With two main areas of construction still under progress at Bellarmine, students were informed of the Owsley B. Frazier stadium and Sienna Hall’s advancement. There will now be monthly updates to students to keep them informed on the construction.
Currently, the stadium development is slow because of all the October rain. The field is also the lowest spot on campus and therefore has a lot of standing water that will not dry up in these cold months. So far, the footers and piers are being poured for the bleachers, foundations and pole stubs are in place for the stadium lights, and the rock base has been started for the track. Also, there has been progress on the hillside by Our Lady of the Woods Chapel and the curbing along Newburg Road has started and the sidewalk will following shortly. The completion of the stadium is being looked on with the hopeful eyes of the lacrosse team, who have scheduled the second half of their season at home in order to play on their new home field. Whether or not the stadium, which broke ground last April, will be done yet or not is another story.
Rain was not such an obstacle for the construction of Sienna because it is on a hillside. It has remained on schedule and so far, footers and foundation are complete in about 60% of the building. Foundations and walls are currently being constructed in the gatehouse section and progress is moving according to schedule. The eastern most section of the residence hall has the first floor walls in place and decking is scheduled for this week. The parking lot for this hall is curbed and base coat of asphalt is in place. Hopefully the dorm will be ready to go by the beginning of next school year.

Sincerely,

Jessica Neiser

Bellarmine students danced the night away at the university's annual Pioneer Dance on November 18 to celebrate the end of Heritage and International Education Week. The dance was held at the Frazier Historical Arms Museuem in downtown Louisville. Students began coming through the doors at nine p.m. and quickly got the dancing started. Some students enjoyed the dance floor while others took time to chat with their friends at the many seating tables the museuem had to offer. The music varied from current hip-hop to 80s music to even a techno song to which a Bellarmine student used his glow sticks to rave on the dance floor. Junior Megan Sarason said it was the best Bellarmine dance she has been to yet. "The d.j. was great and my friends and I just went crazy dancing. My only complaint was that it got so hot out there!" said Sarason. The Pioneer dance is the second dance Bellarmine has had in a month, following the infamous halloween dance, Ball on the Belle, which took place on October 20. Unfortunately, the dancing shoes may have to be out away for awhile, since the next dance will be Bellarmine's Homecoming dance, which will take place on February 9.

Sincerely,
Jessica

'Tis the Season!

The holidays are finally upon us. Wondering what to do when the weather turns cold and Jack Frost is nipping at your nose (and everything else)?

Louisville will be hosting it's annual Light Up Louisville festival the Friday after Thanksgiving. There will be arts and crafts, activities for the kids and Santa himself will be making an appearance with Mayor Abramson to light up the city and kick off the holiday season.

Actor's Theatre will have it's regular selection of timeless Christmas plays again this year. A Christmas Carol (my personal favorite) and A Tuna Christmas wil be running through Christmas.

Also, during this festive time of year, when you're rushing to buy that last minute gift or going to another party, remember the less fortunate. Please give to charities like the Salvation Army, Toys for Tots or any charity of your choosing. Help out at a soup kitchen. Remember the true meaning of the season and share the love!

Keep warm!

Ashley

FREE IPOD!

Visit www.theconcordonline.com to see how you can win a free iPod Shuffle and a $15 iTunes card, because everyone who's anyone reads The Concord Online!

Election 2006

The ballots have been counted and signs have been taken down. We have survived another election.

This year the Democrats took over the House and Senate and are vowing to make big changes. Louisville's five-term congresswoman, Anne Northup was one of the Republican causalities. Democratic challenger John Yarmuth defeated her by only two percentage points.

There is no doubt the results sent a big message to President Bush. The American people are tired of the war, tired of the failures and tired of the scandals. It is their hope that the Democrats will make the changes our country so desperately needs. They will be a breath of fresh air in the capital city.

If you are interested in reading more about the 2006 election, visit www.theconcordonline.com and look through the archives for the Nov. 9 issue. It recaps all the major local races and talks about some national issues.

Thanks for reading!

Ashley

Shantytown Returns

Shantytown, an event designed to raise awareness about homelessness will be held Nov 14-16.
Shantytown will be organized and hosted by Dr. Milton Brown and Dr. Adam Renner's Brown Scholar's 301 class. The event will be held to raise awareness about homelessness in the Louisville area and inform students of some of the causes of homelessness.
The group's goal is to dispel many of the myths about homelessness and to help fellow students learn ways to change the system. The event was last held on Bellarmine's campus in the Fall of 2003. Dr. Brown's diversity class is re-installing the Bellarmine Shantytown tradition this year.
During Shantytown, participating students will get the chance to experience homelessness. These students will spend two nights sleeping in cardboard boxes, attend sessions taught not only by Dr. Renner (as well as an organization called Jobs with Justice,) have the option of participating in a service projects at both Kid’s café and a soup kitchen, and being served meals by several food donors that help the homeless in the Louisville area.

Between service opportunities, sessions, and meals there will be time for small group discussion, where students can discuss amongst themselves about the experiences they encounter during the event.
For students who want to participate; there will be registration form, and a complete schedule for the event, available during free period on November 9th in the Horrigan Hall Campus Center.
Each participant is required to donate or fundraise $10 to participate. The money will be due at the kick off on November 14. Junior Communication major, Kristina White, who is one of the students involved in planning the event, said that the money will be going both towards the funding of Bob Lockhart’s service trip to Guatemala and a Louisville charity dedicated to helping the homeless.
The group will also be accepting donations to split between the charities from everyone who cannot participate.
Sincerely,
Michael Mahlbacher

Homecoming is beginning to surface at Bellarmine as efforts have been made to revolutionize the way the students view Homecoming Week. According to many students, homecoming has in the past been not much to talk about. That is why this year Bellarmine now has a Homecoming Steering Committee, who has been working on homecoming since February of last year.
The Committee has added in new events such as Hoopla, a corn hole tournament, Dunk-a-palooza, and Sing-Song. The Hoopla will be a carnival-like event before the homecoming game on that Saturday. There will be game booths set up, face painting, and a lot of other spirited activities that alumni and their families, faculty, staff, and students can all come together and attend. The corn hole tournament is just an intramural competition where teams will compete with each other to eventually make it to the “final four” where hopefully they will play Dr. McGowan and another high-profile member on campus. There will be final four t-shirts and the winner of the tournament gets to keep the corn hole set. Dunk-a-palooza will be basketballs displayed throughout campus. However, these are not just any basketballs- they have been cut up, molded, re shaped, painted, and just about anything else a group feels necessary to dress it up with spirit. The most creative and spirited ball wins! Sing-Song will take place after the homecoming game and it is a variety show themed “Boogie Knights” due to the fact that homecoming week will be focused around the 1970s era. Groups will have the opportunity to compete with each other through a broad range of 1970’s acts.
According to the committee advisor Lauren Belcher, we should expect to see a big change with homecoming and how the students view it. Currently, homecoming committee is speaking with registered student organizations and other groups in order to get the school interested and signed up to participate in the week’s events.
As of right now, there is not much posted on the website, but more should be soon to come. To check out the committee’s website, go to http://www.bellarmine.edu/studentaffairs/studentactivities/Homecoming2007.asp

Sincerely,
Jessica Neiser

The commuter center is now trying to create more efforts to give commuters more to do during free time. This past Tuesday October 24th, Heather Snow, who is the Director of Stundent Engagement, arranged for a "Laugh at Lunch" in Frazier Hall- a free lunch and a comedian during the free period. The lunch included grilled burgers, tasty egg rolls, french fries, and lots of soda and water- all for free! As commuters settled down in their seats and began eating, out came the comedian. Students were curious at first, but the laughs quickly spilled out amongst the crowd as the comedian told jokes- anything from politics to the race track to a trip to the movies. This comedian included it all! He also brought to up two of his friends for a joke rap session and rapped a few songs including their hit "I'm the worst rapper alive". As on-campus students enjoyed their lunch in Kosters, they heard the comedian and also began to filter into Frazier to join in on the laughs.

Heather Snow stated that there will be many more efforts to do similar activities including a Halloween activity they have planned on Tuesday, October 31st for the commuters. So be sure to join in on the fun!

Sincerely,
Jessica Neiser

Kiln Fast
Bellarmine’s Masters of Spirituality Program decided they wanted to raise money for a kiln for a small Mexican town called “Cuenpepek” through a sponsored 24 hour fasting event”
“Cuentepec” subsidizes their living by pottery that they make and sell pottery to passing tourists. So they have to sun dry the pottery because they don’t own any other means of cooking the pottery. According to Senior Theology major, Chris Luken, currently the members of the town are using, “a brick square forum with hot cow dung in order to fire their pieces.”
The Masters of Spirituality Program decided they wanted to raise money for a kiln for the town, which the town could use to more efficiently cook their pottery. The program has been collecting donations for the kiln but is a couple hundred dollars short of their $2000 goal for buying the kiln. Such a kiln could cook up to 200 pieces of pottery at one time compared to the less high tech methods the town uses now, were they can only cook a few pieces of pottery as a time. .
The Theology Club decided to step in to try and help raise the rest of the money through a Halloween fast that will be going from October 30th at 6pm until October 31st at 6pm. Students who want to get involved in the fast just need to have family, friends, or professors to sponsor them during their fast for every hour that they are able to abstain from eating. The students involved will be fasting from all food and caffeine, but was however allowed to drink juice and water during the fast. The Theology Club is counting this event as both their annual project as well as their annual fundraiser. Theology Club is an academic based RSO like the Psychology and Philosophy clubs are.
Currently CSA and InterVarsity have joined forces with the Theology club in order to aid them in their fasting event. Luken, who has been helping lead the Theology Club’s efforts for the fast, said that any students, who also want to get involved, are more then welcome to do so. Luken also said,” It’s something that we felt we could help with and that would make a difference to people; does more then a bake sale. Plus it not only helps them, but it is a sacrifice to us and a call to service in stewardship that is more then just writing a check, it’s self-sacrificing for the deems of others.”
In addition to the fast, the Theology club also plans on viewing and holding an open forum discussion on the movie Do Vinci Code when it comes out on video in later weeks. This forum will be mediated by the Theology Club and will have an open discussion on what the movie is, what relevance it has, and how it should be viewed.
Sincerely
Michael Mahlbacher