Cardinal Courier 4 23 2002 V1N1

VOLUME 1 - ISSUE 1 - APRIL 23, 2002

ST. JOHN FISHER COLLEGE

CARDINAL COURIER Inside this edition

Tension divides Fisher EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

JOHN FOLLACO

ension between St. John Fisher College’s faculty and administration has surfaced in the last several weeks, resulting in a bitter controversy that has engulfed the entire campus community.

St. John Fisher College’s Faculty Assembly, the governing body of the faculty, met Tuesday April 16 to consider a vote of no-confidence in Fisher President Katherine Keough. Instead, however, the group decided to reconvene Tuesday, April 23 to vote on an alternative proposal that proponents hope will reopen the lines of communication between the faculty, Keough, and the Board of Trustees.

However, this alternative proposal may not be the same one the faculty considers this week. New amendments are likely to be added.

“The motion as written now will not have much of an impact,” said Political Science professor and Provost Search Committee member Jim Bowers. “But I will support something short of no-confidence that has some teeth in it and implies a cost if the president keeps up her actions.”

Keough has acknowledged that her administration needs to communicate more with faculty and students and she is committed to developing a more collegial working relationship with everyone. “All of us – faculty, staff, administration, students and Board of Trustees – have paid a price for this rift,” she said.

She has not elaborated further on her plans to accomplish these goals.

The most recent conflict over the appointment of a provost, Fisher’s second highest administrator and top academic officer, is one of a

T

The Fisher men’s lacrosse team began its inaugural season this spring.

Story on page 12

Photo editor Alexis Speck explores the different realms of night life in Rochester.

Story on pages 6 & 7

Photo by Jamie Germano, courtesy of the Democrat and Chronicle

President Katherine Keough has come under heavy criticism in recent weeks due to conflict with faculty. series of problems that have occurred between the faculty and Keough during the last few years.

After the Provost Search Committee spent most of the academic year sifting through applications, weeding out applicants and interviewing candidates, Keough bypassed the two individuals recommended by the committee and asked the interim provost, Donald Bain, to remain in the position for another two years.

Keough believes the search committee did not fulfill its original charge of providing her with three finalists to choose from, which she felt was important.

“I sent a letter to the Provost Search Committee asking them to

provide an additional candidate for consideration,” Keough said in an April 10 letter to faculty and staff, which announced Bain’s appointment as provost. “This would bring to three the number of finalists for the provost position, consistent with my original charge to the committee, and a necessary number for a position of this importance.”

The Provost Search Committee originally invited four finalists to campus. One candidate withdrew her name from consideration after accepting a position from another college. The committee deemed a second candidate unacceptable.

Members of the search committee believe that the two candidates

they submitted were the only two in whom they felt confident.

“We met as a committee to consider the president’s request,” said Lisa Jadwin, an English professor and chair of the Provost Search Committee. “We carefully looked through our field of semi-finalists and the fifth one, who was the next one in line, had so little support from some members of the committee that we felt we could not put that person forward.”

Bowers agreed. “Her rejection of two very qualified provost candidates, and given her own contempt that she even had for that process, this whole contempt she has shown was basically the straw that broke the faculty’s back.”

When Keough announced on Wednesday April 10 that Bain would continue to serve as provost, many faculty members were outraged, claiming that Keough’s decision robbed them of its voice in college governance.

“The faculty, administration, and board of trustees need to work together to make decisions,” Jadwin said. “In this situation they completely dismissed the candidates that we produced.”

Faculty members cite the American Association for University Professors Policy Documents and Reports, which states that administrators should be chosen by the president from the names submitted by the search committee.

However, this is not in accordance with Fisher’s governing bylaws, which gives the college president the complete authority to name his/her own administrators, with confirmation by the Board of Trustees.

Compounding matters was the fact that Bain had insisted since he was named acting provost in June, 2001 that he would not be a candi-

Continued on page 4

History of discord on campus STAFF REPORTS

Hi-jinks and antics on the Off the Wall Page.

Story on page 9

INDEX VIEWPOINT.........2 Q & A....................3 NEWS................4-5 NIGHTLIFE......6-7 IN FOCUS......8, 10 OFF THE WALL...9 SPORTS..........11-12

The controversy over the search for a provost is one of many issues that have caused a rift between the St. John Fisher College faculty and President Katherine Keough.

While both sides are pledging to find ways to improve communications, it’s not clear when or how these sharp differences will be resolved.

Indeed, Lisa Jadwin, chair of the Provost Search Committee, told faculty, staff and students in an email that she was not encouraged about the future after attending a meeting about the search process Saturday, April 13 between the Faculty Council and the Board of Trustees.

“I would like to be able to tell you that I think things will be different in the future, but this meeting and the subsequent e-mailed communication to the faculty and staff, convinced me that change is unlikely,” she wrote.

Keough understands that this is a difficult time for the Fisher community and that the issues have deep roots.

“I strongly believe that the cur-

rent disagreement is not the result of this single issues (the provost search),” Keough said in a statement Tuesday April 16. “Rather it is the cumulative effect of the Provost search, the rapid pace of change on campus, and tensions around the Catholic identity of the College.”

The issues are complex. The use of temporary contracts for faculty, the limiting of tenure positions and the college’s religious identity – and relationship to the Catholic Church – are some of the controversial issues that are facing the faculty and administration.

One example of the breakdown in communications occurred during the 2000-2001 academic year when Fisher, like all American colleges in the Catholic tradition, was asked to consider supporting a controversial Papal document, called Ex corde Ecclesiae.

If the document was approved by the Board of Trustees and authorized by the Catholic Diocese of Rochester, Fisher would receive a mandatum or license to be officially recognized as a Catholic College. The document was rejected by the trustees at Nazareth College.

If the approval proceeded as the

Rochester Catholic Diocese hoped, Fisher’s by-laws would contain a variety of requirements, including having Catholics make up the majority of the board of trustees and faculty and the establishment of a diocesan-approved Catholic theology department.

However, a six-person faculty committee reviewed the document during the last academic year and found a number of disturbing elements, but none larger than the issue of academic freedom, which the committee believes would be greatly hindered if Ex corde was adopted at Fisher. The committee turned it down by a vote of 4-2 and the Faculty Assembly also rejected it.

Despite that vote, the issue is still alive. Keough confirmed in a recent interview with the Courier that a new committee, made up of representatives of students, faculty, staff and trustees, will be established by the Fisher Board of Trustees this September to study the document further.

“That surprised me,” said Judiana Lawrence, chair of the faculty committee that turned down the document. “The vote was so overwhelming that I thought it was dead.”

Apart from Ex Corde, discussions are continuing over the extent to which Fisher will or should retain its link to its Catholic identity. “It’s more whether we are going to continue the Catholic tradition at Fisher or destroy it completely,” computer science professor Pasquale Arpaia told the media.

Catholic identity aside, the Fisher Faculty United website (www.fisherunited.org), offers a comprehensive account of complaints about Keough, ranging from program development issues to “tenure caps” to the offering of full-time temporary contracts.

One position paper, “A Brief History of Full-Time Temporary Contracts at SJFC,” detailed incidents in which Keough offered shortterm contracts to candidates for tenure-track faculty positions.

One instance occurred in the summer of 2000 shortly after the Strategic Review Committee approved the hiring of a tenuretrack faculty member, according to the paper.

Continued on page 4

VIEWPOINT

Page 2 April 23, 2002

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Student reacts

by Brett Gray After putting forth a lot of time and energy into this process for the students I feel that Dr. Keough has basically taken what all of us have done, including the committee itself, and thrown it in the garbage.

The point of this committee was to bring forth suitable candidates that they were in favor of, to fill the provost position. I don’t see why the Board of Trustees and Dr. Keough did not find either of the two candidates worthy of the position.

This is not the first time that she has asked people to do something and then taken the work they have done and shot it down.

She and the administration have walked all over the faculty since she came here in 1996, and I think this is evident with Fisher Faculty United.

Specifically with the process, the fact that she failed to meet with the first candidate, contacting him at the last minute to reschedule, and not even showing up for the second interview shows a complete lack of respect and importance on my part.

As they say, this institution is tuition-driven, and the financial viability may be weakened by the controversy. Why are we such a tuition-driven institution? What does that show for our institution to say that we can’t survive if we don’t have a certain number of students to attend the college? To me, that shows that this college is extremely weak and vulnerable, and those qualities only come at the fault of the president.

Instead of spending all her time fundraising to allow this institution to run, I think that she needs to start focusing on what is important. Because the college is tuition-driven, that

means the students have an important part in funding the school. And if it weren’t for the faculty, then the students wouldn’t be here. Since these are the fundamental components of the college, why hasn’t more emphasis been put on their welfare?

I think that by allowing this vote of no confidence, Fisher will be able to take a step back and look at what is really happening. I don’t think that anyone, at least in the administration, has taken the time to step back and reflect on what has been going on.

Also, I would just like to say that I highly take offense to the fact that the Board had the audacity to say, and I quote, “The faculty, administration, and Board need to hear the voices of EVERYONE, not just those few with a passion for a single issue.”

The Student Government Association, the students, and the faculty have come forward voicing opposition in front of the board this year, and in years past, and they continue to go unnoticed for the “good of the college.”

If you are going to make a statement like this then you better damn well stick to it. I think it’s time that you come down out of the heavens of executive power that you live in and join the rest of the Fisher community on campus.

SGA is in the process of preparing their Quality of Life survey at this time and it will be interesting to see how the board reacts to it. Will they push it aside as they have everything else or in light of the recent events will they actually take the time to see what the students have to say? Never, for the sake of peace and quiet, deny your own experience or convictions.

CARDINAL COURIER John Follaco

Kara Race

Editor-In-Chief

Managing Editor

Angela Meradji

Alexis Speck

Business Manager

Photography Editor

Kathleen Driscoll Faculty Advisor

Steve Boerner Design Consultant

Staff

Jay Adams Kevin Aubrey Michelle Girardi Jason Marsherall Christan Vosburgh The Cardinal Courier is a COMM 305/ Pioneer publication

Cardinal Courier

The Pioneer will be missed The “Pioneer” is dead?

On December 14, 1951, Volume I, Number 1 of the “Pioneer” began publication. Published by the students of St. John Fisher College, this independent newspaper appeared every year for 50 years.

But now it is gone and a new journal, under the auspices of the Communication/Journalism Department, will attempt to publish the news of the campus and chronicle the life of this College community.

In the first issue in 1951, it was said that the paper would “preserve the history of the college, present the students’ ideas, propagate the value of a college education.” The paper stated it would present information on all college activities, inform the students, offer guidance to the student government, and provide “worthwhile intellectual and entertaining” features. Indeed, the “Pioneer” did that for most of its life, but we know that in recent years the quality suffered and only a few had the interest to keep it going. Will the new newspaper have a similar mission? We can hope the editors and writers will strive to do so.

By Donald Muench Math/Compu ter Science professor and Fisher class of 1955 So, an era has passed and the “Pioneer” couldn’t live beyond 50. I am sorry to see her go. She was a link to our origins. She was our memory. She became a victim of indifference and sharp complaints about recent quality. This fact says something about our campus community. It is odd that in a time when everybody seems to have an opinion, there is an unwillingness to articulate and print it. We have another chance.

Many readers know that this writer has expressed his opinion about the lack of student support for the “Pioneer” in recent years.

As members of a learning and studying community, we need a newspaper to inform us and to goad us, to praise the good and condemn the bad. A campus newspaper needs to report the news and

chronicle the life of the College. It should facilitate discussion of those things we have sometimes been afraid to talk about – such as – does this College have an identity? Or is the Core curriculum worth anything? Or should some majors deserve to die? Or is the President of the College going to choose the provost from the list of carefully scrutinized candidates that the Search Committee forwarded to the President. Or is she going to scuttle the search process and name her own Provost? Or why do some faculty want a union?

A campus newspaper worthy of its salt should not be afraid to tackle uncomfortable issues.

A good newspaper shines the light on problems as well as successes. It digs into the background of contentious issues and also reveals what goes into decision-making on campus. In other words, the newspaper tells the story of the College.

Let’s see what happens.

Good luck to the editors and writers. Thanks to them and the C/J Department for trying to do something about the problem.

New paper, fresh start “Progress is a nice word. But change is its motivator. And change has its enemies.”

—Robert F. Kennedy We were told from the beginning that the process of creating a new student newspaper at St. John Fisher College was not going to be an easy one.

In our initial research stages, each person that we encountered warned us that if we embarked on this challenge we would come under a firing squad of criticism, and be met by opposition at ever turn.

They were right.

But they were also right about something else: it needed to be done.

Fisher’s fiscal crisis of the mid’90s hit the Pioneer extremely hard, leaving it without a full-time faculty advisor for a number of years. But this wasn’t the only problem. Like student newspapers throughout the country the Pioneer was unable to attract enough students who would make the commitment necessary to publish at a high level of quality.

I have the utmost respect for the previous editors of the Pioneer; they worked extremely hard and did an admirable job under the circumstances. Unfortunately, they were set up to fail. The all-volunteer model of running a newspaper is outdated; it simply does not work.

With the ever-increasing cost of higher education almost every single student is forced to work parttime to offset their expenses. In addition students are being presented with more and more internship opportunities where they can hone their skills in a professional

By John Follaco, Cardinal Courier Editor-inChief

environment. Therefore, most students lack the time to volunteer to work on their school newspapers.

In all of the newspapers we looked at during our research last semester, the editors were either awarded class credit or a cash stipend, and it became clear that is how we needed to proceed at Fisher. Not being ready to support itself as a business, we asked the Communication/Journalism department to build a newspaper into its print journalism curriculum. They agreed.

Next fall, we will no longer be a Student Government Organization. Because the editors will operate out of a class, we will have to be funded through an independent line. Therefore, because the Pioneer is a Student Government Organization, and after this semester we no longer will be, we are not named the Pioneer.

Initial plans call for a visiting professor from the Gannett Co. will be brought in next fall to advise the newspaper. We are excited about this new learning opportunity.

Although we are ecstatic with the results of all our hard work, it has been extremely difficult to absorb the criticism of a relatively small, but very vocal, group on campus. Many have wondered why we have not responded, and trust me it has been very difficult not to do so. But instead we waited

to respond until the entire process has been decided, and for our future to be on solid ground. Our motto this semester has been to let our actions speak for themselves, waiting for this day to prove ourselves. Hopefully we have done so.

Having a strong, successful campus newspaper means a great deal to us.

While to many on campus the student newspaper is something they pick up, read, glance through, and in some cases save, to us it is much more. It is about learning, not nostalgia.

Our critics claim that our decision has disrespected the past, and ignored the fact that the Pioneer was once an award-winning publication. They claim that 50 years ago this would never have happened. But what they refuse to comprehend is that times have changed.

It can be argued for another 50 years as to whether or not the change has been for the good, doing so would accomplish nothing. Instead of arguing, we chose to act. Instead of yearning for the past, we are leaping into the future.

This newspaper will have its finger on the pulse of the St. John Fisher College community. It will be a free-flowing exchange of ideas communicated through sound journalism. It will open the lines of communication and dialogue that are needed in any institute of higher education.

Contrary to our critics’ belief, we have not forgotten what the Pioneer used to be. And through training, hard work, and dedication, we hope to soon remind everyone else of that success as well.

MISSION STATEMENT The Cardinal Courier was created to provide the St. John Fisher College community with a quality newspaper.

Not only will this publication seek, investigate, and report the news, it will strive to do so with honesty and integrity. We will be the eyes and ears of the student body.

The Courier will provide the campus with a medium in which to read interesting news articles, thought-provoking editorials, and entertaining features.

Courier staff members hope to inform, educate and humor its readers.

In turn staff members will receive the hands-on instruction and training needed to enter the world of professional journalism.

Q&A

Interview conducted by Jason Marsherall and John Follaco

Report. That is a very quantified and viable goal that I have for us as an academic institution.

The following are excerpts from interviews with Fisher President Katherine Keough conducted by Cardinal Courier staff on April 3 and April 10, 2002.

Q. What has surprised you about being at Fisher?

A. What has surprised me about being at Fisher is that it is so much fun. This is a great school and it’s exciting and challenging. I would not want to be president at a school where there wasn’t some level of excitement. I find that part of all of this very exciting. I seem to be very good at fundraising and it appears to be what I do very well.

Q. How long have you been at Fisher now?

A. This is the end of my sixth year.

Q. How would you grade yourself? A kind of six-year assessment.

A. I think my biggest challenges are accommodating the numbers of people we have on campus. The primary job of the president is fundraising and we have been very successful in fundraising at this institution. We have just finished a $20 million capitol campaign. Six years ago we had a $1.5 million deficit budget and approximately 1300 students. Today we have a balanced budget with small surpluses. We have 2,000 students.

We have raised the quality of our students, the SAT scores and the Grade Point Averages. We provide probably triple the scholarship money for students than we did six years ago. We have made a huge investment in our physical plant.

We have constructed $48 million worth of new construction in the past six years. The numbers of our faculty have increased from 96 to 120. We have maintained a student to faculty ratio in the 12-13 range.

Q: Now, is there anything that you necessarily didn’t get accomplished in the past six years that you would have liked to, and you’re looking to pursue in the future? What’s on the top of your list?

A. We would like to position Fisher as a school that falls within the top 25 in our region as categorized in the US News and World

Q. How do you see Fisher in terms of its Catholic identity?

How, if at all do you want to develop its Catholic identity?

A. Fisher is an institution that was founded by the Basilian Fathers as a Catholic college in the late ‘40s. The first class graduated in the mid ‘50s and between that time and the middle ‘70s Fisher was clearly an independent Catholic institution and registered itself as a Catholic institution free of state intervention. With the advent of state funding aid the trustees gave up their status as an independent religious institution so that they may receive funding aid, which as you know we still receive today. The Catholic nature and identity of this institution is in its mission station and is found in the halls in terms of motto, in the Fisher Creed, and it is found in most of all the curriculum. Our curriculum is one of critical consciousness and we teach intentionally an awareness of who we are, how we fit into the world, and our place as citizens. The Catholic Studies program is certainly something that I would hope the faculty and curriculum structure committee would look at as a possibility for us to embrace.

Q. There’s a lot of talk about Fisher becoming a university.

Is that a possibility?

demically just as boldly as we did in terms of our physical plant.

courtesy of the President’s Office

Cardinal Courier

A. Certainly there has been talk about Fisher becoming a university. Let me remind you that Fairfield is a university in Fairfield, Ct. with fewer than 5,000 students. There are lots of universities that have small enrollment and are friendly, close-knit environments. The term university is usually used to designate an institution that is a doctoral granting institution. We have begun with the trustee meetings in particular and among members of the administration to talk about the possibility of launching a doctoral program. And certainly, in accordance with the launching of the doctoral program, would come the possibility of moving to a university. I think it is important to have bold, audacious goals, and these should be in academic areas just as they have been in the past in our physical plant. Six years ago, if I said that we would have a stadium, that we would have a Golisano Academic Gateway, that we would have a new dormitory, people would have considered this as just a step farther than what is possible. And I want us to think that way academically also. I want us to think aca-

Q. What about high enrollment? How big should Fisher get? What is its ideal size and what does the college have to do to support that?

A. Enrollment now stands at approximately 1950 full time undergraduate students. We would expect this to be an average size for a small to middle institution. We certainly would not be able to grow beyond 2,200 without major renovations and additional buildings. But, given classroom studies and academic facility studies our comfort zone is still in between 1,900 and 2,100. We are preparing to put an addition of classrooms onto one of our buildings but it is clearly only in the planning stages right now.

Q. And related to that, what about concerns with housing?

Will there be enough for all the students? Will the Woodlands be a permanent part of the Fisher housing scene?

A. We have housing for approximately 1,152 students even in combination of Woodlands and our current student housing. We do not anticipate building any additional housing at this point. It appears that we will continue to have to use the Woodlands at some capacity. It may not be at the level that we are currently using the Woodlands but we will need to use them for a while.

Q. What about the proposal to unionize Fisher faculty? Do you ever see there being a union at Fisher?

A. There is no proposal to unionize Fisher faculty. First of all, I think that this movement is a small percentage of the faculty, and secondly, on every other college campus where there has been a movement to unionize in the last two years, the appeals court has

Page 3 April 23, 2002

struck down the union on the grounds that they cannot unionize because they are managers and supervisors. There are some faculty members who believe that a union on the Fisher campus would be good. The courts have upheld the decision and you will find that in the cases of Yeshiva, Russell Sage and two cases now in the Midwest all of those appeals have been won by the administration in turning down union activity.

Q. How would you assess the progress of the Bills camp going into the third year? What has it done for Fisher?

A. The Bills Training camp has positioned us as a school where the community can rally to participate in a professional league activity. It certainly has been a revenue generator. The Buffalo Bills have certainly brought us name recognition as well as scholarship dollars.

Q. What about the loss of Bills camp sponsorship from Wegmans?

A. I would describe it as a sponsorship. Wegmans did not have an arrangement with Fisher. This was an arrangement with the Bills, and sponsoring the training camp was one part of a larger contract with the Buffalo Bills. The original contract between the Buffalo Bills was dissolved so as a result of that contract being dissolved they no longer sponsored the training camp. It no longer had to do with Fisher or the training camp, it had to do with a larger marketing contract with the Buffalo Bills. I am confident that the Bills will be able to secure another sponsor and as you know we have a right to refuse acceptance of that sponsor. It would be a sponsor that would be appropriate to the Bills and to us. A perfect example-- we would not accept a sponsor by a tobacco company or an alcohol company.

NEWS

Page 4 April 23, 2002 TENSION continued from Page 1 date for the permanent position.

But Bain believes that he was in a difficult situation, and he felt obligated to remain loyal to Fisher and the provost position.

“I was not, and throughout the year continued not to be a candidate for this position. I’m doing this because there is nobody else that the president has asked to do so. In a sense, I am a default provost,” Bain said.

“I feel that I have a responsibility to stay at my post. And until we have another provost who is acceptable to the faculty, to the president and the Board of Trustees I will not turn my back on this job. I feel I have a responsibility to the students, to the college and to the alumni in our community.”

However many have questioned whether a no-confidence vote is going too far, too quickly.

After all, in her six years as president, Keough has managed to erase a $1.5 million budget deficit, launch a massive improvement to Fisher’s physical plant, land the Buffalo Bills training camp, and increase enrollment by approximately 700 students while raising admission selectivity.

Keough’s many successes may partly be why the faculty assembly voted 63 to 54 to replace the noconfidence vote with this new motion.

Despite her external success as president, the faculty believes that Keough has been unable to build one crucial element with them: trust.

“This is not about her external leadership,” said Bowers, who is also the president of Fisher Faculty United. “This is about trying to get across to the president and the Board of Trustees that this is not her own personal little fiefdom.

This is an institution that has a long history of shared governance and faculty rights.”

The Faculty Assembly reconvenes Tuesday, April 23 to take further action.

Cardinal Courier

Do you have confidence in the President’s ability to lead?

Why or why not?

“How can we be led by someone we don’t know and who doesn’t know us? She’s not a visible leader on campus.” ~Kara Smith, junior

“I think she’s a good president, but she’s got to work on her people skills.” ~ Africah Harrigan, junior

“I think because of this issue, people won’t be as confident in her, but her leadership ability remains strong.” ~ Tevea Beaty, freshman

“I feel she’s done a good job with external affairs but internally dealing with faculty it seems like something needs to be done.” ~ John Heberger, junior

“She seems to worry more about where the money’s coming from than if the students are happy. If I was on the board, I would vote no confidence.” ~ Ray Jonak, junior

“I think that she has no contact with the students so I don’t think she can make decisions in their best interest since she has no idea what our needs are.” ~Vanessa Cardinale, junior

Uncertainty and confusion S TA F F W R I T E R

JAY ADAMS

The provost search and the threat of a no confidence vote in Campus President Katherine Keough has left a sour taste in the mouths of anyone who has uttered the words: “St .John Fisher College.”

There is a war underway on campus and as the Rev. Joseph Lanzalaco put it, “Will there be any winners?”

The mood around campus has been an unstable one as the faculty, the board of trustees, and Keough reach their respective boiling points.

The combination of a defensive president, a divided faculty, and a confused and jilted student body makes for an uncomfortable air in the halls of Basil.

“Are the faculty going to strike?” asked a confused student in a Communication class last week.

The closed-door meetings and the “hush-hush” attitudes of many faculty members have caused a swirl of questions and rumors among students. Many classes, in fact, have dedicated significant time to discussing the issues.

There’s no way to escape hearing about this controversy every day as campus e-mail has been a hub of activity with pleas, rebuttals, and

snide remarks being sent and forwarded constantly since this news broke. Even the Faculty Assembly meeting last week didn’t clear anything up.

Basil Hall was a ghost town during the Faculty Assembly meeting.

Unlike most free periods, there were no faculty members milling around the halls or students loitering in the lobby.

When the meeting recessed for the day, there was a mass exodus of tight-lipped faculty streaming from B-135. The uncomfortable feeling of division loomed once again. The new question being: How long will it last?

DISCORD continued from Page 1 “When a candidate for the tenure-track position came to campus for interviews, the administration offered the candidate a 20 percent increase on the contracted salary if the candidate would accept a five-year temporary position instead,” the position paper stated.

“The administration extended this offer without prior consultation with the SRC or the department chair and thus clearly violated the understanding that had been reached with the SRC ad the faculty as a whole.”

According to the document, the president indicated to a subgroup of the SRC “that the administration would refrain from making such offers again but would instead bring the general issue of non-tenure track appointments to the SRC in the Fall of 2001.”

“Despite the president’s assurance, just two weeks later, the administration again offered a fulltime temporary contract combined with a salary increase to another candidate for a tenure-track position in a different department,” the document stated.

After objections were raised, the candidate was eventually offered a tenure-track position.

Later on, the administration proposed a revision to the Faculty Statutes that would have given the president statutory authority to make non-tenure track appointments as long as the number of non-tenure track contracts did not exceed 20 percent of full-time faculty contracts. A revised proposal was later submitted and approved by the Faculty Assembly. In a similar case last year involving the English Department, the administration had no contact with the department or the provost before extending an offer of a short-term contract. “The issue here is the absence of consultation,” says William Waddell, chairman of the English Department.

Keough was not available for further comment.

Fisher students dealt full house S TA F F W R I T E R

MICHELLE GIRARDI

Despite rapidly growing rumors spreading throughout the campus that Fisher has plans to steadily increase its enrollment over the next few years, which will create a major housing crunch, the Office of Admissions says Fisher’s enrollment is leveling off.

Fisher will probably grow from 1,925 students to about 2,200 undergraduate students within the next couple of years by keeping freshman enrollment at a constant number but admitting more transfer students who are more likely to be commuters.

“We are trying to figure out our optimum size, said Gerry Rooney, vice president for Enrollment Management.

While the number of freshman applicants has increased to about 2,000, Fisher still projects that it will enroll only about 525 students again next fall from a pool of 1,400 accepted. “The number of freshman students we’ve enrolled has increased, but not the number we’ve admitted,” Rooney said.

However, as the number of freshman applications has increased, so have the number of students who want to live on campus, whether they are local or live further away, he said.

More than 75 percent of current residents wanted to come back for next year, and with more than 500 freshmen currently living in campus residence halls, and the estimation that a similar number will be housed in the fall, many students have wondered how Residential Life plans to accommodate everyone on campus.

“We are not in a housing crisis,” said Terri Panepento, director of Residential Life. “We just have some variables and we are trying to do the best we can for the most people.”

Every year, Residential Life looks at the number of students from each class who chose to stay on campus for the current year, and then estimates that a slightly larger number will elect to live on campus for the next year, Panepento said.

“This year the number was 24 percent over our projection, which was big in a way,” she said.

However, Panepento and her staff have dealt with the situation by once again offering the Woodlands as an off-campus housing option, and after originally eliminating the shuttle option, will once again provide a shuttle to and from campus.

“Very few people took the shuttle every day. We thought that once it started snowing, students wouldn’t want to brush off their cars, but they kept driving. It didn’t seem

worth the $100,000 investment,” Panepento said.

However, students expressed concerns about the Woodlands’ accessibility without the shuttle option, so the college has agreed to keep it as long as student interest remains.

Next year’s housing selection is including a new residence hall for the first time since the early 90s.

On April 15, selection day for suites, quads and singles, upperclassmen vied for spots in the brand new Founders Hall. This $10 million construction project will be ready for occupancy next semester.

Special Assistant to the President Joe Burkart said that the college wanted to build another residence hall only for upperclassmen so that these students would remain on campus for their last years at Fisher. “We want to keep the Fisher community and create a rapport between upper and underclassmen.”

The new hall clearly sparked the interest of Fisher upperclassmen, and practically everyone hoped for a housing number low enough to be part of the first Founders Hall community next year.

Founders Hall, which will house a total of 192 students next year, contains 36, four-person, suitestyle rooms with two bedrooms and one bathroom connected by a common living area. The building will also have 48 single rooms with two

Alexis Speck

Founders Hall was constructed to met increased housing needs. singles sharing one bathroom.

Other features of the new hall include a first-floor computer lab with six computers and 24-hour slide-card access for hall residents.

Each room will also be fully furnished and equipped with air conditioning and internet access, according to Burkart.

While undergraduate enrollment levels off, graduate enrollment is increasing, with about 600 enrolled graduate students this semester, and the number of graduate programs growing from two to 12, Rooney said.

Furthermore, the increased

interest in Fisher and the growing number of freshman applications has become an opportunity for the Office of Admissions to raise admissions standards.

“This year’s freshman class is the strongest academically of those we have enrolled in the last few years,” Rooney said.

Despite the recent growth in students, the college has also maintained its student-teacher ratio of 16:1 by increasing the number of full-time faculty to 128, Rooney said.

NEWS Bain hopes to help heal

Page 5

Cardinal Courier

S TA F F W R I T E R

ANGELA MERADJI

cting Provost Donald Bain has agreed to remain provost of the college for the next two years.

“I will not turn my back on this job. I have a responsibility to stay at my post,” Bain said.

He plans to provide support for academic affairs, and to work as an arbiter between the faculty and the managerial dimensions of what he calls a “multimilliondollar enterprise.”

He plans to work with the various departments to assess their strengths and weaknesses, and then provide the tools necessary

A

April 23, 2002

to fulfill the academic mission of the college.

Bain was asked to take the position by the Board of Trustees after college president Katherine Keough rejected the candidates provided by the faculty search committee.

Bain emphasizes that he was not, nor did he want to be, a candidate for the position at any point.

“Nothing changed. I’m doing this because there is no one else that has been asked to do this by the President. I had no plans to continue this,” he said.

He held the position of acting provost this year at the request of Keough, and has been at

“I will not turn my back on this job. I have a responsibility to stay at my post.”

Fisher for 27 years.

Most recently he was chair of the History Department, which he took on in 1979. He has also served one term as Dean of Faculty.

New computers hit campus in September S TA F F W R I T E R

ANGELA MERADJI

When students return to campus this fall, they will be greeted by many new faces. No, not the faces of other students, but the faces of brand new Compaq computers in the labs and classrooms.

“We are always purchasing the fastest, most reasonable computers available at that time,” says Jim Luke, chief information officer of Computer Services. For an idea of what the new computers will be like, check out the ones in the Pioch lab.

The older computers will then be refurbished and renewed, and then passed on to others that need them on campus. “Each year we do take a number of computers out of service that are no longer able to handle the operating system and applications that are running on campus. Most of these computers have been donated to inner city schools for the underprivileged,” said Luke.

During winter break, many

changes were made to current campus computers. These changes were made in the students’ interest, to protect the users on campus.

All computers in the labs and the Cyber Cafe now require a user name and password.

The login function is a new addition to the Cyber Café computers.

This took effect back in March, to increase security against unauthorized users, or those users who have harmful intentions.

There is a log-on agreement that must be accepted before logging on.

The computers also have a new security package that prevents users from installing new programs. That means an end to things like the Snood craze, which took the campus by storm last year.

Many students were not concerned about the lack of a log-on.

“The Cyber Café is just for people to goof around on. It’s not for work, so security’s not an issue,” said Bouaketh Chanthavisouk, the senior lab assistant in the Kearney Lab. Chanthavisouk feels comfortable that the computers are safe without a logon being required.

The exception on campus is the computers in the library. This could present a security issue on campus.

In the library the log-on process will not be added. Those computers are for public access, and therefore need to be available for use by those not attending Fisher. “They do require a log-in when you boot them up, but we log them in,” said Lori Wagoner, the media and instruction librarian.

The library also does not have to enforce the login policy because there is less chance for problems when computers are being used.

“Since there is always library staff there it is monitored,” said Paul Goverts, PC support for Computer Services, “otherwise we’d change that.”

Many students do not think about the fact that their actions on campus can be traced. The server on campus keeps track of where a user is logged on, and the times they are logged on for in each location. Fisher e-mail is traceable, but an off-campus account is harder to track, he said.

Bain truly misses working with students. “I miss being in the classroom desperately,” he said. Bain has received the College Award for teaching Excellence twice.

He looks forward to the time when a candidate can be found that is acceptable to all parties.

“If, by the grace of God, a provost could be produced, come September I could return to my students. This is not the way I wanted things to turn out. I was hopeful, indeed eager, that an acceptable candidate would be found.”

Bain, who received his Ph.D. from the state University of New York in Buffalo in 1974, worked

in the Defense Department during the George H. Bush administration. There he worked under former Defense Secretary and current Vice President Dick Cheney.

In addition to his responsibilities as provost, Bain currently serves as a Town Justice in Williamson.

Bain has faith in the campus, including its faculty, and is confident that together the campus will be able to find ways to address the issues.

“I have great faith in this faculty. The vast majority are dedicated professionals. It is the best interest of the students that everyone has at heart.”

FFU determined to build support for union effort EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

JOHN FOLLACO

Fisher Faculty United, a group attempting to unionize faculty, has received increased support recently in the aftermath of the controversy ignited by the college’s Provost Search.

“Her (Katherine Keough) actions have resulted in Fisher Faculty United growing even stronger than it already is,” said Jim Bowers, the group’s president.

However Fisher President Katherine Keough says the group will never be recognized by the administration.

“There are two reasons,” Keough said. “I think that this movement is a small percentage of faculty, and secondly, on every other college campus where there has been a union movement to unionize within the last two years the appeals court has struck down the union.”

Keough cited a Supreme Court Case, National Labor Relations Board v. Yeshiva University, which

ruled that Yeshiva professors had enough influence over university governance to be considered managerial employees and were not eligible to bargain under the Nation Labor Relations Act. Bowers disagrees, pointing to the recent Provost search as evidence that the Fisher Faculty are not managers or supervisors.

“We can battle her to death on that one too. Yeshiva would we a legal burden to overcome, however we have done our homework to make sure that we could overcome it,” Bowers said. “This President over the last six years has done so many things without faculty involvement that it would not be hard to prove that we do not have significant managerial involvement.”

The group is in the initial stages of the organizing process, collecting union cards from faculty.

Representatives declined to elaborate on the progress that has been made in this area, or what steps are on the horizon.

Fisher’s “Most Feminine” men compete CONTRIBUTING WRITER

COLLEEN FARRELL

The Mr. Fisher Contest featured five of Fisher’s most talented men as they strutted their stuff in women’s and men’s clothing.

The winner of the April 13 contest, sophomore Matt Conners, impressed judges enough to walk away with a crown and a $100 gift certificate.

“This event without a doubt was a success, perhaps the most successful event that RSA has put on all year,” said Kevin Miller, RSA president.

Miller filled in as a last-minute contestant after several others dropped out. He was originally slated to act as emcee, along with Kate Haywood, a freshman, but senior Josh Harris took over that role.

Judges included Jean Barney and Michael Puglisi from the Office of Res. Life; Jeff Brown,

Office of Admissions; Patti Gaudy, Reservations Office; and Sally Vaughan, Campus Ministry Office.

The show opened with a dance number in which the guys, in white t-shirts and jeans, showed off some bump n’ grind moves to the “Build Me Up Buttercup.”

One highlight of the evening came when Conners appeared on stage in a strappy, stuffed turquoise number which showed off both his muscles and his cleavage. He received rousing applause, as did his fellow contestant, Derek “Diesel” DeSol, who wore a tight, short, sequined dress and flexed his pecs for the audience, which included mostly women.

When asked to describe his hero during the Q&A portion of the contest, Conners named ‘Spiderman’ because “a lot of girls want him, which is a lot more than I can say for myself.”

The talent portion gave the men an opportunity to showcase their entertainment skills.

Randy Ashby, freshman, began Usher’s “Nice and Slow” by saying, “This one’s for the ladies.”

Sophomore Sean Smith sang Adam Sandler’s “Opera Man” ode to Osama bin Laden from the NYC telethon. He changed the last line to “St. John Fisher, you’ll always be the one.”

Clad in an open, button down shirt and bright red Union Jack briefs, DeSol offered the most comical segment, if audience applause is any indication. A hat tilted to the side, a cane, white socks and brown shoes completed his outfit. The women in the audience sighed “awww” when he said he would sing a song he “learned in the beginning of the year about being in love.”

During the formal wear portion, each guy, dressed nicely in men’s clothes, received a rose and

walked the stage with a female escort while Haywood and Harris described their hobbies.

Conners said his included “birdwatching, being rejected by girls, and attending Def Leppard concerts.”

Smith’s hobbies are weightlifting and eating, while DeSol likes “eating garbage plates,” and he wanted the girls in the audience to know that he “enjoys music, comedy, and long walks on the beach at night.”

The event was put together by a committee of RSA members.

The committee researched other colleges who had held similar events, and added their own ideas, Miller said.

Miller urged those who are interested to participate. “Guys should definitely do it next year because it was so much fun. It doesn’t matter what you look like, because it’s all about having fun and cutting loose,” he said.

Kara Race

Sophomore Matt Conners was the winner of Fisher’s first ever Mr. Fisher pageant

Cardinal Courier

Night life in Roch

Here are some places around the city where yo can relax and have a good time. Take a look . . .

Compiled by Alexis Speck

Spot Coffee

Brickyard Pub

200 East Ave.

240 South Ave.

Did you know that there is championship coffee right here in Rochester?

Spot Coffee won the US Barista Championship and has won various awards for best coffee.

The baristas, who are trained by Spot Coffee, custom make your drink of choice every time you visit. You can order a small house cup of coffee for 99 cents or a mocha mucho grande for $4.75. If coffee is not what you want Spot Coffee offers a variety of drinks such as, hot chocolate, italian soda, slushes, Rishi teas, iced tea and chai tea.

The coffee shop also serves eggs, soups, salads and sandwiches. Spot makes everything from scratch and does not allow artificial elements in its food. You can eat there, order and pick up or have them cater a party.

The decorative fabrics and pictures complement the architecture creating a relaxing yet funky atmosphere, where you can read a book or hang out with friends.

Spot Coffee is open Sunday through Thursday from 7 a.m.-12 a.m. and Friday and Saturday from 7 a.m.-1 a.m.

Tucked away in downtown Rochester is Brickyard Pub with the largest outdoor patio in the city. With live music, tables and a bar outside all summer this is a favorite hangout for college students.

Brickyard Pub, is named after its appealing brick outdoor patio. The brick deck is lined with blue lights and scattered around are circle umbrella tables, were you can sit and hang out under the stars. Later in the night, the music starts playing, either a live band or disc jockey depending on the night.

There is an outside bar so that you do not have to go inside for a drink.

Thursday night is college night and works well with a college kid’s budget. The specials are Budweiser, Bud Light and Busch drafts for $1 and Red Bull and vodka’s for $3. Every week there is a drawing for either a mountain bike, a 13-inch TV or a DVD player. Every time you order a drink the bartender will give you a ticket, so the more you buy, the better the chance you will win.

On Wednesdays, ladies drafts and well drinks are 50 cents. DJ Semlo and DJ Pepper keep the people dancing and hold contests such as anchor man,

April 23, 2002

hester

ou .

Movies 10 2611 West Henrietta Road Do you only have a dollar and some change left in your wallet? Go see a movie. At Movies 10 in Henrietta you can see movies for 50 cents to $2.

The movies are not new releases, but are not classics either. Currently, Movies 10 is showing films such as Crossroads, Vanilla Sky, Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone, Oceans 11 and Big Fat Liar.

If you are free before 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, movies are 50 cents and after 6 p.m. they are $1.50. On weekend nights movies are $2.

The best deal is Tuesday nights, when you can see a movie for $1.

Jillians 61 Commercial St. limbo and scavenger hunts for various prizes.

Monday and Tuesday nights are guest bartending nights. Don’t worry about knowing how to bartend, they will help you out. If you are interested in guest bartending, just go to the Brickyard Pub and ask the bartender to sign you up. The Monday night bartenders battle the Tuesday night bartenders each week for higher sales. Every week the winner receives a $25 gift certificate.

The Brickyard Pub also offers customers specials on the weekend. On Friday, everyone can get a two for one deal on draft beers and well drinks.

Rolling Rock and Red Bull and vodkas are on special for $3 on Saturday.

If you like hanging out outside and drinking with friends, the Brickyard Pub offers this atmosphere all summer long.

The hours of operation are Monday through Saturday 4 p.m. to 2 a.m.

A 21 and over crowd is welcome.

Do you like to bowl, play video games or dance? Jillians, a 45,000 square foot building located in High Falls, has something to entertain everyone.

Hi Life Lanes is the bowling alley located on the second floor of Jillians.

There are 15 lanes with a retro lounge and bar. Every Tuesday and Wednesday at 7 p.m. the Bowling Wars are taking place. The team entry fee is $125 and includes three games for five weeks, shoes and an appetizer buffet. The grand prize winner receives a cash prize of $1,000.

Also, located on the second floor is the video arcade with a bar located in the center. Before 9 p.m. any age is welcome, but after 9 p.m. a 21 and over crowd is invited. With over 100 electronic games, you can hang out all day.

They have the latest simulation games and all the classics. To play, you have to purchase a Players Card for $1 that is good for a year. You can keep adding money for more points.

Jillians also has a restaurant, dance club, outside deck and billiards room. The hours are Sunday 11 a.m. -Midnight, Monday-Wednesday 11 a.m.-1 a.m. and Thursday to Saturday 11 a.m.-2 a.m.

Page 8 April 23, 2002

IN FOCUS

Cardinal Courier

Professor adds sense of local history

Lanzalaco: Not your average Joe S TA F F W R I T E R

JAY ADAMS

Most people wouldn’t expect a priest to be a big Cher fan. Most people also wouldn’t expect a man of the cloth to break into song during a sermon, especially when that song is “Express Yourself” by the controversial Madonna. However, if you meet the new director of Campus Ministry, the Rev. Joseph Lanzalaco, expect the unexpected.

Lanzalaco, a Rochester native and a 1983 graduate of St. John Fisher, became the new director of Campus Ministry in June ’01 and has been turning heads ever since.

“You’d never think that he is a priest just by looking at him,” said Sophomore Wally Scutt. “He always gave us a prayer before the football games, but it was so hard to get past the fact that he has a ponytail. He is really a character.”

Seeing Lanzalaco roaming the campus with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, wearing motorcycle gloves and his trademark ponytail, you’d think he was just an average Joe. And he is. But this average Joe just happens to be “Father Joe.” And he loves every minute of it.

Father Joe’s ‘character’ has been shaped by his experiences throughout his life. After graduating from Bishop Kearney High School, he

went straight to Vietnam to fight.

“After Vietnam, I left the army for about six years and got my Criminal Justice degree from MCC. Then I went back [into the army] and that was going to be my career,” said Father Joe. However, during his second hitch in the army as a military policeman, his career plans began to change.

“I started to practice my religion again and I felt a very strong call to the priesthood,” said Father Joe. “It was a very strong feeling within my heart and soul that made me have to make some tough decisions. I was doing very well in the military as a sergeant in the military police. I was asked to go to a drill sergeant school, which is the next step to the next highest rank.

So I had to weigh everything in the balance.”

Father Joe followed his heart and his call from God and decided that the priesthood was his calling.

“I don’t look over my shoulder much. I don’t regret my decision. I really like being a priest,” said Father Joe. After he was ordained in 1987, Father Joe taught religious studies at the high school level in Indiana and even worked part-time at a maximum-security prison teaching and saying Mass at Michigan City State Penitentiary in Indiana.

“While I was working at the prison, I was referred to someone on death row who was a Catholic and wanted to see a priest so I started seeing him regularly,” said Father Joe. “He referred me to his friends on death row so then death row became a big part of my time at the prison.”

As Father Joe was visiting the men on death row, he was approached by one of the inmates he knew. The inmate asked him to be with him during his execution.

“I went to his execution and two more after him. To see people die in that fashion has made me very much against the death penalty,” said Father Joe. “I’ve been to Vietnam and seen people die violently in my life, but I’ve never seen a more cold-hearted, lack of dignity type of death as a prison execution.”

These experiences have rounded out Father Joe’s life in more of a positive way.

“Once I decided that I had to move on, I moved back to Rochester. The Basilian Fathers had told me that Father Paul English was leaving St. John Fisher and the director of Campus Ministry job was open. It was like a dream come true,” said Father Joe. Since joining St. John Fisher as the director of Campus Ministry, he has created quite a fan base

MANAGING EDITOR

KARA RACE

Alexis Speck

Father Joe Lanzalaco became the director of Campus Ministry in June of 2001. among students.

“Compared to Father Paul English, Father Joe is very different,” said Rob Gilmore, internal coordinator for the Campus Council Ministry. “Father Joe is very much involved with what’s going on on campus. He’s very prominent at the athletic events. You could always find him on the sidelines during football games. Very rarely do you see him in his office. He’s always somewhere on campus making himself available for anyone.”

Father Joe’s strategy for reaching out to people is to always be available to anyone of any denomination.

“Anytime I attend an event on campus, I’m always dressed as a priest. I want people to know this because I am here to help in any way possible,” said Father Joe. “My door is always open.”

Shay’s troops march to Washington S TA F F W R I T E R

MICHELLE GIRARDI

“We can’t live in fear because that would be giving into the terrorists. But by taking the kids to where history is made and commemorated, it also gives them a chance to reach out to each other.

They are interdependent on each other, really,” said “Colonel” Gordon Shay after returning from his most recent student trip this March.

Just over six months after hijacked American Airlines flight 77 crashed into the west side of the Pentagon, Shay led a group of 50 people, including his Civil War students, personal friends, and Fisher staff members down to Washington.

At least twice a year since he began teaching at Fisher in 1991, Shay has taken his Civil War students on a trip to a historical monument or battlefield such as Gettysburg or Antietam.

This semester’s trip, from March 15 to 17, also included stops at Manassas, Va., the site of the battle of Bull Run, and the New Civil War Museum in Harrisburg, Pa. where the group stopped on the way back to Rochester.

Junior Rachel Borchard, who has gone to Gettysburg three times and Antietam twice on Shay’s trips said this trip was incomparable to the others. “This was very different because it was something we did ourselves. There was not a lot of lecturing, and we could walk around the monuments at our own pace,” she recalled.

This experience was Senior Alicia Granville’s first visit to our nation’s capital.

“It was a powerful introduction to the city because it’s one thing to learn all the information in class, but it’s another thing to go there and actually see our national history,” she said.

In Washington, Shay took the

group to see the Lincoln and FDR Memorials along with the Vietnam Memorial.

“Most of the kids have never been to the Vietnam Memorial before, and they were all laughing and joking, but when they start to read the names, they got quiet,” he said.

“I cried at the Vietnam Memorial because so many people were able to give their lives for something none of us could truly understand. Seeing all the letters and the gifts people left really got to me,” Granville recalled.

While the group did not attempt to tour or visit the Pentagon, the massive structure, located in Arlington, Va., could be seen from the bus as they toured Washington.

“I kept thinking the other shoe could drop at anytime, and wondered what I would do if the terrorists struck again, but I felt that what we were doing, what we were teaching the kids in Washington was important,” Shay said.

Shay, who was actually a staff sergeant in the Army was affectionately given the title “Colonel” by his students at Penfield high school, where he taught American History before teaching Civil War and advising freshmen at Fisher.

It was at Penfield where he read Michael Shaara’s Killer Angels, a novel that dramatically recreates the infamous battle at Gettysburg.

Shay was so moved that he took a few personal days from school to walk the fields of Gettsyburg.

“After we walked through the fields, I turned to my brother and said, ‘I know what we gotta do now, Bros.’”

His idea was to have each of his students read Killer Angels and then bring them to the battlefield to help them understand its significance.

However, in light of the events of

Civil War trip Gordon Shay led a group of 50 to Manassas, Harrisburg and Washington, D.C., in March.

the past six months, Shay felt it was important for his students to see and appreciate Washington while also taking them to the battlefield at Manassas.

“This fits into the curriculum because it’s a major historical event, and they need to know all there is to know. Bull Run was the

first big battle of the east, and it was significant for the use of railroads to move troops,” Shay said.

“I plan to keep on taking these trips in years to come, and the students will come back with a sense of history they never had before.

That’s my hope,” he said.

During this school year, there was a new face among Fisher’s history professors. Carolyn Vacca is not just a new professor, however.

She is also the historian of Monroe County.

As Monroe County Historian, she works with the county government, area schools, and the public library system to develop initiatives for keeping an accu- Vacca rate, up-to date history of the county, she said.

Vacca, who has a doctorate in history from the University of Rochester, has always had a tremendous interest in history.

“When I was growing up, I was fortunate enough to have a lot of older relatives and the stories that they would tell always intrigued me,” Vacca said. “That was my first real connection with history.”

She is now passing that interest and love of history on to students here at Fisher through courses that she had the ability to design on her own. These include “History of Rochester” and “Women in American History” which are both unique to her individual areas of expertise.

“The ‘History in Rochester’ course was calling upon my knowledge as County Historian and the ‘Women in America’ course is what I did my dissertation work on,” Vacca said.

The best part of teaching for her, however, is getting to know the students. At the beginning of the spring semester, she said, at least a dozen of her students stopped in to visit or ask questions.

“It was really nice to know we were connecting,” Vacca said.

“That’s the best part of teaching.”

Vacca says that she tries to promote a classroom setting that allows students to get involved, usually through group work.

“I like to promote discussion in class,” she said. “I really believe in cooperative or collaborative learning.”

Outside of Fisher, Vacca is working on a project relating to the Sept. 11 tragedies and how they affected the Rochester area. The project, she said, will be an archive of materials from newspaper and television as well as personal articles from members of Monroe County.

“There are so many great things that have been done by people throughout this county,” she said.

“We are getting a lot of interesting things.”

The display will include pictures, various forms of writing, quilts and many other mementos concerning the day of the attacks.

Vacca hopes that the project will be done soon but said that it is an ongoing process because a lot of people are still dealing with the tragedy.

Somewhere in her busy schedule she has found time for a family.

“I have a really wonderful husband and three great kids,” she said.

“I don’t know if I would call [them] my greatest achievement or my greatest blessing,” Vacca said.

As for the future, Vacca plans to remain in the area, possibly even at Fisher.

“In 10 years, I still plan to be the county historian and I want to still be teaching,” she said. “If it is it at Fisher, that’d be nice.”

Cardinal Courier

OFF THE WALL

Rainbow bugs and banjo girl: A night with Chris Bruder S TA F F W R I T E R

Page 9 April 23, 2002

Will you hold me?

Jay and Aubs scoured campus looking for people to hold them. Here are a few that made the cut.

JAY ADAMS

Have you ever had a weird dream that makes you wonder if it really happened? Have you ever had your roommates complain because you were talking in your sleep the night before? How about finding yourself walking in your sleep trying to swat at rainbow colored bugs? If you answered yes to any of these questions, especially the last one, then you and sophomore Chris Bruder have a lot to talk about.

For Bruder, swatting at rainbow colored bugs in his sleep is an every night occurrence. He has experienced some wild and crazy dreams, or “hallucinations,” as he likes to call them, for the past few years of his life. “[Eight years ago], I started having reoccurring dreams that someone was breaking into my window,” said Bruder, “I’d totally flip out and yell and scream about it and fall back asleep. Now it’s evolved into so much more.”

Bruder says that his dreams are not very “dream-like.”

“When these dreams happen, I really believe that I’m awake because the room doesn’t change except for whatever dream I’m seeing. That’s why I freak out.”

Not only does Bruder freak himself out with these unique dreams, but also they make him quite difficult to live with.

“Last year, my roommates and I had our beds bunked. Jon Mercer was in the bed above me and one night I had a dream that a bookshelf was falling on me. Apparently, I flipped out and pushed up on the bottom of his bed. His bed came completely off the pegs and he almost fell out,” said Bruder.

Mercer was not amused when he was almost thrown out of his top bunk by his hallucinating roommate.

Kevin Aubrey

Juli Leavens, Kristen Deyoe, and Elise Burmeier give Aubs a hug.

Laying in his bed, Chris Bruder calmly dreams of rainbow bugs.

“It was unusual to say the least.

At first, I thought I was the one that was dreaming, but after I realized I wasn’t, my main objective was to wake him up so I wouldn’t take a swan dive onto the floor,” said Mercer.

From that night on, Mercer never went to bed without a hockey stick near by.

However, instead of Mercer taking a swan dive to the plush carpeting of the Fisher dorms, Bruder was the victim of his own unconscious insanity this year. One of Bruder’s current roommates, Kevin Keiser, has witnessed these weird happenings.

“Bruder has a loft bed. One night, he was hanging from his bed mumbling something. Our other roommate, Mike Porano, told him to be careful because he was falling out of bed. He fell anyways,” said Keiser. “He then stood up and looked at me like he was frightened of me, then he ran to the door.

Eventually, he just went back to bed.”

As scary as this may sound to be awakened in the middle of the night by a sleepwalking roommate, both Mercer and Keiser agree that it is something they’ve gotten used to.

“As you got more and more used to him screaming in his sleep, you would either sleep through it or tell him to shut up,” said Mercer.

For Bruder however, there is an upside to his sleep phenomenon.

It’s a great way to meet the girl of your dreams- literally.

“Freshman year, I was going home for Thanksgiving break.

Because of the snow, I couldn’t leave [campus] until the day after break started,” Bruder said.

“I called a friend to pick me up and while I waited for him I decided to take a little nap. After a while, I woke up and saw this girl wearing a straw hat, blue jeans, and a piece of hay in her mouth.

She was playing the banjo on my roommate’s desk. She was about my age and she was pretty hot too!”

And what man wouldn’t want to wake up to a hot girl playing the banjo?

As for the future, Bruder hopes that his “hallucinations” stick around for a while.

“They make life interesting. It’s better than just going to bed and not remembering what you dreamt about in the morning. It’s just really entertaining.”

Jay gets friendly with the statue outside Ward hall.

Tim Vink’s version of holding Jay.

Charlene Husser, Bethanne Foust, and Lisa Kuczmarski embrace Jay.

Scott Friedman gives Aubs a piggy back ride.

Inside the twisted mind of Phil Lorigo S TA F F W R I T E R

KEVIN AUBREY

In a smoke-filled room he sits silently sipping his coffee and making snide remarks at every opportunity. His trademarked black framed glasses and spiked blondish hair in full effect and a wry grin coming on his face.

It’s time to FOCUS ON… Phil Lorigo.

Q: So first off, give us all a glimpse into the every day life of Phil?

A: Living off campus is a change for me, considering I spent my first three years on campus. It was a pain cleaning snow off your car early in the morning, but it does have its benefits. There’s no way I could get away with shouting into a megaphone on my front porch at 2 a.m. on campus. Listen for me every Tuesday night. I’ll try to bust out Freebird.

Q: Any major pet peeves you’d like to share?

Like meats-in-a-can or overuse of the word “So.” A: I got really sick of that whole winter thing. I figure I hit my breaking point with snow around age 18. Now it’s [Phil pulls out a calculator and punches numbers for a while] three years later, so

I’ve had three-years-too-many of snow. Snow is the Tony Danza of weather effects.

Q: Word ‘round the campfire’ says you are pretty nifty with card tricks?

A: Totally. Like, all you have to do is pick a card, and I’ll be disgusted with you.

Q: They ever get you anywhere?

A: I’m sick of them now. I thought they were really cool to do, then I realized they’re card tricks.

Card tricks just aren’t cool. I used to think I could break dance when I was 4. I thought I was cool then.

I wasn’t. And I’m not now.

Q: I hear you are also good with computers?

A: Yeah, sadly. I might as well just start playing Dungeons & Dragons to totally become a dork.

The computer field is a lucrative one, but I had to change my major from Computer Science. I just didn’t like programming. Plus I sucked at it.

Q: So what are you majoring in now?

A: English. I was hoping to get a degree in Sanskrit, but it turns out anyone who is really into Sanskrit most likely has a foot fetish. I read that on the Internet. I’m onthe-line!

Q: What year are you in here

Kevin Aubrey

Along with maramalade, Phil loves the camera.

at Fisher?

A: I’m in my fourth year, but I’m technically a junior. I’m on my third major, so I’m a little behind.

Plus, since tuition is about $20,000, I think I can totally bankrupt my mom if I change my major a few more times.

Q: What do you think of Fisher?

A: That is such a loaded question. Why don’t you just ask me to denounce my religion?

Q: So you plan to graduate sometime, and then what?

A: I’m going to be famous. Yeah, I heard all you have to do is mail

Hollywood a letter with your name on it, and you’re in. I’ll be heading west to do something with TV, movies or homelessness. Being homeless is obviously my third choice.

Q: Obviously, so what do you do for fun?

A: Well, being able to legally drink is a nice way to “let off steam” on the weekends. And Tuesdays. And before every class.

Seriously, alcoholism isn’t funny.

And neither is Carrot Top. Q: Yeah, there’s only so many times a person can be told how to make a collect call, any other special interests you have?

A: Marmalade, and a little writing.

Q: Do you ever publish any of your writing?

A: In bathrooms stalls, bus stations and Redbook. I think something of mine might be in The Angle, but I’m not sure if it got in.

Also, I use that Internet to publish stuff. I’m on-the-line, buddy! I’ve got the email. http://www.rebelalliance.net is a fun place where I write.

Q: Ever publish any of your Marmalade?

A: Those Smuckers people are like a fickle little girl. They have stringent marmalade guidelines.

And they make you do a physical challenge, Double Dare style, if you want to get in their dirty little guild. I draw the line at physical challenges.

Q: What about aspects of culture that venture far beyond the realm of sandwich condiments, like movies, music, TV? Ever get into that?

A: I recently found out that FOX cancelled Family Guy. That’s no good. And if I could smite those damn RBI commercials they show late at night when I’m watching such quality programming as Blind Date and The People’s Court, I might die a little less each night.

Q: You are kind of a small guy about 5’ 10” 160 pounds soaking wet, any problems with bullies? To some people you kind of scream “bully target?”

A: Actually, I stopped screaming “bully target.” My new thing is to yell “your girlfriend is fat” at guys in bars. It has the same effect.

Q: Maybe you should have tried the card tricks instead….

A: Maybe you should have tried to get into McDonalds U. Q: Touché. Describe yourself in one word for the Fisher community?

A: Sometimes.

IN FOCUS Woodlands: Looking Back Page 10

April 23, 2002

S TA F F W R I T E R

JASON MARSHERALL

Words like “Woodlands Estates,” “Shuttle buses,” and “Off-campus housing” weren’t even in the St. John Fisher College vocabulary last May. Now, one year after an over-crowding problem forced the school to expand its walls, students reflect on the year that was.

Life in the Woodlands was unique. Students appreciated the apartment space, including a living room, kitchen (with dishwasher) and closets. But they found themselves in situations they would never have seen on campus – dealing with neighbors – non-Fisher people, families and retirees, who weren’t quite sure what to make of the Fisher students.

“I think that the neighbors thought it was going to be very difficult living near college students, because of the different type of schedule students have, but it didn’t turn out to be that big of a deal,” said Melissa Zeigler, a junior living in the Woodlands.

Zeigler added that she thought she had a great relationship with her neighbors even having snowball fights with the kids who lived next door.

This first year has produced a

Cardinal Courier

variety of challenges and led to some good and bad experiences.

“This was my first year as a professional staff member and this was the school’s first year in the situation, so the experience has been very interesting,” said Michael Puglisi.

Puglisi is an area coordinator who lives at the Woodlands. His responsibilities include overseeing the four resident assistants at the Woodlands and managing the relationship between the Fisher community and other residents.

The shuttle bus that brought students to and from campus to the Woodlands had its own problem. No one ever seemed to use it.

“I have my own car and I don’t like waiting out in the cold for the shuttle,” said Jon Thompson, a junior.

Other students felt the same way about the convenience. “I have my own car and I had an internship so I had to get to places at different times on my own,” said junior Kate Kearney.

Building community was also a challenge for the year at the Woodlands. “I think it’d be a lot better if all the college students lived together in a general area,” said junior Jesse Roberts.

Some students lived close to one another and had a chance to build

their own community, having barbecue dinners together and hanging out on the weekends.

Resident assistants have tried to build community within the Woodlands by encouraging residents to participate in programs like snow tubing and other organized trips and events.

Teresa Curinga, a senior and an RA, said, “most of the communitybuilding has been done by the four people in the individual townhouses.”

But past friendships are what strengthened those ties, said Puglisi. “I don’t think there would be much community in the Woodlands if there were only transfer students there.”

The Office of Residential Life’s idea of having upperclass students live in off-campus housing was a way to transition them to the feeling of the “real world.” The results seem to be successful.

“I don’t know if I’m more prepared, but I think living over here definitely gave people the opportunity to experience what it’d be like to live in an apartment or out on their own, without just throwing them into the situation their first year out of college,” said Roberts.

Zeigler added, “I think it was a great step for us to be off-campus but still maintain part of the cam-

Kevin Aubrey

Junior Dave Finch taunts roommate Paul Emborsky during a game of NHL 2K2 in the living room of their Woodlands townhouse. pus feel. It was nice to be able to come home at the end of the day and just sit in a living room, rather than only having your bedroom to go to.”

For some students, though, living off-campus and having a mandatory meal plan was a real drawback. “I don’t use all 14 meals and I have my own kitchen,”

Thompson said.

That issue has been settled.

After originally deciding not to offer the Woodlands next year, the college decided to bring it back as an option for upperclass students.

Next year, though, the meal plan will be optional. I think that’s probably a good idea,” Zeigler said.

Studies Apathy infests campus Sports sees rapid growth S TA F F W R I T E R

S TA F F W R I T E R

CHRISTAN VOSBURGH

While the Fisher student body has grown over the years, so has the lack of student involvement on campus. Although many activities are offered on campus, the number of students participating is relatively low.

Organizations such as Jo Roffs, the yearbook, have had difficulty recruiting people to be on the staff.

One staff member, sophomore Kristen Basillion, claims that there are only four people working on it. “This is enough, but it would be easier if we had more people on it.” She says that “for the past few years, their staff has been nothing.”

Other campus events which were once popular, have been faltering in recent years. In the height of the Teddi Dance, more than 400 dancers rallied together to raise upwards of $67,000 to benefit Camp Good Days.

In recent years, the numbers have fallen and dancers have only raised sums in the low $20,000 range. This year, the 20th anniversary, was not as successful as the committee had hoped, raising only $21,900.

“It’s really sad that there isn’t more student involvement because not only does being a member of a club give you some pride in your college, it also teaches you skills that you could never learn in the classroom,” says Junior Vanessa Cardinale, vice president of the Council of Presidents (COP).

Although “each year is different,” Beth Herberger, director of Student Life, has noticed a lot of apathy on campus this year in particular.

“It is probably a result of Sept.

11,” she says.

With the two-week delay for campus organizations to start because of the disaster, it was hard to plan events so “there weren’t many in the fall.”

Herberger believes that because

ALEXIS SPECK

Alexis Speck

The April 17 showing of “Ali,” sponsored by SAB, drew a small crowd.

Fisher is a “mixed group” with commuters, workers, athletes, and adults, the student body is “involved a little less in student life.” They have other things to do outside of the school environment.

Despite the fact that there were more events this spring than last fall, Jessica Morse, president of the Student Activities Board (SAB), says, “it seems that the same group of people come to the events.” Those who attend the SAB events, for example, are the people who “consistently go to other organization’s events.”

Another possible reason for this lack of involvement is the physical set up of the college without a student union. Barry L. Wells, the student life director at Syracuse University, believes that part of the reason Syracuse has captured the interest of its students is that the university atmosphere is conducive for involvement.

With a large central quad and the Schine Student Center, “it is hard not to see different aspects of student life that will interest you,” he says.

Besides the lack of a student union, it’s not always easy for Fisher students to find out about events. “The biggest thing is that

students don’t know where to look,” says Morse. “There are things out there.”

Her organization advertises through “flyers, bulletin boards, email, and campus newsletters.”

Herberger believes there are many ways to capture students’ attention. They just need to “keep their eyes out for flyers,” she said.

They will find something that will spark their interest.

Besides that, involvement in student activities helps students build their resumes, she said.

“Employers are not just looking at grades, but involvement in the community as well.”

Most students say they would be more involved if there were more social activities or such incentives as extra credit.

Andre Lewis, a junior, claims that he would attend more events “if it was something that could get me a job.” While he is already involved in intramural basketball, he is too busy for the other events that the school offers. “There are just no incentives to attend.”

The SAB says it is listening and offering more incentives to students, with the hopes that “events will be on the rise.”

As Fisher is growing in size, both in facilities and student population, so are the programs offered.

In 1998, the Sports Studies program was introduced to the student body, offering two classes.

Now in 2002, the program has grown to include 10 classes such as: Introduction to Sports, History of Sport, Psychology of Sport and Sport Marketing and Promotions.

“I like to think that we are the pioneers in creating new programs that will be offered to students,” said Greg Austin, professor in the sports studies program.

Currently there are 60-80 students enrolled in the program including both majors and minors.

The program has one graduating senior and is anticipating 15 for 2003. According to Austin, freshman and sophomores dominate the program.

The department has two staff members, Greg Austin and Michael Gibbons. Austin said that they bring a lot of adjunct teachers

to help teach the classes.

Following graduation, many sports studies majors will go on to work as athletic directors, tournament directors, ticketing agents, sports team managers and work in marketing departments for sports teams.

“With a degree, there is a vast area of job opportunity. Especially with a liberal arts background, we hope that our students will be prepared to work in many areas,” said Austin.

The Sports Studies Department requires its students to complete an internship before graduating.

Currently many students work with the Rochester Amerks, Rhinos and Red Wings. According to Austin, they are exploring possible internships with the Buffalo Bills and Toronto Maple Leafs. Currently, 10 to 12 students are participating in internships.

“This is a competitive field and we want to give our students cutting edge information. The internship is one of the most important parts of our program,’ said Austin.

S.S. major explains all Angela Blauvelt is a junior majoring in Sports Studies.

Speck: What are your goals for a career in sports?

Blauvelt: I plan to graduate in 2003 with a degree in Sports Studies and then go on to graduate school anywhere in the U.S. Speck: What led you to a career in sports?

Blauvelt: Sports have always been a huge part of my life and I find it interesting. I started off as a business major and switched to sports studies my sophomore year.

The sports program has an interesting twist.

Speck: So far, what has been your most beneficial class?

Blauvelt: Sport Law, but it was also the most challenging. So

much in the sports world comes back to the law.

Speck: How do you think this major is going to help you with your career?

Blauvelt: I am currently doing an internship with the athletic department here at Fisher and the hands on experience is very valuable.

Speck: Would you recommend this major to other students?

Blauvelt: If you are interested in sports it is an excellent major.

Sports will always be one of the greatest forms of entertainment in our country, so it will always be a growing field. I think the program at Fisher prepares you for that.

SPORTS Kornaker settles in as Kahler head basketball coach inducted into Hall

Page 11

Cardinal Courier

April 23, 2002

his young team consisting of eight freshmen to a record of 13-13 overall and into the Eastern College With old players graduating and Athletic College new players coming in, the Fisher playoffs before men’s varsity basketball team losing to a tough underwent some changes this past St Lawrence team year. However, the most important in the first round. change of all wasn’t the new play“We set a lot of ers, it was the new coach. goals for ourRob Kornaker has worked at selves in the Fisher for several years now combeginning of the ing here as Residential Life direc- Kornaker season, and we tor and Golf coach before joining the basketball staff 2 years ago as made most of them. The good part an assistant coach. This season about having such a young team is however, Kornaker stepped up the potential. If the guys work from assistant coach to take the hard in the off season they can reins of the Fisher squad after only get bigger and better,” Kornaker said. longtime head coach “I’m really Although this is his Bob Ward retired. rookie year here at Fish“I am really excited, excited, the er Kornaker is far from it’s nice to be doing future looks being new to the game. what I love again. Also, really bright, “I played all through we have a great group college at Alfred Uniof guys and that makes and I can’t versity, then I did some my job that much more wait for next coaching there and at fun.” Kornaker said. year.”

Alfred state.

I left Kornaker’s initial season as head coach is highlight- Alfred to take the head job in ed by the win over the University Geneseo, so I have been coaching of Rochester in the Chase tourna- for about 11 years.”

Along with competing on the ment.

“They beat us the first time we court Kornaker has a substantial played pretty bad, so when we family life. He has a 6-year-old played again they didn’t show us a daughter, Alexis, and a 3-year-old lot of respect and were kind of son Griffin who keep him and his looking past us, but the guys wife Leslie busy.

“It’s a tough job for my family played hard. We had a game plan worked out that we drilled in prac- because I am away a lot, but I tice and they executed it. It was recently took my daughter with me the first time I felt that I had made on a scouting trip, so sometimes it works out well.” a difference as a coach here.”

In any spare time he has, KorThis season Kornaker piloted S TA F F W R I T E R

KEVIN AUBREY

naker likes to spend it on the golf course, “I love playing and watching golf, it’s a good way to unwind.”

“I am not that old, though,” he said wryly, “I get into some music like Counting Crows and Toad the Wet Sprocket. I’m not a big movie guy, but I like some action movies like Steven Seagal and stuff like that.”

His choice in mellow music seems to spill over into his coaching style, most of the time. “I try to keep my jacket on, to show respect to the game and the guys, but it doesn’t always work,” he said grinning. “There were a couple times this year that it came off when I got a little upset, my main quirk is that I am really competitive and I absolutely hate losing.”

The future looks bright for Fisher, according to Kornaker with promising recruits who have shown interest in the college.

“We’ve got a kid from Bishop Ludden who is 6’ 7” and he is already committed, and a couple of other kids that are interested that could come in and play for us, so it looks promising.”

Kornaker looks forward to next season as seven of his top eight players are returning for another year of cardinal basketball. “We have almost everyone coming back to play next year,” he said.

As Kornaker looks towards next year with top players returning and the new recruits coming in he says the only way to go is up, “I’m really excited, the future looks really bright, and I can’t wait for next year.”

SOFTBALL continued from Page 12 “The team unity this year is better than any year I’ve ever played on any team,” says Constantino.

Everyone gets along, plays hard and works well together.”

Mance says the key to the team’s success is the effort the entire

team has put forth this year.

“We’re more focused this year, and everyone has stepped up in a big way,” says Mance. “It’s a total team effort.”

A unanimous goal for the team is to return to the NCAA Tourna-

ment and advance to the College World Series for the first time in school history. They won’t be satisfied with just getting there, however. A National Championship is the ultimate goal and the team is convinced it can be done.

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

BARI MANCE

For a man who has never scored a point at St. John Fisher, coach Phil Kahler, has certainly left his mark at the college and the state.

On Saturday, March 23, 2002, Kahler was inducted into the New York State Basketball Hall of Fame at the Glens Falls Civic Center in Glens Falls, NY. With his normal calm and collected attitude Kahler was gracious and thanked everyone who supported him over the years.

“Well, I was very appreciative of the Athletic department, my players and formers players who came, and my family to come and waste a day I guess,” Kahler said laughing.

Junior forward Nicole Yandon recalls Kahler during his speech.

“He was pretty light-hearted and funny. I remember him saying, ‘We didn’t lose any of those 128 games, it’s those damn zebras, they get ya every time’.”

All joking aside, Kahler has the best winning percentage in all of NCAA basketball and has compiled a 628-128 record over 28 years at the college.

“I am only as good as my players,” Kahler says, “and I have just always gotten good kids and good players.”

Among the large group of friends and family that were at the ceremony, Athletic Director Bob Ward went to show his support.

“Phil is in our hall of fame, now the New York State Hall of Fame. I imagine that one day he will be in

the National Basketball Hall of Fame,” Ward said. “It doesn’t matter what level you coach at, when you become the all-time winningest coach at that level, that is going to get you into a lot of Hall of Fames.

“What makes Phil stand out is the number of wins and the percentage he has. He has a lot of wins compared to not a lot of losses.”

Senior Tracy Vanderlip agrees.

“We were very proud of him,” Vanderlip says.

“He was representing our school, I mean he’s our coach. Who wouldn’t be proud?”

“I think he is a good guy, a good coach. Obviously he knows what he was doing to receive an honor like this,” sophomore guard Jen Kristensen added.

Kahler started the women’s basketball program in 1974. In addition to being the women’s basketball coach, Kahler was at one time, the sports information director, the athletic director and the women’s volleyball coach.

“When I came here, there were only two teams, basketball and men’s soccer. Now we have 16.

That is saying a lot,” Kahler said.

So, even though Kahler has been coaching at different levels for over 45 years, he doesn’t seem to be slowing down.

“This job is my hobby,” “I have been lucky enough to get paid for a hobby. I won’t stop coaching until the day comes where I don’t think it’s fun anymore. Right now it is still fun.”

Should Fisher athletics seek sponsorship?

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

MATT PALMER

While a cloud of sweatshop allegations still lingers over Nike’s head and a local high school comes under criticism for its partnership with Nike, opinions at St. John Fisher College differ on what should be done if the corporate giant came knocking.

Rob Kornaker, head coach of the men’s basketball team at Fisher said that he would be in favor of a sponsorship deal with Nike, in which the Oregon-based company would provide athletic equipment and apparel to the department along with other donations to the college. “I would advocate the college to negotiate with any company that could provide it with funding and support for our athletic program,” said Kornaker.

“I wish we as an athletic department used one company, it would certainly help us with concern to price,” Kornaker said.

Kornaker added that the agreement would have to benefit the entire program and not just one or two of the teams at Fisher. Much of the frustration in the athletic department is due to the fact that every athlete and coach has their own personal preference to apparel, a concern that he raised as well.

Scott Pitoniak, one time Buffalo

Bills reporter, and sports reporting adjunct at Fisher, saw the importance of financial support for college athletics but was concerned over the increase in corporate sponsorships across the country.

“There is a part of me that is very much bothered by the commercialization of sports,” Pitoniak said, comparing the commercialization of sports to a “sensory assault” of advertising.

While corporate sponsorship at Fisher is visible, most notably by the Buffalo Bills Training Camp and Frontier’s Cyber Cafe, the concerns that are raised in regard to Nike are of a different nature.

Nike’s troubles stem back to an October 1996 CBS News special which alleged labor rights violations of Nike workers in Vietnam.

Since then the term ‘sweatshop’ has become commonplace, and the athletic-wear company has been fighting to shake that stigma.

Local concern has recently been increased by a sponsorship agreement between Nike and McQuaid Jesuit High School, making McQuaid one of approximately 150 high schools across the country that have such agreements with Nike. The Rev. Philip Judge, McQuaid’s principal, has both been applauded and criticized for his decision to allow the sponsorship to take place.

The University of North Carolina, who recently established a $28.34 million, eight-year contract with Nike, required an anti-sweatshop clause in their partnership that would force Nike to adhere to certain social responsibility principles.

Michael Gibbons, assistant professor and chair of sport studies at Fisher said “I would want to see the wording of the clause to see if it had any ‘teeth’ to it before making a decision on whether a Nike/Fisher agreement would be acceptable to me.” Gibbons added that at this time he would not be in favor of such an agreement.

Fisher Religious Studies Professor, Nathan R. Kollar summed up his view toward a possible sponsorship between Nike and St. John Fisher College by referring back to the controversy at McQuaid. “I would feel the same way the parents did who opposed it when McQuaid became a Nike partner,” Kollar said.

Others see comparing the deal with McQuaid and Fisher like comparing apples and oranges.

Hemant Sashittal, associate professor in the management department at Fisher, says that he would have no problem with such a deal.

“For high school kids, no, but we are not high school kids,” Sashittal said.

Brad Ettinger, who plays for the Fisher Football team, sees the direct benefits that corporate sponsorship has given the school, noting that the recent improvements of the football facilities due to the hosting of the Buffalo Bills training camp as proof.

Ettinger said he would have no problem with such a deal because most of the gear that they have is Nike anyway. In his view any funding given to the athletic department for something that is already being done is a win/win situation.

Heather Hudson, a junior in the Communications/Journalism program and a member of the Fisher tennis team, thought that such an agreement would be good for the school and students.

She explained that there are no ‘uniforms’ on her team and part of that is due to the fact that every player is responsible for purchasing their own tennis outfits. After explaining how she spent nearly $100 of her own money on apparel, Hudson said she would welcome a Nike sponsorship that supplied the athletic uniforms, especially if they created a standard uniform.

Michael Ginestre, adjunct professor at Fisher and account supervisor at the local advertising firm Buck & Pulleyn, agreed with Kornaker on several points. He felt that it would be beneficial to Fish-

er to have a single athletic-wear provider for financial reasons, and that as long as the deal reached benefited both sides, without limiting the college in some way, he would approve of such a promotion.

Sara Hughes, a philosophy major at Fisher, knows the importance of the school’s financial needs but doesn’t think that big corporations on campus are a good idea. “I don’t like the way that Nike exploits labor,” she said, adding that such sponsorships leads to further exploitation for profit.

Don Alcott, a junior in the Communications /Journalism program shares some of the same concerns, and said that the decision should be ultimately up to the students since they are the ones participating in athletics at the college.

Kornaker said that any company thinking about entering a partnership with Fisher would have to be one that did not take advantage of its workers. “But to be totally honest with you, large companies, like Nike and Reebok, are not usually interested in that (sponsorship) as they get nothing in return, we are simply too small for them,” Kornaker said.

SPORTS Men’s lacrosse hits Fisher Page 12

April 23, 2002

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

SHARON ALLEN

St. John Fisher’s new lacrosse coach, Craig Camp, has low expectations but lots of enthusiasm for his young team.

“There’s a lot of promise for us although no one expects much of us,” said Camp. “Our motto is ‘getting better’.”

Camp, 31, spoke to a class of about 30 St. John Fisher students about his goals and hopes for his team. This is the first year the college will have a men’s lacrosse team.

“To say we’re a young team is an understatement,” said Camp. “We have 23 players that are walk-ons who have never played before.”

Of the team’s 33 players, only three were recruited athletes. This was because Camp didn’t start recruiting until June, when most athletes had already chosen their colleges.

“Our biggest handicap is lack of game experience,” said Camp. “We are part of the Empire 8 Conference which is one of the toughest in the country.”

Other teams in this conference include Hartwick, Ithaca, Utica, RIT, Nazareth, Elmira, and Alfred.

Fisher will not play Nazareth this year, although Camp is hopeful that in the future a rivalry develops between the two.

“Rivalries are very important,” said Camp. “Rivalries build tradition.”

Camp was hired in June of last year after finishing out the season as head coach for Monroe Commu-

Cardinal Courier

nity College’s (MCC) lacrosse team. Initially he had respectfully declined Fisher’s offer, but said he would be interested after the last game of his team at MCC. Camp said the major differences between Fisher and MCC are the students, the team relationships that develop, and the spectator support. He said that at two-year schools there isn’t enough time for the students and team to become established and grow together.

I’m used to coaching more experienced players,” Camp said. “My biggest challenge at Fisher is patience and making sure that we have the basic foundation of offense and defense philosophies.”

Camp’s position is part time which means he is working another full time job. In addition to his full work schedule, he and his wife had a baby girl in December.

Camp took the time to make the team’s spring trip to Tampa Bay, Fl. in March. He believes that spring trips are important for team unity.

“If there are two guys on the team who don’t like each other, I put them together and make them roommates,” said Camp. “It makes for interesting meals.”

The team raised money for the trip from raffles and shirt sales, generating $12,000 between October and February. This amazed Camp, who said that other team’s members had to pay for airfare out of their own pockets.

According to Camp, lacrosse, hockey and football are the most expensive sports. He said it costs at least $325 to fully equip each

Alexis Speck

Fisher’s first ever mens lacrosse team huddles together with their signature sticks in the air. player.

“Right now we don’t have a budget,” said Camp. “A start-up budget is huge.”

Camp said he can’t predict what

his budget will look like, but under ideal circumstances, the budget would run $25,000 or more.

Camp said recruiting is going well and he already has verbal

commitments from athletes at West Genesee High School in Syracuse. He told students the key to being a good coach is being exposed to other coaches.

Women’s softball earns national ranking CONTRIBUTING WRITER

JOE VENNIRO

When you think of St. John Fisher College Softball, the first thought that enters your mind is winning. In 1999, the team set a school record for wins with 39.

Last year, Fisher earned a birth into the prestigious NCAA Division III tournament for the first time in school history.

This year is no different, as the Cardinals are off to the best start in school history with a 21-3-1 record in its first 25 games. In addition, Fisher is nationally ranked for the first time in school history. Even with the fast start, Fisher head coach Len Maiorani says the team still has room for improvement.

“We’re not hitting the ball the way we should,” said Maiorani, “and the defense hasn’t been exactly what we have expected, but the pitching has been very good.”

During the first 25 games this season, Fisher has outscored its opponents 163-51. The team has nine shutouts this season and has allowed two runs or less in 19 games.

Maiorani gives most of the credit for the team’s fast start to his five seniors, first baseman Jen Constantino, pitcher Marti Hawkins, third baseman Nicole Lanieu, catcher Bari Mance and designated hitter Mollie Schnieble.

“The seniors have been tremendous this year,” says Maiorani.

What can you say about Lanieu?

She’s having her typical All-American type-season, Mollie’s (Schnieble) been leading the team in hitting and Bari (Mance) has stepped up big time. She’s always

shown that she has the ability to be a great catcher, but she had never played more than 10-12 games a year before this year.

Marti (Hawkins) has been pitching great for us all four years and this year is no exception. Cos (Constantino) is having a career season and is becoming a team leader on and off the field.”

Constantino, Lanieu and Schnieble have played in all 25 games, with Schneible, the team’s designated hitter, leading the team with 34 hits, 25 runs scored and 13 stolen bases in as many attempts, while maintaining a .400 bating average.

Constantino is right behind Schneible with a .391 average, but leads the team with four home runs and 30 runs batted in, also contributing a team-high 13 walks and eight doubles.

Lanieu is batting .322, with a team-high three triples. She has also chipped in with seven doubles, two home runs and 22 runs batted in. Mance got off to a hot start in Florida and has maintained it, batting .290 with one home run and six RBIs. Hawkins is 8-1 in nine appearances this season with a 1.33 earned run average in 59 innings.

With the bat, Hawkins is batting a robust .857 (6-for-7) and has reached base in nine of her 10 plate appearances this year.

In addition to the seniors, Fisher has received significant contributions on offense from outfielders Amanda Kent and Jen Telle. Kent, who already holds the career record for home runs and was a Second Team All-American in 2001, is off to another fine start, batting .356 with three homers

courtesy of Jen Telle

Sophomore Nikki Cordaro throws the ball to Jen Constantino, a senior, during a game. and 25 RBIs. The junior has 10 stolen bases in 11 attempts. Telle, a sophomore, is batting a teamhigh .447, with 17 hits in 38 atbats.

Perhaps the biggest surprise this season has been the contribution of pitcher Jen Dauer. Dauer, a freshman from Clay, NY, is 8-0 this season, with five shutouts, including two no-hitters, and an unheard of 0.40 earned run average. In 53 innings, Dauer has allowed three earned runs. On March 8, Dauer threw a no-hitter in just her third career start, striking out four against previously unbeaten Clark College. Dauer’s next no-hitter would come in grand fashion.

Dauer says stepping in as freshman and making an impact has gone smoothly because of her teammates.

“It’s easy with this team,” says Dauer. “I know if the ball gets hit, they’re going to take care of it.”

On April 12, Sophomore Keely Forbes and Dauer threw back-toback no-hitters in a doubleheader against D’Youville College, a feat that has never been accomplished in school history to date. In game one, Forbes struck out 11, including nine of the first ten batters in a 9-0 win.

Right after, Dauer equaled Forbes’ dominance, striking out 10 in an 8-0 victory.

That was the second career no-

hitter for Forbes who set a Fisher record for most wins in a season last year with 18. This season, the left-hander is off to another fine start with a 5-2 record and 0.80 earned run average.

Despite a 7-1-1 record in March at the Gene Cusis Classic in Florida, Maiorani felt he needed to make a drastic overhaul of his left side of the infield.

He moved four-year starting shortstop Nicole Lanieu over to third base, while moving incumbent third baseman Nikki Cordaro over to second. Next, he inserted freshman Gwen Nesselbeck into Cordaro’s spot at shortstop. Maiorani said it was a move that was necessary.

“Nikki (Cordaro) struggled a little bit defensively down in Florida, and third base is such a quick moving position, I wanted to move her over to second where she will be able to have the extra time to make plays,” Maiorani said. “Lanieu is such a great athlete, I knew she would be able to make the change down to third without a problem.

Gwen (Nesselbeck) is a great shortstop who steps in and gives us solid defense.”

Cordaro’s bat has been key in Fisher’s hot start as she and Constantino share the team lead with four homers.

Lanieu said the move was able to work so well because of the way everyone gets along and respects each other.

“The biggest key is our team unity,” Lanieu says. “Everybody clicks, we have great team chemistry.”

Constantino agrees.

Continued on Page 11