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Volume 51, Issue 23 | Wednesday, September 21, 2016 | ndsmcobserver.com
Jenkins addresses faculty University president discusses sustainability plan, faculty diversity in speech By EMILY McCONVILLE Associate News Editor
University president Fr. John Jenkins announced the implementation of a five-year sustainability plan during a wideranging address to faculty members Tuesday. The Comprehensive Sustainability Strategy was released on green.nd.edu at the same time as the address. It was was written by a committee of students, faculty and administrators convened in spring 2015 in response to Pope Francis’ environmental encyclical “Laudato Si,” Jenkins said. The plan includes eliminating coal use by 2020; increasing the use of renewable energy, including building geothermal fields; decreasing carbon emissions; improving the measurement of water usage; taking efficiency see JENKINS PAGE 4
Observer Staff Report
CAITLYN JORDAN | The Observer
Fr. John Jenkins speaks during his annual address to the faculty on Tuesday night in the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center. The address outlined university efforts towards sustainability and diversity.
SMC students, faculty celebrate Day of Peace By MARTHA REILLY Associate Saint Mary’s Editor
On Tuesday, several Saint Mary’s students and faculty participated in activities celebrating the International Day of Peace. Campus minister Emily SiposButler said the Day of Peace is a way to commemorate and strengthen acts of peace and nonviolence within the community.
“It shines a light on the practice of peace and calls all of use to work toward peace locally and globally,” she said. While the Day of Peace mean a lot globally, it also means a lot personally and spiritually to Sipos-Butler. “It’s a chance to recall that we are meant to live in peace with one another and with all of creation,” she said. “It gives us hope
for peace and reminds us we are not alone in that hope and work for peace. On a personal level, this day carries a deeper meaning as I remember those in war-torn areas that I worked with or on behalf of when I was with the Catholic Peace-Building Network.” Saint Mary’s is in a unique see PEACE PAGE 4
Poet laureate to visit ND Observer Staff Report
Juan Felipe Herrera, poet laureate of the United States, will visit Notre Dame on Oct. 5 and 6, according to a University press release. Herrera was appointed the first Latino poet laureate in the U.S. in 2015, the country’s highest honor in poetry, according to the release. He is the author of 28 books of
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Stamp to honor Fr. Ted
poetry, young adult novels and children’s series, including “Half the World in Light: New and Selected Poems,” winner of National Book Critics Circle Award and International Latino Book Award. On Oct. 5, Herrera will read some of his works, followed by a question-and-answer session for members of the campus community. The
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event is sponsored by the Institute for Latino Studies and the Office of the President and includes a student performance of one of Herrera’s poems The reading will take place from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in DeBartolo Performing Arts Center (DPAC). Admission will be free but requires a see POET PAGE 3
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Next September, the U.S. Postal Service will issue a postage stamp commemorating University president emeritus Fr. Theodore Hesburgh, according to a University press release. The release said the stamp will be unveiled Sept. 1, 2017 at a ceremony at the University and will have a first day of sale at the Notre Dame post office. “It’s fitting that the United States recognizes Fr. Hesburgh’s contributions to our nation and the world in a medium that will literally transport his legacy to households across America and around the world,” University president Fr. John Jenkins said see STAMP PAGE 4
‘Sex Signals’ encourages talk By MEGAN VALLEY News Writer
Issues of consent and sexual violence — and what these mean for dating culture — can be difficult to talk about. On Tuesday, the Gender Relations Center (GRC) sponsored Sex Signals, an improvisational performance presented by Catharsis Productions of Chicago, with the hope of making the conversation a little easier. “It really looks at what it means by consent, the different ways you can have and understand content, how you can do it in ways that aren’t awkward, just how to have those conversations with one another and, most importantly, bystander intervention,” director of the GRC Christine Caron Gebhardt said. Two of Catharsis Productions’ actors and educators, Paula Ramirez and David Seeber, combined scripted material and audience-driven improv to encourage participants to consider what exactly is meant by consent.
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Ramirez said consent cannot rely on body language, which can be misinterpreted, and must be “verbal, active and ongoing.” The performance, sponsored by Keenan Hall, Pasquerilla West Hall and Naval ROTC, in conjunction with the GRC, included several improvised scenes, followed by reflective comments from the audience. “[Sex Signals is] meant to be a mirror of different conversations in our culture to provide commentary about which parts are helpful to us and which are harmful,” Gebhardt said. “We want you to help us figure out how we can best address [sexual misconduct] on campus and we hope that Sex Signals is one of many ways that we can talk about this issue here at Notre Dame.” Ramirez and Seeber also addressed objectification, gender expectations, alcohol as a drug and preconceptions people have about what rape is in their see SEX SIGNALS PAGE 4
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