News

WORCESTER, Mass. – Holy Cross recently announced that Dr. G. Earl Peace, Jr., has been hired as a new assistant dean and class dean for the class of 2005. Peace was previously an associate professor of chemistry at the College from 1979-1992.

Peace earned his bachelor’s degree at Lafayette College (Easton, Pa.), and both his master’s degree and Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He was a tenured member of the faculty at Lafayette until he joined the faculty at Holy Cross in 1979.

While at Holy Cross, he served as the minority student advisor and was elected to a number of important committees, including the Committee on Tenure and Promotion, the Academic Standing Committee and the Admissions Committee.

Peace received an ACE Fellowship and spent a year working on institutional research and planning. Shortly thereafter, he left Holy Cross in 1992 to join the University of Wisconsin-Madison as the academic planner for the UW System. He subsequently served as the associate director of the “New Traditions” Curricular Reform Project and the director of the “Multi-Initiative Dissemination Project.” Peace takes over from the current assistant dean, Joseph Maguire, who is retiring from the College after 39 years of service.

In addition to his duties as class dean, Peace will teach in the First Year Program and will also have special responsibility for student academic assessment. His experience in administration, curricular innovation and student advising will serve him well in his new role.

The Office of the Dean of the College is responsible for all matters relating to the faculty, curriculum and academic affairs. The office is involved in activities ranging from hiring and promotion to strategic planning. The deans also sponsor a number of speakers, events and faculty development opportunities.

WORCESTER, Mass. – Holy Cross history professor Karen Turner will present her film, “Hidden Warriors: Voices from the Ho Chi Minh Trail,” on Wednesday, April 25, at 4:30 p.m. in Room 102 of Stein Hall. The viewing is free and open to the public.

Along with Turner, John Buckingham, assistant director of the audio-visual department at Holy Cross, and Phan Thanh Hao also produced the film. The premiere will be followed by a discussion with the film makers.

Turner has been at Holy Cross since 1987. The author of “Even the Women Must Fight: Memoirs of War from North Vietnam,” “China Bound: A Guide to Academic Life and Work in the PRC” and “Limits of the Rule of Law in China,” Turner earned her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1983.

She specializes in early Chinese legal history, modern Chinese history and culture, family in East Asia, and pre-modern Vietnamese history and culture

WORCESTER, Mass. – Twelve Holy Cross students will travel to Kenya, Africa this summer to build homes with Habitat for Humanity International. The group will depart on June 3 and return three weeks later. This is the fourth year that Holy Cross has sent a contingent to Africa.

Habitat for Humanity International will provide a guide for the student volunteers during their travels in Africa. Mark Quinto, a 2000 graduate of Holy Cross, will travel with the group as a leader. While in Kenya, the volunteers will stay in homes with African families, in houses previously built by Habitat volunteers. Holy Cross is one of only a few colleges with a Habitat for Humanity International affiliation.

Approximately 90 Holy Cross students submitted applications for the program last fall. Only 10 were chosen based on interviews and written applications. Jess Resch ’01, a political science major from Tampa, Fla., is traveling with the group for her second consecutive year. She describes her experience last year as “deeply moving and satisfying. We immersed ourselves in the African culture, eating their food and learning their culture. It was very rewarding to help build a home for a family that I got to know and understand.”

The group will bring their own tools and make homes from such supplies as clay, brick and wood. There is no running water, phones or electricity in the area in which the students will live. During the course of their stay, the group will construct or complete three houses.

Each student will have to contribute $3300 for traveling expenses and building supplies. In an effort to defray the costs, Holy Cross students have held numerous fund-raisers and are currently soliciting donations from individuals and organizations.

WORCESTER, Mass. – Deaf educator Patrick “Pax” McCarthy will lead a workshop titled, “Religious Frozen Text Translations,” on Sunday, April 29, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Room 406 of the Hogan Campus Center. The workshop will be conducted in American Sign Language (ASL); no interpreter will be provided.

The workshop will focus on translating from frozen texts: prayers and songs commonly found in Hearing churches and temples. It will focus on improvising stylistic renditions and incorporating some commonly used ASL phrases. There will be hands-on translation activities with constructive critiques from participants.

McCarthy is a native user of ASL and a Deaf CODA. He received his bachelor’s degree from Gallaudet University (Washington, D.C.) and a master’s degree in Deaf education from Western Maryland College.

The workshop is sponsored by the College of the Holy Cross, Mount Wachusett Community College, Holyoke Community College, and the Northeastern University Interpreter Education Project.

WORCESTER, Mass. – Matthew Dirst will perform an organ concert on Sunday, April 29, at 3 p.m. in the St. Joseph Memorial Chapel. The concert is free and open to the public. The program will include works by Bruhns, Froberger, Stanley, Spanish Baroque composers, Boehm and J. S. Bach.

Dirst has won major international prizes in both organ and harpsichord, including first prize at the American Guild of Organists National Young Artists Competition (1990) and second prize at the inaugural Warsaw International Harpsichord Competition (1993). He is presently professor of music at the University of Houston

Dirst has performed throughout the United States and Canada and will have a book on Bach advocacy in the late-18th century published soon by Cambridge University Press.

WORCESTER, Mass. – Poet Ales Debeljak will speak about “New Europe and Its Discontents” on Tuesday, April 17, at 4 p.m. in the Faculty Lounge of Dinand Library. Sponsored by the Peace and Conflict Studies department, the lecture is free and open to the public.

A native of Slovenia, Debeljak earned a degree in comparative literature from the University of Ljubljana (Slovenia) and later received his Ph.D. in social thought at Syracuse University, New York. He was a Senior Fulbright fellow at the University of California, Berkeley, and a fellow at the Institute of Advanced Study in Budapest.

A leading Central European poet, Debeljak has published five books of poems and eight books of essays in his native Slovenian. His books in English translation include “Anxious Moments,” “Dictionary of Silence” and “The City and the Child.”

The winner of the Slovenian National Book Award and the Miriam Lindberg Israel Poetry for Peace Prize, Debeljak currently chairs the Department of Cultural Studies at the University of Ljubljana.

WORCESTER, Mass. – Holy Cross will host Academic Conference 2001 from April 20 to 22. This conference is designed to provide students from a broad spectrum of academic disciplines with an opportunity to present programs, projects, posters and performances that are the results of their work this academic year under the guidance of faculty members.

The conference represents a fraction of the independent and group-project opportunities of which Holy Cross students have taken advantage, and includes works from the performing and visual arts, social sciences, humanities and sciences. This year, over 160 students will participate.

According to Mary E. Morton, associate dean of the College and organizer of the conference, “The greatest significance of this event is the opportunity for our community to appreciate the independence, creativity and intellectual discipline our students have developed while at Holy Cross, and the role our faculty have played as mentors and model teacher-scholars.”

Sponsored by the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College, and the Office of Academic Services and Learning Resources, this event is free and open to the public. The schedule of events is as follows:

Friday, April 20

8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.: College Honors Students will present their honors theses in Rooms 407 & 408 of the Hogan Campus Center.

9:30 a.m. – 12 p.m. & 1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.: Women’s Studies Students will present their concentration theses in Suite A of the Hogan Campus Center.

12 p.m.: Theatre Chair/Pillow Dance Students will perform a short dance piece on the first floor of the Hogan Campus Center.

All weekend: Digital Imaging Note to Self This digital imaging art piece will be set up between Healy Residence Hall and Hogan Campus Center.

8 p.m.: Music and Theatre Gamelan Gita Sari World-renowned artist Desak Made Suarti Laksmi, Luce Professor of Balinese theatre, dance and music, will direct a gamelan “Gita Sari” concert of Balinese music and dance in the Brooks Concert Hall.

Saturday, April 21

8:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.: College Honors Students will present their honors theses in Rooms 407 & 408 of the Hogan Campus Center.

10 a.m. – 12 p.m.: African-American Studies Students will present their concentration theses in Room 401 of the Hogan Campus Center.

12 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.: English Honors Students will present their honors theses in Suite A of the Hogan Campus Center.

12 p.m. – 2 p.m.: Theatre Ballet Tutorial Visitors are invited to observe a ballet tutorial in the Dance Studio, Room B28 of O’Kane Hall.

12:30 p.m. – 1 p.m.: Theatre Short Dance Pieces Students from the Theatre Department’s Improvisation/Composition dance course will perform two short dance pieces in the Cantor Art Gallery in O’Kane Hall prior to the highlight of works from the visual arts department.

1 p.m. – 2 p.m.: Visual Arts Works and Tour Students from the visual arts department will highlight their work in the Cantor Art Gallery in O’Kane Hall.

1 p.m. – 5 p.m.: Peace and Conflict Studies Students will present their concentration theses in Room 402 of the Hogan Campus Center.

2 p.m. – 3 p.m.: Music Senior Vocal Recital Students from the music department will give their senior vocal recital in the Brooks Concert Hall.

Sunday, April 22

11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.: Theatre Obituaries Theatre students will perform a student-written one act play (Note—mature theme) in The Pit, Room B28 of O’Kane Hall.

1 p.m. – 3 p.m.: Poster Session A sample of student work from the following departments and programs will be presented in the Atrium of Swords Hall: Anthropology, Biochemistry, Biological Psychology, Chemistry, Classics, Psychology and Sociology.

1 p.m. – 3 p.m.: French Honors French honors students will be inducted in Room 314 of Stein Hall.

WORCESTER, Mass. – The Pat McGee Band and rap artists Run-DMC will play this year’s Spring Weekend Concert at Holy Cross on Monday, April 30. The concert, which begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Hart Center, will be emceed by MTV personality Dave Holmes, a 1994 Holy Cross graduate.

On Monday, April 16, tickets will be made available to Worcester Consortium students and the general public. They will be sold in the College’s bookstore at the following prices: $12 for Holy Cross students (1 ticket/ID), $15 for Consortium students (1 ticket/ID), and $17 for the general public. They can also be purchased at select Strawberries Music and Video Stores.

The Pat McGee Band was formed in 1996. Three years later, the band signed a recording contract with Giant Records, a joint venture with Warner Brothers Records. The band’s major label debut album, “Shine,” was released in April 2000, and the band’s rich harmonies and energized acoustic rock come through in its best-known single, “Rebecca.”

The Virginia-based band features Pat McGee on lead vocals, acoustic and electric guitars; John Small on bass; Jonathan Williams on vocals, piano and keyboards; Chris Williams on drums; and Chardy McEwan on percussion.

Run-DMC is comprised of New York natives Joseph “Run” Simmons, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels and DJ Jason “Jam Master Jay” Mizell. They have been called the most influential act in the history of hip-hop. With the release of their self-titled debut album in 1984 that featured the single, “Sucker MCs,” Run-DMC became the first rap act to have an album go gold. Their album, “Crown Royal,” came out last week and features Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst, Kid Rock and Sugar Ray, among others.

The group is best known for their mainstream heavy metal/rap collision “Walk This Way,” featuring members of Aerosmith. Their 1987 album, “Raisin’ Hell,” became the first rap album to hit the R&B Number 1 mark, the first to enter the U.S. Top 10, and the first to go platinum. Run-DMC also became the first rap group to have a video screened by MTV and the first to be featured on the cover of Rolling Stone.

Dave Holmes ’94 is an MTV personality. He has hosted such MTV staples as Say What Karaoke, Total Request Live (TRL) and Spankin’ New Music. Holmes will emcee the event.

WORCESTER, Mass. – Holy Cross will host a community forum about MassRelay on Monday, April 23, at 6 p.m. in Room 406 of the Hogan Campus Center. Sponsored by MassRelay, the Worcester Center for Living and Working, and the Deaf Studies department at Holy Cross, the forum is free and open to the public.

MassRelay representatives will discuss the services they offer and take questions. The forum will be conducted in American Sign Language (ASL) with voice interpretation.

MassRelay is a service enabling people who do not use a teletypewriter (TTY) to communicate over regular telephone lines with people who are deaf, hard of hearing, late deafened or speech disabled. A Relay Operator (OPR) will complete the call by dialing the second party and relaying messages electronically via TTY or verbally to people who can hear. OPRs will provide transcriptions of what they hear and speak exactly what is typed to them. MassRelay is available for consumers 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

Refreshments will be provided and a door prize will be given away.

If you would like to attend, RSVP to MassRelay Service at 800/439-0415 (TTY). Voice users, dial 711 and give relay operator the 800 number. E-mail: outreach@massrelay.org

WORCESTER, Mass. – Acoustic guitarist John Rush will give a concert at 10 p.m. on Friday, April 20, in Crossroads, located in the basement of the Hogan Campus Center. Sponsored by the Campus Activities Board, the concert is free and open to the public.

Originally from Huntsville, Ala., Rush has been playing guitar since the age of 12. From there he went to Athens, Ga., where he majored in classical guitar at the University of Georgia. Since then, he has been singing and playing guitar at colleges and clubs around the country.

Rush performs solo with the help of a sampler that allows him to record a guitar “loop” and then play lead over it. He has a set list that covers more than 500 songs and over 120 different groups. Rush encourages his audience to get involved in his shows, so he passes his playlist around to let people request the songs they want to hear.

Rush has just recorded his debut CD, “They Don’t Know My Name,” on Surge Records. He cites Mark Knopfler, Paul Simon, Tom Petty and Neil Young as his writing influences.

WORCESTER, Mass. – Three Holy Cross seniors recently received Fulbright Teaching Assistantships to teach English in German or Austrian secondary schools upon their graduation from Holy Cross.

Ryan (Gino) Giannini, a German/economics major from Mentor, Ohio, will travel to Germany. Megan Cokely, a Spanish major from Canton, Mass., and Jon Carfagno, a German/art history major from East Windsor, N.J., will be posted in Austria. Their responsibilities will include serving as native English speakers to high-school students who are learning English, while representing American culture and ideals and learning about European ways.

The highly competitive Fulbright awards are available in countries worldwide. Additional teaching opportunities can be found in Korea, Hungary, Turkey, France, Belgium and Luxembourg. Other Fulbright awards support independent or university-based post-graduate study.

WORCESTER, Mass. – Holy Cross sophomore John Giblin was recently honored with a two-year Goldwater Scholarship based on his academic merit from a field of 1,164 mathematics, science, and engineering students who were nominated by the faculties of colleges and universities nationwide.

A member of the College Honors Program, Giblin majors in physics and mathematics. He plans to spend next year studying at St. Edmunds College at Oxford University as part of the Holy Cross Study Abroad Program. He also teaches a religious education class at a local Worcester parish and serves as a lector at Holy Cross.

A resident of Maine, he has already begun to engage in scientific research, having spent the summer after his first year in an undergraduate research experience in physics, and continuing now in collaborative projects with faculty members. Giblin plans to earn his Ph.D. in theoretical physics, and then pursue a career doing research and teaching at the university level.

The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation awarded 302 scholarships for the 2001-2002 academic year to undergraduate sophomores and juniors from the 50 states and Puerto Rico. The one- and two-year scholarships will cover the cost of tuition, fees, books, and room and board up to a maximum of $7,500 per year.

The Goldwater Foundation is a federally endowed agency established in 1986, in honor of Senator Barry M. Goldwater. The scholarship program was designed to foster and encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering. The Goldwater Scholarship is the premier undergraduate award of its type in these fields.

WORCESTER, Mass. – Simon Preston will perform an organ concert on Tuesday, April 17, at 8 p.m. in the St. Joseph Memorial Chapel. The concert is free and open to the public. The program will include works by Purcell, Frescobaldi, Buxtehude and J. S. Bach.

Preston has been named one of “The Greatest Players of the Century” by Classic CD, and the American Guild of Organists named him International Performer of the Year in 1987. He has performed throughout the world and has recorded extensively, including the complete organ works of Bach for Deutsche Grammophon.

Preston is co-founder and artistic director of the Calgary International Organ Competition, one of the most prestigious competitions in the world. He was formerly the organist of Westminster Abbey in London, England, and directed the music at the wedding of Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew. As a composer, Preston wrote much of Antonio Salieri’s music in the acclaimed film, “Amadeus.”

WORCESTER, Mass. – Free software advocate Richard M. Stallman will deliver a lecture on Wednesday, April 18, at 3:30 p.m. in Room 112 of O’Neil Hall. Stallman’s lecture, titled “The Free Software Movement and the GNU/Linux Operating System,” is free and open to the public.

Richard Stallman is the founder of the GNU Project, launched in 1984 to develop the free operating system GNU (GNUs Not Unix). GNU is software that everyone is free to copy, redistribute and change. Today, Linux-based variants of the GNU system are in widespread use, with an estimated 20 million users. Stallman is the principal author of the GNU C Compiler, the GNU symbolic debugger (GDB), GNU Emacs and various other GNU programs.

While an undergraduate student at Harvard University, Stallman worked as a staff hacker at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Artificial Intelligence Lab, where he wrote the first extensible Emacs text editor in 1975. Nine years later, he resigned from MIT and started the GNU Project.

The recipient of the Grace Hopper Award from the Association for Computing Machinery, Stallman was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden. In 1990 he was awarded a MacArthur Foundation fellowship, and in 1999 he received the Yuri Rubinski Award.

Stallman’s visit is sponsored by the math and computer science department

WORCESTER, Mass. – The 30th annual Classics Day will be held on Thursday, April 5, in the Hogan Campus Center. Approximately 400 high school students from the greater Worcester area, as well as Providence, R.I., will be attending the event to become acquainted with the Holy Cross Classics department, its faculty and current students, and to participate in a variety of activities relating to the study of Roman culture.

The schedule of events is as follows:

9:45 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.: “Classical Studies: Then and Now: What if Adams, Jefferson or Madison Were Your Classmates?” Lecture by Professor William J. Ziobro of the Holy Cross Classics department will be held in the Ballroom of the Hogan Campus Center.

10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.: Upper & Lower Division Certamen will be held in the Hogan Campus Center. Certamen is Latin for “competition.” Student teams will compete College Bowl style, answering questions concerning Roman history, mythology, culture and the Latin language.

10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.: Costume Contest will be held in the Ballroom of the Hogan Campus Center.

11:30 a.m. – 12 p.m.: Chariot Races will be held outside the Hart Center. Student teams build their own chariots, and each team consists of one rider and one “horse.”

1 p.m. – 2 p.m.: Final Round Certamen will be held in the Ballroom of the Hogan Campus Center.

2 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.: Awards Presentation will be held in the Ballroom of the Hogan Campus Center.