The University of Notre Dame has issued an institutional statement affirming its commitment to the defense of human life in all its stages. It also has adopted new principles for the institution’s charitable activity.

The formulation and adoption of the statement and principles were among recommendations made in January by the University’s Task Force on Supporting the Choice for Life to Notre Dame’s president, Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C.

“I am grateful to the task force for recommending the creation of these documents and helping us compose them,” Father Jenkins said. “The statement articulates what always has been the case: that Notre Dame fully embraces Catholic teaching on the sanctity of life. The new principles provide standards for the University and its representatives in making determinations on giving in a way consonant with our beliefs.”

The charitable activity principles are not intended to apply to the personal giving of faculty, students and staff.

Notre Dame’s statement on the defense of life reads:

“Consistent with the teaching of the Catholic Church on such issues as abortion, research involving human embryos, euthanasia, the death penalty, and other related life issues, the University of Notre Dame recognizes and upholds the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death.”

Under the newly adopted principles on charitable activity, the University will seek to “direct its contributions to both persons and organizations so that they are not used to support research or activities that conflict with Catholic teachings. Should a question arise, Notre Dame will require written assurance that it can direct the use of its funds in ways that respect Catholic teachings. The University will monitor compliance. If ensuring appropriate use proves impossible or an organization consistently advocates research or other activities that conflict with fundamental Catholic moral principles, the University will withhold all further contributions.”

While the University will continue to encourage faculty and staff members “to contribute their time and resources to efforts to eradicate poverty, disease, and other social ills, both within our community and beyond,” the statement says, “these standards also govern authorized use of the University’s name to promote any charitable organization or activity, whether by the University itself or by officers and deans who publicly identify their University positions with their charitable commitments.”

The full text of the policy may be found online at .

A document providing criteria for the implementation of charitable activity based upon the principles is forthcoming.

The Task Force on Supporting the Choice for Life was convened by Father Jenkins last September to consider and recommend ways in which the University can support the sanctity of life. The task force is co-chaired by Margaret Brinig, Fritz Duda Family Professor of Law, and John Cavadini, chair of the Department of Theology and McGrath-Cavadini Director of the Institute for Church Life. Its other members are Ann Astell, professor of theology; Kathleen Kelley, student; Mary Ellen Konieczny, assistant professor of sociology; Rev. William Lies, C.S.C., executive director of the Center for Social Concerns; and Rev. Mark Poorman, C.S.C., vice president for student affairs. Frances Shavers, chief of staff and special assistant to the president, and Todd Woodward, associate vice president for marketing communications, serve as task force liaisons.

Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., president of the University of Notre Dame, will receive the 2009 Gold Medal award from the American Irish Historical Society (AIHS) at its 112th annual banquet Nov. 5 at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York City.

Previous recipients of the AIHS Gold Medal, which recognizes a special or unique contribution to American Irish life, include President Ronald Reagan, Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the actor Liam Neeson, Cardinal John O’Connor of New York and Donald Keough, chairman of the board of Allen & Company, former president and chief operating officer of the Coca-Cola Co. and chairman emeritus of Notre Dame’s Board of Trustees.

Father Jenkins became Notre Dame’s 17th president in 2005, after previously serving as vice president and associate provost. He has articulated a vision for the University that focuses on it becoming a pre-eminent research institution while maintaining its distinctive Catholic character and long-time excellence in undergraduate education.

During Father Jenkins’ first four years in office, Notre Dame has made significant progress toward its research goal, including selection as the lead university partner in the Midwest Institute for Nanoelectronics Discovery; the creation of Innovation Park, a tech park located adjacent to the campus; the distribution of $40 million in internal funds for five major faculty research initiatives (with another $40 million designated for five more projects); designation of the University’s environmental research center in Wisconsin as a National Ecological Observatory Network by the National Science Foundation; and the construction of Stinson-Remick Hall of Engineering, a 142,000-square-foot facility housing a nanotechnology research center, the University’s new Energy Center, a semiconductor processing and device fabrication clean room, and an undergraduate interdisciplinary learning center.

Father Jenkins’ commitment to the University’s historic excellence in undergraduate education was immediately evident when he convened the first Notre Dame Forum in conjunction with his inauguration in 2005. Created to give students the opportunity to hear international experts discuss important issues of the day, the forum has focused on topics such as religion and world conflict, the global health crisis, immigration reform and sustainable energy. His tenure also has seen the dedication of the Jordan Hall of Science, a 200,000-square-foot building dedicated to undergraduate science education, the opening of two new residence halls, and a significant enhancement to the Glynn Family Honors Program for undergraduates in the Colleges of Science and Arts and Letters.

In appreciation for his service as president during his first four years in office and their four years at Notre Dame, the undergraduate students in the Class of 2009 honored Father Jenkins as the recipient of their Senior Class Fellow award.

Father Jenkins repeatedly has vowed to maintain Notre Dame’s identity as a Catholic university, perhaps most notably at the 2009 commencement ceremony when, in the face of criticism of his invitation to President Barack Obama to receive an honorary degree, he said: “Tapping the full potential of human reason to seek God and serve humanity is a central mission of the Catholic Church. The natural place for the Church to pursue this mission is at a Catholic university. The University of Notre Dame belongs to an academic tradition of nearly a thousand years – born of the Church’s teaching that human reason, tempered by faith, is a gift of God, a path to religious truth, and a means for seeking the common good in secular life. It is out of this duty to serve the common good that we seek to foster dialogue with all people of good will, regardless of faith, background or perspective. We will listen to all views, and always bear witness for what we believe. Insofar as we play this role, we can be what Pope John Paul II said a Catholic university is meant to be – ‘a primary and privileged place for a fruitful dialogue between the Gospel and culture.’”

Father Jenkins has taken action to reinforce his verbal commitment to the University’s Catholic identity, including the appointment of Rev. Robert Sullivan as an associate vice president who assists Notre Dame’s colleges, schools, institutes and centers with their academic programs and initiatives that advance the University’s Catholic mission and character. Father Jenkins has led Notre Dame delegations during his presidency to the Vatican to meet with Church officials, including a brief visit with Pope Benedict XVI; to France to celebrate the beatification of Blessed Father Basil Moreau, C.S.C., founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross, the University’s founding religious community; and to Jerusalem to mark the 35th anniversary of the establishment of the University’s Ecumenical Institute.

Most recently, Father Jenkins dedicated Geddes Hall, a 64,000-square-foot building for the Institute for Church Life, which includes the Center for Social Concerns and six other centers dedicated to teaching, research and service to the Church and society.

Many of the University’s new initiatives have been made possible by generous contributions to its “Spirit of Notre Dame” capital campaign, a $1.5 billion fund-raising effort publicly announced by Father Jenkins in May 2008. The campaign surpassed its goal in the summer of 2009 and will continue until June 2011.

Father Jenkins also has continued Notre Dame’s efforts to work collaboratively with the communities surrounding the University. Recent initiatives include the opening of Eddy Street Commons, a $200 million mix-used development adjacent to the south side of the campus; a voluntary 10-year contribution of $5.5 million to four local municipalities; and a partnership with the city of South Bend on Innovation Park.

Father Jenkins has appointed five new deans during his tenure as president: Gregory Crawford in science, Peter Kilpatrick in engineering, John McGreevy in arts in letters, Nell Newton in the Law 91��Ƶ, and Gregory Sterling in the Graduate 91��Ƶ. He also appointed Jack Swarbrick as director of athletics and has added four new vice presidents to his administration: Robert Bernhard, research; Janet Botz, public affairs and communications; Marianne Corr, general counsel; and Don Pope-Davis, associate provost.

A Notre Dame alumnus, Father Jenkins earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in philosophy from the University in 1976 and 1978, respectively, and was ordained a priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on campus in 1983. While earning bachelor’s and doctoral degrees in philosophy from Oxford University in 1987 and 1989, respectively, he also taught in Notre Dame’s London Undergraduate Program. He earned a master of divinity degree and licentiate in sacred theology from the Jesuit 91��Ƶ of Theology at Berkeley in 1988.

A member of the Notre Dame philosophy faculty since 1990 and the recipient of a Lilly Teaching Fellowship in 1991-92, Father Jenkins served as director of the Old College program for Holy Cross seminarians from 1991 to 1993 and as religious superior of the Holy Cross priests and brothers at Notre Dame from 1997 to 2000.

Father Jenkins is the author of numerous scholarly articles published in The Journal of Philosophy, Medieval Philosophy and Theology, and The Journal of Religious Ethics and of the book “Knowledge and Faith in Thomas Aquinas.” He is a recent recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, which is given to those showing outstanding qualities in their personal and professional lives, yet maintaining the richness of their particular heritage. Father Jenkins also received an honorary degree from Benedictine College in 2006.

The AIHS is an international center of scholarship, education and cultural enrichment founded in 1897 in order “that the world may know the contribution to the United States of America made by Irish immigrants and their descendants.”

The society maintains an extensive collection of Irish and American Irish books, newspapers, archives and memorabilia in its landmark headquarters on Fifth Avenue’s Museum Mile. Its highly acclaimed literary journal, The Recorder, chronicles the surging creativity of Irish writers on both sides of the Atlantic.

Information on membership in the society is available at www.aihs.org

The Vatican Secretariat of State announced earlier this month that the Venerable Basil Moreau, C.S.C., founder of the Holy Cross Priests, Brothers and Sisters, will be beatified Sept. 15 in Le Mans, France, the place of his ministry and death.

The University of Notre Dame was founded as a project of the Holy Cross order in 1842 and continues to rely on Moreaus followers for its administration, inspiration and communion in the Catholic Church.

A person who isbeatifiedby the Catholic Church has significantly advanced towardcanonization,or the status of being officially and solemnly proclaimed a saint.

Father Moreau was born Feb. 11, 1799, in the FrenchvillageofLaigne-en-Belinto a poor family of wine peddlers, the ninth of 14 children.He attended a parish school where his prayerfulness and intellectual acumen were soon noticed by the pastor.Persuaded that he was called to the priesthood, his parents sent him to a preparatory seminary, and he was ordained by the time he had reached the age of 22.

Father Moreau quickly earned a reputation as an absorbing and inspiring preacher.He became a popular seminary teacher and administrator, as remarkable for his strong character and iron will as for his personal piety and care for the outcast.

If you have a marked preference for certain people,he instructed his students,it should be for the poorest, the most abandoned …the least gifted by nature …If you surround them with the most assiduous attention, it is because their needs are greater, and it is only justice to give more to those who have received less.

As a priest of the diocese ofLe Mans, Father Moreau established in 1837 the Association of Holy Cross, consisting of two societies, one of men (brothers and priests) and one of women, for the principal purpose of the education of young people and evangelization. His best-known follower was Rev. Edward F. Sorin, C.S.C., Notre Dames founder. Moreau died in 1873.

The cause for Father Moreaus beatification was introduced in 1946, but it was not until 1955 that the cause was presented for consideration by theVaticans Congregation for the Causes of Saints. This congregation studied the life, writings and spirituality of Father Moreau and, after a definitive presentation of the study on his virtues in 1994, the congregation recommended to Pope John PaulII in 2003 that he declare Father Moreaus practice of the theological and cardinal virtues to be heroic in nature. Pope John PaulII issued the declaration and bestowed on Father Moreau the titlevenerableon April12, 2003. After further study and the unanimous acceptance of a miraculous cure attributed to Father Moreaus intercession, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints recommended last year to Pope BenedictXVI that Father Moreau be declared Blessed.

Today there are four Holy Cross congregations – the Congregation of Holy Cross (priests and brothers), and three congregations of women: the Marianites of Holy Cross (France), the Sisters of the Holy Cross (Indiana), and the Sisters of the Holy Cross (Montreal).

Since their beginnings the four Holy Cross congregations have grown and spread throughout the world.In theSouth Bendarea, the priests are known for founding Notre Dame; the brothers, forHolyCrossCollegeandHolyCrossVillageat Notre Dame; and the Sisters of the Holy Cross, for Saint Marys College andSaint JosephsRegionalMedicalCenter.All three congregations minister in parishes, educational institutions, and social and pastoral ministries in the local community.p. Members of the Holy Cross congregations serve in North and South America, Africa andAsiato further the educational and pastoral vision of their founder.

_ *Information provided by Holy Cross congregations and the Catholic News Service contributed to this report.

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• p. Peru: The Peruvian president election “was scary,” says Notre Dame political scientist Scott Mainwaring , of the vote this week that leaves President Alberto Fujimori facing a run-off against Alejandro Toledo. “Everything points to an attempt by the government to use fraud to win the election, and the fraud was successful ? to a degree.” Mainwaring adds, however, that there is some good news. “First, the response of the international community in defense of democracy was resounding,” he says. “The head of the Organization of American States (OAS) delegation, Eduardo Stein, stated that ‘something sinister was going on.’ That’s extraordinarily strong language for an OAS diplomat. Also extremely positive is the fact that the outcry was bilateral. It’s a step forward in my view, although the Fujimori government obviously disagrees with me and denounced Yankee interventionism. With a high degree of likelihood, Fujimori would have stolen the election outright without the strong international response. Second, the Peruvian response was also dramatic. Peruvians mobilized en masse in favor of clean elections and democracy, and against electoral fraud. This response is especially heartening because only eight years ago, when Fujimori effected a palace coup and shut down democratic institutions, most Peruvians supported him. Today, many more are tired of autocratic leaders who do not respect democratic rules of the game.” *Professor Mainwaring can be reached for further comment at (219) 631-8530 or mainwaring.1@nd.edu .
• p. Nasdaq : In the wake of the large decline in the Nasdaq index in the past month, “this market is a stock pickers’ paradise with lots of traps and opportunities,” says Frank Reilly , Bernard J. Hank Professor of Business Administration at Notre Dame and author of “Investment Analysis and Portfolio Management,” the largest selling investment textbook in higher education. “The Nasdaq is very heavily weighted with technology stocks and, in turn, the tech stocks can be separated between some, such as Cisco and Intel, that have real earnings and cash flow and the many Internet stocks that have sales but are losing money and have negative cash flows. Given the recent decline, I would consider some of the stocks that have earnings and growth because they may have come down from their lofty price/earnings ratios and be potentially good stocks at current prices. I am neither bullish nor bearish about the market, but feel excited about individual stocks.” *Professor Reilly can be reached for further comment at (219) 631-6393 or reilly.1@nd.edu .
• p. UN sanctions : An unprecedented study by two Notre Dame faculty members on the use of economic sanctions by the United Nations will be the subject of a symposium Monday (April 17) in New York City featuring UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and Canadian minister of foreign affairs Lloyd Axworthy. “The Sanctions Decade: Assessing UN Strategies in the 1990s,” was written by George Lopez , professor of government and a faculty fellow in Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute for International Peace 91��Ƶ, and David Cortright, guest lecturer in the Kroc Institute. Commissioned by the International Peace Academy and funded by the government of Canada, the study proposes a set of criteria for judging the political, social, and humanitarian impact of economic sanctions and provides detailed case studies of the sanctions and embargoes imposed on Libya, Sudan, Afghanistan, Cambodia, Angola, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Liberia and Rwanda. Professor Lopez is available for further comment at (219) 631-6972; Professor Cortright is at (219) 631-8536. p. Microsoft : In the wake of last week’s ruling that Microsoft Corporation violated antitrust laws, the massive software company faces a future filled with appeals, lawsuits, penalties and ? though unlikely ? even its breakup, according to a Notre Dame Law 91��Ƶ professor. “My guess is that the chances of the ultimate structural remedy ? the breakup of Microsoft ? are only about 50-50,” said Joseph Bauer , professor of law and an expert on antitrust laws. “What’s more likely are injunctive remedies that would require Microsoft to change its relationships with both competitors and customers. These would be designed to limit its market power and, in time, to erode it.” Bauer added that the Microsoft case has positive implications that go far beyond the specific ruling. “The broader impact of this case is that it says something about the renewed role of the antitrust laws,” Bauer said. “These laws are designed to promote consumer welfare, and the fact that the Department of Justice pursued the Microsoft case so vigorously shows that there is renewed commitment to enforcing them.” *Professor Bauer can be reached for further comment at (219) 631-6514 or bauer.1@nd.edu .
• p. Invasive species: Notre Dame biologist David Lodge has been appointed chair of the Invasive Species Advisory Committee by Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt. The committee provides information and formulates plans on how best to deal with issues such as the invasion of the zebra mussel in the Great Lakes and the outbreak of the West Nile-like virus in New York. “Invasive species constitute one of the most important environmental issues in the world, and one that is just being recognized as such,” Lodge, a professor of biological sciences, told Notre Dame’s student newspaper, The Observer. “One of the major difficulties in dealing with invasive species is that you can’t pass one law to keep all species out. There are thousands of ways they can get into the country. While we all benefit from certain exotic species, such as vegetables and fruits, we need to be concerned about invasive species that impact human health negatively and bring about loss of biodiversity.” *Professor Lodge can be reached for further comment at (219) 631-6094 or lodge.1@nd.edu .
• p. Human Genome Project : A new book edited by Notre Dame’s Phillip R. Sloan takes an interdisciplinary look at the often controversial Human Genome Project. In “Controlling Our Destinies,” published by Notre Dame Press, scholars from the fields of philosophy, history, ethics, theology and the natural sciences examine the complex and far-reaching issues surrounding the project. Contributors discuss the historical background of the project, issues behind the concepts of “code” and “genes,” the implicit reductionism in contemporary human genetics, and the challenge the project presents for theological perspectives on human life. Sloan is a professor in the Program of Liberal 91��Ƶ and director of Notre Dame’s Program in Science, Technology and Values. *Professor Sloan can be reached for comment on the Human Genome Project at (219) 631-5221 or 631-5015 or sloan.1@nd.edu .
• p. Wall Street : Recent reports of talks between the New York Stock Exchange and the National Association of Securities Dealers (Nasdaq) are a “symptom of the tremendous pressure all exchanges are under today as a result of the rapidly changing technology,” says Paul Schultz , John W. and Maude Clarke Professor of Finance at Notre Dame and coauthor of an acclaimed study that led to the restructuring of Nasdaq. “Today, individual investors can easily access the same information through the Internet that professional traders use. Moreover, they can now trade directly with each other through the Internet without the intermediation services that exchanges have traditionally provided. In the next few years, we will see tremendous changes in the way securities are traded.” *Professor Schultz can be reached for further comment at (219) 631-3338 or schultz.19@nd.edu .
• p. Catholic universities : Sister Alice Gallin, O.S.U. , a life trustee of Notre Dame and former executive director of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, has written a new book titled “Negotiating Identity: Catholic Higher Education since 1960.” Published by Notre Dame Press , the book reviews developments in Catholic higher education during the past four decades and examines the process by which these institutions acclimated themselves to the standards of the American academy and, at the same time, attempted to retain their Catholic characters and missions. For more information, contact Julie Dudrick, director of promotions for Notre Dame Press, at (219) 631-6346.

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• p. Campaigning Christians: The increasing number of political candidates who use their Christianity as a campaign platform will suffer greater consequences if their personal behavior is lacking, says Nathan O. Hatch , provost at Notre Dame and one of the world’s leading experts on American religious history. “It seems to me that it has crossed into a new area, one of deeply personal, experiential terms,” Hatch, the Tackes Professor of History, said in an interview with The National Journal. “In the process, these candidates are setting a higher bar for themselves. Once you say you live by certain standards, it doesn’t take a theologian to judge whether they are meeting that standard. The average Tom, Dick and Harry are going to notice when they fall short.” *Professor Hatch can be reached for further comment at (219) 631-6631 or hatch.2@nd.edu .
• p. Mergers and acquisitions: A study by Tim Loughran , associate professor of finance at Notre Dame, finds that typical mergers and acquisitions fail to add share value. “It’s a zero gain; there’s no effect,” he says in the March issue of SmartMoney magazine. However, Loughran also notes that hostile takeovers usually are better for shareholders than friendly deals. A hostile acquirer “is more prone to get rid of product lines, plants and people that aren’t creating value,” he says. *Professor Loughran can be reached for comment at (219) 631-8432 or loughran.9@nd.edu .
• p. Supernova spectacular: A Notre Dame physicist is part of a team of astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope to witness a never-before-seen celestial collision in a galaxy 169,000 light years from Earth. The galactic encounter is the collision between debris from an immense stellar explosion seen in February 1987 and the gas ring that circles the site, according to Peter Garnavich , assistant professor of physics at Notre Dame. Using the Hubble telescope, Garnavich and his colleagues earlier this month were able to observe the gases in the ring begin to glow as they were hit by a 40-million-mile-per-hour blast of debris from the 1987 supernova. In pictures taken Feb. 2, four new knots of superheated gas appeared for the first time since Hubble began monitoring the aftermath of the explosion. “The real fireworks show is finally starting, and over the next 10 years things will get spectacular,” Garnavich said. “It helps that Hubble is giving us an unparalleled view.”p. Note: An image of the event is available on the World Wide Web at: *Professor Garnavich can be reached for further comment at (219) 631-5972 or garnavich.1@nd.edu .
• p. Finland: The election of Tarja Halonen as president of Finland is an example of the way in which women are making “gradual headway in politics and changing the political culture,” says Raimo Vayrynen , professor of government and international studies at Notre Dame. A native of Finland, Vayrynen is well-acquainted with the new president. “Ms. Halonen has been for the past five years the first female foreign minister of Finland, and in that capacity was in a key position when Finland presided over the European Union in the second half of 1999. Before that, she had served as a Social Democratic Member of Parliament since 1975, and as the minister of social affairs and minister of justice. As a single mother and a Christian social activist ? but not a member of the state-affiliated Lutheran Church ? she adds new elements to the relatively conservative political culture of Finland.” *Professor Vayrynen can be reached for further comment at (219) 631-7857 or vayrynen.1@nd.edu: vayrynen.1@nd.edu .
• p. Human rights: A Notre Dame Law 91��Ƶ professor has written a new book that stands as the first comprehensive treatment of methods to address and rectify worldwide violations of human rights. “Remedies in International Human Rights” (Oxford University Press, 387 pages), by Dinah Shelton , provides a theoretical framework, historical overview, and practical guide for lawyers, judges, academics and others interested in the subject. The cases of the Inter-American and European courts of human rights are included, as well as decisions of the African and Inter-American commissions on human rights, United Nations bodies, the European Court of Justice, administrative tribunals, and national courts that apply human rights law. A member of the Notre Dame faculty since 1996, Shelton has published three previous texts: “Protecting Human Rights in the Americas,” “Manual of European Environmental Law,” and “International Environmental Law.” She has served as a consultant to the United Nations, the European Community, the Council of Europe and several individual national governments. *Professor Shelton can be reached for comment on the various human rights stories in the news at (219) 631-7233 or shelton.6@nd.edu .
• p. Austria: The rise of Joerg Haider’s far-right Freedom Party in Austria can be explained in part by his ability to “play on the fears of Austrians,” says Robert Wegs , professor of history and director of the Nanovic Institute for European 91��Ƶ at Notre Dame. Located next to the former Yugoslavia, Austria has had to absorb many immigrants ? some 400,000 in a country of less than 8 million, Wegs points out. “Over the past several years, resentment has built up among all but a few Austrians about this influx,” he says. “So while one can understand the resentment among Austrians, one cannot understand Haider’s attempt to gain political advantage from it. His statements concerning the Waffen SS and Nazi labor policy have been troubling. Although he later disavowed them, they were followed with further angry, undiplomatic statements directed at other European leaders. Also, his disavowal does not mean that he might not revert to a similar position later if his party were to gain sufficient strength for him to become chancellor.” *Professor Wegs can be reached for further comment at (219) 631-6470 or wegs.1@nd.edu .
• p. Russia: Notre Dame political scientist Martha Merritt says of the March 26th presidential election in Russia: “Boris Yeltsin’s resignation was timed to allow him to do something the Soviet leaders never managed: select a successor. The intense manipulation of state-controlled media prior to the legislative elections in December led to electoral success for Yeltsin’s chosen party, and now acting President Vladimir Putin will try to exercise the same control. This is not democracy. Stage-managed elections, timed for incumbent advantage, do not allow the people a real choice.”
  *Note: Professor Merritt will conduct a policy briefing in February for the State Department on the Russian presidential election and will be in Moscow for the election itself. She can be reached for further comment at (219) 631-7695 or at merrit.7@nd.edu .
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• p. Human rights: A Notre Dame Law 91��Ƶ professor has written a new book that stands as the first comprehensive treatment of methods to address and rectify worldwide violations of human rights. “Remedies in International Human Rights” (Oxford University Press, 387 pages), by Dinah Shelton , provides a theoretical framework, historical overview, and practical guide for lawyers, judges, academics and others interested in the subject. The cases of the Inter-American and European courts of human rights are included, as well as decisions of the African and Inter-American commissions on human rights, United Nations bodies, the European Court of Justice, administrative tribunals, and national courts that apply human rights law. A member of the Notre Dame faculty since 1996, Shelton has published three previous texts: “Protecting Human Rights in the Americas,” “Manual of European Environmental Law,” and “International Environmental Law.” She has served as a consultant to the United Nations, the European Community, the Council of Europe and several individual national governments. *Professor Shelton can be reached for comment on the various human rights stories in the news at (219) 631-7233 or shelton.6@nd.edu .
• p. Astronomy: The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has recognized the expertise and contributions of Notre Dame planetary scientist Terry Rettig by naming an asteroid in his honor. Ted Bowell from the Lowell Observatory discovered asteroid 8474 in 1985 and recently recommended to the IAU that it be named after Rettig, who coauthored a book, “Completing the Inventory of the Solar System,” that Bowell had started. Asteroid Rettig is about 5 miles in diameter and orbits the sun every 3.32 years. Rettig specializes in the chemistry of comets. *Professor Rettig can be reached for comment on various astronomical events in the news at (219) 631-7732 or rettig.1@nd.edu .
• p. Austria: The rise of Joerg Haider’s far-right Freedom Party in Austria can be explained in part by his ability to “play on the fears of Austrians,” says Robert Wegs , professor of history and director of the Nanovic Institute for European 91��Ƶ at Notre Dame. Located next to the former Yugoslavia, Austria has had to absorb many immigrants ? some 400,000 in a country of less than 8 million, Wegs points out. “Over the past several years, resentment has built up among all but a few Austrians about this influx,” he says. “So while one can understand the resentment among Austrians, one cannot understand Haider’s attempt to gain political advantage from it. His statements concerning the Waffen SS and Nazi labor policy have been troubling. Although he later disavowed them, they were followed with further angry, undiplomatic statements directed at other European leaders. Also, his disavowal does not mean that he might not revert to a similar position later if his party were to gain sufficient strength for him to become chancellor.” *Professor Wegs can be reached for further comment at (219) 631-6470 or wegs.1@nd.edu .
• p. Russia: Notre Dame political scientist Martha Merritt says of the March 26th presidential election in Russia: “Boris Yeltsin’s resignation was timed to allow him to do something the Soviet leaders never managed: select a successor. The intense manipulation of state-controlled media prior to the legislative elections in December led to electoral success for Yeltsin’s chosen party, and now acting President Vladimir Putin will try to exercise the same control. This is not democracy. Stage-managed elections, timed for incumbent advantage, do not allow the people a real choice.” *Note: Professor Merritt will conduct a policy briefing in February for the State Department on the Russian presidential election and will be in Moscow for the election itself. She can be reached for further comment at (219) 631-7695 or at merrit.7@nd.edu .
• p. Home loans: New research by a University of Notre Dame sociologist suggests that the Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may not be meeting their government mandate to “lead the mortgage finance industry in making credit available for low- and moderate-income families.” Richard Williams , associate professor and chair of sociology at Notre Dame, is one of 11 independent researchers nationwide who received funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to study the performance of the GSEs in serving the targeted markets of low-income and minority neighborhoods and families. The Williams study examined the effect of the GSEs, as well as the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) and financial institution characteristics, on home mortgage lending to underserved markets in Indiana from 1992-96. *Professor Williams can be reached for further comment at (219) 631-6668 or williams.5@nd.edu .
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• p. Survey of priests I: A Kansas City Star survey that indicates the death rate of Catholic priests from AIDS is at least four times that of the general population is troubling in that “a significant number of AIDS victims among the priestly ranks implies an equally significant frequency of homosexual activity,” says R. Scott Appleby , professor of history and director of the Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism at Notre Dame. The church is largely silent on the issue, in part because it finds no sin or fault in homosexual orientation, Appleby says. But he adds that the disproportionate numbers of AIDS victims is another “less sound” reason for the silence, because “to acknowledge that they are also (inevitably) sinners ? and sometimes quite colorful ones ? is not a threshold frequently crossed.” *Professor Appleby can be reached for further comment at (219) 631-5441 or appleby.3@nd.edu .
• p. Survey of priests II: The Kansas City Star report asserting that AIDS-related deaths among Catholic priests are four times more frequent than among the general population unfairly suggests that the Catholic Church is “somehow at fault for this sad state of affairs because it forbids homosexual activity,” according to Ralph McInerny , Michael P. Grace Professor of Medieval 91��Ƶ and director of the Jacques Maritain Center at Notre Dame. According to McInerny, the tragedy is neither the result of hierarchical denial nor of doctrinal rigidity, but of “the rebellion among academic theologians that has characterized the post-Vatican II era.” In a recent article on the Beliefnet website, McInerny argues that many Catholic theologians during the mid-1960s “were urging the church to sign onto the sexual revolution that secular society embraced” while Catholic doctrine “remained ? and remains ? unchanged and increasingly counter-cultural.” Of the priests now dying of AIDS, McInerny says that they “are perishing not because of the church’s doctrines on sexuality (which, had they been followed, might have saved their lives), but because a generation of theologians charged with teaching them those doctrines led them profoundly and tragically astray.” *Professor McInerny’s article may be found on the World Wide Web at . He can be reached for further comment at (219) 631-5825 or McInerny.1@nd.edu .
• p. T-rex auction: The online auction of a Tyrannosaurus rex fossil ? with bidding to begin at $5.8 million ? will only encourage poachers, unskilled amateurs and unscrupulous traders to enter a field that requires the utmost scientific care, Notre Dame paleontologist J. Keith Rigby, Jr. , told the South Bend Tribune. “The more of these commercial interests that get involved in dinosaur pieces … the more difficult it’s going to become to actually preserve North America’s heritage, which is probably the best in the world in terms of dinosaur research,” said Rigby, who is preparing for research and display a massive T. rex fossil he discovered in 1998 in Montana. The damage that can be caused by poachers and traders is the “kind of thing that puts the hair on the back of my neck straight up.” *Professor Rigby can be reached for further comment at (219) 631-6245 or rigby.1@nd.edu .
• p. Russia: Notre Dame political scientist Martha Merritt says of the March 26th presidential election in Russia: “Boris Yeltsin’s resignation was timed to allow him to do something the Soviet leaders never managed: select a successor. The intense manipulation of state-controlled media prior to the legislative elections in December led to electoral success for Yeltsin’s chosen party, and now acting President Vladimir Putin will try to exercise the same control. This is not democracy. Stage-managed elections, timed for incumbent advantage, do not allow the people a real choice.”
  *Note: Professor Merritt will conduct a policy briefing in February for the State Department on the Russian presidential election and will be in Moscow for the election itself. She can be reached for further comment at (219) 631-7695 or at merrit.7@nd.edu .
• p. Valentine’s Day: Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Notre Dame Press has published “Wing to Wing, Oar to Oar: Readings on Courting and Marrying,” edited by Amy A. Kass and Leon R. Kass, both faculty members of the University of Chicago. An anthology of 60 selections from a wide variety of sources, the book is intended to address the contemporary culture’s occluded understanding and diminished expectations of the love that leads to marriage. It includes marriage vows and blessings from Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Hindu traditions as well as readings from Homer, Herodotus, Plato, Erasmus, Shakespeare, Rousseau, Austen, Darwin, Tolstoy, Rainer Maria Rilke, C.S. Lewis, Miss Manners, and Robert Frost, from whose sonnet, “The Master Speed,” the anthology derives its title. According to the Kasses, “these deeply silvered mirrors bequeathed to us from the past (enable) us to see ourselves the way we truly are ? and could be” and are “useful not only for self-understanding but even for conducting his or her own courtship or for better educating our children toward the promises of marriage.” For more information, contact Julie Dudrick at Notre Dame Press at (219) 631-6346.
  p. Home loans: New research by a University of Notre Dame sociologist suggests that the Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may not be meeting their government mandate to “lead the mortgage finance industry in making credit available for low- and moderate-income families.” Richard Williams , associate professor and chair of sociology at Notre Dame, is one of 11 independent researchers nationwide who received funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to study the performance of the GSEs in serving the targeted markets of low-income and minority neighborhoods and families. The Williams study examined the effect of the GSEs, as well as the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) and financial institution characteristics, on home mortgage lending to underserved markets in Indiana from 1992-96. *Professor Williams can be reached for further comment at (219) 631-6668 or williams.5@nd.edu .
  *

TopicID: 3396

• p. Home loans: New research by a University of Notre Dame sociologist suggests that the Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may not be meeting their government mandate to “lead the mortgage finance industry in making credit available for low- and moderate-income families.” Richard Williams , associate professor and chair of sociology at Notre Dame, is one of 11 independent researchers nationwide who received funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to study the performance of the GSEs in serving the targeted markets of low-income and minority neighborhoods and families. The Williams study examined the effect of the GSEs, as well as the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) and financial institution characteristics, on home mortgage lending to underserved markets in Indiana from 1992-96. *Professor Williams can be reached for further comment at (219) 631-6668 or williams.5@nd.edu .
• p. Elian Gonzale : Six-year-old Elian Gonzale should be returned to his father in Cuba, says Barbara Szweda , codirector of the Notre Dame Legal Aid Clinic and an expert in immigration law. “From the standpoint of immigration law, it is pretty clear that the child should be returned to Cuba,” says Szweda. “The only grounds for his remaining in the United States would be that he was seeking asylum, which requires that he make a showing that he was persecuted or feared persecution based on his political opinion, religion, nationality, ethnicity or social group. He can’t meet that burden.” Family law also dictates that young Elian should be returned to his father, according to Szweda. “His father had an ongoing relationship with the boy prior to his leaving Cuba and his parental rights have never been terminated,” she said. “Furthermore, there has been no proof offered that the father in any way mistreated or abused the child. Distant relatives have no right under the law to speak for the child. In my opinion, the child belongs with his father.” F *For further comment, contact Szweda at (219) 631-7637 or szweda.5@nd.edu
• p. American West : Notre Dame historian Walter Nugent recently has produced two new books on the history, people and culture of the American West. Nugent is the author of “Into the West: The Story of Its People,” published by Knopf, and the coeditor of “The American West: A Reader,” published by Indiana University Press. With 32 pages of photographs and 17 maps, the 490-page “Into the West” is a full-scale history of the people of the western United States, from the Paleo-Indians, to the Spanish conquistadors and settlers, to the gold rushers, to contemporary Western newcomers. Publisher’s Weekly says in its review of the book: “Nugent’s vibrant multicultural history of the American West shatters a number of myths. He finds that the popular mythology of an Old West of wagon trains, Indian raids and range wars is an ‘entirely Anglo-centric’ narrative that conceals the West’s richly diverse ethnic and racial heritage.” “The American West: A Reader” is a collection of essays that deal with the dreams, experiences, values and ideas of the diverse groups of people who made their lives in different parts of the West. Nugent collaborated on the book with Martin Ridge, senior research associate of the Huntington Library and former president of the Western History Association. *Professor Nugent can be reached for further comment at (219) 631-7720, (219) 921-1080, or nugent.1@nd.edu .
• p. Martyrs : For Dr. Martin Luther King and other non-Catholics to be declared martyrs by Pope John Paul II is “something absolutely new,” Lawrence Cunningham , professor of theology, told the Boston Globe. “The pope is aware of the fact that it wasn’t only Catholics who went to concentration camps or Siberia, and he thinks it’s only fair to make a list of all Christians who died for the faith. He says he does not want these people to be forgotten.” Professor Cunningham can be reached for further comment at (219) 631-7137.
  p. Campaign 2000 : The low percentages of minorities and urban residents in New Hampshire and Iowa relative to the nation as a whole make it “titanically troubling” that those two states play such “influential roles in the presidential selection process,” Robert Schmuhl , professor and chair of American studies at Notre Dame, writes in an op-ed for the Chicago Tribune. “There needs to be a concerted effort to reform the presidential nominating system itself, making it more representative and democratic for the nation in its diverse totality. A methodical, regional arrangement of several states voting over three or four months in a coherent process would be a welcome start in improving the current, every-state-for-itself chaos.” *Professor Schmuhl is teaching at Notre Dame’s Keough Study Centre in Dublin, Ireland, this semester, but can be reached by email for further comment at schmuhl.1@nd.edu
• p. Marriage : “Wing to Wing, Oar to Oar: Readings on Courting and Marrying,” edited by Amy A. Kass and Leon R. Kass, both faculty members of the University of Chicago, was recently published by Notre Dame Press. An anthology of 60 selections from a wide variety of sources, book is intended to address the contemporary culture’s occluded understanding and diminished expectations of the love that leads to marriage. It includes marriage vows and blessings from Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Hindu traditions as well as readings from Homer, Herodotus, Plato, Erasmus, Shakespeare, Rousseau, Austen, Darwin, Tolstoy, Rainer Maria Rilke, C.S. Lewis, Miss Manners, and Robert Frost, from whose sonnet, “The Master Speed,” the anthology derives its title. According to the Kasses, “these deeply silvered mirrors bequeathed to us from the past (enable) us to see ourselves the way we truly are – and could be” and are “useful not only for self-understanding but even for conducting his or her own courtship or for better educating our children toward the promises of marriage.” For more information, contact Julie Dudrick at Notre Dame Press at (219) 631-6346.
  p. American excessiveness : A new book by Robert Schmuhl , professor and chair of American studies at Notre Dame, takes a critical look at the American penchant for going to extremes in the arts, popular culture, politics and social movements. Published this month by Notre Dame Press, “Indecent Liberties” is a series of eight new essays in which Schmuhl analyzes the dangers and consequences of carrying fundamental American freedoms too far. He argues for seeking public and private equilibrium because to do otherwise results in “indecent liberties” that endanger the nation’s future. Schmuhl considers historical examples – such as the hunting of buffalo in the West, Prohibition, and business ventures in the Gilded Age – but devotes most of his attention to contemporary affairs, including shock entertainment, the decline of privacy, and excessive media coverage of stories such as the O.J. Simpson trial and the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal. *Professor Schmuhl is teaching at Notre Dame’s Keough Study Centre in Dublin, Ireland, this semester, but can be reached by email for further comment at schmuhl.1@nd.edu
  *

TopicID: 3386

• p. Elian Gonzalez: Six-year-old Elian Gonzalez should be returned to his father in Cuba, says Barbara Szweda , codirector of the Notre Dame Legal Aid Clinic and an expert in immigration law. “From the standpoint of immigration law, it is pretty clear that the child should be returned to Cuba,” says Szweda. “The only grounds for his remaining in the United States would be that he was seeking asylum, which requires that he make a showing that he was persecuted or feared persecution based on his political opinion, religion nationality, ethnicity or social group. He can’t meet that burden.” Family law also dictates that young Elian should be returned to his father, according to Szweda. “His father had an ongoing relationship with the boy prior to his leaving Cuba and his parental rights have never been terminated,” she said. “Furthermore, there has been no proof offered that the father in any way mistreated or abuse the child. Distant relatives have no right under the law to speak for the child. In my opinion, the child belongs with his father.” *For further comment, contact Szweda at (219) 631-7637 or szweda.5@nd.edu
• p. Catholic martyrs: For Dr. Martin Luther King and other non-Catholics to be declared martyrs by Pope John Paul II is “something absolutely new,” Lawrence Cunningham , professor of theology, told the Boston Globe. “The pope is aware of the fact that it wasn’t only Catholics who went to concentration camps or Siberia, and he thinks it’s only fair to make a list of all Christians who died for the faith. He says he does not want these people to be forgotten.” Professor Cunningham can be reached for further comment at (219) 631-7137. p. Women religious: Catholic women’s religious orders have been in precipitous numerical decline for the last three decades. In 1965 there were some 180,000 nuns at work and prayer in the United States; last year there were 83,000. Catholic sisters also are “graying,” with a median age of 68. “It’s a personnel crisis,” R. Scott Appleby , director of Notre Dame’s Cushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism, told The New York Times. “Sisters really did build the American Catholic Church through their teaching in the parochial school system and their staffing of Catholic hospitals. They have been the backbone of the church in this century, and it’s absolutely critical to address the question of the next generation and who will succeed them.” *Professor Appleby can be reached for further comment at (219) 631-5441 or appleby.3@nd.edu
• p. Middle East: The issues in the Israeli-Syrian peace talks are less complex than those in the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, but the process in all likelihood will still “unfold at an agonizingly slow pace,” says Alan Dowty , professor of government and international studies at Notre Dame. “In this case, the glacial pace of progress is due more to the time required for the playing out of negotiating strategies. Syria wants a total Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights in return for as little normalization of relations as possible; Israel wants a secure peace in return for something less than total withdrawal – at least by Syria’s definition. An agreement could be reached quickly if Assad of Syria decided to emulate Sadat’s dramatic gestures of 1977, but this has never been his style.” *Professor Dowty is at Oxford this semester but can be reached by email for further comment at dowty.1@nd.edu
• p. Campaign 2000: The low percentages of minorities and urban residents in New Hampshire and Iowa relative to the nation as a whole make it “titanically troubling” that those two states play such “influential roles in the presidential selection process,” Robert Schmuhl , professor and chair of American studies at Notre Dame, writes in an op-ed for the Chicago Tribune. “There needs to be a concerted effort to reform the presidential nominating system itself, making it more representative and democratic for the nation in its diverse totality. A methodical, regional arrangement of several states voting over three or four months in a coherent process would be a welcome start in improving the current, every-state-for-itself chaos.” *Professor Schmuhl is teaching at Notre Dame’s Keough Study Centre in Dublin, Ireland, this semester, but can be reached by email for further comment at schmuhl.1@nd.edu
• p. India/Pakistan: A paper published by Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute for International Peace 91��Ƶ warns of “an all-out nuclear arms race” between India and Pakistan, but expresses hope that the two countries “can be convinced to cap, roll back and even abandon their nuclear weapons programs if the reasons that prompted them to acquire nuclear weapons are addressed.” The paper, titled “Preventing a Nuclear Arms Race in South Asia” and written by David Cortright , guest lecturer in the Kroc Institute, and Samina Ahmed, a faculty fellow at Harvard University’s Kennedy 91��Ƶ of Government, recommends that the United States demand that India and Pakistan both join the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT); that punitive sanctions, including curbs on the sale of military hardware and other technology, be deployed against those Indian and Pakistani entities responsible for the expansion of nuclear weapons programs; that such incentives as debt forgiveness and increased financial assistance for development programs in both countries be offered in exchange for “concrete steps toward military and nuclear restraint”; and that the United States fulfill the still unmet obligations to which it is committed by the NPT. *Professor Cortright can be reached for further comment at (219) 631-8536.p. Irish in America:

• Notre Dame Press has published “The Encyclopedia of the Irish in America,” a unique compendium of Irish-Americana edited by Michael Glazier. The encyclopedia includes articles by scholars from America, Ireland, Canada and Britain on the most important events, themes and people in the Irish experience of America, from 1584, when Richard Butler, a sailor from Tipperary became the first historically documented Irishman to set foot on American soil, to the present. Its 1,096 double-column pages contain accounts of the Irish communities in each of the 50 states, more than 500 biographies of Irish-American men and women, and more than 300 illustrations. The more than 900 themes and topics it covers include literature, art, religion, immigration, emigration, sports, music, politics, labor, theater, education, medicine, and business. *For more information, contact Julie Dudrick at Notre Dame Press at (219) 631-6346.p. Supreme Court:

• The University of South Carolina Press has published a new book by Notre Dame Law 91��Ƶ professor and noted legal historian Walter F. Pratt, Jr. “The Supreme Court under Chief Justice Edward Douglass White, 1910-21,” chronicles a transformation in American jurisprudence that mirrored the widespread political, economic and social upheavals of the early 20th century. White’s tenure as chief justice coincided with multiple changes in the United States, including a rapid shift from a rural to an urban society, the emergence of the nation as a world power, and the enactment of populist and progressive reforms. Pratt recounts the Court’s rulings of the time and draws particular attention to its struggle to redefine legal vocabulary. *Professor Pratt can be reached for comment at (219) 631-6984.p. American excessiveness:

• A new book by Robert Schmuhl , professor and chair of American studies at Notre Dame, takes a critical look at the American penchant for going to extremes in the arts, popular culture, politics and social movements. Published this month by Notre Dame Press, “Indecent Liberties” is a series of eight new essays in which Schmuhl analyzes the dangers and consequences of carrying fundamental American freedoms too far. He argues for seeking public and private equilibrium because to do otherwise results in “indecent liberties” that endanger the nation’s future. Schmuhl considers historical examples – such as the hunting of buffalo in the West, Prohibition, and business ventures in the Gilded Age – but devotes most of his attention to contemporary affairs, including shock entertainment, the decline of privacy, and excessive media coverage of stories such as the O.J. Simpson trial and the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal. *Professor Schmuhl is teaching at Notre Dame’s Keough Study Centre in Dublin, Ireland, this semester, but can be reached by email for further comment at schmuhl.1@nd.edu *

TopicID: 3384

• p. Campaign 2000: The low percentages of minorities and urban residents in New Hampshire and Iowa relative to the nation as a whole make it “titanically troubling” that those two states play such “influential roles in the presidential selection process,” Robert Schmuhl , professor and chair of American studies at Notre Dame, writes in an op-ed for the Chicago Tribune. “There needs to be a concerted effort to reform the presidential nominating system itself, making it more representative and democratic for the nation in its diverse totality. A methodical, regional arrangement of several states voting over three or four months in a coherent process would be a welcome start in improving the current, every-state-for-itself chaos.” *Professor Schmuhl is teaching at Notre Dame’s Keough Study Centre in Dublin, Ireland, this semester, but can be reached by email for further comment at schmuhl.1@nd.edu
• p. India/Pakistan: A paper published by Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute for International Peace 91��Ƶ warns of “an all-out nuclear arms race” between India and Pakistan, but expresses hope that the two countries “can be convinced to cap, roll back and even abandon their nuclear weapons programs if the reasons that prompted them to acquire nuclear weapons are addressed.” The paper, titled “Preventing a Nuclear Arms Race in South Asia” and written by David Cortright , guest lecturer in the Kroc Institute, and Samina Ahmed, a faculty fellow at Harvard University’s Kennedy 91��Ƶ of Government, recommends that the United States demand that India and Pakistan both join the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT); that punitive sanctions, including curbs on the sale of military hardware and other technology, be deployed against those Indian and Pakistani entities responsible for the expansion of nuclear weapons programs; that such incentives as debt forgiveness and increased financial assistance for development programs in both countries be offered in exchange for “concrete steps toward military and nuclear restraint”; and that the United States fulfill the still unmet obligations to which it is committed by the NPT. Professor Cortright can be reached for further comment at (219) 631-8536. p. Irish in America: Notre Dame Press has published “The Encyclopedia of the Irish in America,” a unique compendium of Irish-Americana edited by Michael Glazier. The encyclopedia includes articles by scholars from America, Ireland, Canada and Britain on the most important events, themes and people in the Irish experience of America, from 1584, when Richard Butler, a sailor from Tipperary became the first historically documented Irishman to set foot on American soil, to the present. Its 1,096 double-column pages contain accounts of the Irish communities in each of the 50 states, more than 500 biographies of Irish-American men and women, and more than 300 illustrations. The more than 900 themes and topics it covers include literature, art, religion, immigration, emigration, sports, music, politics, labor, theater, education, medicine, and business. For more information, contact Julie Dudrick at Notre Dame Press at (219) 631-6346. p. Supreme Court: The University of South Carolina Press has published a new book by Notre Dame Law 91��Ƶ professor and noted legal historian Walter F. Pratt, Jr. “The Supreme Court under Chief Justice Edward Douglass White, 1910-21,” chronicles a transformation in American jurisprudence that mirrored the widespread political, economic and social upheavals of the early 20th century. White’s tenure as chief justice coincided with multiple changes in the United States, including a rapid shift from a rural to an urban society, the emergence of the nation as a world power, and the enactment of populist and progressive reforms. Pratt recounts the Court’s rulings of the time and draws particular attention to its struggle to redefine legal vocabulary. Professor Pratt can be reached for comment at (219) 631-6984. p. American excessiveness: A new book by Robert Schmuhl, professor and chair of American studies at Notre Dame, takes a critical look at the American penchant for going to extremes in the arts, popular culture, politics and social movements. Published this month by Notre Dame Press, “Indecent Liberties” is a series of eight new essays in which Schmuhl analyzes the dangers and consequences of carrying fundamental American freedoms too far. He argues for seeking public and private equilibrium because to do otherwise results in “indecent liberties” that endanger the nation’s future. Schmuhl considers historical examples ? such as the hunting of buffalo in the West, Prohibition, and business ventures in the Gilded Age ? but devotes most of his attention to contemporary affairs, including shock entertainment, the decline of privacy, and excessive media coverage of stories such as the O.J. Simpson trial and the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal. *Professor Schmuhl is teaching at Notre Dame’s Keough Study Centre in Dublin, Ireland, this semester, but can be reached by email for further comment at schmuhl.1@nd.edu
  *

TopicID: 3387

TopicID: 628

• p. China : The upcoming state visit of China’s Jiang Zemin is “evidence, if any were needed, that the United States no longer is interested in hectoring China about human rights, opting instead for constructive engagement,” says Peter Moody , professor of government and international relations and director of Notre Dame’s Asian 91��Ƶ Program. “There will continue to be points of irritation and tension in the relationshipon trade, on Taiwan, and, existentially, the mutual mistrust resulting from American military predominance in the world and China’s desire to increase its own military capacity. The visit, which seems to be low key as far as state visits go, will perhaps serve as a statement of a desire by both sides to keep up some kind of civility despite the tensions and despite the lack of any incentive for close cooperation on most issues, with the possible exception of the Korean question.” (219) 631-7492; moody.1@nd.edu: moody.1@nd.edu *
  p. *Central Africa : All of Central Africa is on the verge of a massive humanitarian disaster, says Rev. Patrick Gaffney, C.S.C. , chair and associate professor of anthropology at Notre Dame. “The genocides in Rwanda and Burundi have spawned regional warfare and a refugee crisis which now overflows into the Republic of Congo, the former Zaire. Terrifying as the situation is for the refugees, it is only the beginning of a humanitarian disaster which is worsening daily and which the international community seems powerless to meet.” (219) 631-4113 p. Term limits : When the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit invalidated the California term limits initiative last week, it held “in essence that the voters of California cannot be trusted to govern themselves,” says Douglas Kmiec , professor of constitutional law at Notre Dame. “The opinion is an affront to popular sovereignty and to say the least is Orwellian. According to the court, the people can be denied the right to vote in order to preserve the right to vote. There is something terribly wrong in that formulation, and I respectfully suggest it is the court. If the majority opinion by Judge Stephen Reinhardt were correctthat state term limits infringe the right to votethe 22nd Amendment limiting presidential terms to two also would be unconstitutional.” (310) 456-4664 p. Cassini : Despite the warnings and demonstrations by antinuclear activists, the plutonium-powered Cassini probe to Saturn is safe, says John Lucey , associate professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering at Notre Dame. “There’s nothing new here,” he says. “These generators have been launched before and they are very well protected. In fact, there are generators on the moon that are similar. Plus, there is no other way to power long-term missions like these.” (219) 631-7381 p. Ecological psychology : Controlling population is the best way to solve the earth’s environmental problems, says George Howard , professor of psychology at Notre Dame, in his new book, “Ecological Psychology: Creating a More Earth-Friendly Human Nature.” “Every time you have a child, you’ve created a lifetime of wants, desires and needs,” he said in an interview with the South Bend Tribune. “Population is the only factor involved in every ecological problem, as opposed to (other factors such as ) burning coal or chlorofluorocarbons. If you can lessen population, everything is helped. Unless we reduce human population, it’s like guaranteeing a meteor would strike every year. Life has always been vulnerable to random events, but now we’re facing a certainty. We have to do something about human overpopulation, or the earth will do it to us.” (219) 631-5423 p. Black Monday : The “circuit breakers” instituted after the stock market lost 22 percent of its value on “Black Monday” ten years ago Oct. 19 ought to be reevaluated, says Frank Reilly , the Hank Professor of Business Administration at Notre Dame. “If the market drops like that now, the circuit breakers put in place ten years ago will shut the market down for three or four hours,” Reilly says. “But there are a lot of peoplemyself includedwho think circuit breakers are inappropriate. The SEC says it wants to avoid major swings in order to protect the small individual investor, but if the market is allowed to adjust on its own, it will, and it will do it faster. If nothing else, a couple of these safeguards should be reevaluated. I think the circuit breaker point spreads are too small. The market is much larger now than it was in 1987 and yet we’re still using the same numbers. We should investigate and decide whether we want circuit breakers and, if so, at what level they should be used.” (219) 631-6393 p. Big Six merger : The planned merger of Big Six accounting firms Price Waterhouse and Coopers&Lybrand is “driven primarily by client interest in one-stop shopping for a variety of professional services that need to be provided on a global basis,” says Thomas Frecka , the Lizzadro Chair and Professor of Accountancy at Notre Dame. “As more and more services are provided globally, size is apparently an important competitive factor. It will be interesting to see if the firms can deal with their governance and partner compensation issues and actually complete this merger.” (219) 631-8395; frecka.1@nd.edu: frecka.1@nd.edu *
  p. *Recusal recommendation : Catholic judges, as well as those from other faith groups that oppose capital punishment, should recuse themselves from death penalty cases, says John Garvey , professor of law at Notre Dame. “We believe that Catholic judgesif they are faithful to the teaching of their churchare morally precluded from enforcing the death penalty,” Garvey says. “This means that they cannot themselves sentence criminals to death nor enforce jury recommendations of death.” (219) 631-9258 p. SIDS : Recent research suggesting that many cases of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) may actually have been infanticide is worrisome, says James McKenna , professor of anthropology and director of Notre Dame’s new Mother and Infant Behavioral Sleep Laboratory. “While of course there always have been and always will be acts of infanticide, it’s something else again to make these kinds of generalizations,” says McKenna. “My fear is that this will create another element of pain, with too much suspicion being directed at parents. The problem with SIDS is that it’s an autopsy by exclusion, which means that prevailing cultural beliefs play a significant role. Beliefs are really important, and I’m worried that a sensational book or research will sensitize people to believe a death is infanticide when it really was a case of SIDS.” (219) 631-3816 p.

TopicID: 554