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Volume 51, Issue 110 | thursday, march 30, 2017 | ndsmcobserver.com
Campus Climate Survey results released Questionnaire provides analysis of campus environment, sexual assault reporting process Observer Staff Report
The University released the results of its 2016 Campus Climate Survey on its Title IX website Wednesday afternoon, providing data and insight on student perceptions of sexual violence at Notre Dame and corresponding University policies. The survey, administered by the University’s Office of Strategic Planning and Institutional Research, seeks to “help assess the knowledge, perceptions and experience of Notre Dame students in relation to sexual assault, other sexual misconduct, dating and domestic violence, stalking and other conduct that creates a sexually hostile environment,” according to a list of frequently asked questions accompanying the 39-page survey report. This year’s questionnaire, conducted in October and November of 2016, was the third administered by Notre Dame. Surveys on campus climate were also administered in 2012 and 2015.
According to the report, the survey, which was administered to all enrolled Notre Dame undergraduate and graduate students, had a completion rate of 45 percent — 42 percent amongst males and 49 percent amongst females — which is up 7 percent from last year. Five percent of female respondents and 1 percent of male respondents reported experiencing non-consensual sexual intercourse (defined as “any sexual intercourse without your consent; it includes oral, anal or vaginal penetration, to any degree, with any object”) while a student at Notre Dame — a “deeply troubling” number, according to the accompanying survey results overview released by the Office of Student Affairs. “Even one instance of harm to a member of our community is too many, and Notre Dame will continue to adopt policies and develop programs designed to reduce these incidents,” the see SURVEY PAGE 4
CRISTINA INTERRIANO| The Observer
MFA students win Notre Dame honors app challenge pioneering women faculty By ALEXANDRA MUCK News Writer
Two Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) design students, Miriam Moore and Robbin Forsyth, won first place in the Notre Dame App Challenge on Wednesday night for their mobile app South Bend City Connect. The app seeks to serve South Bend city residents who need financial assistance, want to help build up the South Bend community or are looking to better understand their finances. Moore, a visual communications design major, and Forsyth, an industrial design major, started the project in the fall of 2016. “We always hear about people talk about collaborating, and we don’t see a lot of it, so we thought we would try and do this,” Forsyth said. After meeting with South Bend city leaders, Moore and Forsyth realized the city faced a problem
NEWS PAGE 2
with their 311 phone center — 80 percent of the calls came from 20 percent of the customers. Forsyth said these customers are typically calling when they are in a panic, in situations such as when their utilities are about to be shut off. “Once you get into shut off, you basically have to show up with cash at the city office to pay your bill. We wanted to learn more about these customers,” he said. The two worked as volunteers at the local nonprofit Stone Soup Community to further understand these customers, who are classified as the working poor by United Way’s ALICE threshold. “We [volunteered there] because Stone Soup is the only agency left in St. Joseph county that offers emergency aid on a walk-in basis,” Forsyth said. “It’s the only place you can go to and say, ‘Today I have see APP PAGE 3
SCENE PAGE 5
By COURTNEY BECKER News Editor
Notre Dame recognized trailblazing women faculty with a panel discussion and reception in the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center hosted by the Office of the
Provost on Wednesday. The panel featured five women who have helped “transform this university from a college for men to a university for all,” according to Provost Tom Burish. Nancy Haegel, a member of the board of trustees and the class of
1981, said she hopes the University will continue to hire women into the faculty in leadership positions. “Certainly one thing I see is leadership that is traditionally, historically, predominantly male see FACULTY PAGE 4
Student Players performs ‘Edges’ song cycle By CIARA HOPKINSON News Writer
From Thursday to Sunday, Student Players will perform “Edges,” a song cycle written by two University of Michigan sophomores in 2005 that explores the edges and turning points that
VIEWPOINT PAGE 6
seem to define our lives. “It’s a song cycle, so it’s not a traditional musical,” sophomore Kelly Burke, one of the show’s directors, said. “Basically, it doesn’t have any dialogue, it doesn’t have a traditional plot, but it’s a series of songs that are all centered on the theme of being on the edge of
FOOTBALL PAGE 12
something in life.” The song cycle was originally written for males and two females to play all 12 roles. Burke and fellow director, sophomore Roisin Goebelbecker, however, have taken the show’s flexibility and see EDGES PAGE 3
MEN’S LACROSSE PAGE 12