PDF for Friday, November 12, 2010

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Observer the

The Independent Newspaper Serving Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s Volume 44 : Issue 52

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2010

ndsmcobserver.com

Ushers relish Stadium experience Stud. gov’t listens to “whining”

By SARA FELSENSTEIN News Writer

“Welcome to Notre Dame,” they say, with bright yellow jackets and infectious smiles. “It’s good that you’re here.” There are 850 of them at Notre Dame Stadium, rain or shine, on game days, See Also “Inside the Echoes” working up to 12 or 13 pages 12-13 h o u r s , arriving from 24 different states and representing a wide range of professions. Who are they? They are the Notre Dame ushers. Veteran usher Richard Scheibelhut started his ushering career in the student section 57 years ago, when he was 17 years old. “I started out one game in the student section, I told them I quit and I’ve been in Section 23 ever since,” he said. Scheibelhut said one of the best parts about being an usher is interacting with the fans that return game after game. He has seen three generations of families come through his section. Scheibulhut has not taken a penny in 57 years for his work in the Stadium on Saturdays. Cappy Gagnon, coordinator of stadium personnel and the head of the ushers, said the majority of the Stadium ushers are volunteers.

By JOHN CAMERON News Writer

MALCOLM PHELAN/The Observer

Students had the opportunity this week to air their complaints to student government representatives during the first Whine Week. Student government posted student leaders around campus to field questions and take suggestions for improving the Notre Dame experience. “We have been in the dining halls, LaFortune, and we’ve had a member of student government go to almost all the Hall Council meetings, and we’ve also had suggestion boxes in the office,” student body president Catherine Soler said. “Right now we’re in the compiling process.” Soler said Whine Week, a new event this year, was a result of discussion in Student Senate about the need for improving dialogue between student government and the student body. “Actually the idea came out of Senate, just conversations about how people don’t know what student government does, or don’t know how to communi-

Notre Dame usher Thomas Moore stands with students in section 29 on game day.

see WHINE/page 6

MALCOLM PHELAN/The Observer

Usher Sean Wernert stands in his bright yellow jacket and welcomes fans from around the country to the Notre Dame Stadium on game day. “I’d say the primary motivation for people to be ushers is that they want to be part of the game day experience representing Notre Dame,” Gagnon said. “It’s not as comfortable as being a guest — on the other hand, it’s hard to compete with the feeling you have when you’re there early. You open the Stadium and welcome people and take a lot of pride in being part of the Notre Dame experience.” The usher program dates back to famed football coach Knute Rockne’s day.

see USHERS/page 6

ND biology professors collaborate on malaria

PAT COVENEY/The Observer

Biology professors Dr. Nora Besansky and Dr. Michael Ferdig lead malaria research on campus. By ANNA BOARINI News Writer

Notre Dame’s research on malaria is a “web of interaction,” involving multidisciplinary research and collaboration, biology professor Dr. Michael Ferdig said.

INSIDE

TODAY’S PAPER

Currently, there are multiple faculty members researching malaria and the mosquito vector that carries it. Biology professor Dr. Nora Besansky researches the African mosquitoes that carry human malignant malaria. Her current

see MALARIA/page 5

ROTC honors veterans page 3

iPad receives rave reviews By KRISTEN DURBIN News Writer

After completing Notre Dame’s first iPad-based e-reader pilot class in October, Corey Angst and his Project Management students found that the device lived up to its widespread media hype. “My students felt that the iPad would be useful before they even began using it, and there was hardly any change in that belief over the course of the class,” said Angst, assistant professor of management at the Mendoza College of Business. Angst administered four surveys to his students throughout the course: one before the students received their loaned iPads, one three weeks into the course, one at the end of the course and one a few weeks after returning the devices to the University. He said these surveys provided him with valuable feedback as to whether or not iPads play a significant role ◆

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GASPAR GARCIA DE PAREDES | Observer Graphic

in an individual student’s learning experience in relation to a specific course. “One of the goals of this pilot was to monitor the usefulness of the iPad in a classroom setting, and the survey results showed

that the students’ opinions on this remained relatively constant,” Angst said. “This sevenweek class showed that there is tremendous value in the device,

see IPAD/page 4

Wo m e n ’s s o c c e r N C A A t o u r n a m e n t p re v i e w p a g e 2 4


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