Observer the
The Independent Newspaper Serving Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s Volume 44 : Issue 98
Monday, February 22, 2010
ndsmcobserver.com
Sexual Assault Awareness Week kicks off By MEGAN HEMLER News Writer
Sexual assaults are among the most terrible of human experiences, and people of all communities have a moral obligation to work to prevent them from happening, said Elizabeth Moriarty, assistant director for the Gender Relations Center. Sexual Assault Awareness Week, which began yesterday, is an opportunity for survivors to speak out and begin to heal, while also increasing awareness within a broader audience, she said. The weeklong series of events kicked off with a poster c a m p a i g n . To d a y, a n e v e n t titled “Take Back the Night” will seek to “literally break
the silence surrounding the violence of sexual assault with voices of prayer, chanting and the sharing of stories,” Moriarty said. “ ‘ Ta k e B a c k the Night’ is unique for us because we start with a prayer service, something not every college or university can do,” Moriarty said. “We start the march around campus at the Log Chapel this year, and we’re able as a religious institution to ask publicly questions about how to pray about this.” Laura Lauck, a “Take Back the Night” student organizer, said, “The week’s purpose is to bring about awareness of this issue on campus and worldwide, but it also serves to bring people together to work towards healing and change.”
JPW allows parents to experience campus life
Moriarty said she hopes the awareness week will be beneficial. “A few years ago, our office did some intense focus group research and found that students really appreciated awareness weeks because they had lots of ways to be involved or only involved in one specific way,” Moriarty said. “It really brings more of a public presence to the topic and provides an opportunity to educate, both for those directly affected or those with friends or family who need their support.” Moriarty said one in four women will be a survivor of an attempted or completed sexual assault by the time they finish college.
see ASSAULT/page 4
MARY CECILIA MITSCH | Observer Graphic
Green Summit to focus on food By AMANDA GRAY News Writer
To d a y ’s t h i r d a n n u a l Green Summit will highlight the sustainable efforts made o n N o t r e D a m e ’s c a m p u s , offering participants the chance to host roundtable discussion. The event will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Monogram Room in the Joyce Center. “The Summit is a great opportunity to bring togeth-
er undergraduates, graduate students, staff and faculty to develop a shared vision of how we can make Notre Dame a more sustainable campus,” Education and Outreach Coordinator from the Office of Sustainability Rachel Novick said. The theme this year is the Footprint of Food, Novick said. The theme will be represented in the roundtable discussion portion of the Summit. “This year there will be a
twist,” she said. “Participants will have 15 minutes to discuss a topic at their table, then we’ll ring a bell and it will be time to switch tables and topics.” The four topics in the rotation are food and climate, local food, sustainable seafood and food waste. S e n i o r C o l l e e n K e l l y, intern with the Office of Sustainability and President of GreeND, said the event
see SUMMIT/page 4
Art exhibit analyzes Eric Gill’s work By KATLYN SMITH News Writer VANESSA GEMPIS/The Observer
Irish football coach Brian Kelly speaks at the JPW brunch Sunday, the concluding event of the weekend. By MOLLY MADDEN News Writer
Notre Dame juniors spent the past three days with their parents experiencing everything that the University has to offer during the annual Junior Parents Weekend. Now that the weekend of food, events and bonding has concluded, juniors can sit back and reflect on the experiences and memories that they shared with their parents over the course of the weekend. “Junior Parents Weekend was nice because there was a lot of stuff to do,” junior Ryan Bahniuk said. “Everyone seemed to really participate in the events and were really
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TODAY’S PAPER
excited about it.” The weekend had several events for the juniors and their parents to attend, including the Opening Gala Friday, the President’s Dinner Saturday and various dorm and college events where parents could have a more personal experience with the University of Notre Dame and with their children. “Junior Parents Weekend is really organized and is better than your parents just coming up on a random weekend,” junior Michael Bohnert said. “I was able to show my parents what I’ve done and my accomplishments in a more personal way than just telling
see JPW/page 6
Three students brought a British artist’s work across the pond to the Library Special Collections Room. The exhibit, which opens today, was organized under the direction of Professor John Sherman, who taught a special class last semester to analyze works from the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections’ Eric Gill Collection. Sherman said Gill was responsible for designing the Gill San font type and sculpting the Stations of the Cross at Westminster Cathedral in addition to other artistic pursuits. Senior Juliana Hoffelder and sophomores Micahlyn Allen and Kelly Fallon gathered materials from the collection for the exhibit, titled
Photo Courtesy of John Sherman
see ART/page 4
Sophomore Micahlyn Allen uses a printing press from the Guild of Saint Joseph and Saint Dominic for the “All Art is Propaganda” exhibit.
HDC preview page 3 ◆ Women’s basketball falls to No. 14 Georgetown page 20 ◆ Natural Selection at DPAC page 10 ◆ Viewpoint page 8