From the President:

The Siena Way

This year has been somewhat of a somber one so far at Siena Heights.

In 2013, we have experienced an unusual amount of deaths in the extended Siena family. Some have hit very close to home, like the passing of longtime art faculty member John Wittersheim, who lost his fight with cancer in March. Before that was the tragic loss of custodian Linda Guzman, who was killed in a freak automobile accident. Both were fixtures on the Siena campus, and we still are mourning their loss.

There have also been a string of passings to family members and friends in the Siena community. Most seem to have occurred one right after the other. Factor in the chill of winter lasting a bit longer than usual, and it wasn’t hard to see why many were struggling to find the “silver lining” in the gray clouds that seemed to be hovering over campus.

From the Editor:

It’s All the Way for Ray

Though my waistline tells a different story, I like to think of myself as a regular visitor to the Dawson Fitness Center on campus. One of the job perks is using our fitness facilities to work out the stresses of the day.

Most of the time I share the space with many of our student-athletes, who (hopefully) tolerate my presence. I’m sure they often wonder why I waste my time. Oh well. However, I do get a chance to even talk to a few of them from time to time. One of the things I’ve learned is I don’t call our 6-foot-9, 250-plus pound basketballer “Vinny.” It’s “Vince.” Yes sir, Mr. Schantz.

But most of the time, I silently observe our student-athletes go through the process of maximizing their potential. There was one in particular who caught my attention a couple of summers ago. He was a big guy, probably a football player, I thought. His name was Ray.

Bird of a Different Feather

McNair Student’s Research Helping to Save Endangered Species

Editor’s Note: This is an edited version of a feature that ran in the Adrian Daily Telegram in October 2012. Used with permission. Written by John Mulcahy. Photos by Mike Dickie.

A small, green and yellow songbird with a distinct white ring around its eye has become an important part of Siena Heights University student Olivia Smith’s life.

Called the Saipan bridled white-eye, the native of the Mariana Islands in the northern Pacific Ocean is an endangered species thanks to the brown tree snake, introduced to Guam shortly after World War II. The bird no longer exists on Guam and is found only on three other Mariana islands.

Smith, a biology major at SHU, has been studying the bridled white-eye at the Toledo Zoo, where nine of the 24 members of the species in captivity live. The goal is to help the birds successfully reproduce and raise offspring in captivity, a safeguard in case the species goes extinct in the wild.

“What I’m focusing on is the captive (bird) conservation effort,” Smith said.

Smith was invited by Toledo Zoo curator of birds Robert Webster to present her findings at an Association of Zoos and Aquariums Avian Scientific Advisory Group passerine (song bird) workshop Oct. 12-14, 2012, in Denver, an experience Smith called “really great.”

Smith was an intern at the Toledo Zoo in summer 2011, stayed on as a volunteer, then asked if she could do research there. She is focused on what conditions the bridled white-eye needs to successfully produce offspring that make it to adulthood. So far, that has not happened with the birds in captivity.