Architecture Students Design Papal Altar for District Mass

By: Frankie Bustamante (Tower Staff)

Architecture students are competing to construct the altar, chair and ambo Pope Benedict XVI will use when he celebrates mass during his Washington, D.C. visit in the spring.

More than 20 designs of altars and ambos were submitted Wednesday at the Crough Center and the next morning, a jury of experts from the Archdiocese of Washington blindly judged them. They will decide whether one of the designs will be constructed and used when the pope celebrates mass at Nationals Park on April 17. In addition, designs will be awarded monetarily, with a $1500, $1000 and $500 prize.

The competition is exclusive to students from the University, who were able to work individually or in teams. Students were also given the option of designing the central cross or crucifix.

The competition and instructions were formally announced to students Friday, January 18 and were due Wednesday evening.

“The entire design should be visually, artistically and architecturally consistent” while incorporating “energy…which will reflect the themes of hope and renewal and the influence of the Holy Spirit,” according to the instructions students were given. The idea ties in with the theme of the pope’s visit, “Hope, Renewal and the Holy Spirit.” To complete the project, students engaged in what is commonly referred to in architecture as a design charrette; an intense period of design activity.

The results will be announced sometime today or early next week.

“You really have to use precedence: what the pope has used in the past, [his] kind of style…” said Jenna Edelmayer, a sophomore architecture major who participated in the competition. Given the short amount of time, Edelmayer and her group worked through late hours to complete the design, having been shown only a digital model of the stadium and no dimensions to work with. But according to her, having a team helps.

“Somebody was putting stuff into the computer, people were building models, somebody else was doing the presentation board [and] somebody else was recreating the stage so that we could put the pieces onto the stage,” Edelmayer said.

“If one of these is chosen to be built and we can get it done, it’s going to be a real achievement for the [School of Architecture] and the University,” said John Yanik, a professor of architecture. Yanik is one of the faculty members who will be involved with the construction, should a design be chosen.

“It was a great experience; a once in a lifetime opportunity,” said Edelmayer. “It was worth the hours we put into it.”

See the original article here on The Tower Newspaper website.

Pope Honors Father Bob

By: Stephanie Calhoun (Tower Staff)

Rev. Robert Schlageter, better known on campus as Father Bob, received papal honors from Pope Benedict XVI at a pre-Christmas Mass held in Caldwell Chapel. On Dec. 20, University President Rev. David M. O’Connell presented Schlageter with the Benemerenti Medal, which honors an individual who has exhibited long and exceptional service to the Catholic Church.

Schlageter is the University chaplain and director of the Office of Campus Ministry. He arrived at the University ten years ago and said he was very surprised when O’Connell announced the award.

“I didn’t have the slightest clue,” said Schlageter. “I was humbled and very moved. I tried to point out to everyone present that the award was really merited by our entire staff who do such an incredible job on campus.”

O’Connell said that by honoring Schlageter, the Pope was honoring the University “and the lives of so many students who have been touched by his ministry.”

Father Bob is far from a traditional chaplain and he is always looking for new ways to connect to the college crowd. Nicknamed the wired friar, Schlageter always has his Treo on him, he posts spiritual YouTube videos on the Campus Ministry webpage, he has his own blog and he is even on Facebook.

When he arrived at the University, Schlageter began blessing rooms, a tradition he remembered from his childhood in Buffalo. The tradition has been going strong for ten years and now takes Schlageter two weeks to cover every dorm room.

The Benemerenti Medal was instituted in 1832 by Pope Gregory XVI and has been awarded to Catholics across the world. In 1931, the award was presented to Dr. Karl F. Herzfeld, who was chair of the Catholic University Department of Physics until 1961.

“He puts in more effort and more time than any award could ever serve justice for,” said sophomore John Puskar. “The school wouldn’t be the same without him and I consider him my dad away from home.”

“He is the person who holds our campus together,” said sophomore Kara Fitzgerald. “Whether it is through an awesome homily, a deep one-on-one conversation or fixing the stalls in the Spellman bathrooms, Fr. Bob always knows the exact way to make our days. He has never failed to show me the path to Christ.”

Tower Staff Member Ryan J. Reilly contributed to this story.

See the original article here on The Tower Newspaper Website

Professor Discovers Star Clusters Dated at 200 Million Years Old

Duilia de Mello, a University scholar discovered star clusters dating to be about 200 million years old.

The star clusters which are being referred to as "blue blobs" were found with the Hubble Space Telescope. Over 12 million light-years away in the constellation of Ursa Major, the blue blobs are located where three galaxies collided.

"We could not believe it, the stars were in the middle of nowhere," said de Mello.

Scientists were surprised by the discovery since this cluster is not located in a galaxy, but a constellation.

"The blue blobs are stars outside galaxies," said de Mello in an interview with National Geographic News. "These ones are weird."

Collisions such as these, where blue blobs are formed, were common in the early developments of the universe say scientists. It has been proven that blue blobs enhance the density of gas streams.

Elements produced during their fusion in the nuclear furnaces would be easily expelled during these collisions due to their location outside of a galaxy, according to National Geographic. In return, this portrays how the creation of blue blobs would have been present in the creation of the early universe as well.

Although some of the clusters date to the 200 million year old collision, scientists believe some could be as young as ten million years old. In comparison to this, the sun is 4.6 billion years old.

De Mello presented the findings at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society. In addition to the University, de Mello also works at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

News Briefs

MPD: 12th St. Business Owner Made Fake IDs

A raid on the D.C. Department of Motor Vehicles center in Georgetown indicated a Brookland restaurant owner, Dora Romero Morales, was involved in distributing illegal driver's licenses. She owned The Tropicana on 12th Street, just a few blocks from the University.

"Suspects purchased bogus IDs for several reasons; to hide their illegal status, because they couldn't pass the driver's test or because they were involved in other criminal activities and wanted their identities hidden," said FBI spokeswoman, Debbie Weierman.

Two of the women arrested in the raid were arraigned in federal court. Gloria Gonzalez-Paz and Romero Morales face up to 15 years in prison and possible deportation. Both are on temporary work permits and speak little English.

Romero Morales provided the DMV false information from a Virginia identification card. The teller knowingly entered the information into the computer system allowing Romero Morales to receive a license without completing any of the required tests.

The investigation began in March 2007 after a source tipped off the FBI. Four people were arrested Wednesday, but the FBI is withholding names. It is believed a DMV teller, a minor and an illegal immigrant are in custody. The illegal immigrant has been handed over to officials for deportation.

Mullen Extends Rental Times on Library Laptops

University students will now be allowed to rent laptops for four hours at the Mullen Library, twice as long as before, according to new policies.

The school's largest library has incorporated the new laptop loan policy, which started at the beginning of this semester for students only. It has been changed to ease access to the equipment and to be more practical about the workload of students.

The previous policy allowed students to rent laptops for a two hour time period. However, this new policy allows students to rent laptops up to four hours at a time.

In addition, the library will decrease student fines for exceeding the time limit. In the past, students have been charged $1.20 per hour for overtime.

Students are no longer allowed to renew the laptops online. All renewals must be done in person at the library.

"Taking fines is a pain for us just as much for the students," said Landyn Minter, the circulation desk manager. "The policy gives students longer working periods and the chance for equal access."

Currently, no complaints have been made publicly regarding the new policy. The University owns a total of 40 laptops that are designated as rentals. Minter said, "The oldest laptop that we have is from last year and they are always updated. We received a new shipment around Christmas."

- Written by Stephanie Cole

Women's Bball Comes up Short

After losing seven straight games to a series of tough opponents throughout January, the Catholic women's basketball team (6-9) bounced back and claimed their first victory, 63-40, against Frostburg State Bobcats (5-11), last Wednesday evening.

The Cards have an extremely challenging schedule this season, facing opponents that include the highest ranked team in the nation, Mary Washington. Junior guard and captain, Jessica Schiavoni achieved a double-double by scoring 26 points, a career high, in addition to ten rebounds, leading the Cardinal squad to win on her birthday. She also is the current leader in points overall for Catholic as well.

Incoming freshmen, Brianna Peterson and Lauren McPeak have been solid throughout the season. Peterson guard and forward had 14 points and nine rebounds against the Bobcats on Wednesday. She boasts the most field goals made, the most three point field goals made along with the best Cardinal scoring average this season. McPeak, center, has been a chief contributor for the Cards this year, also leading in three categories: offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds and blocked shots.

Head coach Margaret Carey is in her third season with the Cards and after two very successful years, Carey will continue to work vigorously with the Cards, ensuring solidity for the remainder of the 2008 season.

The Cards will play tomorrow evening against the Susquehanna Crusaders (9-7) at 5:30 p.m. at the DuFour Center.

Catholic Univ. Dems Choose Obama, Republican Students Prefer McCain

Catholic University students would nominate Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain as the Democratic and Republican party nominees for the 2008 presidential election, according to a poll conducted by The Tower.

Out of 384 students polled, 106 chose Obama, the Illinois Democrat who is vying to be the nation's first African American president, while 69 chose McCain, the Vietnam veteran who has served the state of Arizona in the Senate for over 20 years.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the former first lady who is hoping to be the first woman commander-in-chief, placed second among Democrats, garnering 48 votes from all students surveyed. Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards polled last in his party and took in 25 votes among the student population.

In the Republican race, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani barely edged out former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, 42 to 41. Texas Rep. Ron Paul, whose campaign has thrived on support from students and younger adults, came in fourth with 24 votes. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson polled last, 15 and 14 respectively. Thompson has since dropped out of the race.

More than 20 percent of students surveyed indicated they had no major party affiliation.

Those independent students largely helped Obama and McCain with their wins, with over 30 percent voting for Obama and 25 percent voting for McCain. Clinton and Paul also garnered a respectable portion of unaffiliated voters, with a little over 10 percent each.

The surveys were administered during the week of January 14 in undergraduate residence halls and electronically. The poll comes after nearly a year of active campaigning, hundreds of millions of dollars raised, dozens of debates participated in and eleven major candidates withdrawn from an election that, for the first time since 1928, has neither an incumbent president nor an incumbent vice president running for his party's nomination.

Since the new year, a handful of states have had their primary contests, the earliest ever held in recent American history. Iowa, the first-in-the-nation caucus, saw Obama and Huckabee win with sizeable margins. Less than a week later, New Hampshire, the first-in-the-nation primary, was dubbed the comeback night when Clinton and McCain beat out rivals Obama and Romney, making the already competitive race more fluid. Romney scored a much-needed win in his native state of Michigan, and along with Clinton, won Nevada. McCain won last week's South Carolina primary, while the Democrats will battle for their party's South Carolina primary tomorrow. Giuliani, who was the Republican frontrunner for most of the campaign, decided to skip the early states and has been counting on a decisive win in Florida, which holds it primary on Tuesday, January 29. All the momentum-building leads to February 5, nicknamed "Super Tuesday," when over 20 states, including California, New York and New Jersey, will hold their primaries, and a nominee for each party is likely to emerge.

The 2008 general election is scheduled for November 4, 2008.

Architecture Students Design Papal Altar for District Mass

Architecture students are competing to construct the altar, chair and ambo Pope Benedict XVI will use when he celebrates mass during his Washington, D.C. visit in the spring.

More than 20 designs of altars and ambos were submitted Wednesday at the Crough Center and the next morning, a jury of experts from the Archdiocese of Washington blindly judged them. They will decide whether one of the designs will be constructed and used when the pope celebrates mass at Nationals Park on April 17. In addition, designs will be awarded monetarily, with a $1500, $1000 and $500 prize.

The competition is exclusive to students from the University, who were able to work individually or in teams. Students were also given the option of designing the central cross or crucifix.

The competition and instructions were formally announced to students Friday, January 18 and were due Wednesday evening.

"The entire design should be visually, artistically and architecturally consistent" while incorporating "energy.which will reflect the themes of hope and renewal and the influence of the Holy Spirit," according to the instructions students were given. The idea ties in with the theme of the pope's visit, "Hope, Renewal and the Holy Spirit." To complete the project, students engaged in what is commonly referred to in architecture as a design charrette; an intense period of design activity.

The results will be announced sometime today or early next week.

"You really have to use precedence: what the pope has used in the past, [his] kind of style." said Jenna Edelmayer, a sophomore architecture major who participated in the competition. Given the short amount of time, Edelmayer and her group worked through late hours to complete the design, having been shown only a digital model of the stadium and no dimensions to work with. But according to her, having a team helps.

"Somebody was putting stuff into the computer, people were building models, somebody else was doing the presentation board [and] somebody else was recreating the stage so that we could put the pieces onto the stage," Edelmayer said.

"If one of these is chosen to be built and we can get it done, it's going to be a real achievement for the [School of Architecture] and the University," said John Yanik, a professor of architecture. Yanik is one of the faculty members who will be involved with the construction, should a design be chosen.

"It was a great experience; a once in a lifetime opportunity," said Edelmayer. "It was worth the hours we put into it."

Even for Hollywood Starletts, Teen Pregnancy is Taboo

For those who are obsessed or even slightly curious about celebrity gossip, the news of the Spears sisters pregnancies should not still be shocking (even if it's still ridiculously scandalous.) For those who don't give a hoot about celebrity gossip, I have a point to make, so bear with me.

Britney Spears' 16-year-old sister and star of the Nickelodeon show Zoey 101 Jamie Lynn Spears announced to OK! Magazine that she was pregnant with her boyfriend Casey Aldridge in mid-December. This news, accompanied by Britney's fake pregnancy and well, just about everything she does, blew everybody in the pop culture world out of the water. Needless to say, mother Lynn Spears' book "Pop Culture Mom: A Real Story of Fame and Family in a Tabloid World," which was set to come out this spring is currently "infinitely delayed, but not cancelled" according to a Lynn Spears representative.

Jamie Lynn's pregnancy is not the only one in Hollywood. It seems that the thing to do if you are famous for just about anything is to get pregnant. Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony, Nicole Richie and Joel Madden, and Christina Aguilera and husband Jordan Bratman are just a few names of people entering the world of parenthood under the spotlight.

Still, the reasons the public is infatuated with Jamie Lynn's story are obvious. Teenage pregnancy is still a topic of taboo; it does not exist in the world of beauty and glamour. In case you have forgotten, there have been teen pregnancies as long as humans have been able to reproduce. Reactions to such occurrences have shifted throughout history and depend greatly on granted social formalities. Here in the United States, teenage pregnancy is not uncommon. People magazine recently found that in 2007 there were 750,000 pregnancies for girls between the age of 15 and 19. Women get pregnant every day, even teenagers.

Was this written as a tip-of-the-hat to Jamie Lynn? Kind of. It's more of a wake-up call to young women: Celebrity gossip is town square drama with more money and really good-looking people. Teenage pregnancy happens everywhere. I'm just shocked it took this long to reach Hollywood.

Heartthrob Heath Ledger Dies Suspicious Death, Millions Mourn

Well renowned actor Heath Ledger was found dead on Tuesday afternoon in his Manhattan apartment. He died at 28.

Ledger was found at approximately 3:30 PM by a housekeeper who was sent to wake Ledger for an appointment with a masseuse, said NYPD representative Paul Browne. There were over-the-counter sleeping pills found next to his bed. Although autopsies have not pointed to a direct cause of death, CNN reported that it could have been a drug overdose.

This native-Australian launched himself into the movie-world in the unforgettable Taming of the Shrew re-do 10 Things I Hate About You along side Julia Stiles and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. His film career expanded as he took on significant roles in The Patriot, The Brothers Grimm and A Knights Tale and shared the screen with celebrated actors Matt Damon and Mel Gibson. "I had such great hope for him. He was just taking off, and to lose his life at such a young age is a tragic loss," said Gibson in a statement.

He was most well-known for his role as a sexually conflicted cowboy in Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain, for which he was nominated for both a Golden Globe and an Oscar and named Best Actor by the New York Film Critics Circle. He co-stared with the Jake Gyllenhaal.

The upcoming film The Dark Knight, sequel to Batman Begins, will feature Ledger as The Joker this summer. There is already positive buzz surrounding his portrayal. He is also set to appear in the film I'm Not There, an adaptation by six different actors of the varying aspects of Bob Dylan's life.

Ledger is survived by his two-year-old daughter Matilda Rose, his ex-fiance Michelle Williams and parents, Kim and Sally.

"Heath has touched so many people on so many different levels during his short life, but few had the pleasure of truly knowing him," said Ledger's father, Kim Ledger. "He was a down-to-earth, generous, kind-hearted, life-loving and selfless individual who was extremely inspirational to many."

Pope Honors Father Bob

Rev. Robert Schlageter, better known on campus as Father Bob, received papal honors from Pope Benedict XVI at a pre-Christmas Mass held in Caldwell Chapel. On Dec. 20, University President Rev. David M. O'Connell presented Schlageter with the Benemerenti Medal, which honors an individual who has exhibited long and exceptional service to the Catholic Church.

Schlageter is the University chaplain and director of the Office of Campus Ministry. He arrived at the University ten years ago and said he was very surprised when O'Connell announced the award.

"I didn't have the slightest clue," said Schlageter. "I was humbled and very moved. I tried to point out to everyone present that the award was really merited by our entire staff who do such an incredible job on campus."

O'Connell said that by honoring Schlageter, the Pope was honoring the University "and the lives of so many students who have been touched by his ministry."

Father Bob is far from a traditional chaplain and he is always looking for new ways to connect to the college crowd. Nicknamed the wired friar, Schlageter always has his Treo on him, he posts spiritual YouTube videos on the Campus Ministry webpage, he has his own blog and he is even on Facebook.

When he arrived at the University, Schlageter began blessing rooms, a tradition he remembered from his childhood in Buffalo. The tradition has been going strong for ten years and now takes Schlageter two weeks to cover every dorm room.

The Benemerenti Medal was instituted in 1832 by Pope Gregory XVI and has been awarded to Catholics across the world. In 1931, the award was presented to Dr. Karl F. Herzfeld, who was chair of the Catholic University Department of Physics until 1961.

"He puts in more effort and more time than any award could ever serve justice for," said sophomore John Puskar. "The school wouldn't be the same without him and I consider him my dad away from home."

"He is the person who holds our campus together," said sophomore Kara Fitzgerald. "Whether it is through an awesome homily, a deep one-on-one conversation or fixing the stalls in the Spellman bathrooms, Fr. Bob always knows the exact way to make our days. He has never failed to show me the path to Christ."

Tower Staff Member Ryan J. Reilly contributed to this story.

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