PDF for Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Observer the

The Independent Newspaper Serving Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s Volume 44 : Issue 118

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

ndsmcobserver.com

‘Every day was special’ Observer office manager Shirley Grauel retires after 30 years as a ‘second mother’ to many By JENN METZ Senior Staff Writer

In the summer of 1980, Shirley Grauel turned down a job working in a basement. A mother with young children, she called the University regarding an ad for an administrative secretary position. When the University called back about a new, nine-month job working with the student-run campus

newspaper, she knew it was perfect. “And here I am now, 30 years later, working in a basement of a building,” she said on her second-to-last day as The Observer office manager. Known for her hugs, her candy bowl and her daily line-up of daytime television, Shirley has been a constant presence at The Observer, and staffers over the years have come to know her as their second mother.

VANESSA GEMPIS/The Observer

Wednesday is Shirley Grauel’s last day as The Observer’s office manager, a position she has held for 30 years.

“I love interacting with everybody every day. They stay the same age, but I keep getting older, but I never felt the gap,” she said. “I respected the students, and it just worked out so well.” Shirley’s time at The Observer has not only shaped her own life, but her family’s as well. Her daughter, Jill O’Hara, said her earliest memories of her mom are of her working at The Observer. When she was very young, Shirley would bring her to work in the LaFortune offices when she was too sick for school and she would watch “The Price is Right” with the students working. “It took me a long time to understand what my mom meant when I’d hear her tell people that she could ‘sell her job because it’s so great,” Jill said. As a student at Notre Dame in the 1990s, Jill said she was touched by how much her mother was loved on campus. “When students who I didn’t even know would approach me and tell me how wonderful she is … I would smile and agree with them, and then wonder if it was odd that my mom was more popular on campus than I was,” she said. Jill said Shirley’s love for her job and for the students who work at The Observer “is genuine and deep.” “I don’t think she realizes the hearts she’s touched over the years … but I do. She is 100 per-

Student art showcase exhibited at the Snite

cent the person she appears to be: loving, committed, loyal, nurturing,” she said. “I am incredibly proud that this mom to so many actually is my mom.” Though 30 years in one position might seem like an eternity to many, it didn’t feel that way to Shirley. “Every day was special,” she said. “Where else would you get hugs everyday, and students walking up to say ‘I love you?’ I could have a bad day, but I don’t ever leave here in a bad mood.” During her time at The Observer, Shirley has collected many memories and stories to share about the students she worked with — her second family. She recalled one staffer even calling her from the recovery room after delivering her first baby. “The weddings I’ve been invited to, the e-mails I get that they’re having tailgates or the notes that are left on my desk every Saturday during the football season … I feel like I can go anywhere and I can find one of the former people,” she said. After about 10 years on the job, Shirley realized she had a lucky feeling. “I realized not once had I gotten up in the morning and said, ‘Oh man, I’ve got to go to work.’ It was always, ‘I get to go to work,’” she said. “I wish everyone could experience that.” Observer alumni will reunite

Candidates for Bachelor’s of Fine Arts (BFA) and Master’s of Fine Arts (MFA) degrees have come together to display their art once again. T h e B FA a n d M FA t h e s i s projects are currently on display at the Snite Museum of Art and will be until May 16. “This annual exhibition of culminating works by seniors and third-year graduate students in the Art, Art History and Design Department demonstrates a broad awareness of the themes and processes of contemporary art and is often provocative,” a Snite Museum press release said. The Efroymson Family Fund Emerging Artists Awards were given for the fourth consecutive year, the press release said. The winners of the awards were M FA students Christopher Andrews and Ryan Bantz and BFA students Shelley Kornatz and Takashi Yoshii.

see SHIRLEY/page 9

see ART/page 8

By AMANDA GRAY Assistant News Editor

Honorary ND degree recipients announced

Student government changes hands

By SARAH MERVOSH

When outgoing student body president Grant Schmidt and vice president Cynthia Weber entered office a year ago, the duo was determined to enact initiatives to make student government relevant to the student body. “We didn’t take on personal preferences,” Schmidt said. “Students were constantly giving us feedback. It made our jobs a lot easier.” The administration soon found the best way to find out what students cared about was not through formal student

Observer photo illustration by Pat Coveney

As sophomore Catherine Soler looks forward to her term as student body president, which will begin Thursday, she said community relations would be a priority for her administration. “A main goal of ours is for students to feel compelled to go into the community, feel safe while they’re there and also give a lot to South Bend, but also get a lot out of being an active member of the community,” Soler said. Student body vice presidentelect Andrew Bell said strengthening relations between the University and the community will

see SCHMIDT/page 6

Senior Grant Schmidt, left, leaves the office of student body president as sophomore Catherine Soler takes over Thursday.

see SOLER/page 9

News Editor

Notre Dame will award eight honorary degrees at this year’s Commencement in addition to the honorary degree it will give Commencement speaker Brian Williams, the University announced Tuesday. Williams, anchor of NBC Nightly News, will receive an honorary doctor of laws degree. The additional recipients come from a variety of backgrounds, such as education, engineering, law, philanthropy and the

see DEGREES/page 8

INSIDE

TODAY’S PAPER

Schmidt and Weber reflect on term, give advice to new staff

Soler, Bell take office Thursday; look forward to goals for 2010-2011

By JOSEPH McMAHON

By SARAH MERVOSH

Associate News Editor

News Editor

Making a Living lecture page 3

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Men’s lacrosse facing Villanova page 24

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Boy Meets World page 13

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Viewpoint page 10