The Matthew Online

One month on, students learning to cope with a double loss

By Melissa Colabraro

ROME, Feb. 21 - Tomorrow marks a sad anniversary for John Cabot University. It has been one  month since the back-to-back tragic deaths of JCU students Alessandro Mioni and Karen M. Young.

One month into the semester, the sudden deaths of these two remarkable individuals still holds a place in each student’s heart.

Mioni died in a moped accident the night of Jan. 22. Young’s body was found two days later, just a few hundred yards from the Ponte Sisto Bridge, not far from the JCU campus.

“It's still heartbreaking to remind oneself that [Alessandro] is no longer with us, and a part of us,” says Stephanie Gabriele, a longtime friend of Alessandro.

“I’ve never experienced anything like this before…I still thought [Karen] was going to storm in the door and say something ridiculous and make me laugh as she normally did,” says Erica Smith, roommates of Karen Young.   

 

Inaugural Roma Wine Festival pops the cork

By Amanda Baker

ROME, Feb. 21— A new wine festival, Roma Wine Festival, unveils its showcase of Italy’s finest wines next weekend, Feb. 29 to March 2.

The event, at Spazio Etoile in Piazza San Lorenzo in Lucina, will bring together award winning wine producers, wine experts and, of course, wine lovers. 

Each morning will consist of conferences and award ceremonies for the producers. Among the awards presented will honor a new wine guide, “Italy’s Best Price-Pleasure Wines 2008”, written by Ian D’agata and Massimo Claudio Comparini. The ceremony will honor some of Italy’s finest, yet sometimes least recognized, wine producers. 

From 1 p.m. - 10 p.m. each day, the Festival will be open to the public. Tickets may be purchased for 20 euro, which will allow for tasting of thousands of wines and an opportunity to speak with producers directly.  A guided wine tasting will also be available at the Wine Academy, just a five-minute walk from the main event. The tasting will last one hour and will feature wines from California and France, along with Italian wines.

Wine expert and author Ian D’Agata, author of “Italy’s Best Price-Pleasure Wines 2008” and festival co-organizer (along with Marco Panella) said the event will showcase wines that may not always be the most popular, but are of a high quality.

 

For 85 minutes, the horrors of Darfur come to Rome

By Kriste Marciulionis

ROME, Feb. 19 - Former U.S. Marine captain Brian Steidle shot away with his 35mm camera as he watched Janjaweed militias burn the village of Labado to the ground.

Steidle, 27, began his assignment in September, 2004, where he spent six months as a U.S. military observer monitoring the ceasefire on behalf of the African Union in the Darfur region of western Sudan. Day to day, he helplessly recorded hell on earth. The Janjaweed Arab militia, backed by the Sudanese government, unleashed a mass scale genocide of African tribes, and all Steidle could do was watch.

“What does monitoring ceasefire really even mean?” Steidle’s narration echoed throughout the documentary. Steidle sent over 80 reports depicting the horrors he witnessed to the African Union; only four reports reached government officials in the United States.

The U.S Citizens for Peace and Justice in Italy screened the haunting documentary "The Devil Came on Horseback" on Sunday to usher in part seven of their Eyes Wide Open documentary series. The organization was created three years ago, on the second anniversary of the invasion of Iraq.

JCU to expand, 3 minutes down the road

By Nadin Aloufi

ROME, Feb.18 – Going through his papers, John Cabot University President Franco Pavoncello last week took out the blueprints to a new building. With a look of pride, he said "it is beautiful to see this university growing."

On Sept. 1, 2008, the university will occupy its new home, to be called "The Tiber Campus", a three-minute walk away from the current building on via della Lungara in Trastevere. 

JCU's goal is to bring more students to the university to share the experience, but space has been a problem. 

 

Un-romantic in Rome? Yes, there's a table for you

 

By Marzia Ferraris

ROME, Feb. 15 - Valentine's Day is a day for couples to display their love publicly, going out for dinner, showering each other with gifts and, maybe, feel more in love than ever.

What about people without a special someone?

Meet Massimigliano Pellegrini,  co-owner of Forte e Chiaro, a Trastevere restaurant that created an occasion for singles and protesters alike. The idea?  'Anti San.Valentino' , for single men and women who desire to enjoy their evening. Alone.

Pellegrini, a 28-year-old Roman, has been running Forte e Chiaro for four months. The menu has few dishes, but the quality is guaranteed gourmet.

For ‘Anti Valentines day’ dinner there two menus, designated as "menu 1" and "menu 3". Basta "2" for this evening, Pellegrini explained.  Forte e Chiaro is known to do things differently from the other usual restaurants in the ancient part of Rome. They like to be unique, and noticed for their originality.

JCU snappers take aim on Rome's catwalk

By Josiane El Khoury

ROME, Feb. 14 - Last Sunday, the word “hysterics” did not hold its usual meaning. 

On Feb. 10, a group of young designers calling themselves “The Hysterics”, organized an independent fashion show at Il Circolo degli Artisti. This place, well known to young Romans, offered the perfect set. Live performances and an aperitivo were followed by a craft market. Alternative designers exposed their work while models prepared for the catwalk. Even the preparation was a spectacle. Hairdressers were working in an open stand where people could look on. Two punk rock bands opened the evening with a raucous set.

And John Cabot University student photographers were in the crowd, cameras aimed and ready.

Making a success of failure

By Meagan Haessig

ROME, Feb. 14 - Drama and theater serve as a means for providing the abstract and conventional tools for “world making”, author Olga Taxidou told a gathering of students and professors at the Aula Magna auditorium on the John Cabot University campus on Tuesday.

Taxidou, author of "Modernism and Performance," came to JCU to discuss her insights into the modernistic views of theater and the field of modernism itself. 

All good things must come to an end; In Rome, it's 'saldi' season

 

By Marci Schwartz

ROME, Feb. 13—Roman sale season will end in just over 48 hours.

Shoppers, there are only a couple days to go before the winter sale season ends in Rome.  In the next two days, the colorful "SALDI" signs plastered in store windows will no longer be so alluring.

Roman authorities carefully regulate sales in the city only permitting stores to have them twice a year. (Similarly, the sales across Italy will be coming to an end shortly, if they haven't already done so).

The "Godfather" wedding march? Listen up

By Alison Graham

ROME, Feb. 12 -- Monday night's concert program for The Filarmonic Orchestra di Roma promised “young music for the young in all of us,” and it delivered.

The concert, entitled “Hollywood Blockbusters”, included scores from movie hits such as “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”, "Pirates of the Carribean” “The Gladiator”, “James Bond”, “The Godfather”, “Titanic” and “Apollo 13”.

“The music always sends a message to the people, young or [not so] young,”  principal conductor Ezio Monti told the Matthew Online in an interview after the performance. “The music can change the people. The music can change the country. The music can change the world.”

Better late than never, JCU students pack "welcome" BBQ

By Emily Finkelstein

ROME, Feb. 12 — Although this semester’s student barbecue encountered unanticipated challenges, the event was still a success, according to student attendees and organizers.

The courtyard barbecue, organized each semester by John Cabot University’s Student Government, was originally scheduled to take place in the first week of school. The event was postponed, however, after the deaths of two JCU students, one of whom worked with the Student Government.

Fortunately, students did not let the tragic circumstances overshadow the intent of the barbecue. A crowd of socializing students, a solid soundtrack, good weather and great burgers led to a dynamic and fun atmosphere.