyond our borders and this new major is one good way to do this."

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St. Bonaventure and its president to be honored by Greater Olean Area Chamber of Commerce

St. Bonaventure University and its president have been selected to receive the “Business Enterprising” and “L.O.U.I.E.” awards at the Greater Olean Area Chamber of Commerce (GOACC) Annual Dinner on Thursday, Nov. 6. The Annual Dinner begins at 6 p.m. at Premier Banquet Center, Olean.

University President Sr. Margaret Carney, O.S.F., S.T.D., will receive the L.O.U.I.E (Love of Olean United In Enterprise) for her inspiring and outstanding leadership and achievement in service provision and advocacy on behalf of people in our communities.

Ted Branch, GOACC board president, said that the L.O.U.I.E. is presented annually to an “exceptional person who epitomizes the enterprising spirit and the qualities embodied in the life of Louis Marra; Sr. Margaret is deserving of that award and recognition.” Sr. Margaret was named president of the university in 2004.

The 2008 “Business Enterprising Award” will be presented this year to St. Bonaventure, which began its 15-month Sesquicentennial celebration in March. The Business Enterprising Award was established as a way to recognize GOACC members for continually and generously giving and positively impacting our communities.

Tickets for the event are $40 and include chicken invaltini and 3-shrimp scampi. An informal reception will start at 6 p.m., with the dinner slated for 7 p.m. Patron dinner tickets for $50 and corporate tables of eight for $500 are also available to reserve. Patrons and corporates receive a listing in the dinner program. Please call Greater Olean Area Chamber of Commerce at 372-4433 or e-mail tourism@oleanny.com for reservations by Oct. 30 or more information on the dinner ceremony.

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Career Center News ...

The Career Center’s On Campus Recruiting continues to move forward! Resume submission deadlines are fast approaching for companies such as Kersey & Associates, Dresser-Rand, and Lumsden & McCormick! To view the current recruiting calendar, click here!

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Friday Forum

Date: Friday, Oct. 3, 2008
Speaker: Guy Imhoff
Time: Lunch starts at noon, Forum goes from 12:20 to 1:30 p.m., including Q&A
Place: University Club - Above Hickey
Title: Speaker: Guy Imhoff
Topic: What is Intercultural Communication?
Abstract: Culture defines one’s view of the world and shape one’s beliefs and expectations. How do we communicate with someone with a different cultural background? How do we successfully live in a multicultural setting?
Cost: $3 (pay upstairs)

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