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VOLUME 58, ISSUE 65 | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3, 2024 | NDSMCOBSERVER.COM
Legends amplifies student programming The restaurant’s recent endeavors were carried out in hopes of becoming a ‘student hangout’
Courtesy of Laura O’Brien
Henderson and Laura O’Brien, a marketing program manager with University Enterprises and Events, said they want more student events to occur at the restaurant. “We would like to build the student programming,” Henderson told The Observer in January. “I would say it is at a zero right now, and I would love to see it at 100 by the end of the year.” So far this year, on top of the burger-building contest, Legends has hosted shows by the stand-up comedy club, Latin dance nights, an AcoustiCafé, a senior class social, a trivia night for off-campus students and a Galentine’s Day get-together. O’Brien said the ramp-up of student programming is part of an
The on-campus restaurant Legends of Notre Dame has recently hosted events such as a burger-building contest and a senior class social, all with the aim of reaching the former popularity of the late Senior Bar.
see LEGENDS PAGE 3
By PETER BREEN News Writer
On a Tuesday evening earlier this semester, dozens of students representing five dorms piled into the club side of Legends, the Universityrun restaurant 100 yards south of Notre Dame Stadium. In the “Battle of the Burger,” teams of about two to three students had five minutes and more than 30 potential ingredients to craft a hamburger that pleased a panel of judges and could get featured on Legends’ menu. While their dormmates scrambled to prepare presentable dishes, attendees hung back at tables spread across the venue, enjoying complimentary food and drinking beer. Legends general manager Rakell
Alabama court case ignites IVF debate By GRACE TADAJWESKI Associate News Editor
In late February, an Alabama Supreme Court case ruled three couples, whose frozen embryos had been lost, could sue the In vitro fertilization (IVF) and hospital associated with the accident. The court case founded the couples’ ability to sue based on wrongful death of a minor child. Since the ruling, IVF clinics in Alabama have temporarily stopped their operations to evaluate their practices and possible changes in light of the case. Beyond Alabama, the Supreme Court case highlights the debate surrounding IVF across the United States. “To govern ourselves wisely, justly and humanely, we must begin by articulating the problem before us in its full complexity, without question begging,” law professor Carter Snead said. Snead, an expert on bioethics and director of the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture, testified in front of the United States Senate Committee on the judiciary on March 20. Snead discussed how he believes the government should move forward to address
NEWS PAGE 3
the varied policies regarding abortion and IVF. In his testimony, Snead called upon the need for accuracy within the legal landscape, which was highlighted as an effect of Alabama’s IVF ruling. “A recent Alabama case has been widely misdescribed as a theocratic power grab heralding the demise of IVF,” Snead said. “In fact, the victorious plaintiffs there were IVF patients suing a clinic for the negligent destruction of their frozen embryos, using a civil statute that already allowed such claims for the death of embryos in the womb. The decision did not depend on and had nothing to do with Dobbs. In response, the conservative legislature and governor moved immediately to grant blanket civil and criminal immunity to IVF clinics for such misconduct.” While the conversation surrounding this ruling draws national attention, various student groups within the Notre Dame community have found relevance and voice in this conversation. “Unfortunately, in the process see IVF PAGE 4
VIEWPOINT PAGE 7
Assistant attorney general discusses antitrust laws By LIAM KELLY Notre Dame News Editor
For the first time in a century, antitrust laws are at “the center of the public consciousness,” assistant attorney general for the antitrust division of the Department of Justice Jonathan Kanter said during a conversation with law professor Roger Alford Tuesday afternoon in the Eck Hall of Law. Kanter argued the focus on these laws, which seek to limit monopolies
and foster competition, comes from a dissatisfaction with the state of the American economy. “[It’s] a sign that many people in the country feel like the American Dream is no longer available,” he said. Kanter was confirmed by the Senate in Nov. 2021 and was appointed to his position by President Biden. He noted the efforts to more consistently enforce century-old antitrust laws, such as the Sherman and Clayton Acts, began under the Trump administration. Although
he argued the current administration has been the most aggressive in its enforcement of the laws in recent history. Kanter stressed the desire to better enforce existing antitrust laws has been authentically bipartisan in recent years, despite Democrats tending to be more critical of large corporations than Republicans. Both parties recognize the risks posed by monopolies, he argued, with see ANTITRUST PAGE 4
LIAM KELLY | The Observer
Assistant attorney general Jonathan Kanter spoke with law professor Roger Alford in the Eck Hall of Law Tuesday afternoon, citing increasingly bipartisan efforts in enforcing existing antitrust laws.
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