Editor’s Note: A version of this article appeared in the South Bend Tribune on Aug. 24. Kaitlyn Rabach served as a student program coordinator for the Study of the United States Institute. Saint Mary’s has a 169-year history of women’s leadership. The college’s founders, the Sisters of the Holy Cross, crossed many boundaries as they traveled to Indiana from Le Mans, France. Over the years the sisters have worked hard to meet the needs of the South Bend community through avenues like education and health care, while also acting globally. Similarly, the students at this Catholic women’s college cross boundaries often, serving Michiana as volunteers and interns while choosing, in many cases, to study abroad. So notes Elaine Meyer-Lee, director of the college’s Center for Women’s Intercultural Leadership (CWIL). For the second summer in a row, the college has connected the global community with South Bend’s local needs in a unique way. This year Saint Mary’s hosted 19 undergraduate women leaders from Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Libya and Tunisia for a five-week U.S. Department of State sponsored program titled “Study of the United States Institute” (SUSI) for Student Leaders on Women’s Leadership. “We are very gratified the State Department recognized the college’s accomplishments in promoting intercultural exchange by awarding us this grant,” Meyer-Lee said. “It is this type of exchange that broadens everyone’s horizons.” This program not only offered global interaction for faculty and students at Saint Mary’s, but also for several service organizations in South Bend. Each of the 19 participants volunteered in the community for a total of 12 hours, Meyer-Lee said. “For the participants’ curriculum, we cover various proficiencies we think women should acquire to become effective agents of change,” said Mana Derakhshani, the SUSI academic director and associate director of CWIL. “The theory they get in the classroom is reinforced with the practice at the service locations.” This year’s service locations included the Center for the Homeless, Chiara Home El Campito, Hannah’s House, Hope Ministries, Saint Margaret’s House, Sister Brannick Clinic and North Central Indiana YWCA. “We picked the locations carefully to fit the theme of women’s leadership and rights,” Meyer-Lee said. “Many of the service placements have strong women leaders running the programs and many of these places are focused on serving women’s needs, which dovetails with the curriculum.” Derakhshani said many of the participants only knew about the United States from Hollywood movies and TV shows, contributing to misconceptions. “They see extremes like gangsters and criminality as well as very rich and very plastic Hollywood images of women,” Derakhshani said. “The service component, among other aspects of this program, helps to debunk some of those stereotypes. This way, participants can meet individuals from diverse ethnic, racial and economic backgrounds.” Anood, an 18-year-old Jordanian college student, volunteered at Saint Margaret’s House in South Bend for her 12 service hours. (The State Department does not permit the participants last names to be published.) She said volunteering at the day house for women allowed her to see the importance of communicating and befriending others. “This house is all about giving to people in need,” Anood said. “You give to them by being friends with them, by communicating with them and by becoming close to them rather than just offering them food, money or other needs.” For most of these women, this type of service is not common in their home countries. Hajer, a 21-year-old Libyan college student, said volunteering in Libya is very different from volunteering in the States. “What I saw at St. Margaret’s House was volunteers giving their time on a regular basis and volunteering long term,” Hajer said. “In Libya, this kind of volunteering is usually only for a few days. Most of my peers volun-teer for nonprofits as project managers.” Kathy Schneider, executive director of St. Margaret’s House, said the young women have been working with the house’s Girls Club, which serves young girls from ages 8 to 13. “This has been a very humanizing experience,” Schneider said. “These young girls see their world being much bigger than just their house and town. They then think if these girls could come all the way here maybe one day they could travel the world as well.” Anood said her experience with the Girls Club was very much related to the concepts learned during her SUSI experience. “SUSI is all about overcoming obstacles and crossing borders together to make a brighter future for each and every woman,” Anood said. “At the Girls Club, we learned a leader should be a person who gives support to others and serves others. If a leader can’t give to the community or the people around her than she is not a true leader.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Hong Kong protesters also made the list.The title is given annually to a person, group or concept that has influenced the year.Click here to vote for your pick for Time’s Person of the Year. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Trump are on the shortlist for Time Magazine’s Person of the Year.Also on the list revealed on NBC’s “Today” is Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, U.S. soccer player Megan Rapinoe, the Whistleblower, teen activist Greta Thunberg and the President’s attorney Rudy Giuliani. Who will be @TIME’s 2019 Person of the Year? See the shortlist https://t.co/GSCPwhrBpL— TODAY (@TODAYshow) December 9, 2019
“Sometimes we forget there’s another major league team across the way that’s doing everything they can to get us out,” Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis said. “They’ve thrown the ball extremely well this series. I think we’ve all been kind of impressed with the power arms they have coming out of their bullpen. They have some guys late who can really throw the ball and put you on the defensive with their velocity and their power. It’s something we’ve got to combat, come back tomorrow and be ready to salvage the series.”The Marlins will send right-hander Jose Fernandez to the mound Thursday against Kenta Maeda in search of a rare four-game sweep. Fernandez, the 2013 National League Rookie of the Year, is catching the Dodgers at a good time: The same offense that scored 15 runs on Opening Day, and 12 runs in their final game of a week-long road trip Sunday, has officially disappeared upon returning home.Monday, they managed to scratch across two earned runs against Wei-Yin Chen, who began the week with an earned-run average of 4.91. Tuesday, they scored two more against Tom Koehler (4.80 ERA). The Dodgers’ opponent Wednesday was left-hander Justin Nicolino, who hadn’t thrown a pitch above Triple-A since last September. Dave Roberts stacked his lineup with six right-handers, putting lefty Chase Utley and switch-hitter Yasmani Grandal on the bench to start the game.The lineup mustered only two singles and two walks in 7 1/3 innings against Nicolino and his low-90s fastball. The Dodgers’ 6 through 9 hitters were 0 for 11 with one walk. Don Mattingly was ejected from Dodger Stadium in the eighth inning Wednesday. In that moment, for the first time all week, the Miami Marlins’ manager got the unanimous standing ovation he so rarely heard in his final days in a Dodgers uniform.There was a tinge of sadness to the moment. When Mattingly sprinted out to join pitcher David Phelps’ protest of a couple borderline balls, it was the closest the Dodgers came to scoring a run.Joc Pederson’s one-out walk loaded the bases for the Dodgers’ number-2 and number-3 hitters, Yasiel Puig and Adrian Gonzalez. And because Phelps was ejected, the Marlins were forced to use their fifth pitcher of the inning, right-hander Jose Urena.Urena threw his warmup tosses, then struck out Puig and retired Gonzalez on a soft fly ball. The Dodgers lost 2-0, their first shutout of the season coming before an announced crowd of 38,909. Newsroom GuidelinesNews TipsContact UsReport an Error
“Very similar to Chen in game one, very aggressive attacking the strike zone,” Ellis said of Nicolino. “He had us in pretty bad counts all night with his ability to keep attacking and attacking. He deserves a lot of credit.”Nicolino, 24, made four starts at Triple-A this year. In 12 major league games last year he went 5-4 with a 4.01 earned-run average, including a June 26 start at Dodger Stadium in which he allowed five runs in four innings. On paper, this was a pitcher the Dodgers should have pounded into submission. Maybe, as the manager suggested, they were pounding themselves a tad too much.“Some guys look at their average and want to get hits,” Roberts said. “When you feel like you need to get a hit it gets tougher. Guys are coming out of the strike zone a little bit more than they used to.”The eighth-inning rally, punctuated by Mattingly’s ejection, stood alone as the Dodgers’ one chance to score.After Nicolino was removed with one out, Utley and Grandal drew back-to-back walks against Bryan Morris and Cody Ege, respectively. Another pinch hitter, Pederson, walked in his only plate appearance. While home plate umpire Todd Tichenor ejected Phelps and Mattingly, the fans roared and Puig waited for his turn as Urena warmed up in short order.Then Urena closed the door on the inning, and stuck around to pitch a scoreless ninth for his first save of the season.Left-hander Scott Kazmir (1-2) allowed two runs on four singles in a shaky first inning, then settled in to give the Dodgers six quality innings. He wasn’t allowed to swing a bat, but that was the only remnant of a left thumb/wrist injury that curtailed his last start.Kazmir didn’t throw a bullpen after that game but he seemed no worse for the wear. The Marlins’ four first-inning singles weren’t particularly hard-hit. Kazmir’s final line — 6 innings pitched, two earned runs — was his best since his first start of the season.“I really found a good rhythm,” Kazmir said. “Toward the end (of the first inning) I started to feel comfortable. I just took that into the rest of the game.”That the Dodgers couldn’t reward one of their struggling starters only made the final score more frustrating.“We just want to go out there and win,” Kazmir said. “I think we’re capable of doing that every night and it’s always disappointing when we don’t pull out a win.” 