Protest Over Bush Speech

SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE, April 29—President George W. Bush will be the University of Notre Dame's commencement speaker on May 20, but a disgruntled professor has started an online petition against the president's appearance, the Tribune reported.

Peter Walshe, a professor of government, said, “Having Bush as the commencement speaker demonstrates that Notre Dame is drifting away from social teachings of the Catholic Church.” Walshe cited Bush's policies on tax refunds, health care and the environment.

A counter-petition Website protests Walshe's effort, the Tribune reported. One senior who signed Walshe's petition acknowledged that many students are excited Bush is coming, noting that “he's a pro-life president.”

Cash for Catholic Schools

THE NEW YORK POST, April 30— New York City Central Labor Council president Brian McLaughlin, the head of the city's labor movement, has offered a major cash infusion for six struggling parochial schools, the New York daily reported.

McLaughlin wrote a letter to Cardinal Edward Egan offering to put together a group of union leaders to find a “permanent, long-term solution” to the cash crisis. The six schools, which have been threatened with closure, have a combined projected deficit of $853,000 for the next school year.

An anonymous donor, rumored to have promised $150 million, never came through.

Kennedy on Bioethics

GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY, April 17—Sen. Edward Kennedy will speak at the 30th anniversary celebration of Georgetown University's Joseph P. and Rose F. Kennedy Institute of Ethics, the university announced.]

Sen. Kennedy, D-Mass., has been one of the Senate's most reliable pro-abortion votes, even voting against a ban on partial-birth abortion.