The Independent Newspaper Serving Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s Volume 45: Issue 127
Monday, April 23, 2012
Ndsmcobserver.com
DeMaria praises ND community Former dean Commencement speaker credits support from Notre Dame family as key to her recovery By SAM STRYKER Assistant Managing Editor
On a snowy January night 20 years ago, a bus carrying the Notre Dame women’s swimming team slid off the Indiana Toll Road and rolled over. Then-freshman Haley Scott DeMaria suffered a broken back and was paralyzed in the accident. Doctors told her she might never walk again. But DeMaria beat the odds. Not only did she regain the ability to walk, she returned to swim for the Fighting Irish the following year. DeMaria, who will deliver this year’s Commencement Address on May 20, returned to campus this weekend for the Blue-Gold Game and Monogram Club events. She said support from the Notre Dame community still runs strong, even two decades later.
“It’s been 20 years since the accident, and I can’t tell you how many people still care,” she said. “That level of caring is just different here.” DeMaria said a visit from thenUniversity President Fr. Edward “Monk” Malloy after she came out of surgery following the accident was the first of many gestures of support she received throughout her recovery process. “I didn’t come here as a Catholic, I wasn’t Catholic as a student,” she said. “[Malloy] said, ‘Can I pray with you?’ I remember saying what most non-Catholics would say, ‘But I’m not Catholic.’ And he said, ‘That doesn’t matter. Can we pray?’” DeMaria said this visit from Fr. Malloy marked a significant point in her recovery.
see DeMARIA/page 5
to speak at graduation Observer Staff Report
SARAH O’CONNOR/ The Observer
Haley Scott DeMaria will be the speaker at the 2012 commencement, sharing the story of her inspirational recovery.
Carolyn Woo, former dean of the Mendoza College of Business and current president and chief executive officer of Catholic Relief Services, will be the featured speaker at the College’s graduate commencement ceremony May 19, the University announced in a press release Friday. Woo will also receive an honorary doctor of laws degree during the University’s Commencement ceremony May 20. During Woo’s tenure as dean from 1997 to 2011, the College earned top rankings for its aca-
see WOO/page 5
Mormon leader to explore political dimension of faith KRISTEN DURBIN News Editor
In the midst of former-Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign and moral debates about contraception and abortion in the political arena, the Mormon faith has garnered heavy media attention so far in 2012. Dr. Bruce Porter, a senior leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), will address this media attention in a talk Tuesday titled “The Latter-day Saints Come Marching In: Mormonism
Abroad and At Home in the 21st Century.” He will address his church’s views on global events and its relationship to Bruce Porter the Catholic Church. LDS leader Prior to his service as a senior leader involved in international Church administration in 1995, Porter earned a
Ph.D. in political science from Harvard University, taught political science at Brigham Young University, authored several books and academic articles and worked with the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Northrop Corporation. Porter also served as executive director of the U.S. Board for International Broadcasting for five years. In his talk, Porter said he will introduce the basic organization and doctrine of the LDS Church and address its significant international growth in recent years. “A lot of people still think we’re
a Utah-based or American church, but we have more members abroad than in the U.S. — 14 million total members in 150 countries,” he said. “We’ve adapted to deal with that growth by making organizational changes, establishing large offices around the world to administer the church and building chapels and meeting houses.” Similar to the Catholic Church, the LDS Church is committed to promoting social justice through humanitarian missionary work around the world, especially in helping its members in poor coun-
tries rise out of poverty through a member-funded private welfare system, Porter said. In recent years, the Church’s humanitarian efforts have contributed more than $1 billion in aid in nearly 100 countries. “A key part of our religion is social justice. We believe all people are equal, and that the rich should be helping the poor,” he said. “All our humanitarian work is funded by thousands of members, and it’s making a huge difference in people’s lives.”
see PORTER/page 5
Shirt design invokes storied tradition of Notre Dame football By ANNA BOARINI News Writer
This year, the unveiling of The Shirt “shook down the thunder.” Despite rainy weather and cold temperatures Friday afternoon, students and fans still showed up en masse in front of the Hammes Notre Dame Bookstore to see this year’s design unveiled. Junior Lauren Couey, The Shirt’s unveiling coordinator, said considering the poor weather conditions, the turnout was “awesome.” “It really seems like people had fun,” she said. “All the players who were expected to come made it.” Junior Andrew Alea, president of The Shirt Committee, said by 3:30 p.m., people were already lined up to get their shirt.
Inside today’s paper
“By the time The Shirt was unveiled, there was a line of about 150 to 200 people waiting to get theirs,” he said. This year’s design is much different than those of previous years, Alea said. “[The Shirt committee] wanted to make a shirt that is intense,” he said. “We wanted an ‘in your face’ shirt, we wanted to make [the design] pop.” Alea said the committee chose navy blue as their color to complement the powerful imagery they chose for the design. “We wanted navy blue, because it’s a Notre Dame color, and especially with the powerful imagery, we thought the navy blue would
see SHIRT/page 5
ALEX PARTAK/ The Observer
Notre Dame football coach Brian Kelly displays The 2012 Shirt to the assembled crowd outside the Hammes Notre Dame Bookstore on Friday.
AnTostal connects students to outdoors page 3 u Viewpoint page 6 u Baking with Brenna page 8 u Blue-Gold Game coverage page 16