Campus Watch

Powerful Lineup

FOCUS, Dec. 3 — Among the speakers at the upcoming Fellowship of Catholic University Students' National Student Leadership Conference is Jim Caviezel, who plays Jesus in the upcoming Mel Gibson film The Passion of Christ.

Other scheduled speakers for the conference, Jan. 16-18 in Denver, are theologian Scott Hahn and Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver.

The Fellowship of Catholic University Students is a program designed to help college students incorporate the faith into their everyday lives.

For more information visit www.focusonline.org.

Random Testing

CHICAGO TRIBUNE, Dec. 4— St. Patrick High School on Chicago's Northwest Side will be the first in the city to require mandatory drug testing for all students.

Parents must pay $60 for the test, which will use hair samples collected by school counselors and test for illegal drugs, the paper reported.

While many students objected to such testing, at least one parent thought it was a good idea.

“As a parent, it's a great thing,” said Rose Mayerbock, mother of a St. Patrick junior. “There are parents that don't necessarily realize that their child could be on something. … I am very lucky because I trust that my kids are not.”

Highest Bidder?

THE BOSTON GLOBE, Dec. 5

The decision by the Archdiocese of Boston to sell some of its property to pay off sexual-abuse scandal settlements has set Boston College officials in motion to bid for the property.

The college has long eyed the property, the newspaper reported, and all indications point to the college getting its wish.

College and Church officials, politicians and real estate executives said the location of the property — across from archdiocesan headquarters — as well as its religious affiliation and resources were all reasons the college would most likely wind up owning the property.

On Air

NAPLES (Fla.) DAILY NEWS,

Dec. 5 — Ave Maria University in Naples, Fla., has agreed to buy a local radio station for $4.9 million. The school will use the station to promote its news and activities.

The station will have Catholic content and reach several communities in the area, the newspaper reported.

For now Ave Maria plans to run the station under a licensing management agreement, which means it will have another organization run it until the university decides to fully take it over.

Catholic President

THE BALTIMORE SUN, Nov. 30 — Although he has never administered at a Catholic college or university, Thomas Powell now finds himself leading the 195-year-old Mount St. Mary's College and Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md.

“I've been a Catholic my whole life, so [taking over at Mount St. Mary's] has been a joy,” Powell told the Baltimore daily. “The only difference here is that I get the chance to walk to Mass rather than drive to Mass.”

Powell took over as leader this year after serving as dean and professor at such schools as the University of Connecticut and Vanderbilt University.

He has little say on what goes on at the seminary, however, whose curriculum is set by the Church and day-to-day operations administered by its rector.