There are reasons for `mysteries'
Letter to the Editor
I enjoyed Laura Petelle's column in Wednesday's Observer and wanted to respond to three of her questions.
There are no clocks in O'Shaughnessy Hall because when there were clocks, people took them. For a couple of years, battery-operated clocks were on the wall in every classroom. They were put in when — believe it or not — the bells that signaled the beginning and end of class time were mercifully silenced. The clocks were on the back wall, too, where teachers could see them and students couldn't, which was very nice. About half of them "walked" the first year and were replaced. Substantial quantities were liberated the second year. They were replaced. By the third year, whoever was responsible for clock replacement must have given up. Eventually they all disappeared.
The no food/no drink signs in DeBartolo Hall are there precisely because "we are incapable of cleaning up after ourselves after we eat." Know what happens after all the students leave at the end of spring semester? The carpets in DeBartolo classrooms have to be cleaned! Wouldn't it be nice to use that money for something else? It might be enough for the Annual O'Shaughnessy Clock Replacement Fund!
Lastly, some of us pronounce it "Notre" because it is "Notre" and not "Noder." Granted, some people have trouble with that final "e" and it comes out "Notra" which doesn't sound very nice. Those people should take a semester or two of French. Please don't suggest that if we say "Notre" we should also say "Dahm." That would be going too far, except in reference to the cathedral in Paris. Personally, I think "Noder" is fine for football, and I always say it that way in that context.
Ursula Williams
Director, Language Resource Center
Radio Announcer who says "Notre"
January 19, 2000
All Viewpoint Stories for Thursday, January 20, 2000
