| Show m'¥r i W a Shooting eelcsec:j- "recruits Cathclicssegregatcd heppAte for God’s 0 Sffiinarians Study: Hispanic in Maryland the hardwood to hoop up for Jesus hit it The Associated Press Md SYKESVILLE - - By Roman and of Thom- as Aquinas By night they don black tank tops and shorts take to the court apd study the works of Michael Jprdtal Tjiey are the Men in Black "seminarians who play hoops for Tesus About a dozen men studying ’for the priesthood for the Archdi-‘tjces- e bf Baltimore formed the baslffejball team nearly three "yearS ago as a way to attract "ttiore men to the priesthood Their mission is to travel to parishes and show people particularly young men that they are just regular guys in hopes that follow in their foot-- ‘ steps ' “Our main purpose is to let people see that seminarians are more than these holy guys on the altar every Sunday” said Martin J Burnham 33 who came up with the idea while he was on a y silent retreat “They are guys who can smack you around on the court” For sure these guys are no pushovers Several are more than 6 feet tall and they are no strangers to gyms They lost their first ' game to the varsity team at Our Lady ’of Mount Carmel High School in Essex but haven’t dropped one since They showed their stuff at a recent game at St Joseph Roman Catholic Church in Sykesville The Men in Black battled the Good Guys the co-e- d parish team After the tip the Good Guys missed their first shot an air ball The Men in E'ack got the the rebound and pushed the ball up the ourt One of them launched a jump Snot hitting nothing but net The Good Guys didn’t score until 4 minutes 22 seconds remained in the first quarter This being basketball there was plenty of trash talking The first salvo was fired by the St parishioners who belted out a fight song written by Sister Maura Luffy endmg: “Pray Men in Black just pray you won’t be black and blue tonight” (The St Joe’s fans had a curious way of inspiring their team “Here we come decrepit and glum” they intoned “We ain’t what we used 1 -- 30-da- Jo--se- to be”) Meanwhile it was getting ugly in the paint “You pulled me again man” a grinning Burnham said after he thought he was fouled The Men in Black were playing some mean defense throwing their bodies into the game Debbe Mork the parish council secretary got the ball and tried to take a shot but Bum-ham- 's cousin and fellow seminarian the goateed Christopher J Welsh blocked her The crowd See HOOPS7B ANTIQUES: which can Jean Ritchie (left) Weber County president of the Roy Company and Museum curator Sandy London show some of the many antiques be seen in the Daughters of the Utah Pioneer museum just west of the Ogden LDS Temple Women’s group preserves heritage Weber County’s Daughters of Utah Pioneers celebrate heritage If you go staff Standard-Examin- - When members of Daughters of Utah convene here next week be celebrating nearly 1 00 years of remembrance Annie Taylor Hyde began the pioneer organization on April 1 1 1901 Jean Ritchie Weber County President of the Roy Company said Hyde feared “the children and grandchildren were losing interest in the value of why the pioneers came to Utah - to seek freedom “She organized it to honor and preserve the memory sacrifice and history of the men and women who endured so many trials along their way to Zion” she said Today thousands of women unite in that organization to preserve Utah’s pioneer histories experience' and artifacts So many OGDEN Mormon-owne- d junior college students being recruited heavier The Associated Press R EXBURG Idaho -- Walk into Ricks College’s student center these days and you’ll see tables of representatives from four-yecolleges touting their programs to passing students They bring professors Ricks alumni and presidents of the local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-da- y Saints Institute to try to woo the Rexburg students Some hold open houses invite them to visit call and and ply them with food “There’s people here every ar plan for the coming year The women will celebrate the 100th year of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers in 2001 Hyde’s group began with 46 charter members The women are organized as the first groups of Mormon pioneers were when they traveled west from Winter Quarters Iowa A member belongs to a “camp” - a group See DUP8B women have joined in Weber County that the county group has split into two One half of the Weber County Daughters of the Utah Pioneers will hold their annual convention March 1 1 at the Ogden Marriott Hotel The other half held theirs Feb 26 The annual convention is a time to get together as a society The women reflect on what was accomplished in the past year and Riclcs College students hot commodities week trying to recruit us” said Tonya Millar a sophomore from Rexburg “They’re very visible” Ricks students are in high demand Colleges wanting to boost enrollment are flocking to the campus looking for students And Ricks has a large pool of students It’s one of the largest junior colleges in the country This semester more than 8600 are enrolled at the college owned by the Mormon Church Ten years ago only two or three universities visited the Rexburg campus This year more than 10 colleges and universities have been at Ricks trying to draw in students “This didn't happen years ago” said Jim Gee an academic vice president at Ricks for 25 t Membership increases smell Wnn-The NASHVILLE Weber County Daughters of Utah Pioneers will hold their annual convention March 1 1 at the Ogden Marriott Hotel The schedule is as follows: 8:30 am - Sales booths will be open for the purchase of books and other items of interest 9 am - Meeting for all captains and secretaries 10 am - General meeting for all members There will be entertainment and instructions given Noon - Luncheon Tickets can be purchased from individual camps A beautiful hand-mad- e quilt will be raffled and door prizes will be given All members encouraged to be in attendance Anyone interested in becoming a Daughter of Utah Pioneers can contact a member at the convention By MEUSA ANN WILSON LOS ANGERS- - Hispanics are often segregated from other Roman Catholics jh US parishes but thp§p in Southern California are tjfl’tef integrated than most according to a new study The report from the National Conference of Catholic Bishops concluded that Hispanics are twice as likely a$ other Catholics to worehip in “separate anchinegual settings The findings present serious challenges forfrie church’s future said Ronqltfo M Cruz executive direcjqrrof the bishops’ Secretariat for Hispanic AffairsHe said the bishops hope that gradually “Latinos will bq fply integrated" The study is scheduled for release March 15 but advance copies were obtained by The Los Angeles Times and the National Catholic Reporter of Kansas City Mq also head most of the nation's parishes according to the study Relatively few Hispanics are entering the priesthood or women’s religious Orders s years “Before the only colleges who’d come and talk to students were Brigham Young University and Utah State University” With fewer students graduating from high school in the United States colleges are scrambling to keep enrollment - and funding - stable Enrollment often drives how much money states including Idaho dole out to their public colleges More students means more money That combined with the crowding at Brigham Young the colMormon Church’s four-yelege in Provo has made Ricks prime recruiting ground For years many viewed Ricks as a pipeline into BYU Students starting out at Ricks would finish their bachelor’s degree in Provo ar But in the last 10 years the relationship has changed BYU still gets most of its transfer students from Ricks but its enrollment is burgeoning and it has limited the number of students who can attend As a result BYU is getting tougher and tougher to get into Many Ricks students and high school students who apply don’t get in Students who have 35 grade point averages are being turned away The increased competition means Ricks students are having to go elsewhere to finish their bachelor’s degrees Many schools are using that to their advantage and are spending time on campus educating Ricks students about their programs 2000 edition of the “Yearbook of American &Ganadian Churches” repgft? 9 cumulative US church membership of 1583 million as of 1998 an increase of 79l'b00 over 1997 That was not" enough to keep pace with US population growth said the yearbook compiled by tf$ rational Council of Churches The yearbook said stagnation “may be due more to religious pluralism than to a decline in overaleligious affiliation rates"JThat is faiths are a growing sector of the " population Group Contributes to Manti project MANTI - The 6eorge S and Dolores Dore’ Eccles Foundation coriffibuted $375000 to the Manti Destiny Committee for the development of a new Pioneer Memorial Garden which will surround a New Pioneer Heritage Center The Centef will be located at the foot of thd Manti Temple Leonard Grassli a Salt Lake City architect has completed preliminary plans for the garden Already iH place is the Mortal Moroni monument by sculptor Avard Fairbanks The first phase includes the construction of the Pioneer Heritage Center In the center will be a historical library museum of pioneer artifact -small theater fiflctspecial area for workshops receptions and family reunions Cost of the"center and gardens is estimated at $3 - million Already $1 million has been raised toward the project For more information contact the Manti Destiny Committee by 1 or phone at (435) 835-584- A ‘fully armed’ society makes for a dangerous society am writing this column Tuesday at noon my flashes a headline from the Internet: “A first-graboy with a single shot just e killed a girl in their classroom in Mount Morris Township Michigan” I stopped writing I began to pray “How can I dear God as part of the religious community help the Killing to stop and be part of creating a more compassionate society?” Ideas about guns poverty food and the religious kept flowing through my prayers The Associated Press headline wajfrnore than I was prepared to reaiXl ’was shocked I was deneiL I kept reading and rereading the statement quoting the Genesee County Prosecutor Arthur A Busch “We’ve had other school children take guns to elebut it mentary schools before never went this far — It’s a sign of our times where we have a fully armed society that doesn’t take its responsibility to secure its AS I first-grad- com-jnupi- ty weapons se- riously” I kept thinking of Columbine High School in Colorado and now an elementary school in the Beecher School District of Michigan In the 21st century is it so important that the citizens of The United States of America be a “fully armed society?” I don’t think so Is it important that as a nation we take more responsibility for who possesses guns and more responsibility for gun safety and the administration of consequences if the gun possessors are not responsible with their guns? I think so The Utah Legislature has an a — Ja opportunity to move beyond a “fully armed society” in our state through the laws it passes I pray that our civic leaders will hear the cries of Colorado and Michigan and make laws that fit a “compassionate” society and not foster a “fully armed” society I have heard the saying “Guns don’t kill people people kill people” My guess is that we have two broken-hearte- d Michigan families with a boy and a deceased girl who vould say that if the gun had not been available there would not have been a shooting fatality in that classroom today Before reading the Associated Press headline I had planned to write about two events that I felt would help our community be more compassionate After the tragedy in Michigan I am even more convinced of the leadership role that the religious community must offer to create a loving compassionate society I recently met with a friend of mine who is an LDS Stake President He is a wonderful man a person I admire who has given himself to his church Our conversation centered around how he and I could be religious witnesses and lead our community in directions that were positive and healthy We were specifically talking about Governor and Mrs Leavitt’s hosting of the Community and Religious Leaders’ Conference on March 11 which will be televised at Weber State University at 1 1 am I urge all religious leadership to attend that event as we claim our role to weave a new tapestiy of cooperation and vision for our community life I believe that community life can best be created and sustained when one of the central values that unites us is loving compassion for each other and our world The second event that I believe is very important for our region is a dinner being hosted by Interfaith Works an association of religious communities in the OgdenWeber County area Interfaith Works is hosting a dinner called the “Compassion Dinner” on April 1 at 5 pm at St James Church gymnasium 495 N Harrison Road This dinner is a benefit for the Northern Utah Food Cooperative Inc and its vital ministry to provide a food storage facility for local area food pantries that help lower income folks If you would like to support this dinner call Community United Methodist Chinch at 0 and we can help you secure tickets 479-743- It is the task of the religious community to respond to the human pain of tragic death and the debilitating experience of poverty and lack of food I pray for the families in Michigan and call on all of us in the religious community to renew our efforts to create a loving compassionate society Rev Doug Slaughter b the pastor for Community United Methodist Church montessgsisnacom IUI f-- Interfaith group hosts two meetings OGDEN - nterfaith Works meet at ttie Reorganized Church of Jesis Christ of Latter Day Saints 848 7th St Ogden 1 :30 am to Wednesday 1 pm Lunch-vntfbprovided Interfaith Works is a group of Ogden area religious community leaders working to serve the needs jof the Ogden community Presentations will be given by Karen Wilcox of Utah Foster Care Ann Lamphere director of Adopt an Angel Inc and Gail Kulp coordinator of Family Alliances for Supports Utah ' Parent Center On Thursday Ipterfaith Works will also host the meeting of the religious community with the will semi-annu- Standard-ExamiA- The informal discus8jpp will be held at 7 pm at Community United Methodist Church 163 W 4800 South Ogden - r staff and wire services Standard-Examine- " |
