Observer the
The Independent Newspaper Serving Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s Volume 44 : Issue 88
Thursday, february 17, 2011
ndsmcobserver.com
Judicial Council explains sanctions Confession By MELISSA FLANAGAN News Writer
The initial election results for student body president and vice president were delayed 24 hours due to an allegation filed against one of the tickets, Michael Thomas, judicial council vice president of elections, said. Thomas said an allegation was filed Monday morning a g a i n s t t h e J a m e s Wa r d Heather Eaton ticket. “When an allegation is filed,
the Election Committee is required to convene in order to address the allegation,” he said. The allegation involved an e-mail Ward sent to some students Sunday night. The Election Committee met Monday evening to discuss the claim. Prior to the meeting, Thomas said he, along with Judicial Council President Marcelo Perez, Chair of Senate Oversight Committee Paige Becker various Student Activities Office (SAO) advi-
sors, made the decision to seal the election results until the allegation was resolved. Thomas said no student, including himself, knew the election results at any point during the hearing process. “If at any point the election committee knew the results, there would be a real danger that knowledge of the results would influence the hearing process,” Thomas said. At the meeting Monday evening, the election committ e e d e t e r m i n e d t h e Wa r d Eaton ticket had violated
Section 17.1(h) of the student union constitution. Thomas said this section is known as the “ethics clause,” and states that candidates are expected to behave ethically at all times. In the Sunday e-mail, Ward called the current student government “lax.” “The only accomplishments they can tout are the implementation of a textbook rental program that the previous administration put in effect,
Associate News Editor
SUZANNA PRATT/The Observer
Heather Eaton and James Ward speak about their campaign platform during Wednesday night’s runoff debate in LaFortune Student Center.
The remaining tickets in the election for student body president and vice president answered questions about their platforms and the role of student government at Notre Dame during a Wednesday night debate in LaFortune Student Center. Two tickets proceeded to the runoff election today after neither candidate received over 50 percent of the votes in Monday’s initial election. The runoff is between Pat McCormick and Brett Rocheleau, who won 38.07 percent of Monday’s votes, and James Ward and Heather Eaton, who had 22.59 percent. The runoff election will begin
By ANNA BOARINI News Writer
at 8 a.m. today and last until 8 p.m. Students may access the voting website through an email sent to the student body from Judicial Council. The Ward-Eaton ticket said its ideas reflect student interests that should be important to student government. “We really want to bring concrete results to people in little and big aspects of student government,” Ward said. McCormick and Rocheleau said their platform speaks to the idea of “hope in action.” “The size of our hopes for Notre Dame just did not match the smallness of the traditional student government,” McCormick said. McCormick and Rocheleau said their administration would
Since their recent launch of an iPhone app meant to guide Catholics through confession, Notre Dame doctoral candidate Ryan Kreager and his business partners Chip and Patrick Leinen have sold thousands of apps and received a great deal of media attention. The app, titled “Confession: A Roman Catholic App,” is based on an examination of c o n s c i o u s n e s s b y F r. D a n Scheidt, pastor of Mishawaka’s Queen of Peace Church and a Notre Dame graduate. Scheidt originally developed it for use in his own parish. “The examination of consciousness at its very nature is a general diagnostic tool,” Scheidt said. “I took what I thought was most helpful from several and developed one for the adults in my parish.” Scheidt said the app helps Catholics focus during confession. “The app helps people who are so anxious about confession that they forget some or all of what they were going to say and it helps focus their thoughts,” Scheidt said. “An unanticipated way in which it is helping is students who
see RUNOFF/page 5
see APP/page 4
see JUDICIAL/page 4
Candidates debate before runoff election By MEGAN DOYLE
app draws attention
OIS receives record number of applications By SAM STRYKER News Writer
The Office of International Studies (OIS) received a record number of applications for study abroad during the 2011-12 school year, according to Kathleen Opel, director of OIS. An increase in applicants is a recurring trend, Opel said. “The number of applications is very slightly higher than l a s t y e a r, ” s h e s a i d . “ E a c h year the number rises slightly.” Opel said 1,002 students submitted 1,571 applications. OIS accepted approximately 800 students. That number will rise in the coming weeks
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TODAY’S PAPER
as OIS accepts students from wait lists. “A number of offers of acceptances will be extended in the next two weeks to cover those who withdrew an application or declined acceptance,” Opel said. The rise in applications displays students’ interest in education extending beyond Notre Dame’s campus, Opel said. “The numbers indicate Notre Dame’s study abroad programs are strong, and that our students recognize the value of an international education experience, whether on an OIS study abroad program, a service-learning international experience or a research or internship oppor-
tunity off campus,” she said. Opel said OIS works to be a valuable asset to students’ educations. “Being engaged with the international community is an integral part of a Notre Dame education,” she said. The deadline for applications for the 2011-12 academic year was Nov. 15, 2010. Opel said the process of evaluating the applications is very intensive. “Each program has a committee that reads all the applications to determine if the student meets the qualifications necessary and if the student preferences for site and semester can be met,”
see OIS/page 5
MELISSA KADUCK | Observer Graphic
Students prepare for graduate school exams page 3◆ Weekend calendar page 10 ◆ Men’s lacrosse feature page 20
◆ Viewpoint
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