A report last spring that the new student body
president planned to campaign for installation of cable TV in
dorm rooms -- an enduring fantasy of many students -- prompted
one alumnus to declare in a letter to The Observer that
this would be "the worst thing that could possibly happen to this
University." The letter writer thought additional TV watching
(the dorms already have cable in their TV lounges, and many students
have rigged up satellite dishes with wires going to several rooms)
would distract residents from more worthwhile pursuits. The alumnus's
letter provoked a current student to respond that there are way
worse things that could happen to Notre Dame. Included on his
list: "A meteor the size of a Volkswagen collides into DeBartolo
Hall during peak class time" and "All Notre Dame alumni stop donating
money, forever." . . . After holding out for
decades, Indiana will begin observing Daylight Saving Time next
year. The state has always been in the Eastern time zone except
for the areas around Chicago and the extreme southwest corner
of the state. Those places are in the Central time zone. By refusing
to "spring forward," or set clocks ahead one hour from April to
October, virtually all of Indiana has in the past effectively
gone on Central time for the middle six months of the year. To
re-complicate matters, several Indiana counties, including Saint
Joseph County, home of Notre Dame, have now asked the federal
government to switch to the Central time zone. . . . Some
students took offense at a promotion announced by Coca-Cola
and Food Services last school year. The contest offered cash prizes
to dorms that bought the most Coke products per resident from
their hall's vending machines during a six-week period. Carroll
Hall won the top prize, $2,000. Nine secondary prizes ranged from
$100 to $1,000. When the contest was announced, letters of complaint
began appearing in The Observer citing health concerns
over drinking so much pop and alleged labor and human rights abuses
and pollution problems at Coke bottling plants in other countries.
Other writer said the competition amounted to nothing worse than
clever marketing. A year ago a similar type of promotion was tried.
Two bottles of Coke products were put out into circulation with
a message on the underside of the cap saying the purchaser had
won $1,000 in travel vouchers. Neither cap was ever redeemed.
(October 2005)
