OPINION: BRIGHTEN HOLIDAYS WITH RAND
TS OF KINDNESS. PAGE 11
TODAY'S WEATHER
High: 14 Low: 3 Mostly sunny
Friday: Partly cloudy. High 19, low 13. Saturday. Snow, windy. High 36, low 20.
FINALS GOT YOU STRESSED?
VARIETY, PAGE 7
SPECIAL MISSION
ROTC juniors lead teams through war simulation.
NEWS, PAGE 5
GOIN' TOP SHELF
First-year Blazer standout storms the ice.
SPORTS, PAGE 12
THURSDAY, DEC. 8, 2005
Volume CXVIII, No. XXIII
First copy free
COLLEGE OF ST. BENEDICT • ST. JOHN'S UNIVERSITY
Official student newspaper since 1888
Regents approve $3.1
A two-phase project includes additions to Mary and Tommy halls as well as a new Flynntown community center
ion for
Photo by Erika Nelson, The Record
First-year Derek Stifter enters Tommy Hall Wednesday. Improvements such as carpet and upgrades are on the way.
By John F. O'Sullivan
The Record
Last week the Board of Regents allocated $3.1 million to the Housing Committee to renovate Mary and Tommy residence halls.
The improvements are the first in a two-phase operation that wOl result in a community center in Flynntown and the addition of a fourth floor to Mary Hall.
The first-year halls' improvements will include carpeting the rooms and upgrading lounges and electrical spaces.
"Our room's power goes out like once a week," said Michael Putney, a Mary Hall resident.
The improvements should reduce the number of blown fuses.
Another part of phase one is to create a master plan for a Flynntown community center.
"Students wanted a community center in Flynntown," said Gar Kellom, vice president of student development.
Last year the university contracted a company to survey 500 students about hous-
ing at St. John's.
The Flynntown Community Center proposal was developed in response to the survey results.
"It's not another Sexton Commons, it's more" modest than that," said Br. Robin Pierzina, director of residential life and faculty resident coordinator. "[Flynntown] lacks the community space, so all that we have done on the upper campus by way of encouraging community simply doesn't exist"
The center will be a place for students to study, host a gathering or grab a quick
FLYNNTOWN PROPOSAL
Laundry facilities Large kitchen Wireless technology Computer lounge Meeting space Game room Piaza and atrium overlooking Stumpf Lake
snack. In the coming months, an architect will draft a plan so the proposal can be brought to the Board of Regents in May, Kellom said.
The second phase of the plan includes building the community center and adding a fourth floor to Mary
housing
Hall.
"One suggestion has been to use first floor for offices Land] recreational space ... and use [the] second and third floor for residential living as well as fourth " Pierzina said.
It's unclear when the second phase will begin.
"Phase two really depends on the Board of Regents and monastics approving things," said Ryan Blevins, assistant dean of campus life. "After the master plan for Flynntown is approved, more concrete decisions can be made."
Kellom said he wants student input.
"Students should keep in touch with their student senators or their ~RAs or FR's."
Photo by Brad Arendt, The Record
An annual tradition at SJU found students in Mary Hall decorating late into the night. First-year Jake Kruger said the majority of his floor hung lights "in the spirit of Christmas." Although there isn't an actual competition this year, students still found it important to celebrate the season. "[The competition] kind of took away from why we're doing it in the first place," said Ben DeMarais, an RA on Tommy. As the lights and statues illuminate halls and rooms around campus, each Johnnie said their floor lights up the best.
Photo by Erika Nelson, The Record The monastery at St. John's reacts to the Vatican's rule.
Monastery, campus react to Vatican rule
ByGregRuhland
The Record
Monks, faculty, staff and students are reacting to a five-page document released Nov. 29 by Pope Benedict XVI that will bar certain homosexuals from entering the priesthood.
More than nine years in the making, "Instruction" is Pope Benedict XVTs first policy statement.
It is said to be a response to the sex abuse scandals that have waylaid the Catholic Church in recent decades.
Conflicting words
Key statements assert that
priesthood hopefuls who are found to have "deeply rooted homosexual tendencies" or who openly support so-called "gay culture" will be banned from entering the country's 229 seminaries.
In theory, this ban would apply only to seminarian candidates, not to current priests. But many are saying in practice, there's no distinction.
"Today, the Vatican made it official: Gay men should not be priests," said Matt Forman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, in a Nov. 29 news release.
t> See VATICAN Page 4
SBS looks to change campus grill policy
By Alex Kurt
The Record
The St Ben's Senate is discussing changes to the grill policy on campus.
They will vote on a new proposal next semester.
The current policy, designed to reduce the risk of fires in residence halls, prohibits the possession of any non-electric cooking device inside or outside any on-campus residence hall, including upperclassmen apartments. Students at St. John's are allowed to have grills on campus.
St. Ben's Senator Amy Can-field, who initially proposed the resolution, has compared the current policy to a modern form of sexism.
"We are still being governed by the same patriarchal system that has governed women for
? See GRILLS Page 2
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Students, alumni learn to give near and far
Volunteer Corps lets students help, explore spirituality
By Alex Kurt
The Record
Working in a school might not seem like an unusual job for a recent college graduate.
The difference for Andrew Krueger is that he's doing it in Tanzania,
"It's a very rural area," said Krueger, a 2005 graduate of SJU. "Only about four hours of electricity a day Perfect"
Krueger, along'with two of his 2005 classmates, is spending his first year after graduation as a volunteer with the St. John's Benedictine Volunteer Corps. It provides graduates with volunteer opportunities in monasteries both abroad and in the United States.
"Not only are you volunteering to help people," said program director Br. Paul Richards. "You're also doing the work of the
Photo submitted by Andrew Krueger
See SCHOOL Page 6 A student prepares ugali.
Students heed to 'big problems elsewhere' in Trinidad
By Elliott Erickson
The Record
A CSB/SJU group is going to Trinidad and Tobago to volunteer and build international relations.
Wilt James, a member of the SJU Men's Center, helped plan the trip with first-years Meera Mansingh and Stepha-eno Brereton.
Students will visit group homes with displaced and HIV-positive youth. The YMCA in Trinidad is helping coordinate the volunteering portion of the trip.
Besides volunteering, the group will travel to the University of the West Indies. They will be meeting with the Center for Gender and Development Studies as well as student leaders at the university.
James said he hopes to build a relationship with the center and find speakers for
the Men's and Women's Centers.
"Its great to be involved in something that's important to students and the institution," James said.
Students from Trinidad and Tobago make up a significant percentage of our school's international population.
"It's been a pleasure working to take a ... group to see and learn about the place where many students who come to these schools are from" James said.
The 12-person group consists of students and adirumstrators.
SJU junior Cody Fischer signed up for the trip because he saw poverty when abroad and wants to help.
'We have issues and problems domestically here," Fischer said. "But there are really big problems elsewhere in the world."
This year's trip is Dec 30 - Jan. 9.
Inside: What a grad has learned in Africa and students aid in Gulf Coast, The spirit of giving continues on Page 6.
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