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Volume 53, Issue 52 | thursday, november 8, 2018 | ndsmcobserver.com
Campus-wide group chat unites redheads A GroupMe titled ‘Redheads of Notre Dame’ brings ‘gingers’ together for meetups, sun protection By MARIE FAZIO News Writer
At first glance, Ed Sheeran, Lucille Ball, Ms. Frizzle and at least 108 Notre Dame students might appear to have little in common. However, all of them share a rare genetic trait: They are among the less-than 2 percent of the world’s population with red hair. Last year, Teagan Dillon, who graduated from Notre Dame in 2018, created the “Redheads of Notre Dame” GroupMe as a way for campus redheads to communicate and coordinate events surrounding their red hair. The group currently has 108 members, but is open to new applicants. The only admission requirement is the group must reach a consensus on whether applicants have red hair.
This requirement is a source of controversy in the group, as it isn’t always easy to determine if someone’s hair is red. People have been removed from the group after it was determined they were simply strawberry blonde, senior John McGuinness, an early group member, said. Senior Moira Griffith, a member since fall 2017, said strawberry blonde is not purely red. She also classifies a ginger as someone with “highlighter bright” hair, but said a classic redhead’s hair is darker. Group member and senior Emily Dufner disagreed, arguing that a ginger’s hair is “orangey.” For junior Evan Slattery, freckles define a ginger. Griffith said her red hair is an important part of her identity. see REDHEADS PAGE 4
Photo courtesy of John McGuinness
Members of the “Redheads of Notre Dame” GroupMe gather outside Legends for a photo before the Michigan game Sept. 1. The chat is used to coordinate group meetups and locate sunscreen on game days.
Custodian at ‘The Saint Mary’s re-evaluates Rock’ reflects on College mission statement life before, at ND By MAEVE FILBIN
News Writer
By MARIA PAUL RANGEL News Writer
Brian Hubbard is not your average Joe. He wakes up before dawn, puts on a pair of blue jeans and a T-shirt — the Notre Dame 2018 Shirt is his favorite — and makes his way to Rockne Memorial to begin a shift that starts at 4 a.m. and ends at noon. He signs in, picks up his supplies and embraces his role as a custodian. Taller than average, he has a sunny disposition and is usually whistling tunes. He is observant, knows those who frequent his work sites and is eager to strike up a conversation or humor a stressed student. Though people on campus might see Hubbard wiping down the tables or throwing away the trash, beyond his run-of-the-mill facade lies a story of basketball championships and altruism. Born in 1962, Hubbard is a South Bend native who attended LaSalle High School, where he played basketball. His love for
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the sport stems from his family, as his uncle taught him soccer, baseball, football and basketball from a very early age. However, he became enamored with shooting hoops, eventually making it to the state all-star high school team. Hubbard said this chapter in his life taught him several lessons that significantly impacted him, and credits his coach with building his character. “I had a coach by the name of George Griffith, who, at the end of my senior year told me … ‘You guys are not working hard,’” Hubbard said. “He said, ‘If you don’t work hard and start working hard, I’m going to cut you.’ I said, ‘Wait a minute,’ and I believed him because I’d seen him cut players. So basically, I give a lot to him because he made me work.” This incident opened Hubbard’s eyes, he said, and he started working hard until he made the Indiana High School see CUSTODIAN PAGE 4
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The future is here, and Saint Mary’s is rising to meet it. Working with student body president and senior Madeleine Corcoran and vice president and senior Kathy Ogden, the administration is reviewing the College’s mission statement. The project will examine what the mission statement does well, what it is missing and
how accurately it portrays Saint Mary’s, Corcoran said in an email. “We are currently in the revision process, which means we are collecting feedback from students, faculty, staff, Sisters of the Holy Cross, administration, alumnae and parents regarding our current mission statement … and what they would like to see in a future [version]” she said. According to the Saint Mary’s website, the current mission
statement reads: “Founded by the Sisters of the Holy Cross in 1844, Saint Mary’s College promotes a life of intellectual vigor, aesthetic appreciation, religious sensibility and social responsibility. Saint Mary’s is a Catholic, residential women’s college in the liberal arts tradition offering undergraduate degrees and coeducational graduate programs. see MISSION PAGE 3
University to use DART for class registration By KELLI SMITH Associate News Editor
Notre Dame will continue using the DART registration system over NOVO for the upcoming class registration period, the Office of the Registrar announced in an email to students Nov. 5. DART and NOVO have been the University’s class
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registration systems for over two years. In 2015, the Office of the Registrar announced NOVO would be replacing DART as the primary system for class registration. Following a NOVO system malfunction during class registration in fall 2017, however, the registrar reverted back to utilizing DART last spring. “The DART registration performs better at higher volumes
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than NOVO does,” Chuck Hurley, the University registrar, said. “So just like last April, we’ll have DART on in class search during the six business days of peak registration there, and then NOVO will be off during those days.” “Peak registration” period will take place Nov. 12-19, when see REGISTRATION PAGE 4
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