TRADITION

 

 

. . . the newsletter of the Fordham College at Rose Hill Alumni Association

 

 

December 2002

 

Say it ain’t so, Joe!  Rev. Joseph A. O’Hare, S.J., the President of the University, who has never been one to heed the advice offered by this publication, has announced his intention to retire at the close of this academic year.  “At that time,” Father O'Hare said in a letter to the Fordham University community, “I will have served 19 years in this office, and I believe the time will be right for a transition so that the University can have the benefit of the fresh energy and insight of a new President as it moves into the next stage of its development.”  Fr. O'Hare's tenure, the longest in University history, is marked by a significant reform of undergraduate education at Fordham and the extensive development of facilities on both Fordham's Rose Hill campus in The Bronx and its Lincoln Center campus in Manhattan. The dramatic increase in Fordham's applicant pool is traced, in part, to this strengthening of the undergraduate experience at Fordham. The consolidation of Fordham University and Marymount College in Tarrytown, New York, has provided the University with a third campus in Westchester.  In addition, under Fr. O’Hare’s direction, the University has been engaged in an expansive building program that has seen the addition of approximately 1.1 million square feet of new academic and residential space and the renovation of more than 1 million square feet of existing facilities. The new facilities include additional residence halls at the Rose Hill campus and the completion of the first residence hall at the Lincoln Center campus. In 1997, the William D. Walsh Family Library, considered one of the most technologically advanced academic libraries in the country, opened on the Rose Hill campus. The renovation of Coffey Field in 1989, the University's landmark Church in 1990, and the installation of an artificial surface on Murphy Field in 2000 have enhanced Fordham's 85-acre campus in The Bronx, long considered one of the loveliest urban campuses, a favorite shooting location for films and television commercials.  Finally, under Fr. O’Hare’s direction, the endowment of the University has grown from $36.5 million to $271.6 million, with a three hundred percent increase in annual giving by alumni and friends.  Throughout his career, Fr. O'Hare has been an active voice in Catholic higher education. He is the only person to have served as chairman of both the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities (ACCU) and the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU). In April 1989, Fr. O'Hare was part of the 18-member ACCU delegation to the Vatican Congress on Catholic Higher Education that was convoked to develop materials for a Pontifical document on Catholic higher education. When the conference concluded, he was elected to a 15-person international committee of bishops and university presidents who returned to Rome to review the revised document, which was submitted to Pope John Paul II and eventually published under the title Ex Corde Ecclesiae (From the Heart of the Church), in 1990.  In his inaugural address of 1984, Fr. O'Hare called for a greater engagement of the University in the life of New York City. He himself has played an active role in the life of the City, serving on the boards of several institutions and on a number of city commissions. In 1988, Mayor Edward I. Koch appointed him founding chairman of a new agency that since has been hailed as a national model for campaign finance reform, the New York City Campaign Finance Board. He was re-appointed to this position by Mayor Rudolph Giuliani in 1994 and again in 1998. He is currently serving the final year of his third five-year appointment, which will end in March 2003.  TRADITION thanks Fr. O’Hare and wishes him the best.

 

The College Class of 2006 is composed of 944 students. 36% of the students are men and 64% are women. 21% are commuters and 79% are boarders. The students come from 40 states and 8 foreign countries. The students’ average math SAT score is 586 and their average Verbal SAT score is 597. “This is the tenth consecutive year that Fordham has received more applications than in the previous year, which has naturally led to a much greater level of competition in the selection process,” says John Buckley, assistant vice president for enrollment.  According to the admission office, the application pool increased from 3,763 in 1991 to 10,568 in 2001. The acceptance rate dropped from 76% in 1991 to 55% this year. Additionally, the average SAT score has increased from 1128 back in 1991 to more than 1180 in 2001.

 

The University has celebrated the 160th anniversary of its founding.  Throughout those years, it has focused on fostering individual growth and a commitment to society while maintaining academic excellence.

 

In response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Fr. O’Hare announced that the children of the 32 alumni or spouses of alumni lost in the attack will receive full-tuition scholarships if they choose to attend the University.  The University has also established the Fordham Family Memorial Scholarship Fund as an endowed scholarship. These funds will be directed to the children of New York City police officers, firefighters and public servants lost in the rescue operations and will supplement the funding made available to independent colleges and universities in New York State through legislation to be introduced by Gov. George Pataki. TRADITION joins all alumni in their prayers for those affected by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.


 

 

Dulles on forgiveness.  Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J., Laurence J. McGinley Professor of Religion and Society, discussed “When to Forgive,” in a recent McGinley Lecture.  The lecture employed history, scripture and even literature as a means of understanding the complexity of forgiveness. Dulles offered four meanings of forgiveness: the renunciation of malice, indignation, restitution and punishment.  Cardinal Dulles examined the roles of the forgiver and the forgiven, indicating that no one has a strict right to forgiveness. He also noted how automatic absolution can promote injustice and that well‑ordered love may require that aggressors be resisted and punished rather than appeased. The conditions for forgiveness are equally complicated, calling for individuals to be resolved to take effective measures to prevent future misdeeds. Dulles then indicated how the notion that justice is in some way supplanted by forgiveness in Christianity is a gross misunderstanding. “The Cross of Christ teaches us that God does not forgive unexpiated sin," said Dulles. “Forgiveness does not mean pretending that evil does not exist or forgetting it, but remembering it, fading its full malice, regretting it, and atoning for it. . . . Neither in the Old Testament nor in the New . . . is it taught that forgiveness takes the place of justice, or that God always forgives sins, or that we ought to forgive everyone all the time,” said Dulles.  The Church understands the forgiveness of sins to be a sacred rite, a sacrament, an encounter with the living Christ, who uses the Church as an instrument of reconciliation.  According to Dulles, the burdens of forgiveness are outweighed by its benefits, with both the forgiver and the forgiven being liberated from their respective anger and guilt. However, forgiveness without sincere good will is not effective, he said. “For reconciliation to be attained, the party to whom the apology is directed must accept it, extend  forgiveness, and in some cases make its own apologies,” said Dulles.  If each party feels that it has been offended by the other, reciprocal apologies are required to eradicate the seeds of conflict. Only then can the parties enter into a community of love.  In concluding, Dulles said that without a mutual ethos of forgiveness in cases of religious or secular conflict, current trends of terrorism and violence will continue and possibly escalate.  “By itself, . . . forgiveness will not solve all personal and social problems, but these problems cannot be solved without the spirit of forgiveness,” said Dulles. “The strongest motive for that spirit is the realization of our own great need of forgiveness and of the extremes to which God has gone in order to bring us the forgiveness we need.”

 

The Faculty.  Julia Mueller, professor of mathematics, published “Equations in One Variable Over Function Fields” in Acta Arithmetica (vol. XCIX, no. 1). . . . Anie Kalayjian, visiting professor of psychology and the president and cofounder of the Global Society for Nursing and Health, delivered the keynote lecture, “Holistic Health and Spirituality: New Challenges to an Ever Changing World”, at the society’s fourth international conference in Daegu, Korea. . . . Jay C. Wade, assistant professor of psychology, recently published “Professional Men’s Attitudes Toward Race and Gender Equity” in The Journal of Men’s Studies. . . . Rev. Joseph T. Lienhard, S.J., professor of theology and managing editor of Tradition, delivered a lecture titled “Patristic Exegetes at Play: The Ten Plagues of Egypt,” at Concordia Lutheran Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana. . . . Dominick Salvatore, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Economics and department chair, presented “Dollarization in Latin America and Euroization in Central Europe” at the University of Vienna. . . . Wildlife ecologist and biology professor William Giuliano in partnership with the New York City Parks Department has released eighteen screech owls into Central Park. . . . . Ian Morrison, Ph.D., professor of mathematics, was a principal lecturer at the European Algebraic Geometry Research Network’s Advanced Summer School on “Moduli of Curves” held under the auspices of the Centro Internazionale per la Ricerca Matematica at Levico Terme, Italy. The topic of his series of lectures was “Birational Geometry of Moduli Spaces of Pointed Curves.” . . . Babette E. Babich, Ph.D., professor of philosophy, gave a plenary address on “Nietzsche and Chaos” to the British Nietzsche Society of Cambridge University at a meeting organized around the theme of Nietzsche and science. . . . H.D. Vinod, Ph.D., professor of economics and director of the Institute of Ethics and Economic Policy, and Derrick P. Reagle, Ph.D., assistant professor of economics, will publish a paper titled “Inference for Negativist Theory Using Numerically Computed Rejection Regions,” in Computational Statistics & Data Analysis, a special issue of the official journal of the International Association of Statistical Computing.

 

Jesuits, Women and Fordham.  Decree 14, a groundbreaking document, which was promulgated in March 1995 as part of the Jesuits' 34th General Congregation acknowledges the discrimination and injustice suffered by women around the world. It also articulates the Jesuits' appreciation for the contributions women have made to the Church.  “[Women] have enriched the Ignatian tradition and our understanding of ourselves and our ministry,” the document reads.  “We wish to express our appreciation for this generous contribution of women, and hope that this mutuality in ministry might continue and flourish.”  The document also encourages Jesuits to teach the equality of women, to oppose the exploitation of women and to include women in Jesuit ministries and institutions.  With the decline in the number of priests, the Church will probably depend more on lay people, the majority of whom are women, to run Church ministries, Rosemary DeJulio, Ph.D., assistant dean of Fordham College at Lincoln Center, said.  At Fordham, where women comprise approximately 60 percent of the student body, Decree 14 is especially worthy of discussion.  “There are so many women here, yet they are excluded from some of the school's top positions,” Kathleen Diina ’02 said. St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, shared with women his earliest drafts of the Spiritual Exercises and welcomed their participation and support of his ministries. However, Catholic women today often feel excluded from the Church hierarchy.  “St. Ignatius clearly invited their participation in the social ministries of the early Society,” said DeJulio.  She explored the role of women in the Catholic Church during a discussion titled "What About Women? The Jesuit Response in Decree 14”.  “I'm afraid, however, that encouraging spirit, which is such an Ignatian hallmark, is not quite as evident as it should be. . . . We have a good base, but there is room for more conversation,” said DeJulio.

 

The Princeton Review rates the University’s library as the sixth best in the country based on students’ assessments of library facilities. The Fordham University libraries have every book ever printed in England, Scotland and Ireland and every English language book printed abroad from 1475 to 1700!

 

RAMology.  At the end of the 19th century, an unidentified Fordham man wrote of the changes that he saw from the 1870’s: “Fordham was a very different place in 1870 from what it is now. Some of the old buildings, it is true, remain, but they are so merged into and overshadowed by later structures that the old boy feels lost as he stands before them. The new building (Dealy) stood alone in our day, a promise and a prophecy of the grand college structure which was to be. It was lighted by gas, positively by gas. The First Division boy wrote his themes and studied his authors by gas light while the less favored youngsters of the other divisions had to be content with smoky, ill‑smelling oil lamps. Think of that you Fordham boys who do your work by the light of electric lights!”

 

The University’s internet address is: www.fordham.edu

 The Site of the Rose Hill Manor.  As professors Allan Gilbert, Ph.D., and Roger Wines, Ph.D. filled in the holes at the site of the Old Rose Hill Manor on the University's Rose Hill campus, one of the longest‑running archaeological digs in New York City history came to a close after 17 years. “We've still got several years of study in front of us,” said Gilbert, an associate professor of anthropology. “The digging is over, so now our time won’t be spent working on the site. We’ll be able to do the analysis without having to maintain the site and find the labor to dig it.” As they concluded the dig, Gilbert and Wines uncovered some densely packed areas of the site, adding more artifacts to an already impressive collection. The two decided that they had gathered more than enough materials and that the time had come to focus on analyzing, synthesizing and interpreting their findings, which will eventually be published.  Studying the pieces of window glass, stucco and mortar as well as the buttons, pipe stems and pieces of pencil they recovered will produce a better understanding of life at Fordham in the 19th century, Gilbert said. “Saying that Fordham has a long history is one thing, but understanding it and knowing it is another,” said Gilbert. “I think having artifacts that show the actual activities of students and faculty makes the history more intimate.”  Wines, a professor of history who specializes in the New York region, says the archaeology project not only helps tell the history of the colonial Bronx, but it also serves as a catalyst for more research into Fordham's history. Once the final samples are removed, dirt will be carefully layered and compacted so as to not further crumble the fragile foundation walls of the Old Rose Hill Manor.

 

The Sports Page.  Some time ago, THE RAM nominated the top 10 Fordham athletes of the 20th century: “The Seven Blocks of Granite” (Al Babartsky ‘38, John Druze ‘38, Ed Franco ‘38, Harry Jacunski ‘39, Michael Kochel ‘39, Vince Lombardi ‘37, Leo Paquin ‘37, Nat Pierce ‘37 and Alex Wojciechowicz ‘38) held all opponents to a mere 16 points in 1937 and combined for six All‑America nominations as the football Rams, ranked third in the nation, went undefeated at 7‑0­-1. . . . Ed Conlin ‘55, the all‑time leading scorer with 1,886 points and rebounder with 708 rebounds, led the Men’s basketball Rams to their first two NCAA Tournament appearances. Ed earned All‑America honors in both 1954 and 1955 and won the Haggerty Award, given to the New York metropolitan area’s most outstanding player, in each of those seasons. . . . “The Fordham Flash”, Frankie Frisch ‘20, the greatest second baseman to play on Rose Hill, burned the base paths for the baseball Rams from 1917 to 1919 and paced the 1919 team, ranked second in the nation, to the Eastern Championship. Although he last played for the Rams 83 years ago, Frisch still holds the school records for most hits in a single game and for most triples in a game. After graduation, he won the National League Most Valuable Player Award and four World Series Championships as a player and one as a manager. Major League Baseball recently named Frisch as one of its All-Century Team Ballot at second base. . . . Anne Gregory ‘80, the greatest Women's player ever to lace up a pair of basketball sneakers on Rose Hill, scored 2,548 total points and grabbed 1,999 rebounds. In her junior and senior years, Anne paced the Rams to the Eastern Regional Championship with a combined record of 52‑14 and in her senior season led the Rams to the Final Four Tournament of Women’s basketball. . . .  During his junior year, Tom Courtney ‘55 set world records in the two‑mile relay with his Fordham teammates and set individual records in the IC4A indoor 1,000‑yard run. In his senior season, Tom won the 600‑yard title at both the Metropolitan A.A.U. Championships and the Intercollegiate Championships and earned All‑America honors. After graduation, still wearing a Fordham jersey, Tom won gold medals in the 800m race with an Olympic record time and in the 4x400 relay. . . . With 184 points, 75 goals and 34 assists, John Wolyniec ‘99 is the most prolific scorer in Fordham soccer history. He led the nation in scoring in 1997 and increased his scoring totals in 1998. John won a slew of All‑America honors including Academic All‑America honors as a complement to his 3.9 grade point average in mathematics. . . . Discussing Pete Harnisch ‘88, baseball coach Dan Gallagher simply says, “He was the greatest competitor I have ever seen.” Pitching for only three years, Harnisch filled the baseball record book. He holds the career strikeout record with 213 strikeouts, the single season mark for strikeouts with 97, the mark for innings pitched with 100.2, and the record for lowest earned run average at 1.25. Pete was twice named an All‑America. . . . Barry Cantrell ‘98 was the definition of the two‑sport athlete, becoming an All‑America in both football and track. He broke five school records in punting and twice set the record for the highest single season punting average. (His record stands at 45.85 yards.) In 1997, he led all of college football in punting and garnered Second Team All-America honors. Barry also holds the Fordham track records in the outdoor high jump at 7’1.75”, the 110 high hurdles (14.29 seconds) and the indoor high jump at 7’3.25”. In 1997, at the National Championships, he earned All‑America honors in the high jump. . . . As a track star, Lauren Gubicza ‘93 literally “blew away the competition”. She ran track and cross‑country from 1989‑1993, collecting 13 school records, three All‑America honors and an Academic All‑America honor. . . . Jim Cunningham ‘58 from Canisius High School in Buffalo, New York has his name all over the basketball record book. He finished his career as the third all‑time leading scorer with 1,744 points, has the highest career scoring average of any Fordham player with 22.9 points per game and holds the record for most free throws made and attempted with 594 and 813, respectively. Jim earned All‑America honors and was the recipient of the Haggerty Award.

 

While TRADITION does not disagree with any of THE RAM's nominees, it nominates: Frank McCaffrey ‘10, the great fullback and Fordham's first football All‑America; Earl “Zev” Graham ‘29, the famed football quarterback who, although he played more than 70 years ago, has drawn more comment from TRADITION’s readers than any other Fordham athlete; Thomas Siano ‘31, the center on the first Fordham line referred to as the “Seven Blocks of Granite”, who was an All‑America selection; “Fireman Johnny” Murphy ‘29, the baseball pitcher, who still holds the records for most shutouts in a season and most strikeouts in a game; Joe McCluskey ‘33, the Olympic runner, who scorched the cinders in a career marked by excellence; Ed Danowski ‘34, the football quarterback, who was a consensus All‑America in both 1933 and 1934; Alex Wojciechowicz ‘38, one of the “Seven Blocks of Granite”, all by himself ‑ because he deserves it. Red Smith, the great sportswriter of The New York Times, could find only three words to describe Wojciechowicz – “indestructible, unforgettable, and unprounceable.” Wojie was named one of the two greatest centers in the history of college football and one of the 50 greatest players in the history of the National Football League; Hank Borowy ‘40, the baseball great, who still holds the records for most consecutive shutout innings, most consecutive hitless innings and most wins in a season; Sam Perry ‘66, the “World’s Fastest Human”, who equaled the World Record in the 60‑yard dash in 1965; Charlie Yelverton ‘71, a wizard on the basketball court who led the Men's basketball Rams, ranked seventh in the nation, to a 26‑3 record in 1971; Kenny Charles ‘73, who played defense and filled the net for the Men's basketball Rams, and anyone who ever threw a Frisbee or tossed a ball on Edwards Parade and enjoyed it.

 

The Arts and Leisure Section. Holly Hyman ‘02 is a storyteller. But she tells her tales with “arabesques”, “jetes” and “pirouettes”, rather than with words. “I use my whole body to tell a story,” said Hyman, who was a student in the Alvin Ailey/Fordham Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) in Dance program. “Dance is a language, a way to communicate and a wonderful expression that I can share with others.” Hyman was one of 15 seniors in the dance program's first graduating class. The B.F.A. program, a partner­ship between Fordham College at Lincoln Center and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, was established in 1998 to attract highly disci­plined young people who wanted an exceptional liberal arts education and a career in dance.  Holly was the first college student to perform with Ailey’s second company, Ailey II.

 

The Television Review. TRADITION commends Dylan McDermott ‘83 for his portrayal of Bobby Donnell in the Emmy-winning television series “The Practice.”

Manifest Destiny?  TRADITION welcomes the members of the Marymount College community into the ranks of the University.

 

Letters to the Editor. Elmer Brunsman ‘63 writes, “Thank you for the publication, TRADITION. It always contains at least one especially interesting article that I cherish. . . . I especially enjoyed reading the back page piece . . . on The Fordham Club. It was all quite accurate. . . . I’m always delighted to . . . see the name of Barrett McGurn on your staff. He was an icon to us . . . in 1962 in The Ram offices. . . . Tell him he's remembered fondly by those whom he never met.” . . . Hal Davitt ‘65 writes, “on The Fordham Club, . . . one fine morning Keating Hall was toilet-papered totally, . . . but one should not dwell on such things. . . . I'm not sure whether Peter, Paul and Mary was the first concert. Sounds right. And they were there twice. But the Kingston Trio was there twice also. The first Kingston Trio was duly placed on the University calendar, run by the University Student Council (or whatever). Since tickets were moving so quickly, they were booked for the next night as well. Someone forgot to tell the University Student Council. Or perhaps they were following the Jesuit principle: ‘It's better to ask forgiveness than permission.’ Or maybe the Class of ‘65 thought that it was the University. (We may have had the Kingston Trio again the next year. It gets fuzzy.) We made a ton of money. Got to watch Don Ross ‘65 and Mario Gabelli ‘65 . .  and have Don lead the College out of the USC (at least temporarily). . . . We also had the Clancy Brothers, the first time for $2,500 flat, I think. We had them again, but it was 6 against 60 then ($6,000 guarantee or 60% of the gross). This was before they were big, but they brought in half The Bronx, it seemed. . . . A major name here is Bob Bogucki ‘65, who was from Pittsburgh, and was very much a character. He handled the production and contacts with the agents. Don Ross and John Connolly ‘65 handled the Jesuits. Bob is now a lawyer. I haven't talked with him in a while (30 years?).” . . . John Halligan ‘63 writes, “What next, Father McMahon, the musical? . . . The coverage of the University Bookstore issue. C'est magnifique and right on! . . . keep up the great work!” . . . John Fitzsimmons ‘29 advises that, according to the president of Barnes and Noble Collegiate Bookstore, the University sets the prices charged in the bookstore. . . . Michael Martello ‘02 has established a website www.nomorebookstore.com as an alternative to the bookstore monopoly.

 

The Radio Review. Album Network, a prominent radio industry publication, named WFUV the 2001 Major Market Adult Rock Radio Station of the Year.  In addition, fmqb named WFUV Non-Commercial Progressive Station of the Year.  WFUV also recently received the 33rd Annual American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers’ Deems Taylor Award and a New York State Broadcasters’ Award for Best Documentary. The Princeton Review rates WFUV as the fifth most popular campus radio station based on students’ assessments of radio stations.

 

The Real Estate Section.  There goes the neighborhood! Starbucks has opened on Fordham Road.

 

The Book Review. Readers of TRADITION may enjoy When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi by David Maraniss.

 

The Board of the Fordham College Alumni Association has established www.fordhamalumni.com as an alumni yellow pages. The Board encourages alumni to list their businesses and to patronize the businesses of fellow alumni.

 

TRADITION has not published for about two years for various reasons, but it is now back in your mailbox, at least for this issue.  The Board of the Fordham College Alumni Association and the University are exploring other means of delivering TRADITION to you.  TRADITION will be distributed electronically by e-mail, will be posted at www.fordham-tradition.org and will be available by a link through the University’s alumni website at www.fordham.edu  If you want TRADITION mailed to you, please notify Megan Clouden of the Office of Alumni Relations or the Board of the Fordham College Alumni Association in care of TRADITION.

 

TRADITION wishes its readers a happy and healthy holiday season.

 

TRADITION: Minister of Propaganda: George P. McKeegan ‘69; Conspirators: James Conway ‘33, Edward B. Leahey, Sr., M.D. ‘41, Nick O’Neill ‘55, Jack Walton ‘72, Elizabeth B. Kane ‘90, Catherine E. McKeegan ‘99 and Matthew M. Viveiros ‘01.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The University’s internet address is www.fordham.edu

 

Jay and the microseisms.  When seismometers aren't gauging earthquakes, these machines are busy recording microseisms, mysterious seismic occurrences that have long puzzled scientists.  Members of the Fordham physics department have their own theory about the significance of this seismic “noise,” and if they’re right, their research could have a major impact on the future of storm tracking.  “If we look at data and determine when a storm stopped or started and study things such as energy flow, we may be able to deduce different things about the storm,” said Jay Mancini, Ph.D, professor of physics, who is one of the research team members.  “We may be able to determine where the storm will touch down, if it's slowing down or even determine its potential duration.”  The researchers hope their work will draw the necessary attention and subsequent funding so they can gather additional data and further unravel the mystery.  Mancini and his colleagues became interested in microseisms when they realized that no one else was paying attention to them.  Compared to “snow” on a TV set, microseisms are often dismissed as a nuisance that interferes with the gauging of larger phenomena, such as earthquakes.  “We're just curious about the data and want to see what kind of information we can get about storms and the earth from these microseisms,” said Mancini.  “What we found is that during storms, the frequency of the ocean's swirling surface waves is directly related to the frequency of the microseisms.  Unlike previous theories with specific predictions, our theory is consistent with experimental data and we've used the data from Hurricane Bonnie and other storms to prove this relationship.”  The team's research suggests that the frequency of the microseisms is exactly twice that of a particular type of surface ocean wave.  The surface waves gain strength and power from the winds and other forces brought about by the storms, which then translate to particular readings on seismometers.  Mancini said the swirling motion of the ocean waves is a complicated phenomenon, but is related to how a storm moves laterally. If additional research is done on microseism data, it could indicate a great deal more about storms than modem meteorology permits.  One of the Fordham team's greatest assets will be the arrival of state‑of‑the-art seismic equipment at the University's Seismic Station this summer.  The team plans to combine data generated by the new equipment with data from Columbia University's Lamont‑Doherty Earth Observatory to further test the theory.  “The new equipment will put Fordham on the cutting edge,” said Mancini.  "It will greatly enhance our abilities in doing seismic research of this kind.”

 

On the sidewalks of Arthur Avenue, just south of the Rose Hill campus in the Belmont section of The Bronx, students and alumni can shop in some of the City's oldest and most authentic Italian markets. In displays along the Avenue's sidewalks, eggplants, vibrant and perfect, shine next to bright green and red bell peppers and mountains of pearl‑gray shrimp rest on piles of crushed ice. Pink salmon steaks appeal from fishmongers’ windows. On entering one of the shops, one sees bouquets of dark‑green herbs and scarlet‑hued smoked sausages. In cases in the rear, wheels of creamy cheese and bottles of olive oil fill the shelves. The shopkeepers are warm and friendly. The Avenue's bakeries produce some of the best breads and pastries in the world ‑- cookies with bright blue and yellow sugar crystals, cake icings in bold shades of mauve and mint and towering pastries cloaked in mantles of fresh fruit and whipped cream, with one final dusting of colored sugar.

 

A minor in environmental studies.  Fordham students will ponder the deeper dimensions of the environment in a new interdisciplinary minor in environmental studies. The Environmental Studies Program, which launches this fall, is open to undergraduate science and non‑science majors and follows the Jesuit mission of educating the whole person.  Through courses such as “Ecological Chemistry” and “Religion and Ecology,” students can explore the scientific, business, religious, philosophical and political aspects of the environment, in a manner that fits their educational and career interests.

 

The University has received a $500,000 state grant toward the construction of a $21 million Regional Parking Facility on Fordham Road.  The grant is an important step toward solving what has become a growing community concern and frees space currently used as parking lots for other purposes.  As planned, the Facility would house 1,250 parking spaces, 175 of which will be set aside specifically for the general public, and would be constructed on 4.5 acres of University property (along Fordham Road at the northwest intersection of Crotona Avenue, then running north along Crotona Avenue and Southern Boulevard).  The project has already received $5.75 million in federal funds under the Transportation Efficiency Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21).  The University is currently seeking additional state funding to complete the project.

 

“Religion, Health and Well­ Being,” Raymond F. Paloutzian, Ph.D., the editor of the International Journal of Psychology & Religion and a professor at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California, discussed the impact of religious faith on physical and mental health. If a sick man is prayed for, does he have a better chance of surviving?  If a sick woman dies after praying to God for healing, is it because she had too much sin in her life?  Religion does positively impact one's health, Paloutzian said, but to what extent it does so is difficult to determine.  If researchers could find evidence that prayer alone cured disease, the implications for social policy would be enormous.  But, Paul Baard, Ph.D., a psychologist, a professor of communications and media management and author of Motivating Your Church: How Any Leader Can Ignite Intrinsic Motivation and Growth, pointed out that there are limitations of psychology when addressing theological issues.  Still, he did not rule out supernatural healing, even when the results are less than miraculous.  In reply, Paloutzian insisted that  “Religion does affect physical disease.”  Paloutzian’s research has found that people who attend church regularly have lower blood pressure, less heart disease and an easier time coping with terminal illnesses.  Religious lifestyles do factor into these statistics, he said.  For instance, people practicing religions that forbid alcohol and certain meats may lead healthier lives.  He also said that people who belong to religious organizations enjoy a supportive social network that may positively affect their health and well-being.  Religious people “have a more positive outlook on life,” he said.  “It enhances the immune system and causes stronger social cognition.”  Spiritual well‑being is almost impossible to measure, but it can be studied from a psychological dimension, said Paloutzian, whose research has shown that highly spiritual people have less anxiety and greater coping abilities. 

 

Exorcisms are on the rise among middle‑class Americans and Hollywood and the pop entertainment culture is the driving force, says Sociology Professor Michael Cuneo, Ph.D. Cuneo has attended at least 50 exorcisms across the country and says they have become an acceptable alternative to therapy for many desperate people. “There is an unbelievable variety of exorcism ministries catering to middle‑class Americans who are resorting to exorcisms at an unprecedented rate,” he said. “Hollywood and the pop entertainment industry has done a lot to advertise exorcisms in the last 30 years and it has really made it very real and acceptable to many people. We underestimate the potential impact the popular entertainment industry has on our everyday beliefs.” Cuneo says that he approached the subject of exorcism the same way he does every topic ‑- with a scientific eye, a healthy dose of Canadian skepticism and an open mind. What he found was that nothing he witnessed was inexplicable. “Sometimes I was the only one in the room who didn't see a body levitate or see a head turn around,” he said. “My goal was to try to account for things in cultural, sociological or psychological terms, and I could explain everything I saw.” However, for the people who believed they were possessed and for those who were trying to cast evil out, the process seemed to work. Cuneo said that the exorcisms that he witnessed seemed to act as a salve for emotionally exhausted or ill people who had made little progress with traditional therapy. “These people are the center of attention, receiving the compassionate care and administration of an exorcist team,” he said. “This itself can have healing capabilities and is very similar to the care and attention people seek from a therapist.” Exorcism is also perceived as a "quick fix" in our fast‑paced society, with the wondrous added benefit of being exculpatory. This gives it a tremendous edge over traditional psychotherapy. “We live in a therapy‑mad culture and so many Americans are looking for quick solutions to their problems and exorcisms fit into that pattern beautifully,” he said. “Exorcism is a therapy. It may be a bit messy, but it is relatively fast, cleansing and inexpensive. And, at least in the short term, the people seem to get better. I don't know how long that lasts because I didn't follow these people for a long period of time. But, in the short term, it seemed to work.” As far as the process goes, exorcisms come in all shapes and sizes and occur in nearly every state in the union. Community exorcisms can include 100 to 300 people in a theater, basement or auditorium, while private exorcisms can be done in a home or office. While Cuneo believes society's embracement of this seemingly exotic practice is tied to Hollywood and is American as apple pie, those who expel the devil from the “inflicted” believe it is a serious business. “Some will tell you American society has lost its religious traditions and some will say that because of mysterious reasons, Satan and the devil are more active today,” Cuneo said. “They all have their theories and all believe, very strongly, in what they do.” What Cuneo took away from his research is the belief that “even seemingly outlandish and exotic rituals still have the capacity to deliver therapeutic benefits,” he said. “We are impressionable as a people and as a culture.”

 

The Graduate Program in International Political Economy and Development (IPED), established in 1979, prepares students to work as administrators and analysts for a wide range of international organizations involved in the global economy or international development issues. 

 

Globalization, an ancient economic practice? Globalization, the international integration of financial markets, is considered the paradigm of the 21st‑century financial world. However, the concept dates back to a new coinage introduced during the fourth century, according to James R. Lothian, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Finance. “A global financial marketplace is not something that has just recently appeared,” said Lothian, who presented a paper titled “The Internationalization of Finance and the Globalization of Markets” at the Tenth International Tor Vergata Conference on Banking and Finance, hosted by the University of Rome and the Journal of International Money and Finance and supported by the Fordham Schools of Business.. “In one form or another, it has been around for centuries, if not more than a millennium.”  Lothian's research, which will be published in an upcoming issue of the Journal of International Money and Finance, reveals that the new coinage, the bezant, was created by Emperor Constantine to check inflation. The bezant actually facilitated international trade and was used as a means of payment through the 11th century when banking began to develop.  “Because much of their business was cross‑border, these [banks] established branch networks like those of modern bank holding companies,” Lothian says. “Not surprisingly, negotiable instruments and markets in which they could be traded came next.”  Data from the 17th century forward provides evidence of market behavior similar to that observed in today's global economies, such as the international integration of money and bond markets.  Deviations from such trends have occasionally occurred, but only during wars and other large‑scale events. For instance, during the Great Depression of the 1930s, trade relationships were severed only to begin again as the economy recovered.  Naturally, the number of modern global markets has grown tremendously, along with the diversity of products now traded. In addition, trading information is now transmitted in a matter of seconds, rather than in days, weeks or months. Otherwise, there has been little difference between the global markets of yesteryear and those of today, Lothian said.

 

The balance between East and West.  Janet Abu‑Lughod, Ph.D., a professor emerita of sociology at the New School University, delivered a lecture titled “Globalization: Medieval Style”. Abu‑Lughod says that, “Prior to the West's rise to preeminence in the 16th-century, a complex and prosperous world system, trade and cultural exchanges had existed.  Indeed, the century between 1250 A.D. and 1350 clearly seemed to constitute a turning point in world history -- a moment when the balance between East and West could have tipped in either direction.”  In her research, the urban sociologist found that the West was influenced greatly by the high cultures of China and the Middle East that were prominent during the medieval period.  According to Abu‑Lughod, the global system functioned smoothly at this time despite economic, cultural and linguistic obstacles.  “Unwritten laws and rules of reciprocity assured general compliance and relative peace,” said Abu-Lughod. “This system was not decisively challenged until the 16th century when Portuguese men‑of‑war violated all the rules of the game by burning or boarding ships [and] confiscating cargo . . . [of] the numerous indigenous and unarmed merchant fleets of the area.”  The Portuguese men‑of‑war exploited the situation, which was facilitated by the demise of the once‑powerful Chinese Navy.  In addition, the spread of the bubonic plague had an equally devastating effect on the global marketplace, with the fatal epidemic spreading along trade routes to achieve far‑reaching contamination.  “The strengths of the system were indeed its undoing,” said Abu‑Lughod.  “The stronger you are, the more vulnerable you are.  The fall of the East preceded the rise of the West and opened up a window of opportunity that would not have existed had matters gone differently.” Although medieval times seem so far removed from the present, she noted the importance of looking to history as a teacher during times of conflict.  “We must ask what history teaches us about prior breakdowns in the world system and [we] must find ways to detain the present conflict,” she said.  “The lessons of opposing will from the 13th century -- the disappearance of a tolerance for coexistence and diversity of culture -- perhaps those are the weapons that we can bring from the 13th century.” Abu‑Lughod is the author of Before European Hegemony (Oxford University Press), a book on Arab-Western relations from 1250‑1350, which reinterprets global economic evolution, showing that the West has not always been a central and active agent, with the rest of the world a passive beneficiary.

 

Dominick Salvatore, A&S Distinguished Professor of Economics and department chairperson, presented a paper titled “Will There Be a Struggle for Dominance Between the Euro and the Dollar?” at the annual Meeting of the American Economic Association in Atlanta. . . . Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J., Laurence J. McGinley Professor of Religion and Society, delivered the lecture:  “The Contribution of Christianity to Culture: An American Perspective,” which was published in both English and Polish in the Proceedings of the Second Congress of Fundamental Theology (Lublin, Poland, Sept., 2001). In the semi-annual McGinley Lecture, Cardinal Dulles discussed “When to Forgive,” The lecture employed history, scripture and even literature as a means of understanding the complexity of forgiveness.  “The Cross of Christ teaches us that God does not forgive unexpiated sin," said Dulles.  “Forgiveness does not mean pretending that evil does not exist or forgetting it, but remembering it, fading its full malice, regretting it, and atoning for it.” . . . Dominick Salvatore, Distinguished Professor of Economics and department chairperson, published “The European Central Bank and the International Monetary System” in the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. . . . Lance Strate, associate professor of communication and media studies, published an article, “Narcissism and Echolalia: Sense and the Struggle for the Self” in Speech Communication Annual. . . .