The Record follows up on the year’s most prominent news stories on campus.

Luberts

By John F. O’Sullivan 

The former St. John’s football player who is alleged to have had sex with a 14-year-old girl is scheduled to stand trial for third criminal degree sexual conduct this month.

As one of the key players on the Johnnie football team, Craig Luberts made headlines last July when he was arrested and subsequently withdrew from St. John’s, avoiding an on-campus disciplinary hearing.

The Pierz, Minn. resident said he lives back home and works for a sprinkler system installation company.

On May 27, Luberts will appear in front of a judge barring a settlement hearing, which neither side has ruled out.

“We’re open to the possibility [of a settlement],” Morrison County Attorney Todd Kosovich said in an interview last January.

“I think we’re going to settle but I can’t really be sure,” said Tom Lies, who is representing Luberts.

 

 

 

Stella Maris Chapel

 

 

By Chelsea Korth

 

The walls have been stuccoed, the stain glass windows placed and the floor re-tiled; the only portion remaining of Stella Maris’ renovation is the artwork that will be the building’s centerpiece.

The restoration project — a sesquicentennial gift to St. John’s Abbey — was made possible by a donation from 1955 St. John’s Prep alum Don Hall in summer 2007.

After the gift was announced, the Abbey hired architect Ed Sövik to design a renovation that would keep in line with the original historic feel of the structure. Sövik, from Northfield, is respected in Minnesota and nationwide, and is known for his church designs.

He joined sculptor Alexander Tylevich on a “chapel walk” earlier this year to gain inspiration for the piece of art that Tylevich will create to grace the interior of the space.

“I expect it will be a statue of Mary,” Br. Robin Pierzina said, chair of the Abbey’s design committee. “We will find out when the model is presented to us next week.”

Pierzina said that he hopes the artwork will be finished in time for the scheduled dedication and blessing of the chapel set for June 28 but is unsure of the final timeline.

“It is possible [Tylevich] could still be working on the piece at that time,” Pierzina said.

Sövik’s design for Stella Maris eclipses seven previous overhauls for the structure and was intended to streamline the look and feel of the chapel. The stone buttresses, added decades ago to uphold aging walls, were removed, and the walls themselves were reinforced and layered with stucco to simplify the design.

One student who reacted defensively to the changes has since revised her position, saying that she’s glad it’s still here.

CSB sophomore Amy Durheim, who was quoted in The Record’s Sept. 27, 2007 story on Stella Maris, said Tuesday in an e-mail that her reaction to the changes has “dissipated a bit since last summer and fall.”

“I respect the decision to fix the chapel, but I wish we
students had been informed about the changes to our home.”

Pierzina hopes that the feeling of home will remain for students and monastics alike.

“What was once a historical chapel, quite damaged by weather, is instead now a newly renovated and attractive space to which we hope all will make the pilgrimage to visit,” Pierzina said.

Mill Stream

 

 

 

By Abigail Spaniol

 

Twelve of the fourteen lofts at Mill Stream Shops & Lofts have been sold. There is only one, one-bedroom condo and one, 2-bedroom condo left.

“We are actually ahead of schedule,” said Nathan Woodworth, who is planning the facility.

Although construction is complete on phase I of the facility, which includes the lofts, restaurant, gift store and real estate offices, there are still some unanswered questions.

There was an Asian restaurant highly interested in renting the space, Woodworth said. However, the restaurant decided that St. Joseph was not a large enough market for their business.

In addition, the CSB gift store remains nameless.

Phase II, which focuses on the east side of the complex, is still looking for four commercial businesses to commit. There has not been many offers yet, Woodworth said.

“(Business) has been slower than we hoped and we’re still looking for good tenants.”

Woodworth is not worried.

“We’ve pretty much had it on the market for a year so it’s not out of the ordinary for commercial spaces to be open for that long.”

Construction on phase II will be done in July, Woodworth said.

CSB Health Center

 

By Chelsea Korth

 

Unanimous support continues on St. Ben’s campus for the proposal of a health center catering to the specific needs of women. St. Ben’s campus will host consultants from the American College Health Association Thursday and Friday to conduct a study and determine what is needed for the proposed wellness center.

Their recommendations will address the proposal’s reasonability and affordability in terms of infrastructure, resources and student need. Ideally, the center would support treatment of basic GYN issues, shots and throat cultures.

“Ever since I have been involved here, this has been a student need, and MaryAnn Baenninger has been the first to champion it,” said Mary Gellar, vice president of Student Development.

Once the association gives the green light to proceed with the proposal, Gellar said the school plans on taking immediate action.

“If we find it is in fact feasible, we’d like to implement this as soon as possible; even if that means moving into a temporary space,” Gellar said. “I’m really excited about this and my hope is that this is something we can do for students.”

Pay Raises

 

By Abigail Spaniol

 

The Joint Faculty Assembly passed a unanimous vote to implement a five percent salary increase for the total salary pool for the 2008-2009 academic year.

The JFA’s target was to keep pay in the 71 percentile of other colleges who are part of the American Associates of University Professors, who are CSB/SJU’s main competitors for faculty. It is not yet determined if they have met their goal.

However, this decision was not based on merit, but was an effort to stay ahead of inflation, management professor and chair of the JFA Virginia Arthur said. Assistant and associate professors are receiving more of a raise than full-time professors. This is because full-time professors have a higher base pay.

This idea was brought forth because of a recommendation by the Faculty Compensation and Benefits Committee. Every year, the FCC meets and has to comply with the provost and chief financial aid officers before
recommending salary increases to the JFA. Even if the JFA votes against a particular percentage, increases still happen every year, Arthur said. The difference would be that the salary increase might not be as much.

 

Alcuin

By Lauren Carlson 

Plans are still underway for renovations and additions to the St. John’s library, and CSB/SJU is asking for ideas.

This summer, CSB/SJU library director Kathy Parker and the architect for the project will be visiting other college libraries to get some ideas for a new-and-improved Alcuin.

“(We) are still continuing to investigate ways of using the space in the most effective way possible, and meeting [student] needs.” Parker said. “That is the No. 1 priority.”

Parker said she is always open to student opinions on how to best update the St. John’s library.

The plan is to increase group study space with a reading room featuring more open tables in order to protect quiet space for students.

The staff also hopes to expand book capacity, while reducing clutter which “sucks- up the light,” making the main floor brighter and more open.

More technology has been proposed, so that computers are not all crammed into one room. Instead, there will be “random clusters” throughout.

These are all things that students said they wanted, Parker said.

One of the first steps of the process has already been completed: an architectural model of the impending library, which is on display in the main floor of Alcuin.

Not only will they be renovating the existing space, but they will also be adding space out the back and out the side.

This $37 million project is said to be the furthest away from breaking ground and the biggest project SJU has planned in some time, Parker said.

Parker called the renovation a “large undertaking” and “one of the things [they] have to decide is how large.”

The prediction is that bulldozers will go up four years from now, and it should be completed a year after that.

 

 

 

Filed under: News by Tan Tuohy