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^Record
April 22,1999
Science center officially dedicated and blessed
¦ Donors see opening of new biology wing
By Emily Holt Staff Writer
On Friday, April 16, the efforts of community, architect and builder came together in the dedication of the new science center at SJU. Abbot Timothy Kelly opened the ceremony with a prayer emphasizing the relationship of science to God as a means of further understanding and glorifying God's creation. After a prayer of blessing from Abbot Kelly, St. John's students past and present sprinkled the various rooms of the building with holy water. Abbot Kelly gave a closing prayer and a final hymn was sung.
The new science center began with a data gathering program in 1994- Gregory Friesen, the architect of the building, said of his construction, "it came from really listening." Friesen stressed the necessity of listening to the needs of all parties and synthesizing them into a beautiful, functional building.
When asked about the style of architec-
ture, Friesen noted how important it was to make the building compatible with the old science center, designed by Marcel Brouer. Friesen pretended to be the ghost of Brouer and thought about what would make the building individual but allow it to blend in with the science center and Alcuin Library. Mike Jennings, the construction engineer, said that the building went up in a remarkable ten to twelve months, and with very little conflict. St. John's was a pleasant campus to work on, said Jennings. "There was great rapport."
In his dedication, Br. Reinhart spoke of the long history of science on the SJU campus. Beginning with Engel Hall, the first building dedicated solely to science, in 1911 and continuing through 1994 with the opening of the Ardolf Science Center, science has been a welcome and integral part of academics on both campuses.
"The result of this has been a distinguished record of placement in graduate programs," said Reinhart. He looked around the foyer at the pendulum and the electronically starry ceiling. 'The whole pedagogy of science has changed. At last we have buildings on both campuses that house science as it is taught today."
Students receive free donuts in the morning courtesy of AKS
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Breakfast on the go. An SJU student stops to take advantage of the refreshments provided by AKS on Monday April 12. From left are sophomore Andy Lien, first-year Doug Ayers and sophomore Scott McMahon.
Photo by Michael Murray
The Holocaust revisited for one day
¦ Voyage to DC gives students an up close view of a historical tragedy
By Anna Selmeckj 8c Megan Murphy Guest Writers
Tuesday April 21 in a first of its kind trip, over 50 students from St. Ben's and St. John's were joined by other Minnesota college students for a one day voyage to Washington, DC. The purpose for the trip was to visit the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum as a visual illustration of their year-long studies of other people and their cultures. The trip transcended this simple goal, however, leaving the students in a
state of awe and amazement. Two students share their memories and the lasting effects that this experience had on them.
Anna Selmecki-I chose to go through the museum alone, taking as much time as needed to read and absorb all that I could. I'm not sure if it was psychological, but I was annoyed by a very distasteful smell throughout the floors - one of rust and sweat. To be annoyed, I decided, is to at least begin to feel a part of what was going on around me. The halls were very dark, making the live video clips seem so much closer and real. Bone shattering real depictions of Hitler and mass graves.
Then out of the darkness, I walked on to a bridge that's in the center of a tower of photographs. This is where that vibrant life from outside continually seeps into the museum - here, in photographs of Jewish
men, women, and children we see a glimpse of the beautiful lives of an entire town before the war. It was my favorite part of the museum, a symbol of living humans and not the usual focus on the death of victims.
The most gratifying part of my trip was the flight home. After discussing a little of the museum, several of my friends and I introduced ourselves to the two Holocaust Survivors on our plane, Jack and Rochelle Sutin. We read their amazing story of survival in Symposium (Jack and Rochelle) and knew we could only benefit from talking with them. We scrunched into the small space in front of their plane seats and learned of their thoughts of the museum, while sharing our own. We talked of religion, wars, and how everyone promised that with the lessons we learned from the Holocaust we would never let it happen
again. But it is happening, in Africa and now Kosovo. Above all, Rochelle's words still ring in my ears. "You don't know how lucky you are." She said it as a positive thing, but I add now that because we are so lucky, we have to work twice as hard to stay connected to those who are suffering in our midst.
At the very end of our tour, the entire group met in Remembrance Hall- a bright, fresh room lit all around with small votive candles. Remembrance is the power of this museum, and something that is perfectly clear to me after this trip. As college students, we are the hinge generation: we are the last young people to live among Holocaust survivors and it is our challenge to not only hold on to their memories but
¦ See Holocaust page 16:
Read more about the symposium's D.C. trip________________________________
¦ From SJU Housing page 1: sisted of Metten Court apartments, Seton apartments, Virgil Michael Hall, Benet Hall, Joe Hall, and Mary Hall. The soon-to-be renovated floors on Benet Hall went quickly, along with the apartments in Flynntown, followed by the still relatively new third and fourth floor of Benet Hall. Single rooms in Joe Hall were taken at about the same pace; but Mary Hall first floor, being the least desired housing, was the last dorm filled.
The lottery seems to be a complicated process, but in all reality, it comes down to the number of credits a student has and a little bit of luck. First, each class is separated into two groups: those who have extra credits, and those who do not. After that, the names are placed in a computer, with the group having the most amount of credits
first, and are randomly, by the computer, given time slots in which they can sign up. Therefore, a first-year student, with enough credits to be a sophomore, will be placed in the upper bracket of the freshmen. This system helps to decrease advantages by students who have extra credits and a lower class standing.
Why is the lottery such a problem according to many St. John's students? It is a simple answer. According to dean of students Isaac Connolly OSB, "It isn't the system; It is just the lack of housing." What is the college doing to alleviate this problem? Many plans are underway by a committee of students, along with residential life and Connolly. Some plans include the possible remodeling and addition to Mary Hall, or the addition of new Vincent Court apart-
ments over the now standing sand volleyball courts. One plan going into effect this summer is the raising of two more Vincent Court apartments. A reason for some disappointment is the lack of single rooms. The previous summer's renovation of Benet Hall reduced the amount of singles greatly, leaving Joe Hall and Mary Hall having the greatest number of singles.
Students are also disgruntled because they know nothing of how the lottery works and because, at times during the lottery, disorganization and chaos ran high. Sophomore Kristopher Kampshoff said, "The whole process was just ridiculous! For some reason we were not able to see which rooms were available until our number was called, giving us no time to plan ahead. When my time was called, I chose a room. I
went to the desk to register and the room was already taken."
Another student, John Gregoire, said, "If this campus is based so much on community, why [are] there not more pre-Iotto signups so people can live with who they choose and establish a community?" The problem of the room lottery sign up is far from solved. Even though, according to Connolly, the process was "less painful than in years past," much work has yet to be done and any ideas would be much appreciated by residential life.
¦ From CSB Housing page 1: don't necessarily have all the kinds of housing that students want to be able to have .. . and that's where we have any kind of crunch at all. Some juniors who wanted to live in apartments ... were not able to do that," she added.
When asked if residential life predicted the overflow of students seeking apartments, she replies, "At one point, 40 more
people had paid housing deposits this year than last year, but given that we had so much apartment space left last year ... having an additional 40 people was not a source of concern."
Another complaint from St. Ben's students is the way the lottery numbers are assigned, based on number of credits earned. The most common inconsistency is that students who have post-secondary credits from high school have an advantage
to those students who did not attend high schools where college classes were offered.
' Terhaar says residential life has not yet discovered a way to assign lottery numbers that would be fairer. She does strongly note, however, that first-year students are never allowed to live in apartments over sophomores or juniors during selection, no matter how many more credits they have.
CSB Semsl
President: Melanic LaComb
Vice-President Jennifer Valorose
Trustee: Dana Kelly
Treasurer: Barbie Waldcn
Club Chair: Monica Weber
Allocations Chair: Jamie Frost
College Rel. Rep.: Michelle Gricus
Club Auditors: Emily Backlund,
Katie Studer, Liz McLoonc
JEC Rep.; Anne Carlin
Academic Affairs Rep.: Alexia Muchisu
CPPI Rep.: Becky Weber
Public Rel. Rr..: Lisa Battis
CAB Ri-p.:Anne Walters
Human Relations Rep.: Lisa DcLuney
Sophomore Class Rep: Katie Low
Junior Class Rep.: Anne Ringey
Senior Class Rep.: Jill Bartish
From £ Record
