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Sunday, April 5, 2026
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Respect Polish tragedy as such

By The Observer · Monday, April 19, 2010

I am writing to respond to the show of disrespect I have witnessed on campus concerning the recent tragedy in Poland, in which a plane carrying the Polish president, the First Lady and many senior officials crashed in Smolensk, Russia. Those on board were traveling to a ceremony that would commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre, when Stalin's secret police murdered 22,000 Polish military leaders and intellectuals. Until 1990, the Soviet Union denied responsibility for the massacre, suppressing those who attempted to speak out. The speech President Kaczynski was to deliver last Saturday was meant to help heal a national wound, honoring the dead and offering hope of reconciliation between Russia and Poland. In a tragic coincidence, however, Poland lost its political and military leadership yet again, including the commanders of the army, air force and navy, the president of the national bank and many others.

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The ripening fruit

By The Observer · Monday, April 19, 2010

With the debate on God terminating as smoothly and inconclusively as anyone could have hoped, I found myself completely at a loss for suitable subjects for snark. My own religious beliefs being exactly as absurd and unjustifiable as everybody else's, I had hoped to poke some mildly mean-spirited fun at the militant in the (a)/theist camps while carefully obscuring my own weak points with clever rhetoric.

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Lackluster Lolla lineup

By The Observer · Monday, April 19, 2010

Summer means music festivals, and festivals mean fun. Opening Wednesday's Observer, I noticed an article regarding my favorite sonic celebration, Lollapalooza ("Lollapalooza lineup revealed," Courtney Cox). Being a real Chicago native and having seen two of my all-time top-five shows on the lawns adjacent to beautiful Lake Michigan (Daft Punk's laser-pyramid and Pearl Jam in front of 100,000 in 2008), I was looking forward to solidifying the reasons why I needed to pick up a three-day pass for this year. This should not have been a difficult task (see selling a bucket of water to a man on fire), but it was surprisingly unsuccessful.

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Help us improve

By The Observer · Friday, April 16, 2010

With the end of the academic year fast approaching and our publication schedule winding down, it's almost time for us at The Observer to shift our focus toward next year, when we hope to continue to make The Observer a more informative, comprehensive, user-friendly news source, both in print and online.

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Notre Dame rightfully optimistic about Brian Kelly era

By The Observer · Friday, April 16, 2010

While spring football practice reports often include little more than the daily minutiae of who happens to be lining up in what order, or who beat who in what one-on-one drill, it is precisely those details that interest Irish football fans who are anxious to see what exactly the Brian Kelly era will entail.

The Observer

Keep your baseball

By The Observer · Friday, April 16, 2010

First and foremost, I would like to disagree with the very first sentence of the April 14 article "In defense of baseball" (Andy Ziccarelli). The article opens with: "Spring in the Midwest is exciting." Halt! This statement is akin to saying that Jim Carey is funny — objectively and undeniably wrong. The only thing exciting about spring in the Midwest is that sometimes houses tend to go up for sale in the East, South or North, and you can promptly pack your bags and never look back. The article then takes a turn for the worse as the author begins to prattle on about various aspects that could make baseball exciting. (At one point Ziccarelli informs us that he'll wait for us to stop laughing, upon which I had to wait to stop laughing.)

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St. Baldrick's Day

By The Observer · Friday, April 16, 2010

It was pretty awesome taking two-minute showers, and even cooler that I was able to get ready in less than 10 minutes every day (depending on how long my clothes selection would take), but the best part about it all was knowing that I shaved my head for an amazing cause, and I am hoping to tempt you to do the same.

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Piercing Neil Armstrong's privacy

By The Observer · Friday, April 16, 2010

Yesterday President Obama visited NASA's Kennedy Space Center and addressed an independent panel's recommendation to cancel the Ares I rocket. Noting that it would not be ready to serve its planned role for space station transport or to reach the moon by 2020 since underfunding crippled NASA's plan, the panel concluded it unrealistic that Constellation's first moon landing could occur until 2028 or later. The president prefers to develop a "flexible path" with a heavy lifting rocket. This option would develop technologies for trips beyond Earth's orbit, and delay moon landings or on Mars until such technologies further evolve.

The Observer

Stand with HEI

By The Observer · Thursday, April 15, 2010

Mr. Rivera claimed that HEI's stand against unionization is against Catholic Social Teaching ("Getting to the real issues behind HEI," April 13). I would argue, however, that it would be a violation of Catholic social teaching for HEI to extend union power into its own workplace.

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Say it - and then say it again

By The Observer · Thursday, April 15, 2010

OK, so my teenage son convinced me to start watching "Chuck" on Monday nights a while back, and now I am unfortunately hooked on this comedy/spy thriller/mystery/romance. Chuck himself has become quite an endearing character, so you're always rooting for things to go his way, especially when he's trying to woo the impossibly attractive girl spy away from her impossibly handsome boyfriend-spy. A couple of Mondays ago, Chuck finally confesses his love for the beautiful and talented (if you consider expertise as a spy a talent) Sarah. He tells her that he loves her, and then he says, "Once more, just because it felt so nice the first time; I love you."

The Observer

Stop the soccer boom articles

By The Observer · Wednesday, April 14, 2010

It's time for the world's greatest sporting event: the FIFA World Cup. This quadrennial 32-team tournament pits some of the best footballing countries against one another to determine which country gets lift the most prestigious trophy in sports. I remember waking up in the early hours in 2002 to watch the USA take on Mexico and feeling elated when the stars and stripes came through. I remember watching America be one of two teams to score against the eventual world champions Italy in 2006. Now we reach 2010 and I am ready for another thriller of international soccer. But what's this? I suddenly see mainstream newspapers, television networks and magazines covering soccer like it's their job. They are all proclaiming soccer is about to take off in the USA! Or can we win the cup?

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In defense of baseball

By The Observer · Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Spring in the Midwest is exciting. The snow has finally melted (we think), the temperature has warmed up to bearable temperatures and the sun shines for more than 10 minutes per month. To me, though, the coming of spring has meant only one thing for as long as I can remember: the arrival of baseball season.

The Observer

The end of an era

By The Observer · Tuesday, April 13, 2010

I was talking with my Dad this past weekend about an op-ed piece in the Sunday New York Times entitled "One Man, Two Courts," by Linda Greenhouse. My Dad said,"If you were to tell me 34 years ago that when John Paul Stevens retired from the Supreme Court, he would be hailed as the leader of liberal wing, I would have thought you were crazy."  I don't believe his is an isolated opinion. As Greenhouse had explained, Stevens, a moderate Republican from Chicago, was nominated in 1970 by Richard Nixon to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. He was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1975 by Republican President Gerald Ford. When asked in an interview in 2007 if he considers himself to be liberal or conservative, Stevens stated "I don't think of myself as a liberal at all. I think as part of my general politics, I'm pretty darn conservative." How on earth then did a twice Republican-nominated judge become the voice of the liberal wing in the Supreme Court? The simple answer is that the meaning of being conservative has shifted, and as a result, the Court, not unlike this country, has become increasingly more conservative.

The Observer

A prayer for healing

By The Observer · Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Heavenly Father, In every age you restore the innocence of creation: In Winter you shower the dark earth with pure white snow, In Spring you cloak the ground in new life, In Summer you bath us in the warmth of Your Love, And in Autumn you refresh us with the breeze of your Spirit and new beginnings. Look with pity upon Your Church, sprung from the sacred springs of Baptism, And restore unto Her the innocence of the virginal bride of Christ. Send forth the cleansing rain of Your Healing Spirit upon those harmed by the actions of sinful priests, that they may have once again the joy of their inheritance as Your children. Fill with courage our Holy Father as he perseveres amidst blind hatred and false accusations. Make him a worthy and persevering shepherd to the flock You have given him. Have mercy even on those who deserve the least mercy — those wolves in sheep's clothing who used their authority to harm Your children. Save them from the hellfire their actions merit, and restore the dignity of the office they abused. For no soul, however wretched, is beyond Your mercy. Restore our innocence, O Father of Heaven, as we pray in the name of your Virgin-born Son, Christ the Lord. Amen. Todd Velianski freshman Keough Hall April 12

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Getting to the real issues behind HEI

By The Observer · Tuesday, April 13, 2010

In response to alumnus Mark Goodman's Letter to the Editor ("Being ‘anti-union' perfectly legal," April 8) I'd like to address some of his basic premises. Mr. Goodman attempts to respond to an article which states that HEI Hotels and Resorts is essentially anti-union for hiring an anti-union consultant. This is a premise that Mr. Goodman agrees with, but then makes the leap to say that the University need not concern itself with HEI because being anti-union is not inherently illegal. Mr. Goodman misses the point. Scott Malpass, the head of the Investment office, refuses to negotiate on the issue because he persists with the myth that HEI "is not anti-union in any way." Students concerned with our University's investment policy have brought up evidence time and again that HEI is anti-union, and alumni like Mr. Goodman have now corroborated that story. We do not argue that being anti-union is illegal, but that the manner that HEI goes about it is against Catholic Social Teaching and possibly the National Labor Relations Board. According to our moral character as an institution of higher learning and Catholic character, it is the role of the University to care about the protection of workers rights. According to the US Catholic Bishops, "The Church fully supports the right of workers to form unions or other associations to secure their rights to fair wages and working conditions." So long as the University keeps up the farce that HEI is not anti-union, our commitment to Catholic Social Teaching remains shallow at best. David Rivera junior off campus April 12

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