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Geraldine Ferraro: a champion for women

By The Observer · Thursday, April 7, 2011

The Notre Dame women's basketball team — runners-up in this year's collegiate varsity level national championship competition — owe their opportunity and global audience to women like Geraldine Ferraro, who recently passed away after a 12-year battle against multiple myeloma. Born into an Italian immigrant family, she grew up with her mother in the tough-acting New York neighborhoods of the Bronx and Queens during a time when women struggled for political, economic and social equality. Her successful law-and-order campaign slogan characterized her succinctly: "Finally, a Tough Democrat!"

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Why you should go to the opera next week

By The Observer · Thursday, April 7, 2011

When asked to name a composer of classical music, even the most benighted among us could name Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. But aside from a collection of sound bites in television commercials or a sonata you were forced to play during your childhood years in piano lessons, you probably have not had much direct contact with the great composer. Perhaps you have just never listened to much classical music, or worse, you find it boring. Many people do claim to enjoy Mozart, but sadly his music remains trapped as background noise to study sessions. Even music majors I know seem somewhat disinterested in Mozart, citing his effervescence as tiring fireworks and preferring the wider harmonic variety of later 19th and 20th century composers to Mozart's simpler tonal palette. These criticisms I do not understand, for when I hear Mozart, the walls of my dorm seem to recede and I need do nothing more than close my eyes and be carried away by the defiant playfulness and absolute sublimity of his music.

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Towards God together

By The Observer · Wednesday, April 6, 2011

John's Gospel opens with an unexpected twist, a twist perhaps important to note especially as our community unites again to mourn the loss of one of our members. John the Baptist is preaching by the Jordan River. Suddenly, a figure appears in the distance. John stops his preaching and points in the direction of the figure. He says, "Behold, there is the Lamb of God, the one I have been preaching about." And a couple of the disciples, curious, start to follow Jesus as he passes by.

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College reform

By The Observer · Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Having gone through the bread and butter years of college, I now understand that not all we learn here is adequately preparing us for the future. As I enter the last two semesters of my college career, there are many classes within my major that I won't have the opportunity to take — classes that could be very useful in finding my career path. I came to college specifically to prepare myself for my future career in private industry. But, regardless of our ambitions, what we all get is a smorgasbord of liberal arts education enforced through a core curriculum. Yes, there is something more to college education than just what you learn in your major, but in this day and age, where children across the world are gunning to beat us in business and innovation, can we really afford to take the extra time?

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Allies for spirit of inclusion

By The Observer · Wednesday, April 6, 2011

We all may have different reasons for deciding to come to Notre Dame — academic, religious, athletic, familial or some combination of these and more. Notre Dame's tradition attracts people with similar values and aspirations, acknowledging their uniqueness while providing them with a firm sense of commonality. More often than not, over time one can firmly establish a reassuring sense of community here.

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My confession

By The Observer · Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Forgive me, journalism, for I have sinned. It has been three years since I converted to the craft, and never in that time have I felt the need to confess.

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A community that listens

By The Observer · Tuesday, April 5, 2011

A member of our community committed suicide last week. I do not know Sean Valero, nor do I know any of the circumstances surrounding his death. What I do know, however, is that suicide is often the end result of untreated or unsuccessfully treated depression, and depression is a serious illness.

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Hobbes on room picks

By The Observer · Tuesday, April 5, 2011

In his famous philosophical work "Leviathan," Thomas Hobbes outlines what he calls a "State of nature," an anarchic situation characterized by a war of all against all with each person struggling for survival. Having recently experienced room picks here at Notre Dame, I can't help but feel like Hobbes somehow had the room selection process in mind when came up with this idea.

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The bright side of education

By The Observer · Tuesday, April 5, 2011

When we hear about education these days, the typical news is both dire and ominous. One of the most prevalent refrains is that America lags embarrassingly behind other nations in standardized test scores. Another is the inadequacy of our STEM education — science, technology, engineering and math. We are barraged by information about how American students are in free-fall compared to our ruthlessly ambitious Chinese counterparts, books revealing how our university system fails to develop critical thinking skills, reports on the mess of our public school system. Some debates are bitter and rusted down from years of stagnation (think affirmative action and teachers unions).

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The right conscience

By The Observer · Tuesday, April 5, 2011

What comes to mind when you hear "HEI"? Most of us would either draw a blank or immediately think about liberals, radicals, or simply orange jumpsuits. This, however, is not a political, radical, or anti-Notre Dame matter; it is purely a matter of fighting an injustice that has manifested itself in our University's endowment in a hotel company that stifles and abuses its workforce.

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Disappointing finish

By The Observer · Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Monday's NCAA men's basketball championship provided a significant, if sloppy, conclusion to the 2010-2011 season. The uncommonly low final score of Connecticut's 53-41 win over Butler leads me to ask only one question: When do they play the second half?

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R-E-S-P-E-C-T

By The Observer · Tuesday, April 5, 2011

In response to the light dusting of controversy surrounding the letter "Ladies, be decent" (April 4), I offer the following thoughts:

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