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Volume 52, Issue 54 | wednesday, april 18, 2018 | ndsmcobserver.com
Students plan for ‘Take Back the Night’ Annual event brings tri-campus community together to stand in solidarity against sexual assault By SARA SCHLECHT and CLAIRE KRAMER News Writers
Students from the tri-campus community will gather Wednesday evening for ‘Take Back the Night’ (TBTN), an event intended to provide awareness and support for victims of sexual violence. Saint Mary’s seniors Julia Sturges and Kayla Zellmer, co-chairs of the Belles Against Violence Office (BAVO) Events and Campaigns Committee, worked on the college’s involvement in TBTN. “‘Take Back the Night’ … is for [the] campus communities to march in solidarity for those who have been impacted by sexual assault, relationship violence or stalking, which are all forms of power based personal violence,”
Zellmer said in an email. The event is part of a national non-profit organization of the same name, Sturges said. According to the national TBTN website, the organization aims to “create safe communities and respectful relationships through awareness events and initiatives.” The tri-campus occasion will begin with Saint Mary’s and Holy Cross students, Sturges said, who will walk from Lake Marian at Saint Mary’s to the LaFortune Student Center at Notre Dame. “[At LaFortune], survivors and other people who have been impacted by sexual violence and stalking [will] have the opportunity to share their experiences in a speak-out,” Sturges said. The event will end with a see TBTN PAGE 3
Emma Farnan | The Observer
Students march across campus to advocate for sexual violence prevention and awareness in the 2017 TBTN event. The occasion aims to unite the tri-campus community and ends with a prayer vigil at the Grotto.
Famed economist Hesburgh lecture touches on ethics, public policy discusses growth By NATALIE WEBER News Editor
Commonly known as ”the father of supply-side economics” and creator of the Laffer curve, economist Arthur Laffer advocated for a flat tax system and lower economic regulations Tuesday during a lecture hosted by the Young Americans for Freedom. To create a prosperous economy, a country should implement a low tax rate and ensure people are paying similar rates regardless of income bracket, Laffer said. “You want a low rate, broad base flax tax system,” he said. “You’ve got the low rate to provide people with the least incentives to evade, avoid or otherwise not report income and you want a broad base tax to provide people with the least number of places they can put their income and avoid taxes.” Sound money, spending restraint and free trade are also key ingredients of a flourishing economy, Laffer said. Additionally, he said, a government should minimize regulations and allow the economy to operate as freely as
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possible. “You need regulations, but what you want to make sure is that these regulations do not go beyond [the] specific purpose at hand and create a lot of collateral damage to the economy,” he said. “So you want regulations, but you want low or minimal regulations to achieve your objective.” Laffer discussed the relative growth and decline in Gross Domestic Product per adult over the years, which hit a significant high during former president John F. Kennedy’s administration. This peak, he said, was a direct result of Kennedy’s sweeping tax cuts. “The economy growth in that period was called ‘go-go 60’s,’” Laffer said. “If you look at real Gross Domestic Product per adult de-trended, the thing goes right through the ceiling under John F. Kennedy.” Both former presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton also created tax policies conducive to growth, Laffer commented. During Laffer’s time as an advisor to Reagan, the see LAFFER PAGE 4
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By MEAGAN BENS News Writer
Beatrice Fihn, executive director of the Nobel Peace Prizewinning group the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), spoke in the McCartan Courtroom in the Eck Hall of Law on Tuesday to discuss the threat of nuclear war and need to ban nuclear weapons
for the 24th annual Hesburgh Lecture in Ethics and Public Policy. Fihn reminisced on the work of former University president Theodore Hesburgh, who represented the Vatican in signing the treaty that established the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), an organization that sought to harness nuclear energy for peaceful
energy uses rather than for war. The threat of nuclear warfare, Fihn said, is an intense reality people today have already had to face. “Imagine you are in your home, relaxing in your bed,” Fihn said. “You grab your phone to silence it, and in all capital see ETHICS PAGE 4
ND votes event focuses on ‘peer to peer’ politics By CIARA HOPKINSON News Writer
ND Votes hosted its final Pizza, Pop & Politics of the year Tuesday evening, concluding a year of informal political lectures. This week’s installment, “Peer to Peer Politics,” highlighted three seniors who completed theses related to politics in today’s society.
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Senior Michael Finan spoke about his research regarding the white working class’ unforeseen influence on the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. “The white working class over the past twenty years has been becoming more Republican,” Finan said. “You can see back in 1992, if you were in the white working class you were
actually more likely to identify as a Democrat, and they’ve kind of shifted from a democratic stronghold — blue collar, union workers — to now identifying and voting for Republicans.” This shift led to Donald Trump’s 39 point advantage over Hillary Clinton among white
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