Scandal Study

THE NEW YORK TIMES, March 12 — The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ National Review Board on sexual abuse has picked New York's John Jay College of Criminal Justice to do a national study on the sexual abuse of minors by priests over the past half-century, the Times reported.

The bishops’ communications office confirmed that the board and the college were in the final stages of negotiating a contract but told Catholic News Service that the Times story was “premature.”

The need for a study on the data related to the scandal and a separate study on the causes of clerical abuse of minors were agreed to by the bishops at their June 2002 national meeting in Dallas.

Library Latte

MOBILE REGISTER, March 3 — Spring Hill College in Alabama will break ground April 24 on a new library projected to cost $16.2 million, reported the Mobile, Ala., daily.

The library will include extensive wiring for Internet and other high-tech uses and will include spaces set aside for students to work in groups.

The Jesuit college also plans a cafe not unlike those found in big commercial bookstores such as Barnes & Noble that will stay open later than regular library hours.

Franciscan Roots

CHRONICLE.COM, March 10 — Franciscan Sister Margaret Carney, dean of the School of Franciscan Studies at St. Bonaventure University, has been named to the vacant position of senior vice president for Franciscan charism, reported the Web site of The Chronicle of Higher Education.

The appointment, made on an interim basis, is part of the response to a scandal that prompted the resignation earlier this month of the university's president, athletic director and head basketball coach due to a recruiting violation.

Sister Margaret's task, according to the Chronicle, “will be to remind members of the university community of its religious roots.”

Reversal on Monologues

THE CATHOLIC TELEGRAPH, March 11 — Xavier University originally denied sponsorship of “The Vagina Monologues” at its Gallagher Center but later permitted a professor to stage the feminist play in the same Gallagher Center as part of a class, reported the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.

The class will be taught as part of a program dedicated to “examining cultural diversity, specifically stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination and how they relate to power in American society.”

The university president, Jesuit Father Michael Graham, first canceled the play because it would not be “an appropriate vehicle for Xavier” and later described its inclusion in a class as “a legitimate exercise of academic freedom.”

Alcohol Education

CENTURY COUNCIL, March 11 — “Alcohol 101 Plus,” a new program to disseminate information on alcohol consumption and abuse via a virtual campus on CDROM, has been unveiled by the council, a nonprofit organization funded by the largest alcohol distillers and distributors in the United States.

Among the many Catholic university participants include: Creighton University in Omaha, Neb.; DePaul University in Chicago; Santa Clara University in California; and Fordham and St. John's universities in New York.

More information about the CD-ROM program is available at www.alcohol101plus.org.

Joe Cullen writes from New York.