DEVELOPMENT
NEWS
CBU trustees announce Annual Fund Challenge
Christian Brothers University has announced a $132,000 challenge grant
that will allow any new or additional gifts to CBU to be matched at 50%
of their initial value.
“The CBU Annual Fund is a critical component to our success, providing
unrestricted, operating dollars to the University,” says Willis H.
Willey, Chairman of the Board. “The Board of Trustees are matching
gifts of alumni, parents and friends of the university who make a new
or increased gift to the 2001-2002 Annual Fund.”
For every new, increased, or additional gift received through the end
of the fiscal year on May 31, 2002, the Trustee Challenge will provide
the 1:2 match.
“Christian Brothers University is grateful to the leadership of the
Trustees for implementing this exciting challenge,” says CBU President,
Brother Stan Sobczyk. “Each year, the Annual Fund makes up a critical
portion of CBU’s budget. Because gifts to the Annual Fund are
unrestricted, they enable the University to allocate funds where they
are needed most—for scholarships, quality instruction, academic resources,
new technology and campus maintenance and enhancements. The goal for the
2001-2002 Annual Fund is $1,615,000 and the Trustee Challenge has helped
us raise our sights as we continue funding scholarships for more than
90% of our student population.”
Alumni and friends interested in participating in the CBU Trustee Challenge
may send their contributions to the Annual Fund Trustee Challenge, 650
East Parkway South, Memphis, TN 38104. Contributions may also be made
via phone at (901) 321-3270 or (800) 283-2925. Gifts may also be made
online at CBU’s secure
website.
Mrs. O’Hara’s surprise bequest benefits CBU
Virginia O’Hara was first introduced to CBU by her friend, Blanche
Spain. “I brought her to a Christmas dinner with the students and
the Brothers,” Mrs. Spain remembers. The student dinner became an
annual holiday event for the two friends during the 1980s. “She did
not have any children and I think she enjoyed being with the young people
during the holidays. She also admired the work of the Brothers.”
Virginia O’Hara passed away on February 9, 2001 at the age of 85.
The widow of Harry E. O’Hara, a founding partner of the construction
and engineering firm of Allen and O’Hara (now Allen and Hoshell),
Mrs. O’Hara left a handwritten will designating specific bequests
to her nieces and nephews. The residual of her estate—$1.5 million—was
bequeathed as an unrestricted gift to Christian Brothers University.
Mrs. Spain, a longtime CBU benefactor and current trustee, says her friend
never discussed the bequest with her. “She never even mentioned it.
But she was a very private person.”
Brother Patrick O’Brien, CBU’s Director of Planned Giving, also
was not aware of Mrs. O’Hara’s plans, although he notes that
she had been making annual contributions to the university for twenty
years. “She was a most gracious and gentle lady,” Brother Patrick
recalls. “She had a magnificent sense of aesthetics. She was also
very interested in helping young people.”
“She was a perfectionist in all things,” Mrs. Spain says, describing
her late friend as a “homemaker and club woman.” Mrs. O’Hara
was active in numerous civic and social organizations throughout her life—among
them the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Huguenot Society, the
Josephine Circle, the Beethoven Club, and the Memphis Symphony League.
“She told me once that she liked to get in an organization, learn
all about it, and then run it,” Mrs. Spain remembers with a laugh.
Plans are underway to officially recognize Mrs. O’Hara’s gift,
says CBU Director of Development Carol Thornton. A ceremony to dedicate
one of the campus’ new student apartment buildings as O’Hara
Hall is tentatively scheduled for May.
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CLASSROOM NEWS
Marketing students provide analysis for Facing History
exhibit
"Choosing to Participate” is the name of an exhibit at Memphis’
Central Library; it was organized by Facing History and Ourselves and
runs through April 17. The exhibit features stories of ordinary Americans
who took a stand in their communities and whose deeds helped changed history
in large and small ways. Now, marketing students at Christian Brothers
University are contributing their time and skills to help the exhibit
planners evaluate the program in ways that will improve the exhibition
when it travels to other cities.
Dr. Kathleen Marx, assistant professor of management at CBU, engaged her
students in an undergraduate marketing research class with the task of
working for a client. Rachel Shankman, executive director of the Memphis
office of Facing History and Ourselves (which is housed at CBU), “hired”
the class to collect and analyze survey information from exhibition visitors.
Memphis is the fourth city to host the exhibit and the first to benefit
from a market survey and program evaluation. New York, Chicago, and Boston
are the other sites.
“It’s a win-win situation,” says Marx. “Our students
learn a great deal from practical, hands-on field work in marketing and
market research. They will also develop skills in working with clients,
and writing proposals making presentations. At the same time, they will
help with an important service-learning project.”
“Their work could result in improved training for exhibition guides,
in recommendations on physically improving the exhibition, and in identifying
new funding sources for this important project,” adds Shankman.
“This is a collaborative effort between the marketing department
in the CBU School of Business and the psychology department in the School
of Arts,” says Dr. Sandra Nix, associate professor of psychology.
“We’re hoping that this joint project will benefit students
in both programs.”
“Choosing to Participate” is the first major exhibition to be
shown at the new Central Library. It is the multi-media centerpiece of
a national initiative developed by Facing History, and is presented along
with public programs and events. Locally produced components of the the
exhibit include “The Hero Next Door,” community stories about
people who have made a difference, and “Young Artists Speak Out,”
an exhibit of artwork by Memphis-area students.
Facing History and Ourselves seeks to engage middle school and high school
students of diverse backgrounds in an examination of racism, prejudice
and anti-Semitism in order to promote the development of a more humane
and informed citizenry.
For more information on the exhibit, call (901) 452-1776 or visit the
web at www.facinghistory.org.
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Engineering students apply studies to develop automatic
feeding device
Dr. Yeu-Sheng
Shiue was looking for a way to make his class in Kinematics more interesting
to his students. Kinematics is a branch of dynamics that deals with aspects
of motion apart from considerations of mass and force. In Shiue’s
junior-level class, Mechanical Engineering majors apply kinematic principles
to the dynamics and geometry of machine parts and mechanisms.
“Traditionally, we demonstrate theory and analysis with simple mechanisms
such as the slider-crank, four-bar, and quick return mechanisms,”
he explains. Students might construct class projects based on these basic
mechanisms, usually from wood or aluminum. Shiue saw a few problems with
this approach to the class.
First, he says, the students came away with no idea of the practical significance
of their studies, of being able to relate the results with the actual
mechanism. They often did not understand the importance of manufacturing
and the effect of hands-on skills to the performance of a mechanism.
Finally, Shiue admits, “The projects just weren’t very exciting.”
Knowing that students learn the subject matter better when they’re
involved in its practical application, Dr. Shiue decided to approach kinematics
as part of a community- or industry-related class project. “The project
is assigned at the beginning of the semester,” he explains. “Students
design, analyze, and then simulate it using software tools before they
begin constructing the project. After it’s built and tested, it is
delivered to the sponsor for them to use.”
Shiue first outlined the criteria for the class project. It should focus
on kinematics analysis. It must be of a scope that it could be accomplished
in one semester—a very busy semester for junior engineering majors.
The selected project should involve position, velocity, and acceleration
analysis in its mechanical design. It must be able to be manufactured
by students, using available equipment in the Mechanical Engineering Development
Shop.
The Shrine School, a joint venture of Memphis City Schools and Al Chymia
Temple, stepped forward with the first project for Shiue’s students.
A special day school that currently serves 140 students with severe physical
disabilities or health impairments, the Shrine School provides high-quality
education plus a variety of therapeutic services, medical services, and
nursing needs—all adapted to meet individual student needs.
The school needed of a mechanism to aid in the feeding of students who,
due to muscular or neurological disabilities, are unable to feed themselves.
Such a device would grant the student a level of independence, and also
provide some relief and assistance to the student’s caregivers. The
school had a couple of primitive, homemade prototypes, but they were undependable
and difficult to repair. To meet the school’s needs, the device needed
to be portable, easy to operate, and hygienically safe.
Dr. Shiue divided his ten students — Jim Fuss, Danielle Guerre, Theresa
Humphrey, Justin Ivancic, Paul Leister, Tim Petteys, Dan Valentine, Sergio
Vergara, Al Waineo, and Ariel Wessel — into two design teams. They
quickly identified several major modifications and set about improving
on the Shrine School’s original design.
Since the disabled student might lack coordinated motor skills, the control
switch was devised from a length of flexible plastic that operates with
a simple touch. The plate holder was adapted to rotate with each movement
of the spoon, assuring that each movement of the device is productive.
To avoid rusting and to facilitate cleaning, the spoon holder was fashioned
from plastic instead of steel. Likewise, the simple (and easily repairable)
electric motor was securely shielded inside a metal housing.
“Building the project in the Development Shop is the most exciting
part of the process,” Shiue says. “There are a lot of frustrations
because of the manufacturing skills of the students. They learn from their
mistakes and realize the importance of the manufacturing process in product
design.”
Dr. Shiue is pleased that the first ME 317 Kinematics class project was
a success. One finished automatic feeding device was delivered to the
Shrine School, engraved with the names of the student designers, and is
being used. The second team’s device, which works but needs a few
minor modifications, will be delivered soon.