Campus Report - Vol. 37, No. 4

S U P M CA ORT P E R UN

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O N n Vo O F D AY T IV E R S IT Y

On the road again PAGE 7

Rudy and the Flyer Pep Band help re-open the Stewart Street bridge

NEWS & NOTES

For

INSIDE 4 Get ready to step onto a new porch — UD’s new Web portal.

6 After more than 20 years, Father Johann Roten, S.M., is stepping down as Marian Library director.

7 Ohio is fifth among U.S. states for human trafficking, something UD is working to help change.

8 Faculty in a new light, the opera spotlight.

MANDI BÄCK Senior soccer forward Mandi Bäck, a team co-captain, led the Flyers in scoring all four of her years and is the only Flyer to be named Atlantic 10 First Team all four seasons.

At the end of the 2009 season, she took the penalty shot that sent UD to the second round of the NCAA tournament in November. She will graduate in December 2010 with a degree in exercise science.

You made the winning goal in the penalty shootout that sent your team to the second round of the NCAA tournament. How’s that feel?

I was really, really nervous, but it was a great feeling. I was thinking if [Marquette midfielder Julia Victor] makes her shot, it’s all up to me.

It’s what everyone wants to have happen to them — last shot, game on the line. It’s awesome.

That has to be one of the highlights of your career. What are some others?

This whole year was the best senior year ever. We went undefeated all season until the last game. Won the A-10. We had all these goals for the season, and at the end, we’d achieved them.

Who are some of your favorite soccer players?

Campus Report, distributed the first Friday of every month during the first two terms of the academic year, is published by the University communications office for University of Dayton faculty and staff. E-mail news digests are sent every other Thursday.

Campus mail: 2963 E-mail: campusreport@udayton.edu Phone: 229-3241; fax: 229-3063 Michelle Tedford, editor Larry Burgess, photographer Frank Pauer, designer Campus Report is printed on recyclable paper made from 10 percent post-consumer fiber.

Applause

Brother Joseph Kamis, S.M. ’69, has been selected assistant provincial for the Marianist Province of the United States effective July 1, 2010.

He joins the new provincial, Father Martin Solma, S.M. ’71, as the nucleus of the new provincial team.

Beth Ann Saracco ’09 received the Undergraduate Research Award by the Forum on Education Abroad for her honors thesis, “¡Justicia Ahora!

The Movement for Justice in Chile and Guatemala.” Saracco conducted the research while studying in Valparaiso, Chile, and will present her findings at the Forum Conference in Charlotte, N.C., in March. She currently works as a legislative correspondent with U.S. Congressman John Tanner (D-Tenn).

UDRI distinguished research chemist Robert Kauffman received an award Nov. 12 from R&D Magazine for developing one of the most technologically significant new products of 2009. Kauffman’s self-healing wire aims to prevent aircraft fire and explosions due to faulty wiring.

Go, Dayton Flyers

Fall sports teams are finishing some of their best seasons in UD history.

The A-10 champion women’s soccer team — undefeated in the regular season — won the opening round of the NCAA Tournament Nov. 13 at

2 University of Dayton Campus Report Dec. 4, 2009

Baujan Field before 1,083 ticketholders, with hundreds more rooting from outside the chainlink fence. Men’s soccer won the regular season and made a run at the A-10 title, falling to Saint Louis in the finals. Volleyball won the regular season A-10 title and the A-10 Tournament, overcoming a 0-2 deficit against Saint Louis in the nationally televised final and securing a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Football won a share of its 10th Pioneer League title with a Senior Day victory over Marist, finishing the season 9-2. Cross country runner Chris Lemon was named the A-10’s Student-Athlete of the Year, and women’s cross country captured

You’re an exercise science major. Are there things you’re learning in class that you’re applying on the field or in your training?

its first-ever Atlantic 10 title.

I think it’s really interesting seeing what affects your body when you exercise. And nutrition, I’ve learned a lot about that. I have really bad eating habits, so I try to eat better. But I still eat fried things, stuff from back home. I snack all the time.

Meals for more

Fifteen executive leaders of the Meals On Wheels Association of America learned skills to help expand their senior nutrition programs during a Center for Leadership and Executive Development executive training session Nov. 11-13.

Teresa Barry, board chairman for the national organization, estimates one in nine seniors in the U.S. is at risk of hunger. The executives traveled to UD from 11 states for the training. “We need to help them find funds and help them find volunteers,” she said.

The University inoculated 981 students against H1N1 in clinics Nov. 5 and Nov. 19.

Additional clinics may be scheduled this month. The goal is to reduce the likelihood of a large outbreak by immunizing 75 percent of residents in the four residence halls with shared bathrooms: Marycrest, Marianist, Founders and Stuart, said Edel Jesse of student development.

Tell me about the umlaut in your last name.

My dad is from Holland. He was born there. It makes the a sound like an e. It’s pronounced beck.

Now that the season’s over, what will you miss, and what are you most looking forward to?

ADRIAN EARHART

So, you think you know every nook and cranny of campus? See if you can figure out where photographer Larry Burgess has been. If you correctly identify what’s in the above photo and where it was taken, you’ll be entered in a drawing for fabulous prizes.

November’s winner is Peg Mount, who correctly identified the upper corner of College Park Center (where we are; stop by and say hi).

View this and other recent photos at http://campus. udayton.edu/udq/images/ whereslarry/thisweek.html.

CONVERSATION PIECE

WHERE’S LARRY?

My sisters, Shayna and Britni. They played at Cleveland State and Akron. Of course, Mia Hamm. She’s the best women’s soccer player.

Students prepare Kennedy Union for Christmas on Campus. This year’s theme, “All Is Bright,” is an appropriate way to describe the memory of Ellie Kurtz, the annual event’s founder whom the University will honor during this year’s event Tuesday, Dec. 8. Kurtz, who died earlier this year, served as director of KU from 1964 to 1994.

I’ll miss playing on Baujan the most. I have so many memories on that field. All the cheering fans, all of the students. But with the season over, I can focus on what I need to do. Soccer has taken up so much, but now I’m about to graduate. I can focus on that. I’ve got to start my life.

I’m still hoping to play more — in a pro league. I’m trying to train still, but, first, I’ll take a couple of weeks off. I don’t feel like this is the last of me playing.

—Matthew Dewald

ADMINISTRATION

Prospective student visits increasing, partnerships developing Nearly 1,000 more prospective students have visited campus over last fall, Sundar Kumarasamy, vice president for enrollment management, reported to the President’s Council on Nov. 10. However, first-year applications are running slightly behind last year’s record volume.

“We’re very cautiously optimistic at this point,” he said, predicting a “tough year” for student recruitment. “We need to make sure that every prospective student who steps foot on this campus talks to a faculty member.

We’re 20-some percent up in campus visits. That’s our best indicator (for a successful year) at this point.”

The enrollment management staff continues to make inroads in the use of technology in the recruiting process. The office is partnering with GeoTrio to offer digital campus tours on iPhones.

Deborah Read, vice president for University advancement, reported that $4.2 million has been raised this fiscal year, bringing the campaign total to nearly $93.5 million.

Read, who traveled last month to China with President Daniel J. Curran and 16 alumni and spouses, called the launch of the President’s Travel Program a success. At the Read end of the tour, Read and Curran flew to Australia to visit

Marianist high schools and meet with an alumnus who gave a $10 million anonymous gift for scholarships last year. More than 100 students have benefitted.

“The donors were so touched by the letters from student scholarship recipients that the donors stayed up at night to read all of their letters,” she said.

The President’s Council reviewed snow emergency protocol procedures and heard an update on the launch of the human resources and payroll component of the new Banner database system. The system will go live April 1.

Mickey McCabe, vice president for research, briefed administrators on Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland’s designation of Dayton as the state’s Aerospace Hub of Innovation and Opportunity. UD is the lead partner.

“Dayton embraced the idea and put together a white paper ahead of any other community in the state,” McCabe said. “We focused on sensors and high-performance materials — both of which our University is squarely involved in developing.”

McCabe shared news of research chemist Bob Kauffman’s R&D 100 Award for a self-healing wire. He invented it in response to a fatal aircraft accident where faulty wiring may have contributed to a fuel tank explosion.

“If the wire short-circuits, it re-insulates itself,” McCabe said.

JERRY MONNIN

TAKE A BREAK WITH . . .

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ayton.edu

://news.ud

see http more news,

President Curran (center) joins UD alumni, spouses and staff outside Beijing’s Bird’s Nest.

Dec. 4, 2009 University of Dayton Campus Report 3

Kelly named dean of School of Education and Allied Professions Kevin R. Kelly, who recently served as interim dean of the College of Education at Purdue University, will join UD May 1 as dean of the School of Education and Allied Professions.

“Dr. Kelly impressed the campus community with his range of experience, strategic planning skills, strong record of scholarship and his commitment to advancing the University’s leadership in urban and Catholic education,” said Provost Joseph Saliba.

The search committee, chaired by Katie KinnucanWelsch and Lloyd Kelly Laubach, brought

four finalists to campus for interviews this fall.

Kelly, who attended Catholic schools throughout his primary education, said joining a Catholic university will be a homecoming of sorts.

“On a personal level, the Marianist community and mission of the University — and the focus on social justice in a learning environment — is very attractive to me,” he said.

Kelly holds a bachelor’s in psychology from Boston University and a doctorate in counseling psychology from the University of Iowa. During his nearly 15-year tenure at Purdue, he taught graduate-level courses in counseling and career theories and served as adviser on two dozen doctoral dissertations.

He helped bring the National Rural Educational Association to campus, an effort that helped attract support from the Woodrow Wilson Foundation for an initiative to prepare math and science teachers for rural schools. He’s also been involved in Purdue’s P-12 STEM Initiative.

As interim dean, Kelly took on the strategic challenge of improving the College of Education’s U.S. News & World Report ranking, which jumped 20 points in one year.

He will succeed Thomas J. Lasley II, who has served as dean since 1998.

Lasley will remain at UD as executive director of EDvention and be co-located with a corporate education partner.

4 University of Dayton Campus Report Dec. 4, 2009

Stepping onto a new front porch

F

ront porches are a wellknown symbol of community at the University of Dayton. Starting in March with student registration, UD faculty, staff and students will be welcomed into a new digital gathering place called, appropriately, Porches.

“Porches features an attractive new look that fits the University’s branding guidelines and complements our Web presence with internal communication,” said Jaci Jackson, Porches project manager and assistant CIO. “It offers current and reliable campus information in one organized location and delivers targeted messages to the user, leading to fewer mass e-mails to the campus community.”

Porches has been designed as a robust intranet, allowing the University to use its public Web site at www .udayton.edu as primarily an external marketing tool. Through Porches, information will be delivered to users based on their roles at the University, she said. For example, students may see different messaging than either faculty or staff.

“Porches will continue to grow and evolve — all to provide tailored tools and communications that meet the needs of our campus community,” said Jackson. “Since Porches is a place where we all come together, every one of us can play a part in its dynamic growth.”

Porches, which is being developed as part of the ambitious Banner project, will combine student, financial aid, human resources and finance applications in one unified database system. It will replace the University’s current portal, which is underutilized, according to Tom Skill, associate provost and CIO. Last month, 90 campus users

RESEARCH

Better battery

UDRI breakthrough promises longer, safer power for uses from laptops to electric cars

‘Porches features an attractive new look that fits the University’s branding guidelines and complements our Web presence with internal communication.’

began testing Porches — and working out its kinks. Porches looks different from the University’s current portal.

The new Web site will be introduced more widely in phases, starting in February. Some of its new features include the ability to check e-mail and weather conditions, get campus news, watch a video of the week and check the Barrett Dining Room’s daily menu, all the result of suggestions gathered during student, faculty and staff focus groups held last spring. Other features include: n Student registration and record-keeping. Students will register for classes and view grades through Porches. Eventually, prospective students will be able to view

‘Porches will continue to grow and evolve — all to provide tailored tools and communications that meet the needs of our campus community.’ their acceptance status and financial aid awards. n Enhanced access to internal systems. Hourly employees will routinely record their hours through Porches, and all employees will be able to view their vacation and sick leave accruals. Eventually, users will

Above, image of testing site

be able to complete purchase requisitions and orders online. n Personalization options.

For example, users can select to receive only engineering news and events. n Group Studio. This new feature will provide students and faculty a place to share information for committee and extracurricular activities.

“We want faculty, staff and students to log into Porches daily,” said Julie Woeste, a graduate assistant working with the Porches team to promote and implement the new portal. To learn more about the initiative, e-mail the working group at projectsummit@notes.udayton.edu.

UDRI engineers have developed a better battery — lighter, safer and with greater power density — for applications that could range from your cell phone to an electric car.

The researchers reported the development of the first solidstate, rechargeable lithium-air battery in the 2010 Issue 1 of the Journal of the Electrochemical Society.

“We have successfully fabricated and tested the first totally solid-state lithium-air battery, which represents a major advancement in the quest for a commercially viable, safe rechargeable battery with high energy and power densities and long cycle life,” said Binod Kumar, a distinguished research engineer and leader of UDRI’s electrochemical power group. Associate research engineer Jitendra Kumar and Binod Kumar professional technologist Robert Leese, both of the UDRI metals and ceramics division, contributed to the battery’s development.

In addition to increasing the ratio of energy-to-battery weight, the development is designed to mitigate the volatile nature of traditional lithium rechargeables, such as those used in laptops. Rechargeables commonly found in today’s portable consumer electronic devices are lithium-ion batteries. Most batteries use a liquid electrolyte, which is corrosive and can leak and ignite or explode.

Kumar and his colleagues addressed the safety issues by developing an entirely solid-state lithium battery — no liquid is present in the cell. “We’ve replaced the liquid electrolyte with a solid electrolyte that works just as well, but is far safer,” Kumar said. The primary component of the new electrolyte is a glassceramic material that is very stable, even when in contact with water.

In a lithium-air battery, one of the chemicals — oxygen — is left out. Instead, the battery is specially designed to draw oxygen from the air around it. By extracting oxygen rather than storing it, and by using lithium metal as an anode, lithiumair batteries are 10-to-15 times more energy dense than other lithium rechargeables.

“We made and tested more than three dozen lithium-air batteries during the last year, and each exhibited superior performance — even at temperatures as high as 225 F,” Kumar said. As development of the technology continues, researchers will also focus on cycle life — the number of times a battery can be discharged and recharged. “We’re currently at a cycle life of 40, with a goal of 4,000, which is significantly greater than the cycle life of current lithium batteries.”

Dec. 4, 2009 University of Dayton Campus Report 5

MARIANISTS

All for Mary

Father Roten steps down after 20 years as Marian Library director For millions, to know Mary, to love Mary, to serve Mary has become easier thanks to Father Johann Roten, S.M. For more than 20 years, he has headed the International Marian Research Institute and Marian Library at UD, growing its collection of printed material, art, popular culture and research on the Mother of God and making it available to the world. This month, Roten will step down from the position.

“In and through Mary, you reach people at a level that is a very personal one,” he said. “She’s not an institution. She is an individual, a person who is a great connector between herself and her son but also between herself and the apostles. She is in the Catholic church in order to make the church more human. She is close to Jesus Christ, but very definitely guards the distance. She is the faithful one; she is the one who is the disciple and follows him.”

When Roten became director in 1988 of the Marian Library — founded in 1943 and now located on the seventh floor of Roesch Library — the library’s collection was generally limited to religious books on Mary.

Roten reached out to gather other kinds of printed materials — scholarly and lay articles, prayer and Christmas cards, prints, postage stamps, even labels from wine bottles. He went beyond religious and theological sources and found rich material on Mary in non-theological journals such as medieval culture, music and sociology. The collection of printed material now includes about 75,000 books and up to 150,000 articles and pamphlets; he says it’s the largest and most comprehensive collection in the world — larger even than the Vatican’s. The library’s collection also includes more than 3,600 Nativities.

“Our emphasis on the Nativity was a conscious effort because the Nativity is the most visual way to talk about how

‘In and through Mary, you reach people at a level that is a very personal one.’

6 University of Dayton Campus Report Dec. 4, 2009

God became visible to humankind through the birth of Jesus,” Roten said. “It’s also a way to show how Mary is portrayed in different social and cultural contexts.

“We have many different means to make Mary better known, more loved, better served.

Our academic program, research and the library are the basis for what we do. Based on these wonderful tools, we transfer that information about Mary into an electronic means.”

That electronic means is The Mary Page, established in 1996, which Roten said was “pretty early for a religious studies program to be on the Internet.”

The Mary Page now attracts around 360,000 visitors a year from all over the world and offers information in English, French, Spanish, Korean and Chinese. With more than 41,000 files on the Web site and up to 4,000 more added each year, Roten says the site is certainly the largest online repository of information on Mary in the world.

He also grew the institute’s academic program, from three male students in 1988 to 56 scholars this year, men and women from all over the world who will earn degrees that will enable them to teach in religious studies and theology departments, and many of whom will rise in the administrative ranks of the Catholic church.

Although Roten is stepping down from leadership of the institute and library — Father Francois Rossier, S.M., will be installed as director in January — Roten will stay involved in the art collection, have time for more research, and, of course, continue to collect crèches in his new role as director of research and special projects.

“Who is the ultimate embodiment of the Christian faith?”

Roten asks. “It’s Mary. Everything begins with her.

It’s because she said ‘yes’ that things begin to happen. The Nativity was possible only through the naked faith of Mary.”

Salaries, budget focus of faculty meeting Cautious optimism was the theme of administrators speaking at the joint Academic Senate and faculty meeting Nov. 13. After President Daniel J. Curran presented an overview of the higher education environment, Thomas E. Burkhardt II, vice president for finance and administrative services, detailed some of the factors influencing deliberations currently under way on the budget for the next fiscal year. Provost Joseph Saliba presented and handed out Burkhardt written copies of the “University of Dayton Salary Report,” which compares the institution’s faculty salaries with a peer group of 25 other universities.

Professor of biology Robert Kearns, vice president of the Academic Senate, also Reasons for reported on the work financial optimism of the committees of included last the senate. Informayear’s operating tion on the senate, including committee results being very minutes, can be found good, this year’s at http://academic. overall enrollment udayton.edu/senate/. exceeding budget, Reasons for financial optimism and campus visits included last year’s for next year’s operating results being potential class very good, this year’s being up more overall enrollment exceeding budget, than 20 percent and campus visits for than at a similar next year’s potential point last year. class being up more than 20 percent than at a similar point last year. Reasons for caution include volatile financial markets, unemployment and college costs rising faster than the earnings of recent college graduates.

Caution is widespread in higher education.

According to The Chronicle of Higher Education of Oct. 25, a survey sent to chief finance officers at four-year colleges indicated that “62 percent of the respondents said they did not think the worst of the financial pressures on their institutions had passed. Nearly two-thirds of them worry that 2010, 2011, or 2012 or later, will be even tougher.”

Burkhardt pointed to a number of University efforts to contain costs. He noted that the University’s energy consumption is going down and that health care expenditures as a percentage of tuition revenues have been reduced to about what they were in 2001.

The salary report shows UD to rank 19th within the peer group. Saliba indicated a goal of reaching the median point of 13th. One advantage UD has, however, is location. If the rankings were adjusted for geographic cost of living, UD would rank sixth.

—Thomas M. Columbus

Stewart Street bridge connects neigborhoods, creates campus gateway With Rudy Flyer and the Flyer Pep Band leading the way, the first travelers to cross the Great Miami River at Stewart Street in 18 months paraded over the new bridge in a Nov. 30 opening ceremony.

For faculty, staff and visitors, it means another avenue to campus. For sports fans, easier access to the Arena and ball fields.

For the University, it signals a successful collaboration creating a gateway to campus and the southern edge of the city, said President Daniel J. Curran.

“It’s our front porch,” he added.

All the city’s neighbors will benefit from improved access, said Dayton Mayor Rhine McLin. “New bridges and roadways contribute to the livability of our neighborhoods and to the quality of the business environment,” she said.

The $16.5 million project was completed one month ahead of schedule and features six traffic lanes and a pair of 10-foot-wide sidewalks. The Ohio Department of Transportation, Ohio Public Works Commission, Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission and the city of Dayton funded the bridge project. Stewart Street bridge project manager Sean Wade is a 2006 civil engineering graduate who previously co-oped with Ahern & Associates, the project’s general contractor.

Also being completed are improvements to Stewart Street between Patterson Boulevard and Brown Street, including a new concrete road surface, new sidewalks, a resurfaced recreation trail, landscaping and ornamental lighting. The project’s $3.3 million cost is supported by The Ohio Public Works Commission, University of Dayton and the city of Dayton.

Along with new gateway signs on Stewart at Patterson and at Main, these improvements enhance the safety of the campus corridor, connect campus properties on both sides of the river and create a pleasing, lasting impression on visitors, said Rick Perales, director of campus planning.

“These aesthetic improvements complement the quality of our Marianist education,” he said.

“They support our campus master plan and how we want people to first experience the quality that is the University of Dayton.”

For sale: God’s children Conference raises awareness to combat modern-day slavery A mere five hours from his Brooklyn home, author Benjamin Skinner, a trim man with short gray hair and piercing eyes, negotiated the price to buy a 12-year-old girl. The asking price was $100. He got it down to $50.

Skinner, author of A Crime So Monstrous, told his story to a standing-room-only Sears Recital Hall audience on the opening night of the Dayton Human Trafficking Accords conference Nov. 9-10, which brought victims of human trafficking, their advocates and law enforcement officials to campus for presentations and meetings about this highly profitable and growing crime.

“Human trafficking,” Mark Ensalaco, director of the human rights program, told attendees, “is the modern name of an ancient evil: slavery.”

In his opening comments, Skinner told story after story of modern-day slavery, particularly the stories of women and girls sold for sexual exploitation, such as the 12-year-old in Haiti — a short flight from JFK Airport near Skinner’s home Skinner — as well as in places as diverse as Romania, Dubai and South Africa. Other conference speakers included Sharla Musabih, whose work on behalf of trafficked women and children in Dubai has resulted in her exile, and Yeshe Riske, who serves Ethiopian women trafficked, primarily to Middle Eastern countries.

Other speakers hit much closer to home. Theresa Flores ’07 told a hushed crowd of several hundred during a panel discussion in Kennedy Union of her experience as a teenager trafficked for two years by a criminal organization active in her suburban Detroit neighborhood. Today, she is working to open Ohio’s first long-term shelter for trafficked children. When Gracehaven opens, it will be the nation’s fourth such shelter and the only one in Ohio, she said.

Flores’ message to students was simple: I come from a good family. I wasn’t a troubled child. If it could happen to me, it could happen to anyone.

That message was reinforced by Celia Williamson, chair of the Lucas County Human Trafficking Coalition. She said her organization, based in the Toledo area, succeeded in getting Ohio’s only FBI task force dedicated to human trafficking by presenting evidence that Toledo ranks fourth among the nation’s cities in trafficking. Ohio ranks fifth among states.

“I am disturbed, emotionally and spiritually disturbed,” Williamson said. “I would like you to join me in this disturbance. We should not be able to sleep well.”

A closed session laid the groundwork for what may be the conference’s most immediate concrete results. Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray delivered opening remarks to a working session for law enforcement and victims’ advocates to assess current efforts in Ohio to eliminate human trafficking and assist victims, as well as develop recommendations for future actions. Though human trafficking violates federal laws, Ohio law does not address the crime directly.

Nationwide, an estimated 17,000 foreign nationals are trafficked into the U.S., and 300,000 American children are at risk of trafficking, according to conference organizers. An estimated 27 million of God’s children worldwide are subjected to slavery.

—Matthew Dewald

‘Human trafficking is the modern name of an ancient evil: slavery.’

Our ever-expanding neighborhood

President Curran (second from right) joins in the ribboncutting ceremony marking the opening of the bridge.

International student enrollment at UD increased 36 percent from a year ago to 604 students and has doubled in the last two years. That percentage outdistances the national pace of 8 percent, as reported Nov. 16 by the Institute of International Education. International student enrollment increased nationwide by 7 percent in 2007-08 and 3 percent in 2006-07.

The IIE said most international students in the U.S. hail from India, China and South Korea, in that order.

Most of the University of Dayton’s international students come from China, India and Saudi Arabia, in that order.

The most popular fields of study for international students nationwide are business and engineering.

Engineering is the most popular field at the University of Dayton.

The University has partnerships with 32 institutions in 16 countries.

“The administration, staff, faculty and students recognize the importance and value of internationalization in higher education,” said Amy Anderson, director of the Center for International Programs. “We continue to extend our community to encompass a multicultural and diverse community.”

Dec. 4, 2009 University of Dayton Campus Report 7

G N I M O C S N O I T C ATTRA

Through Jan. 24

Through Jan. 28 Darel Sparling: When Purple Meets All Other Colors 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. MondayFriday; Saturday and Sunday by appointment. Marian Library Gallery. Sparling’s paintings present Christmas themes — the dusk and dawn of new birth, mystic stars and trumpeting angels. Free. Call 2294214.

Friday, Dec. 4 Academic Senate Meeting 3 p.m., Kennedy Union ballroom.

Friday Film Series: Sunshine Cleaning 9 p.m., ArtStreet Studio B. A single mom and her slacker sister find an unexpected way to turn their lives around. Directed by Christine Jeffs.

Free. Call 229-5101.

Friday-Saturday, Dec. 4-5

Ebony Heritage Singers 7 p.m., Kennedy Union ballroom.

Amahl and the Night Visitors, a one-act opera about the first Christmas, is also a first for the UD community.

“This is the first faculty opera we’ve produced,” said Linda Snyder, coordinator of voice studies. It is also the first time this opera will be performed at UD. “We’re happy and grateful to have the opportunity to share this wonderful music with colleagues, students, family and friends,” she said. In addition to faculty, UD students and members of the Dayton community make up the cast.

Amahl and the Night Visitors tells the story of a shepherd boy and his encounter with the Wise Men who stop by his home for shelter.

Inspired by the Wise Men’s tale of a kingdom based on love, Amahl is inspired to bring a gift to Ten-year-old Sam Burt stars in a centuries-old tale.

Baby Jesus and receives a special gift in return.

Artist-in-residence John Benjamin, musical director for the opera, said the opera’s music runs from sadness to joy. He added that the opera also contains humorous moments. “The oldest king, Kaspar, is hard of hearing — there’s an exchange between Amahl and Kaspar that guarantees lots of laughs,” he said.

Local schools are sending students to watch the opera. “It will be appealing for school children to see someone their age on stage,” Snyder said. Ten-year-old Sam Burt of the Kettering Children’s Choir plays the role of Amahl.

The opera will be performed 1 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4; 2 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 5; and 1 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 8, in Boll Theatre. Tickets are $5 for adults, $3 for children. Tickets are free for UD faculty, staff and students with University ID. —Charity Smalls ’10

Faculty Opera: Amahl and the Night Visitors 1 p.m., Boll Theatre. A faculty production of the one-act Christmas opera by Gian Carlo Menotti. Tickets $3 children, $5 adults, free for UD faculty, staff and students. Call 2293936.

Christmas on Campus 46th annual event begins with opening ceremonies and tree lighting at 5:30 p.m. in Humanities Plaza. Music ensembles concert begins at 7 p.m. in Immaculate Conception Chapel.

Masses held at 9 a.m., 12:05 p.m., 4:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. in Immaculate Conception Chapel. Four Masses are offered to provide more options and an environmentally and economically sustainable alternative to a single mass at an alternate site. Call 229-3483.

Monday-Friday, Dec. 14-18 Exams First term ends after final exams.

Saturday, Dec. 19 Diploma Exercises 9:45 a.m., UD Arena.

Thursday-Friday, Dec. 24-25

TUESDAY,

DEC.

Donna M. Cox, conductor. Free. Call 229-3936.

Sunday, Dec. 6 Gamelan Ensemble Concert 3 p.m., Music and Theatre Building room 104. Heather MacLachlan and James Leslie, conductors. Free. Call 229-3936.

Combined Jazz Ensembles 7 p.m., Boll Theatre. Willie L. Morris III and James Leslie, conductors. Free.

Call 229-3936.

Advent Vespers 9 p.m., Chapel of the Marianist Martyrs, Marianist Hall. Sponsored by Campus Ministry and Catholic Life.

Contact Jeremy Helmes at Jeremy.Helmes@notes. udayton.edu.

Tuesday, Dec. 8 Feast of the Immaculate Conception University closed. The Catholic feast day honors

FEAST OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

Saturday, Dec. 5

the conception of the Blessed Virgin Mother without original sin.

Christmas break University closed.

ThursdayFriday, Dec. 31-Jan. 1

8

Faculty Opera: Amahl and the Night Visitors 1 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday, Boll Theatre. The music department presents a faculty production of the one-act Christmas opera by Gian Carlo Menotti. The faculty cast includes Linda June Snyder, Robert Jones and David Sievers and guest William Henry Caldwell (Central State University), along with the UD Opera Workshop. Ten-year-old Sam Burt of Kettering, Ohio, plays Amahl.

Musical Director is John Benjamin (UD artist-in-residence) and guest stage director is Nelson Sheeley (New York’s Lake George Opera).

A question and answer session will follow each performance. Tickets $3 children, $5 adults, free for UD faculty, staff and students. Call 2293936.

Opera of first Christmas a faculty first

ADRIAN EARHART

Elisabeth’s Nativity House: The van Mullekom Collection Roesch Library first and second floors. Free. Call 229-4214.

New Year’s University closed.

Monday, Jan. 4 Classes resume

Friday, Jan.15 Academic Senate Meeting 3 p.m., Kennedy Union ballroom.

Seven swans a’swimming — BUT WHO’S COUNTING ?

2,000

Nativities donated by Elisabeth van Mullekom

165

8 University of Dayton Campus Report Dec. 4, 2009

Boxes needed to transport the van Mullekom collection to UD

2,300

Pieces making up the van Mullekom collection

3,600+

Total Nativities owned by the University