Students’ multimedia show will benefit school in India

A group of St. Thomas students, led by senior Amanda Leaveck, have decided to face the lack of education in third world countries. They will devote their talent toward raising money to build a school in India.

The group is organizing a fundraiser, which will include art, fashion, dancing, and singing, at 9 p.m. April 21 at First Ave.

Students share stories from trip to Rome during Holy Week

This spring break, St. John Vianney Seminary sponsored four St. Thomas Catholic men 4,904 miles around the world to Rome.

The group was made up of sophomore John Baumgardner, senior Matthew Sweeney and juniors Daniel Carr and Matt Pazderka. All four men are active members of the Catholic men’s leadership group on campus.

Underage drinking declines at colleges, St. Thomas included

Underage binge drinking has long been a source of major concern, but according to a new study done by Outside the Classroom, a company concerned with drinking issues on college campuses, underage binge drinking has been on the decline this year compared with years past.

Outside the Classroom founder and Chief Executive Brandon Busteed explained the extensive research that produced the study results.

Letters to governors could stir violence, FBI warns

The FBI is warning police across the country that an anti-government group’s call to remove governors from office could provoke violence. The group called the Guardians of the free Republics wants to “restore America” by peacefully dismantling parts of the government, according to its Web site. It sent letters to governors demanding they leave office or be removed.

Pope’s Holy Thursday Mass dedicated to priests

ope Benedict XVI urged priests to oppose violence as he led a ceremony dedicated to the priesthood Thursday, marking Holy Week with his church buffeted by clergy sex abuse scandals in Europe. “As priests, we are called in fellowship with Jesus Christ, to be men of peace, we are called to oppose violence and trust in the greater power of love,” Benedict said in his Holy Thursday homily in St. Peter’s Basilica. He made no mention of the scandals, as some thought he might do on a day the church pays tribute to its priests.

Clinton to co-chair Haiti rebuilding authority

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton will co-chair a committee overseeing at least $3.8 billion in post-quake aid to Haiti, the ravaged country’s prime minister said. The announcement was made ahead of a critical donors conference Wednesday at the United Nations headquarters in New York. Haitian officials will ask representatives from more than 130 countries for reconstruction help at the meeting chaired by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, the former president’s wife, and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon.

Obama to sign student loan legislation

President Barack Obama prepared Tuesday to sign the piece of his sweeping health care overhaul that makes the government the primary lender to students and strips banks of that power. Obama’s hard-fought legislative victory packaged two of his domestic priorities. Obama already signed the bulk of the health care legislation, but a final set of tweaks provided a route for the education package, the largest rewrite of federal college assistance programs in four decades.

Suicide bombings kill 37 on Moscow subway

Two female suicide bombers blew themselves up Monday in twin attacks on Moscow subway stations jam-packed with rush-hour passengers, killing at least 37 people and wounding 102, officials said. They blamed the carnage on rebels from the Caucasus region. The blasts come six years after Caucasus Islamic separatists carried out a pair of deadly Moscow subway strikes and raise concerns that the war has once again come to Russia’s capital, amid militants’ warnings of a renewed determination to push their fight.

Pope opens solemn Holy Week amid controversy

Pope Benedict XVI opened Holy Week on Sunday amid one of the most serious crises facing the church in decades, with questions about his handling of cases of pedophile priests and the Vatican acknowledging its “moral credibility” was on the line. Benedict made no direct mention of the scandal in his Palm Sunday homily. But one of the prayers, recited in Portuguese during Mass, was “for the young and for those charged with educating them and protecting them.” Jesus Christ, Benedict said in his homily, guides the faithful “toward the courage that doesn’t let us be intimidated by the chatting of dominant opinions, towards patience that supports others.”

Landmarks, cities unplug for Earth Hour

Europe’s best known landmarks — including the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben and Rome’s Colosseum — fell dark Saturday, following Sydney’s Opera House and Beijing’s Forbidden City in joining a global climate change protest, as lights were switched off across the world to mark the Earth Hour event. In the United States, the lights went out at the Empire State Building in New York, the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., and the Coca-Cola headquarters in Atlanta. Millions were expected to turn off lights and appliances for an hour from 8:30 p.m. in a gesture to highlight environmental concerns.

Two women cited for social host violation near campus

Two underage women at a residence in the St. Thomas neighborhood were cited by St. Paul police for violating the social host ordinance in the early hours of March 18.

According to the police report, four others at the Marshall Avenue house were cited for underage consumption. The two women cited for the social host violation also received minor consumption citations. The report does not identify whether those cited are St. Thomas students.

Campus-wide smoking ban for St. Thomas?

More than 200 campuses across the nation have gone smoke-free, according to the American Lung Association in Oregon, and St. Thomas junior Ariel Kendall thinks it’s St. Thomas’ turn too.

On March 13, Westminster College in Missouri also decided to ban smoking from its campus.