opinion

Lay off

By The Observer · Thursday, Oct. 28, 2010

In response to the recent opinions in the viewpoint section, articles such as "Celebrate Seniors" (Oct. 26) and "Absence of toughness"(Oct. 26) are unfair to both our football program and the athletic department. I believe that it is obnoxious that one fan can possibly have a letter published about how he should "storm the field," after a loss. As an athlete here at Notre Dame and on a competitive team (fencing) that realistically can win a national title every year, the last thing I would want to see in my campus newspaper is an article by a fellow student which would celebrate our loss for a national title. Letters like this are not motivational, but rather insulting to the program and won't change anything.

Let's hear it for the underdogs

By The Observer · Thursday, Oct. 28, 2010

I couldn't help but overhear two of my colleagues commiserating the other day about the miserable state of this year's World Series. Perhaps they miss the presence of their own beloved Phillies and Red Sox, or possibly they feel genuine concern for the financial straits they have predicted for FOX, stuck with two such underwhelming potential champions. And maybe their forecast of doom will prove correct – unless you're from San Francisco, or you're one of the few people in Texas who has realized they have a baseball team, weren't you hoping for a series played by big-name players from big-name teams?

A new era of slavery

By The Observer · Thursday, Oct. 28, 2010

The other day, a friend of mine brought up the fact he wouldn't mind paying 50 percent of what he made in taxes. Take a minute to think about that. That would mean that half of your working life would be as a virtual slave to the government. For the average person that would be 15-20 years of bondage where you worked long hours at your job without receiving your rightful pay. Sure, you get to choose where you work, but that is like trying to differentiate the slave that works in the house and the one that works in the field. Even a third of your income today going to the government makes you a part time slave. When you think about it in those terms, the fact that you will have to work twice as hard to get where you want to be by the time you retire is unbelievable. Well surely we are getting something for that money, and yes, we are — the greatest military in the world, a well established highway network and a mostly fair system of law to name a few — but we are increasingly getting stuff that a lot of us don't need from the government.

Looking for good role models

By The Observer · Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2010

The other day I was reading in the bathroom, as I normally do when nature calls. The book I had (hastily) selected for my time of need was an English translation of "Cyrano de Bergerac." For those not in the know: Cyrano is an unusually eloquent man who also bears the unfortunate cross of a longer-than-average nose, rendering him unattractive to women. He is in love with his cousin Roxanne, but she prefers the handsome Christian, but Christian is really dumb, so Cyrano nobly decides to help Christian seduce Roxanne by putting words in his mouth. Christian dies in battle before he and Roxanne can consummate their marriage, and Cyrano nobly hides his role in the seduction from Roxanne until he is on his deathbed.

Not how I roll

By The Observer · Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2010

When Dayne Crist failed to run the ball into the end zone on Notre Dame's first drive Saturday against Navy, the die-hard Irish faithful sitting around me nearly coughed up their gourmet California Rolls in disgust.