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St.=20 Bonaventure student shares love of martial arts by forming campus=20 club

Andy = Gaieski learned=20 starting a new club at St. Bonaventure University is possible with = passion=20 and drive.

Gaieski, a = junior=20 sport studies major, said his desire to share his knowledge and = love of=20 martial arts with others drove him to create the club; he wanted = to show=20 other people the things that changed his life.

=93Even = when I was=20 4 years old I was the kid who would go outside and play fight with = sticks," he said.

Martial Arts Club members Hanh Tranton = (front)=20 and Aashish Abraham take part in a class in Butler Gym.=20

Eventually, he joined the Enchanted Mountain Martial = Arts=20 Acadamy (EMMAA) in Olean, where his passion truly ignited, Gaieski = said.

The = discipline=20 and body awareness he learned after joining the academy coupled = with the=20 efforts of his instructors, had a lasting effect on Gaieski =96 = all things=20 he wanted to share with others.

Gaieski, who=20 enjoys teaching and public speaking, decided he wanted to be an=20 instructor. His role as president of the martial arts club gives = him those=20 opportunities.

The = meetings are=20 like a class, Gaieski said. The club adviser, Master Barry = Broughton,=20 owner and operator of EMMAA, attends most meetings to oversee = them. At a=20 typical meeting, the members will start out with five to 15 = minutes of=20 exercises and then go right into instruction.

So = far, the=20 instruction has been run mostly by Broughton and Gaieski, but they = intend=20 on having other members who have had prior instruction lead the = exercises=20 or even teach the rest of the club something new from his or her = own=20 style. They try to keep the club as open as possible to maintain a = comfortable learning environment, and, according to Gaieski, that = method=20 has been successful thus far.

Meetings are from=20 3:30-5 p.m. on Mondays and Fridays in Butler Gym, but members are = not=20 required to attend every meeting. The meetings mostly consist of = learning=20 new techniques, or practicing ones already taught.

Campus = Martial=20 Arts Club founder Andy Gaieski (right) and club adviser Master = Barry=20 Broughton (back to camera) instruct club members (clockwise from = left)=20 Shiyu Wang, Nick Garuckis, Aashish Abraham and Doug Gaylor.=20

Participants do anything from traditional drills, to = walking=20 drills, to partner work during club meetings, said Gaieski, so = they=20 acquire a good balance of different learning = environments.

Gaieski = has begun=20 to see members not only excelling in the practice of martial arts, = but=20 also making friends with other members. The club has about a dozen = members=20 and is always looking for more. For more information about the = Martial=20 Arts Club, contact Gaieski at gaieskaj@sbu.edu.

A 1993 St.=20 Bonaventure University graduate=92s documentary film on the life = of=20 Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy during the Civil = War,=20 has won the coveted 2009 Peter Rollins Film Award for Best = Documentary=20 from the American Culture Association.

=93Jefferson Davis: An=20 American President=94 was directed, edited, co-produced and = co-written by=20 SBU alumnus Brian Gary, co-founder and CEO of Flying Chaucer Films = of Los=20 Angeles, Calif.

Gary = isn=92t the=20 documentary=92s only connection to St. Bonaventure. One of the = Civil War=20 scholars interviewed in the film is retired SBU history professor = Dr.=20 Edward Eckert, Board of Trustees Professor Emeritus at St. = Bonaventure and=20 a former academic dean and vice president.

Brian Gary, '93, = directed, edited, co-wrote and co-produced "Jefferson Davis: An = American=20 President."

Additionally, Gary=92s=20 SBU classmate and roommate his junior and senior years, New York=20 City-based entertainment attorney David Davoli, is the attorney = for Flying=20 Chaucer Films and helped secure the recent nationwide release of = the=20 documentary on DVD.

The Davis=20 documentary, which was five years in the making, was born from a = bit of=20 serendipity =96 a meeting between Gary and Percival Beacroft, the = owner of=20 Rosemont Plantation in Woodville, Miss., Davis=92s boyhood = home.

Gary and = his wife,=20 Wendi Berman, co-founder of Flying Chaucer Films who is also a = co-writer=20 and co-producer of the Davis documentary, met Beacroft while = visiting=20 Gary=92s family in New Orleans about eight years ago. =93Beacroft = told me that=20 for the past 15 years he=92d been trying to get a feature film = made of=20 Jefferson Davis=92s life,=94 said Gary.

Gary = suggested=20 instead that they do a documentary. =93A feature film is a total = crapshoot.=20 All it takes is for it not to do well and you=92ve lost = everything,=94 said=20 Gary. A documentary, on the other hand, especially one in the = Civil War=20 genre, has staying power. =93There are whole sections in = bookstores just on=20 the Civil War,=94 said Gary. =93A documentary will sit on = bookshelves and in=20 gift shops from now until the end of time.=94

He and = Berman were=20 surprised to learn that their project would be the first of its = kind. =93No=20 one had ever done a documentary on Jefferson Davis,=94 said Gary. = =93As far as=20 we knew we were the first documentary project on the life of the = guy who=20 was the president of the Confederacy, and that just blew us away. = We saw=20 the opportunity to make something unique here.=94

The = filmmakers spent=20 months interviewing subjects, researching records at the Library = of=20 Congress and National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., and = shooting=20 film. In the end they had amassed 110 hours of video and some = 6,000 still=20 images. Gary and Berman spent more than two years editing the = material,=20 writing the script as they went, all the while juggling an = assortment of=20 other Flying Chaucer projects.

Their goal = in the=20 documentary was to offer a look at Davis that goes beyond the=20 oversimplified characterizations of Civil War figures one gets = from high=20 school textbooks.

=93Davis = could be=20 painted as a villain if you wanted to just have a very black and = white=20 look at history, but once you start peeling back the layers it = gets very=20 tricky and complicated,=94 said Gary. =93You=92re dealing with a = West Point=20 graduate, a Mexican War hero, a U.S. senator and Secretary of War = =96 a=20 patriot who shed blood for his country and yet, at the same time, = believed=20 slavery was a proper institution.

=93We tried = to offer a=20 very balanced look at the guy =96 not apologize, not blow anything = out of=20 proportion, but just kind of lay out this man=92s life and let = people figure=20 out for themselves what they will about him.=94

When Gary = was=20 assembling his cast of Civil War experts to serve as his = documentary=92s=20 =93talking heads,=94 Dr. Eckert=92s name was high on the list. = Gary had taken=20 two courses from Eckert at St. Bonaventure and knew he had written = a book=20 about Davis=92 years in prison after the war.

Eckert = remembers the=20 phone call from his former student. =93It came out of nowhere =96 = totally=20 unexpected,=94 he said. =93I remembered him, but I didn=92t know = he was in the=20 filmmaking business.=94

=93He was = an excellent=20 student, an honors student. Not only was he very bright, but he = was=20 creative as hell,=94 said Eckert. =93The thing that just blew my = mind was his=20 honors project. He wrote, directed, produced and starred in his = own play.=20 This kid had such creativity and he kept taking things to new=20 levels.=94

Gary was = already a=20 budding playwright when he graduated from high school. His father, = a=20 theater director and professor in the Pennsylvania State = University=20 system, encouraged him to find a college with a strong liberal = arts=20 program. =93St. Bonaventure gave me the best scholarship,=94 said=20 Gary.

He majored = in=20 journalism and mass communication, a decision that has paid = dividends time=20 and time again, said Gary. =93My skills as a writer were very well = honed at=20 St. Bonaventure. Having that journalism degree was especially = helpful in=20 writing the texts and scripts for the Davis documentary. We pored = over and=20 over the script, making sure every single word was exactly what we = wanted=20 to say. That reduction, which I learned in the journalism = department, I=20 found to be invaluable.=94

Gary = minored in fine=20 arts at St. Bonaventure and after graduation set out for New York, = hoping=20 to carve out a career as an actor. Meanwhile, his SBU roommate, = Davoli,=20 landed a job as an assistant to actor Alec Baldwin in Los Angeles. = Gary=20 followed his friend to L.A. where the two were roommates again. = Gary got=20 his Screen Actors Guild card and chased acting parts, landing = roles in=20 episodes of TV=92s =93Coach=94 and =93My So-Called Life,=94 and = small parts in=20 movies, including a role in =93The Net.=94

Eventually, = Davoli=20 went to law school and Gary tired of the acting profession. = =93You=92re just=20 constantly waiting around, waiting for things to happen,=94 said = Gary. =93So I=20 really started focusing on directing and a natural evolution out = of that=20 was producing, and another natural evolution out of that was=20 editing.=94

Gary = produced and=20 edited the New York Film Festival award-winning ?lm =93Frankie = D.=94 As a=20 producer, his other projects include the independent feature = =93Local Color=94=20 and the upcoming feature ?lm adaptations of Stephen King=92s = =93Bag Of Bones=94=20 and James Ellroy=92s "Clandestine." Gary has also worked = extensively in=20 television, most recently directing and editing the television = series=20 =93SpeedFreaks=94 (ESPN and MavTV).

Professor = Eckert said=20 the Davis documentary will only enhance the reputation of his = former=20 student.

=93It=92s = an excellent=20 documentary he=92s put together,=94 said Eckert. =93Brian=92s = going to be pretty=20 well known by the time he=92s done with this career.=94

History is = an=20 interpretation of events, Eckert continued, and the Davis film = =93is an=20 excellent interpretation from Jefferson Davis=92 point of view. = It=92s an=20 accurate, but dated interpretation of the causes of the Civil War. = It=92s=20 not a position the majority of today=92s historians would espouse. = But it=20 tells the story of Jefferson Davis from his own view of himself as = a man,=20 as president of the Confederacy, as a senator, as a legend and so = on. I=20 certainly see it being used in college courses on history as a = viewpoint=20 of the war and how we got into the war. I think it=92s highly = accurate, I=20 think it=92s entertaining, and the cinematography is = excellent.=94

It=92s also = a feather=20 in the cap for St. Bonaventure University, said Eckert. =93I think = it=92s=20 great that coming from Bonaventure is this type of individual who = is going=20 out and making a name for himself.=94

=93It=92s a = great campus=20 story,=94 he said. =93You have two students, roommates, who have = stayed=20 friends and who work together, and then you also have a student = who felt=20 comfortable enough with a former professor that he could call him = after=20 eight years =96 and the professor remembers him and is more than = obliging to=20 be part of his project.

=93At a = larger school=20 or one that doesn=92t have that really good personal connection = between the=20 students and the faculty, that might not happen. It=92s one of the = things=20 that makes Bona=92s special.=94

Friday Forum

Date:=20 Dec. 11
Time: 12:30 - 1:30=20 p.m
Location: University=20 Club
Speaker: Steve Watson
Title: Division I Athletics at = St.=20 Bonaventure University: Top Students, Elite Athletes, Great People =
Summary: Director of Athletics Steve Watson = will host=20 a presentation/discussion on anything and everything athletics at = St.=20 Bonaventure. Topics will include the academic achievements of our=20 student-athletes, the competitive successes of our teams, the = community=20 involvement of the Department of Athletics, and the importance of=20 fundraising in the Athletic Department=92s funding = model.

Click=20 here to return to the top of the page

____________________=20

Increase recycling, reduce trash with = Zero-Sort=20 recycling

When it = comes to=20 recycling at St. Bonaventure, don=92t be afraid to mix it up! = Campus=20 Recycling Club members want you to know that Zero-Sort=AE = recycling is=20 making it easier than ever. With Zero-Sort, just toss all of your=20 recyclables into one bin. You=92ll increase recycling and reduce=20 trash.

Casella = Waste=20 Systems, which handles the university=92s contract for garbage and = recycling, takes care of the sorting at its state-of-the-art = facilities.=20 (Watch a video about the sorting process:=20 http://www.casella.com/zero-sort.)

What = does that=20 mean to the campus community? It means you can combine recyclables = such as=20 cardboard, office paper and aluminum cans all in one designated = recycling=20 bin. Signs about the Zero-Sort recycling option were placed in = residence=20 halls near current recycling bins last week. After winter break, = club=20 members plan to increase the number of recycling bins available on = campus=20 in non-residential areas.

Here is = a list of=20 Zero-Sort recyclables: (all materials should be free of food=20 items)
Cardboard
Clean boxboard (shoe boxes/cereal = boxes)
Office=20 paper (white/colored)
Magazines, newspapers, glossy = inserts
Office=20 paper, junk mail, envelopes
Aluminum cans
Tin cans
Glass = bottles=20 and jars
Plastic bottles #1 through #7

Items = that are=20 not recyclable:
No unmarked plastics (laundry=20 baskets/chairs/toys)
No windows/light bulbs
No Pyrex or = ceramics=20 (dishes/plates/mugs/pots
No foam packaging
No aerosol cans=20 (paint/hairspray, cleaner)
No recyclables containing food=20 waste

For = more=20 information about the St. Bonaventure Recycling Club, contact a = club=20 member (Bridget Steele, Sinead Coleman or Tony Zambito) or Sr. = Suzanne=20 Kush, C.S.S.F., at the Franciscan Center for Social Concern. =

Click=20 here to return to the top of the page

Rodney Paul, = Ph.D., professor of economics in the Department of = Finance, had=20 the paper "Bettor Biases and Price Setting by Sportsbooks in the = NFL:=20 Further Tests of the Levitt Hypothesis of Sportsbook Behavior" = accepted=20 for publication in Applied Economics Letters.