A project that started with 250 pairs of shoes and three duffle bags has grown tremendously in four years, partly because “giving is a good business strategy.”Wearing the shoes that inspired a worldwide movement, TOMS founder and “Chief Shoe Giver” Blake Mycoskie spoke to a crowd of over 450 on Wednesday evening, sharing his story and offering advice for college students looking to make a difference.The company’s “One for One” campaign, in which every pair of TOMS purchased allows a pair to be given to children in need all over the world, was the result of a much-needed vacation.Four years ago, Mycoskie, an alum of the CBS show “Amazing Race,” requested a month off from his driver’s education software company and traveled back to Argentina, a destination he visited during the show’s second season.“I wanted to go back to some of these countries and really immerse myself in the culture,” he said.Toward the end of the trip, Mycoskie overheard volunteers discussing an upcoming shoe drive in a village about an hour outside of Buenos Aires. After discovering there were children that did not have shoes and were not allowed to attend school without proper footwear, Mycoskie was “blown away.”He asked to join the volunteers on their trip, not sure what he was getting himself into.“I expected the kids to be excited, but these kids were acting like it was Christmas Day — the best Christmas ever,” he said, “I found myself getting on my hands and knees, trying to fit these shoes.”The experience was mentally and spiritually fulfilling, and he said he had “never done anything like that before.”After a “great day,” Mycoskie went to bed concerned: What happens when the children grow out of their shoes?A self-described “serial entrepreneur,” Mycoskie developed the idea that the business could have an effect on the children, that he could redesign a traditional shoe, sell it in the United States and give pairs of shoes to the children in Argentina.“I didn’t feel like I could leave the country until I did something about it,” he said.With no experience in shoes or fashion, Mycoskie was up against tough odds, but a stroke of luck allowed the brand to make headlines: The leading fashion columnist from the Los Angeles Times saw TOMS’ first in-store display and wanted to hear more about his story.That article was the first of many, he said, and after his partners bought out his shares of their software company, Mycoskie had money and time to invest in the TOMS project. The idea of buying shoes today and giving shoes tomorrow inspired the name “Tomorrows,” but the size of the label on the back of each shoe required an abbreviation.As of January 2010, TOMS has donated over 400,000 pairs of shoes to children in 21 countries around the world.Mycoskie’s overarching philosophy is based on a simple fact: “giving feels good.”“Customers become your greatest marketers,” he said, “It’s an amazing phenomenon.”One of the personal anecdotes Mycoskie shared with the crowd was when he first encountered a stranger wearing TOMS shoes, four months into the project at JFK airport in New York.He approached her, and admired her red shoes, and to his surprise, she began to tell his own story.“She literally grabs my shoulder … and says, ‘you don’t understand, this is the most amazing company in the world,’” he said. “If she had that much passion to tell the TOMS story to a stranger, how many people had she already told?”That girl in the airport made Mycoskie realize TOMS didn’t need to focus on traditional advertising.“If even a fraction of our customers acted like that girl, you do the math, it’s crazy,” he said. “We have to focus on giving and having people tell our story … it grows and grows and grows, and that’s only because of the giving.”The giving aspect of the company has attracted “the greatest employees,” Mycoskie said, because “they truly believe the business model gives them the opportunity to be something bigger than themselves.”TOMS has also gained the support of business partners like Ralph Lauren and AT&T, resulting in a limited edition TOMS line that sold out immediately and a successful commercial that drew new customers to the brand, Mycoskie said.The company is expanding its merchandise line to include shoes people can wear year-round, and is also donating different kinds of shoes to children, such as rubber rain boots, running shoes and school shoes.“We’re expanding the giving program to match what kids need the most,” Mycoskie said. He encouraged the audience to incorporate putting into their business, or their life in general, their own “personal brand.”“At the end of the day, what we all want is to be excited about something, and what I have found in my life is … the excitement starts to wear off if it’s just about yourself,” he said. On Mycoskie’s agenda in the coming weeks: working on the designs for the TOMS Spring 2011 line and traveling to Haiti for volunteering.“Every time you start to get burned out of the business part, you get to do the giving part,” he said.”A newly-formed TOMS club at Notre Dame will be hosting a “Style Your Sole” party as well as screening the TOMS documentary in the coming weeks.Student Union Board (SUB), Student International Business Council and the Poverty Studies department sponsored the talk, which took place in the Jordan Auditorium of the Mendoza College of Business.Junior Neva Lundy, co-programmer for SUB’s Ideas and Issues committee, said the group brought Mycoskie to campus because of his socially-conscious organization that is “working in the business world to make the world a better place.”“Finding speakers who are going to capture the minds of college students is a difficult task,” she said. “Blake Mycoskie and TOMS really embody a lot of the values that Notre Dame espouses.” read more

This year, the 17 students on Notre Dame’s first-ever women’s rugby club team are making school history and starting a successful program with an 84-0 win already under their belts. The team at Notre Dame formed during the 2009-10 school year, but began competing in matches this fall. Priscilla Nyankson, a sophomore who joined the team last year, said it has been a great experience so far. “We’re making Notre Dame history,” Nyankson said. “It’s one of the coolest things I’ve done here as of yet. A lot of people coming here aren’t going to be varsity athletes, but with rugby I get to play a sport and be part of a team.” After a loss in their first scrimmage against Eastern Illinois University, the team had two successive wins, including the 84-0 win Saturday over Northwestern University. “I noticed that we made a lot of mistakes in the scrimmage because we didn’t know a lot of the rules,” Nyankson said, “but with that we were able to learn a lot.” Learning the rules of the game was something almost all of the girls went through together, Nyankson said. Although everyone on the team was an athlete in high school, only two or three had ever played rugby before. “It was definitely difficult for everybody. We were learning something totally new,” Nyankson said. “It was kind of frustrating in the beginning.” Despite these difficulties, Nyankson was hooked on the sport ever since she began last year. “It was super exciting,” Nyankson said. “Even waking up at 6:30 in the morning last year for practice, yeah you kind of cry about it, but after you feel great about it. We really bonded as a team and it was really nice to be a part of something like that.” Last year the team was much larger, with around 30 members. Sophomore returning member Veronica Ryan said many girls were intimidated by the roughness when they began practicing the game as a contact sport. “We couldn’t play contact until the very end of the year, so there were a lot of girls who showed up then realized that they didn’t like the contact part of the sport,” Ryan said. Because they lost some players in the spring, the team hopes to recruit throughout the season. Nyankson said no experience is needed and everyone is encouraged to try it. “We’re absolutely looking for people of all ages to join,” Nyankson said. “None of us knew how to play. We can teach you everything you need to know.” The team meets Monday through Friday, with two days of contact practice, two days of weight lifting and one day of practicing plays and game-like situations. They play matches Saturdays on McGlinn Fields. The team has two home matches and two away matches remaining this season. The next home match is against DePaul University on Oct. 9 at 9 a.m. Once the official season ends, the team will practice for the rest of the year. Senior player Danielle Tan said that the team has high hopes for the future. “Notre Dame is so big on tradition, and we’re really hoping that the team becomes a permanent part of the tradition here,” Tan said. read more

The Center for Ethics and Culture (CEC) will welcome new leadership as law professor Carter Snead prepares to take over as director July 1, according to a University press release. Snead said in an email interview that his most general goal in his new position would be to build upon the CEC’s existing achievements. “The Center for Ethics and Culture is an essential, indispensable institution dedicated to the pursuit of matters that lie at the heart of Notre Dame’s distinctive educational and religious mission,” Snead said. “It has been a vibrant forum for dialogue and exchange for elite and emerging scholars from a diversity of viewpoints and disciplines.” The Center hosts “lectures, conferences, film and literature series, awards, student formation programs and other initiatives” since its founding in 1999, according to the release. The annual CEC Flagship Fall Conference will be held on campus from Nov. 10 to 12. Snead said the Center’s unique work facilitates an exceptional platform for scholarly ethical debate. “[The Center] has been a place for students, scholars and public figures inside and outside of Notre Dame to explore together the richness of the Catholic tradition, including especially its unique resources for engaging concrete ethical problems in the broader culture,” he said. John McGreevy, dean of the College of Arts and Letters, said in the release that Snead would build upon the Center’s existing programs. “We all welcome Carter Snead into his new role and look forward to the programs and publications that will emerge under his leadership,” McGreevy said. Snead’s area of expertise focuses on the relationship between bioethics and law, and he has previously served on the President’s Council on Bioethics, the Council of Europe’s Steering Committee on Bioethics and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) International Bioethics Committee, the release stated. His work has been published in the New York University Law Review and the Harvard Law Review Forum. Snead will replace professor of Philosophy W. David Solomon as director. Solomon, in addition to his role as CEC’s founding director, has lectured on ethical theory and medical ethics at more than 100 colleges and universities and co-authored “Abortion and Public Policy” and “The Synoptic Vision: The Philosophy of Wilfrid Sellars,” the release stated. In the release, McGreevy praised the achievements of the center made possible under Solomon’s leadership. “All of us are grateful to David Solomon for his work at the center as its founding director and visionary, and his continued effort to enrich not just scholarly conversation but student intellectual life at Notre Dame,” McGreevy said. read more

The Student Diversity Board (SDB) hosted an International Student Women’s Issues Panel on Thursday evening as part of Women’s Appreciation Week at Saint Mary’s College. The discussion focused on diversity and women’s rights. Co-women’s representative junior Jean Oseberger and three international students led the panel discussion. “I think that we often forget about International issues and focus mainly on issues that pertain to America,” Osberger said. “This discussion focused on a very large spectrum of women’s issues and I felt it was important to integrate the International Students so they could participate and be involved on campus.” First year Aneth Batamuliza, who represented Tanzania and Rwanda, began her discussion by painting an image of daily life for women in her home countries. “In Tanzania, you see more women staying home and not taking leadership opportunities. In both countries, you see groups of girls who do not have the same opportunities as others,” Batamuliza said. “In Rwanda, the aftermath of the genocide is still very present, but the government is taking steps to give young women more opportunities.” Michelle Espinal, a 16-year-old from Nicaragua studying at the Saint Mary’s English Language Center, said women in her country struggle as second-class citizens. “My country definitely sees men as superior to women,” Espinal said. “This feeling of superiority is engrained in the culture and I see it is a domino effect.” Espinal said younger generations learn from older ones and continue these problems. “Men abuse women and create a sense of power that is then observed by their children,” she said. “The cycle then continues on.” In contrast to the other representatives, senior Christine Clissold of Australia said she doesn’t see many differences between women in Austrailia and the United States. “Though many of the schools in Australia are separated on the basis of gender, we see females in leadership positions and we then model ourselves after these leaders,” Clissold said. “In my country, women are expected to be educated and go to university.” The depictions of women in these cultures differ, but the role of media portraying the ideal beauty was a common experience among women, Clissold said. “In Australia, media portrays the perfect woman as being sporty, blonde, blue-eyed and skinny,” Clissold said. Batamuliza said this idea of beauty is different from those in both Tanzania and Rwanda, though the media’s influence has grown in recent years. “One thing that was interesting for me when I came to America was the idea of dieting. In my home countries we do not diet, and we are not pushed to be of a certain weight,” Batamuliza said. “But girls tend to stick to trends that they see in the movies and magazines now.” Clissold said the experiences of young women differ with each nation, but understanding these other cultures is essential to becoming a more global-minded citizen. “I think it is important that other women see what is happening in the world around them because women will be taking more leadership roles in the future and they must be aware of women’s issues worldwide,” she said. Batamuliza said discussion is the first step toward interconnectedness. “Diversity is something that is very important. Many people intend to learn different cultures, but never really take the steps to do so,” Batamuliza said. ” Attending these panels and learning of the issues of the world is the first step toward changing the global system of women’s equality.” read more

Children are truly our future, which is why a Saint Mary’s club held an event last night to discuss the education of migrant children. The College club La Fuerza concluded its annual “Week of Action” Thursday with a discussion titled ‘Migrant Children and Their Education.’ Elizabeth Dennie, who recently completed her Master’s degree in Education Leadership at Saint May’s, led the discussion.  First-year student Fallon Brandis said she appreciated the chance to learn about migration from a new perspective. “I just think this is a really pertinent topic, especially in politics, and it’s so interesting to learn about the other side of migration,” Brandis said. Dennie told the group about her thesis for the Master’s program and her continued research titled ‘The Migrant Experience: Not Leaving Migrant Students Behind.’ She said she struggled to find information on this topic because there is relatively little available. Dennie shared several stories about her work with children and stressed the importance of dialogue between teachers, administrators and families to better the education of migrant children. She said the most important thing she learned in the process of obtaining her Master’s degree was to allow children to enjoy their youth.  “It sounds so stupid, but it’s so profound – kids are kids,” she said. “Let them be kids. If you look around society, everything is pushing kids to be older. They don’t know how to have fellowship.” Several education majors asked Dennie how to approach educating migrant students in their future careers. Dennie said it was important to develop relationships with the students in order to foster a love of learning that will bring with it academic success. Dennie also said it is important to see past possible ethnic differences when educating migrant children.  “A lot of times we let so much divide us when we are so similar,” Dennie said. read more

Sam Coughlin The results of the midterm election, which featured seven Notre Dame or Saint Mary’s alumni running for national office or governor, will help shape the immediate political future of the country, professor of political science David Campbell said.Campbell, who specializes in American politics, said the Republican Party’s success in reclaiming a majority in the Senate could produce a more difficult road to a Republican White House in 2016.“From the Republicans’ perspective, winning Congress may actually complicate their attempt to win the presidency in 2016,” Campbell said. “They succeeded in 2014 by running against the President and, to a lesser extent, the Democratic Senate.“It will be much harder for the Republican nominee to blame the country’s sour mood solely on the White House, since the GOP will have had full control of the legislative branch.”With a majority in the Senate, Republicans now control both houses of Congress, something Campbell said would increase governmental productivity — ideally.“One would like to think that Republican Congress and Democratic President will now have an incentive to work together but, alas, that is unlikely,” he said. “More likely is that President Obama will use his veto authority more than he has thus far and reject legislation passed by Congress.”With a little over two years left in office, President Obama will likely start to try to mold his legacy, Campbell said, though he must do so without a Democratic majority in either house of Congress.“Traditionally, presidents in their final two years look to establish a legacy and often do so in areas where the president can act without the need for Congressional approval,” he said. “Foreign affairs is the classic example — look for the President to engage more on the world stage. But another example is executive orders, often to create national monuments and parks. President Obama has already done some of this recently [and] I expect to see more.”Overall, Campbell said these midterm elections reflected national trends that have recently solidified and a historical pattern typical of midterms.“We continue to see many of the patterns that, in recent years, have been ‘baked into’ our elections,” he said. “Young people went Democratic, but turned out in low numbers; minorities went Democratic, but also turned out in low numbers; white men skewed Republican and turned out in reasonably large numbers.“It has long been the historical pattern that the president’s party loses seats in midterm elections,” he said. “And, given the president’s low approval numbers, it is thus not surprising that we see the same this year. The notable aspect of this election is less that the Republicans picked up seats, but more that they did so well and thus took control of the Senate.”Though the only Notre Dame alumnus currently serving in the U.S. Senate, Joe Donnelly (D-IN), class of 1977 and Law School class of 1981, was not up for re-election this year, Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s alumni who ran for other national offices fared well in their races.Rep. Peter King  (R-NY-2) won re-election for his 12th term in Congress with nearly 70 percent of the vote. King, who graduated from Notre Dame Law School in 1968, serves on the House Homeland Security Committee and as Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence.Rep. Pete Visclosky (D-IN-1), who received his law degree from Notre Dame in 1973, won re-election with just over 60 percent of the vote. Visclosky, whose district includes Gary, Valparaiso and Michigan City, has served in the House of Representatives since 1985.Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA-3) won just over 60 percent of the vote en route to re-election for his third term. Kelly, who attended Notre Dame on football and academic scholarships, graduated in 1970.Rep. Keith Rothfus (R-PA-12) claimed nearly 60 percent of the vote in his district to win re-election to his second term. Rothfus graduated from Notre Dame Law School in 1990.Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-PA-13), Notre Dame class of 1999, won with nearly 70 percent of the vote in a district that includes parts of northeast Philadelphia. This was Boyle’s first election for the U.S. House of Representatives after serving for 5 years in the Pennsylvania House.Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX-4) ran unopposed after defeating 17-term incumbent Republican Rep. Ralph Hall in the primary to win his first term in the House. Ratcliffe graduated from Notre Dame in 1987 and worked in the Department of Justice during George W. Bush’s administration.Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX-30) ran without a Republican challenger and took 88 percent of the vote in her district, which includes parts of the Dallas metropolitan area. Johnson, who graduated from Saint Mary’s in 1956 with a degree in nursing and was the first nurse elected to Congress, will begin her 12th term when the 114th Congress is sworn in this January.Rep. Donna Christensen (D-U.S. Virgin Islands), a non-voting delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives who has served nine terms, graduated from Saint Mary’s in 1966. She is the first woman to represent an offshore U.S. territory in Congress and the first female physician to serve in Congress. This year, she ran to become the first female governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Neither she nor her main opponent, Independent Kenneth E. Mapp, claimed a majority of the votes so the election will result in a runoff sometime in the near future.Tags: 2014 Election, David Campbell, Donna Christensen, eddie bernice johnson, Keith Rothfus, midterm elections, Mike Kelly, Pete Visclosky, Peter King read more

Tags: data analysis, data science, douglas twisselmann, Netflix Caitlyn Jordan | The Observer Douglas Twisselmann, expert in Data Science at Netflix, spoke on Wednesday in Little Theatre at Saint Mary’s.Saint Mary’s hosted senior data scientist Douglas Twisselmann on Wednesday night in Little Moreau Theatre. Twisselmann is a member of the science and algorithms group at Netflix and works with the branch dealing with the media content Netflix provides for its viewers. Twisselmann’s talk focused on Netflix’s goals of identifying characteristics of an “ideal” content library, predicting demand for content that Netflix does not have and divining the next Netflix original series.Twisselmann works with the Netflix content team to license, purchase and develop the movies and television shows that will be featured on the streaming service. Netflix has more than 60 million viewers across more than 40 different countries, and it falls to the content team to predict the material viewers want to watch and create a content library to fit that criteria.“We always want to keep the viewers happy,” Twisselmann said.All aspects of data science are modeled around consumer science testing, which allows Netflix to have personalized content libraries for all of its viewers, Twisselmann said. Netflix does not base its suggested libraries based on gender or age but on the content that one watches, Twisselmann said. This way, Netflix can send users personal updates and messages about one’s favorite shows or potential options that they may enjoy, Twisselmann said.“With a lot of our content acquisition, because we tend to buy for long periods of time, we’re less concerned if someone is going to watch it tomorrow; we’re more interested, on average, who is going to watch it,” Twisselmann said.“Our home pages are very personalized based on what people watch,” Twisselmann said. “We’re one of the few companies that doesn’t ask background information. If we don’t know a lot about the individuals, then we can’t make assumptions about them.”When looking for content to add to a Netflix library, the data scientists have to determine what the ideal consumer catalog would look like, the span of the content and the depth of the content, Twisselmann said. The content cannot be too repetitive and it must be worth the cost, Twisselmann said. He said the value of each potential program is not based on revenue but the number of viewers and how much the viewers want to watch over a certain period of time.The key to predicting is to analyze data categories such as how well the program did in the theaters, what the program was rated, the time since it has been released and the actors and actresses performing in it, Twisselmann said. To be able to do so quickly, Netflix has created a linear predictive system called “The Crystal Ball,” based on a simple y=mx+b formula, Twisselmann said.“It’s pretty straightforward in actually doing it,” said Twisselmann. “It’s interpreting [the data], that’s the hard part.”Netflix’s goal is to eventually perfect the system to work globally, Twisselmann said.There a certain culture attributed to Netflix — one that involves freedom, hard work and high performance.“I love working there,” Twisselmann said. “It’s a culture with freedom and responsibility — freedom to do what’s right and the responsibility to do what we know is right.”With all of that freedom, there is a certain level of standard within the company, as well, Twisselmann said.“We spend most of our time in meetings to make sure everybody is in line and on the same page, and then we go off and do our own thing,” Twisselmann said. “However, we have a high performance culture where trying isn’t good enough — it is very demanding.”Twisselmann encouraged students to consider data science as a career.“Everybody’s hiring in data science — Netflix, Facebook, Google, Yelp! — you name it,” Twisselmann said. “It’s a young business.” read more

Last week, Saint Mary’s Student Government Association (SGA) announced the results of the first-year student government elections. Sofia Scott and Sophia Johnson won the positions of president and vice president of the class of 2019, and Jordan Myers and Annie Gregory were elected class senators.Scott said she has been part of various student governments for six years and enjoys being a leader among her classmates. She chose to run for the position of president because she wants to have a voice to make a difference in her class, she said.“I wanted our class to not just be another class who graduates from Saint Mary’s, but one who is remembered for what we have done,” Scott said. “I am most excited about being able to lead and represent our class at such a special place.”Scott’s goals for the year include bringing a color run to campus, implementing green initiatives and raising money for the class’ senior week, she said. Scott and Johnson have been brainstorming about numerous ideas and look forward to getting started, she said.“I am excited to implement our ideas and see a tangible difference that Sophia and I can make not only in our class, but also in the community as a whole,” Scott said.Vice president Johnson said she looks forward to working alongside Scott as they lead their class through the first year at Saint Mary’s. Specifically, one of her main goals is to focus on hearing everyone’s voice, she said.“It is extremely important to me that everyone gets a chance to give input about their ideas, a lesson I learned in the time I was involved in student government during my high school career,” Johnson said. “Sometimes it is better to take a step back and offer new insight into a situation.”Newly elected class senator Myers also plans to keep the entire class informed about student government issues as well as increase involvement in campus events, she said. She intends to incorporate lessons of leadership, cooperation and problem-solving from high school student government to achieve these goals, she said.“I intend to use the lessons of governmental integrity to find a voice for students,” Myers said, “As the class of 2019 senators, Anne [Gregory] and I would really like reaching out to the student body to allow the students to also have an active role in student government.”Gregory also participated in student government in high school and is excited to be part of the decision making process at the College, she said. Along with creating unity in the first-year class, Gregory also intends to unify clubs across campus, she said.“Since I am assuming a leadership role within the [first-year] class, I think it is crucial that I get to know all of my fellow classmates,” Gregory said. “This year I hope to create friendships with all of my classmates so they feel comfortable coming to me with concerns and ideas.”Tags: First year elections, saint mary’s, sga, Student Government Association read more

Saint Mary’s recently established English Club will turn to a new page this semester, as it plans to unify members in a shared love for literature and writing.First year Deirdre Cawley said she hopes to contribute enthusiasm that will sustain the club and make it successful.“It’s very important to give [the club] momentum early on and give it that inertia to keep going,” Cawley said. “I’m really happy about it because I like talking about books and reading, but outside of the context of English class, it can be really hard to find people to do that with. I’d like to think this will stimulate a lot of discussion.”She said recruiting people with different interests will create a dynamic organization in which club members can learn from one another.“It would be really nice if we could get a lot of people from a variety of majors because everyone reads differently,” she said. “I like discussing books. It’s a really good way to get to know people, I’ve found, because you can see what they think about a certain part, or maybe they’ll pick up on something you totally overlooked, and it’s really cool.”Cawley said she looks forward to developing her passion for literature through her involvement in English club, where she can meet like-minded peers who also see the value in reading and writing.“I’m really excited, even if only a few people show up,” Cawley said. “I’ll stay optimistic and hope it grows because you can use English in a lot of different ways.”Cawley said English club will provide stability and comfort throughout the rest of her first year at the College, as she can engage in a familiar interest.“My first semester has been all about experimentation for me, so it’s really nice to have something I know — like English or writing — as sort of an anchor,” Cawley said.Senior Claire Bleecker said she also recognizes the importance of collaborating with peers who share similar interests.“We want to get together and just celebrate English in general,” Bleecker said. “I think solidifying any academic club is going to support the Saint Mary’s community.”Bleecker said the club plans to host small informal gatherings, but would consider bringing in guests to speak to the club.“Whenever we bring in someone, that person goes away with a really good impression of Saint Mary’s,” Bleecker said. “We’ll sort of get our name out there the most if we start bringing people in to speak. Saint Mary’s enables students to bring speakers in pretty easily.”Bleecker said English club aims to unify smaller affiliations of the English department, such as Chimes and The Avenue, the College’s literary magazine and journal respectively.“I think it’s really important to have on campus because we have such a good writing and literature culture here,” Bleecker said. “This is an opportunity to create one stable organization that could support all the literary magazines, all the really talented students, all the really talented faculty.”According to Bleecker, the club hopes to appeal to a range of students through its first event on Feb. 25, which will feature board games such as Scrabble and Bananagrams.Tags: English club read more

Saint Mary’s senior Maria Teresa Valencia spoke Friday about the struggles low-income families face while navigating the high costs of living and the inaccessibility of benefits and healthcare in today’s society as part of the weekly Justice Friday series. Valencia interns at REAL Services, a north-central Indiana organization serving the elderly and low-income households, and through this she said has worked with low-income families.“43.1 million adults and children are in poverty, and 59 percent of American households with incomes less than $20,000 a year spend nearly half their income on rent alone,” she said. “Communities of color tend to be more affected by poverty than white communities.”Valencia said poverty encompasses all aspects of a low-income family’s life, including healthcare and childcare. “We tend to think poverty equals income, but it’s so much more than that,” she said. “Poverty is not just the lack of making money. It’s a lifestyle.”Valencia said access to stable housing is the key to job stability.“In the Milwaukee area, a study found that workers leaving their housing involuntarily were 20 percent more likely to lose their jobs than workers with stable housing conditions,” she said. “This just goes to show how necessary having a stable home is to having stable employment.”Valencia said that poverty is a vicious cycle, in which low-income families are often so desperate for basic necessities that they are forced to pay higher premiums for rent and food because of the immediacy of the need.“They happen to have higher food costs because they are located in areas where affordable food is not located, so they often choose this food because of how accessible it is, not because they prefer it,” she said.Due to this urgency for basic necessities, Valencia said low-income families often find themselves trapped in loan scams in which they pay double or even triple the typical interest rates. “Something I’ve realized while working through my internship is many low-income individuals get payday loans, which are one of the worst destroyers of credit,” she said. “The reason why payday loans are so horrible is because they specifically target low-income families. Loan companies know that low-income families are going to be the ones desperate enough to want to pay 300 to 400 percent interest rates. Nobody wants to pay that, but some of these families are just so desperate they go for the payday loan because it is quick money.“Payday loans don’t take into consideration if the family is capable of paying it back or not. They hand them money, knowing they will receive way more in interest.”Valencia said that government assistance programs can combat the need for payday loans, but even government benefits are not 100 percent accessible. “I can’t emphasize how important it is to have programs that help individuals get out of the cycle of poverty,” she said. “Section 8 is the most popular housing program. Basically, Section 8 offers government funding to people in low-income areas so they can help pay their rent. However, only one-in-four low-income individuals are able to receive housing assistance due to the limited nature of government funding.”Valencia said government assistance does not just help low-income families.“They don’t just lift lower-income individuals out of poverty; they help everybody else,” she said. “Once we help those in poverty, our government can use those funds to promote and sustain other programs.”Valencia said that helping to decrease poverty levels can benefit future generations. “Children are at such a critical age, and their brain is still developing, so when they cannot get necessities like healthcare, quality food, education or the environment they need, this affects their physical and mental health, and educational and employment outcomes in the future,” she said.Valencia said another problem faced by low-income families is the misunderstandings that surround the use of government benefits and assistance. She said many feel that some low-income individuals may abuse the benefits given to them, and the government should cut the money allotted to assistance programs. “A small percentage will abuse government assistance, but when you think about the bulk of people that government funding helps, it makes all the difference,” she said. “It’s easy to dismiss something when everything is just numbers and percentages, but when you have someone come and share their story and how much their life is affected, it means something. “They’re not numbers, they’re people.”Valencia said educating oneself about aid programs that help low-income families is a great way for students to help and support those struggling under the poverty line. Valencia said students can inform and guide low-income individuals to places where professionals can help them to sign up for government assistance and benefits. “Volunteering in places of low-income provides students the opportunity to become aware of the struggles faced by low-income individuals and empathize better with those individuals,” she said. Tags: Justice Friday, low income, poverty, welfare read more