These kinds of leaves of absence should be extraordinary and the cases should be compelling or strong. The reasons for study abroad are not just 'I want to be in a country that's interesting, warm or fun,' but involves a set of courses that they couldn't find in South Bend or in any of the other programs.

You don't have that. How would the situation be any different if Mr. Giordano were a bank president?

I think one of the themes that he emphasized in many ways ... was that we need to spend time reflecting ethical implications of our work, and bring the traditions and wisdom of the Church into greater conversation with the advances in knowledge and understanding. He was saying that Notre Dame has a very distinct role and its voice needs to be heard.

Not during any pre-college career did I ever have anybody who was a faculty member talk about Plan B. We didn't have anything sex education whatsoever, except in biology when we talked about sexually transmitted diseases.

I think it would be a much scarier statistic if you had 45 to 75 girls a week becoming pregnant at Syracuse instead of taking the pill. We'd have many more cases of herpes, the clap and kids, and we can't deal with any of those right now.

She's not great because she's awesome. She's great because she's 86 years old.