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Volume 48, Issue 68 | thursday, january 15, 2015 | ndsmcobserver.com
ND earns gold rating in sustainability Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education recognizes green initiatives By RACHEL O’GRADY News Writer
Increasing its rating from the past three years, the Universit y of Notre Dame was recently awarded a gold rating from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainabilit y in Higher Education (AASHE) for exceptional sustainabilit y achievements. “We are extremely proud of the gold rating the Universit y received in the AASHE STARS [Sustainabilit y Tracking, Assessment and Rating
System] program,” director of sustainabilit y Linda Kurtos said. “The STARS rating system is unique from other systems because it takes into account sustainabilit y aspects from all across the universit y, not just one or two areas.” Looking at a w ide variet y of aspects, the rating is indicative of an overall extremely positive change in the env ironmental awareness of the Universit y, as well as an execution of the see GOLD PAGE 6
KERI O’MARA | The Observer
Campus Ministry names Author to address McCormick as new director racial injustice director Campus Ministry
Fr. Pete McCormick will begin serving as Notre Dame’s director of campus ministry on Feb. 1, according to a University press release issued Monday. McCormick served as rector of Keough Hall from 2007-2013 and is currently pursuing an executive MBA degree from the Mendoza College of Business. He
served as associate vocation director for the Congregation
Fr. Pete McCormick
Observer Staff Report
of Holy Cross from 2007-2010, was appointed associate
director of campus ministry in 2014 and serves as chaplain to the Notre Dame men’s basketball team, the press release stated. “I’m incredibly grateful for this opportunity and look forward to serving the Notre Dame student body,” McCormick said in the press release. As director, McCormick see DIRECTOR PAGE 6
Alum earns spot on Forbes ‘30 under 30’ list Mendoza College of Business class of 2013 graduate Konrad Billetz earned a spot on the 2015 Forbes 30 under 30 Manufacturing and Industr y list. Billetz founded Frameri, the world’s first interchangeable eyewear company. He is the second Notre Dame graduate to make the Forbes 30 under 30 list. “I started working on
News PAGE 3
founder Frameri
News Writer
Frameri while I was getting my MBA at Notre Dame,” Billetz said. “W hile a lot of
Konrad Billetz
By MELISSA RIORDAN
my classmates were interv iew ing, I knew I wanted to go into entrepreneurship
VIEWPOINT PAGE 7
By KIERA JOHNSEN News Writer
Michelle Alexander, acclaimed civil rights lawyer, advocate, legal scholar and bestselling author will speak at Saint Mary’s on Feb. 9 at 7 p.m. in O’Laughlin Auditorium. Her lecture, titled “Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness,” will be based off her book “The New Jim Crow,” discussing racial injustice in the American legal system.
and start my ow n company, so I spent most of my time taking advantage of all the awesome resources and programs the school has to offer.” Billetz said he worked closely w ith professors and mentors from Mendoza to lay the groundwork for Frameri, including Karen Slaggert, associate director of the Gigot Center for Entrepreneurship. see ALUM PAGE 7
Scene PAGE 10
Alexander has taught at universities such as Stanford Law School, where she was an associate professor of law and directed the Civil Rights Clinics, according to a press release. In 2005, she accepted a joint appointment at the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity and the Moritz College of Law at The Ohio State University, where she is now an associate professor. That same year she won a Soros see RACE PAGE 7
Photo courtesy of Gwen O’Brien
Michelle Alexander, author of “The New Jim Crow,” will deliver a lecture on racial injustice in the criminal justice system Feb. 9.
Men’s basketball PAGE 20
women’s basketball PAGE 20