Jody Victor: Ohio State professor chosen as finalist in Flight 93 National Memorial Project Competition

As I was doing research on OSU today I came across this very interesting article on an OSU professor.  As many,  I vividly remember Septermber 11^th and think is wonderful that congress has authorized a creation of a national memorial at the Pennsylvania crash site.  I wish the best of luck to Laurel McSherry!

OhioState’s Knowlton School of Architecture Professor Laurel McSherry was chosen as one of five finalists, from a field of 1,011 entries, in the Flight 93 National Memorial Project Competition. In 2002, Congress authorized the creation of a national memorial to honor the actions of the passengers and crew of United Airlines Flight 93 which was hijacked and crashed on September 11, 2001 in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, killing all on board.

McSherry will receive a $25,000 honorarium and an invitation to participate in Stage II of the competition. The honorarium is to be used to further develop the design, which will be submitted on June 15. A second jury will announce a winning design by September 11, 2005, the fourth anniversary of the attacks. Two weeks later, the design will be submitted to Congress and the Interior Department, which will oversee the development.

McSherry, head of the landscape architecture section at OhioState, was assisted by Terry Surjan of the Arizona State University School of Architecture to design, "Fields, Forests, Fences." The design uses fences as barriers, markers and memorial. The sacred ground of the crash site would feature a birch grove with 40 stone markers that include the names, hometowns and birth dates of the passengers and crew of Flight 93. Fencing would also be used as a place for the public to pay tribute to Flight 93's victims.

Fore more information on the Flight 93 Memorial Project,
see http://www.flight93memorialproject.org.

Best Wishes Laurel!

Jody Victor

Jody Victor: History of Valentine’s Day.

Many people think that Valentine’s Day is a day for greeting card company’s to make extra money. Even though that is the case, there is actually a story behind this special day. The following information was found on theholidayspot.com.  What are you doing with your Valentine today? Enjoy!

According to church tradition St. Valentine was a priest near Rome in about the year 270 A.D. At that time the Roman Emperor Claudius-II who had issued an edict forbidding marriage.
This was around when the heyday of Roman empire had almost come to an end. Lack of quality administrators led to frequent civil strife. Learning declined, taxation increased, and trade slumped to a low, precarious level. And the Gauls, Slavs, Huns, Turks and Mongolians from Northern Europe and Asian increased their pressure on the empire's boundaries. The empire was grown too large to be shielded from external aggression and internal chaos with existing forces. Thus more of capable men were required to be recruited as soldiers and officers. When Claudius became the emperor, he felt that married men were more emotionally attached to their families, and thus, will not make good soldiers. So to assure quality soldiers, he banned marriage.
Valentine, a bishop , seeing the trauma of young lovers, met them in a secret place, and joined them in the sacrament of matrimony. Claudius learned of this "friend of lovers," and had him arrested. The emperor, impressed with the young priest's dignity and conviction, attempted to convert him to the roman gods, to save him from certain execution. Valentine refused to recognize Roman Gods and even attempted to convert the emperor, knowing the consequences fully.
On February 24, 270, Valentine was executed.

While Valentine was in prison awaiting his fate, he came in contact with his jailor, Asterius. The jailor had a blind daughter. Asterius requested him to heal his daughter. Through his faith he miraculously restored the sight of Asterius' daughter. Just before his execution, he asked for a pen and paper from his jailor, and signed a farewell message to her "From Your Valentine," a phrase that lived ever after.


Valentine thus become a Patron Saint, and spiritual overseer of an annual festival. The festival involved young Romans offering women they admired, and wished to court, handwritten greetings of affection on February 14. The greeting cards acquired St.Valentine's name.

The Valentine's Day card spread with Christianity, and is now celebrated all over the world. One of the earliest card was sent in 1415 by Charles, duke of Orleans, to his wife while he was a prisoner in the Tower of London. The card is now preserved in the BritishMuseum.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Jody