THE CHRONICLES OF AVE MARIA©: One Year Later

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June 23, 2010

by Marielena Montesino de Stuart

AVE MARIA . . . "THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE" ©Copyright Marielena Montesino de Stuart

A very significant event has taken place– and it involves the Town of Ave Maria, Florida.

One year ago the Naples Daily News published a three-part investigative story titled  “AVE MARIA:  A Town Without A Vote, Now and Forever.“   The story has just been awarded First Place in the Multimedia category by the Florida Society of News Editors.  Click HERE  to read the Naples Daily News  print copy of the announcement.

This First Place recognition given to this story about Ave Maria speaks volumes, and brings further attention to the compelling facts and on-going controversy of this town, which is governed by the Ave Maria Stewardship Community District (AMSCD).

Written by Liam Dillon, who had been assigned to cover the Ave Maria  beat, on the ground–  the award-winning story, “Ave Maria:  A Town Without a Vote, Now and Forever”  caused much concern for Barron Collier Cos., (the developer)  and Ave Maria Development (Monaghan’s partnership with Barron Collier).   This led to a meeting held with the editors of the Naples Daily News on May 11, 2009,  where officials of Ave Maria co-developer, Barron Collier Cos., marched in with a strange  undated and unsigned memo   written on Kenza vanAssenserp’s  letterhead– the AMSCD’s  attorney.   The memo’s opening line reads, “The landowner / developer will not be able to control the election of the District board of supervisors forever.”

On May 16, 2009–  Tom Monaghan, Paul Roney, Lamar Gable and Blake Gable– identified by the Naples Daily News as the Ave Maria Development Executive Committee, wrote a rebuttal claiming that “it is a mathematical certainty” that the “residents of Ave Maria will hold the majority of the votes to elect the Board of Supervisors of the Ave Maria Stewardship Community District well before the town builds out.”   “It was never and is not now our intent to control the district in perpetuity.”

A very clever reader wrote this brilliant response, on May 18, 2009:

“it is a mathematical certainty” the “residents of Ave Maria will hold the majority of the votes to elect the Board of Supervisors of the Ave Maria Stewardship Community District well before the town builds out.”

Let’s check the math:

Buildout = 11,000 homes. 300 sold so far (some not to residents).

50% = 5,500 homes. Sales are about 1 a month = 12 a year. 5,500/12 = 458 years.

By golly, he’s right. The residents will eventually hold the majority of the Board, in only 458 years. Buildout will take much longer (11,0000/12 = 916 years).

That is indeed a mathematical certainty.

Apologies to Barron Collier and Monaghan are in order. To accuse them of wanting to control the Board forever is just plain unfair.

Naples Daily News Reader Comment - May 18, 2009

The Naples Daily News stood firmly behind Liam Dillon’s story.

In a strange twist, Dillon  left the Naples Daily News a short time later.  Since his departure, we have not had a Naples Daily News reporter  covering the Ave Maria beat, as regularly as he used to cover it, on the ground.

Given the recently reported, alleged threats, by Barron Collier to the local PBS station– just before the premiere of the documentary ”Florida:  Heaven on Earth?  (Click to read about  ”FLORIDA:  Heaven on Earth?”)– one should question what really went on during the May 11, 2009 meeting between the powerful landowners of Ave Maria, and the Naples Daily News editors.

One should also wonder how much is going unreported, as a result of not having the regular, on-the-ground  independent eyes of an outside  reporter, from a prominent regional newspaper.

It was also a little over one year ago that I began to ask questions through The Chronicles of Ave Maria©:

Being there– but where?

The “now” of Ave Maria–  this town “without a vote“– has become increasingly more difficult, as time passes and the reality of this remote location in the Everglades becomes more evident.  A resident, who is involved in trying to help the local children with sports activities said, “We’re in the middle of nowhere…”  (Naples Daily News (10/07/2009 PDF).

It is sad to see that families who came here filled with hopes and dreams, are losing their homes to foreclosure.  At least one property has recently been put on auction (photo).

But– why aren’t people with acquisition power lining up to move to Ave Maria?

County public records show that people are choosing to buy homes in other parts of Collier County.  If the middle class has lost acquisition power because of the economy– what about people of means?

With the presence of Ave Maria University, a  ”championship golf course”  and the on-going campaign about the “potential” of this town, why are people who ARE able to buy homes in this economy, not  lining up  to build, or to buy homes in Ave Maria?  This latest  FORBES  report describes Collier County as the #1 relocation spot in the nation for high income families.

One of the answers may lie in what appears to be the confusing identity, as well as the confusing promotion of  this town.

First, there was Monaghan– promoting it as a “Catholic hub.”  Then came the switch to include  ”Every Lifestyle…”  After January 2008, Barron Collier changed the town’s promotion on its website’s Q&A to “absolutely not” a Catholic town–  and  “Every Lifestyle…” was emphasized.

“Every Lifestyle…”? 

Now, let’s think this through, as we examine the contradictions that take place in this town.

Ave Maria:  A town named after the Virgin Mary, and the Annunciation that she would conceive Jesus Christ– where  ”Every Lifestyle…” is embraced.

Ave Maria:  A town with Monaghan ‘s huge Catholic church in the middle of it– where  “Every Lifestyle…” is embraced.

Ave Maria:  Where the overwhelming majority of residents are  conservative and Catholic.  Why?  Because of the sacred religious name given to the town, and the conservative and Catholic public identity that Monaghan promoted– where “Every Lifestyle…” is embraced.

Ave Maria:  Where a building is being erected on the Ave Maria University “unabashedly Catholic” campus, honoring  Tom Golisano, a billionaire / politician who has given breathtaking financial support to pro-choice institutions, as well as to hard-core, NARAL-endorsed pro-choice politicians.

Ave Maria:  A town that embraces “Every Lifestyle…”    Well, let’s read some excerpts from a recent interview that Monaghan did for Canada’s Catholic Register (PDF) while visiting Toronto to speak to members of Legatus, Monaghan’s Catholic rich-man’s organization, of self-proclaimed  “leaders”   [underlining added]:

TORONTO- The culture war between liberal and conservative Catholics in the United States is not a good thing, but it will only end when liberal Catholics embrace conservative principles or leave the Church entirely, says America’s richest and most controversial Catholic philanthropist.

Monaghan has a 70-year plan to remake American Catholicism, all centered on Ave Maria University in Florida.  Monaghan is Chancellor and principal benefactor of the university, which anchors a vast real estate development constituting the town of Ave Maria in south-central Florida.”  — (Canada’s Catholic Register, May 14, 2010)

In the same article, Monaghan was quoted as follows:

“It’s almost like, in a sense, you had no religion with the so-called liberals.”  — Thomas S. Monaghan (Canada’s Catholic Register, May 14, 2010)

Ave Maria:  A town, where according to Monaghan’s interview with the Catholic Register above, liberals will have to embrace conservative principles or leave the Church entirely. Well, Benedict XVI recently rejected this idea, during his recent trip to Portugal.  How will Monaghan’s intolerant plan work, while the town of Ave Maria, where he is a major investor, embraces “Every Lifestyle…”?

Is anyone taking Monaghan seriously?

Ave Maria:  Where both the Chancellor, Tom Monaghan, and the President, Nicholas J. Healy Jr.,  of  the “unabashedly Catholic” Ave Maria University–  have both embraced the proposed coming of The Jackson Lab.  A  lab which holds “workshops” and provides “resources” for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research.  A lab employing scientists who try to develop ”better contraception methods.”  Why is the coming of the Jackson Lab OK?  Because the National Catholic Bioethics Center (NCBC) said so!

The U.S. Coalition for Life does not agree, and has presented an in-depth analysis of The Jackson Lab, as well as background information on the NCBC.  Read the U.S. Coalition for Life analysis, PART 1, PART 2 and PART 3.

Of further interest is the fact that the president of the NCBC received an award from Monaghan’s Legatus – last year, during a tropical soirée in Bermuda. (The Philadelphia Bulletin, February 11, 2009)  Read full articlehere.

Ave Maria:   Where many Catholic residents  travel 40 miles to protest outside of Planned Parenthood in Naples– but choose not to protest outside of the Golisano building, or against the coming of The Jackson Lab– right here, inside Ave Maria.

So– what is the public to make of all these contradictions?  For a potential homebuyer– Catholic, non-Catholic, or “Every Lifestyler”– Ave Maria’s current public identity is more confusing and difficult, than trying to figure out the universe.

Could it be that the abandonment of the initial clearly-stated, and well-promoted Catholic public identity– has created a mortal wound in the heart of Ave Maria?

The Virgin Mary… as “art”

Given that the  town’s  public Catholic identity has been denied–  is the Virgin Mary being promoted merely as ”art”?

While Ave Maria’s Catholic public identity is denied and eroded– which leaves its featured star, the Virgin Mary, in an inescapable position ”under the bus”– Monaghan’s  enormous church and the Virgin Mary  (photo) are advertised in the Naples Illustrated – April 2010 issue   (photo) — a magazine of luxuries, catering to the very wealthy.  Notice how an arrow points to the location of the Ave Maria Foundation for the Arts in La Piazza, which is located inside the town of Ave Maria.  Yet, the written advertisement reads as follows [underlining added]:

“The Ave Maria Foundation for the Arts has a new home on the campus of Ave Maria University.  They will be located on the main square of La Piazza, next to the visitors center.”

Standing on dangerous grounds

Based on the location of the Ave Maria Foundation for the Arts–  how far into the town does the Ave Maria University campus extend?   How much of La Piazza retail and residential space is now part of the campus?

How far does Monaghan’s private use, ownership and power extend?

This is an important question– given that Paul Roney, a member of the Ave Maria town government board, and Monaghan’s Chief Financial Officer at AMU,  admitted on March 2nd, 2010, on the AMSCD public town government meeting record, that he “reported” a resident to the Ave Maria University’s administration, which resulted in the university threatening the resident with arrest for stepping on campus.  As a result of this “reporting”, the resident was also banned  from over 900 acres of campus property, for nearly three months.

Why?

Because the resident asked questions during a  town government meeting held on November 3rd, 2009, concerning compliance of Florida statutes.  Questions which were deemed “disruptive.”  Questions regarding laws and town government matters– which had absolutely nothing to do with Ave Maria University, a private corporation.

Where in America, other than in Ave Maria, does a citizen attend a local town government meeting– then goes home to find that they are banned from entering the entire campus and property of their local college or university, because of  questions they asked about compliance of government statutes?   A university campus which has been consistently promoted as part of the benefit of buying a home in this town.

This kind of  “control over freedom of movement”, of  ”turning people in” and  ”reporting”  by government agents,  is only found in fascist and communist systems– and indeed, in the Town of Ave Maria.

Could it be that this kind of coordination between a member of Ave Maria’s town government and a private corporation (AMU)– to chill speech, threaten with arrest and control  a resident’s freedom of movement, has sent shockwaves– and wounded the heart of Ave Maria?

That resident, is also a Catholic journalist.  That ban, kept her out of a controversial press conference that she had formally registered to attend, as a reporter for a major Catholic newspaper.  That press conference, was where Ave Maria University’s administration  honored Tom Golisano.  That ban imposed on her, conveniently served to protect Golisano and the university administration from any scrutiny about Golisano’s long-standing, and breathtaking  financial support of the pro-choice world.

That resident and Catholic journalist is this writer.

Ave Maria University and The Jackson Lab

Ave Maria University’s influence over the Town of Ave Maria was very well asserted by the university’s president, Nicholas J. Healy Jr., in his famous quote from The Angelus, titled  “University, Town Set Precedent Long Lost in Europe”:

“What kind of university will this be, which will determine the character and ethos of Ave Maria Town?“ — Nicholas J. Healy Jr., President of Ave Maria University

Perhaps the answer to Mr. Healy’s prophetic question, can be found in his own statement  to the Naples Daily News on 04/10/2010,  as follows:

If they [The Jackson Lab] were to locate here I think there would be very considerable benefits to the entire area,” said Nicholas Healy, president of Ave Maria University.  ”They will bring well-paying jobs and so on.  It will help real estate in the town.”

While Mr. Healy was making the above statement, in the same article, Charles Hewett VP of  The Jackson Laboratory had this to say:

We certainly are very thoughtful about the subject, but not willing to rule out doing human embryonic stem cell research.”

Then of course, there was Monaghan’s now-famous “Go ahead with it” regarding The Jackson Lab, as described by Blake Gable, president of real estate development with Barron Collier Companies, in the Naples Daily News, on 04/10/2010: 

Obviously, because Tom [Monaghan] is our partner, when this opportunity was brought to our attention last year, we went to our partner and said, ‘This is what we want to do, is it something you’re comfortable with?’  He went and did his due diligence, researched it, and said, ‘Go ahead with it.’”

The Naples Daily News article containing all of the comments by Healy, Gable and Hewett may be read here.

If Mr. Healy’s assertion is correct– that “the university will determine the character and ethos of Ave Maria Town“– how can the university’s  “Chastity Club” coexist with ”Every Lifestyle…” ?  Or with The Jackson Lab– which employs scientists involved in finding “better contraception methods”?

“Every Lifestyle”– is exactly just that.

Then, there is another pending question:  Why is it that Ave Maria University is still not able to call itself a “Catholic university”– on its own website?

“What kind of university will this be…” anyway, Mr. Healy?

Can Monaghan’s Human Reproductive Agenda in Ave Maria Co-Exist with The Jackson Lab Scientists,  and their quest for “better contraception methods”?

Has  Monaghan turned into a public relations nightmare for the identity of this town?   Can someone save Monaghan from himself?

Here are more of Monaghan’s famous quotes, including the human reproduction that Ave Maria will have produced by the year 2077:

“I think that this [Ave Maria University] very well could be the single most important effort that has taken place in the Catholic church in this country or in any part of the world to date.” — Tom Monaghan
(May 10, 2008 – Naples Daily News article regarding first graduating class in new campus)

The following is another excerpt from the Naples Daily News article of May 10, 2008:

By 2077, Monaghan said, Ave Maria will have produced 4,000 priests, many of whom, he added, would be bishops, 2,500 nuns, 12,000 Catholic school teachers, 1,500 Catholic school principals and 40,000 “holy, stable Catholic marriages.”

Since, Monaghan added, “those couples won’t be sitting around,” the marriages will produce 150,000 children and 500,000 grandchildren.

Well, those couples may end up sitting around, after all– since now Monaghan and Barron Collier’s vision of Ave Maria is one that may include The Jackson Lab– which has scientists who are involved in researching “better contraception methods” as evidenced in the following Jackson Lab website page   http://research.jax.org/faculty/index.html

A Town Without A Vote

While Monaghan continues to advertise in luxury magazines his colossal  art projects involving the Virgin Mary, in the Town of Ave Maria–  what very much escapes the public’s scrutiny is the obscure Ave Maria town government– which operates under the name of Ave Maria Stewardship Community District (AMSCD).

On June 8th, the AMSCD held a meeting, during which we had another taste of this bizarre taxation-without-representation form of government that the state of Florida  has allowed to exist.  In Ave Maria, this “special district” is under the control of a board, whose members are elected by the large land owners and developer.  The rest of the tax payers/ property owners in the district (the little people) do not have a vote.  And when will they ever have one?  But the large landowners do not seem to mind the degree of control they enjoy.

Here is an example of how these powerful landowners think, when they assume control over the election of these special district government boards:

“It may seem far in the future that we would be concerned regarding the control of the District with the amount of land we own and the many safeguards we have built into the act but we must remain cognizant of the number of votes we continue to control each time we transfer property.  The act allows 1 vote per acre and 1 vote for any fraction of an acre thus as the land is sold and lots are subdivided the total number of votes increases. – Thomas Sansbury, VP  Barron Collier Companies

Sansbury’s entire memo may be read HERE

The Florida Department of Consumer Affairs offers this description regarding Special Districts, and how these districts can operate without state agencies having the authority to completely supervise them:

“Who oversees special districts?”

“The primary entity responsible for overseeing a special district is not the state or a county or city, it is the special district’s own governing board. Each governing board member is responsible for ensuring that the district complies with all applicable laws and conducts district business as authorized by its charter. Since special districts are separate units of local government – not state or local programs overseen by another level of government – no single state agency or person has the authority to completely oversee special districts.”

The Ave Maria Stewardship Community District law- is contained in this  61-page document.  This law passed in 2004 created Ave Maria’s government, the Ave Maria Stewardship Community District.  This law contains the “safeguards” that Sansbury refers to in his memo above.  Page 25 describes the size of the special district.  Page 28 explains the voter turnover process.(PDF)

In Ave Maria, with so much at stake– this form of government has already manifested its negative side.  The following is an excerpt from a Naples Daily News 10/03/08 article:

For almost two years, two representatives from Ave Maria Development have served on both Ave Maria town’s public and private decision-making bodies, sparking concerns about their compliance with state law.

Once a month, high-level officials from Ave Maria Development, made up of representatives from local developer Barron Collier Cos. and associates of Ave Maria University founder Tom Monaghan, make the development’s private decisions in “executive committee” meetings.

Once a month, the five members of the Ave Maria Stewardship Community District also sit down to make decisions about the town.

The district is a government and public agency, unlike Ave Maria Development’s private executive committee.

Governments in Florida are regulated by what’s known as the Government-in-the-Sunshine Law, which requires officials to discuss business and make decisions at public meetings.

Brian Goguen is a vice president for finance at Barron Collier Cos. Paul Roney is the chief financial officer at Ave Maria University. Both serve on the executive committee and also on the district board.

“And they don’t think that’s a problem?” asked Adria Harper, a director at the First Amendment Foundation, a Sunshine Law watchdog group financially supported by the media, including the Daily News.

“They shouldn’t be talking about issues that would foreseeably come before the public board in private,” Harper continued. “It doesn’t matter if they’re holding private meetings in Arby’s. They can’t talk about those things.”

Bob Jarvis, a law ethics professor at Nova Southeastern University, agreed.

“It should trouble your readers that this board was set up this way,” Jarvis said. “Whoever thought this was a good idea should be fired or removed from office.”

Tell that to Kenza vanAssenderp– who thought this “special district” was a great idea for these powerful clients!

The complete article may be read here  Naples Daily News .  Another very important article concerning these ”special districts” in Florida is His Empire on The Lake (St. Petersburg Times).

Changing Hats

The Master Association in Ave Maria has been without a permanent manager since January of this year.   Thomas Sansbury, a VP of Barron Collier Cos., stated during the AMSCD meeting on June 8th, that he also acts as  president of the Master Association, and that he is now the person in charge of questions and issues concerning the Master Association.  It seems that  Mr. Sansbury does not consider it a conflict of interest to be serving as a VP of Barron Collier, and as President /Manager of the Ave Maria Master Association.

In addition to the regular property tax paid to the county, homeowners in Ave Maria must pay a Master Association fee, a Neighborhood Association fee, as well as the “special district” tax.

Mr. Paul Roney, as stated above,  is Monaghan’s Chief Financial Officer at Ave Maria University, and a member of the town’s governing board.  As such, during the June 8th AMSCD  meeting, Roney also injected himself in the selection process of the town government’s new auditor!  In fact, the whole board jumped into the selection process!

The AMSCD Board  dismissed my request that the new auditor’s selection process be done independently.   I guess for a fleeting moment,  I still thought I lived in America.  I had forgotten that as a property owner and tax payer in this district I have no vote– since this is, after all–  ” Ave Maria:  A Town without a Vote, Now and Forever.”

When things go missing in the dark

The town’s government structure of “taxation without representation” can  lead to mistrust and abuse of power.  Since no single state agency or person has the authority to completely oversee special districts, there seems to be no specific rules that require that the AMSCD’s governing board provide its citizens, and the public,  complete audio and written records of public meetings.

As such, the Ave Maria Stewardship Community District Board has released an INCOMPLETE RECORDING of the June 8, 2010 meeting, held in the town of Ave Maria.   The availability of this incomplete recording was announced on, June 15, 2010.

But why has the AMSCD edited the recording? It has left out important questions, answers and comments from the public and from members of the Board, including my question to Mr. Paul Roney concerning Mr. Monaghan’s land transaction in connection with The Jackson Lab, as reported by the press. Mr. Roney’s answer is also missing, as well as Herbert Cambridge’s resignation statement (a member of the board). The minutes of the AMSCD meetings are generally abbreviated versions of the proceedings—so they cannot be relied upon. Why is the District Board not providing full disclosure of these proceedings to the tax payers and to the general public?

For the benefit of the public, here is an  UNEDITED audio recording of the June 8, 2010 Ave Maria Stewardship Community District Board Meeting, which I have provided.

“Call the Cops!”

Ave Maria’s environment is not supportive of those who choose to question Monaghan, AMU, Barron Collier or the AMSCD government. In other words,  those whose decisions and actions affect the future and the lives of the people of this town.

For the first time in two years, I witnessed another resident showing indignation as he addressed the AMSCD government board, during the June 8th public meeting.  But hardly any property owners or members of the public ever go to these meetings.  The few that attend sit there silently.  Less than a handful ask any questions.   I have been told by property owners in the town that they feel it is hopeless to go to these meetings– since they do not have a vote, even though they are being taxed.

But then there are the proverbial hostile  members of the community who feel that they have a right to police any questioning involving Monaghan, AMU, Barron Collier and the AMSCD government board.  In other words, those in power.

One such member of the Ave Maria community was present at the June 8th meeting.  While I asked questions of the government board regarding the impact that The Jackson Lab would have on the infrastructure, environment and safety of the tax payers of this District (the board refused to answer my questions) — this  individual, who enthusiastically identified himself on the public record , took pleasure in conducting a  hostile monologue directed at me, which included– “Call the Cops!” and “In-Your-Face.”  When he concluded his hostile monologue against me, he got up and praised the board!

This intolerance of dissenting opinion, is representative of what I have experienced since my family and I arrived in Ave Maria.  This became even more apparent after I wrote an opinion piece, which was published by the Naples Daily News on 02/17/09 and I began to experience vicious ad hominem attacks online.  Yet, when my husband and I arrived in Ave Maria with our young children, we expected to live in a town environment  influenced by a great Catholic university– with people behaving with the decorum expected in a town named after the Virgin Mary.  A town where there would be open discourse!

Under any other conditions– children, anywhere in America,  could attend a town government meeting as a field trip, and walk away with a positive learning experience of how democracy and government work.   But not in Ave Maria.

How sad– when so many have lost their lives trying to reach this country, seeking freedom of speech.

Instead, we live in a town where people are afraid to express views that are opposed to those of Mr. Monaghan, AMU, Barron Collier and the Ave Maria Stewardship Community District government.

There are those who offer me their support– but they do so under condition of anonymity– for fear of negative repercussions.

I grew up under the oppression of communism, and experienced socialism in Europe.   But never, was I addressed with vulgar language, as I have by Catholics in Ave Maria–  simply because I have questioned those in power.

Is it that Monaghan, his business partners and the town’s government are above questioning, when it comes to  decisions that affect the lives of so many?

Everyone speaks… but not in Ave Maria

The Jackson Lab controversy has ignited heated media debates from business leaders and citizens all over Collier County.  But not in Ave Maria.  Not a word of public opposition has been heard from the residents of Ave Maria, where the majority is overwhelmingly Catholic.  Ave Maria University’s Catholic faculty also remains silent– an alarming fact, considering that universities, by nature– are centers of vigorous open discourse.

The protests by residents and students from Ave Maria, outside of the Planned Parenthood clinic, 40 miles away in Naples,  compared to the silence of these protestors inside Ave Maria– regarding the Golisano building and  The Jackson Lab, would appear to send a  mixed message to the “serious Catholics” that would contemplate moving to Ave Maria.  After all, it was Monaghan who thought that, ” a disproportionate amount of the people that moved there [Ave Maria] would be Catholics– serious Catholics“ as stated in his deposition, on February 20, 2008.

 

“I live. . .  I’m not sure where”

 Where are we?  We were told this would be a well thought out town, with a distinct public Catholic identity surrounding a huge Catholic church, only to find that its leaders are still trying to figure out the town’s identity.

The latest pitch is to retirees– with a slow, but noticeable distancing from the Ave Maria brand.  In January 2010  the neighborhood of  “Del Webb at Ave Maria” had its entrance sign taken down and replaced with  ”Del Webb Naples.”   Why?  We are far from Naples.

The K-12 school had Ave Maria stripped from its name– in favor of a donor’s name.  Streets that used to bear the names of saints surrounding the university, have been changed in favor of  people who have donated money.

During the June 8th Ave Maria town government meeting the resident who showed indignation about the changes that he is observing in Ave Maria, said – ”I live. . . I’m not sure where.”

Who are we?

As the thick humid air envelops the Everglades, there are those who leave for the summer– because they have somewhere they can go.  Others stay, because they have nowhere to go, or because this place– this ”dream” has to work.  Somehow.

So… what is this place called Ave Maria?

Is it  “a town without a vote– now and forever” ?

Is it a town for “Every Lifestyle”?

Or– is  Ave Maria really a  place somewhere– “in the middle of nowhere” – centered around the personality of one man, Thomas S. Monaghan– and his idiosyncratic ways?

But  that’s a story for another day. . .

© Marielena Montesino de Stuart

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Marielena Montesino de Stuart

E-Mail:    ContactTRCW@aol.com

You may also read Marielena Montesino de Stuart’s commentaries through: RenewAmerica, USAToday, Forbes.com, The Dallas Morning News, U.S. Politics Today (an EIN Service for Political Professionals-*) Poynter Online, Spero News, Daily Estimate, The New Liturgical Movement-Poland, The Naples Daily News, Les Femmes-The Truth, Culture War Notes,  ProLife Blogs,  The Wanderer, The Times of India, etc. Notice to readers

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TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION:  Ave Maria Florida and First Amendment + Ave Maria University + The Jackson Laboratory + Workshops and Resources for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research + Eugenics + Margaret Sanger + Tom Monaghan + Tom Golisano +  Nicholas J. Healy Jr., President of AMU + Barron Collier Companies + The Ave Maria Stewardship Community District.

THE CHRONICLES OF AVE MARIA©: Plunging into Compromise

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The Roman Catholic World

June 11, 2010

THE CHRONICLES OF AVE MARIA ©:  Plunging into Compromise

by Marielena Montesino de Stuart

THE JACKSON LABORATORY - PROVIDES RESOURCES FOR HUMAN EMBRYONIC STEM CELL RESEARCH - PROPOSED OPENING IN AVE MARIA, FLORIDA

During  perilous economic and political times, it is easy to see how quickly many members of society begin to set their sights low.

It seems as if a state of pragmatism overtakes them– which leads to the justification of  actions, no matter how unwise these may be.

This is how society falls.    Individuals begin to compromise over material issues, which is  always followed by questioning and devaluing their principles.  Some even justify their actions with intellectual pretentiousness.

Anyone who has the courage to criticize their pragmatic material decisions, while reminding them of  their moral proclamations and the commitment these require– is suddenly branded as out-of-touch and unreasonable– and is often the subject of vicious ad hominem attacks.

Ave Maria is simply a microcosm of  society.

In the past few months, Ave Maria has witnessed the honoring of Tom Golisano at Ave Maria University.  Golisano is a billionaire / politician who has given breathtaking financial support to pro-choice institutions and to NARAL-endorsed, hard-core pro-choice politicians– including Barack Obama.

Now, Ave Maria is witnessing the welcoming of The Jackson Lab– whose services include  “workshops” and  “resources”  for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research.

No public opposition to the honoring of Golisano, nor to the welcoming of The Jackson Lab has been noted from the Catholic faculty at Ave Maria University, nor from the students at AMU, or the residents of Ave Maria.

In contrast,  tremendous opposition to The Jackson Lab has been voiced from outside  Ave Maria, by experts, business leaders, and by the general public.

Ave Maria was once promoted by Tom Monaghan as a town that would respect Catholic sensibilities.  It is a town where the overwhelming majority of residents are Catholics.  The question is– is Ave Maria a town of modern tolerance to scientific activities that are against natural law?

This is a valid question– considering that Mr. Monaghan stated  in a deposition dated February 20, 2008– “Well, I thought that a disproportionate amount of the people that moved there would be Catholics, serious Catholics.”

♦  ♦  ♦

The following is Part II of a commentary written by Randy Engel, a pro-life veteran of more than 40 years, and the founder and Director of the U.S. Coalition for Life (www.uscl.info), the oldest pro-life research agency in the United States.  Engel is also the co-founder, with Dr. Jerome Lejeune of Paris, of the Pittsburgh-based International Foundation for Genetic Research/Michael Fund (www.michaelfund.org), the pro-life alternative to the March of Dimes.  The Michael Fund, created in 1978, combines a pro-life philosophy with a truly therapeutic research program centering on treatments and cures for chromosomal disorders, especially Down syndrome.

A U.S. Coalition for Life Commentary

by Randy Engel 

Part II – Ave Maria, Jackson Laboratory and Mass Eugenic Killing 

Introduction

In Part I of this series (April 26, 2010) “Eugenics Meets the Pizza King – Ave Maria in the Shadow of Auschwitz,” I presented the basic facts on plans to construct a $710 million Jackson Laboratory biotech satellite facility in the Ave Maria Stewardship Community District, near the campus of Ave Maria University. The 50 acre site (with more to come) was donated by Barron Collier Companies after BCC’s business partner, Domino pizza magnet and Chancellor (CEO) of AMU, Tom Monaghan agreed to the transaction following a brief phase of “due diligence.”

Part I also provided biographical data on Jackson Laboratory founder C.C. Little’s dark connections to the eugenic, birth control and euthanasia movements of the 20^th century. Interestingly, at its 78^th annual meeting on August 18, 2007, Jackson Laboratory launched its promotional “National Council” project in Maine, Boston, New York, Philadelphia — and a short while later, in Naples, Florida, and selected as president, C.C. Little’s grandson, architect Sam Little, the patriarch of the Jackson Laboratory’s “first family.”

Part I also included information on current anti-life programs of the Jackson Lab’s Bar Harbor, Maine-based research facility, which involve human embryonic stem cell research programs and international workshops. These programs and workshops offer hands-on training for investigators wishing to learn how to culture, manipulate, and differentiate human embryonic stem cells from in vitro. The Jackson Laboratory is also involved in male contraceptive research and its seminars and lectures promote medical genetics, a.k.a., eugenics.

Further involvement in anti-life programs was noted by AveWatch http://avewatch.com/?p=794,  when in September 2009, Terry Magnuson, chair of the Jackson Laboratory’s Board of Scientific Overseers, was appointed to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) new advisory panel: the Working Group for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Eligibility Review.

But alas, Monaghan & Co, have decided to stonewall the Jackson Lab anti-life issue, with the exception of one of their advance public relations scouts, a Father Robert Garrity, who e-mailed me that I was “confused” about the situation — as “Jackson does not plan to do anything which is morally wrong, such as embryonic stem-cell research, at the lab being proposed for Ave Maria Town. …” Never mind that Jackson Vice President Charles Hewett has publicly stated that his firm is “not willing to rule out human embryonic stem cell research.” http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2010/apr/10/jackson-lab-biomedical-research-and-ave-maria-neig/

So it’s time once again to “praise the Lord and pass the ammunition,” and give Mr. Monaghan, and Ave Maria Town residents – as well as the administration and faculty of Ave Maria University a second warning salvo before the Jackson Lab land deal reaches the point of no return. But before examining the proposed Jackson Lab’s Institute of Personalized Medicine, I think it necessary to expand upon the extent of the corporation’s financial involvement in human embryonic stem cell research and experimentation which involves the mass killing of the tiniest of our kin, the human embryo – a practice repeatedly condemned by the Roman Catholic Church.

Jackson Laboratory West – Sacramento

 In 2001, the Jackson Lab established JAX-West, a small facility in West Sacramento, California, for the purpose of expediting the shipment of Jax Mice & Services to West Coast universities, pharmaceutical and biotech companies and Pacific international research centers. California houses the world’s largest biomedical research community.

In November 2004, California voters passed Proposition 71 which made stem cell research, predominantly, human embryonic stem cell research, a state constitutional right. Proposition 71 also authorized the creation of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) with a budget of   $3,000,000,000 over a 10-year period.

In late 2008, Jackson Laboratory relocated and expanded its Sacramento facility with a new emphasis on developing new mouse models of human disease that can be used to test various stem cell treatments. On May 5-6, 2009, Jackson Lab celebrated the new lab’s Grand Opening.

Surprise! One month later, on June 22, 2009, Jackson Labs announced that its spanking-new Sacramento facility had received a $3.4 million grant from the CIRM to develop mouse models which can support long-term transplantation with human stem cells and can be used in stem cell research. This means that human embryos are being used by Jackson Lab researchers to produce immune-deficient mouse models of human diseases that can be used for testing human stem cell therapies.

Why have Jackson executives been so conspicuously silent about their Sacramento CIRM-funded project in their conversations with the Collier County and Florida secular and religious press?

Geneticists as Mass Murderers

Among the featured speakers at the May 2009 Sacramento Grand Opening was Mahendra Rao, M.D., Ph.D. Although hardly a recognizable household name, Rao is famous in international biotech circles for his defense of human embryonic stem cell research. In October 2005, Rao quit his prestigious post as head of the federal NIH Institute on Aging, Stem Cell Biology Unit/Laboratory of Neurosciences, in Washington, D.C., to pursue ‘unfettered’ human embryonic stem cell research in the private sector at Invitrogen and the Buck Institute for Age Research.

In the Jackson Lab promotional video available at http://jaxmice.jax.org/california-facility/symposiumRao.html, Rao uses the euphemistic term “fertilized embryo” to casually describe a very young human being who is being methodically killed in the spic and span hell of a genetic laboratory in order to develop mouse HuES cell lines:

So what was done was, you took human cells out, you know, from a fertilized embryo, you grow them on mouse feeders, you use the same combination of growth factors, and you culture them in much the same way, and you got mouse ES cell lines (emphasis added).

A fertilized embryo? You’ve got to be kidding. You can’t fertilize an embryo. It’s a non-sequitur. It appears that researchers like Rao just cannot bring themselves to admit the ugly truth – that their work involves the cold-blooded calculated killing of individual living human beings at the very earliest stages of their existence – so they hide behind artful language to anesthetize their consciences.

But they are not the only culprits on the eugenic block.

Take, for example, medical geneticists who perform BABI, the incredibly facetious acronym for Blastomere Analysis Before Implantation, the latest and most lethal prenatal diagnosis package on the market today.

The preferred method of initiating the BABI process is to use in vitro fertilization (IVF), a procedure favored by the Jackson Lab but condemned by the Catholic Church.  Following artificially induced super-ovulation of the woman, mature eggs are collected and fertilized in test tubes in order to produce multiple human embryos. At the 8-cell stage, a single cell is excised from each human embryo and these are screened for markers indicating a gene anomaly. One, two or three of the “normal” embryos are implanted into the hormonally prepared womb of the mother. “Affected” embryos or “rejects” are destroyed. “Spare” or “orphaned” embryos are stored in frozen concentration cans or donated or sold to research labs.

According to the U.S. Public Health Service, BABI is a form of “family planning” which permits “genetically disadvantaged people” to have children free of serious birth defects without the “family nightmare” of late abortion. According to Dr. Robert G. Edwards, the father of IVF, BABI is the “preclinical abortion of blighted ova.” Not known as a eugenic wallflower, Edwards says that BABI eliminates the need for both the treatment and care of handicapped children and adults.  Health by Death – now that’s a consoling thought!

As a rule, BABI specialists will create a minimum of ten human embryos, per cycle, in order to be assured of getting one ‘take home baby.’ Sometimes they produce more. For example, in one celebrated case, BABI was used to produce a baby that could provide stem cells to a sibling born with Franconi’s anemia. In the end, after 4 IVF cycles, the body count stood at 29 dead in order to produce the single child who would act as the donor for his affected sibling.

The Institute of Personalized Medicine

This bring us to the all-important question as to what type of research, clinical studies, and “preventative” health care will be carried out at the proposed Jackson Lab’s Institute of Personalized Medicine (IPM)  and the satellite medical research facilities and hospitals surrounding the Institute.

According to the Jackson Lab (http://genetichealth.jax.org/personalized-medicine/what-is/benefits.html):

Personalized medicine means that one day, doctors and genetic counselors will be able to craft a lifelong health maintenance strategy tailored to a person’s unique genetic constitution. It will be possible to predict susceptibility to diseases and to prevent, delay or mitigate those diseases with precisely chosen medicines, therapies and customized lifestyle advice.

The key words here are “doctors and genetic counselors,” and the prevention of diseases.

It is a well-publicized fact that Jackson Lab was a major force in the creation in 1990, of the $3 billion, 10-year Human Genome Project of the NIH and the Department of Energy.

What is less known and appreciated by the average American is that the tax-funded Genome Project is fundamentally eugenic, both in its heart of hearts and in the clinical and public health practices that flow from it. To date, genetic tests for more than 1,200 diseases have been developed, although the frenzied search for genetic markers for the prenatal diagnosis of cystic fibrosis and autism has still evaded NIH-funded researchers.

The first step of eugenic killing is genetic counseling, which the Jackson Lab says will be part of its IPM program. Now genetic counseling and its auxiliary medical partners, prenatal diagnosis and abortion of affected children, eviscerates the Hippocratic Oath. For, whereas, traditional medicine seeks to treat, heal, cure and console patients, the object of prenatal diagnosis is to seek out and destroy affected unborn patients in utero.

Logically, among the clientele seeking reproductive advice at the IPM will be “at-risk” or “high-risk” patients who wish to have a child or additional children unaffected by serious genetic or metabolic disorders. They will be advised of the availability of various prenatal diagnostic techniques including Chorion Villus Sampling, Alpha Fetal Protein Testing, mid-trimester Amniocentesis, Fetoscopy, (and newer IVF/BABI). Affected children will be destroyed.  But where will the killing take place?

Probably not at the IPM, but in a specialized medical facility or hospital in the vicinity of Jackson Lab’s IPM, which must be willing and able to carryout eugenic abortion in the first, second and even third-trimester of pregnancy.

On May 20, 2010, Michael Hyde, Vice-President for Advancement and External Relations for the Jackson Laboratory, was interviewed by members of the press at the Naples Harbor Yacht Club. One of the questions concerned the issue of human stem cell research. According to Hyde, nobody from Ave Maria or elsewhere had ever asked Jackson Laboratory to give its assurance that it would refrain from human embryonic stem cell research on its property. Nor, it was insinuated by Hyde, would Jackson officials and researchers likely agree to any infringement of their right to pursue whatever scientific course they desired to pursue.

All this, and yet we have heard nothing from the officials, faculty and staff of Ave Maria University including its Chancellor, Tom Monaghan, and the Ave Maria Stewardship Community District – where the Jackson Institute and its auxiliary medical facilities will be located. Nor have we heard a word of opposition from the residents of the Ave Maria Town, except for Catholic journalist and resident, Marielena Montesino de Stuart. http://romancatholicworld.wordpress.com/category/the-chronicles-of-ave-maria-%C2%A9/

For God’s sake– why?

♦ ♦ ♦ 

Media Contact for U.S. Coalition for Life (USCL) Office:  rvte61@comcast.net or call 724 327-8878 or write Box 315 Export, PA 15632.

♦ ♦ ♦

Marielena Montesino de Stuart

© Marielena Montesino de Stuart

You may also read Marielena Montesino de Stuart’s commentaries through: RenewAmerica, USAToday, The Dallas Morning News, U.S. Politics Today (an EIN Service for Political Professionals-*) Poynter Online, Spero News, Daily Estimate, The New Liturgical Movement-Poland, The Naples Daily News, Les Femmes-The Truth, Culture War Notes,  ProLife Blogs,  The Wanderer, etc.

© All Rights Reserved

  E-Mail: ContactTRCW@aol.com

Notice to readers

TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION:  Ave Maria University + The Jackson Laboratory + Workshops and Resources for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research + Eugenics + Margaret Sanger + Tom Monaghan + Tom Golisano +  Nicholas J. Healy Jr., President of AMU + Barron Collier Companies + The Ave Maria Stewardship Community District.

 

The views and opinions expressed by the U.S. Coalition for Life are those of the USCL author only, not of Marielena Montesino de Stuart.

THE CHRONICLES OF AVE MARIA©: AVE MARIA District Board Member Steps Down

The Roman Catholic World

June 8th, 2010

by Marielena Montesino de Stuart

AVE MARIA STEWARDSHIP DISTRICT BOARD (town government) - Herbert Cambridge (who stepped down) is seated at the far left. © Copyright Marielena Montesino de Stuart

The Jackson Lab’s proposed move to Ave Maria appears to be nothing but a very expensive and aggressive real estate bailout– without the input of the citizens that will be most affected.  The citizens of Ave Maria.

So, during today’s almost three–hour meeting of the Ave Maria Stewardship Community District, I presented a series of questions to the AMSCD Board, which is the town governing authority in Ave Maria. 

The AMSCD Board’s reaction in the face of scrutiny brings into question whether it has the ability to function with fairness and with due-process.  It also exposed the Board’s inability to provide basic, as well as critical information to the tax payers and residents of the District of Ave Maria.  These are taxpayers and residents who have no vote in this bizarre form of “taxation without representation” government called a ”Special District”– which operates under a “specially crafted”  law in Ave Maria, Florida, and under the control of large landowners.  READ “Ave Maria:  A Town Without a Vote– Now and Forever.”

The potential move of The Jackson Lab could have a dramatic effect– including challenges to the infrastructure of Ave Maria.  During today’s meeting, the AMSCD would  not provide any answers about The Jackson Lab.   Instead, they referred the questions to Thomas Sansbury, Vice President of Barron Collier Companies.  Mr. Sansbury then passed out an informational handout about The Jackson Lab, from the Economic Development Council of Collier County– an entity that has no governing authority over the tax payers and residents of Ave Maria.

Where is the money going to come from if there are changes needed in the infrastructure, in order to accommodate The Jackson Lab?

What town in America  would allow such a radical change without demanding a participatory study of  infrastructure, services and environmental needs? 

What about the moral impact on a town comprised overwhelmingly of Catholic families– given  The Jackson Lab’s involvement in “workshops” and “resources” for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research; however, it is alarming that the potential move of The Jackson Lab to Ave Maria has not been met with any public opposition from the Catholic faculty at Ave Maria University, nor from AMU students, or Ave Maria Town residents– who are predominantly Catholics. 

The president of AMU actually thinks there would be very considerable benefits to the entire area (Naples Daily News 04/10/2010).

During today’s AMSCD Board meeting, a dramatic and significant resignation took place, when Herbert Cambridge stepped down as a member of the board.   Cambridge is a well-known civil rights activist and community leader, who resides in Naples.

Cambridge’s resignation followed a request that board members step down, due to  a consistent pattern of failing or refusing to answer questions about District matters,  since the Board’s first Public Hearing before the residents and property owners of Ave Maria– in August, 2008. 

Today the Board refused to answer questions about The Jackson Lab and its impact on taxpayers, property owners and residents of Ave Maria, as well as other critical questions regarding Ave Maria District matters.  

Here are some of Cambridge’s statements, as he announced his resignation:

 ”When I’m asked to resign in an open public meeting, I think I’ve outlived my usefulness on that board.”

“I hope that I’ve done some good in the development of Ave Maria.”

 ”If we can find some way to improve the relationship between residents and council, I think that would be good.”

I commended Mr. Cambridge for setting the right example for the rest of the AMSCD Board, and thanked him for his service to Collier County.

The following are questions that I presented regarding The Jackson Lab:

Fred Coyle, the County Commission, and the Economic Development Council do not speak for the taxpayers in this District.   But what is the Ave Maria Stewardship Community District (AMSCD) saying regarding The Jackson Lab matter?

Ave Maria is in a high-risk fire zone.  The Jackson Lab is involved in activities that could create fires.  They already reported having a major fire in their Maine facility where 400,000 mutant mice were lost.

What measures will the Ave Maria Stewardship Community District take to prevent the Jackson Lab’s toxic waste—which may include dangerous diseases and chemicals– from becoming a hazard to the residents of Ave Maria—including contamination of waterways?

Ave Maria shares one ambulance and one fire truck with the town of Immokalee—which is a high crime area, with a much larger population than Ave Maria.   How will the AMSCD  improve our Emergency Medical Service and Fire Fighting capabilities—given the potential presence of The Jackson Lab?

Would the expansion of the EMS and fire fighting capabilities mean an added burden to the tax payers in the Ave Maria District? 

What does the Jackson Lab mean for the pocket books of the citizens of this District? 

The Ave Maria Stewardship Community District has been publicly silent, while the press covers the subject of The Jackson Lab on a daily basis.  Why?

CONFLICT OF INTEREST??? PAUL RONEY, Member of the Ave Maria Government Board and Monaghan's CFO at Ave Maria University. © Copyright Marielena Montesino de Stuart

In the minutes of the March 2^nd 2010 District meeting, a very important question was left out, which I posed to the Board and to Mr. Paul Roney–who is both  a member of the AMSCD Board and Monaghan’s Chief Financial Officer at Ave Maria University.  

During the March 2nd, 2010 meeting I asked if there had been any changes in ownership of land in Ave Maria Town (which is in the AMSCD District and tax roll)—and  specifically, if Thomas S. Monaghan had sold any land in Ave Maria Town during 2009 and 2010.  I also specifically asked if said transaction had taken place through ANY of Monaghan’s business entities, including Nua Baile.   Mr. Roney responded, “NO.”

The press has since revealed that Mr. Monaghan carried out a transaction of land back to Barron Collier, so that the Jackson Lab could build on it and move to Ave Maria.  I then asked during today’s meeting if this means that Mr. Roney did not say the truth during the March 2nd, 2010  AMSCD  public board meeting?

So, I again addressed Mr. Roney during today’s meeting and asked when this land transaction took place?  — since there is no record  of this transaction / change of ownership in the Collier County Public Records.  Mr. Roney responded that he stands by his answer given during the March 2nd, 2010 meeting.

I asked the following question, regarding the hiring of a new Auditor for the Ave Maria Stewardship Community District:

Why doesn’t the document titled “Selection Instructions to  Proposers”  include the requirement that the new Auditor of the Ave Maria Stewardship Community District NOT have any affiliations with any of the following major landholders in the District?  

Ave Maria Development

Barron Collier Companies

Thomas S. Monaghan, or any of his entities

Ave Maria University, or any entity related to Ave Maria University

I again expressed my concerns about the existence of too many business incestuous relationships in this District.

During a discussion about the increase in water rates, I  asked the following:

Given that AMSCD Board members are required to be residents of the state of Florida, I asked Mr. Paul Roney why he is not aware that Ave Maria Utility Water bills are sent monthly.   I questioned whether Mr. Roney lives in Michigan or in Ave Maria.  Mr. Roney responded that he did not know about the frequency of water bills because he is a renter in Ave Maria.

Towards the end of the meeting, the District’s lawyer (who conferenced by phone) offered five suggestions to the AMSCD Board.  The most egregious one was the second suggestion– that the AMSCD restrict who they give the right to appear or speak before the Board. 

During today’s meeting as I pressed the Board for answers to critical questions regarding The Jackson Lab and other District matters, a resident of Ave Maria who identified himself on the public record as James Dudek, asked the Board to– “Call the Cops”– in an attempt to silence me.  This is yet another example of the hostile and fractured social environment inside Ave Maria, particularly evident when a resident attempts to question those in positions of leadership or authority.

For details regarding today’s meeting (June 8th, 2010) and other comments made by the public,  you may visit the  AMSCD website where they have offered to provide   the audio recording of these meetings (although it can take months for them to make these recordings available). 

IMPORTANT UPDATE / NOTICE - June 15, 2010:   The AVE MARIA STEWARDSHIP COMMUNITY DISTRICT BOARD has done a disservice to the public by providing an INCOMPLETE RECORDING of the June 8, 2010 meeting, held in the town of Ave Maria. The availability of this incomplete recording was announced today, June 15, 2010. Why has the AMSCD edited the recording? It has left out important questions, answers and comments from the public and from members of the Board, including my question to Mr. Paul Roney concerning Mr. Monaghan’s land transaction in connection with The Jackson Lab, as reported by the press.

Mr. Roney’s answer is also missing, as well as Herbert Cambridge’s resignation statement. The minutes of the AMSCD meetings are generally abbreviated versions of the proceedings—so they cannot be relied upon.

Why is the District Board not providing full disclosure of these proceedings to the tax payers and to the general public?   

For the benefit of the public, here is the  UNEDITED audio recording of the June 8, 2010 Ave Maria Stewardship Community District Board Meeting, provided by Marielena Montesino de Stuart.

♦ ♦ ♦

Marielena Montesino de Stuart

You may read about Marielena Montesino de Stuart’s observations and opinions through RenewAmerica, USAToday, Poynter Online, Spero News, The Naples Daily News, Les Femmes-The Truth, Culture War Notes,  ProLife Blogs, The Wanderer, etc.

E-Mail:  ContactTRCW@aol.com 

TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION:  Ave Maria University + The Jackson Laboratory + Workshops and Resources for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research + Eugenics + Margaret Sanger + Tom Monaghan + Tom Golisano +  Nicholas J. Healy Jr., President of AMU + Barron Collier Companies + The Ave Maria Stewardship Community District.

© All Rights Reserved                   www.TheRomanCatholicWorld.com

NOTICE TO READERS: Marielena Montesino de Stuart and  www.TheRomanCatholicWorld.com  do not disparage anyone’s motives at Ave Maria, Ave Maria University, including the administrators, faculty, staff and students,  Ave Maria entities, Ave Maria Town, the residents and property owners in Ave Maria, Barron Collier Co., as well as anyone doing business in, with, and for Ave Maria and any of its entities.  Nothing contained in The Chronicles of Ave Maria© or Divine Comedy©, or anywhere on this blog/website questions the commitment of all involved to what they genuinely see as the best interests of Ave Maria, Ave Maria University, Ave Maria entities, Ave Maria Town and Barron Collier Co.  Marielena Montesino de Stuart and www.TheRomanCatholicWorld.com concede this. 

THE CHRONICLES OF AVE MARIA©: Who will stop the Barbarians?

The Roman Catholic World

June 4th, 2010

THE CHRONICLES OF AVE MARIA ©:  Who will stop the Barbarians?

by Marielena Montesino de Stuart 

“The whole camp rose up with one terrible cry, and
the deaf earth reverberated at its new lord’s name
- Attila, Attila, Attila the King.”

Fourth Canto – The Hunt  from Death of Buda,

 Epics of the Hungarian Plain, by János Arany

 

POPE LEO I (the Great) Meets ATTILA the HUN

In 452 AD, Rome was being threatened by Barbarians, under the command of Attila the Hun.  Pope Leo I (the Great) met with Attila in the vicinity of Mantua, near Lake Garda, where– single-handedly, and with tremendous determination he defended and protected the throne of Peter and The Eternal City, by persuading Attila to turn back.   

In 2010 AD, I am an army of one inside Ave Maria– waiting for the modern Barbarians.

And this is another chapter of how this process has been unfolding…

Flashback– November, 2009:  Tom Golisano, who has been a financial supporter of hard-core pro-choice politicians and pro-choice institutions, is honored at Ave Maria University on November 5^th, 2009.   I was scheduled to cover the Golisano press conference as a Catholic reporter, and had registered directly with the university’s public relations firm (Falls Communications) in charge of press matters.   

Ave Maria University’s administration “disinvited” me shortly before the press conference was to begin.  When I went to inquire from the administration why I had been disinvited–I was met by security guards and  Collier County Sheriff  deputies, who had been ordered to arrest me if I stepped on the campus to cover the story.

The university’s administration took their draconian approach a step further– by banning me from over 900 acres of their property for nearly three months.

The lame excuse given by the university’s administration to FOX Television news and other  media outlets was that I had been “disruptive” when I attended an Ave Maria town government meeting, on November 3^rd 2009– a meeting which I attended as a resident taxpayer and property owner.  During that meeting I posed questions to the town’s governing board about compliance of Florida statutes.  The audio recordings of the meeting showed evidence that I was not disruptive– but simply exercising my rights as a citizen to ask questions at a town government meeting.  The amazing excuse and admission given by the university’s administration is alarming to say the least– given that Ave Maria’s town government meetings have nothing to do with university matters!   

So, you ask yourselves—who is this Tom Golisano?  Golisano is a billionaire/politician from New York (he now resides in Naples) who has given breathtaking financial support to numerous hard-core, NARAL-endorsed pro-choice politicians, including Barack Obama– as well as monumental financial support to pro-choice organizations.  

Why did AMU honor Golisano?  Because he gave AMU $4 million dollars for a field house (which is being constructed as I write this piece)—bearing Golisano’s name in perpetual honor.  But for Golisano, $4 million is chump change—compared to what he has given the pro-choice world.  The justification given for the honoring is that Golisano believes in the mission of Ave Maria University– and that  he has always been pro-life!  

This perpetual honoring of Golisano is taking place in violation of the rules of the USCCB (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops)– which state:

The Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions.”–  From Catholics in Political Life (USCCB 2004).  

While all this honoring is taking place—Golisano has become embroiled in a legal scandal.  On March 10, 2010 a court upheld a $26 million award against Golisano. The Associated Press story may be read here  (PDF).  Further details available from the PRWeb HERE  (PDF).  You may also read  court document related to this case here  (PDF).

Then, on May 3^rd, 2010 The Buffalo News reported the following [excerpt]:

“Billionaire B. Thomas Golisano’s political organization remains under investigation for election law violations after a State Supreme Court justice last week dismissed his efforts to halt the probe of his Responsible New York committee and its chief operative, G. Steven Pigeon.”

Read the full article from The Buffalo News website here.  Also available in PDF.

You would think that an institution like Ave Maria University, which has not even received official recognition as a Catholic university from the local bishop—would be more prudent, and name the building after a saint or martyr of the Church.  Unfortunately, the Golisano honoring represents  the ongoing erosion of the meaning of pro-life in Ave Maria–  further explained below.

While residents of Ave Maria and students of Ave Maria University are shown by the media conducting public demonstrations and prayer vigils 40 miles away, outside of Planned Parenthood in Naples, Florida—the Tom Golisano building continues to be erected, without demonstrations at the construction site—or anywhere in Ave Maria, for that matter.  

The same absence of indignation goes for the well-publicized announcement that The Jackson Laboratory may be opening a facility in Ave Maria—a laboratory involved in “workshops” and “resources” (mutant mice) for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research!   Is it that the well-intentioned Ave Maria demonstrators who travel 40 miles to the Planned Parenthood clinic in Naples have a convenient blind spot for the Golisano building and the Jackson Lab issue?  I’d say—save on gas, you’ve got your work cut out for you–right here, inside Ave Maria!

How can this be happening in Ave Maria?  A town comprised overwhelmingly of Catholic families.

Who will stop the Barbarians?

Meanwhile– outside the walls of Ave Maria, expert leaders in the world of laboratory science—such as Julius I. Pericola, retired president of Bristol Laboratories in Syracuse , New York are strongly voicing their opposition to The Jackson Lab.  Here is an excerpt from Pericola’s comment in the Naples Daily News:

“Beware:  Scientists are very, very poor businessmen and will promise anything to have projects funded.”

Alvin E. Strack, Sr., former director in the international division of Smith, Kline & French Labs (now Glaxo-SmithKline) had this to say to the Naples Daily News:

“Pericola is right on in recognizing the airy-fairy promises being made for this company. Wall Street is awash with venture capital for promising biotechnology projects.  Let Jackson Lab get the money there if these venture capitalists feel it has something worthwhile to offer. 

To support this lab is a totally inappropriate use of the tax money of Collier County.

Keep the mice in Maine!

Finally, I find it even more reprehensible that part of the funding scheme to get Jackson Lab here would involve diversion of stimulus money intended for Medicare.  Medicare is just that.  The money is for care, and not extremely risky research ventures.

Shame on them!”

The complete comments by Pericola and Strack are available here and here.

Pericola and Strack are supported by an overwhelming (75%) public opposition to The Jackson Lab’s proposed move to Ave Maria (see results of poll below); however, the absolutely embarrassing fact is that the public opposition being published by the Naples Daily News ’Letters to the Editor’ appears to be from outside Ave Maria—and not just from business leaders and corporate executives, but also from the general public.     

This ‘outside-of-Ave Maria’ public opposition to The Jackson Lab is based on everything from burden to the taxpayer,  to environmental risks—as evidenced in the Naples Daily News letters to the editor, as well as a Naples Daily News Poll.  The letters that are written in support of The Jackson Lab venture, which appear to be in the minority– are, as Strack said—based on “airy-fairy promises.”

Even the National Catholic Register—which has written pieces praising Monaghan’s projects, came out with a serious chastisement of Monaghan and Ave Maria University’s leadership, for their support of The Jackson Lab’s proposed move to Ave Maria. 

While this public opposition is taking place outside Ave Maria– the Catholic faculty at Ave Maria University, which includes physicists, economists, theologians, philosophers, priests– and other assorted proclaimed experts on Catholicism and moral issues—show no signs of public opposition to the welcoming of The Jackson Lab—and its  “workshops” and “resources” for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research.

Who will stop the Barbarians?

Nicholas J. Healy, Jr., president of Ave Maria University was actually quoted by the Naples Daily News as follows:

“If they were to locate here I think there would be very considerable benefits to the entire area…”

Healy’s complete statements in the Naples Daily News can be read here.

As for Monaghan—there is no hope there.  He was quoted as saying “Go ahead with it” in the same Naples Daily News article cited above —and is reported to have facilitated the land where The Jackson Lab plans to build.

On the editorial page of the Naples Daily News a quiet slogan appears, as follows: 

“Give light and the people will find their own way.”

This light has not yet shone in the darkness of Ave Maria. 

I, as an army of one– will be waiting to meet the Barbarians.

♦ ♦ ♦

Marielena Montesino de Stuart

You may read about Marielena Montesino de Stuart’s observations and opinions through RenewAmerica, USAToday, Poynter Online, Spero News, The Naples Daily News, Les Femmes-The Truth, Culture War Notes,  ProLife Blogs, The Wanderer, etc.

E-Mail:  ContactTRCW@aol.com 

TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION:  Ave Maria University + The Jackson Laboratory + Workshops and Resources for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research + Eugenics + Margaret Sanger + Tom Monaghan + Tom Golisano +  Nicholas J. Healy Jr., President of AMU + Barron Collier Companies + The Ave Maria Stewardship Community District.

© All Rights Reserved                   www.TheRomanCatholicWorld.com

NOTICE TO READERS: Marielena Montesino de Stuart and  www.TheRomanCatholicWorld.com  do not disparage anyone’s motives at Ave Maria, Ave Maria University, including the administrators, faculty, staff and students,  Ave Maria entities, Ave Maria Town, the residents and property owners in Ave Maria, Barron Collier Co., as well as anyone doing business in, with, and for Ave Maria and any of its entities.  Nothing contained in The Chronicles of Ave Maria© or Divine Comedy©, or anywhere on this blog/website questions the commitment of all involved to what they genuinely see as the best interests of Ave Maria, Ave Maria University, Ave Maria entities, Ave Maria Town and Barron Collier Co.  Marielena Montesino de Stuart and www.TheRomanCatholicWorld.com concede this.

THE CHRONICLES OF AVE MARIA©: “An Army of ONE”

The Roman Catholic World

June 3rd, 2010

THE CHRONICLES OF AVE MARIA ©:  “An Army of ONE”  (A Divine Comedy Special)

by Marielena Montesino de Stuart

© Copyright 2010 Marielena Montesino de Stuart

Marielena Montesino de Stuart

You may read about Marielena Montesino de Stuart’s observations and opinions through RenewAmerica, USAToday, Poynter Online, Spero News, The Naples Daily News, Les Femmes-The Truth, Culture War Notes,  ProLife Blogs, The Wanderer, etc.

E-Mail:  ContactTRCW@aol.com

 

 

TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION:  Ave Maria University + The Jackson Laboratory + Workshops and Resources for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research + Eugenics + Margaret Sanger + Tom Monaghan + Tom Golisano +  Nicholas J. Healy Jr., President of AMU + Barron Collier Companies + The Ave Maria Stewardship Community District.

© All Rights Reserved                   www.TheRomanCatholicWorld.com

Notice to readers

THE CHRONICLES OF AVE MARIA ©: “Nickey Mouse” has a few questions…

The Roman Catholic World

June 2nd, 2010

THE CHRONICLES OF AVE MARIA ©: “Nickey Mouse” has a few questions… (A Divine Comedy Special)

by Marielena Montesino de Stuart

“NICKEY” the Mutant Mouse has a few questions. . .

"NICKEY" THE MUTANT MOUSE HAS A FEW QUESTIONS © Copyright 2010 Marielena Montesino de Stuart

Marielena Montesino de Stuart

You may read about Marielena Montesino de Stuart’s observations and opinions through RenewAmerica, USAToday, Poynter Online, Spero News, The Naples Daily News, Les Femmes-The Truth, Culture War Notes,  ProLife Blogs, The Wanderer, etc.

E-Mail:  ContactTRCW@aol.com

 

 

TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION:  Ave Maria University + The Jackson Laboratory + Workshops and Resources for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research + Eugenics + Margaret Sanger + Tom Monaghan + Tom Golisano +  Nicholas J. Healy Jr., President of AMU + Barron Collier Companies + The Ave Maria Stewardship Community District.

© All Rights Reserved                   www.TheRomanCatholicWorld.com

Notice to readers