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Yacht Dance app

By The Observer · Monday, April 2, 2012

Spring is here, and love is in the air. As the flowers bloom, new romances are blossoming. But all good things must come to an end. So what is the best way to celebrate spring and go out with a bang? That's right: the St. Ed's Yacht Dance. It has been widely touted as the finest dorm dance of all, even attracting poor imitators like Duncan's Highlander Highrise. Now why would I bring this up? Simply to taunt you with a dance that only St. Ed's gentlemen and their carefully chosen dates can attend? Nay. I am writing to offer a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: the chance to attend the St. Ed's Yacht Dance with none other than me, Josh Underhill.

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Care for an art festival?

By The Observer · Monday, April 2, 2012

After much thought and discussion between myself and other students, it has become clear that the University of Notre Dame is in need of two things: one, the public promotion of creativity particularly in the arts, and two, integration within the South Bend community. To this dual end, I have a proposal. At some point next year, in a collaborative effort between administration and various departments and student groups, the University of Notre Dame should host a community arts festival for the city of South Bend and Notre Dame.

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Beautiful Easter options

By The Observer · Monday, April 2, 2012

Students staying on campus over Easter break, fretting over what to do with so much time on your hands - you have options. You can sleep in. You can check out some of the (many) hotspots of South Bend. But here's something that might not be so intuitive: Why not experience one of the most beautiful ecclesiastic atmospheres in the world?

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Unfairness of the best possible kind

By The Observer · Monday, April 2, 2012

"See, my servant shall prosper, he shall be raised high and greatly exalted. Even as many were amazed at him - so marred was his look beyond that of man, and his appearance beyond that of mortals - so shall he startle many nations, because of him kings shall stand speechless."

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Shame on them

By The Observer · Monday, April 2, 2012

As regular as daffodils in spring, a few letters from self-absorbed seniors arrive at The Observer declaring that the commencement speaker is not worthy of their dignity. It probably never occurs to the writers that the speaker might be offended by their disdain. "The gentleman," Cardinal Newman once wrote, "is one who does not offend consciously." He did not discuss those who have not the wit to do so consciously. Had he so considered the matter he might well have judged them to be twits. By contrast: Kudos to the newspaper for the generous remarks about a distinguished alumna who will be welcomed by the vast majority of the Notre Dame family, the pretentious few notwithstanding.

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All the Girls Around Me

By The Observer · Sunday, April 1, 2012

I'm eating lunch on the outdoor patio at a restaurant on the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica, Calif. Hundreds of people are flowing in and out of storefronts, restaurants, theaters and whatnot. A street performer is playing a rendition of "Don't Stop Believing" on what appears to be a musical saw. It's as good a time as any to test the fabled iPhone app "Girls Around Me." In keeping with its name, the app pools three types of data together: Foursquare check-ins, Facebook profiles and GPS-located Google Maps. And it does all of this to show the girls who are around you.

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Dating at Notre Dame: The Remix

By The Observer · Sunday, April 1, 2012

The title of this editorial could be accurately described as a misnomer. I have heard from every corner of campus that dating does not occur at Notre Dame. The lack of dating is not just relegated to Notre Dame, but is present on college campuses across the country. The reasons for this state of affairs is as varied as the people you talk with. Some claim that there just isn't enough time in the week to develop a meaningful relationship, others point to parietals as the source of our consternation and still others claim that the single sex residence hall system is to blame for the poor state of relationships on campus.

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How to finish a semester in under a month

By The Observer · Sunday, April 1, 2012

Over the past four years here at Notre Dame, I've found myself spread thinly between multiple classes and mastering none of them. I'd begin semesters compelled to genuinely dive deep into my curricula, but would become inundated with an intense workload impossible to champion. We're urged to eliminate the distractions of our lives - the likes of socializing, extracurriculars, and the passions that make us who we are - in order to rebalance ourselves around academia. However, the biggest obstacle in the way of genuine learning is simply school itself.

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Big Blue Nation

By The Observer · Sunday, April 1, 2012

Even though it's April, I still have March Madness, which is strange because I hardly ever follow basketball (this coming from the girl who asked her sister-in-law if player fouls went away after halftime). I have never filled out a bracket for the madness. That is, until one little team made it all the way to the national championship - the Kentucky Wildcats.

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Romantic comedies

By The Observer · Saturday, March 31, 2012

"I love that you get cold when it's seventy-one degrees out, I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich ... and I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night."

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Dating at Notre Dame: The remix

By The Observer · Saturday, March 31, 2012

Things happen very fast in the current generation. Whether we want to acknowledge it or not, there is a good reason why top chefs do not prepare elegant meals in a microwave.

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Fulfilling the moral mandate

By The Observer · Saturday, March 31, 2012

Last Monday night, the Common Council passed a measure protecting South Bend residents from discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation. The 6-3 vote is more evidence of the change of attitudes celebrated by the Notre Dame 4 to 5 Movement. Things have improved significantly for gay and lesbian students at Notre Dame, thanks in part to the efforts of the Core Council. But as the 4 to 5 Movement video pointed out, "It needs to get better at Notre Dame."

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We're getting sold short

By The Observer · Saturday, March 31, 2012

As a member of the class of 2012, I would like to congratulate the administration for their stellar choice of ­­- wait.

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My monologue about the 'Monologues'

By The Observer · Saturday, March 31, 2012

If you watched "Show Some Skin: The Race Monologues," then you've been exposed to race issues. As the director of the production, let me stress this: exposure is different from education. The actors did not explicitly walk you through every monologue analyzing how race played a part in the writer's life. There was no commentary on the bias intrinsic to each piece. Theories weren't laid before you to help you understand the behavior of the anonymous writers. Statistics weren't thrown at you to help you realize the trends in our society. "The Race Monologues" was just what it is called - monologues, nothing more.

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Supreme Court's health care decision too big to fail

By The Observer · Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Each generation witnesses at least one iconic event that twists our national fate - often for the betterment of society, other times setting back our way of life. Throughout the last 75 years, American history has been dotted with both tragedy and achievement through external or internal forces. We have endured dramatic attacks upon our nation and assassinations of our government leaders. We have persisted through political intrigue and legislative accomplishments while occasionally adjusting to judicial disappointment. The Supreme Court's consideration this week of the constitutionality of President Obama's signature landmark legislation, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), will provide another historical twist when we learn in June whether the high court upholds or strikes down portions or all of the law.

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Question of the day: better dining hall?

By The Observer · Wednesday, March 28, 2012

I would like to state some concerns I had with yesterday's "Question of the Day," which was "which dining hall is better, North or South?" The fact that the most intelligent response was "I like turtles" is saddening. I would like to go through each response and address the issues with each one.

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Commencement speaker an appropriate choice

By The Observer · Wednesday, March 28, 2012

After a long wait, the Notre Dame class of 2012 has its commencement speaker: Haley Scott DeMaria, a Notre Dame 1995 graduate and a survivor of the 1992 bus crash that killed two members of the Irish women's swimming team.

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