Xavier Grads Bring Books to Guatemala

When Xavier University alumni Joe ('89, pictured right) and his brother Jeff ('91) Berninger visited Guatemala in the '90s they were moved by the friendly people and the poverty surrounding them. "I was blown away by what I saw. It's one of the most needy countries in Central America, and the people have learned not to expect a lot in the future," says Joe.

Jeff returned as a volunteer English teacher in 1994 and saw that most students did not have text books. The brothers pooled their business skills--Joe worked as a marketing representative at IBM and Jeff as a system analyst at Procter & Gamble--and by 1997, as men for others, they had given up their careers and started the Cooperative for Educational Development (COED).

The Cincinnati-based organization works with specific schools in Guatemala, matches them with donors, and uses the funds to publish textbooks; after that, COED trains teachers and students how to use them. --Xavier University Magazine

AJCU President In Cuba

Fr. Charles Currie, SJ, president of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, was among a delegation of Massachusetts educators led by congressmen Joe Moakley and Jim McGovern who went to Cuba to explore possibilities for educational and cultural exchange.

As a result, Holy Cross, Boston College, and other colleges and universities have agreed to work together to bring Cuban scholars, artists, and writers to the United States.

"This is an excellent opportunity for our schools to participate in this exciting phase in Cuba's history," said Currie.

One Good Word

"For fifteen minutes, write whatever comes. Don't censor. Get the creative juices flowing!" That is how Mary Anne Reese describes one creative exercise she and her group of fellow parishioners and writers put themselves through at the Jesuits' Bellarmine Parish in Cincinnati. These "Bellarmine Writers," as they call themselves, have been getting together for more than two years and have been publishing results from some of these sessions in a quarterly collection entitled One Good Word. If you would like to obtain a copy ($2 copying and shipping fee) or would like advice or assistance in getting such a writing group started at your own parish, feel free to call or e-mail Mary Anne Reese (MAReeseJD@aol.com 513-961-6350) or Liz Keuffer at the parish (Keuffer@xu.edu 513-745-3376)

Someone You Should Know Take Two

Company introduced you to Dr. Bryan Raudenbush, assistant professor of psychology at Wheeling Jesuit University in Wheeling, W.V., in our Winter issue. His research focuses on the physiology of odors and their effect on athletic performance, and we mentioned that a future issue would carry the results of his experimentation. They're in. His recent study on 40 Wheeling Jesuit athletes determined that they found exercise on a treadmill easier with the smell of peppermint compared to no smell or an unpleasant one.

Star Gazing

Felicitas Mokler, of Germany, observes the sun during the Vatican Observatory Summer School (VOSS). VOSS came about when Fr. Martin McCarthy, SJ, of the Vatican Observatory wondered, "What more could we do for the Holy See and its mission to explore and share the wonders that are present in his wonderful universe?"

From this contemplation the program was born in 1986; students from over the world participate. Light summer learning it's not: one topic was "Observations and Theoretical Understanding of Single Stars and Close Binary Systems."

Besides getting a better look at the stars, Felicitas and her classmates got up close with Pope John Paul II when he received the faculty and students in St. Peter's Square.

St. Joseph's Prep Students Head to Virginia

For the tenth straight summer students from St. Joseph's Prep will travel to Ivanhoe, Va., a small town in an economically depressed Appalachian region.

The program has been developed by Maxine Waller and Fr. Joseph Michini, SJ, who find out the needs of the community in advance to plan in what way the students can best contribute. Over the years, groups have worked on a variety of projects, including repairing public buildings and private homes, clearing overgrown vegetation, painting homes of elderly citizens, and creating a system that removes sewage from mobile homes.

Mosaic Graces Vatican Chapel

Fr. Marko Rupnik, SJ, a Slovenian Jesuit, designed this mosaic of Moses parting the Red Sea for the Vatican's Redemptoris Chapel. The newly decorated chapel in the Apostolic Palace was recently dedicated by Pope John Paul II; it reflects the pope's goal of bridging the division between Western Christianity and its Orthodox counterpart.

New Dollar Coin with a Jesuit Connection

Here's the $1 question: Which Jesuit university has an alumnus featured on the new dollar coin? Answer: Saint Louis University. The coin features the image of Sacagawea, a Native American who helped lead the Lewis and Clark expedition. On her back is her son, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, who attended Saint Louis University in the early 1820s.

He was born to Sacagawea and Touissant Charbonneau, the expedition's translator, during the expedition in 1805. William Clark, who spent almost his whole post-expedition life in St. Louis and was the child's adoptive father, sent Jean Baptiste to Saint Louis Academy, the forerunner to Saint Louis University and the only school west of the Mississippi at the time.

The fact that he studied at the school for only one year does not surprise historian Fr. William Faherty, SJ, who points out that "people came in and went to school long enough to read and write, and that was about it."

New Presidents

The University of San Francisco has named Fr. Stephen Privett, SJ, the university's 27th president. Fr. Privett is provost and vice president for academic affairs at Santa Clara University, where he has worked since 1985.

Fr. Michael Graham, SJ, executive assistant to the president of Xavier University, will become the 34th president of Xavier University next January. Fr. Graham replaces Fr. James Hoff, SJ, Xavier's president since 1991.

Santa Clara Has Liftoff

On the first space flight of the year was another first--the launch of satellites designed by an all-female team of engineers from Santa Clara University. Seven 1999 SCU engineering grads, Maureen Breiling, Dina Haid, Corina Hu, Theresa Kuhlman, Shannon Lyons, Amy Slaughterbeck, and Adelia Valdez, designed and built hockey puckÐsized satellites that piggybacked aboard a Stanford UniversityÐbuilt satellite.

Making it into space without a lot of financial support is almost impossible, but these women did just that. After raising money in cash grants and materials from SCU's school of engineering and other sources, they constructed the devices with off-the-shelf components from places such as Radio Shack. The satellites are designed to test whether small devices equipped with tiny sensors can survive the rigors of space and do the jobs of larger and more-expensive vehicles.

G.K. Chesterton Papers at John Carroll University

Smiling pleasantly above that top hat, worn by William Butler Yeats, is the creative writer, essayist, and Catholic apologist G. K. Chesterton. Chesterton, looking comfortably at home at this literary garden party in Dublin, 1924, is equally at home in the Special Collections Department of the Grasselli Library and Breen Learning Center at Cleveland's John Carroll University.

Over 1,100 items related to Chesterton, including first editions, photographs, and drawings by him (he was also an artist), are in the library's Robert John Bayer Collection. A look at this notable collection is now available online at G.K.'s Website, linked to the John Carroll University library's web pages at www1.jcu.edu/library/gkw/gkw.htm

--Contributed by Charles Zarobila, Curator of Special Collections, John Carroll University

The Reliquary of St. Therese

During its three-month tour of the United States, the reliquary of St. Therese of Lisieux made a stop at the Jesuits' Immaculate Conception Church in Albuquerque, where over 15,000 people came to venerate the reliquary and pray.

Though lines stretched around the block in two directions, everyone was able to venerate the relic; no one was turned away.

St. Therese is co-patron of the missions with Francis Xavier and a doctor of the Church.

--contributed by Fr. Frank Renfroe, SJ

Commencement Speakers at Jesuit Colleges and Universities, Spring 2000:

• Boston College: Richard Riley, U.S. Secretary of Education

• Canisius College: JoAnn Falletta, music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra

• College of the Holy Cross: Timothy Johnson, MD, medical editor for ABC News

• Creighton University: Fr. Michael Morrison, SJ, president of the university

• Fairfield University: Br. Richard Curry, SJ, founder and director of the National Theatre Workshop of the Handicapped

• Fordham University: Fordham alumnus Vin Scully, the "Velvet Voice" radio announcer for the Los Angeles Dodgers

• Georgetown University: Dr. Roald Hoffmann, H.T. Rhodes Professor of Humane Letters at Cornell University

• Gonzaga University: Phyllis Campbell, president of U.S. Bank of Washington and North Idaho

• John Carroll University: Sister Maureen Doyle, OSU, director of the Urban Community School in Cleveland

• LeMoyne College: Br. Richard Curry, SJ, director and founder of the National Theatre Workshop of the Handicapped

• Loyola College: Martin O'Malley, mayor of Baltimore

• Loyola Marymount University: Henry Winkler, actor and producer

• Loyola University Chicago: Leo Melamed, chairman emeritus and senior policy advisor for the Chicago Mercantile Exchange

• Loyola University New Orleans: Fr. Bernard P. Knoth, SJ, president of the university

• Marquette University: R.W. (Johnny) Apple Jr., chief political correspondent for the New York Times Washington, D.C., bureau

• Regis University: Bp. Charles Chaput, OFM Cap, archbishop of Denver; and Fr. Michael Sheeran, SJ, president of the university

• Rockhurst University: Fr. Edward Kinerk, SJ, president of the university; and graduating senior Daniel Brunnert

• Saint Joseph's University: Fr. Nicholas Rashford, SJ, president of the university

• Saint Louis University: August Busch, III, chairman and CEO of Anheuser Busch, Inc.

• Saint Peter's College: Marie L. Garibaldi, retired New Jersey supreme court justice

• Santa Clara University: Bob Newhart, comedian and actor

• Seattle University: Jason Oliver, graduating senior, Seattle University 2000

• Spring Hill College: Dr. Gary Wills, adjunct professor of history at Northwestern University and Pulitzer Prize-winning author

• University of Detroit Mercy: Fr. Arthur McGovern, SJ, professor of philosophy at the university

• University of San Francisco: Helen Thomas, retired White House Bureau Chief for United Press International

• University of Scranton: John Stossel, correspondent and reporter for 20/20 newsmagazine

• Wheeling Jesuit University: Janet Reno, U.S. Attorney General

• Xavier University: Richard Finan, president of the Ohio Senate