Saint Ignatius Church Tower Tour!

Today we had our annual tour of St. Ignatius Church, graciously led by Fr. Tom Lucas and Don Crean. It is one of the only opportunities for students to climb the 220-foot-tall towers with a magnificent view of the whole city. In many ways the heart of our campus, St. Ignatius Church was built in 1914 and was then the largest church built west of the Mississippi. Here are few pictures from today.

First SII Night 2010

Tonight we kicked off the first SII Night of the school year, and we had a fabulous turnout. For those of you who are new to the Institute or who may not be familiar with what SII Nights are, we get together every Tuesday night for Mass at 6pm and a group activity afterward. Everyone is welcome to SII Night and everyone is encouraged to attend Mass, no matter what religious beliefs you hold. It's just a wonderful time to sit in quiet, purposeful prayer and meditation as a group. The activities that follow Mass range from Dante lectures and study abroad informational sessions to monster movie fests and murder mystery nights. The great thing about these SII Nights is that students are the ones organizing these events. Therefore, everyone can get the chance to choose an activity that is exciting and meaningful for them.

Tonight's pizza party

Our first SII Night started a bit earlier tonight, with a special visit and presentation from Fr. Richard Finn, Regent of Blackfriars in Oxford. SII has a long partnership with the Blackfriars program and has sent several USF students to study in Oxford. Mary and I were lucky enough to be part of that program last year and it was a real treat to see Fr. Richard again.

Mary, Fr. Richard Finn, and Me.

After a well-attended Mass led by Fr. Sean, we all mixed and mingled with a pizza party. It was nice seeing new faces and meeting up with old friends. I even got a chance to see many SII friends from my year. We all lived together and went to class together since freshman year, and this informal reunion was long overdue.

Senior Class: (L to R) Kailey, Ali, Mary, Justin, Rebecca, Teresa, Ravi

Spring Music Student Showcase

Saturday, April 17th 7:00pm - 9:00pm 

Presentation Theater

 

Oxford

Greetings from Oxford! For those of you I haven't met yet, I'm Teresa and I'm spending my junior year here in England. Hope you're all doing well and enjoying spring semester. We're on a trimester system here and we're just about to finish our second term. By the way, we get six weeks of vacation in the winter and another six weeks of vacation in the spring!

As if you needed another reason to study at Oxford (besides the academics, cultural experience, and long vacations), I thought I'd post a few pictures to encourage you to apply to the Blackfriars program through SII. By the way, if some of you have a few questions about what it's like studying at Oxford, just send me an email at teresacgarcia@yahoo.com and I'll do my best to answer them! Also, I have more pictures on my blog, First Impressions.

Christ Church College

 Christ Church Meadow

The Thames River along Christ Church Meadow

The famous Trout Inn and pub

The Sheldonian Theatre and the famous Bodleian Library behind it

Broad Street-- home to several shops, Blackwells bookstore, Balliol College, Exeter College, Trinity College, Sheldonian Theatre, and the Oxford Museum of the History of Sciences

The Institute was well represented in Kairos XVII

The Saint Ignatius Institute sent ten representatives to Kairos XVII this past weekend, to great success. A grand time was had by all. ULTIMATE FRISBEE, football, much dining and the enjoying of one anothers company, banana battles, and a little reflection when we had time. For all those unable to come this semester, I remind you that there is another Kairos next semester, as well as SII's very own retreat. They are both offer quite a deal of fun and camaraderie. As a veteran of both, I heartily recommend participation in either or both.

Murder Most Foul!

Last Tuesday, November the tenth, at approximately seven hours post-meridiem, at a reading of his will in the library of his estate, Kalmanovitz, Mr. Body collapsed to the floor, dead, of poison in his fine Irish whiskey. The guests in attendance were all likely culprits, yet by the ensuing confusing it was clear that they were not bonded in conspiracy. And so it meant that only one, or perhaps some small conspiracy, amongst them could be responsible. Was it:

Prof. Plum, childhood friend of Mr. Body, who was seen in heated argument with the master before the meeting in the Library? Prof Plum's affections for Ms. Peacock was well known, and he did not hide his jealousy at the two's marriage, and he hid poorly his glee at the two's separation. Yet could no have been guilty of this most heinous crime; for he was with Mr. Body the whole evening, and had not access to the fine Irish whiskey the whole night.

Ms. White, maid to the master, and desperate for a way to pay for her son's operation? She did have access the the fine Irish whiskey all night. But killing her employer would not gain her anything, for why would a lowly serving wretch be in the will of a giant of industry such as Mr. Body?

Ms. Peacock, Mr Body's spurned former wife. Jealous of his new trophy wife, perhaps she killed him out of spite. It even looked as thought she tried to frame Mr. Body's new toy, Ms Scarlet, by hiding poison in her purse. Yet, maybe the poison was left for her to find, in the hopes she would incriminate herself by trying to frame her younger counterpart. Again, though, circumstance exonerates her, for she is of the opinion that a lady should never pour her own drink, and so was never near the bottle or her ex-husbands glass.

Ms. Scarlet and Mr. Green, then, our conspirators! She, Mr. Body's fiance, youthful and selfish, he, Mr. Body's lawyer,intelligent and unscrupulous. She knew she would be in the will, for her lover, MR. GREEN surely told her. Being nearer her age, shrewd Mr. Green would undoubtedly make a better make for the vivacious Ms. Scarlet. And when one factors in the hefty inheritance,
one has an equation for marriage at it's most leisurely - and DAMNED! If we integrate this function, however, we find that the two would be murders were too busy trying to creating life to bother themselves in the business of ending one.

Who could it be, if it were none of these guests?

Only Col. Mustard! Mr. Body's most trusted adviser. He was the one who provided the fine Irish whiskey in the first place! He was the one who would inherit not the estate, but the entire conglomeration which Mr. Body headed! Col. Mustard was the assassin, his only motivation, greed!

Ancient Night!

Action Shot! Quin and Kyle rearrange furniture in preparation of the festivities! Kyle would go on to amuse the audience with ancient humor!


































Devon, Kyle, Andrea, and Lionell perform a skit that demonstrates that none of them should ever be allowed access to the One Ring.


















Prof. Oele, who organized the evenings festivities, and Prof. Kuperus debate whether or not Socrates deserves all the hullaballoo. Prof. Kuperus holds that we should really call him "Suckrates," for all the good he's done. Prof. Oele calls that statement b***shit.























Quin tries to pull of the juice box connoisseur look.


















Steve and Barbara!