Archive for December, 2011
Owning beauty: The suburb in the American imagination, Part IV
Notre Dame’s School of Architecture is well known for its new urbanist tendencies, but I think what is more important is our unspoken credo that pretty much anywhere below the Arctic Circle can be made beautiful, comfortable, and prosperous; in short, a great place to live. To do so requires vision, and sensitive, informed development - but it can be done. Our endless outpouring of schemes [...]
“Women and Spirit” highlights contributions of women religious
“We offer you no salary; no recompense; no holidays; no pensions, but much hard work; a poor dwelling; few consolations; many disappointments; frequent sickness; a violent or lonely death.” So ran an advertisement for the Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Aberdeen, South Dakota, penned by Mother M. John Hughes in the late nineteenth century. It captures the generous and courageous [...]
University confirms United Way meets charitable giving requirements
The university recently defended its yearlong campaign to raise $300,000 for United Way, a non-profit organization which sponsors initiatives that focus on education, income, and health. Though United Way has garnered criticism from pro-life activists for its ties to Planned Parenthood, University Spokesman Dennis Brown said that the charity’s St. Joseph County chapter meets the university’s [...]
Students, departments reflect on role of grad student teachers
Undergraduate complaints about graduate students’ teaching and grading are common. These courses are sometimes regarded as inferior to courses taught by regular faculty. Suzann Petrongolo, a film, television, and theatre major and Italian minor, said that a graduate student’s ultimate focus is his own coursework rather than those he is teaching. “I think that they’re students too [...]
ND student vets describe experience
Today, Notre Dame joins over 170 colleges and universities across the nation by including the National Roll Call in their observance of Veterans Day. The event begins at 8:30 a.m. at the Clarke Memorial Fountain ("Stonehenge") with the presentation of the flag. Throughout the day, 62 members of the Notre Dame community, half of whom are members of the university’s Navy, Army, and Air Force [...]
Rover exclusive: Cain advisor discusses 999 plan
To the mysterious ranks of GOP candidate Herman Cain’s economic advisors, the publicly revealed names of which until now consisted of Rich Lowrie, Arthur Laffer and Stephen Moore, THE IRISH ROVER brings you chairman of the department of history at Sam Houston State University Brian Domitrovic. Domitrovic received his PhD in history from Harvard University in 2000, since contributing to [...]
Chris Christie tackles teachers unions, education reform
To what does rising Republican star Chris Christie attribute his success? The New Jersey governor is grateful for his parents’ decision to move from Newark, New Jersey, to a better school district and stated that education is “the single most important issue in America today for our long-term future.” “If my parents kept me in Newark, I wouldn’t be standing here today as the 55th [...]
Notre Dame introduces new majors in Irish language and literature
Beginning this fall, Notre Dame will become the first university outside Ireland to offer its students an Irish major. Language-intensive and literature-intensive tracks will be offered as both primary and supplemental majors. “It’s exciting, starting something that hasn’t been done before,” said Professor Tara MacLeod, director of undergraduate studies in the Notre Dame Department [...]
Fr. Bob Barron of Word on Fire speaks on evangelization
Opening night at the Center for Ethics and Culture’s fall conference McKenna Hall once again staged the proceedings of Notre Dame's twelvth annual Center for Ethics and Culture Fall Conference. The hall buzzed with conversation, full to maximum capacity a full half an hour before the opening keynote lecture, delivered this year by Fr. Robert Barron of the archdiocese of Chicago. Fr. [...]
Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels addresses entrepreneurship
“I want to foster a spirit of enterprise in this state,” said Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels on November 15 as part of the Entrepreneurial Insights lecture series sponsored by the Mendoza College of Business. Daniels described the efforts he made during his administration to promote entrepreneurship and innovation in Indiana. “We are building the best sandbox in America and making the [...]
Made for ecstasy? Rodzinka hosts Theology of the Body speaker
Colin Nykaza, a popular high school speaker affiliated with the Goretti Group, addressed Notre Dame undergraduates in his talk, “Made for Ecstasy: Drugs, Alcohol, Sex…God?” Rodzinka, a club for promoting Catholic culture particularly the importance of the family, sponsored his talk, which took place during a homemade meal in the Knights of Columbus building. “Young people are [...]
Irene Engel shares life lessons on chastity
About 5 years ago, Irene Engel began noticing a troubling theme in her conversations with other grandmothers. “We were hearing too many reports that CATHOLIC girls did not understand the need for chastity, protecting their bodies, and we made the statement, ‘Somebody should say something.’” Growing up in a “typical family” in the “typical Midwestern town” of Lacrosse, [...]
Business – challenged?
From Scholastic’s mock of business majors earlier this fall to the conversation you just had in your seminar, bashing business majors may not rival football, but it’s a popular campus sport. Just thinking of the stereotypes is enough to lift any liberal arts student’s spirits: money grubbing, Natty Light-swilling oafs who enjoy boat shoes, bro tanks, and trips to Banana Republic (and [...]
How will Obama’s student loan reform affect you?
In October, President Obama initiated an executive order to reform student loan policy. Obama’s two-part plan will enable borrowers to consolidate government loans and the plan will accelerate the existing student loan reform program Congress passed in 2010, which was originally scheduled to take effect in 2014. The 2010 income-based repayment plan reduced the amount college graduates have [...]
Cheers and Jeers
Cheers Three cheers for all the hot air global warming alarmists have spewed over the past decade, which it seems has made this winter most delectable as of yet. You got your Solydra scandal; I got my light-weight jacket. A hearty cheer for our generous (and cool) donors. Is the OBSERVER self-sufficient? 'Nuff said. The Office for University Life Initiatives and the Institute for Church [...]