Dr. Jimenez reads his poetry in Spain

by Sharvon Urbannavage assistant perspectiveseditor

Dr. Juan Carlos Jimenez is one ·of many main figures invited to read in a cycle of poetry in Jerez, Spain. Jimenez will travel to Jerez to read his poetry on Friday, March 22 and stay throughout the Holy week celebrations.

The cycle of poetry was organized by the Jerez City Hall last year and is narrated by Spanish writer Ana Maria Matute. Every two or three months, the cycle invites poets to read for an audience in Jerez. The cycle will publish a book that will feature three poems by Jimenez.

"I am completely happy when I read my poetry in front of a group," he said. "That allows me to express things that I can only express through poetry that cannot be communicated in a regular conversation or in another kind of writing." He is the youngest of the group invited to read in the cycle.

Jimenez began writing poetry as a child and still keeps poems that he had written at the age of 16. "A poem is something extremely difficult to write because not all the things that we deeply feel, in my opinion, can be expressed through poetry," Jimenez said.

He began publishing his poetry in magazines and anthologies and then published his own book of poetry titled "Adventura (Adventure)." "It considers life to be an adventure," Jimenez said.

"I only publish poems when they ask me for them," he said. "I have many more poems in my house." Jimenez has a second book coming out in April titled "Album." "It is a selection of different spiritual moments of life," he said.

Jimenez publishes all of his poetry in Spanish and doesn't feel he would be comfortable writing anything in English. "To write poetry, you have to have control of the language, of the rhyme, of the metric," he said. "To begin with, it is very difficult and takes a very long time to acquire and to assimilate."

According to Jimenez, only four emotions can be truly expressed through the use of poetry. Love, fear, the passing of time and the beauty of a specific object or person are the basis of notable poetry.

"I would say the poetry itself has to be around one of these abstract feelings. These four feelings are those that St. Augustine mentioned in his book. When I was reading him I really noticed that those are the feelings of poetry," Jimenez said.

"If you read a poem that you really like you'll find that one of those things is underneath of the topic," he continued.

Jimenez will be present in Spain during the Holy week celebrations. Each day, from Palm Sunday to Good Friday, processions filter through the streets displaying two floats. One presents Jesus Christ in a moment depicting his passion, and the other of the Virgin Mary showing the different applications of sorrow.

"It's a wonderful experience of faith that I recommend to everybody because it's something marvelous," Jimenez said. "In all aspects of culture, it's really something typical of Spain."

Every procession is organized in a parish or church by a brotherhood. The brotherhoods in Spain date back to the fifteenth century. About 30 brotherhoods are located in Jerez. The processions display masterpieces of Spanish culture from the gothic times to the Baroque times.

After two weeks in Jerez, Jimenez will return to campus on Wednesday, April 3. "I would like to add that I am going to miss my students."

Access from anywhere

by Karen Schweizer assistant sports editor

Since Feb. 18 the library has celebrated "Access from Anywhere" a system that allows members of the Cabrini community to access library databases from off-campus. "The off campus community has been asking for this for a long time," Linda Roccas, one of Holy Spirit's librarian's said. Now following a formal open house and candy bowls for advertisement, users are logging into the database from the comfort of their own computer desks, beds or anywhere.

"Statistics are showing that use is skyrocketing," Roberta Jacquet the Holy Spirit Library d_irector,said. ["Reactions have been very positive," some members of the Library have even been stopped in hallways by users raving over the service.] Other benefits of the system include the increased use of Cabrini accounts and involvement from the student community so that they don't have to go elsewhere.

Even from an Information Technology Resources standpoint, the system has been standing up to high standards. and is scoring positive reviews. It may be bringing more students into using Cabrini accounts. "Before there wasn't much of a reason for students to have Cabrini accounts. Now, they are receiving mail and accessing things much more," Todd Kern of ITR said. "We expect a much better turnout in the fall:'

Overall there have been few problems as well as few user complaints. However, one snag to look out for is that older Netscape users may not show a login screen.