Staying in Touch

It's not uncommon for professors to get notes from former students, but Fr. Thomas McShane, SJ, professor of physics at Creighton University, received an extraordinary message recently: an e-mail from outer space. NASA astronaut Michael Anderson -- who has an MS in physics from Creighton -- sent McShane the message while aboard the space shuttle Endeavour. Anderson, a mission specialist on the shuttle, took off from Florida in January and helped guide Endeavour as it docked with Russian space station Mir. -- Contributed by Pamela Adams Vaughn

Sentenced

In July, a federal judge in Georgia sentenced Fr. William Bichsel, SJ, and four others to prison terms of up to 12 months. They had been found guilty of "destruction of government property with malicious intent" for defacing a sign at the School of the Americas (SOA) at Ft. Benning, Georgia, last September.

Some graduates of SOA, a U.S. Army training center for Latin American military personnel, have been accused of human-rights abuses in Latin America; some Salvadorans implicated in the murders of Jesuits in El Salvador in 1989 had attended SOA.

Bichsel's 12-month sentence is in addition to a 6-month term he drew in January when he and 24 others were sentenced for trespassing on SOA property in November 1997.

Good Bookmaking

On Sundays between Thanksgiving and Palm Sunday two will get you one that you will find Fr. Emile Pfister, SJ, associate pastor at Immaculate Conception in New Orleans, at the track, specifically, in the clubhouse dining room of the New Orleans Race Track. He's there to say 10:00 mass for 50 or so of the jockeys, waiters, and other track employees whose days start very early (grooms, for instance, have to be there by 4:00 a.m.).

Fr. Pfister, who gets them out by post time, has been engaged in this ministry for over ten years. "They're wonderful people," he says, "and they appreciate it so much. I've also performed a number of weddings and baptisms for people I've met there."

Kids On Campus

Freshmen orientation is de rigueur at college campuses each fall. New students' parents generally have their own programs as well for a day or two after the car is unpacked and students settled in.

But how about sibling orientation? For the second year now, Marquette University in Milwaukee has been helping the little brothers and sisters of its new students adjust to what can be a difficult transition for them too.

At this year's sibling orientation, which took place August 26 - 27, younger brothers and sisters toured the campus and its television station and wrote special messages on a huge going-away poster (above), among other activities.

Contest

Participants in Company's photo contest this spring included 18 students (three named Ignacio) from Colegio del Salvador, a 130-year-old Jesuit high school in Buenos Aires. The fourth- and fifth-year English students took pictures (including the one above) and wrote descriptions of their school as part of an English class assignment. One student mentioned how grateful he was for the opportunity to share his work: "I want to tell you how pleased I am to participate in this event since contests are very rare in my country."

Mural

An entire wall of the technology wing at St. John's Jesuit High in Toledo is graced by a new panoramic mural entitled Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam. The painting depicts the spirit of St. Ignatius by portraying Jesus and Mother Teresa as well as Ignatius, Matteo Ricci, and other Jesuits in historical context.

The mural, painted by Leslie Adams and Will McCullough, is bordered by seven arches that represent the continents of the world, emphasizing the international nature of the Society.

Culture Exchange

French Jesuit Fr. Benoit Vermander and Sichuan artist Li Jinyuan presented an exhibition of their paintings at the National Art Gallery in Beijing. The art exhibit was linked to a four-day symposium aimed at increasing cultural interaction between East and West. French Jesuit Fr. Philippe Charru gave an organ concert in the Beijing Convention Hall as part of the symposium.

New President

Fr. Joseph Daoust, SJ, is the new president of the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, Calif. Fr. Daoust, who assumed the position in July, had been professor of law at the University of Detroit Mercy and provincial of the Detroit Province.