Pax Christi display

If you have not yet visited the FDR Memorial, I highly recommend it. The memorial, among other things, displays several quotes of the late president. Perhaps the most striking is the one which reads, "I hate war." These are words spoken by the president who led us into, and eventually led us to victory in World War II. Even though FDR believed that war was the best course of action, he did not hide from the public his detestation for war itself, for the death and destruction that war causes.
The Pax Christi display outside Hannan this week served as a reminder of this fact: war means death. It did not argue about whether or not this was a just war. It did not condemn the president or the nation. It was a simple reminder about the reality of war. And yet, this silent display has caused much controversy and sparked an impressive amount of discussion.

We are no longer living in an ignorant society. Due to globalization, the media, and our own history (Korea, Vietnam), we cannot help but acknowledge the reality of war. We no longer live in the America of the 1940's when we hated the Germans because a cartoon in a movie theater made us believe they were evil. We can no longer impersonalise the enemy and brand an entire nation of people as malicious criminals. The "romance" of was is gone. To use the old clich

Div. III Football Will Face Increased NCAA Regulations

The NCAA has announced a revision in the rules that govern the preseason practices of Div. III football, according to CUA athletic director Robert Talbot.

"These are minor changes. I actually really like them," said CUA football head coach Tom Mulholland.

The new rules will require teams to practice with just helmets for the first two days of preseason practice, then just helmets and shoulder pads for the next two, but without contact said Mulholland. The team will be allowed to practice in full uniform with full contact on the fifth day; however, only one full practice and one light walk through is allowed per day said Mulholland. Once full practice begins, two-a-day full practices must be alternated with one full practice and one light walk through in order to allow more recovery time for the players said Mulholland.

The NCAA has made these changes in order to have a more gradual flow into full contact, said Talbot.

"These changes have not affected my plans for preseason practice," said Mulholland. Football preseason practice will begin one day earlier than last year on August 13th.

Rugby Teams to Compete Weekend Tournaments

The CUA men’s rugby football club finished the season with a record of 4-6, qualifying for the fall playoffs. The team will host three other D.C. universities during Saturday’s annual Capital Cup.

In the fall, season the team finished with a record of 2-3. The team defeated St. Mary’s and George Washington, but fell to Navy, Salisbury and Hopkins. Though qualifying for the play-offs of the Potomac Rugby Union, the team was ineligible to participate due to the late cancellation of a 2001 playoff game, according to team president Matt Pinckney. “The suspension was only one year and we will be eligible for the 2003 playoffs,” said Pinckney.

The team has had a similar spring season winning games against UMD-Baltimore County, 27-10, and St. Mary’s, 25-19. Losses to Quantico, 17-12, Fordham, 24-3, and Navy, 25-5, matched the record of the fall season.

“The team has been steadily improving since we got our new coach. He has been our first steady coach in a long time and has organized the team,” said Pinckney.

Seniors Neil McGinley and Matt Scorzafava have led the team on the field this year. Sophomore Vito Altavas and freshman Bernie O’Brien have also contributed to the offense. Senior Eric Thompson has been the team leader and the best player on the team, according to Pinckney.

“Easy [Thompson] is a hard worker, who knows the game well. He is definitely not a finesse player. He likes to pound it inside and makes the other team beat him face to face. He plays with no fear and everyone likes playing with him,” said Altavas.

The season will culminate with the Capital Cup hosted by CUA Saturday at noon. The five-year-old tournament is an annual competition between George Washington, American, Georgetown and Catholic. “We can take this tournament,” said Altavas.

Last year the Cards made it to the championship game, but lost to Georgetown, a fate had during all five years of the tournament. Pinckney anticipates “another tough match” against the Hoyas this year. “It’s really between us and [Georgetown],” said Pinckney.

“This year we had a lot of talent, but lacked chemistry. We have made a large leap from last year to this year and the team is only going to get better,” said Altavas.

Women’s Rugby

The CUA women’s rugby football club finished the regular season at 4-1, and will end the year this weekend as they compete at the Capital Women’s Ruggerfest.

“Ruggerfest is an all-women’s tourney, featuring players from the high school, college and professional level,” according to former club president junior Emily Broe. CUA will be competing in the social bracket where they will face other college teams such as Georgetown.

“Playing in a tournament like this, with professionals, gives the team a feel for how rugby is a way of life. We will make connections so we can play in summer leagues, and many of us will use the tournament as a showcase for college talent,” said Broe.

CUA and Georgetown, both of whom will be at Ruggerfest, started programs last year according to Broe. “When we play Georgetown we see it as an opportunity to see how both teams have grown. And we kick their asses,” said Broe.

In their first game of the year on March 22, CUA defeated Georgetown, 20-18. The team then shut out George Washington March 29, 24-0. The Lady Cards were on the opposite end of this score when they were shutout by Salisbury, 24-0, April 4. “We lost to Salisbury because their girls are amazons,” said sophomore outside center Kat Christian.

Playing two matches in one weekend, the team destroyed Washington College April 12 and the University of Maryland April 13. Washington College provided CUA with little competition according to Christian, as Catholic coasted to a 24-0 victory. Inside center Jamie Punyko led all scorers with 10 points off of two tries. UMD offered even less competition to the Lady Cards, as CUA defeated the Terps 41-5. Flanker Emily Clark notched all three of CUA two-point conversions. “This was UMD’s first ever game, so beating them showed our team the progress we have made in the past year. We have improved individually and as a team,” said team captain and fly half Katie McEvoy.

“We are a fast team and we work together which is why we’ve been able to win games,” said sophomore wing Molly Shanon. “And the core of our team is returning next season, so we are hoping to continue our success and

Athletes Of The Year:

After finishing an outstanding season with the Men's basketball team Matthew Hilleary, a senior civil engineering major from Manassas, Va., has a lot to look forward to after graduation. This season Hilleary, center, was recognized by D3hoops.com as a fourth team All-American as well as first team All-Mid Atlantic for the second year in a row.

Basketball has always been a passion for Hilleary even from a young age. Hilleary had a lot to look up to when he was younger. He started playing basketball in fifth grade, and inspired by his older brother his love of basketball. In high school, Hilleary was named All-conference player of the year two years in a row, along with being named Manassas Journal Messenger player of the year.

When Hilleary came to Catholic the awards and achievements came rolling in. Last season he was named the Capital Athletic Conference player of the year. Athletics haven't been the only thing that has inspired great achievements, Hilleary is also a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

This past season, Hilleary stood up to the challenge of his senior year and took control and the reigns of leadership on the court. Hilleary helped lead the Cards back to the NCAA tournament. Hilleary led the Cardinals in scoring and rebounding averaging 17.4 points per game and 8.0 rebounds a contest. He also led the Capital Athletic Conference and ranked 16th in the nation in blocked shots with 77 blocks (athletics.cua.edu).[don't know what exactly you want for citation]

NABC named Hilleary to its All-American Second Team and an All First Team selection on the Middle Atlantic Region.

While his CUA basketball career came to an end this season, Hilleary will forever be remembered in the record books. Hilleary grabbed the seventh-place spot in the CUA books for all-time scoring highs. Hilleary also racked up 1,622 career points with 852 rebounds and 267 blocks which landed him second on Catholic's defense books.

With his senior year drawing to a close Hilleary was named Capital Athletic Conference's Player of the Year for the second year in a row. Hilleary was also placed on the 2003 All-CAC First team with fellow teammate Will Morley and with other players from York, Goucher and Mary Washington.

Hilleary pushed this team in his final year with an attitude that motivated the other players. After winning the National title in his sophomore year at Catholic, Hilleary strived to lead the Cards back into the winner's circle for the remainder of his basketball career at Catholic. (I don't know how to end it!!)

Coach Mike Lonergan Candidate for Div. I Job

Men's basketball head coach Mike Lonergan, who finished his 11th year at the CUA helm with a 24-5 record in 2002-03, is being actively considered for the head job at Div. I William & Mary (W&M) according to published reports. Additional reports indicated Lonergan was a top choice for the head position at Div. I Columbia University. Columbia hired former Villanova assistant Joseph Jones Saturday.

The Newport News Daily Press reported Wednesday that Lonergan met with W&M Athletic Director Terry Driscoll about the Tribe's coaching vacancy which was created earlier this month when three year coach Rick Boyages resigned to become an assistant at Ohio State. Yesterday's Daily Press confirmed that Lonergan had interviewed with Driscoll. Earlier this week The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported Lonergan to be a top contender for the position.

Lonergan, a 1988 graduate of CUA, was hired as head coach prior to the start of 1992-93 season. Under his guidance, the Cardinals have made eight NCAA Div. III tournament appearances, including a national title in 2000-01. He holds the school mark for wins as a men's basketball coach with an all-time record of 227-82. Lonergan's wife Maggie is the women's coach at CUA.

"Maggie and I are very happy at Catholic University and looking forward to the 2003-04 season," said Lonergan. "Catholic University is a special place and we feel very blessed to be a part of it. I don't see us ever leaving here."

A head coaching position at W&M would pose an interesting challenge for Lonergan. The college is highly regarded academically and competes in the Colonial Athletic Association with George Mason, UNC-Wilmington and Drexel. The Tribe notched a 12-16 record in 2002-03 and finished eighth in the CAA standings.

Earlier this month, reports in The Washington Post, The New York Post, and The Columbia Spectator indicated that Lonergan was a finalist for the head coaching job at Ivy League Columbia University. Catholic University president Rev. David M. O'Connell confirmed he had been contacted by Columbia Athletic Director John Reeves and had given Lonergan a positive recommendation.

Other candidates for the Columbia job included Hall-of-Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, North Carolina assistant Bob MacKinnon and New York Knicks assistant Mike Malone. Lonergan was not offered the position, and Columbia hired former Villanova assistant Joseph Jones Saturday.

Bowman on Sports

Another year of Cardinals sports has gone by and another year of spectacular performances, finishes and seasons for CUA's athletic program.

First there was volleyball dominating the competition and making their second straight NCAA tournament. Then basketball extending their streak of NCAA Div. III tournament appearances in the winter season. And with the Spring came the excellent regular seasons of baseball and women's tennis.

But what has been really impressive this year at CUA has been the performance of the club sports at CUA.

Ice hockey, women's rugby and cheerleading have all made an important and influential impact on the CUA athletic program. All three teams have increased there presence both on and off-campus, while showing athletic success second to none.

For the past three years, ice hockey has played in the largest arena of any CUA team. It was the recipient of the award for organization of the year and it has continuely improved their practice facility, uniforms and participation.

Women's rugby has also shown their worth with their ability to just win, baby. They are currently 4-1 and about to play in the largest rugby tournament in the area. All of this in just two years of existence. The team is coached by professional rugby players and is one of the few organizations that puts its limited resources to good use.

But topping all these sports is the Cheerleading team. Now, it is a debatable fact whether or not this is a sport, but thats a whole other column. Cheerleading participation at CUA events has increased on both the part of the fans and the cheerleaders. Their is less competition between the cheers of the fans and the cheers of leaders, a sign that this organization is progressing. The team was also crowned Capital Athletic Conference dance champions and took second place in the cheer competition.

These teams may have to fight for funding every year and not have a conistent place to practice, but it shows a spirit that seems to be found in every athlete on this campus: Div. III, club, intramural. Some say our student body is uninvolved, but if you look at our sporting community you can see apathy is dead.

Baseball Falls to Salisbury in CAC Tourney

The CUA baseball team's early season hopes of a shot at the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) title came up 180 feet short yesterday as they dropped their final game in the CAC tournament to #26 Salisbury 5-4.

Dan Conway singled with two outs in the ninth then scored on Todd Michalak's ensuing double to bring the score within one. That was as close as it would come, however, as Bernie Dennis grounded out a few pitches later, stranding Michalak on second base-180 feet from home plate. The loss ends any hopes the Cardinals had of an NCAA tournament bid.

Starter Doug Sherry (3-2) struggled early, yielding four runs in the first, but then settled down and pitched into the eighth, all but dominating a high powered Seagull lineup. "I had a little trouble finding the strike zone for a while there," said Sherry, whose team was down 4-1 at the end of the first, "but after that I felt a lot better. The guys really battled down to the last pitch, it was exciting."

The Cards (20-14, 5-6 CAC) took the fourth seed in the double-elimination tournament and dropped the first game 12-3 at York on Tuesday. Adam Weiss (4-5) took the loss for CUA, yielding nine earned runs in five innings of work.

Six regular season games fill out the schedule for the Cards, who had high hopes for postseason success after beginning the season 8-2. "It's disappointing," said Sherry, "Of course it's disappointing, but we gave it our best shot." Teammate Justin Siller acknowledged the level of competition that Catholic was up against all season long, "The CAC is the second-best baseball conference in the nation. I have to give [our opponents] credit, they are some pretty good ball clubs."

According to Sherry, an invitation to the East Coast Athletic Conference (ECAC) Tournament may be extended to the Cardinals depending on their success in the upcoming week. "The ECAC is kind of the NIT for Division three baseball," he said, alluding to D-I basketball's National Intercollegiate Tournament for teams not receiving a bid to the NCAA's, "Though this will primarily be east coast teams, it will be a good way to wrap up a solid season with a great group of guys."

Sherry and Siller are two of the nine seniors this year's squad will lose to graduation. However, the 2003 roster also sports eight freshmen including standout hurler Peter Doyle who worked his way to a team-leading 6-2 record in nine appearances this season.

The Cardinals travel to Wesley on Apr. 28, then conclude their schedule with five home games. Games begin at 3:30 on Apr. 29, 30, and May 2, against McDaniel, Gettysburg, and Columbia Union, respectively. The home finale comes by way of a May 3 doubleheader versus Bridgewater beginning at 1 p.m.

Parece Blanca Unites Various University Departments on the Callan Stage

The Drama Department, Foreign Languages Department, Undergraduate Student Government Executive Board, Latin Alliance, and the Gala Theater of Washington DC, are collaborating to produce Parece Blanca, a play by Cuban playwright Abelardo Estorino. It evolved from a four-year vision of senior Politics and Spanish for International Services major, Desi Fernandez, and Dr. Mario Rojas, Head of the Foreign Languages Department, to produce a play in Spanish on the Catholic University Campus.

Parece Blanca, based on the book Cecelia Valdes by Cerilo Villaverde, is now "the first Spanish play to be produced at Catholic University," said Fernandez. The play, written in communist Cuba, is an award winning story about race, class, love and lies that "centers on the a mulatto woman who falls in love with a Spanish man, but whose love is thwarted by the disparity between their respective race and class," said Fernandez. The play emphasizes the "tensions in race and class that underlie the colonial period in which the book was written, as well as the communist period in which the play was written in Cuba," Fernandez added.

Performed previously in Havana and New York to critical acclaim, Parece Blanca, translated "Appears White," is directed at CUA by Harold Luis, an Havana native and actor at the Gala Theater, the premiere Spanish theater in Washington DC. The cast is composed entirely of CUA students from various majors, including Lauren Cecelia Long, a freshman Spanish for International Service Major, and Kathleen Wilbur, a senior drama major, both serving as assistant directors. In addition, the cast is composed of eight graduate and undergraduate student actors from the biology, politics, modern languages, and drama departments. The play will be performed next weekend in Callan Theater because "the director was seeking an open air performance space," said Fernandez.

Fernandez said the play was chosen "as an opportunity for race and culture to be discussed at CUA, to increase awareness of and emphasize diversity on the CUA campus." He added, "Parece Blanca offers a degree of multiculturalism and a glimpse into the richness of Latin American literature and culture." Fernandez stated that the play "will be highly syndicated in metro area newspapers, particularly in the Hispanic community, and will hopefully attract an eclectic audience, making CUA a welcoming environment to other cultures." Fernandez hopes that Parece Blanca will be the first of many collaborations between the Departments of Drama and Modern Languages, and that its "performance will contribute both to the cast and the larger CUA community."

Politics Graduate Student Receives Award in His Own Name

Steven Millies came to the University as a graduate student in the politics department in the fall of 1995. Now, eight years later, he has completed his doctoral studies in politics and will walk at commencement in May. An award is given in his name for outstanding commitment in the Graduate Student Association to graduate education and graduate life at CUA.

He was a two-term president of the Graduate Students Association, which he used to press the University to refocus its energies to graduate studies, which he believed were shifting toward undergraduate. GSA officers and their advisor Cindy Mauris, former director of the office of campus programs, created the award in 1999. It is presented annually to a GSA member who has worked to improve the experience of his or her peers at CUA. He has many accomplishments, in his time at the University, for the graduate programs and CUA as a whole.

"When I first came to CUA I was living in Gibbons and had gotten involved rather early in the student judiciary. I got involved in GSA through the judiciary. At that point in my life I had the energy to get into things and get involved to try and make a difference," said Millies. When he first became involved in GSA, the organization had been struggling financially for a couple of years; the first year he was involved he and the GSA officers straightened out the finances of the organization and helped to ensure that the money coming into the GSA was directly benefiting the students. In 1997, graduate enrollment was declining and the focus of the university was changing, Millies and the GSA brought this to the attention of the administration with a report to the University in 1999.

"CUA was founded as a graduate institution and because of money, among other reasons, the focus shifted to undergraduate. We brought the provost, Dr. John Convey, in as well as many other administrative people to sit in on our meetings to allow them to see the kinds of improvements we thought were needed," said Millies. The result was a written report of the condition of the University given to the administration. "We tried to warn the University of the changes and offer a graduate student point of view, based on our talks with University officials," said Millies.

According to Andrew Hill, current GSA president, "Steven did an enormous amount of good for graduate students. The report was extremely important and the University was impressed by it. President O'Connell made it required reading among the administration."

Aaron Hoffman, a politics graduate student, who worked along side Millies said, "He had that vision. He was the first graduate student to say that being a graduate research university is important and there needs to be some changes. He set the standard for what a graduate student leader can do on campus. He made the GSA an important spokesman for the graduate students, made it more than simply a social organization."

Millies is quick to point out that it was not just him making all of the changes and calling all of the meetings. "All of the GSA officers and other people involved made the difference, it was not just me. Cynthia Mauris, who was the GSA advisor, helped tremendously during the years I was with the organization. She was a sounding board for ideas, a guide through the internal politics of the University, and a good friend to graduate students and me personally," said Millies.

Millies finished his degree in January and now works as a legal secretary at a Washington law firm. He is interviewing for an academic job teaching politics at a university. "I am looking to teach politics somewhere where the climate is temperate and the people are nice," said Millies.

Physics Researchers Make Neutrino Discoveries

The sun shoots out subatomic particles, called neutrinos, which leave the sun as one type but reach the earth as one of a variety of flavors, according to a scientist from the University of Washington.

On April 15, Robert Graham Hamish Robertson presented recent discoveries that researchers made at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory in Canada. More than 40 years ago, a physicist who became a member of the CUA faculty was one of two scientists to first detect the neutrino, a nearly massless particle that carries energy away from some nuclear reactions.

Neutrinos have no charge but come in three types that are each related to a different charged particle, either an electron, a muon or a tau. Reactions in the sun produce electron-neutrinos, but the Canadian observatory observed that only about one-third of the neutrinos that reach the earth are these type. Therefore, neutrinos from the sun change to muon- or tau-neutrinos on the way here.

What allowed Robertson and others to come to this conclusion was a detector that is more than a mile beneath the ground in Sudbury, Ontario. The detector is filled with 1000 tons of pure heavy water and 8000 tons of ordinary light water. "Light" water is what we use to drink and bathe. "Heavy" water molecules have two deuterium instead of two hydrogen atoms (a deuterium atom is a hydrogen atom with an extra neutron).

The heavy water, which can detect all three types of neutrinos, is in a 12-meter diameter acrylic container which is surrounded by a geodesic structure. This structure has 9,600 photomultiplier tubes which detect the flashes of light caused by the reactions between the neutrinos and the heavy water. This set-up is immersed in light water inside a barrel-shaped cavity in rock. The cavity is the size of a ten-story building. The observatory has been collecting data for three years.

The probability that solar neutrinos change their flavor before reaching the earth is 99.999%, according to the observatory. Scientists long thought the neutrino was massless, but the fact that they change types may show the existence of neutrino mass and mass differences between different types.

Robertson started his lecture by giving a brief history of the neutrino. Clyde Cowan and Frederick Reines first detected the neutrino in 1956 using a tank filled with mineral oil and surrounded by photomultiplier tubes. Cowan joined the physics faculty as an ordinary professor in 1958. Since Cowan died in 1974, Reines received the Nobel Prize in 1995 by himself for this work.

Robertson received his undergraduate degree at Oxford University and his Ph.D. at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, in 1971.

In 1981 Robertson joined Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. As a member of the lab's staff, he investigated solar neutrino physics and neutrino mass via tritium beta decay. In 1988 he became a fellow of the Los Alamos National Observatory. He also initiated the laboratory's collaboration in the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory project in Canada.

Robertson took a professorship at the University of Washington in 1994. Robertson's lecture was the twenty-second Karl Herzfeld Memorial Lecture. The lecture series commemorates Herzfeld, an Austrian physicist whose students included Wolfgang Pauli and Werner Heisenberg, was chairman of CUA's physics department from 1936 to 1961.

Next Page »