Oct. 27, 2011, edition of The Lorian

Page 1

A weekly publication by Loras College students

Vol. 90, Issue 6

Gingrich woos students

Seton Hall picks Collins for board of regents

Loras College Republicans welcome presidential candidate to the campus by Nick sentovich staff writer

Officials at the prestigious Catholic university are impressed with the Loras president’s leadership by NICK JOOS

co-executive editor

Loras President Jim Collins was recently appointed to the board of regents for Seton Hall University, a private Catholic institution in Newark, NJ. A board of regents is a group of significant individuals who have invested in a college, and who also are in charge of general supervision of the welfare and conduct of students. They are made up of CEOs, alumni and other college presidents. Anyone can recommend new members to serve on the board. Fr. Anthony Ziccardi, Vice President for Mission and Ministry, and Secretary Designee of the board at Seton Hall, gave Collins’ name to the Regents on Committee, who, along with the Board of Trustees, select possible candidates for Seton Hall’s position. Collins was someone who stuck out to them right away. “He has done well for Loras College,” said Ziccardi. “He has also taken a leadership role amongst the presidents of diocesan colleges, like Seton Hall. For a couple summers he has gathered other diocesan at Loras for meetings to discuss important issues in Catholic higher education. He was chosen for us because he is known to me, our new president and Archbishop John Myers. We all spoke in his favor.” “Candidates need to be people who are successful in business or education or some other non-profit endeavor,” Ziccardi added. “We have quite a variety of people from CEOs of large companies to smaller ones.” “Almost everyone wants someone to serve who is a sitting president or serves in an academic capacity,” Collins said. The Board of Regents for Seton Hall meets four times per year, and Collins will serve for two topics, academic affairs and student affairs. Collins is looking forward to this new position. “They have an interesting hybrid mix of graduate and undergraduate students,” he said. “Half of their enrollment is graduate students.” During Seton Hall’s next meeting, Collins hopes to have a chance to meet with some Loras alums in New York City, where roughly 250 Loras graduates reside. “I don’t know how many alumni there are in the Connecticut, Rhode Island, Upper New York corridor,” said Collins, “But in New York City, there are plenty to keep me busy. It’s nice to get dual business done.”

Oct. 27, 2011

photo by Nick Sentovich

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich answers questions in the ACC Ballroom. The former Speaker of the House also signed books and showed a documentary that his production company created.

photo by Hannah kauffold

The Loras College Republicans organized the appearance.

The Jack-o-lantern

He turned her into a jack-o’lantern. Cut her open, scooped out her insides, and made her hollow inside. And though she has a permanent, fake smile on her rigid face, her insides are burning.

“Don’t just be for me. Be with me,” said Republican presidential candidate, Newt Gingrich, during a visit to Loras on Monday. The former Speaker of the House and his wife, Callista, were greeted by 150 people. Gingrich took questions, signed books and showed their documentary “Nine Days That Changed the World.” The visit was organized by the president of the Loras College Republicans, Patrick O’Grady. “It was an exciting opportunity for the Loras College Republicans and the greater Loras campus to have a candidate of this caliber come to talk about not only the contemporary issues of today but his Catholic faith,” said O’Grady. Gingrich first fielded questions from the audience for about 20 minutes. The questions ranged from the war, to climate change, to the Occupy Wall Street protests to abortion, and jobs to campaign strategy. In response to a question from sophomore Ryan McCarty, Gingrich told the group that he will curb abortion by “defunding Planned Parenthood.” “I wanted to ask him about abortion because as a Catholic, that is the most important issue when voting for president,” McCarty said. “I was very satisfied with his answer … and was impressed with his knowledge of the issue.” Gingrich told the audience that despite a lack of campaign funds, he believes that a grassroots movement will allow him to secure the nomination. “Compared to the other nominees, he lacks funding, but his confidence, wisdom and knowledge of Washington will make him a very good candidate,” said first-year Matthew Koch Gingrich said that if he wins the nomination, he will challenge President Obama to seven threehour-long “Lincoln-Douglas-style” debates, a comment that drew much applause from the audience. Koch said the GOP should embrace his debate idea, which would highlight Newt’s debating and lecture skills and showcase his political rhetoric. In the meantime, GOP candidate Herman Cain has agreed to do one “Lincoln-Douglas-style” debate with Gingrich. According to a recent CBS/New York Times poll, Gingrich is a distant third among the eight candidates, polling 10 percent of those surveyed. Even though Gingrich has low numbers now, current polls do not necessarily mean that he cannot secure the nomination. Three years ago, in October 2008, Rudy Giuliani was the GOP front-runner. However, within weeks, he plunged to the bottom of the polls. After questions, Gingrich signed books and took pictures with perspective voters. “Throughout the evening and especially while signing books, he spoke freely and laughed genuinely,” said first-year Hannah Way. “He is truly a beacon of hope in the upcoming election.” The 94-minute documentary shown after Gingrich’s book-signing, depicts the nine-day lifechanging voyage that Pope John Paul II took to his homeland, Poland, in order to help liberate his people from the bonds of communism. “The film was a lot more than I expected,” McCarty said. “It showed how terrible communism can be, and how Pope John Paul II transformed the world in a non-violent, Catholic way.” O’Grady said the film was, “a wonderful example of the power one man can have when he commits his life to God.” The film is available for purchase through film’s website: ninedaysthatchangedtheworld.com.

— Andrea Berns For additional Halloween-related content, please see pages 5-7

Patrick O’Grady, president of Loras College Republicans, talks to Callista Gingrich.


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