The Griffin: volume 69, issue 20 - Summer, 1999

              A colorful processional ushered in the Class of 1999. After the posting of the United States and Canadian national colors accompanied by the singing of both anthems, the afternoon was underway with Rev. Mark G. Kriz, S.J., associate campus minister, giving the invocation and Dr. Herbert J. Nelson, vice president for Academic Affairs, welcoming those present in his role as the master of ceremonies. The Griffin summer 499 of 1999 Canisius honored an impressive group of graduates that included three Fulbright winners and the College's first-ever recipient of a Mellon Fellowship. The spirit of Canisius was in the heart of all present. As Watters stated, "The entire ceremony was exceptional—a true tribute to a class who has made a real contribution to Canisius during their time here." He added that it was rewarding to celebrate with friends, faculty and family—after all,"they're the ones who brought us down this road." The much-anticipated conferral of degrees was led by Rev. Vincent M. Cooke, S.J., president of the College. Rev. Richard R. Galligan, S.J., director of Campus Ministry, offered a benediction and members of the Canisius College Chorale closed with a rendition of LaSalle medals were presented to Anthony P. Maggiotto, '68, MS '73, Frederick G. Attea, Esq. '61, and William D. Bennett '61 MA '67, whose award was accepted posthumously by his family members. The ceremony continued with commencement speaker Hon. Jose A. Cabranes offering words of wisdom to the graduates. Major General Peter M. Cuviello '69 presented the graduates who had been commissioned earlier that morning into the United States Army for recognition by those present. Opening events were wrapped up by Matthew H. Watters '99, USA president emeritus and student speaker for the ceremony, who warmly voiced that "to be a student at Canisius is to be a part of something remarkable," and heralded his fellow graduates, prophesizing, "the future belongs to us." honorary degrees to this year's recipients who included Lana D. Benatovich, Hon. Jose A. Cabranes, Patrick P. Lee, and Albert R. Mugel. Nelson also recognized 50- and 60- year jubilarians. Charleston chat The second type of presentation given by the Canisius students were paper presentations which required each student participating to write a literature review of scholarly research on a topic in communication, submit it for criticism, give an oral presentation and respond to questions surrounding their researched area. Each of these esteemed students researched and wrote critical papers on various topics from literature reviews to actual studies involving different aspects in the field of communication. Advisors Dr. Melissa Wanzer and Dr. Charles Wigley III from Canisius' Communication Department accompanied the students and gave scholarly presentations of their own at the conference. The Eastern Communication Association is the oldest withstanding organization for scholarly works in the field of communication. The conference held in Charleston marked its nintieth year. This year's conference centered around the theme: "Em- powering Communication: Community, Technology, Culture." Representing the Communication Studies Department at Canisius, nine students selected from the department gave presentations at the Eastern Communication Association's annual conference in Charleston, West Virginia this April. Among these presentations a poster session, or visual display representation, was integrated giving the students an opportunity to creatively display their research findings in an aesthetic and comprehensive manner. Sophomore, Mollie Strasser won top poster among all submitted entries at the conference for this session and was presented an award at the conference's closing business meeting. Visit the Albright-Knox Art Gallery for a sampling of Monet. See full story on page 6. News 1 Editorial 2 Viewpoints 3 Features 4 Sports 8 http://www.canisius.edu/griffin The visit was one of many that will be made by fiction writers to the college campus, as four will come next semester as part of the Canisius College Contemporary Writers Series made possible by the Oishei grant received by Dr. Mick Cochrane, who proposed the endeavor. O'Nan, a Pittsburgh native who graduated from Boston University in 1983, read often graphic selections from A Prayer for the Dying, revealing the rich imagery and bizarre cast of characters that have become the trademark of his award-winning works. The author had no problem speaking his mind during the session that followed either, a straightforwardness that has earned him the respect of many young readers. Admitted O'Nan, "If I didn't do this, I'd probably just be watching TV. But I will read voraciously pretty much anything at all." Novelist Stewart O'Nan visited Canisius College's Marie Maday Theatre Thursday Apr. 29 to read an excerpt from his latest work, A Prayer for the Dying, and followed up the reading with a question and answer session covering everything from his life and influences to his adoration of several comic book authors. See Stewart O'Nan page2 "Serving the Canisius Community Since 1933" VThe Weekly Student Newspaper of Canisius College Canisius bids the class of'99 adieu NEWS The Griffin by Shannon Rohring Griffin Editor in Chiet by Paul Dumansky Griffin News Reporter by Mollie Strasser Griffin Director of Advertising Design Photo courtesy of MOLUE STRASSER Students shine in Charleston. Nelson also conferred the Members of the class of '99 celebrated a huge milestone in their lives Friday, May 21 at Canisius' one hundred and thirty third Commencement ceremony. Held at Marine Midland Arena, the event opened at 3 p.m. and before the afternoon was over nearly 647 undergraduate and 500 graduate students traversed the florally adorned stage to be recognized for their degree candidacies. Photos courtesy of MATTHEW H. WATTERS Two well-wishers: Rev. Vincent M. Cooke, S.J., president of the College pictured on the jumbo-tron(above), and student speaker, Matthew H. Watters, president emeritus of USA (left). the alma mater. The day was exciting from the moment the first chords of the pomp and circumstance were struck, to the switching of the tassels from the right front quarter of the mortarboard to the left, to the concluding pop of the confetti that loitered down from the rafters onto a jubilant crowd of graduates, their friends, their families, and the faculty who have mentored them. In celebrating the class Voli'me LXIX SUMMER 1999 Ni'mbhr 20 Qj Steven J. Seegal offers ten commandments to live by. See full story on page 2. How do guys and girls differ on asking each other out? See "He Said/ She Said" on page 3. VIEWPOINTS FEATU RES | INDEX Writing a war A Prayer for the Dying, described by Publishers Weekly as "profoundly unsettling... a mesmerizing story and a brilliant tour de force," combines folk elements and horror elements with a series of unpredictable plot twists. O'Nan notes that the death and murder that sometimes pervade his work is a result of the unique characteristics of people in the world. "It's hard to believe that people can go from loving others so much that they can't live without them to killing them. Yet this happens everyday," he stated. O'Nan stressed that his journey toward success has not always been a smooth one. He once wrote a book he entitled Dear Steven King that his editor changed to A Fan Letter before it was to be printed. Said O'Nan in his typically direct and non-sugar-coated way, "That was the beginning of me being screwed by the people who were supposedly on my side." His influences can certainly be labeled as diverse. Among those he mentioned were Sylvia Plath, Margaret Atwood, Harlon Ellison, and comic book writers and artists. He also gave a nod to John Carpenter's Halloween, one of the most-imitated horror movies of recent times. While some characters in his novels resemble the demonic Michael Myers depicted in the