PROVIDENCE — I’ve got this idea.

Every business, every fortune, started with someone saying that, and at Providence College this weekend, 25 students from five Rhode Island colleges and a high school gathered to see if one of theirs could be one of those.To read this story in its entirety

By PBN Staff

PROVIDENCE – A discovery made by an associate professor of art history at Providence College earned one of the spots on Archaeology Magazine’s Top 10 Discoveries of 2010.

Thomas F. Strasser’s 2008 and 2009 discovery of stone tools at two sites on the Greek island of Crete that date between 130,000 and 700,000 years old were hailed as the earliest indirect evidence of boating by early human ancestors (from the mainland to the island 40 miles out to sea).

Read original article at http://www.pbn.com/PC-professors-discovery-of-early-tools-in-Crete-named-a-Top-10-discovery,54460

August 26, 2010 11:25 AM

Alec Mendes and Jasiel Correia talk about their website, www.finditfr.com, at a launch celebration at the Fall River Area Chamber of Commerce recently. The Providence College sophomores created the site to connect city businesses.   

Read Fall River Spirit editor Phil Devitt’s entire story at SouthCoastTODAY.com/SPIRIT

 
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(2010-08-24)

This I Believe – Rhode Island

Hosted by Frederic Reamer

Modeled on the popular 1950s radio series of the same name hosted by Edward R. Murrow, This I Believe – Rhode Island, hosted by Frederic Reamer, is an effort to share the many stories of people of Rhode Island… the personal experiences that have helped form the opinions of your neighbors. This I Believe – Rhode Island is also an opportunity for you to share your own beliefs and experiences.

Learn more about This I Believe – Rhode Island and listen to WRNI story about how PC alum, Kenneth Chabert, reflects on life-changing events in his life….  Squeeze
 

PROVIDENCE – The Rev. Brian J. Shanley has been appointed to a second five-year term as president of Providence College.

Shanley, 51, was first appointed in 2005 and will begin his new term on July 1. He has overseen a number of initiatives as president, including the creation of PC’s School of Business and the implementation of a policy making SAT scores optional for applicants.

Shanley’s re-election was announced last week by the Rev. D. Dominic Izzo, chairman of the Providence College Corporation, the school’s 12-member senior governing body.

“As the college approaches its centenary anniversary, I am confident that Father Shanley and his administration, by his trust in Divine Providence and by ongoing collaboration with the many gifted men and women of the college community, will match the dedication and faith of our brothers who founded the college in 1917,” Izzo said in a statement.

Shanley does not take a salary. He received $16,476 in benefits in fiscal 2008, according to PC’s federal income tax return.

Shanley, a Warwick native, graduated from PC in 1980 with a bachelor’s degree in history. He earned his doctorate from the University of Toronto and his religious degrees from the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C. He was ordained in 1987.

Shanley also serves as chairman of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Rhode Island’s board of directors and is a member of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce’s board of trustees.

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Several local residents were among the 150 students in Providence College’s freshman who spent their first days in Providence participating in the college’s 19th annual Urban Action program.

The freshmen and 25 upperclassmen leaders volunteered more than 2,000 hours at Neutaconkanut Park in the city’s Silver Lake neighborhood on Aug. 31 and Sept. 1. Students and city workers restored hiking and walking trails, cleared brush and cleared an overgrown cemetery in the 88-acre park, which was inhabited by Native Americans in the early 1600s.

Local freshmen participating include Ryan Griffin of Groton, Kelly Parisi of Billerica and Hillary Steele of Concord.

The Urban Action program was initiated by Providence College students in 1991. Since then, nearly 2,500 freshmen have participated, with many returning each year as leaders. The goal is to provide incoming students with an opportunity to make a positive difference in the community that will be their “home away from home” for the next four years.

Providence, R.I.–Providence College President Rev. Brian J. Shanley, O.P. ‘80 told a group of business leaders that he continues to strenuously oppose two bills before the Rhode Island General Assembly that would allow the City of Providence to implement a student impact fee and collect taxes on up to 25 percent of large, tax-exempt nonprofits’ assessed property values.

Father’s Shanley’s comments came during a meeting of the College’s Providence President’s Council on Wednesday, June 10. The council is a leadership group, comprised of senior executives from many of Rhode Island’s most prominent employers, who serve in an advisory capacity to the College president.

During the meeting, Father Shanley said the proposal by Providence Mayor David. N. Cicilline to charge all out-of-state college students in the city a $300 fee would be an added burden to families already struggling during the current economic recession. He added that because many students are fighting to stay in school due to financial reasons, the College has reallocated $450,000 in operating funds to meet the dramatic increase in financial aid appeals.

In recent letters to the Rhode Island Senate and House of Representatives, Father Shanley noted that the College’s investment in financial aid now exceeds $44 million, or more than 30 percent of its operating budget.

“Given the breadth and depth of the economic crisis, students from all socio-economic backgrounds are asking for and benefiting from this financial aid,” he wrote. “Currently, more than two-thirds of PC students receive PC-funded financial aid, and we anticipate that the significant increase in aid appeals received this year will not subside anytime soon.”

In response to Mayor Cicilline’s assertion that PC and other local universities and hospitals must do “their fair share” during unprecedented economic times, Father Shanley said in his letters that PC students are already contributing to the city’s coffers when they pay their tuition bills.

PC continues PILOT payments

Furthermore, Father Shanley pointed to a 2003 agreement between the city and four local higher-education institutions, PC included, which allowed the schools to make annual PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) payments totaling $48 million over a 20-year period.

He said the agreement recognized the services the city provides to students and the 9.6 percent of city property that is owned by the institutions.

“This historic agreement appropriately recognized the services provided to our students,” Father Shanley said. “As a tuition-dependent institution, Providence College’s PILOT payments are made from tuition revenue.”

He also pointed to the College-funded police substation on the corners of Eaton Street and Camden Avenue and the refurbishment of the living quarters at the Admiral Street fire station as examples of the College’s various contributions to the city’s public services. In addition, PC has paid more than $180,000 for police details over the last three years and more than $80,000 for fire alarm dispatches to the campus, he noted.

In addition, Father Shanley cited the thousands of hours of community service preformed by students in the city, and said the local economy also sees a boon when thousands of parents, family members, alumni, and fans converge on the city for sporting events, commencement, and homecoming and reunion weekends.

Father Shanley said he will continue to oppose the bills and noted that the story has become national and could be painting the city’s reputation as student-unfriendly. He is scheduled to testify at hearings at the General Assembly later this week.

“I think this is a phenomenally bad idea, not just for Providence College, but for colleges, nonprofits, and the state of Rhode Island in general,” Father Shanley said of the proposed property tax bill. “An agreement is an agreement. What’s changed is the city is revenue strapped, but so are we.”

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BRIAN J. SHANLEY

I AGREE with Mayor David Cicilline when he says that he has a fiscal and moral obligation to find creative solutions for Providence’s budget deficit that do not further burden those who already contribute significantly to the city’s financial well-being. Unfortunately, the mayor does not consider private colleges and their students among those who already bear their fair share of the fiscal burden. On this point we deeply disagree.

By proposing a $300 annual tax on every student who enrolls at one of Providence’s private colleges, the mayor would create a fee for the right to become educated in the city.

The mayor argues that since these students do not pay for city services, they have a civic duty to contribute to Providence’s revenue base. However, Providence College students already contribute when they pay their tuition. On behalf of their students, Brown University, Johnson & Wales University, Rhode Island School of Design, and Providence College agreed in 2003 to make voluntary annual PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) payments to the city totaling some $48 million over a 20-year period. This agreement appropriately recognized the services provided to our students and the 9.6 percent of city property that is owned by these tax-exempt institutions. As a tuition-dependent institution, Providence College’s PILOT payments are made from tuition revenue.

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Sue Lehrman, founding dean of the Providence College School of Business, has been in Rhode Island for less than six months. But already, she understands the mismatch that has stalled the state’s economy.

Employers complain that they can’t find the skilled workers they need to expand, and college graduates can’t find work.

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Providence, RI – Koren V. Kanadanian has been named Providence College’s first director of emergency management. His appointment culminates the review of the Emergency Response Plan (ERP) that began last spring with the formation of the Emergency Response Planning Committee.

Kanadanian, who began his duties on January 28, 2008 is a former sergeant with the Franklin, Mass., Police Department, where he served for the past 12 years. He has extensive experience in criminal justice, security, anti-terrorism/counter-terrorism mitigation, emergency medical services, and emergency management.

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