Observer the
The Independent Newspaper Serving Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s Volume 45 : Issue 8
THUrsday, September 2, 2010
ndsmcobserver.com
‘I love being around students’ Payments go green on IrishPay
Fr. Tom Doyle begins role as Vice President for Student Affairs By SARAH MERVOSH
By KRISTIN DURBIN
News Editor
News Writer
Fr. Tom Doyle’s first days as vice president for Student Affairs since students returned to school have been jampacked, and that’s just the way he likes them. From 8 a.m. to after dinnertime, he’s in back-to-back meetings. He’s addressing an email about a fire drill occurring during the middle of mass. He’s going over the schedule for events for the Purdue weekend. But after the workday is over, that’s when his real work begins. After hours during the past week, Doyle rode the mechanical bull during Irish Shenanigans, donning full priest vestments. He jousted against the senior class president and won. He attended Activities Night. “Going to student activities night was the highlight of my day,” Doyle said. “I love being around students.” Interacting with students will
PAT COVENEY/ The Observer
With the implementation of the new online student account system, IrishPay, the Office of Student Financial Services will save nearly 400,000 sheets of paper each year and parents and students are able to make payments online. “Sustainability was definitely a driving force behind the transition to the online system,” said Michael Riemke, associate director of Student Financial Services. Compared to the previous paper-based student account payment system, the IrishPay system will save 398,253 total sheets of paper — the equivalent of 12,639 pounds of carbon dioxide and 47,741 gallons of wastewater each year, based on the Environmental Defense Fund’s paper calculator. In addition to making the student account system more sustainable, the Office responded to several requests
see DOYLE/page 3
Fr. Tom Doyle, vice president for Student Affairs, looks forward his new position as one that allows him to engage with students in the Notre Dame community.
see IRISHPAY/page 4
STUDENT SENATE
Senators brainstorm community relations By MEGAN DOYLE News Writer
Student body president Catherine Soler and vice president Andrew Bell asked the Student Senate for ideas on how to better relations between Notre Dame and the South Bend community and for feedback on the beND campaign. The beND campaign is designed to “unify all our University relations and offcampus efforts,” Soler said. The campaign will focus on campus safety, good neighbor relations and community engagement, Soler said. “At the forefront of our community relations and our efforts with law enforcement, we are up front about the fact that this is in no way an attempt to make underage drinking legal,” Soler said. “As student leaders, we try to improve things that are going
to be productive in the long run.” “People want specifics about what their rights are when they are dealing with police,” Breen-Phillips senator Erin Burke said. “They want to know what the truth is.” Siegfried senator Kevin McDermott suggested voter registration efforts on campus through the Center for Social Concerns should branch out to off campus students to promote responsible citizenship. “I did read the Good Neighbor Guide recently and thought it was really well put together,” Carroll Hall senator John Sanders said. “But the alcohol section that seems to be so important right now was just a few paragraphs so maybe it needs an addendum.” More prominent information about Transpo will also
see SENATE/page 4
Olympic athletes give back By TESS CIVANTOS News Writer
Three gold medalists, two from the U.S. Olympics team and one from the Paralympics team, encouraged Notre Dame students at a panel on Wednesday to fight for their dreams – and to give the fruits of their success back to their communities. Sponsored by accounting firm Deloitte, the panel featured speakers Cullen Jones, winner of a 2008 gold medal in swimming; April Holmes, the world’s fastest female amputee; and Apolo Ohno, the most decorated American Winter Olympic athlete of all time. Notre Dame was the first stop on a national tour that the athletes are taking with Deloitte. Deloitte is the Official Professional Services Sponsor of the United States Olympic Committee. The sponsorship is a part of Deloitte’s $50 million/3year pro bono project to put the skills of its people to work for nonprofits. Jim Jaeger, a 1983 Notre Dame alumnus and Deloitte Managing Partner of Talent,
TOM YOUNG/The Observer
From left, Olympic athletes Cullen Jones, April Holmes and Apolo Ohno discussed community contributions. introduced the three Olympians. “Deloitte is focused on excellence and service to clients and community,” Jaeger said. “That combined with the Olympics is a great fit.” Jones spoke first, giving the audience a brief description of his background in swimming.
“I always had to work very hard at swimming. I was never a child prodigy [cough] Michael Phelps,” Jones said to audience laughter. Jones’s mother enrolled him in swim lessons after he narrowly
see ATHLETES/page 4