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Volume 52, Issue 29 | Friday, september 29, 2017 | ndsmcobserver.com
The Shirt unites fans at football games Student project sells 2.5 million shirts, raises over $10 million for student activities over 29 years By MARIE FAZIO News Writer
For the last 28 years, The Shirt has brought together the student section at home football games, as well as Notre Dame fans across the countr y. First created by students as a way to raise money for various student activities, The Shirt has become a prominent part of the Notre Dame football tradition with over 2.5 million shirts sold and upward of $10 million raised with the first 29 Shirts. This year, over 100 students applied for a position on the highly-competitive 15-member committee responsible for the creation of The Shirt,
senior Justin McCurdy — current president of The Shirt committee — said. The group is composed of two graphic designers, alumni correspondents, a social media and marketing team, public relations representatives and an unveiling ceremony team. McCurdy said selected students for next year’s team are currently going through inter views with the expectation that the final team for next season’s Shirt will be finalized by fall break. For many of the committee members, involvement with The Shirt has been a goal for years. Both juniors
KATELYN VALLEY | The Observer
see SHIRT PAGE 7
The Shirt, which many students wear during home football games, hangs in Hammes Bookstore. The proceeds from The Shirt sales are split between two endowments that sponsor student actvities on campus.
Town halls address research, residential life By NATALIE WEBER Associate News Editor
The University conducted a series of faculty town halls across Wednesday and Thursday to answer questions from Notre Dame employees and address various projects and policy changes on campus. University provost Thomas Burish discussed research
conducted by Notre Dame faculty members. He said Notre Dame has a turbomachiner y lab in South Bend where researchers can test airplane engines under simulated conditions. “They don’t have to experiment or tr y to run it through a computer, build it and see what happens,” he said. “They can just test it in this lab because it’s the real
life conditions. It’s the only laborator y in the world that can do this. It’s not just a research project.” Burish also highlighted the involvement of the Kellogg and Kroc Institutes in Columbia. The Columbian president negotiated a peace treaty between rebels and the government, who have see TOWN PAGE 7
Course aims to connect Church, sustainability The tri-campus sustainabilit y class seeks to place stewardship of the Earth at the center of faith practice. The course, offered each fall semester, integrates Catholic teachings into env ironmental studies to ref lect on issues of sustainabilit y.
John Slatter y, an adjunct env ironmental studies professor at Saint Mar y’s, said the course was developed to examine not only the topics in theor y, but also how to physically implement these theories in a practical way. “The aim of designing this course was to have an env ironmental studies class that is ver y tangible,” he
said. “Therefore, we focus on questions regarding how sustainabilit y is practiced on campus and in what ways can we do more.” Throughout the modern Catholic Church, Slatter y said, care for the Earth has been a key component in faith practice — particularly with
NEWS PAGE 3
VIEWPOINT PAGE 8
SCENE PAGE 11
By IMAN OMAR News Writer
see CHURCH PAGE 7
Indiana mayors focus on building community By NATALIE WEBER Associate News Editor
The University hosted Mayor James Brainard of Carmel, Indiana, and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg on Thursday for a discussion of urban development and sustainability entitled “Designing Smart Cities: Mayors Taking Action.” W hile campaigning for mayor of Carmel, Brainard went door-to-door to meet with voters. He said the city did not have a clearly defined main street, and many residents debated the location of the city’s downtown area. “Carmel is a poor, Quaker farming community that had, at the end of World War II, only about 200 families — 500-some people,” he said. “Then, it started to grow, much like cities across the United States did that are on the edge of
major metropolitan areas. But it grew as a car suburb. “It didn’t have really much of a downtown other than that little two blocks, and you couldn’t walk any where you needed to go. And some of the older neighborhoods didn’t even have sidewalks.” Brainard said he set out to develop a downtown area in Carmel and make the area more accessible to pedestrians and bikers. The town now has roughly 200 miles of bike trails, Brainard said, and almost all of its neighborhoods are connected. “More than anything, I kept hearing about a center — about being able to walk somewhere I needed to go, about being able to go out for a dinner and a show and not have to drive 40 minutes into downtown Indianapolis,” he said. see MAYORS PAGE 6
IRISH INSIDER INSIDE