With this new edition of The (award-winning) Carroll News, you hold in your hands the last installment of “Cooney Meets World.” This edition is also my last as editor in chief of The Carroll News.

The past four years at The Carroll News provided some of the best learning experiences I could have ever asked for. Those experiences will gain even more meaning and practicality once I enter “the real world.”

Exiting the newsroom for the last time as a Carroll News staffer is bittersweet. John Carroll University has been my second home, but it is time to move on to the bigger and better things that lie ahead.

Plenty of blood and sweat went into each of the issues I helped to put out each week. Sunday, Monday and Tuesday nights were spent meticulously laying out pages, researching my next story or crafting an article or commentary. I always hoped that you, the readers, felt what I had to say was important.

That brings me to the title of this, my final column. I offer my deepest apologies to my millions of adoring fans, but I won’t be giving the commencement address as Millor Orator. I didn’t even apply. But if I had, the theme of my speech would have gone something like this …

I found my niche at JCU through my work at The Carroll News. Countless late nights were spent, horrible slices of pizza were digested, friends were made, and jokes were cracked in our newsroom. In the end, our goal was to put out a quality product every Thursday.

Many traveled to areas of Cleveland where others don’t frequent. They were called more to service, whether that was through mentoring, teaching kids about civics, delivering food or simply by being there for someone who just needed a person to talk to. Their goal was to enrich the lives they touched – to brighten someone’s day by giving them something (food or a friend) they didn’t have before.

Others took to the court, field, pool, track or diamond. They built camaraderie with their teammates through tough practices or time spent together on the bus before a game. They spent grueling hours in the weight room or running drills just for the chance to play. Their will to win pushed them towards their ultimate goal – a championship.

The point is that whatever paths we chose or goals we pursued, we did our work with great passion. We toiled with an incredible amount of enthusiasm. We did what we did because we cared.

The fierce zeal everyone shared was evident from the moment I stepped on campus as a freshman. That quality in the people I’ve met along the journey, thankfully, has not changed. I’ve seen it in my friends, professors, colleagues and alumni I have met.

JCU is a place that embodies that spirit of “ad Majorem dei gloriam.” Now, it’s our turn to go forth and set the world on fire, as St. Ignatius of Loyola said. We are ready to make the world our own and share that passion we have with others.

This time might signal the end of an era. But it’s time to also see this period as a new beginning. Right now, we have an opportunity to carpe diem and passionately change the world for good. Will we seize the day?

A new staff, led by Editor in Chief Zach Mentz and Managing Editor Ryllie Danylko, takes over the reigns of The (award-winning) Carroll News today. They are talented and ready to do a magnificent job.

And now, in my new role, I’m excited to see them seize their opportunity.

I pass by the Institute of Catholic Studies nearly every day on my way to class and give her a friendly wave through the windows of the office. But, when I walked by Monday, something didn’t seem right.

What happened to Mary Beth’s hair?

Not to worry, she told me when I walked in and asked if everything was okay. Little did I know the whole story behind the buzzcut.

Brooks’ grandson, 7-year-old Shane Haddad, has suffered from a cancerous brain tumor for the past three years. He underwent multiple major surgeries and nearly lost his battle before a doctor stepped forward with an option for radiation.

Brooks said the results from the radiation treatment showed that Shane’s tumor isn’t growing anymore, but he continues to fight his courageous battle with the help of family, friends, classmates, teachers and others in the community.

Shane’s parents, Eric and Amy (a 1998 graduate of John Carroll University), and others formed a team through the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. The foundation, which raises money for child cancer research, is famous for its head-shaving events.

At first, Brooks said she wasn’t so keen on getting shorn. “I really did have a hard time with it,” she said. But she later decided it was worth it.

Months ago, when she first told Shane she was going to participate in the head-shaving, “he belly laughed,” Brooks said. If I can make him do that, it was completely worth it, she said.

Those that participate in the head shaving show their solidarity with patients fighting childhood cancer, which – according to statistics from the foundation – is diagnosed every three minutes worldwide.

Brooks was one of six people to get her head shaved, the only grandma of the bunch, on Sunday.

“I did get him to laugh a couple times that day,” she recalled. “He said, ‘You’re looking good.’”

Brooks told me their team, the “Westhaven Warriors,” raised approximately $155,000 at the event, which puts them $20,000 short of their team goal. In my mind, that’s impressive.

Many of my friends on Facebook have shared the YouTube video of Mary Beth losing her hair. Right next to her is Shane, holding her hand.

“He’s really very grateful all the time,” Brooks said. “He always says thank you … [Shane is a] very sweet boy.”

Brooks said she highly encourages organizations, such as fraternities and sororities, to get involved with the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. She said JCU would be a “prime place” to host events for the foundation.

Shaving one’s head is quite a sacrifice. I think I would have trouble making a commitment to shave my head. But, I admire those that step forward to show solidarity with children battling cancer.

If you stop by the Institute of Catholic Studies, you’ll see Mary Beth wearing a pin with a picture of her grandson with the words, “I shaved for my hero!” In the pin, Shane is wearing a Superman costume and flashing a big grin across his face.

Seeing Mary Beth sacrifice like this for her grandson is enough to make you smile.

Benedict is the first pope to resign since Gregory XII in 1415. However, other members of Church hierarchy forced Gregory to resign. You have to go back to Celestine V in 1294 to find a pope who last gave up his position willingly.

Plenty of commentators have been debating the pope’s legacy and the issues he has faced during the eight years of his papacy – everything from the clergy abuse scandal to “Vatileaks.”

As for me, I’ll always remember being a short distance away from Benedict during a memorable weekend in New York City.

I was a junior in high school during the spring when the pope visited New York. Our school received 17 tickets for the papal Mass, available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Many of my friends instead decided to go on our school’s annual mission trip to New York earlier in the year.

But for me, the decision was a no-brainer. I put my deposit down and secured my spot for the trip. To say I was excited was an understatement.

Before Benedict’s visit, the last time the pope visited the U.S. was 1999, when John Paul II visited St. Louis. I figured that the trip was a great opportunity to see the pope celebrate Mass and share in a memorable experience. I had never been to the Big Apple before, so this trip also let me explore a new place.

Our group stayed in a hostel on the Upper West Side of Manhattan for the duration of our trip. But we didn’t spend much time there. When we arrived, we wanted to go see the city, and we got the chance on our first day.

The next day, we took the subway to the Bronx and walked to the old Yankee Stadium, where the papal Mass was taking place. Nearly 60,000 of us crammed into the old stadium, eager to share in this incredible moment.

When he came out in his “popemobile” from the outfield, the stadium went crazy. We were all given white or yellow towels to wave as he made his way slowly along the outer edges of the field. His hand constantly waved to the boisterous crowd as he made his way to the altar.

Our view of the Mass, unfortunately, was through a video screen the whole time. We called the outfield bleachers home for the next few hours. The altar had a back wall, so we couldn’t actually see the pope hold Mass. But there was a plus side to our seats: We had all of the media behind us. When I came back from New York, someone said they saw me on CNN.

Today, the pope will abdicate his place as leader of the Roman Catholic Church and retire to a small monastery in Vatican City. We’ll wait throughout the conclave period for the white smoke and the words, “Habemus Papam!” (We have a pope!)

Questions continue to swirl regarding the legacy of Benedict’s papacy. Should he be defined by the events that took place during his time as pope? Do his views shape how we’ll remember him? Does his resignation – the first in 602 years – mark his papacy? I’ll let the commentators and scholars answer those questions.

As for me, I want to remember Pope Benedict XVI for the moment in history he shared with me and countless thousands of other Catholics on that beautiful Sunday in April.

My time here at John Carroll University is quickly coming to an end. As a senior in my final semester, I feel it is my duty to pass down the knowledge I’ve acquired throughout my four years as an undergraduate.

So, in this latest installment of my column, I give you this advice: Write a JCU “bucket list.”

When I get my diploma in May, hopefully on Rodman Terrace, I will have “kicked the bucket” on my college undergraduate life. So I need to accomplish a few things here before I move on to the real world.

Some of the things on the list I have already crossed off. For instance, I’ve painted the Pacelli Lion twice already. That item got checked off during Finals Week of sophomore year. I remember doing some late-night studying with friends when we got word to join in the festivities. Our large group of friends – many of us lived together on the same floor – had wanted to paint the lion for some time.

After we were done, I doubt any group had made the lion look as American as we did. But, unfortunately, our patriotic masterpiece only stayed up for a short time. As soon as we discovered our artwork had been painted over by another campus group, we went out in broad daylight to take the lion back.

Another accomplishment I can cross off the bucket list is being a Blue Streak. Technically, as a JCU student, I’m already a Blue Streak. But I had never been a JCU student-athlete until last spring as a member of the club water polo team. It felt good to not only get back in the pool after three years out, but also to compete as an athlete representing my school. Unfortunately, my academic and newspaper responsibilities have called me back to dry land.

But enough about what I have done … here are a few of the things on my JCU bucket list I have yet to do.

At the top of the list is to do some kind of service work before I graduate. While I consider my work on The Carroll News a service to the community, I have never participated in an immersion experience, Labre, weekly service, etc.

Do I regret that to this point? A little bit. My intention was never to avoid participating in service opportunities. I just found a more unconventional way to help others. Frankly, I would love to go on Labre or take part in this year’s Jesuit Day of Service.

My next JCU bucket list item takes me to a place that has become my second home for the last four years: the newsroom. I would like to write a story for each section of The Carroll News before I graduate. So far, I’ve written extensively for Campus, reported for World News and crafted editorials and commentaries for Editorial & Op/Ed. Before I graduate, I need assignments from Arts & Life, Business & Finance and Sports.

The point of this commentary is to emphasize making the most of opportunities. Our time at John Carroll University is an opportunity to “carpe diem,” which is Latin for “seize the day.” Making a JCU bucket list, or  a list of goals generally, is a good thing to do because it helps us to focus on what is really important.

I have more things on my JCU bucket list, but that’s all this column space will let me write. I hope this commentary helps you write your own list and find great experiences you can share before you “kick the bucket” on your undergraduate years.

Finally, I received the power to access the World Wide Web, my social media accounts and my email all in a compact device at my fingertips. I keep my schedule and communicate with others easily through my smartphone.

But, that all got stripped away late last week.

For some reason, my phone stopped holding a charge. One minute, I would plug in my phone with zero percent battery life. The next minute, my phone would light up with a “fully charged” icon. The people at Verizon thought it was weird, too. That’s why I will probably be getting a new phone of the same type soon.

So, if anyone needed to get a hold of me late last week, you could shoot me an email, tweet me or send me a Facebook message. I’m sorry if I didn’t answer your messages right away.

In some ways, I felt naked. I have always had a phone in my pocket for over five years. Now, because electronics malfunction from time to time, the ease of communicating with others was gone.

Even though I had just handed out multiple resume copies – complete with my phone number – to potential employers at the Career Fair last week, my lack of a working cellphone came at just the right time.

I spent a significant portion of my weekend at a house in the woods. A group of over 20 of us student leaders traveled to Carrollodge to take part in the Guidance retreat.

We reflected. We prayed. We spent time together as a community. We even got to know each other better.

I tend to think that the time I spent off the grid this weekend was just what I needed. Maybe the lessons learned on this retreat wouldn’t have stuck as well if I felt a constant buzzing in my pocket. And while the work of a committed leader never ends, sometimes we all need time to get away and build a deeper relationship with God.

When I came back on Sunday afternoon and sat down to do some homework, I saw my phone sitting on the table. I picked it up and pushed the power button, as I had fruitlessly done many times during the previous week.

To my amazement, my phone turned on with no issues.

As I write this column, the phone sits next to me on the table charging normally. But I will probably still get it examined by professional eyes.

Sometimes we need to put away our phones, get away from the email inbox, avoid the noise of the world and go find a house in the woods to spend 30 hours in reflection and prayer in the company of others. I think that’s why they are called “retreats.”

My parents even reminded me last week that they went plenty of places without cellphones for many years. If they could do it, I could too. I knew they were right, but it still felt weird … until this past weekend.

I am refreshed and ready to tackle what the last few months of life as an undergraduate have left to throw at me.

So, do yourself a favor in this time before midterms, and retreat into reflection and prayer for a weekend. I guarantee that you’ll come back fully charged.

In addition to the tuition hike, “room and board rates for next year’s resident students will vary based on the building, room type and amenities and meal plan chosen,” according to a letter written by JCU President, the Rev. Robert Niehoff, S.J. dated Feb. 8 and addressed to parents and guardians informing them of the increases.

A detailed breakdown of the cost of attendance for undergraduate students available on jcu.edu/tuition lists the room and board price at $10,040, which is the cost of a standard double room with a 14-plus meal plan (14 meals per week with 100 plus points).

However, with the renovation of Murphy Hall, students will have the option of living in triples next year for a lower rate. A full list of rates is available on jcu.edu/reslife.

Richard Mausser, the University’s vice president for finance, said the concept of pricing room and board differently based on the options chosen by students is called deferential pricing. He said that while the renovation of Murphy Hall is part of what motivated this change, most other universities already use this model, so JCU probably would have adopted it eventually.

“The Murphy project is going to be a different kind of housing stock than we have in place right now across-the-board. A double in there we cannot price the same as a double someplace else,” he said. “It’s going to force us in that situation anyway, so we wanted to get to that place now.”

He said this model makes more sense given the variations in quality of residence halls. For example, some of the residence halls are air-conditioned, and those rooms will cost more than those that are not.

The University raised tuition 4.8 percent for both last school year (2011-2012) and this school year. Full-time undergraduate tuition was $30,660 during the 2011-2012 school year.

Both the technology fee and health and wellness fees will go up $50, to $450 and $300, respectively. The Student Activity Fee will remain at $400 for next school year.

The combination of tuition and fees, without room and board, brings the total to $34,480 for full-time undergraduate students for next school year.

Students taking classes at the University this summer will pay $700 per credit hour, the same amount charged last year.

Mausser said the main priorities when determining tuition costs for each academic year are maintaining the quality of education and staying competitive. Things like maintenance, health care and the IT infrastructure are putting increasingly expensive demands on the school financially, and Mausser said he and his colleagues must carry out this “balancing act.”

Tuition is not the first place that the board turns when trying to cover these costs, he said. Mausser also said that the tuition increase by itself does not cover these costs.

“We have gone to virtually every one of our external vendors and either switched them or restructured deals with them to significantly reduce our cost base,” he said.

According to Mausser, the process involved with determining tuition raises is a complicated one. A main component of this is staying up-to-date with the tuition of schools similar to JCU, both geographically and academically.

“We have to be informed about what’s happening around us … It’s market-driven now,” Mausser said.

He emphasized that the University’s Board of Directors ultimately make the decision on fee schedules and works hard to keep the cost of tuition down. “The board members do not take tuition increases lightly,” he said.

“There’s a pretty in-depth conversation that goes along with the tuition increase. This year, we didn’t want to go where we were at in prior years, and we didn’t. The president would have liked to have kept it lower, but we had these competing issues of cost and balance,” said Mausser.

He also stressed the importance of JCU’s net price – the amount students pay after subtracting financial aid and scholarships – over what he terms the “sticker price” of  $33,330.

“The sticker price, which is what the increase gets applied to, is irrelevant, I think, because nobody pays the sticker price,” Mausser said. “Financial aid and net tuition is what everybody’s looking at, and I think that’s what everybody should look at.”

According to numbers from the National Center for Education Statistics and its College Navigator, JCU’s average net tuition price for full-time beginning undergraduate students has decreased over the past three school years for which statistics are available. From an average net price of $21,945 in 2008-2009, the rate dropped to $21,850 in 2009-2010 and $21,322 in 2010-2011. The averages reflect costs for resident students, not commuters.

Cost is consistently a concern for prospective students and their families, said Brian Williams, the University’s vice president for enrollment. But he believes JCU is in a favorable position regionally and nationally with the cost and value of a Catholic education at a private institution.

“Our admission process addresses cost and value in a very upfront and direct way with families.  Our staff is very personalized with families and provides a clear sense of why they should consider a JCU degree and experience,” Williams said via email. “As one example, we have a college cost calculator on our site that was completed by over 500 families this fall. I believe the way our enrollment staff works as an admission and financial contact for families allows us to get to know families and their unique concerns early in the process. This allows up to help them through the scholarship and need-based process and let them see that it is possible to plan for and afford John Carroll.”

Despite the rise in the full-time undergraduate tuition rate for next year, interest in JCU has grown among prospective families. As of Feb. 10, according to information from Williams, the University is ahead in applications and acceptances compared to last year. So far, JCU has received 3,457 applications and accepted 2,793 of those applicants.

“This has allowed us to act on admissions decisions and offer acceptances much earlier, and we are actually 11 percent ahead in offering admission to students,” he said via email. “We still have a lot more work to do between now and May 1 to make sure that students choose to enroll at JCU among the other offers they receive.”

According to the John Carroll University 2012-2013 Fact Book, freshman enrollment dipped this year. While JCU received more inquiries and applications, and accepted more students, fewer enrolled. Freshman enrollment rose from 661 in 2009, to 702 in 2010 and 744 in 2011. In 2012, 681 enrolled as freshman at JCU, out of 3,490 applications submitted and 2,843 accepted.

Williams said the University is focused on bringing freshman enrollment back above 700 students for the class of 2017.

“We have a solid number of new majors being added at the school over the last few years that students are starting to see; and beyond the classroom, we are adding lacrosse to our athletic offerings, the upcoming Murphy Hall renovation and have many good stories to tell students,” he said. “Those positive stories in the media and in our process are really beginning to take hold.”

Williams said that institutional aid awards are level-funded, which means that the amount awarded initially to students stays the same throughout his or her four years. In addition, JCU need-based funds don’t diminish based on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which is a practice maintained at many other institutions.

“Current students should always explore all of the options available to them whether as grants, loans or student employment options. Our financial aid staff is the best first point of contact to have that discussion,” Williams said. “Specifically, when families have seen a significant change in their family income and savings from when they started at JCU, we try to help families through our appeals process as best as we can.”

The story covers the 126-year history of John Carroll University.

The University Archives office contains a treasure chest of history within its walls. But those documents, pictures and other files are steadily making their way online.

Carroll Collected (collected.jcu.edu) was launched last spring as a Web repository for all things JCU. The collection includes over 1,100 papers to this point, including faculty works, University periodicals and student publications.

A sample of the works available online at this time include issues of The Ignatian, the pre-cursor to The Carroll News, from 1920-1924. Old commencement programs, photos from the 1930s campus construction in University Heights and football game programs from throughout the 20th century are also a part of the collection.

“These [archived files] have always been here,” said Samantha Schneider, the digital projects librarian at Grasselli. “Some of our Carroll News [issues] date back to the 1920s. So all of it has been here; most people didn’t know it was here, and you had to come here to look at it.”

But most of the items will now be online. Schneider has been uploading archive items onto the website using the massive scanner parked in the corner of her office.

“It’s really nice to have it up there, and especially now, because it’s searchable too,” she said.

Some of the items Schneider said they plan to add include items from the library’s special collections, submissions from Celebrations of Scholarship and graduate theses.

“I hope [Carroll Collected] is a resource for people at the University and anybody doing research,” she said.

Marian Morton, a professor emeritus of history at JCU, conducted plenty of research in the University Archives to complete a new book, titled “John Carroll University,” as part of Arcadia Publishing’s Campus History Series.

“[We have a] very impressive archives,” Morton said.

The book, which will be on sale starting Monday, was the brainchild of JCU President, the Rev. Robert Niehoff, S.J., in order to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the University.

Morton said the book came together in less than a year, which is a short amount of time to publish a book.

“I think it’s a good story. It’s a classic American story,” Morton said about JCU’s history. “[The University] was not an easy thing to build. There were problems all along the way.”

Plenty of factoids throughout JCU’s history stood out to Morton as she compiled information for the book. She said that she discovered through her research that even though JCU had not officially admitted women as students until 1968, they had attended classes from at least the 1920s on.

“Women had been here in the Evening School, the Saturday School, the Summer School and the Graduate School,” Morton said. “There have always been women here.”

Before JCU could move to University Heights, it had to finish construction of the original campus buildings. In 1932, however, construction stopped because of the Depression.

“They just ran out of money,” Morton explained of the halt on construction. “So the buildings sat here half-finished from January of 1932 until the fall of 1935, when they opened.”

Morton also thought it was interesting that so many famous Clevelanders attended JCU, including former Cleveland Mayor Anthony Celebrezze (a 1934 graduate) and Bishop Anthony Pilla (a 1961 graduate and member of the Graduate School class of 1967).

Morton was also interested to discover Sister Dorothy Kazel, O.S.U. was a member of the Graduate School class of 1974. Kazel was part of a Cleveland mission team to El Salvador and was murdered in 1980 by El Savador National Guardsmen. The killing of her and three other missionaries began investigations into the U.S. Army-operated School of the Americas, where the guardsmen had trained.

Both Schneider and Morton said that alumni are one part of the audience for whom their website and book are meant.

“People look at this stuff, and they want to find their names in them,” Schneider said. “It’s really interesting.”

Schneider also believes recording the history is a reflection of the University. “You can’t draw people in if you can’t give a reason why it’s a nice school to go to or a nice place to be,” she said. “Especially with faculty – you want to show people what your faculty have to offer, too.”

I’m just happy to see some hockey.

After the NBA and NFL had their lockouts and collective bargaining disputes that ran into their seasons, the NHL decided to have their own. The only problem was that the NHL had been down this road many times before.

The first lockout was during the 1994-1995 season, which was resolved in time to play 48 games, just like this one. The second time the league and players decided to play hardball with each other, during what should have been the 2004-2005 season, there was no hockey. The entire season was cancelled.

Just after the second lockout was around the time I got into hockey. I had been a casual fan of the Pittsburgh Penguins up to that point. I knew of one of their players – some guy named Mario Lemieux.

Then came the draft lottery, where the Penguins won the first pick and the chance to draft young phenom Sidney Crosby. He, Evgeni Malkin, Marc-Andre Fleury, Kris Letang and others have been tormenting opponents on the ice ever since. The team won the Stanley Cup, arguably the greatest championship trophy in sports, in 2009.

Yes, I’ve written about hockey before in this column space. But I left you in that column last October with a slight cliffhanger. The NHL and NHL Players’ Association had not come to terms on a new collective bargaining agreement. Three months later, the two sides finally started seriously playing “Let’s Make A Deal,” and came to terms on a new agreement on Jan. 6.

Hence, the league developed a 48-game schedule, and teams began play on Jan. 19. Finally.

Many were concerned how the fans would react to yet another work stoppage. The Penguins opened a scrimmage to fans at their home arena, charging no admission. The fans responded by standing out in the cold for hours, waiting to get in. An estimated 18,000 people jammed into Consol Energy Center just to watch their beloved Penguins hold a scrimmage. The president of the team was so astounded by the fan response that he opened up the luxury suites for fans to stand and watch the team.

Yeah, I’d say the fans are excited to have hockey back.

On paper, the Penguins have an insane amount of talent. They should win the Cup this season, or at least have a great chance to do so.

In the last few years, however, the Penguins suffered humiliating playoff exits. Most recently, their hated cross-state rival, the Philadelphia Flyers, crushed Pittsburgh in six games. The overall beatdown the Pens suffered was hard to watch.

So, I am most excited to see Pittsburgh play with some physicality and grit. The results have been okay so far. The Pens opened their season on Jan. 19 with a big win at Philadelphia.

Malkin and Crosby should also be fully healthy from their injuries and ready to go. They’ve looked impressive so far, with James Neal also providing his lightning-quick shot to put pucks in the net.

If you walk by the newsroom on Tuesday, chances are we’ll have hockey on the TV. I’m looking forward to Sunday’s game against the Washington Capitals. If the Pens win, I have newsroom bragging rights over Assistant Sports Editor Joe Ginley for a while.

And while I’ve talked about Pittsburgh,  JCU has plenty of Sabres, Blues, Blue Jackets, Blackhawks and Red Wings fans. They’ll tell you the same thing I’ve said: Drop the puck, already.

During this year’s college football season, I was led to believe the inspirational story of a Notre Dame linebacker. Manti Te’o lost his grandmother and his girlfriend in a 24-hour span and played with incredible strength, nearly earning himself a Heisman Trophy and his team a national championship.

But in the time between then and now, everything has been turned on its head.

Lance Armstrong flat out lied to everyone. I’m not going to try to spin it any other way. He says that it was “scary” that, to him, using performance-enhancing drugs did not feel wrong at the time.

What is scary to me is that he kept up this pattern of lying for years, even going so far as to file lawsuits against others who were actually telling the truth. ESPN’s Rick Reilly, who received a 21-word email from Armstrong, penned a great column about how duped he felt.

“And I guess I should let it go, but I keep thinking how hard he used me. Made me look like a sap. Made me carry his dirty water, and I didn’t even know it,” he wrote.

Two days before the first part of Armstrong’s interview with Oprah Winfrey aired, the sports blog Deadspin broke a massive story to the world that Te’o’s girlfriend was a hoax.

At first, I didn’t see the story as legitimate. Since when should I believe something from Deadspin filled with so many unnamed sources? But eventually, we all found out the story was true.

Well, for the most part, the story was accurate. The authors of the article seem to indict Te’o as part of the hoax. For now, the jury is still out on whether Te’o was an accomplice. So far, he has told the world that he was not at all involved, even though some of the information just doesn’t add up. I look forward to watching his first on-camera interview, since the story came out, in the near future.

Could the events of the past two weeks be any more bizarre? Two inspirational stories Đ one of a comeback from cancer to cycling glory, the other of a comeback from tragedy and grief to the cusp of college football greatness Đ were nothing more than mirages?

Can we believe anything miraculous anymore? The simple answer I have, right now, is that I don’t know.

Will the bizarre now become more normal? Should I be surprised by anything ever again?

In the case of Armstrong, his fall from grace may not have been that surprising. Rumors about his cheating had floated for years as he won Tour de France after Tour de France. He continued to deny cheating, even as many came forward with accounts to the contrary.

I wanted to believe that Armstrong’s comeback from cancer to seven Tour de France titles was truly clean. But it turns out that the story was too good to be true.

For Te’o, he is not alone when it comes to fake online romances. A “catfish” is someone who creates a false identity online to dupe others into relationships. If you watch enough MTV, you know that there’s a whole program devoted to embarrassing people who unknowingly get involved in these situations.

I just hope that Te’o was really the victim here, not the one playing along.

All I can say is that I hope both of these stories are anomalies. Two people made out to be saps is two too many, in my book.

Yafe, 25, began his two-year stay in Cleveland as Israel fellow in September. According to the Cleveland Jewish News, his job focuses on “empowering area Jewish students to advocate for Israel and help unaffiliated students identify more closely with the global Jewish family.” He said his job is to work with Jewish students attending Cleveland-area colleges and universities.

Here is a portion of the transcript of the interview The Carroll News conducted with Yafe:

Burnat is a Palestinian and member of what he called a grassroots, non-violent movement originating from the village of Bil’in. Burnat visited campus on Monday, Dec. 3 to speak to Mona DeBaz’s U.S. Foreign Policy in the Middle East.

Yafe, 25, began his two-year stay in Cleveland as Israel fellow in September. According to the Cleveland Jewish News, his job focuses on “empowering area Jewish students to advocate for Israel and help unaffiliated students identify more closely with the global Jewish family.” He said his job is to work with Jewish students attending Cleveland-area colleges and universities.

Yafe told The CN that programming he has organized at Case Western Reserve University has included collaboration with the Middle Eastern Cultural Association.

“We are trying to build bridges, not walls,” he said.

Here is the transcript of the interview Editor-in-Chief Dan Cooney and World News Editor Sam Lane conducted with Yafe:

The Carroll News: You read the responses to the questions that we posted to Iyad Burnat, who kind of described himself as the leader of this peaceful movement, and he gave his perspectives on the situation, from where he sat and what he considered peaceful. What are your responses?

Lior Yafe: First of all, I saw so many lies on the interview. The first one for example at the beginning, he said Israel is an occupation state, it is an apartheid state. So I wanted to ask him or you guys, what do you think about that we have an Arab-Israeli member of the Israeli parliament? We have an Arab judge in the Supreme Court of Israel. In those videos you can see that some of them and some of the Israelis from the left side of the political map is participating in this peaceful and social gathering in the area. And I am saying is how is it even possible that we have all of that, we have someone in the parliament, we have someone in the Supreme Court of Israel. Think about that if you are going to have that is it really an apartheid state? Do you think that we really want to push or kill every Palestinian from our area? No, definitely no, we want to have them. The Israeli government said four years ago loud and clear that we want to have two state solution. We want to have two states for two nations, for the Palestinians and the Israelis. You can still see that, for example, you can read Resolution 181 of the United Nations that says in 1948 [that] we want to have two states for two-state solution. The Israelis celebrated in the streets, believe me we were so happy to have our own country, our own Jewish state. What has the Arab side done? They started the war against Israel, the independent war. I am just amazed on the interview because it was only one side and he could not bring even any objectivity into the interview and I have so many other things to say. For example, he was saying “the Israelis is to transfer all the Palestinian from their land.” It is funny because I am not sure if you heard about it but in 2005 we had the disengagement from the Gaza strip. So we transfer almost 20,000 people from their houses from the Gaza Strip area only to have a peaceful agreement with the Palestinians. We have the security fence because 75 percent of the suicide bombing attacks came from the West Bank from Judea and Samaria, 75 percent and from Bil’in specifically. So why do you think we have this fence, you think we need to separate ourselves from the Palestinians? Absolutely not, we want to secure ourselves and not to have suicide attacks in Israel. More than 300 people have been killed and murdered, and it is really in specific numbers. And more than 2000 people have been injured from the suicide attacks from 2000 until 2003. You know what was happening from 2003-2004 when the first segment of the security fence being built? Ninety-five percent of the suicide bombers in the area of Israel, there was a claim of 95 percent. So the faster of saying the specific idea that we are claiming all the time. The suicide attacks – we want to stop them.

Think about it from your perspective. Suppose the Mexican border of Tijuana every other day will go to San Diego to bomb and to have a suicide bomb attack in the street of San Diego. What is going to be the response of the American government? What do you think are supposed to be the American response, how are they going to react? They are going to build a fence and say no more, we are not going to have any suicide attacks from Tijuana or from the Mexico area, and (joking) I have no problem with Mexico I think it is a great country. I am just saying think of the perspective.

We have no problem with the Palestinians, we are doing so many efforts in order to have a peace with them. For example, 2008 in Annapolis or in 2000 at Camp David. Prime Ministers Ehud Barak and Ehud Omert have done such  far reaching peaceful agreements with them; we offer them so many things in order to have peace with them. But they are not just declining us. They are not just saying that they don’t want any peace with Israel. They are not even recognizing the state of Israel as a Jewish state. Think about it they are not even recognizing the state of Israel as a Jewish state. Think about it, they are not recognizing us. So how can we reach a hand to them in order to have peace?

CN: Now going off of that just recently Palestine became a non-state observer? What do you think of that?

LY: I have no problem with that, they can do whatever they want. But think about it. How do you want to solve a 70 year conflict in one resolution, that is not even happening in Israel, it is happening in New York. I am saying that if the President Abbaas want to have peace he does not need to go to New York, he should come to Jerusalem. He should shake the hands of Benjamin Netanyahu, our Prime Minister, and start negotiating about the real things. You know that you can’t just have peace in New York, it does not make any sense. Just come and negotiate, it is so simple. How do you want to solve either one side resolution, it just does not make any sense. What do you think about the numbers for example? The ones that I told you 75% of the suicide bomb attacks came from the West Bank? He never told you about it right? That more than 300 people were killed because of those suicide attacks.

CN: Iyad Burnat did mention to me at one point that there were Israelis that join in with the Bil’in protests. Is that accurate?

LY: Well, there are some Israelis who participate in peaceful movements because we are a Democratic state. If someone wanted to demonstrate, not against Israel, or not against the policy, but if they want to show a respect, or a mutual respect with the Palestinians in the area. They have their full right, because we are a Democratic state. We are not an apartheid state, we are not an occupied state. Everyone can do whatever they want, we have the same set of values, the same as the United States. If someone wanted to demonstrate, they have fundamental right. He never mentioned that. It is funny, I think that I am just opening your eyes because it is becoming so clear that there is two different narratives to the same story.

CN: Basing off one of the questions Sam asked in the original interview, often what we see in Western media is just pictures of violence all the time related to this conflict. What is Israel actually like, because I do not quite believe that this is an accurate depiction of what life is really like in Israel. Is it?

LY: Yes I think you’re right. We have a normal, peaceful life in Israel. You can see that in Tel Aviv, in Jerusalem, in the North, in Galilee, in every area in Israel. We are having the same life as you have hear in the states. You are seeing Israel maybe on CNN as being attacked by the Palestinians from the Gaza strip or from the West Bank because that is the headline. You are not going to see the innovation of Israel or that we are having the highest innovations in the world. You are not going to hear about that, you are going to hear about the attacks in Israel.

CN: You mentioned Camp David once before. They could not broker a full peace at the Camp David accords. How do you see this conflict ending?

LY: Well, I think the same as the Israeli government said, and that is the narrative in Israel. We are going to have two state solution. We are going to have two states for two nations. The Palestinians are going to have a nation in the Gaza strip, in Judea and Samaria. Meanwhile, Israel would have a state in the rest of the area. It is funny because we mentioned the U.N. resolution before the one that we had last week, and today there is a huge difference between the Gaza strip and Judea and Samaria because Hamas which is defined by the American government as a terrorist organization controlling the Gaza strip and Fatah, who are the PLO, is governing the area of the West Bank. The President Abbaas can’t really go to the Gaza Strip, well he cannot really go there because there is a rival between Hamaas and Fatah. But he is claiming for an independent country for both of those areas even though Hamas, which is a terrorist organization is still attacking Israel and they are still confronting us on so many levels. From one side we want to let them build their own country and their own state because they have the civil right such as everyone of us. But from the other side, if he can control them, if the PLO can control the Gaza strip or he cannot even go there by himself, how would he want to claim an independent country?

CN: What would you say is a common misconception about the entire conflict?

LY: Well, I think that people don’t really know the full perspective of the conflict. I’m not sure if people can really define between Hamas or Fatah or the areas themselves with who governs each area.

The misconception is just that people don’t have the full knowledge about the conflict. No one understands it. We disengaged from the Gaza Strip in 2005, or no one is reading about the Camp David in 2000, or in Indianapolis in 2008, what we offered to the Palestinians to finish this conflict. Believe me, just read more about it and you’re going to see who is in the good side and who is in the bad side. I’m not saying that were always right, but we’re trying all the time to have a Palestinian state to stop this.

CN: I’ve been to Europe and I’ve talked to European students here. When Israel is brought up in conversation, they seem to indicate that they feel Israel can be too aggressive in its actions in general. How accurate is that? What is your reaction?

LY: People always like the underdog. No matter what. If you’re seeing an underdog and you’re seeing an established state, you’re feeling is going to go toward the underdog. But when the underdog is biting you all the time, what can you do? In which way can you try to engage him? And, you have to read more, we are always trying to engage him in a peaceful way and we’re trying to give them a state. Read for example, what happened in Camp David, the Palestinians said they were going to dismiss all of the weapons that they have and they’re going to stop terrorism. After ten years, you can see there is more terrorism in the area. At first you are sitting with him, you are shaking his hand, you are trying to have peaceful agreement, and then what happened after 10 years? Nothing. It’s getting even worse.

CN: President Bush and Ariel Sharon seemed to have a very good relationship. The relationship between Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu has not been as positive.

LY: I am not sure about that. There is more collaborative work between the ideas of the Israeli Defense Force and the American Army than in the last 20 years. I’m not sure you need to mix the personal aspects of the two into the story, but from the country perspective, there is more collaborative work.

CN: How do you feel the Arab Spring has affected things?

LY: It’s funny that you are calling it an Arab Spring, some of the Israelis are calling it an “Arab winter.” because you can see what’s going on in Egypt for example. At first everybody thought that was great.

I traveled in Egypt for two weeks just before the revolution happened and I lived in Tahrir Square. It was two months after, they started the revolution.

Everyone was so optimistic, because now that this crazy guy is down, they’re going to have a democratic state. They’re going to build their own country with the civil rights and everything is going to be good. It’s good for Israel. It’s good for the area because Egypt is such a strategic country in the area, and we said it’s amazing. But after a while, the Muslim Brotherhood took control of the country. You can see the ramifications of that. In the last two weeks, there is a pool, and the president doesn’t want to have a pool there. Think about all of the civil rights that people thought they were going to have, and now they don’t have them. From one side, from an Arab Spring which is supposed to be a great thing for all of the area, not only Egypt, it became an Arab winter. It’s not fulfilling. It’s not really happening.

Look for example what’s happening in Syria. Look at how many people are dying every day because of the Syrian regime. Look at what the opposition is doing to stop Assad from being a dictator, so to speak.

But there’s that one last hurdle we each have to overcome: Finals Week.

Each student’s obstacles are very different leading up to and during that dreaded week. Some students may have research papers to turn in throughout the course of the week with just one final exam. Others may have three final exams crammed into one day. Then, there are those with a final exam during the last time slot on Friday, after which they have to sprint back their dorms to make sure they don’t get kicked out by their RA when it’s time to leave for break.

While each individual student suffers from different “ailments” during Finals Week, I believe we can find community in this difficult patch of our academic careers.

Merriam-Webster defines “community” in multiple ways, but a few definitions are more suitable than others for the purpose of this column. Community is “a unified body of individuals: as the people with common interests living in a particular area, an interacting population of various kinds of individuals (as species) in a common location, a group of people with a common characteristic or interest living together within a larger society” and “social activity: fellowship.”

We refer to the “JCU community” many times in this newspaper, and for good reason. One common bond – our individual choices to attend John Carroll University – brings us all together, whether we like it or not. Plenty of examples, along with Finals Week, are evident.

The Rhapsody Blue concert last week gave me a glimpse of this community at work. Not only did we see a great performance in The Underground last Thursday, but we also supported our friends and classmates on stage.

Our team at The Carroll News is also a community of sorts. Each of us brings different skills and personalities to the newsroom, which makes for lively deadline nights on Tuesdays. Our staff has grown and connected as fellow editors and friends through the common experiences we share with each edition of the newspaper. I’m excited to see all the progress we’re going to continue to make next semester.

The last 10 p.m. Mass of the semester on Sunday, which was also the last such Mass for the Rev. Jim Collins, S.J., was another example of the JCU community at work. Another packed house inside St. Francis Chapel gathered to bless Father Jim as he embarks on a new chapter in his Jesuit journey. Afterwards, we shared pizza and conversation together.

I’ve always believed Mass is a great way to build community between others. This Saturday, we have Christmas Carroll Eve, which includes musical performances, 11 p.m. Mass at Gesu and midnight breakfast – to build off the communal spirit we encountered last weekend.

Through these experiences we’ll embark on Finals Week. In the coming days, we JCU students will continue to support each other through the exams we dread so much. We’ll find our favorite study areas in the library, brew a cup of our favorite warm beverage and snuggle with our enormous textbooks and pages upon pages of notes. We’ll hunker down with fellow classmates doing the same thing in our common quest for higher GPAs.

So, however you find community during this Finals Week and holiday season, I hope you find happiness in the company you keep. May the fellowship we find and common bonds we share shine bright during the coming weeks.

Scafe, who said he was informed of the decision on Monday, announced the surprising news to his players on Thursday afternoon.

“We are grateful for Regis Scafe’s many contributions to the football program and we wish him well,” Senior Director of Athletics Laurie Massa said in a release on jcusports.com. “This was a difficult decision, but we believe it is in the best interest of our Blue Streaks football program.”

In his 14 years as head coach for the Blue Streaks, Scafe amassed an 88-56 record, accruing the second-most wins in school history. He led JCU to nine winning seasons and an NCAA Division III semifinal appearance in 2002, a year in which he was named Ohio Athletic Conference Co-Coach of the Year. Scafe also helped 20 players earn All-American accolades and 75 players secure All-Ohio Athletic Conference honors. In 2012, Scafe coached one of his most promising teams in years, but injuries to the offensive line and the linebacking core caught up with the Blue Streaks towards the end of the season in losses against No. 12 Heidelberg and No.1 Mount Union.

“They [JCU] want to win more and they felt that we’re just kind of stuck at a certain place,” Scafe said. “They want to re-energize the program and go in a different direction.”

Scafe’s coaching career began St. Peter Chanel High School in Bedford, Ohio, where he started as an assistant coach. In 1982, he promoted to head coach, a position he held for nine years. Scafe also served as an assistant coach at John Carroll for seven years under Tony DeCarlo and as head coach at Case Western Reserve University for five years. In his 19 years as a college head coach, Scafe accumulated a record of 104-90.

“He brought great passion and energy every day,” backup junior quarterback Jarrod Kilburn said. “He cared about developing us as students and people. I’ll be really sad to see him go.”

Massa also stated in the jcusports.com release that the search for a new coach is underway and that JCU hopes to name Scafe’s replacement by Dec. 1.

The Carroll News: Tell me a little bit about mindfulness and how did you get started on this path?

Tim Ryan: Mindfulness is the idea of paying attention to the present moment and really seeing it clearly [to] know if we’re bringing some level of bias to it. It’s about being aware of the present moment and the practice of mindfulness is about cultivating that awareness. It’s not something that we have to go out and get. It’s something that we all already have. All human beings have awareness. And it’s just about disciplining ourselves in a way that cultivates that awareness so we’re not so distracted. It’s kind of like balance, like we all have balance, but we tend to lose our balance but then we get it back. It’s the same with awareness.

It’s a kind of meditation. This is a particular kind of meditation practice called mindfulness practice. There can be religious meditations there can be non-religious, but this is a pretty secular practice. That’s why I think it’s good for our country, because it doesn’t get into any one particular religion. It helps you create some space in your life, so your thoughts and your actions aren’t so habitual. You actually try to become a little bit more and more aware of what you’re doing. Athletics is a very good example. You really see it in sports. You can’t not pay attention in sports or you’re doomed.

CN: What started you on this path?

TR: Growing up Catholic. My mom [and] my grandparents prayed the rosary a lot so there was lot of appreciation for some contemplation and quiet time and prayer. Later on, I started doing some centering prayer, which is a Christian-based mediation. I knew I was better when I did it. I knew I was more focused. I knew I could be kinder, more tolerant, less stressed. I knew I felt better.

I had a point in my life in 2008 when I was very stressed out with work, and just really busy with congressman stuff and campaigns and what not. I said ‘I gotta jump start my practice.’ I did a 5 day retreat and that was more silence, when I really experienced the silence in my mind and body being synchronized, I thought, ‘this is really good.’ and that’s when I started doing it every day.

CN: College students, similar to Congressmen, have crazy busy schedules; how do you take time to just sit for a few minutes?

TR: “The retreat is so good because once you really taste it you realize that making the time to do it improves the quality of your day and your life in such a way that you realize that you want to do it every single day. Everyone has something that they do that makes them feel better, and you begin to make time to do that. For me it was just a health issue. I don’t want to be distracted my whole life. I don’t want to wake up one day and think ‘I didn’t pay attention to anything that was going on.’ When my nephews were little and my nieces were little, I was not paying attention, and I missed it all. You start to feel like the quality of your experiences [is] deeper. To me, it’s like, why would you want to go back to a more distracted life? Once you start to taste it, you make time to do it.”

CN: What do you think the effect would be on Congress and on politics in general if people started to get into more mindfulness exercises?

TR: People who practice mindfulness tend to notice a change in the quality of their relationships to people, and the quality in relationships to everything – their relationships to food, alcohol, drugs [and] people. I think it could potentially really benefit us by changing the quality of the relationships that politicians have with each other, of people that have different political views the way they talk to each other, the way they approach each other, the way they listen or don’t listen to each other – it could really improve that. I’m not seeing the world through rose-colored glasses, like if everyone practices mindfulness that all these problems will go away; they won’t. The way we address them will, I think. And the way we deal with conflict will. And how we move forward as a country. And I think we begin to see how connected we are. That’s the one thing when you stop and slow down you really say hey you know I really am connected to you in so many different ways. And you work out your differences or tolerate them more. Like not hate each other for being different. Really in an ecosystem or in society, diversity is an asset. Diverse opinions, diverse approaches are assets to be appreciated, not to hate each other for. Hopefully a little touch of mindfulness can help bring that out in all of us.

CN: What issues, locally and nationally, do you see as important for you?

TR: I’m going to spend a lot of time trying to rebuild my district economically […] and really try to spend time building the next generation of manufacturing. I’m also going to try to get mindfulness in the schools in my district. Nationally, we do have to deal with the long-term budget issues that we have and we do have to deal with tax reform and we do have to deal with entitlement reform and do it in a way that is fair and balanced. That is going to be a huge issue when we get back next week. And begin to see that the American people want us to work together. We got a Republican House [of Representatives] again, and a Democratic Senate again. They reelected Barack Obama overwhelmingly. We’ve got a lot of work to do.

CN: You said congress is a reflection of the electorate and of the people that sent them there. What do you think this election, yesterday’s actions shows about America and the direction they want to take the country?

TR: I think what the people have said is that we want a balanced approach in how we do this. We don’t want a Tea Party radical approach. We want a balanced approach. I think the reason we didn’t see gains in the House of Representatives is because of redistricting. Republicans controlled redistricting in a lot of states, so they consolidated their gains in a lot of states. They got really solid red districts that were hard to win. But the states as a whole were flipping or going slightly Democratic. The senators won pretty handily. So I think they were saying ‘we want a balanced approach.’ We want to ask the wealthy to pay their fair share we know we need entitlement reform but we want it done in a way that doesn’t harm our seniors and doesn’t create huge levels of unfairness. We have also realized there are going to be some tough decisions made but we want them made in a balanced way.

Reading the newspaper every day is still a tradition of sorts in our family. Now, my parents take it with them to work, where they spend their lunch hour getting caught up on everything in the community.

I tend to believe that families across America still pick up a newspaper at the breakfast table each morning with their coffee. These days, rather than a print edition, many across the country get their newspaper on an iPad.

Personally, I prefer a print newspaper. I like being able to flip the pages of the newsprint when I read. I also think layout of physical newspaper is more visually pleasing. Can I access updated news more quickly online? Sure, but I still enjoy reading print five days a week here at school (seven days when I’m home). We students can pick up print editions of The Plain Dealer for free at various locations on campus.

But we may no longer have the option of reading a physical newspaper in Cleveland. The company that owns The Plain Dealer has already reduced printing and home delivery at other newspapers it owns – most notably The Times-Picayune in New Orleans, The Post-Standard in Syracuse and The Patriot News in Harrisburg, Pa. (which just won a Pulitzer Prize for its relentless reporting on the Jerry Sandusky scandal at Penn State).

Reporters and staff members at The Plain Dealer are starting to see the writing on the wall. Luckily, they’ve begun to start pushing back.

Starting Sunday, employees at The Plain Dealer kicked off a campaign to keep the newspaper printing and delivering seven days a week. They took out a half-page ad in Sunday’s edition.

“You’ve probably noticed that we’re not what we used to be. The paper is smaller. Suburban bureaus have closed. Layoffs and unfilled vacancies have reduced our non-management newsroom staff from about 350 in the late 1990s to fewer than 175 today,” the ad read. “For the last three years, we’ve voluntarily cut our pay, to preserve the remaining news staff and to keep the paper strong.”

While the business model is moving more towards the Web, we are not completely there. Many readers continue to pay for a print newspaper. Ironically, The Plain Dealer is one of the top 20 newspapers in the country in terms of circulation.

I’m not sure how a city of over 390,000 residents and metro area with many thousands more can function properly without a newspaper that prints an edition seven days a week. “We’re really worried about what will happen to Northeast Ohio when nobody’s watching,” the half-page ad read.

Unlike television and radio, in which reporters have a limited amount of time to fill, newspaper reporters focus on the details. Their writing comes with a challenge: conveying the facts with the proper words and making the story seamlessly flow. A newspaper needs the proper amount of people to write, research, fact-check, proofread and create the layouts.

Could I read the news online? Absolutely. The Web is an outstanding supplement to the print product, but it cannot replace it. A physical newspaper shows me what the most important stories are by where they’re laid out. I’m more likely to read a story first on the front page than the second page of the metro section. I don’t get that same understanding of story importance on the Web.

Don’t let the local paper go partially dormant; “like” the “Save The Plain Dealer” Facebook page.

Let the tradition continue across thousands of breakfast tables in Northeast Ohio. Keep The Plain Dealer printing every day.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

My maternal grandfather is famous in our family for his stories about life in the Great Depression and in the Navy during World War II. He grew up during a time when immigrants came from across the world to America seeking a better life. He had an up-close and personal view of the struggles in the early 20th century as a first generation American.

Thankfully, he decided to put his thoughts on paper and share his story with a wider audience. My grandfather, who celebrated his 96th birthday earlier this year, recently published a book about growing up along the Ohio River in an area informally known as the Steel Valley.

The town where he grew up was a “melting pot” of ethnicities – Greeks, Croats, Germans, Poles and Romanians, among others. Many of these people came to work in the town’s thriving steel mill, which was a booming industry in this country at the time, or owned businesses that primarily catered to mill workers.

With the prosperity of the mill came the growth of the town, even when depression struck the nation. Even when times were tough, people had the perseverance to keep going. In the case of my ancestors, life was better in America than back in their war-torn countries, so a little economic hardship was not going to keep them down. If anything, the townspeople built a greater sense of community out of that common experience.

I find it remarkable that, in the book, my grandfather lists specific businesses and residences on each street in the town. For some of them, he even remembers addresses. His memory is quite astounding.

One fascinating story in particular comes to mind. During an October day in the early-to-mid 1930s, someone came in to a billiards establishment in town wanting to play pool. One of the owners of the place enlisted my grandfather, with whom he was acquainted, to play pool with this stranger. After the two played a couple of games, the stranger paid and took off. My grandfather described the man as “sociable.” But, little did he know, he had just finished playing pool with Charles “Pretty Boy” Floyd, a notorious bank robber and outlaw who was listed by the FBI at the time as “Public Enemy No. 1.” The next day, my grandfather writes, he discovered his identity by reading about his death in the local newspaper.  Floyd was killed in a shootout with police in a nearby town hours after the pool game ended.

So, you might be asking, what can we learn from this book? I think a couple of lessons jump out.

First, as I wrote in the beginning, history is something we must continue to record and preserve. Understanding who we are and where we’ve come from helps to define us. A better knowledge of the past gives us context for what we face in the present and future.

Also, my grandfather characterizes the neighborhood where he grew up as one where everyone got along, no matter what their nationality or skin color was. I think we could learn from that model. Rather than focus on our differences, why not accentuate our similarities? Maybe we’d all get along a lot more if that were the case.

If you go through my grandfather’s old neighborhood these days, you’d find weeds, run-down buildings and closed portions of a dying steel mill. You would never know that the area was once a center of activity.

That, my friends, is why knowing history makes all the difference.

Dionne, Jr., who spoke Saturday night on the Catholic vote, is a columnist for The Washington Post, a regular contributor to MSNBC and NPR, a frequent roundtable guest on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. and a professor at Georgetown University.

The interview with Dionne, Jr. was conducted Tuesday afternoon by phone and email.

CN: Should the Catholic Church be involved in politics? 

ED:  I always say that the Catholic Church’s job is to make all of us feel guilty about something. My view is that the Church should challenge more liberal Catholics on issues related to life and abortion, and the Church should challenge more conservative Catholics on issues related to poverty and injustice. The Church is only challenging one set of us; it’s not doing its job in politics. I think the Church should be involved in speaking out about public issues, but I think it shouldn’t be the case that its witness can be easily interpreted as being in favor of one party or the other.

CN: Many feel Congress is broken by their inability to reach consensus on major issues. You talked quite a bit about our quest for finding community. How do you think Congress can come together and find some community, despite the partisan atmosphere?

ED: I think it depends on the outcome of the election. My basic view is that you need the Republican Party to come a little closer to the middle in order to create the possibility of the consensus, the possibility of compromise. I could talk for hours about that.

And while the times are changing, one thing about time remains constant: bizarre holidays.

You can bet that every year, month, week and day has some name or commemoration attached to it. Some of the things we remember on certain days are funny. Others are a little more serious and really deserve our attention. Those commemorations don’t deserve the label “bizarre,” but are placed with the weird ones for some reason.

Other holidays are cultural in meaning. For instance, this is the year of the dragon if you go by the Chinese zodiac symbols. Next year, which starts on Feb. 10, is the year of the snake.

Speaking of animals, pleas among members of the staff have grown louder over the course of the semester for a newsroom puppy. I’ll have to see if we have room in the budget for one, and the staff will have to promise to bathe, feed, walk and love our new friend. But October is Adopt a Shelter Dog Month, so if I were going to get one, this would be the month.

October is also  Awareness Month.  Personally, I think we’re at the perfect school to celebrate that distinction this month. Let’s promote awareness about being aware that this is Awareness Month. Let us also be aware that October is Sarcasm Month, which  I’m sure my fellow columnist, Clara Richter, is more than excited about.

We have plenty of food to celebrate this month: Moldy Cheese Day (apparently it was on Oct. 9), National Angel Food Cake Day (yesterday), World Egg Day (tomorrow), National Dessert Day (Oct. 14), Brandied Fruit Day (Oct. 20), National Pumpkin Cheesecake Day (Oct. 21), National Bologna Day (Oct. 24), World Pasta Day (Oct. 25) and National Candy Corn Day (Oct. 30).

Also, don’t forget that October is National Pizza Month, so go to the Inn Between and order some. Hopefully you don’t find something foreign in it (see our story in Campus this week).

Last Friday was World Teacher Day. To celebrate, professors should give themselves a break this week. Cancel all midterm exams and reports … please?

International Newspaper Carrier Day is on Oct. 20. We’ll be happy to celebrate, but that means we actually need to find someone who wants to deliver The Carroll News every Thursday. Let me know if you’re interested.

All you chemistry majors out there, Oct. 23 is your day: National Mole Day. That’s right, bake a cake on that Tuesday to celebrate Avogadro’s Number. Even better, the celebration starts at 6:02 a.m. and ends at 6:02 p.m.

Now, I’m not sure if all of these holidays are actually real. I’m just relying on what the Internet tells me, because we all know that everything we read on the Internet is correct. Notice how I just celebrated Sarcasm Month.

On a more serious note, John Carroll is a Catholic school, so it seems reasonable to mention that starting today, Pope Benedict XVI has declared a “year of faith.” The Holy Father is calling on the faithful to renew their commitment to Christ. I think it’s no coincidence today is also the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council, which revolutionized the way Catholics around the world worship.

We’re at the perfect school to promote that October is Clergy Appreciation Month. If you see a Jesuit this month, and I bet you will, give him a big hug. I expect JCU to throw a party for all of them later this month, and I want an invite to the bash.

On the subject of parties, today is It’s My Party Day. How am I going to celebrate? I’m going home.

Have a great Fall Break, everyone!

Specifically about the issue of arming campus police officers, assistant director of CSS Brian Hurd said such a decision would have an enormous impact.

“We just want the campus to know that that step might be coming, and here’s why we think that’s important and what we’ve done to prepare for it,” Hurd said on Monday.

The decision ultimately rests with John Carroll University President, the Rev. Robert Niehoff, S.J. He said that given the recent rise of violent crimes on college campuses and in society in general, equipping CSS officers with guns is something University administrators must consider.

“After investigating what other campuses in Ohio were doing, we agreed, the vice presidents and I, that we should consider changing our policy in support of arming our officers because it would allow our police to be first responders,” Niehoff said via email.

Niehoff said the University’s board of directors will hear a report about the forum later this month.

“I anticipate that, after further consultations, I will make a decision in the spring semester,” he said. “It is still not clear when we could implement a decision to provide firearms to our public safety officers. I anticipate that the discussions we continue to have this fall will provide further detail to a practical implementation timeline, if we go in that direction.”

The possible move to arming campus police is the next step of a plan that has been in the works for the last five years, CSS Chief Tim Peppard told the attendees at last Wednesday’s forum, which included faculty, staff, administrators and students. Other components of the plan included promotion of officers to increase supervisory coverage, re-tooling job descriptions and the department’s mission, creating new reporting forms, expanding the department’s office space and updating the alarm system and communications systems in the campus dispatch center.

During the presentation last Wednesday, Hurd told those in attendance that all CSS officers are certified by the state of Ohio, which involved approximately 630 hours of training per person. The training includes, among other things, education in criminal law, criminal procedure and crime prevention and a course in firearms proficiency, safety and shoot/don’t shoot scenarios, he said. In addition, the state also requires each officer to complete 2-10 hours of professional training per year. Hurd said CSS officers went above those requirements – in 2011, officers completed 214 hours of training, which averages to approximately 14 hours per officer. In 2012, CSS officers have gone through 145 training hours so far.

Acquiring firearms for use by campus police requires a secure place to store them, officials at the forum stressed. In an interview on Monday, Hurd said that would require CSS to purchase new lockers, either lockable bins in each officer’s individual locker or a separate bank of gun lockers.

Garry Homany, the University’s director of regulatory affairs and risk management, gave a presentation during the forum on the potential risks JCU might face with or without arming CSS officers. He said CSS has had the power to arm officers since September of 2000, when the department received certification as a law enforcement authority under a change to the Ohio Revised Code.

The expectation when someone calls CSS, Homany said, is that an officer will respond. Even if the call involves a violent crime, an officer is expected to respond if he or she is unarmed.

“That’s kind of like showing up to a gun fight with a knife,” Homany said. “There’s a good chance […] that someone could get hurt, or – worst case – someone could be killed.  There’s a liability for John Carroll associated with that.”

In addition, Homany explained the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Act’s general duty clause, which states, “Each employer shall furnish to each of his employees employment and a place of employment, which are free from recognized hazards that are causing, or are likely to cause, death or serious physical harm to his employees.” According to the OSHA website, courts interpret the clause to mean employers need to provide safe working environments when they are able to minimize the issues causing unsafe conditions.

“You need to provide them with engineering controls, and/or personal protective equipment and/or training such that they can mitigate the hazard or avoid the hazard,” Homany said of the law. “So there’s a liability on John Carroll right there.”

Junior Rachael Greuber said the forum came up in conversation during one of her sociology and criminology classes. She is in favor of arming CSS officers.

“I don’t see how they’re expected to respond if they don’t have any weapons to protect themselves or us,” Greuber said.

Homany also named local universities and schools that are members of the Ohio Athletic Conference as institutions with armed police forces: Case Western Reserve University, Cuyahoga Community College, Cleveland State University, Lakeland Community College, Notre Dame College, Capital University, Otterbein University and Muskingum University.

The Rev. Valentino Lassiter, a part-time faculty member in the department of theology and religious studies and JCU’s pastor-in-residence, used to work at Cleveland State, where he said armed police was a need. He attended the forum and said it was a good start for conversation on the issue.

“I think, on the campus, there’s not been enough communication regarding safety issues. So, I commend Campus Safety [Services] for at least beginning the conversation,” he said. “I just hope that we’ll have more conversations to keep the clarity at a high rate.”

When asked for his position on the issue of arming CSS officers, Lassiter said there are arguments on both sides. “My only concern about the pro [arguments] might be that we don’t appear to be overly militaristic,” he said. “I know there’s a safety concern and, in some places, it has to be done.”

“And, it may be a sign of the times,” Lassiter added.

Officials at last Wednesday’s forum stressed that point, noting recent instances of school shootings that had occurred relatively close to JCU. The most recent local incidents include a gunman opening fire inside Case’s Peter B. Lewis Building in 2003 and at Chardon High School last spring. Presenters said that minutes in those situations matter.

“It became quite clear from the presentation that, in the event of a shooting on campus, waiting for nearby police personnel to respond is simply not a viable option, given how long it would take University Heights to get to campus,” said Lindsay Calkins, associate dean in the Boler School of Business, via email.

Sheila McGinn, chair of the department of theology and religious studies, said that while she appreciated Peppard’s point of view, the presentation of the idea came across like a sales pitch during the forum.

“I was a little surprised at the amount of levity that came across in some of the remarks because, to me, whether you’re going to have an arsenal on campus is a pretty serious question,” she said.

Junior Ty McTigue said the presentation during the forum wasn’t what he expected. He questioned the group’s presentation skills, wondering why details were not available at this point.

“Wouldn’t you come to the presentation prepared for those kinds of questions?” he asked.

McGinn also found disturbing the fact that only some student groups were consulted. She said she didn’t hear anything about minority students being asked their opinions on this issue. The same goes for the faculty, she said.

While faculty members sit on University committees that may have discussed this issue, they merely watch as observers, she added.

“If you wanted to consult the faculty, you’d be talking to the president of the Faculty Council. You wouldn’t be counting on one representative who was not elected for the purpose of representing the entire faculty, sitting in on somebody else’s meeting three times a year,” McGinn said.

Anne Kugler, a professor of history and current president of the Faculty Council, said that the issue did not come up in a formal way during the council’s governance procedure. She said part of the question is whether faculty could participate in the discussions and become fully informed on the issue.

On her personal view of the issue, she said her opinion is “unfortunately” evolving.

“Things are changing on an apparently daily basis on how one regards firearms and how one regards them in public safety on a campus,” Kugler said.

Hurd said after the forum that he expects to give the presentation again at an upcoming Student Union meeting. He said faculty may want to hear the presentation again as well.

Yes, I knew of the Pittsburgh Penguins, and some player they had, named Mario Lemieux, who was one of the best to ever grace the ice. I also knew of the Buffalo Sabres, but none of the players really jumped out at me as being that special (for the record, I like the Sabres, just not as much as the Penguins).

My passion for sports got into high gear around 2005, when I started to become more of a Pittsburgh sports fan. But, of course, how could I say I was a Pittsburgh sports fan without knowing anything about their hockey team? So, I became a more informed fan.

Frankly, it was a little easier to become a Penguins fan at the time. The team, by the grace of God, got the No. 1 pick in the draft and selected 18-year-old phenom Sidney Crosby. Couple him with potential Russian superstar Evgeni Malkin and up-and-coming French Canadian goaltender Marc-André Fleury, and the Penguins looked like they would have a formidable team in the coming years.

Eventually, they put it all together. The 2007-2008 season was beyond exciting, as the young Penguins clinched the division title. The Penguins made it to the Stanley Cup finals after getting revenge on the Ottawa Senators for last year’s first round playoff exit, dispatching the vaunted New York Rangers and thumping the ultra-hated Philadelphia Flyers. Unfortunately, the Penguins’ youth caught up with them against the more experienced Detroit Red Wings during the finals.

Expectations were high in the Steel City during the next season, and the Penguins delivered, even though it took a new coach to help spark them. The Penguins again took care of business in the playoffs, defeating the Flyers, the Washington Capitals (in seven games) and the Carolina Hurricanes. Then, again, the Penguins faced the Red Wings for the right to hoist Lord Stanley’s priceless trophy. The only difference was that, this time, the Penguins outlasted the veteran Red Wings on the road in Game 7. Pittsburgh won its third Stanley Cup in franchise history, the first time the team had hoisted the greatest trophy in sports since winning it all in back-to-back seasons in1991 and 1992.

To say the past few years have been frustrating as a Penguins fan would be an understatement. Pittsburgh has an outstanding team on paper that should win the Stanley Cup every year. Maybe those expectations are lofty, but I at least expect the Penguins to show up in the early rounds of the playoffs. Instead, they fell flat the last three years, losing to more emotionally charged, but inferior competition.

I wanted to see if the Penguins would play with a little more emotion and physicality this season. Toughness is something the has team lacked, and I wanted to see if Pittsburgh would rise to the challenge.

Instead, I may not get to see them at all. The NHL and the NHL Players’ Association couldn’t come to terms on a new collective bargaining agreement before the Sept. 15 deadline, and so a lockout has ensued. So far, the entire preseason was canceled, and the league will probably begin canceling regular season games soon. Both parties in the negotiations have pretty much stayed away from the issues that divide them, and any type of progress seems like a long shot.

Just when hockey was rebuilding its fan base, another lockout will jeopardize that once again. This season’s lockout is the third time the league has locked out its players in 20 years. Last time, during the 2004-2005 season, the entire season was canceled. I don’t want that to happen again, even though it looks really likely.

The NHL and the players need to come together and start productive conversations, not just talk for the sake of talking. If the whole season ends up lost, this fan won’t be happy.

While FitzGerald and officials from the Cleveland Clinic met with leaders from County Mayo and the Irish prime minister, Enda Kenny, to discuss biomedical business collaboration between the two countries, Colleran was telling them about John Carroll University’s Master of Arts degree in humanities with a track in Irish studies.

“This was a way of emphasizing it and making it known to the Mayo people,” she told The Carroll News on Tuesday. “We have [lots of faculty expertise] in Irish literature, theology and religious studies, Irish culture [and] Irish history.”

She also emphasized features that are new to the track: a course on western Ireland, to be taught on campus, and a course that will be offered at the National University of Ireland, Galway. The program is also offered for non-credit for those who want to learn more about Irish culture.

Colleran said JCU also continues to conduct a summer program that examines the conflict in Northen Ireland. The program, which began in 2004 as the Belfast Institute in Peacebuilding and Conflict Transformation, is now known as the Northern Ireland Summer Institute.

Colleran, who is Irish herself and whose family is from Galway, said she and the rest of the delegation were well-received in Ireland.

“I think it was very successful,” she said.

Along with meeting the Irish prime minister and visiting with the president of the National University of Ireland, Galway, Colleran also visited the home of the U.S. ambassador to Ireland, Daniel Rooney, located in Phoenix Park in Dublin. While she was in Dublin, Colleran said residents hadn’t forgotten about JCU’s win over St. Norbert in football nearly a month ago.

“They’re still talking about it over there,” she said. “In Dublin, they’re talking about the Navy game and the John Carroll game.”

A recent story in The Plain Dealer about the JCU Irish studies track said similar programs exist at the University of Notre Dame, Boston College and Catholic University of America. But, according to Colleran, those programs serve as broad training for scholars of Irish studies.

“[Our program] is for cultural enrichment and deepening an understanding of heritage,” she said. “[It’s] also very useful to people who study and teach literature and history.”

She said the program at JCU is valuable because of today’s globalized work world.

“There are businesses in Cleveland that are doing business in Ireland,” Colleran said. “So any students who want to work in the fields of diplomacy or government relations or business would be wise to choose courses that expose them to various aspects of language, culture, politics and history

A delegation from Ireland will be visiting the Cleveland area in early to mid- October. The group will include Prime Minister Kenny, who will speak at the City Club and attend the annual ball of Cleveland’s Mayo Society. Nearly a dozen Irish high schools students will also take a tour of JCU on Oct. 11.

I was far more excited to finally exercise my right to vote.

The unfortunate part was that I turned 18 after the 2008 presidential election had already happened. The first election I could legally cast my vote for was a primary election, where I voted for a county executive and court of common pleas judge.

Even though my first election wasn’t the most exciting one, getting my first “I voted today” sticker put a big smile on my face.

But, things are different this year. I now have the chance to vote in my first presidential election, and I am excited.

Why am I so happy? I can pick who I want to represent me as the commander in chief of the United States of America for the first time ever. If I don’t vote, then I think my role as a citizen diminishes greatly.

I believe that if you have the chance to exercise your right as an American citizen and vote for your representatives in government, then you need to take advantage of it.  If you choose otherwise, then you have no right to object to the policies enacted or question the direction our country is going. You choose against making your voice heard, so I don’t want to hear your complaining.

Plenty of resources are available for you to make sure you vote in the election this year. I plan on applying in the next few days for an absentee ballot in my home state of Pennsylvania, as I’m sure plenty of other students plan to do from their home states. On campus, the Office of Student Activities, Student Union and the “Streak the Vote” campaign all offer ways to make sure you are active during this all-important election season.

Of course, in order to actually be able to vote, you have to make sure you’re registered, either here or in your home area. Voter registration in Ohio ends on Oct. 9, and the Office of Student Activities, Center for Service and Social Action, Grasselli Library and the Student Union office all have voter registration forms you can fill out before that date. If you’re from someplace else, make sure you’re in compliance with their voting regulations and deadlines.

Also, stay informed on all the pertinent issues affecting our nation. From health care, to the economy, to education or social issues, each of us has something that affects us deeply, or that we’re passionate to learn more about. Keep up with the issues by reading, viewing and/or listening to the news. We at The Carroll News will continue to do our best to make sure you are a well-informed voter come Tuesday, Nov. 6.

Find out about the candidates: where do they come from, what experiences make them qualified to either retain their job/earn the job, what do they stand for and why should they be counted upon by voters? Besides the issues, a candidate’s personal qualities shape who they are and how they will govern if elected/re-elected.

Some campus organizations are planning watch parties during the presidential debates and on election night. Healthy conversation among students on the candidates and the issues can keep us all informed and invigorated about exercising our right to vote.

The bottom line is that I tend to think we, as Americans, have a duty to vote and send a message to those who represent us, or those who want to. Resources are plentiful to make sure we exercise our patriotic duty.

Election 2012 is going to be a big event. Don’t miss out on the party.

The Carroll News obtained a copy of the speech before going to print early Wednesday morning. Petsche delivered his address on the Quad in front of the steps to Rodman Hall later yesterday.

“[Student Union’s] main job is to represent you, the student body, to the University community. In doing so, it is our responsibility to uphold the values of and represent the needs of the student body,” Petsche said. “In our 92nd year, I am proud to say that the state of our union is strong.”

Petsche praised his executive board and senators for their efforts to create a more efficient student body government. He specifically named Vice President for Student Organizations Bill Cook and Vice President for Business Affairs Charlie Trouba for working to make funding requests and approvals easier for student organizations. Petsche also emphasized getting more work done in the five advocacy committees, as opposed to pushing bills through the Senate.

“Legislation tends to be tedious and unnecessary in most cases,” Petsche said. He later added that, as a result of accomplishing more work in committee, “most issues brought before Student Union have been settled in a relatively quick fashion.”

Petsche described the efforts of Vice President for Communications Lizzie Trathen as “simply fantastic” in updating Student Union’s methods for getting in touch with students. He mentioned accounts on Facebook and Twitter, “Meet Your Senator” nights, a revamped Student Union newsletter and T-shirt giveaways as some of the initiatives that have helped improve Student Union’s image and outreach.

“Communicating effectively and consistently will continue to be a primary focus for us,” Petsche said in his speech. “The better we can communicate with you, the better we can represent you.”

Another topic Petsche addressed in his speech was diversity. He mentioned that last year, Student Union and the Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion held the first-ever Diversity and Inclusion Week. Student Union also added another Senate advocacy committee last year: the Committee on Diversity and Inclusion.

Last October, Student Union also co-sponsored a forum for members of the John Carroll University community to discuss issues of diversity and inclusion on campus. The forum was held in response to numerous chalkings and posters describing acts of intolerance. The University’s Diversity Steering Committee held another forum in April.

“Fostering healthy and positive conversations on campus on campus is a priority for us,” Petsche said in his address.

Other topics Petsche addressed were gaining student feedback on a survey distributed by Student Union’s Committee on Academics, providing quality student programming through Student Union Programming Board, the recently started Streak the Vote campaign to encourage student voter participation during the election season and continuing to promote professionalism and respect on Student Union Senate.