Student Life Council discusses faith on campus Train derailment raises concerns

By BELLA LAUFENBERG notre d ame news e ditor

o n Tuesday evening, students filed into the c arey a uditorium in h esburgh l ibrary for an event that was 50 years in the making: the resurgence of the s tudent l ife c ouncil ( slc ).

The ‘New’ SLC a passion project of student government executive leaders p atrick l ee, s ofie s titt and n icole Baumann, the resurgence of the slc has been a labor of love over the last year. i n an interview with The o bserver, l ee noted his excitement and goal for the council.

“The primary goal really is to foster communication — to let the students speak with the members of the community who are making decisions and let those decision makers provide the rationale and get constructive comments and feedback from the students,” he said. “[ s ofie and i ] ran under the, perhaps, unexpected but absolutely central belief that students deserve a voice in the direction of their u niversity.”

There are currently three permanent members of the slc : vice president for student affairs Fr. g erald “ g erry” o linger, student body president p atrick l ee and vice president and associate provost for undergraduate education Fr. d an g roody. e ach time the council meets, one guest member of the panel will be invited that is a pertinent campus leader knowledgeable about the night’s topic.

Tonight’s main topic of engagement was faith and formation at n otre d ame. The guest speaker was Fr. p ete m c c ormick, assistant vice president for campus ministry. a fter the forum’s opening remarks — delivered by vice president s titt — m c c ormick delivered the night’s keynote address. h e spoke about his department’s findings as a result of the many listening sessions they engaged in over the last few years by answering p ope Francis’s call to “engage in a process of

By GABBY BEECHERT news writer

The norfolk southern train derailment that occurred on Feb. 3 has left a lot to the unknown, engineering professor Kyle doudrick told The observer.

The derailment occurred in east palestine, ohio, and has raised many environmental and health concerns in the region. Two days after the train derailed, residents were required to evacuate the area out of fear that some train cars might explode. The risk of explosion was mitigated by the burning of vinyl chloride during a controlled release of the substance. on Feb. 8, two days after the controlled release, residents living inside the evacuation area were told it was safe to return to their homes, cBs news reported. since returning home, a number of residents in the east palestine area have reported symptoms such as headaches and burning sensations in their eyes and throats caused by a chemical odor. ohio gov. mike dewine requested that medical teams from the us centers for disease control and prevention see Train PAGE 4