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Volume 54, Issue 21 | thursday, september 26, 2019 | ndsmcobserver.com
ND Forum addresses Church crisis Panelists discuss causes, plan of action for recent clerical abuse scandals as part of annual event By MARY STEURER AND NATALIE WEBER Associate Managing Editors
Four major players in addressing the Catholic sex abuse crisis called for greater transparency, concrete reforms and a better understanding of Church scandals during the Notre Dame Forum’s panel Wednesday night, entitled “‘Rebuild My Church’: Crisis and Response.” Featured guests included Archbishop of Baltimore William Lori; former FBI executive assistant director Kathleen McChesney; Juan Carlos Cruz, an advocate for clergy abuse survivors; and journalist Peter
Steinfels, a previous editor at Commonweal and past New York Times columnist. John Allen, editor of the online Catholic newspaper, Crux, moderated the panel. Panelists speak on the keynote panel of the 2019 Notre Dame Forum Wednesday evening, which focused on rebuilding the Church in the wake of the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal. Each panelist was invited to reflect on where the Catholic Church stands in addressing the abuse crisis. Neither the panelists’ see CHURCH PAGE 3
College library outlines student resources By SARA SCHLECHT Associate Saint Mary’s News Editor
With the semester well underway, the Cushwa-Leighton Library at Saint Mary’s aims to remind students of the services it offers. One way of doing this is through a social media promotion featuring young children wearing capes. “Captain Cushwa-Leighton is our resident library superhero,” senior Taylor Strong, who works at the library’s circulation desk, said. Editor’s Note: Strong is a social media manager at The Observer. Strong is also the library’s social media intern. She manages posts for the Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts where the Captain Cushwa-Leighton images have appeared. Captain Cushwa-Leighton and the super tutors have appeared on signs posted in the library and the library’s social media posts. “[The kids] aren’t here often … we just like to use their pictures,” Strong said. “The library like[s] to use them in social media posts to get students excited about asking questions for help.” Captain Cushwa-Leighton images have been used by the library
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before, with children of faculty affiliated with the library and writing center appearing as the superheroes, junior writing tutor Brynne Volpe said. “Their children are the writing center’s unofficial mascots,” she said. Among the services the library likes to remind students about is the research help desk, which is staffed by a librarian most of the hours the library is open. “The research desk is there for anything,” Strong said. “You can get help finding sources for different research papers. … They also help with citations.” The Cushwa-Leighton Library also has librarians who specialize in particular subjects and research areas. “These librarians focus on certain areas and know more about individual subjects,” Strong said. Also located in the library is the Writing Center, where students can meet with tutors for help during the process of writing papers, Volpe said. “We assist, support and aim to help people become better writers see LIBRARY PAGE 4
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HANNAH HUELSKAMP | The Observer
Panelists speak on the keynote lecture of the 2019 Notre Dame Forum. Among the panelists was Baltimore Archbishop William Lori, who has been accused of opacity in his past investigative work of abusive clergy.
NDFD welcomes first fulltime female firefighters Observer Staff Report
The University announced in a press release Wednesday that the Notre Dame Fire Department (NDFD) recently welcomed its first full-time women firefighters: Christi Shibata and Michelle Woolverton. Shibata, 37, began her time with the department in July, according to the release. She is a native of Petoskey,
Michigan, where she worked as a physical therapist assistant and personal trainer prior to joining the department. Notre Dame Police Department (NDPD) chief Keri Kei Shibata is her sister. Woolverton, 42, started with the department in August, the release said. She is from South Bend and worked as a supervisor in Building Services at Notre Dame prior to joining NDFD.
Shibata and Woolverton are both certified emergency medical technicians. Their duties will not be different from other firefighters on the force and will include “driving the [fire] engine and operating the engine pump,” the release said. Both women are graduates of Clay Fire Academy. Bruce Harrison, chief of see FIRE PAGE 4
Howard Hall hosts yearly Totter for Water By JACKSON OXLER News Writer
New students on campus might wonder why there will be a teeter totter in the middle of South Quad on Thursday and Friday. Each fall, the women of Howard Hall spend 24 hours riding the totter to help raise money for projects dedicated to clean water access in communities across the globe as part of the dorm’s annual
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Totter for Water event. At 6 p.m. Thursday, Howard’s residents will begin taking shifts operating the totter and continue their work throughout the night. Students will have the opportunity to ride the totter if they desire and are encouraged to help Howard in their fundraising goals. This year, sophomores Eileen Leach and Sarah Walters are planning the event. Leach and Walters said the
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dorm is hoping to raise $25,000 at this year’s event — about $7,000 more than last year. To accomplish such a task, they began the planning process before they arrived to campus. “Sarah and I have been working on the project for several weeks now, we contacted the organization, made t-shirt designs and poster designs,” Leach said. see TOTTER PAGE 3
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