This issue of The Crusader is one I meet with bittersweet welcome. Hereby deemed "The Father McFarland Issue," this week's paper is a respite from the not-always-interesting news that usually fills it by celebrating Father McFarland and marking the end of an era in Holy Cross' history in which he presided.
Ask a few of my close friends and they'll tell you I take a strange amount of pride in being an English major. Most of the time I enjoy the jokes that come along with being one. An undergraduate degree is a rather odd thing to identify oneself with, I know, but indeed there are worse things.
Although many schools and public offices are closed today due to the Federal Holiday—Veterans Day—in many ways, I am glad that Holy Cross has opted to remain open and to continue holding classes. After all, had today been the beginning of a three day weekend, the true significance of the day might have unfortunately been neglected even more than usual.
One of the greatest parts about journalism on this campus is the way it can bring to light many different and opposing perspectives, even though these perspectives all exist within and are influenced by the microcosmic bubble that is Holy Cross. This journalism, whether it is found in The Crusader or elsewhere, is an active account of current culture, meticulously shaped and coddled by those who write it the way they see it.
Although it has now been a full month since the world first learned of Steve Jobs's passing, the unrelenting news coverage surrounding his death has been a true testament to the incredible life he lived. The holder of over 300 unique patents, Jobs created products that have radically improved nearly every aspect of society and commerce.
For the past week or so, the windows of the Career Planning Center have featured a display that invites community members to write a response to the statement, "When I was a kid I wanted to…" As I read through some of the submissions posted so far, I was struck by the overwhelming number of aspirations that were not particularly prestigious or well-paying.
Although I am happy to report that September 30 marks the day in which Volume LXXXVIII, Number 2 of The Crusader hits the physical and cyber newsstands, I find more excitement in reporting that September 30 also marks the day that Crusader Opinions Editor Katie Andree and I celebrate the 7,670th day of our existence, or in simpler terms, our twenty-first birthday.
At many times and in many ways has it been said that the newspaper is riding its road toward an inevitable demise. With each breaking news story, the digital world continues to pluralize. Yet while printed journalism becomes the sepia-tone relic of yesteryear, the field of journalism itself sees no such fade-out.
Standing in Memorial Plaza during the vigil marking the tenth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, I could not help but recall the last event I attended in that space. Four months earlier, I gathered with hundreds of my fellow students in a much different atmosphere following the announcement of the death of Osama bin Laden.
This is it. The last Friday. Seeing as this is the last issue of The Crusader for the school year, I suppose it would be appropriate to characterize this editorial with some wistfulness about how fast time passes, how we can never forget a moment we've shared at Holy Cross, how we have to remember to stay young and fabulous on the inside, et cetera, et cetera.
Though the calendar may indicate the culmination of the academic year and signal a time filled with conclusions and endings, these last few weeks can still leave many students feeling incomplete closure in their social and academic lives.
First of all, for those of you who may not have been all too together last Friday morning to notice, last week's issue of The Crusader was a work of genius fiction. So in case you did believe that Rebecca Black is "playing" the Spring Concert, the administration actually did ban J.
Despite some of the jokes made at the expense of The Fenwick Review in our April Fool's edition last week, many members of The Crusader staff still highly respect the College's "Independent Journal of Opinion." While I personally may disagree with some of the views that have been printed in that paper at times, I am still impressed by the level of sophistication and independent research present within each new edition.
"Courage," Winston Churchill once said, "is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees all others." Throughout our country's history, Americans seem to have readily embraced those individuals successfully capable of espousing courage during times of challenge and adversity.
The Thursday prior to spring break, I left Dinand caught up in the haze of a psychedelic trip. Not a real one, mind you, but I can tell you how it came to feel like one: Like most others on campus, I spent the week prior to spring break trying to plow through the piles of work that sat before me.
"If you don't know where you are going," author Lewis Carroll once wrote, "any road will get you there." For many people, the four-year college experience serves as one of the single most transformative periods in life. Throughout their undergraduate years, many students attempt to discern the direction they wish to move in life and try to determine the proper route necessary to reach their desired destinations.
As I attempted to reorganize my life to get into post-Spring Break mode this past Sunday, I sat at home in Upstate New York with my dad and grandfather as CBS announced the NCAA basketball brackets in the background of the evening. Since I knew Holy Cross would unfortunately not be included this year, I blocked out the program and turned to online shopping, as some girls might.
Sifting through the plethora of junk email in my mailbox Monday morning, I came across an urgent message from a woman at the Multiservice Eating Disorder Association in Newton, MA who reminded me that it was National Eating Disorders Awareness Week and publicized all the events going on in case I had a desire to take a trip out there to make myself more aware.
For the first time ever, I have seen nearly all of the films which have been nominated for the Best Picture award at this Sunday's annual Academy Awards ceremony. However, I have a feeling that my increased familiarity with this year's nominees will only end up leaving me disappointed once the Academy reveals just how different its preferences are to my personal tastes.
"Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history," President Abraham Lincoln told Congress in 1862. "We of this Congress and this administration will be remembered in spite of ourselves." While Lincoln accurately predicted his significant place in American history, he may have incorrectly assessed how well his actions would someday be remembered.
Last week's first issue of The Crusader, my first as Co-Editor-in-Chief, brought a lot of what I was and was not expecting. What I was not expecting: two different viewpoints on drinking placed adjacent to each other, a surplus of articles in general, and a very clever title to Andrew Wingerter's sports column that I wish I had come up with.
In October 1842, Bishop Benedict Fenwick, S.J., the Bishop of Boston, described his plans to open a "splendid College" in Worcester, Massachusetts. "Will not this be a bold undertaking?" Bishop Fenwick asked in a letter to his brother. "Nevertheless, I will try it.
Prior to writing this sentence, I sat thinking for twelve minutes. For twelve minutes, my eyes switched between staring at a blank Word document to counting the dots on the ceiling to counting the crumbs on the floor. I wrote and rewrote sentences in my head, with the hopes of finding a perfect first line to begin this first editorial.
Similar to Asher Roth, my dad has always said that ‘college is the best American invention'. And how could it not be? The infamous college experience: keggers, spring break in Mexico, and straight partying for four years.
Although the editors-in-chief of The Crusader possess many responsibilities, some of which I still don't fully grasp, writing my weekly column has proven to be the most daunting. As my tenure has mercifully been coming to a close this past month, I find myself falling into a rare silence.
Every Thanksgiving I eagerly await the tradition of football as an appetizer for my turkey dinner. For one day, I forget my allegiance to my hometown Panthers (which was less difficult than usual this year since they have the worst record in football) and root for one of the most hopeless franchises in American professional sports: the Detroit Lions.
Turkey always reminds me of the duet of two violins, Anatevka, and the lone fiddler on the roof. When I was younger I remember cleaning up the turkey and various Irish potato dishes, for the grand finale of Thanksgiving day: my family's annual viewing of Tevye and The Fiddler on the Roof.
The infamous ‘riot', unprecedented arrests, stabbings, overcrowded and condemned housing, and now paint in the street. Caro has seen it all. The enlightened City Council and the widely circulated Worcester Telegram and Gazette have solicited biased and politically calculated profit off of these mishaps.
I always dread the moment in the first class of the semester, when the professor inevitably asks why I'm interested in taking the course, or even worse, to share an interesting fact about my life. Don't get me wrong; I have plenty of embarrassing tidbits to share.
"How can you kill for a nation of shoppers?" Stanley Hauerwas posed to his audience on Monday afternoon as he theorized the existence of ethics and morality in contemporary warfare. He used the hypothetical question of killing for shoppers as a means to show how consumerism has robbed us of our ability to recognize and respect honor.
Last week, The Crusader published a political satire entitled, "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised." The writer sarcastically lauds the Tea Party and reactionary social beliefs. Without an understanding of some of the cultural references in the piece, readers could easily believe that the writer held the sentiments he/she discussed.
What can be more frustrating than to listen to a series of highly publicized futile promises every two years? Elections, the key to our citizenship and democracy, pointedly demonstrate the failure of our elected officials to offer change to the status quo.
Say what you will about Brett Favre's mishaps this season. Between the allegations of sexual harassment and his continual soap opera with the Minnesota Vikings, I understand the public backlash against him. In spite of his personal and professional turmoil, I felt pity for Favre as he was carted off the field against the New England Patriots.
Our disinterest in US foreign affairs
On October 22, 2010 Wiki Leaks released 391, 832 secret war documents from the Iraq war and coupled with the 77,000 classified documents from Afghanistan, which were released three months ago, the website is responsible for publicly publishing near half a million reports from Afghanistan and Iraq.
James Harrison leveled two Cleveland Browns receivers with punishing blows to the head; Brandon Meriweather unnecessarily launched himself like a torpedo into a defenseless Todd Heap; and Dunta Robinson concussed DeSean Jackson and himself on a bone-crushing collision to break up a completion.
Why every white girl should invest in a hair weave
Stuff White People Like #72 Studying Abroad. But I think this clause can be ammended if you come back from abroad with a hair weave. I have quite a lot in common with stuff white people like, actually I can relate to most of the list.
"We wanted them [the press] to ask the questions we want to answer. So that they report the news the way we want it to be reported." According to one of Nevada's senatorial candidates, Sharron Angle, the mainstream media should serve her agenda. Otherwise, she does not see any purpose in engaging with journalists.
Possessing the soul of a crotchety, old man inside the body of a twenty-one year old college student, I detest our reliance on technology. Hence, when the Holy Cross network refused to function last Monday and last night, I could not help but sport a smug smile…until I realized all The Crusader's articles were stored in our e-mail account.
Did you know that the Arabic numerical system is the only universally accepted language? Bill McKibbens's 350 movement capitalized on this internationally-known language to stimulate a global movement for climate change. In his talk to an overflowing Rehm Library, McKibbens began with the typical repertoire of examples of climate change: melting ice caps, rising temperatures, changes in weather patterns, you get the idea.
4 years later and still undecided
I constantly receive a barrage of spam and the Holy Cross ITS department is powerless against this frontal assault. You receive it too: Resume Boot Camp, Cover Letters for Con Artists, and the incessant information about job fairs.
Movin’ on up
Moving into my fifth floor apartment this year was my equivalent of finding the Promised Land. After living in a room converted from a broom-closest sophomore year and living in the dungeon of Loyola (otherwise known as Loyola Basement) junior year, I was itching for my call up to the major leagues.
is a member of the 
