The Bona Venture, St.

Bonaventure University’s only student newspaper,

published the following articles written by Ruth Harper. For more article
samples, click here.

Headlines (click to scroll):

1. Ireland trip enhances American pride
2. Olean to host filming
3. Bona’s Ventures into the unknown
4. Million-dollar donors sue university

Ireland trip enhances American pride

Issue date: 3/19/10 | Section: Opinion

Who knew a service-learning trip to Northern Ireland could provide me with an even deeper
pride and devotion to my country and its high value on civil rights and individual liberties.

I didn't. But I know now.

With 13 other students and two faculty members, I traveled across the Atlantic during midterm
break through St. Bonaventure University's Father Mychal Judge Center. Father Mychal (1933-
2001), a Franciscan priest and son of an Irish immigrant, worked to promote international
peace, especially in Northern Ireland.

While there, I participated in the usual Irish tourist attractions: I visited Dublin, shopped often,
ate my fair share of potatoes and, of course, visited a plethora of pubs. While all of these aspects
helped me understand Northern Ireland's culture, these experiences aren't necessarily what I'll
take with me for the rest of my life.

Instead, I've gained a greater understanding of Northern Ireland's political Troubles and a
renewed gratitude for my own country's democratic freedom, no matter how politically
polarized it may be today.

The Troubles is a euphemism used to describe the ethno-political conflict and violence that took
place mainly in Northeast Ireland from the late 1960s to 1998, when officials signed a peace
agreement. Sporadic violence still occurs, though, according to Ulster University's Conflict
Archive on the Internet (CAIN) project.

We listened to both a peace activist and a former Irish Republican Army member speak about
their experiences. Hearing Dr. Mervyn Love, a soft-spoken history professor, discuss his
experiences with the Troubles - including jail time for being in the IRA - really hit my heart.

But I didn't really understand the conflict fully until I visited the city of Derry/Londonderry
halfway through the trip. Residents refer to this city by both of those names depending on their
side of the conflict. Nationalists (primarily Roman-Catholics) call the city "Derry," while
Unionists (primarily Protestants) call the city "Londonderry." But that's just the beginning of the
city's division.

The Unionists' parts of town had red, white and blue street curbs to show their desire to
continue in union with the United Kingdom. Nationalists tended to side with the Republic of
Ireland, displaying this alliance by painting their curbs green, orange and white. If the colors
aren't enough to prove the division, massive, magnificent murals illustrate the conflict's history
and hope for the future, and graffiti on brick buildings' walls read "U.F.F." (Ulster Freedom
Fighters) and "R.I.R.A." (the Real Irish Republican Army).

Without a doubt, America has its gangs, its violence and its political problems, and during our
Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, many deaths occurred. Luckily, violence
eventually calmed down, and the U.S. government passed legislation to end segregation and
other racist laws. About 50 years after the end of the formal 1960s Civil Rights Movement, we
have elected a black president. While racism, unfortunately, does still exist in our country, we
have become more tolerant of each other as time moves on and as new generations move up.

America's Civil Rights Movement holds a huge value not only for black people, but also the
world. Our changes sparked movements in other countries, including Northern Ireland. Murals
there hoping to spread peaceful messages even display a painting of Martin Luther King Jr.
Because suppressed blacks spoke up in our country, people feeling stifled in other countries also
felt they could speak up against their own governments. However, Northern Ireland hasn't made
it quite as far as we have. Hopefully, the U.S. will continue to fight racism and act as a role
model for the world.

In conclusion, America certainly isn't perfect. But what we've done well is more important than
many of us realize. In addition to direct peace measures, our country has indirectly shown other
nations what can be done for freedom if it's missing.

And no recession or climate crisis or health care reform can take that away.
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Olean to host filming

Issue date: 9/11/09 | Section: News

Olean will see a tiny glimpse of Hollywood today, as cast and crew members from the
feature film "Unstoppable" shoot a small scene featuring some of Olean's railroad
tracks.

The scene shot in Olean will show parents and students boarding a train near Olean
Middle School on Wayne Street, according to a Sept. 8 article in the Olean Times
Herald.

"It's just a small scene we're doing there," Gabriela Gutentag, publicist for
"Unstoppable," said "The stars are, unfortunately for you guys, not in that scene."

The stars of which Gutentag speaks include Denzel Washington, Chris Pine ("Star Trek")
and Rosario Dawson ("Seven Pounds"). Tony Scott ("The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3")
directs the action thriller, due to release November 2010. In the film, the characters
attempt to stop a runaway train containing toxic chemicals before it destroys a city,
according to www.imdb.com.

However, the lack of star power in Olean won't hinder the benefits filming could have on
the area, Gutentag said.

"I would say for the entire time we're here … Olean will definitely be feeling the effects,"
Gutentag said.

In Olean, lodging and eateries will probably benefit more than other businesses. Most of
the cast and crew will stay in hotels in Bradford, but a small portion plans to stay in
Olean, Gutentag said.

"They just don't have tons of hotel rooms," she said. "We took all the available hotel
rooms in Bradford."

Meme Yanetsko, events/marketing director for the Greater Olean Area Chamber of
Commerce, agreed the filming will positively affect Olean's economy, especially hotel
and restaurant/catering businesses. She also said the success of this filming could affect
Olean's economy years in the future.

"Showing other movie companies that we are easy to work with… might in turn have
other companies coming in to Olean to film (parts of other) movies," Yanetsko said.

The movie offered more than economic opportunities, though, as the production team e-
mailed theater programs from many local universities and colleges, including St.
Bonaventure University, inviting theater students to participate in production, Becky
Misenheimer, assistant professor of theater design, said.

"It's a great opportunity to get a foot in the door with the film industry," Misenheimer
said.

Unfortunately, most of the St. Bonaventure students asked were unable to become
involved for various reasons, including being too far from St. Bonaventure during the
summer months.

The e-mail sent to the students said anyone involved with the film would have to put in
long hours, which was another reason many couldn't join the cast or crew.
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Bona’s ventures into the unknown

Bonaventure community members share their stories about Francis Hall
Issue date: 10/24/08 | Section: Features

When campus ghost stories at St. Bonaventure come into conversation, minds usually turn
toward Devereux Hall, but Francis Hall is not without its supernatural happenings.

Senior computer science major Laura L'Esperance lived in Francis Hall for about a month her
junior year before moving to Devereux Hall, where she lives this semester.
"Francis and Dev are both supposed to be haunted, but I've never had any problem in Dev,"
L'Esperance said. "I've been to the fifth floor in Dev, too. It was kind of disappointing. Francis,
from the beginning, kind of gave me the creeps."

L'Esperance said she used to avoid Francis as much as possible, and she isn't the only one who
doesn't like the feeling she gets there.

"To me, it's a very spooky building," said Judy Barton, a housekeeper in Robinson Hall who
worked in Francis Hall during the summer. "Even before that experience I didn't like it. I was
always uneasy in that building. I just don't like it."

Barton's "experience" occurred on the second floor of Francis Hall last summer. She went down
the hallway, and a man was standing by the stairwell, so she said hello to him but felt a little
strange.

"What struck me funny was his clothing," Barton said. "He was a young guy, and he had this
shirt on that reminded me of something we used to wear back in the 60s and the 70s, a yellowish
plaid shirt."

She went in the bathroom, came back out and returned to the hallway where the other
housekeepers were. She asked them if anyone had seen the man, and no one had.

"I had seen him come through the stairwell and go down the hallway out of the corner of my
eye," Barton recalled. "I come back, and I ask the other girls, 'Did you see a guy come down
here?' No one saw him. I thought 'Oh my God.'"

Barton said later a security guard told her other people had seen a man with the same clothing.

Jacob Fintak, a second-year graduate student and housekeeper, also saw a man in a plaid shirt
during the summer when he worked on the second floor.

"Me and one of the workers over the summer were moving stuff out of the rooms," Fintak said.
"We looked down the hallway, and we see this figure down there. He looks at us, he tilts his head
down … and starts walking slowly across and moves down the one hallway. We didn't
understand how he's there; nobody's supposed to be in the building. So we walk down, we look,
nobody's there. Everything's locked up. There's no way this person, or whatever it was, could
ever get out."

Fintak continued, "The person I was working with told me they'd seen it before, same thing -
jeans, (brownish) plaid shirt, tilted head, walks down the hallway … he's kind of like the second
floor ghost."

Fintak lived on the third floor of Francis Hall during his junior year, when he had a few smaller
spooky experiences.
"There would be no wind in the hall, my windows would be closed (in my room), but my blinds
would be moving or papers would kind of be moving a little bit on my desk," Fintak said.

He added a former resident assistant who lived on the fourth floor would often return to her
room to her glass cups scattered, some broken, everywhere in her room. Senior political science
major Adam Sorokes, who shared a wall with the resident assistant's room, said some people
believe the resident assistant's room is the most haunted room in Francis.

Sorokes, who lived on the fourth floor his freshman year, said he has also experienced breezes
when no windows were open. One time, he said he was in the bathroom when a stall door
slammed shut. Also, like many other students in Francis, Sorokes said his faucet would spew
water for no reason.

Phil Winger, associate vice president for facilities, wrote in an e-mail that he had not heard
reports of faucets turning on, and he wasn't sure why it would happen. Winger also wrote the
breezes were strange, too.

"There is not much mechanical ventilation (fans, that is) in the building, so I can't blame them,"
Winger wrote.

Fintak also reported hearing strange noises.

"The walls in Francis are paper thin, so sometimes you hear things, but every now and then I
would just hear weird whispering noises off in the corner of my room, which I would never
understand," Fintak said.

Senior computer science major Grace Trzepacz, who lives on the second floor, wrote in an e-mail
that she often hears thumping and things moving around in the third-floor storage area above
her room. No one lives in the large room, but it's scattered with a few mattresses, bed frames, a
broken piano, cigarette butts, dusty beer cans and a green chair with wheels. The room is kept
locked at all times.

"We peeked through the window of the door that goes to that place and saw there is a chair with
wheels up there we think gets rolled around by the ghost we've nicknamed Chuck," Trzepacz
wrote.

Trzepacz added that the noises woke up an out-of-town friend staying overnight. She wrote she's
gotten used to the noises, and they don't bother her.

Sorokes experienced a noisy presence the second or third week of his freshman year when he
was trying to sleep. He heard an annoying tapping noise, and looked up and realized it was his
cable cord, which ran across the ceiling. He turned off his fan so the noise would stop, but it
didn't.
"I turned the fan off, but it kept happening, but there was no wind coming into my room,"
Sorokes said. "I got kind of weirded out. I just kind of figured it was my mind playing tricks on
me."

Sorokes said he tried to go back to sleep but couldn't, and then felt a cold chill run down his
back. He tried to calm himself down by splashing water on his face.

"As I was over (at the sink), my clock radio turned itself on, and so I immediately was like, OK,
something really weird is happening here," Sorokes said. "There was just static coming through
the radio, and when I unplugged it, the static sound started coming through my computer
speakers."

He acknowledged the presence by speaking, and the static stopped.

Sorokes had another experience while working on a paper at his computer one night. He had the
overhead light and a desk lamp on.

"I just caught something out of the corner of my eye, and I just saw this kind of black, misty,
shadow thing. I don't really know how to describe it other than that," Sorokes said. "It moved
from the sink into my closet and then just kind of vanished. I know it couldn't have been a
shadow. That really rattled me. I had to jump up and try to take a walk for a while."

Fintak described nights when it was extremely difficult to sleep because he felt like he wasn't
alone.

"There would be some nights where it would be really, really tense to sleep, like there was just
something in my room, and I just didn't know what it was," Fintak said.
L'Esperance said she experienced something similar. She said she was talking on the phone to
her mom when a strange feeling overcame her.
"I was going to turn off the TV, turn off the computer, but I couldn't do it," L'Esperance said. "I
didn't go to sleep until about 3:00 (a.m.), and I just felt like there was something at the sink, just
looking at me."
L'Esperance added she heard that other people often feel like there's something near their sinks,
and her sleepless experience was part of the reason she decided to move from Francis to
Devereux.

Barton has heard stories about the San Damiano room.

"I've heard stories about (a housekeeper) setting up downstairs and things will go flying, down
in the chapel," Barton said.

Sorokes said although he has often felt some kind of "presence" in Francis Hall, he has never felt
threatened, and sometimes the presence has even made him feel safe. He said those who
experience the paranormal should question the validity, but at some point it just becomes real.
"You know there are certain things, like a stall door slamming or closing or whatever, it could
just be that the window's open just enough for me to not notice," Sorokes said. "There are some
things that could be explained, and you don't want to just follow things blindly because you
heard that weird things happen there. You don't want to believe all of the urban legends and
stuff like that, but you get to the point where you really experience things."
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Million-dollar donors sue university

Issue date: 3/28/08 | Section: News

Paul and Irene Bogoni, who have donated over $3 million to St. Bonaventure University
over the course of approximately six years, filed a lawsuit against the university Feb. 5,
according to the summons from the New York County clerk's office.

The Bogonis filed the suit because they feel the university violated signed agreements
and did not provide proper accounting documentation and information.

However, the university said it felt it provided proper documentation and information
on the donations, Emily Sinsabaugh, vice president for university relations, said.

"We did not proceed with the project until we had full agreement on the plans from the
Bogonis," Sinsabaugh said.

The Bogonis, of New York City, informed the university they had intentionally defaulted
on the rest of their pledges in October 2007, according to a letter to the faculty and staff
from Sister Margaret Carney, O.S.F., university president. The couple originally pledged
$1.5 million in 2005, and they have paid $1.1 million to date to fund the Friedsam
Memorial Library "Paul and Irene Bogoni Library Addition," according to complaints
the Bogonis filed.

In November 2007, the university informed the Bogonis that the naming rights for the
library addition would be modified because of their default, according to Sister
Margaret's letter and a university press release.

In May 2003, the couple donated $50,000 for a feasibility study, which would
determine whether or not the addition would be practical and affordable, according to
the filed complaint.

The university commissioned Cannon Design, Inc. to conduct the study. Cannon
charged $29,500, leaving $20,500 that was neither returned to the Bogonis nor used in
accordance with the agreed terms and conditions, according to the filed complaint.

The Bogonis claim they never received a copy of the library feasibility study, and they
claim the university told them the cost estimate for the addition was $1.5 million.
On April 1, 2005, the Bogonis prepared to sign the "gift commitment" for $1.5 million.
In the agreement, the parties agreed that the addition would be called The Paul and
Irene Bogoni Library Addition, the Bogonis would finance the entire project alone, the
cost of construction would be limited to $1.5 million and if construction costs went over
the $1.5 million limit, the university would re-analyze and rebid the project in an
attempt to find ways to cut costs, according to the filed complaint.

On July 15, 2005, the university asked the Bogonis for an additional $500,000, and the
Bogonis agreed. Also, according to the filed complaint, the gift commitment agreement
would be raised to a $2 million cost limit. By Aug. 21, 2005, the university signed a
Professional Service Agreement with Cannon Design, and the total project cost would be
$2 million, according to the complaint.

The university held the groundbreaking ceremony June 19, 2006.

In September 2006, the university informed the Bogonis that the cost would be at least
$250,000 more than the $2 million set cost limit, but the Bogonis told the university to
find ways to cut costs. The Bogonis claim they have not received any information about
why the addition would cost more, and the university never re-analyzed or re-bid the
project, according to the filed complaint.

As of Feb. 5, the Bogonis had donated $1.1 million of the total $2 million commitment.
The university had obtained an additional $750,000 to put toward the addition from
other donors, even though the project was supposed to be funded solely by the Bogonis,
according to the filed complaint. An unidentified university administrator acknowledged
that $13,000 from the Bogonis' restricted $2 million gift had been used for "purposes
unrelated to the library addition," according to the filed complaint.

The university refutes the Bogonis' claim that they have received no accounting or
documentation for the construction.

"We are very pleased to provide information to donors about the progress of projects
and in the case with the Bogonis, we were very happy to respond to requests for very
detailed information about the expenses of the project," Sinsabaugh said. "We provided
everything from copies of invoices for materials and services to copies of the general
ledger of accounts for them to be able to see that level of detail, and we're happy to do
that."

Sinsabaugh said the Bogonis were making demands the university could not meet and
that were not in the signed agreement.

"They were interacting with the board of trustees in such a way that was attempting to
have them engaged in day-to-day decision-making that is not appropriate for either
trustees or donors," Sinsabaugh said.

Sinsabaugh declined to elaborate on exactly what the Bogonis were trying to get the
trustees to do.
Sinsabaugh said she hopes the Bogonis will re-evaluate their decision.

"It's very unfortunate," she said. "It's not something that a university ever wants to have
happen to them, but we really hope that the Bogonis will reconsider and meet the terms
of the pledge that we made together for a place to house and present and preserve our
very important rare books collection."

If the Bogonis don't bring funds back to the university, Sinsabaugh said the university
plans to continue with construction, which is on schedule and plans to open in fall 2008.

"We've made a commitment to that project, and we're going to complete it," she said.

Sinsabaugh would not give specific details on where the funds to pay for the remainder
of the project will come from, but she said the university plans to re-allocate
undesignated resources from the $90 million Capital Campaign.

"We are fortunate that some money is being donated to the university for us to use in
the way we think is most important," she said.

The filed complaint also mentions the case involving the Bogonis' donations to create a
gerontology program at the university. Gerontology is the study of the aging process.

In May 2004, the Bogonis donated $1.5 million for the Gerontology Research, Academic
Preparation and Community Enrichment (GRACE) Project as well as $10,000 for a
feasibility study for the program, according to the filed complaint.

In early May 2004, the Bogonis signed the conditional endowment gift agreement but
were not given the "fully executed copy" at that time. Also at that time, they gave the
university a $100,000 check, according to the complaint. The Bogonis had requested the
full copy, and they found out that the gift would "consist of $1.4 million, not $1.5
million, and a separate $100,000 thereof was to be used for 'start-up funds,'" according
to the complaint. The Bogonis claim they never agreed to this change, and it violated the
restrictions and conditions of the endowment gift. However, the Bogonis have paid the
full $1.5 million.

Also, the Bogonis claim they "have not received any complete and accurate periodic
financial reports about the restricted and conditional endowment gift," according to the
complaint. "Upon inquiry, an agent of the (university) indicated that the reason the
(Bogonis) did not receive complete and accurate periodic financial reports was that the
agent was told that the (Bogonis) had requested not to receive such reports, but the
agent did not say who on behalf of the defendants had told the agent not to send the
(Bogonis) such reports. The (Bogonis) did not give any such instruction to the
defendants."

The Bogonis said the university's continuing to withhold information and practice of
unilateral decision-making has interfered with the goals, objectives and purpose of the
GRACE Project, according to the complaint.

Paul Bogoni said he wanted to meet and talk with professors and others involved with
the gerontology program at the university, but the university would not let him.

"We want to help the university," he said. "Why aren't we permitted to talk to anybody?"

Sinsabaugh said the university, represented by Damon and Morey attorneys at law
L.L.P. of Buffalo, N.Y., plans to send a reply to the Bogonis' complaint directly to the
Bogonis' attorney, Beattie Padovano, LLC, of Montvale, N.J.
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