Contact Magazine - Winter, 2001 - Saint Joseph's College

16 Pages·2001·1.6 MB·English

by  Saint Joseph's College

ff. X
winter 2001
In this issue:
SJC President Albert J. Shannon
Accepts a Position at a New England
Preparatory School p. 3
Invitation to the 2001
Scholarship Dinner p. 4
Father Keith Branson, C.PP.S
Appointed Director of Program of
Church Music and Liturgy p. 5
John Boler, Million
Dollar Donor to SJC p.6
Computer Science Alumni
at the Cutting Edge
of the Internet p. 8
High Bandwidth Computer
Technology Applied
to Core p. 11
Sports News p. 12
Class Notes p. 14
A Quarterly Publication for Alumni, Parents,
and Friends of Saint Joseph's College
James E. Madden'64, Contact
Alumni Chairman, Board of Trustees Spring 2001: Volume 58, Number 2
Association Published quarterly for Alumni, Parents, and
Albert J. Shannon, Ph.D.,
Board of Friends of Saint Joseph’s College
Directors President
K.P.McClanahan,
Please send changes of address and other
Vice President for Institutional correspondence to:
Officers
Advancement and Marketing Saint Joseph’s College
Bernard A. Balas'57
P.0. Box 870
President James Wirtes'97,
Rensselaer, Indiana 47978
Alumni and Parent Relations Phone: [phone]
Steve Ligda '62
Manager Toll Free: 800-227-1898
VP of Alumni Relations
Fax: [phone]
Maia Kingman,
email: [email protected]
Louis B.Offer'69 Editor, Contact
VP of Academics,
Mark Randall'91 and Maia Kingman,
Placement, and See Contact on the web at www.saintjoe.edu/
Layout, Contact
Recruiting
whats_new/newspapers/contact
JaneWilkerson
Ames'73
VP of Campus
From the Alumni Board President, Bernard A. Balas
Relations
A
Michael Bauman'79
s this second issue information about the College available to
VP Administration
of revitalized interested students. Alumni who wish to do
Jim Wirtes'97
Contact goes to press, likewise and would like admissions informa¬
Executive Director
the Saint Joseph’s tion sent to a specific high school or to an
College community is individual student can contact the Admissions
Directors
Jerome Bosch'59 busy recruiting the class office at 1-800-447-8781.
of 2005. Though it is In this issue you will find a listing of
Terra Callaway'97
only January 31st as I write this letter, I have the current winners of the Scholar-Athlete
Jack Carlson'56 signed 300 congratulatory letters to young Award. This is a new Alumni Association
men and women who have been accepted for Award which will be presented annually to
James Deegan'59
August 2001 admission to SJC. senior class members who are active varsity
Judy Dever'90
The Admissions staff, with some help athletes and maintain a cumulative GPA of
Bruce Hicks'79 from alumni, has attended numerous high 3.50 or higher. A diverse group of 16 seniors
schools, college fairs, and college nights in the will receive the award in its initial year.
Karey Klott-Engels'97
primary SJC recruiting area: Indiana, Illinois, This year will also be the 35th year of
Tom Kuhar'64 and Ohio, as well as parts of Michigan, the Alumni Association’s Senior of the Year
Wisconsin, Kentucky, and Missouri. It is Award. Alumni Board V.R Lou Offer ‘69
Trish Leurck'91
simply not cost-effective to expand to full and his committee are busy selecting the 2001
Thomas C.Madison'70
recruiting efforts beyond that area. Senior of the Year, who will be announced in
Georgia McKim'89 Most of our alumni reside in that early April. Also at this time, V.R Steve.
seven-state area, but almost one-half do not. Ligda ‘62 and his committee are identifying
MarkRandall'91
What can alumni living outside that area do to nominees for the Alumni Service Awards and
Brian Studebaker'92
help recruitment? We have had recent the Alumni Achievement Award. The former
Julie Suhr'89 communications about this subject with, recognizes alumni for extended service to SJC.
among others. Clay Klein ‘55 of San Jose, The latter honors alumni for career achieve¬
Michael Vallone'60
CA, and Ken Renspie ‘79 of Tampa, FL. ment and community contributions. Forty-
Certainly, we can provide admissions two alumni have been recipients of the
Student Director
information to individual prospects identified Alumni Service Award since its inception in
Chris Campbell'02
by alumni, but alumni can also follow 1964. In the eight year history of the Alumni
Renspie’s lead. Ken wrote a very effective Achievement Award, eleven alumni have been
Director Emeriti
Philip J. Wilhelm '63 letter to counselors at his daughter’s Tampa honored. Both of these awards will be
High School. He provided a strong personal presented at the Homecoming banquet in
endorsement of SJC and offered to make September.
alumni

President Shannon Accepts a s
t
n
e
v
e
New Challenge
Submitted by James E.Madden'64,Chairman(Board ofTrustees
It is with deep mixed emotions that I inform you that Dr. Albert J.
Shannon will be leaving Saint Joseph's College. He has accepted the
position of President and Headmaster of St. John's Preparatory School in
Danvers, MA, as of July 1, 2001. St. John's is one of New England's premier
Catholic prep schools for young men located on Boston's north shore,
sponsored by the Xaverian Brothers.
It is a great opportunity for Skip to further his personal growth and
goals in a new challenging arena. I am sure you join me in wishing Skip and
MJ the very best in their new journey. Skip has served Saint Joseph's
College very well in his tenure as Vice President of Academic Affairs and as
President. He and his great "Puma Spirit" will be sorely missed. SJC President Albert J. “Skip”
It now presents the Saint Joseph's College family the challenge of Shannon has accepted a position
as President and Headmaster of
finding a new "leader" to move the institution to new and greater levels. I
St. John's Preparatory School in
plan to consult with the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees in Danvers. MA. The new position
quickly developing a plan of action for our search for a new President. I feel begins July 1, 2001.
confident that with the continued support of the Vice Presidents in leading
the institution and the support and involvement of the Board of Trustees,
Editor’s Note: The next issue of
faculty and staff, the transition will be smooth. Skip has assured me that he
Contact will feature a
will assist in the transition in any way possible.
retrospective of President
I would request that if there are any questions, concerns or sugges¬ Shannon’s tenure at SJC.
tions, please contact either Dr. David Chattin on campus at [phone] or
[email protected] or myself in Chicago at [phone] or
[email protected]. We look forward to your input.
Upcoming 4/21 Little 500 Career Center Files
wo
Alumni Events 5/18 Scholarship QJ June 1st, the Career
•
mm Center will be shred-
Dinner LL
k. ding credential files
6/2 Fellows Dinner +Q■J» from the 1980s. If you
3/17 St. Patrick’s Day Parade C would like to have
QJ
U your credential file,
9/14-16 Homecoming
4/7 Sports Hall of Fame j- please contact the
<u
Induction 10/6 Parents’ Weekend QJ Career Center at 219-
i-
866-6116 before June 1.
CQ
u
Have you visited our online Alumni Email Directory?
Find your fellow alumni online at
http://www.saintjoe.edu/alumni/email_directory/
Add yourself to the directory and keep in touch with old friends!
Winter 2001 ❖ 3
From the Alumni and Parent Relations Director
Friends,
Thank you to all of you who recently responded to Harris Publications with your
updated information for our 2001 Alumni Directory. We hope that all of our alumni will
benefit from the directory when it is completed.
We chose Harris because of their many years of quality publications. Some
alumni may have felt overwhelmed by the number of solicitations by Harris regarding the
Alumni Directory. However, in order to get the most accurate information possible for
everyone involved, most importantly our alumni, it is vital for Harris to follow up on all of
the information they receive. We appreciate your understanding and commitment to make
Alumni and Parent the directory the best possible.
Relations Director,
As listed in the last issue of Contact, Homecoming 2001 has been set for the
James P. Wirtes
‘97 weekend of September 14-16. Make your hotel reservations early as rooms do go quickly.
Events and activities are currently being planned. If your class or group would like to
plan a special gathering, please contact the Alumni Office for assistance at [phone]
or [email protected].
We also have other alumni and parent events in the works for 2001. The annual
St. Patrick's Day Parade in Chicago is Saturday, March 17 and is sure to be another fun
Puma Party.
For the Sports Hall of Fame members, the annual Sports Hall of Fame induction
ceremony takes place Saturday. April 7. This year's inductees include Mary Quasney ‘95
- Tennis, Deren Wilder ‘93 - Track & Field, Matt Brace ‘92 - Football and Donald J.
“Lynx” Quinn ‘50 - Football. Congratulations to all of the 2001 inductees.
Events are also in the works for the following states in 2001: Washington D.C.,
Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee as well as the cities of Indianapolis, Ft. Wayne,
Detroit and Louisville. If you are interested in helping plan an outing in your area or want
more information on an event in your area please contact the Alumni Office.
Sincerely,
Join Us at the 32nd Annual Trustee Scholarship Dinner
On Friday, May 18th, 2001, the Board of Trustees of Saint
Joseph’s College will host their 32nd Annual Trustee
Scholarship Dinner. This dinner, along with the silent and
live auctions that take place during the evening, help to
raise funds for College scholarships. We welcome you to
join us this year for this important event.
The dinner will be held at the Chicago Marriott located at
540 N. Michigan Avenue. A reception will begin at 6:30 pm,
followed by dinner at 7:30 pm. The cost per person is $200.
(A special rate of $150 per person is available to
graduates of the classes of 1990 through 2000.)
The silent and live auctions offer a wide variety of items.
Among last year's auction items were trips to Las Vegas,
President Shannon (right) poses with Sheriff
Napa Valley, and Florida, as well as a stay in a private villa
Michael Sheahan ‘67, honored guest at last year's
in Acapulco, compete with a fully staffed house and yacht. Scholarship Dinner
Invitations will be sent at the end of March. Please join us
for an evening of fine dining, dancing, fun, and friends!
Campus News
May, a group of Core 4 students school students will be featured
will travel to Paris, Rome, and April 8-25. Over 1,000 student
Florence under the direction of artists, family members, teachers,
Professor Michael Oakes. Plans and friends are expected to visit
are underway for Core 7 and 8 the College to attend the opening
trips to India and Tanzania under receptions and view the exhibi¬
the direction of Professor Susan tions. This event is part of an
Chattin. ongoing partnership with the
Prairie Arts Council to promote
Grant Brings Tippecanoe the arts at Saint Joseph's College
Chamber Music Society to SJC and in the larger community.
in March and April
The Faculty Fine Arts Committee Department of Education to Offer
has received a grant from the Continuing Education and
Prairie Arts Council to host two Graduate Courses
performances of the Tippecanoe In a special July summer session,
Chamber Music Society at the the Education Department will be
Father Keith Branson, C.PP.S.
College Chapel on March 18 and offering Continuing Education
April 21, 2001. These perfor¬ credits and graduate level
Father Keith Branson, C.PP.S. mances will be free and open to courses for practicing teachers.
Appointed Director of the the public. The performances will Course topics will range from
Rensselaer Program of Church feature representative and leadership and motivation to
Music and Liturgy accessible works by prominent school law. Also, an evening
Branson has a Doctor of Musical twentieth century composers. course will be offered in the fall
Arts degree in Organ Performance These programs will provide a about teaching English as a new
and Composition from the broad spectrum of the “classical'’ language. For more information
University of Kansas, and a music of our own time. The contact Bill Manis at 219-866-
Master of Divinity degree from concerts are co-sponsored by the 6102.
Catholic Theological Union in Faculty Fine Arts Committee of
Chicago. He has twenty years of Saint Joseph’s College, The John Nichols Appointed Project
experience as a pastoral musician, Prairie Arts Council, and the Director of National Accredita¬
and has been active in local Tippecanoe Chamber Music tion Project
chapters of the American Guild of Society of Lafayette. John Nichols is currently Project
Organists and the National Director for the Association of
Association of Pastoral Musi¬ Regional School Art Exhibitions American Colleges and Universi¬
cians. In addition to being To Be Held at SJC ties Project on Accreditation and
Director of the Rensselaer For the third year. Saint Joseph’s Assessment. This project
Program, he also serves as College is hosting the Prairie Arts focuses on the emphasis given to
Parochial Vicar of St. Charles Council's annual series of liberal education by regional and
Borromeo Church in Gladstone, Regional School Art Exhibitions specialized accreditors. Nichols
MO. featuring artwork by school age is working with accreditors and
students in the Jasper and with representatives of higher
Core Abroad Newton County area. For these education associations to
This year the SJC faculty put exhibitions, area art teachers determine what outcomes are
together a number of trips to select and hang their students’ expected from 21st century
enhance the Core experience. In work in the lobby of the Banet baccalaureate programs. Nichols
November, a group of Core 1 Core Education Center. is a Senior Fellow at AAC&U and
students spent four days in New is Special Assistant to the
York City under the direction of Three exhibitions will be held this Provost at Saint Joseph’s College.
Professor Brian Capouch. In year: elementary school students For SJC, Nichols is working on
November, a group of Core 3 were featured February 4-24, the various dimensions of the
students visited Greece under the middle school students will be
direction of Susan Chattin. In featured March 4-24, and high (continued on page 7)
♦
Winter 2001 ❖ 5
f u t u r e
Ci cn Ci
c
C > t: of money, so I brought the whole donation, President Shannon said
£ ^ thing today,” he announced, that it makes a “tremendous
smiling. impact” on a College the size of
Boler explained to a group Saint Joseph’s. “There is no
of Saint Joseph’s faculty, stu¬ doubt that it will change lives
dents, and administrators, that he here. Whether through a new
has a firm belief in the value of a Chemistry lab, new classroom
private, Catholic education. equipment, or new classes,
JJaving experienced personalized students lives will be directly
care at John Carroll, a small Jesuit impacted.” David Chattin, Vice
University in Cleveland, Ohio, he President for Academic Affairs,
sent his children to Catholic says that Boler's gift will allow the
colleges as well. His son, James, College “to do things we were
is a 1985 graduate of Saint only able to dream of before.”
Joseph’s College. “I see the Boler’s donation is one of
values that a Catholic education three $1 million gifts made in the
has instilled in my children,” he College’s history. The others
said. “My children are good were made by James P. and Susan
citizens; they are participants in Lennane, for whom the College’s
their own families; they under¬ Computer Center is named, and
stand the privilege of giving back Peter Shen, for whom the Banet
to their communities.” Core Education Center’s large
“The faculty here are to be auditorium is named. These three
commended,” he said. “You have $1 million gifts are the largest
many fine alumni to be proud of. donations in the College’s
A Saint Joseph's College gradu¬ history, and with his history of
ate is a proven product.” For giving to Saint Joseph’s College,
Catholic colleges like Saint Boler has become the College’s
Joseph’s to continue to be able to largest single donor.
create a student who is “over and The Boler Company is
above” other students, Boler among the largest privately-held
said, they need financial support. vendors to the transportation
“I hope the money I bring you industry. The Boler. Company is
today encourages other friends of the parent company of
the College to give.” Hendrickson International, one of
In that spirit, the Boler the world’s leading manufacturers
donation has been used to issue of suspension systems and
The Boler Challenge for Aca¬ components for heavy-duty
demic Excellence, a dollar-for- trucks and trailers. Hendrickson
dollar match program. The Boler is a major supplier to every North
Challenge encourages alumni, American heavy-duty truck and
parents, and friends of the trailer manufacturer, as well as
College to support academic many manufacturers in Europe,
initiatives, including faculty Australia, Mexico, Japan, and
development, international Latin America.
John Boler, founder and programs, service learning Of his success in business,
chairman of The Boler Company, programs, new course develop¬ Boler says that his Catholic
recently visited the Saint ment, and teaching equipment. education taught him to have a
Joseph’s College campus to Renovation projects that the “deep commitment to sharing my
deliver a $1 million check to Boler Challenge will facilitate accomplishments.” In presenting
College President Albert J. include laboratories and class¬ the check to President Shannon,
Shannon. “I had pledged $1 rooms located in the Arts and he said he hoped the College
million to the College over four Sciences building. would not only match the money
years,” he said, “but I know that When asked about the in the Boler Challenge, but "better
small Colleges are often in need significance of a $1 million it many times over.” -v*
6 4- Contact
future

(continued from page 5) g
n
From the Saint Gaspar Society Council i
College’s preparation for the v
i
North Central reaccreditation visit g
Where There's A Will, There's A Way... in February 2002. This includes
updating the strategic plan of the
Many people mistakenly believe they don't have enough assets College and gathering evidence
to warrant making a will, believing that wills are only for the rich. for North Central about the
Nothing is further from the truth. If you are married or single, if collaboration between Core and
you have children and relatives, you need a will. If you have the majors on student growth and
charitable causes you want to help perpetuate, you need a will. development.
If you own a home, have a bank account, stocks or any other
kind of property, you need a will. Education Students Present at
State Reading Conference
Having your will prepared by an attorney and executed accord- Nine Education students deliv¬
j
ing to strict guidelines is essential. Several steps are necessary ered a presentation entitled
for a will to be legal. “Kaleidoscope” at the Indiana
• It should be in writing. State Reading Association
• It should be signed by the one creating the will. Conference in Indianapolis on
• It should be acknowledged to be the will of the person Monday, February 5. The pre¬
who signs it. service teachers shared lessons
• It should be dated. they had developed in their
People who are not beneficiaries of the will must witness the various content areas. Student
signature of the one who creates the will. They, too, must sign it. presenters were Todd Huff and
Erin Burton in science. Ary
...Don't Put It Off For a “Rainy Day. ” Nelson and Jennifer Frankowski
in music, Becky Singel and Trisha
If any of the events on this list have occurred in your life Toney in physical education,
recently, your old will is probably out-of-date. Holly Shearer and Heather Heide
1. Births in upper elementary lesson, and
2. Marriage or divorce - yours or one of your children's Don Shanahan in social studies.
3. The death or incapacity of a named beneficiary in The students developed their
your will lesson plans as part of their
4. Changes in your personal net worth coursework for Reading in the
5. Change of your needs or your beneficiaries' needs Content Areas, taught by
6. Change of residence - do you now live in a different Professor Gwyn Skrobul.
state? Check the laws of that state.
7. Changes in the tax law
8. Change of personal representative of your estate or
Contact
the guardian of your minor children
9. New charitable interests
is printed by
10. Retirement
Now is the time to keep up with potential changes and change
your will to accommodate them.
Note: This information is not intended as legal advice. For
legal advice, please consult an attorney. Reprinted with
“Pnitttwy
permission from The Stelter Company
Would you like more information on planned giving opportuni- (fowfitwy
' ties at Saint Joseph's College? Please direct inquiries, without
obligation, to:
Maureen Egan ‘90
Faulstich Printing is
Saint Gaspar Society
owned and operated by
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone] Fred Faulstich '60
e-mail: [email protected]
Winter 2001 <C> 7
campus
For the last 12 years, the Saint Joseph’s progress of computer technology. “It has been a
College Department of Computer Science has ceaseless trial to keep up,” Capouch says. “We
consistently been at the cutting edge of computer have been fortunate to have an administration that
networking and Internet applications, which has put is committed to computer technology,” he says.
the small, Catholic college in direct competition with “And we’re still not surpassed anywhere else.
large universities like Michigan and Purdue, who are There are parts of MIT's or Michigan's systems that
known for their work in Computer Science. As a surpass us, but no other College [as opposed to
result, graduates of the Saint Joseph’s College University] is as sophisticated as we are.”
program have been getting jobs that have put them The College’s history of advanced computer
at the heart of the Internet, maintaining its backbone networking begins in 1988, when the College
and developing new network systems. received a grant from the Lilly Endowment called
“Our graduates today are involved in a large The Dream Grant. “All we had to do was come up
number of projects that are cutting edge, and they with a dream,” says Capouch, “and Lilly would help
are continuing to push the envelope out in the larger us achieve it.” “This was the earliest days of
at the
cutting edge
of the
internet
how a small-town college has produced
graduates who have pioneered the internet
world,” says Brian Capouch, Chair of the Computer computer networking,” he says. “At that time I
Science Department at Saint Joseph's College. He didn't know what [networks] were, but I knew they
lists a number of examples, including Laura sounded cool.” Capouch had been educating
(DeYoung) Burton ‘85 is co-authoring books with himself about advanced computer technology with
Stanford’s Terry Winograd, a recognized leading his colleagues at Purdue University. “They told me
authority in the world on cognition and computing. that I needed to be on ‘this thing called the
Matt Davy ‘96 is a prime engineer of Abilene, an Internet,”’ Capouch says, smiling at the thought of
advanced backbone network which is defining the the early days of computer networks.
next generation of Internet technologies. “A set of With funding from the Lilly grant and help from
our graduates,” Capouch says, “quickly rose to key members of the Computer Science Department at
management and engineering positions at Ad¬ Purdue University, Saint Joseph's became the first
vanced Network Services (ANS) and at UUNET, college of its size to be connected to the Internet.
which combined with ANS to build the largest At that time, Purdue and Indiana University were the
Internet infrastructure in the world.” only Indiana universities connected, and there were
It is unusual for a College the size of Saint only 10,000 other users worldwide. Capouch says
Joseph’s, which is currently home to just under that for historic interest, he has kept the Sun
1,000 students, to be able to keep up with the rapid Microsystems computers they acquired from Purdue
8 Contact
University at that time, which were the very first infrastructure of the Internet. Both worked previ¬
machines that Purdue had ever purchased from Sun. ously for Advanced Network Services (ANS), the
Being the first college connected to the company responsible for maintaining the backbone
Internet was the first in a long line of firsts for Saint of the Internet in the early 1990s. ANS was provid¬
Joseph’s. The College was a pioneer in Internet ing Internet connectivity to Fortune 100 companies
multimedia, running an experimental user interface in until 1995, when America Online, then a little-known
the 1980s which was a forerunner of modem-day company, purchased ANS and asked them to build
web browsers. In 1992, the College was the first the largest consumer Internet network in the world.
institution of higher education in Indiana to have an “We couldn't build it fast enough,” says Davisson.
official website. That website was the second to be It was with Davisson, Balas, and Davy
published on the Internet from the state of Indiana. (mentioned above) as part of the team that ANS
In 1988, SJC was the first college to install a Fiber combined with UUNET to build the largest Internet
Optic backbone. SJC was among the first colleges infrastructure in the world. Davisson played a
to begin using the Linux operating system, which is critical part of maintaining that infrastructure, as he
SMALL BUT POWERFUL: "Because it is a small campus, [the
College] needs the students to help run the systems.
This forces the students to run into the limitations and
problems with a given technology, thus giving them the
experience they need to be of use in industry."
Students in Brian Capouch's Computer Architecture class learn to build computer hardware. Pictures from left to right:
Jason Burke and Ken Huffmaster inventory parts; David McNelis receives instruction from Professor Brian Capouch
prepares a memoty card; Nathan Plant and Nicholas Leskiw work on assembly.
now considered indispensable for mission-critical managed a team of 50 network engineers who
computing applications. Saint Joseph’s College was provided technical support and planning for the
using Linux before the release of the first official Y2K roll-over.
version of the software. The College was among the Balas, who worked as a programmer at Los
first colleges to begin seriously working with an Alamos National Laboratory for one and a half years
Internet protocol called MIME, which today is one before working for ANS, says that the training he
of the core protocols of the World Wide Web and is received at Saint Joseph’s College has been
used in every web transaction. Capouch was, in invaluable. “For the last four plus years, not one
fact, involved in creating that protocol; his name is day has gone by in which 1 didn't use a bit of
in the credits on the official document that first knowledge that I gleaned from the Computer Science
outlined it. program at SJC.”
The end result of this track record is the Balas says that the SJC Computer Science
impressive list of accomplishments of the Saint students have been successful because Saint
Joseph’s College Computer Science alumni. Two of Joseph's College “has been on top of the technol¬
those graduates, Mark Davisson ‘93 and Ed Balas ogy, plain and simple.” But he also attributes their
‘96, are currently working for Caimis, a small start-up success to the Department's focus on practical
which is building new tools for managing the global applications. “Because it is a small campus, they
Winter 2001 9
campus
need the students to help run the systems. This Jennifer Krouse ‘95, Test Coordinator for
forces the students to run into the limitations and utilities software applications at Lexmark Interna¬
problems with a given technology head on, thus tional, says that Capouch's enthusiasm for computer
giving them the experience they need to be of use in technology is contagious. “When I went home from
industry.” his classes,” she says, “I wanted to read and learn
Capouch says that the Computer Science more. He would be so excited about the material that
Department has been integrating its curriculum with it made us excited too.”
the day to day operations of the Computer Center Capouch’s Computer Science graduates
since the days of The Dream Grant. “Our students continue to exhibit a unique devotion to the SJC
were going out and finding jobs because they had Computer Science Department. Two of the current
hands-on experience at a time when no one else full-time employees of the Computer Center are Saint
did,” Capouch says. And Saint Joseph’s current Joseph’s graduates, and Capouch is quick to note
Computer Science students remain in high demand, that a number of alumni have been instrumental in
especially given the history and track record of the ensuring that the College stays at the cutting edge
College in of computer
computers. “Our technology.
students tend to “Our alumni
climb quickly and have donated
go far,” says their time and
Capouch. “They their money to
have jobs before ensure that our
their last semes¬ computer system
ter ends. They is top-notch,”
spend much of says Capouch.
their last semes¬ At the beginning
ter on recruiting of the fall
trips. They have semester, for
practical, real example, Davy
world experience. and Balas
Employers say configured and
our students are installed Saint
already trained in Joseph’s current
the things they network. Their
usually have to Computer Science Department faculty discuss next year's curriculum. From expertise allowed
train other left to right: Bob Dusek ‘98. Brian Capouch. Teresa (Scanlon) Massoels ‘89. them to create
students at.” what Capouch
Alumni of the Computer Science Department calls a “dream network” for Saint Joseph’s College.
call Capouch “visionary” for taking the College into “It is super secure, super fast, super manageable,
new and uncharted territory. Balas says that while and we are able to slide our students into the
he was at Saint Joseph’s, Capouch “was so skilled at management of it,” he says.
analyzing technologies, we were able to focus on And Capouch continues to push the envelope
those that would have the most impact on the at Saint Joseph’s College. The College recently
industry. As it turns out, Brian was decades ahead received a grant from the Ball Foundation Venture
of the Open Source movement [which uses free Fund that will allow SJC to use the multicast
software shared on the Internet], and this allowed us backbone technology, or MBone, to record course
to learn the most powerful concepts and skills even lectures that will become full-featured, interactive
with the meager Saint Joseph’s budget.” multimedia events that will be available on the
“Enough cannot be said about Brian’s vision¬ Internet on demand. The project- is going to be used
ary qualities,” says Davisson of Capouch. He to enhance the College’s Core Program, a highly
relates a story about Capouch pursuing graduate interdisciplinary, four-year, liberal arts program.
work in the internals of TCP/IP networking from Dr. “There are not many institutions using this particu¬
Douglas Comer, a well-renowned Internet pioneer. lar technology,” Capouch says. “Not many are
“Brian turned around the following year and taught familiar with their tools and their use. This means
these same classes to the Computer Science Saint Joseph’s College would be breaking ground in
students at SJC. . . . Teaching TCP/IP to a bunch of the use of MBone in the liberal arts.” Initial
college students in 1991? Visionary indeed!” planning for this project begins this winter. 0-
10 4* Contact