Connections
A Newsletter for the Viterbo University Community
Vol. 16, No. 15 December 9, 2002
Christmas Blessings to One and All
I wish to extend my best wishes for the holidays to one and all: students, faculty, staff, and administrators. May the blessings and spirit of Christmas be with you throughout the New Year. I extend my sincere appreciation to all the student organizations that collected clothing, food, teddy bears, money, etc. for distribution to those less fortunate. In these activities, Viterbo students have demonstrated the real meaning of Christmas. Thanks also to the faculty and staff who served the annual holiday dinner to students. Finally, I pray that each member of the Viterbo University community will have a happy and safe vacation. Best wishes for good health and happiness in 2003.
Bill Medland
Viterbo President
More Than 100 Prepare to Graduate
Viterbo’s Winter Commencement ceremony is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 14 and, at publication time, 107 students were scheduled to don their caps and gowns.
Earl Madary, president of the Faculty Assembly, will be the master of ceremonies, while Carmen Viegut, a nursing degree candidate, will give the senior address. Michael Hoeft, class of 1995, will give the alumni welcome and Dr. William J. Medland, Viterbo University president, will confer the degrees.
Ceremony details, prepared by the Commencement Committee, include:
9 a.m., Baccalaureate Mass—Maria Angelorum Chapel
10:15 a.m., Faculty line-up in the FAC first floor hallway
10:30 a.m., Ceremony—Fine Arts Center Main Theatre
Apparel: Shoes and articles of visible apparel worn by graduates should be of dark colors that harmonize with the academic costume. Nothing else should be worn on the academic gown.
For more information, please see the Commencement Web site: http://www.viterbo.edu/alumni/ commencement.htm, or contact Amy Gleason, chair, at ext. 3182 or asgleason@viterbo.edu.
Celebrate Christmas with Viterbo Friends
Viterbo’s Winter Commencement ceremony is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 14 and, at publication time, 107 students were scheduled to don their caps and gowns.
Earl Madary, president of the Faculty Assembly, will be the master of ceremonies, while Carmen Viegut, a nursing degree candidate, will give the senior address. Michael Hoeft, class of 1995, will give the alumni welcome and Dr. William J. Medland, Viterbo University president, will confer the degrees.
Ceremony details, prepared by the Commencement Committee, include:
9 a.m., Baccalaureate Mass—Maria Angelorum Chapel
10:15 a.m., Faculty line-up in the FAC first floor hallway
10:30 a.m., Ceremony—Fine Arts Center Main Theatre
Apparel: Shoes and articles of visible apparel worn by graduates should be of dark colors that harmonize with the academic costume. Nothing else should be worn on the academic gown.
For more information, please see the Commencement Web site: http://www.viterbo.edu/alumni/ commencement.htm, or contact Amy Gleason, chair, at ext. 3182 or asgleason@viterbo.edu.
Celebrate Christmas with Viterbo Friends
Just a reminder to everyone that if you haven’t returned your RSVP for the Christmas Celebration on Friday, Dec. 13 at the Baus Haus, there’s still time but please do so as soon as possible.
The menu choices are turkey or tips. A vegetarian option is also available. The social begins at 6 p.m., dinner is at 7 p.m., and the entertainment and music begins at 8 p.m.
To RSVP, contact Marcia Brodt at the MC Reception Desk. The cost is $12 per person. If you aren’t able to make it for dinner, please join in for the entertainment and dancing.
“…And to All, a Good Night!”
This is the last issue of Connections to be printed this semester. Connections will resume publication for spring semester 2003 on Monday, Jan. 13. The copy for that issue is due Thursday, Jan. 9, by noon.
The communications and marketing staff would like to wish you all a very happy holiday season!
Season of Lights
The Franciscan Skemp Auxiliary is celebrating the holidays with a tree of lights that graces the front of the medical center. Each light signifies a $5 donation to the auxiliary in the name of an individual or group remembered at this special time of year. Donations fund the patient accounts of those in need.
Gifts can be purchased now through Dec. 31 and will be illuminated through Jan. 1. Names of those honored or remembered will be displayed by the memorial tree in the medical center’s lobby. To request a donation form, contact Franciscan Skemp Healthcare Volunteer Services at 608-791-9766.
Send a Song this Christmas
Want to send a Christmas greeting without opening a box of cards? Then send a singing holiday greeting from Viterbo’s talented Ninth Street Singers. A sign-up table will be located in the MC Lobby today from 10 a.m.1 p.m. The cost is $8 for an on-campus greeting; $10 in La Crosse; and an additional fee for outside of the city. The cards will be sent out Dec. 913. The monies raised will fund the Ninth Street Singers touring schedule. For more information, contact Diane Foust at ext. 3768 or dfoust@viterbo.edu.
Walk for Life
Did you know
...40 years ago there was no CPR.
...25 years ago there was no angioplasty.
...20 years ago there were no anti-rejection drugs for transplants.
...10 years ago there were no medications to reduce disability from stroke.
...Five years ago there were no automated external defibrillators on airplanes.
Thanks to the funding and research of organizations like the American Heart Association, these things are now possible.
You can help make a difference, too, by participating in the Walk for Heart Health on Saturday, Feb. 1.
Viterbo is organizing a team for this walk, which is a non-competitive one or three-mile walk that begins at 8:30 a.m. at Valley View Mall. If you are interested and would like to become a member of the Viterbo team, contact Marilyn Pedretti, Campus Ministry, at ext. 3829 or by email at mjpedretti@viterbo.edu. Let’s see if we can organize a bigger team than other participating schools and groups.
campus ministry
Christmas Break Mass Schedule: (The regular schedule resumes on Sunday, Jan. 12.)
• No 6 p.m. Sunday Mass on Dec. 15, 22, 29; Jan. 5
• No noon Mass on Dec. 17, Dec. 2327, Dec. 31Jan. 10
• There will be Mass at 11 a.m. each Sunday during break
• There will be no Taize Prayer during the Christmas Holidays
Web Sites of Interest:
• The Catholic Encyclopedia online, www.newadvent.org. is an incredible reference source of just about everything you’d ever want to know about Catholicism and much more.
• www.osb.org. has an excellent review of the saint of the day.
• Explore the Vatican, its documents, and museums at www.vatican.va.
• Daily spiritual support may be found at www.creighton.edu or www.jesuit.ie/prayer.
•Present social justice issues are addressed at www.georgetown.edu/ centers/woodstock/.
Cinema Pix: Moonlight Mile (a comedy becomes an apt vehicle for exploring the unexpected dimensions of grief) and The Pianist (Roman Polanski’s film is based on the true story of the talented pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Polish Jew, who avoided being deported to a Nazi death camp during World War II by hiding in the ruins of Warsaw. Finally, he was rescued by a German soldier).
To Read: The Life of Pi—by Yann Martel. This book was the winner of the 2002 Man Booker Prize for Fiction. Pi Patel is an unusual boy. The son of a zookeeper, he has an encyclopedic knowledge of animal behavior, a fervent love of stories, and practices not only his native Hinduism, but also Christianity and Islam. When Pi is sixteen, his family emigrates from India to North America aboard a Japanese cargo ship, along with their zoo animals bound for new homes. The ship sinks. Pi finds himself alone in a lifeboat, his only companions a hyena, an orangutan, a wounded zebra, and Richard Parker, a 450-pound Bengal tiger. Soon the tiger has dispatched all but Pi, whose fear, knowledge, and cunning allow him to coexist with Richard Parker for 227 days lost at sea. When they finally reach the coast of Mexico, Richard Parker flees to the jungle, never to be seen again. The Japanese authorities who interrogate Pi refuse to believe his story and press him to tell “the truth.” After hours of coercion, Pi tells a second story, a story much less fantastical, much more conventional—but is it more true? Life of Pi is at once a realistic, rousing adventure and a meta-tale of survival that explores the redemptive power of storytelling and the transformative nature of fiction. It’s a story, as one character puts it, to make you believe in God.
Rest In Peace: We remember in prayer those who have died: the father-in-law of Vickie Schaefer; the grandfather of Brigid Sullivan; and a good friend of Will Bulka. Requiescant in pace.
Blessing: Earl, Marilyn, and I wish all of you a blessed Christmas and a joyous and prosperous New Year! Pax et bonum.
A Family Christmas Prayer:
O God, bless our family and all its members and friends; bind us together by your love. Give us kindness and patience to support each other. And wisdom in all we do. Let the gift of your peace come into our hearts and remain with us. May we rejoice in your blessings for all our days. Amen
—From the Viterbo Book of Prayers
Gallery Showing Student Work
The Viterbo University art department is holding a senior student art exhibit through Friday, Dec. 14. The exhibit includes work by Keslee Martin, from DeWitt, Iowa; Eric Kube, from Reedsburg; and Heidi Heckman, from Janesville. The three are senior art education students at Viterbo. The Gallery is on the third floor of the FAC and is open MondaysFridays, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Little Moments...Big Magic
Dust off your bowling ball and scout for a pair of the most fashionable bowling shoes you can find because it’s time for the annual Bowl for Kids’ Sake benefiting Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Coulee Region. How can you be a part of it? Form a team of five, reserve a shift to bowl by calling 782-BBBS (2227), collect pledges, and show up and bowl on your chosen shift. Each bowler must have $100 in pledges to bowl but pledges are transferable—so if one of your teammates has over $100 in pledges, they can put that towards your pledge sheet. Those bowling will bowl two games, get a free T-shirt, shoe rental, and snacks and refreshments. Shifts are at varying times from Friday, Feb. 1422 at All Star Lanes in La Crosse and on Saturday, March 1 at West Bowl Lanes in West Salem. For more information, or to register your team, call 782-2227.
Fight the Flu
There are a few more flu shots available through Health Services. Contact Marilyn Jaekel at ext. 3806 or Judy Thesing at ext. 3825 if you need one. The fee is $8.50.
kudos to...
• Dean Sanderson, IIT, and Krista Martell, who are the proud parents of Alyna Mae Sanderson, born on Friday, Nov. 22. She was 6.6 oz. and 18 inches.
• Rod Reiner, theatre, who served on the Choreography Fellowship Panel for the Kentucky Arts Council on Nov. 25.
• Robert Dean, business, who presented a refereed paper entitled, “Changing Curricular Delivery through Technological Innovations” at the 2002 International Decision Sciences Institute meeting in San Diego on Nov. 26. The DSI provides a forum for researchers in the quantitative methods and information technologies areas from around the globe to gather and present their findings regarding innovations in higher education and industry.
• Peter Fletcher, art, presented an introduction to meditation practices on Monday evening, Dec. 2, for a group of Viterbo’s resident students. These meditation practices were taken from the Buddhist tradition (concentration, awareness, and loving-kindness), and are suitable for people in sickness or health, and for people of any beliefs, religious or not.
focus on...
By Megan Voeltz ’06
Name: Sandy Hotvedt
Title: Secretary
Department: Athletics
Family: Sandy is married to Jim, who works for the La Crosse Fire Department. She has one son, John, who is a 1997 Viterbo graduate and a 2001 Marquette Law School graduate. John is married to Leslie who teaches 4th grade, and they have a 2-year-old daughter, Jenna.
Education: Sandy received a degree from the Fox Valley Technical School in Appleton, Wis.
Hobbies/Interests/Enthusiasms: Camping and biking are some of Sandy’s hobbies. She’s also very interested in V-Hawk athletics. However, her favorite activity is spending time with her granddaughter.
Adventures and Travels: Sandy has visited or traveled through at least 25 states. She has also been to the Caribbean, Mexico, Switzerland, and Germany.
Future Hopes and Plan: Sandy and her husband have purchased his family’s homestead in Portage County. Part of this house is the original log cabin that was built back in 1850. Sandy and Jim plan to retire there.
Little Known Facts: While vacationing in the Swiss Alps, Sandy found out just how small the world really is. She met someone who knew her father.
Symposium to Focus on Media, Perception, and Reality
Has the media altered our perception of reality? What is our responsibility as concerned members of society? The School of Letters and Sciences at Viterbo University is hosting the Humanities Symposium: “Through the Looking Glass: Media, Perception, and Reality,” Feb. 36. There are a variety of events and workshops featuring citizens, media scholars, critics, and local and national journalists and authors. The schedule of events is:
Monday, Feb 3
• Mark Crispin Miller, a professor of media ecology at New York University and director of the Project on Media Ownership, will address “Adventures in the Memory Hole: The U.S. Media Before and After 9/11,” at 7:30 p.m. in the FAC Main Theatre.
Tuesday, Feb. 4
• Video and discussion of Tough Guise: Violence, Media, and the Crisis in Masculinity—moderated by Jana Dahmen, criminal justice, 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the FAC Hospitality Suite.
• Grant Smith, English, will focus on “Advertising: Reading the Message,” at 12:10 p.m. in the FAC Hospitality Suite.
• Anne Paape, of WKBT, will moderate a discussion panel on “Community Journalism” with journalists from the La Crosse Tribune, WXOW, WLSU, and WIZM, at 5 p.m. in the FAC Lobby.
• Keith Murphy, a radio broadcaster for WMCS-AM in Milwaukee and president of Concepts Communications, will analyze “Black Media: The Same Facts, a Different Reality,” at 7:30 p.m. in the FAC Main Theatre.
Wednesday, Feb. 5
• Video and discussion of Off the Straight and Narrow, a critical analysis of how gay representation has moved from invisible to fashionable in the media—moderated by William Reese, religious studies, 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the FAC Hospitality Suite.
• Jennifer Pozner, journalist and media critic, presents “Condoleeza Rice Size Six-and Other Things I Learned from the News,” at 7:30 p.m. in the FAC Main Theatre.
Thursday, Feb. 6
• Video and discussion of Constructing Public Opinion, exploring poling data and the role of media in public opinion—moderated by Larry Harwood, philosophy, 10 a.m. in the FAC Lobby.
• “Turn On, Plug In, Boot Up: Strategies for Responsible Media Use,” a media literacy workshop led by William Reese, religious studies, and Jana Dahmen, criminal justice. The workshop uses the PBS award-winning video Raising MediaWise Kids and materials from the National Institute on Media and the Family, 4:30 p.m., FAC Lobby.
• Soup Supper, 67 p.m., FAC Lobby.
• Jane Kirtley, director of the Silha Center for the Study of Media Ethics, will address “Media and the First Amendment,” at 7:30 p.m. in the FAC Main Theatre.
These events are free and open to the public. For more information, contact Mary Hassinger at ext. 3393 or email mchassinger@viterbo.edu.
Last Call for Volunteers
The Viterbo University School of Nursing is still looking for volunteers 60 and older who are interested in improving their overall health and fitness through a Senior Wellness Program. This free program is designed to help older adults engage in activities that will positively affect their health, well being, physical fitness, and health knowledge. Viterbo University nursing students will pair up with participants to provide guidance, encouragement, and support through health promotion activities.
The wellness program will be held at two sites. Each session will be five weeks in length. The sessions are:
• Monday, Jan. 27Feb. 24 or March 24April 28, from 14 p.m. at the Naval Reserve Center, 226 Green Bay Street.
• Wednesday, Jan. 29Feb. 26 or March 26April 30, at the Naval Reserve Center, 226 Green Bay Street.
• Fridays, Jan. 31Feb. 28 or March 28-May 2, from 811 a.m. at the Viterbo University Student Activity Center on ninth street between Mississippi and Winnebago streets.
For further information or to sign up, please call Joyce Heil at (608) 796-3695 or email jaheil@viterbo.edu.
connections
connections is published every Monday of each academic year.
Copy deadline is noon, Thursday.
Email copy to: connections@viterbo.edu or send interoffice to the Communications & Marketing Department, MC 228.
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