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VOLUME 59, ISSUE 56 | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2025 | NDSMCOBSERVER.COM
Scientists speak up for NIH Researchers voice concerns over Trump admin’s cuts By HENRY JAGODZINSKI
CARI app delivers food across campus
Staff Writer
By MEGAN CORNELL
Editor’s Note: This is the second story in a two-part series about proposed NIH funding cuts. The first story, published Monday, focused on the proposed policy changes and how research is funded at Notre Dame. Today’s story highlights the voices of scientists from laboratories across the University that may be impacted by the change. Over 80 research projects at Notre Dame currently receive funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The Trump administration’s proposed cuts to grants administered by the NIH could eliminate $7 million in federal funds from Notre Dame each year by capping facilities and administration costs at 15%, down from the University’s current rate of 56.5%. If enacted, that change would significantly impact the way in
News Writer
HENRY JAGODZINSKI | The Observer
Dr. Cristian Koepfli , whose research focuses on malaria interventions, stands in his laboratory in the Galvin Life Sciences Center.
which the University pays for research building maintenance and operation, shared lab equipment, hazardous waste disposal and utilities for NIH-funded projects. The policy change, temporarily paused by order of a federal
district court judge, has alarmed some scientists at the University. The Observer spoke to eight scientists to understand how their work might be impacted. see RESEARCH PAGE 3
Art department launches art conservation track By GRACE TADAJWESKI Associate News Editor
In response to student interest and a gap in subject matter, the department of art, art history and design launched an art conservation track this fall to accompany the art history major. This track joins other art history offerings, including the major, major with honors, supplementary major and minor. Art history professor of the practice Elyse Speaks directs the department’s undergraduate studies. According to Speaks, creating the track was about a year-long process and was inspired by the popularity of the cross listed art history and chemistry course titled “Only Connect Chemistry and Art.” The course is taught by chemistry associate teaching professor Bahram Moasser and art history professor Michael Schreffler. “It is almost always our first
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class to fill these days, and students just really enjoy it. And so I thought, ‘Wow … this is an area that we should encourage,’” Speaks said. “And at the same time, I know how many of our students are interested in working at the museum and thinking about sort of the practical application of arts study … I started talking to people across campus, and the chemistry department was really excited to collaborate.” The track includes classes across colleges, in both the College of Arts and Letters and the College of Science. When asked about difficulty collaborating across colleges, Speaks said there was none, only excitement. “Everyone was very amenable and excited to think about ways to collaborate across the arts and sciences, and so I think they’re really excited,” Speaks said. “There’s a capstone project that our majors
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would do, and we already have our first major signed up, and the professors … in the sciences are really excited to potentially be advisers for these projects and to work more closely with students who are housed in Arts and Letters.” As opposed to the regular art history major which is 30 credit hours, the major with the track is 45 credit hours. The major and track require students to take eight art history courses, two studio art courses, organic chemistry and the corresponding lab, three other science courses with corresponding labs and a capstone project or internship. “This is a track that kind of allows you to explore both avenues and potentially might lead to some kind of conservation position, but really is meant to generate a conversation between the arts see ART PAGE 4
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The CARI app was born in April 2024, when founders Patrick McFarland and Davide Thompson, both senior Notre Dame students, decided to create a food deliver y app for Notre Dame students. The purpose of the app is threefold. McFarland and Thompson want to make local food more accessible to students, allow students to earn money as deliver y drivers and connect students to local businesses. The app allows students to either pre-order food for pickup or have it delivered by a Notre Dame student using a scooter or bike. Right now, the app is connected with local restaurants such as Taphouse On The Edge, Danny Boys and Tossed ToGo. Additionally, the app allows students to order from dorm kitchens like Alumni Hall’s “Dawg Pizza,” Sorin College’s “Eddy’s Late Night Eats” and Keough Hall’s “House of Protein.” Many dorms run late-night food services, but previously this food could only be picked up. CARI gives these kitchens a wider consumer base and saves students a cold, late-night walk with its deliver y feature. Students are ideal drivers because they understand Notre Dame’s unique campus layout. “We’re bringing the jobs back to the students … you don’t have to rely on a third party who will deliver it off at the main circle or the nearest parking lot … We thought, why not use students who you trust, where there’s a level of safety? ” McFarland said. Chefs at the dorm kitchens can track sales, update customers on their deliver y status and even show what the busiest hours for orders are. The app has made these businesses more organized and profitable, especially because using the app costs
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less than global food deliver y services like GrubHub or UberEats. “It acts as its own POS [point of sale] system, so all of our orders are online through the app … they all get sorted so we can easily see them and so we have ways of tracking the order. We can see that they’re being prepared, in the oven, or that they’ve been delivered. We didn’t have that before,” Dawg Pizza worker Thad Lipinski said. The founders have been f lexible at adapting to users preferences. “One of the things I like is working closely with Davide and Pat. They’ve helped us see what we want out of this. I told them that we wanted some more buttons to track orders, and they fixed that,” Lipinski said. McFarland acts as CEO, while Thompson is CTO and focuses on the tech aspect of the business. Their team includes sales employees in charge of promoting the app and around 15 drivers. “We have a lean team, me and my cofounder, around 15 drivers and then six guys who are in sales. We are funded by the company’s profits,” McFarland said. Stephan Perenich is a member of the sales team who has enjoyed working for CARI. “Ever since I started working for CARI, I feel like it grew in the sense of purpose, like I’m making a difference in the lives of students here,” Perenich said. After their first semester in operation, the app has over 500 users and over 100 orders. McFarland and Thompson have big goals for the app after their initial success. “We are in talks with other universities and are meeting with Notre Dame to talk about implementing it here. We could have f lex points involved,” McFarland said. Contact Megan Cornell at mcornell@nd.edu
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