Opinion

Give country a chance

Miseducation of an Indie kid

 I am a music snob. I listen to British soul artists, spend hours in music stores searching dusty stacks of scratched vinyl, watch remastered DVDs of decades old concerts, spend more on headphones than most people do on their iPods, endlessly praise the music of Tom Waits, rewatch Prince's "Purple Rain," publicly scoff at Pitchfork but still read the reviews, and know who won the Mercury Music Prize last year.

A Notre Dame short story

He had been here before. He couldn't remember when, but he had been here before. Perhaps it had been in a dream, or maybe he was experiencing a moment of déjà vu. But as much as he tried to push against that brick wall, he could not remember how to get through. His fingers gripped the cold brick and tore down the wall, but he only came away with dirty, bloody fingernails. He kicked, he punched, he yelled, but nothing worked. All he knew was that he had to get to the other side soon. His life was depending on it. Part 2 by Christine Fagan Desperate for a way through, he decided to try a new approach. He swallowed all that was left of his pride and leaned his whole body into the bricks. He simply leaned, and with that he could feel movement. The wall ebbed and flowed as if controlled by breath. This wall works remarkably like a lung, he thought as he continued his leaning. In almost an instant he felt swallowed. The wall consumed him in his entirety and he clumsily fell through the bricks. Given the chance he would have screamed, but a contradictory mix of pride and shameless fear overtook him, and he remained silent. After a few seconds of eternity, he was on the other side. Once he regained his balance he stood ready to face the council. He was going to win, if only because he was not ready to die. Want to write the next paragraph to the story? Submit your paragraph to NDLFshortstory@gmail.com. Limit of 200 words. Title it Part Three. This story will continue until Nov. 16. If your paragraph is selected, it will be published in Viewpoint, and you will get to read it at the NDLF panel discussion Nov. 19. The visiting authors will write the ending paragraphs. Take advantage of the opportunity to write a story along with three New York Times bestselling authors.

Calling all priests

"Loyal Daughters and Sons" will be performed this week (Wed.-Fri.) at the Library Auditorium, and I highly encourage all in the community to go see it, to raise awareness of the very important issue of sexual harassment and violence both on our campus and in our society. I saw this performance last year, and it made a huge impact on me, as an alum, father of a current Notre Dame female student, and as a man in general. The method of presenting this topic makes a deep impact that can not be matched by simply reading about this subject.

Ladies, please!

 In response to Ms. Dougher's letter "University of ugly girls?" (Oct.28), I would like to interject that your boyfriend's friends do not speak for the entire male population on campus. 

Notre Dame leadership

 In The "Abolition of Man," C.S. Lewis argued that modern education produces "what may be called Men without Chests. It is an outrage that they should be commonly spoken of as Intellectuals. This gives them the chance to say that he who attacks them attacks Intelligence. It is not so. They are not distinguished from other men by any unusual skill in finding truth nor any virginal ardour to pursue her." Sadly, we see this in full effect at Notre Dame today. 

The city that sparkles

Completely and totally lost on I-65 yesterday, driving back from weekend festivities in Bloomington, my friend Hannah and I were completely speechless with the sheer beauty of the great state of Indiana during this most delightful time of the year. We had awoken in my friend's apartment earlier in the day only to be greeted by the most glorious blue sky I have ever witnessed. Crisp red and orange leaves danced merrily along Walnut Street and the cool bite to the air refreshed our sleepy spirits.

A rose by any other name

It has become the latest ploy in the liberal plot to sell their beloved public option to wary Republicans and moderate Democrats, not to mention a skeptical public. Last week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that the latest version of the House bill will contain what she likes to call "the consumer option:"

Ignorant or genius?

Greetings, ND Community

Intellectual debate outside classrooms

 The perceived lack of intellectual discussion outside the classroom is just that: perceived. I'm not sure how student government measured the intellectual quality of dining hall conversations, but I think it would be safe to say they didn't. 

Creative Halloween

Witches and monsters and ghosts!  Oh my! 

Scheduling perfect for BCS era

 In a perfect world it would be great if you could play 12 great games as suggested in Associate Sports Editor Sam Werner's "Football Commentary: Schedule for 2010 not acceptable" (Oct. 29); however the current BCS format prevents that from being a reality. One loss and you are most likely out of the title consideration, two losses and you are holding onto your BCS lives. 

A Notre Dame love story

 In this column, "The Notre Dame They Know," I will interview individuals who have been influenced by the University of Notre Dame.

Can't fight stereotype with stereotype

 Dear Meghan Dougher ("University of ugly girls," Oct. 28),

My not very sophisticated view

 Last November, two events occurred that nobody could have predicted a year (or two years, or three years) earlier. These two events have shaped the way that Notre Dame Fans, as well as all Americans, have thought about their current situation for the past year just as they have been instrumental in shaping the careers and hobbies of Glenn Beck and Tom Reynolds (a.k.a. Irish Linebacker).

What are you going to be for Halloween

If you're still asking, "How was your break?" it's time to switch gears; it's Oct. 29 and there's only two days to go.

Prudence, Pickens style

At Monday's event featuring energy executive T. Boone Pickens, I expected a constructive discussion of his plan for energy policy, wind, and natural gas. I overestimated. What I found completely lacked argumentative structure and, worse, encouraged people to endorse a mysterious policy out of self-interested hate. Among Mr. Pickens' main topics: (1) T. Boone Pickens has money and famous friends. (2) Anything American is inherently good (except that which doesn't bring profit, like national parks and the interests of poor people). (3) Natural gas is located within U.S. borders. Therefore, it is inherently good (and inherently accessible to Mr. Pickens' companies). It's the best way to stop buying oil from The Enemy (and start buying from Pickens). Why didn't Pickens actually explain his policy plan?

Those defending the innocent

To Eduardo Magallanez ("Pro-life vs. pro-birth," Oct. 27), I agree with your thoughts regarding the respect we desire for human life of all stages. As Catholics we should strive to defend the dignity of life as John Paul II said "from conception to natural death." I fail to see, however, if you believe abortion is abhorrent, why you would attack the pro-life efforts on campus. As you have pointed out, the degradation of the gift of life takes many forms.

Filler Column

Upon first being told, that I had attained the position of Viewpoint writer in this fair newspaper, my soul positively blazed with delight; and I set to making the ink flow from my pen, in the service of making light of things, which hereabouts are taken more seriously than they deserve. And indeed, for one or two columns, the freshness and invention which naturally arose from being a new writer with a somewhat different perspective won me some modest acclaim from close friends and immediate relations.

No hope for Ohio sports

As a general rule, I like to remain optimistic in life. However, when it comes to my sports teams, that is downright near impossible for me, especially now. That is because I am an Ohio sports fan, not including Cincinnati, which I don't consider part of Ohio anyway. Growing up in Columbus, I have been a die-hard Ohio sports fan for my entire life (and yes, I still have some affinity to THE Ohio State University) but I can't remember a time when my teams were this bad.