Project engenders discussion
By JASON McFARLEY
News Editor
A mock newspaper distributed Tuesday and a set of two banners to be hung today are part of a project intended to raise awareness about campus gender relations.
The efforts are tied to the Dave Clark Bachelor of Fine Arts Project and kick off a half-semester-long undertaking a Notre Dame senior.
"The project will be addressing various social factors at Notre Dame which contribute to the poor state of gender relations," Clark said in an e-mail to The Observer.
Today Clark said he expects to hang the first set of two banners on academic buildings in prominent locations on campus. The banners will hang for a week and introduce the Notre Dame community to the topics the project will address.
On Tuesday, Clark distributed "The Observed" to each Notre Dame's 27 residence halls.
An obvious imitation of The Observer, the two-page paper featured articles on single-sex halls and parietals causing divisions between the sexes as well as the University's alleged lack of female faculty and seemingly male-dominated environment. The articles quote campus students and faculty members and are apparently written by authors under assumed names such as radio personality Howard Stern, feminist Gloria Steinem and Playboy magazine publisher Hugh Hefner.
"By addressing single-sex dorms, parietals, the imbalanced faculty ratio and Notre Dame's male-dominated atmosphere, the DCBFA project might shed some light on topics which shape the sad state of gender relations at Notre Dame," one author writes in the flyer.
A DCBFA exhibit opens in the Snite Museum April 8 and will be on display through May 20.
Clark said he will speak about the project at a conference on peace and social issues before the exhibit opens.
Following the banners that will run on campus buildings this week, another set of banners will be hung from March 28 to April 8.
All News Stories for Wednesday, March 21, 2001
