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What's the point of miracles?

By The Observer · Monday, Feb. 13, 2012

In these first weeks of Ordinary Time, we have been reading from the early chapters of Mark's Gospel. These chapters are often predominated by the early miracles of Jesus — the exorcism of the man with an unclean spirit, the healing of a leper, the raising of the centurion's daughter. They are, by definition, astounding miracles — but just barely, at least as Mark recounts them. That is to say, Mark unfurls the miracles ("Demon, come out of that man," "Go, show yourself to the priest and be clean," "Get the girl something to eat") but in each case concludes with a most unexpected and severely underwhelming line, "Go home, and tell no one about this."

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Church over society

By The Observer · Monday, Feb. 13, 2012

Recently, an article titled ‘'The Responsible use of Contraception'' (Feb. 13) was posted in the Viewpoint claiming the Church's teaching on contraception should be "reassessed" to fit better with the modern view of contraception. The author of this article states "members of the Notre Dame community can do both the Church and the country a service by engaging in humble and honest self-examination."

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Truck Day

By The Observer · Monday, Feb. 13, 2012

If there's anything good about late winter, it's the streak of minor holidays that fall from February to mid-March. We get weather prognostication from a groundhog, heart-shaped candy, an opportunity to blow off steam before Lent starts and an excuse to blow off Lent when St. Patrick's Day rolls around just three weeks later.

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Trading places: Engineering vs. Arts and Letters, part 2

By The Observer · Sunday, Feb. 12, 2012

I'm a political science/Arabic double-major, and my classes are interesting, the workload is manageable and I have time to do things outside of the classroom. As I visited my friend's classes over the last week, I found that this is not the case for most engineers. The students themselves are smart, talented and good-humored. The major, however, does these students no credit, and creates a situation where some of our most talented students consistently struggle despite their best efforts.

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Trading places: Engineering vs. Arts and Letters, part 1

By The Observer · Sunday, Feb. 12, 2012

Throughout the past week I shadowed my friend enrolled in the College of Arts and Letters to explore, on a first-hand basis, the common complaint that nontechnical majors do little work. I am a sophomore chemical engineering student and very involved with several clubs and organizations around campus. Life is busy.

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It's all about the Zuck

By The Observer · Sunday, Feb. 12, 2012

On Feb. 1, everyone's Internet love affair (Facebook) filed its S-1 registration statement with the SEC. This is not the first tech IPO to occur in recent history, but it is perhaps the most iconic and personal. The document unravels some startling truths about the company where before there was only conjecture. The numbers and statistics of Facebook's rise to success are codified in a government document available to the public domain: 845 million monthly active users, 2.7 billion likes and comments per day, 250 million photos uploaded daily and over 100 billion friendships. With a valuation of around $100 billion, Facebook has finally arrived.

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Practice safe irrationality

By The Observer · Sunday, Feb. 12, 2012

I think I understand irrationality better than most. It's a part of my everyday life, even integral to my personality. Ask my friends; they'll tell you. The amount of unreasonableness with which I approach every possible daily situation can frustrate those around me at times. I know that; it's one of the main reasons I do it. Things like "maturity" and "rationality" aren't exactly staples of my vocabularic diet.

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Day of Man

By The Observer · Sunday, Feb. 12, 2012

This Wednesday, Feb. 15, is Siegfried Hall's Day of Man. Siegfried residents will wear only a T-shirt, shorts and sandals as a display of solidarity with the homeless of South Bend. On our way to classes and outside the dining halls, DeBartolo and Fieldhouse Mall, we will collect money from students and staff for the South Bend Center for the Homeless.

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The new sexy: Authenticity

By The Observer · Saturday, Feb. 11, 2012

When you hear the word "sexy," what images or people pop into your mind? When I asked some Notre Dame students this question a few days ago, names like Rihanna, Bradley Cooper, Megan Fox, Katy Perry and Idris Elba were mentioned. In many ways the concept of sexy depends on the "eye of the beholder," and what we behold is influenced greatly by what the culture calls "hot."

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Taxation must align with broader policies

By The Observer · Saturday, Feb. 11, 2012

I was disappointed to see Thursday's articles on the flat tax address it as an isolated issue. If there was a roughly even playing field for generating income, a flat tax would be eminently reasonable.

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Appeal to the public first

By The Observer · Saturday, Feb. 11, 2012

The past month has had me thinking a lot about Catholic teaching regarding abortion and contraception. Several of my friends went to the March for Life in Washington, D.C. a few weeks ago, and the news for the past few days has been filled with stories about the health insurance mandate on Catholic employers to provide contraceptive services to its employees.

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The responsible use of contraception

By The Observer · Saturday, Feb. 11, 2012

Over the past few weeks, Catholic leaders have accused the Obama administration of insensitivity to the "Catholic conscience" and called for a reconsideration of the recent H.H.S. mandate that universities and other Catholic institutions include contraceptives in their health care insurance package.

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The Affection Survey

By The Observer · Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2012

Here's a survey question for you. No, it's not a 10-minute long process on SurveyMonkey your friends guilt you into taking to help them with some class project. Just one question. Ready?

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Some positive news for once

By The Observer · Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2012

 Just finished my daily reading of TMZ. Looks like Gary Busey's still crazy. Demi Moore might have fled rehab. Kim Kardashian wants to televise her divorce trial. And guess what? I'm sick of all this depressing celebrity news. (Except for the part about Kim's divorce trial on live television. That just sounds awesome. P.S. Kim — call me at 508-320-0847. I'm single and ready to mingle.)

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Women's health

By The Observer · Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2012

We are reminded this week there is ongoing debate in Washington over the Obama administration's mandate to require most employers to provide coverage of prescription contraceptives. As a member of the Notre Dame community and as a woman, I cannot help but feel personally drawn to this debate.

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Catholic "mandate" already exists

By The Observer · Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2012

Brilliant constitutional lawyer David Boies has a stellar reputation for presenting savvy arguments before the Supreme Court. Boies contends the Obama administration's recent so-called "mandate" contains no constitutional conflict that exempts churches but requires religious-affiliated employers to provide contraception at no cost to their female employees. He notes that in fact, nearly two-thirds of the states already require such a mandate or do not provide any specific exemptions even for employers such as churches and other places of worship whose primary purpose is imparting religious beliefs.

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