Opinion

Football and f��tbol

By The Observer · Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2010

I am lucky I was there.

An open love letter to Jimmy John's

By The Observer · Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2010

As a senior graduating this coming spring, I'd like to take the time to reminisce during finals about one of my greatest and most memorable friends in college, a Mr. James John. Coming from the West Coast, I was completely unaware of your notoriety in the Midwest for sandwiches that are totally freaky. When I was a freshman at Notre Dame, your menu was casually slipped under my door in hopes that I would one day have some extra cash floating around when it was too disgustingly cold to walk 10 seconds from Farley to North Dining Hall. When I finally decided to indulge in a tasty sub sandwich (delivered right to my door), our relationship grew faster than Lindsay Lohan's eight ball collection.

Last Lecture

By The Observer · Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2010

"What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy?" I found these questions in Randy Pausch's "The Last Lecture," perhaps the first assigned book I have read cover-to-cover in the past six years.

A letter to the champs

By The Observer · Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2010

Dear Ladies,

The genius of Wikipedia

By The Observer · Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2010

The Internet can often be disorienting and confusing — Google searches routinely yield meaningless results, and proper information can often be nearly impossible to find. We have all felt the resulting frustration. This was especially the case before the advent of Wikipedia — now the ultimate online encyclopedia and one of the ten most trafficked websites in the world. In its infancy, Wikipedia was often maligned as suspicious and untrustworthy. However, it is increasingly hard to deny its supremacy as a knowledge source.

Saint Mary's library hours

By The Observer · Monday, Dec. 6, 2010

This letter is being written at 4:50 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 4. I was sitting in the library diligently working on a research paper only to be interrupted by an announcement saying that the library is closing in 10 minutes. I feel that 5 p.m. is unreasonably early to close on a Saturday. Yes, the weekend is a time to go out with friends, but before I do so, I would still like to get work done for the coming week.

Jimmy Wales: Will stare at you for food

By The Observer · Monday, Dec. 6, 2010

In case no one has noticed yet, for the past few weeks, Wikipedia has been flooded by dramatic life-size banner ads featuring founder Jimmy Wales' terrifyingly temple-veined yet endearingly squinty face and personal plea for donations.

I survived the snowball fight

By The Observer · Monday, Dec. 6, 2010

Oh what a beautiful sight it was. White snow flying about, people being hit, snowballs being thrown — what more could you ask for? I had gathered my snow and moved to the front lines, and I threw my fair share of snowballs. My friend got nailed in the face and went back to the dorm, but I continued to fight on.

Kudos to the Glee Club

By The Observer · Monday, Dec. 6, 2010

Dear Notre Dame Glee Club,

Enlightenment

By The Observer · Monday, Dec. 6, 2010

The economic and social framework of the modern state — valorized as the very condition of human freedom — renders inescapable certain forms of manipulation: The free laborer, no longer a serf, can now give of himself without his lord having any obligation to ensure his welfare; the criminal, no longer tortured, is now imprisoned until he demonstrates his eagerness to serve the society that has chained him. One tends to think of these economic and social reforms as gestures of humanity, not manipulation — and yet it is not coincidental that the free laborer is one who can work in whichever task the capitalist most needs him, that the reformed prisoner is one who can return to the capitalist the resources that were spent on his rehabilitation. Wage slavery is far more profitable than chattel slavery, rehabilitation far more profitable than retribution.

There's nothing like the family

By The Observer · Sunday, Dec. 5, 2010

The tricky aspect of professional sports is the line that is drawn between a sports franchise as a business and a sports franchise as a family. Without both the smart business deals by owners and the love and respect between the owners, coaches and players, teams do not succeed. However, two recent business deals in two different sports have convinced me that the side of family is more important than the business — nothing replaces the family.

A school by any other name ...

By The Observer · Sunday, Dec. 5, 2010

As I sit on my futon, writing this column and watching the snow fall outside, I find myself thinking about why I chose to come to Notre Dame.

Actual deficit reduction

By The Observer · Sunday, Dec. 5, 2010

Over the past two years, the Republican Party has waged a tireless campaign to inform Americans that they are strongly against the current levels of government spending. The Congressional Republican Leadership has included its solutions to cut government spending in A Pledge to America, a list of promises that Republicans will pursue during the next Congressional term.

Penalty box contest

By The Observer · Sunday, Dec. 5, 2010

My wife Kathy and I have sponsored the visitor's penalty box at the new hockey complex. We would like to reach out to the Notre Dame student body to help design a plaque incorporating a message to the visiting team member who will be spending two to five minutes in the penalty box as a result of "committing a foul" against one of our pure Notre Dame hockey players! We're hoping to tap into the creative juices of the Notre Dame student body to develop a catchy saying that would leave a "lasting memory" on any visiting member. We're also hoping the students could have fun with this project and create another one of the many famous sayings around campus!