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Volume 56, Issue 23 | WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2021 | ndsmcobserver.com
Mass remembers students Community honors Valeria Espinel and Olivia Laura Rojas one year after crash By ALYSA GUFFEY Notre Dame News Editor
The Notre Dame community filled the Basilica of the Sacred Heart Sunday night for a one-year memorial Mass to honor and celebrate the lives of Valeria Espinel and Olivia Laura Rojas, two students who died after being struck by a car on October 24, 2020. Originally from Guayaquil, Ecuador, Espinel was an intended economics major, while Rojas was planning to study in the Mendoza College of Business and hailed from Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia. Both were first-year students in the class of 2024.
The Mass was organized by the Badin and Cavanaugh Hall communities, where Espinel and Rojas lived respectively. To honor the Latino heritage of Espinel and Rojas, the Mass was celebrated in both English and Spanish. A live stream was available for the Espinel and Rojas families to join the service as well. Fr. Bob Dowd, assistant provost for internationalization, presided over the Mass while Fr. Joe Corpora, who serves as chaplain for Latino students at the University, delivered the homily. After reading from the Gospel of Mark, Corpora expanded on the story of
Lecture addresses lead crisis
Bartimaeus, a blind man who wants to see Jesus. He explained how the story is not just about being blind. “The Gospel also invites us to think about what makes it difficult for us to see ourselves as God sees us, to think about what makes it difficult for us to experience the love and the mercy of God in our lives,” Corpora said. He went on to say humans fall into a trap of thinking they are never “good enough.” “We’re always looking to be good enough — good enough for our family, good enough for our roommate, for our friends, for our team, for the world around us, good
enough to be at Notre Dame,” he said. Yet, Corpora said, God made humans “wholly good.” Corpora then addressed the congregation in the Basilica who were gathered for the one-year anniversary of Espinel and Rojas’ death, saying that no one understood why the tragedy happened. Corpora said he suspected that if their families and friends addressed Jesus, they would say they “want to know why this horrible accident has happened.” Corpora expressed that he could not answer that question.
Shots were heard southeast of Eddy Street Commons early Sunday morning, according to a safet y information alert sent to the campus communit y Sunday. The incident occurred shortly after the 2 a.m. closing of Brother’s Bar at Eddy Street Commons.
see MASS PAGE 5
see SHOTS PAGE 3
Saint Mary’s News Editor
The Saint Mary’s Department of Religious Studies hosted the third installment of the lecture series “Wonderfully Made,” Tuesday evening in Stapleton Lounge. The event was co-sponsored by the Belles Against Violence Office (BAVO), Sexuality and Gender Equality (SAGE) and the Office for
Research associate Juan Esteban Baus speaks about the region’s chronic lead crisis during his “Lead Free by Three” lecture. By RYAN PETERS
Associate News Editor
Global health research associate at the Eck Institute for Global Health and the St. Joseph County Department of Health Juan Esteban Baus detailed his efforts to develop and implement a system of monitoring and evaluation for elevated blood lead levels in St. Joseph County in a lecture in Jenkins and Nanovic Halls on Oct. 14.
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As a result of the Flint, Mich. lead-contaminated water crisis from 2014 to 2019, a 2016 Reuters investigation found almost 3,000 areas with lead poisoning rates higher than Flint. One of those locales was South Bend, IN. Elevated blood lead levels can impact children’s development. For this reason, Baus’ main goal is to implement a system of see LEAD PAGE 3
VIEWPOINT PAGE 8
Observer Staff Report
SMC hosts lecture on menstrual justice By GENEVIEVE COLEMAN
RYAN PETERS | The Observer
Shots reported near Eddy St.
the Common Good (OCG). BAVO coordinator Liz Coulston began by introducing the night’s speakers — religious studies professors Molly Gower and Stacy Davis. Coulston also discussed the initiative started by BAVO and the OCG with the goal to place menstrual products in all restrooms on campus. “You might have noticed a couple of baskets in the student
center, a couple in Le Mans and Angela,” she said. “We are hoping to put initiatives together to have various departments and groups on campus sponsor a basket so that people can take something when they need either in case of [an] emergency or if that’s where you might not be able to put your money. ” see LECTURE PAGE 5
Gift establishes historic preservation center Observer Staff Report
University trustee Fritz Duda, his wife Mary Lee and the family’s foundation gifted $30 million to establish a historic preservation center in the school of architecture, the University announced Friday morning. “Fritz and Mary Lee have been wonderful supporters of Notre Dame for decades,
SCENE PAGE 13
particularly with regard to our School of Architecture and the University’s development projects in the nearby community, and Fritz has provided valuable leadership on our Board of Trustees,” University President Fr. John Jenkins said. The center will be named the Michael Christopher Duda Center for Preservation, Resilience and Sustainability — in memory of the Dudas’ son,
FOOTBALL PAGE 20
who died in 2019 at the age of 38. Michael graduated from the school of architecture in 2005, where his interests in historic preservation grew. After graduation, Michael practiced architecture in California and eventually returned to his home state of Texas where he earned a master’s degree in business administration. He then joined his see GIFT PAGE 3
BO BAUER PAGE 20