Fall 2005 Life’sLife’s LessonLesson FindingFinding joyjoy inin midstmidst ofof biggestbiggest challengeschallenges 2 President’s View EXCITEMENT PERMEATES AND SURROUNDS THE HILBERT COLLEGE CAMPUS as personnel and students anticipate the completion of the fourth decade in Hilbert’s history. The college has been progressing in leaps and bounds, especially in the last few years as we move forward with the fulfill- ment of the strategic plan activities. Hilbert is no longer the unknown or little-known college in the Southtowns. It’s now recognized as a higher education institution in strong competition with its sister colleges in the area. Its faculty, students and graduates rival and surpass their counterparts, and its programs and services are such that they have created a definite niche to attract students. Some of the statistics which compare the status of the college in 1975, the year Hilbert attained its initial accreditation with the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, with its position today provide substance for just pride. 1975 2005 Faculty/staff 50 193 Enrollment 574 1,110 Hilbert is no longer Bachelor degrees 9 13 the unknown or little- Graduates to date 5,144 6,000 Library holdings 46,662 37,670 (with an known college in the additional 500,000+ electronic holdings) Southtowns. It’s now Operating budget $1.2 million $12.1 million recognized as a higher Endowment $344,000 $2.5 million Acreage 40 47 education institution Buildings 4 11 in strong competition Campus square footage 131,000 184,000 Tuition $3,000 $14,300 with its sister colleges Financial aid $208,000 $1.37 million in the area. A great deal of sacrifice, dedicated service and support from alumni/ae and benefactors brought us to this position. You are among those, and we give you thanks. Even more growth lies ahead of us. We know that you will be there for us as you have in the past. Sister Edmunette Paczesny, Ph.D., FSSJ President 3 Contents Features ‘Flipping’ Scams Get Close Analysis . .5 A Publication for Alumni, Examination of real estate Family, and Friends data to be used for detecting fraud Published three times annually by Hilbert College 5200 South Park Avenue Cover Story Hamburg, New York 14075 TEL (716) 649-7900 Life’s Lessons . 6 FAX (716) 558-6381 www.hilbert.edu Seventeen years since her first summer of volunteering, Amy Smith has E-MAIL [email protected] discovered the far-reaching power of hope and strength Editor/Writer Paula Witherell Public Relations Director Publication Design Peter Gariepy Photographer Nancy J. Parisi Sports Information Director Robert deGrandpre Cover Story Contributing Writer Grace Lazzara O∞ce of Institutional Advancement Thomas P. Honan Vice President for Institutional Building a Better Hilbert . .10 Advancement The college prepares for a new Mark Bindig academic-auditorium complex to Director of Development meet its expanding needs Patricia Baubonis Alumni Relations Director Karen Procknal Coordinator of Research and Records In Every Issue President’s View 2 Faculty and Staff File 15 Around Hilbert 4 Alumni News & Notes 16 In the Sports Zone 12 Remember When 20 Happening @ Hilbert 14 4 Board Officers Named ‘Flipping’ S cams Getting Close Analysis estern New York attorney Karen WGaughan Scott has been elected chair of the Hilbert College Board of Trustees. Buffalo home sits abandoned Scott has been a Hilbert trustee since 1997, A and left to decay. In one city having previously served as board secretary. block, six houses in similar disre- pair now need to be demolished. Most recently, she chaired the board’s trustee These homes are only a small committee, co-chaired the institutional sample of many properties sub- advancement committee, and served on the jected to “flipping,” a real estate executive committee. Scott has also co-chaired practice that’s a growing problem the college’s annual golf tournament. in Buffalo’s inner-city neighbor- Her law practice concentrates in real hoods. To combat this, thousands property law, wills and estates. Scott’s a of pieces of data collected on member of the Erie County Bar Association, flipping will be analyzed by Hilbert New York State and Florida bar associations College students to detect fraud and the Hamburg Women’s Democratic Club. schemes as part of efforts by the Karen Gaughan Scott Other 2005-06 board officers appointed at mayor’s Anti-Flipping Task Force. Two Hilbert economic crime Hilbert are Thomas Waring Jr. as vice-chair, investigation interns are analyzing and Phillip T. Catanese as secretary. the city’s flipping data using the Waring, who has been affiliated with the powerful iBase Designer software, board since 1997, will serve his third term which is available in the college’s as vice-chair. He’s chaired the institutional forensics training lab. advancement committee and co-chaired the A database built specifically executive committee, as well as served on the for the analysis was created by i2, building committee. Inc., makers of iBase. Under the With more than 20 years experience in guidance of two ECI professors, the financial services industry, Waring is the students will use information founding principal of Waring Financial Group, pulled into the database to identify links and trails to help find where a Hamburg-based financial services company. fraudulent activity is occurring in He’s on the board of the Financial flipping transactions and the worst Planning Counselors of Western New York offenders. and a member of several other organizations, Thomas Waring Jr. including Estate Analysts of Western New York and the Society of Financial Service Presidential Professionals. Catanese joined Hilbert’s board in 2002 Search Update and is serving a third term as board secretary. This past year he was on the board’s audit/ cademic Search Consultation finance, human resources and mission A Service of Washington, D.C., integration committees. has been selected to assist with the Vice president and advertising director at search for the next president of The Buffalo News, Catanese previously held Hilbert College. Sister Edmunette various executive positions in the retail food Paczesny, Ph.D., announced her plans industry. last April to step down at the end His community involvement has included of the 2005-06 academic year after the executive committee of Boys Town of Italy, serving as Hilbert’s president for which presented Catanese its Man of the Year 31 years. honor. He’s also past president of the Leukemia Dr. Thomas B. Courtice is Society of WNY and was on the Catholic serving as lead consultant for the Phillip T. Catanese Charities of Buffalo Executive Committee. search. Courtice retired in 2004 5 Around Hilbert ‘Flipping’ S cams Getting Close Analysis “I’m pleased Hilbert is assisting to blight in our with the work of the Anti-Flipping neighborhoods. Task Force,” says Assemblyman The intelligence Sam Hoyt, who is co-chairing the provided by Hil- task force with State Sen. William bert’s students Stachowski. “Hilbert’s national- will provide us ly recognized economic crime with a quantita- investigation department will be a tive analysis of tremendous asset to our efforts to the problem and combat housing flipping and help direct us stra- stabilize Buffalo’s neighborhoods.” tegically in our Mayor Anthony Masiello decision-making Dave Torke announced in May the creation process.” of the city’s task force, which is Flipping can modeled after one established lead to aban- Photos by in Baltimore. Buffalo’s task force doned homes The iBase software will dras- was set up in response to con- that are overvalued or overmort- tically reduce time needed to cerns about vacant, low-priced city gaged and often a haven for drug sift through literally thousands of homes being bought on Internet activities in urban neighborhoods. entries of flipping data, explains auction sites like e-Bay and then According to Kathleen Lynch, Sandra Augustine, ECI chairperson. quickly being sold at inflated prices, task force coordinator and an attor- “The students will be able to oftentimes with no improvements ney at the Western New York Law take that data and do a graphi- made to the homes. Center, “real estate flipping itself is cal analysis of flipping practices “Perpetrators of flipping legal but largely unregulated and in the city and discover patterns schemes and mortgage scams often involves unethical practices. where they might not otherwise be prey upon unknowing and vulner- What’s more, the practice frequent- apparent,” she says. “They will be able first-time homebuyers,” said ly involves flipping schemes and able to sort data by buyer, proper- Mayor Anthony M. Masiello. “This mortgage scams and that’s where ty or other specified criteria to find often leaves new homeowners with the students’ data analysis will be patterns that indicate where fraud expensive repairs and contributes an invaluable resource.” might have occurred.” following a 10-year presidential Sweet 16 tenure at Ohio Wesleyan University. On-campus meetings were held nly four years with key Hilbert constituents in May O since the Hilbert and June to help Dr. Courtice gain College Students in Free an understanding of expectations for Enterprise organization was Sister Edmunette’s successor and to established, the group is now lay the groundwork for the search. ranked as one of the top 16 Assisted by the search firm, candi- SIFE teams in the country, dates will be identified and screened an achievement the student group earned at the national competition in in the months ahead. To view the Kansas City. The win follows Hilbert’s distinction last April as a SIFE regional Presidential Profile or to learn more champion for the third year in a row, which allowed the group to move on to about the search process, go to the nationals.