This Week in Tower History -

The “This Week in Tower History” column will collect relevant, historical, or humorous excerpts from any past editions of The Tower’s 98-year-existence. Compiled by Tower editors.

Feb 15 2013

The edition was filled with articles on Pope Benedict’s resignation, the first resignation since Pope Gregory XII’s in 1415. The lead of the front page article read: “Hoards of camera men, reporters and interested visitors surged onto the Catholic University of America’s campus Tuesday hoping to find an answer from the United States’ flagship Catholic presence to Pope Benedict XVI’s sudden decision to break 600 years of tradition and retire from office.”

Feb 18, 2005

An article in the entertainment section reviewed Green Day’s new album American Idiot featuring “perhaps [its] most popular song, ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams’, a moving ballad that connects with listeners’ feelings of loneliness and frustration caused by today’s society.”

Feb 18, 2000

A front page article ran with the headline “Online Courses Could Create Controversy”. The article focused on the changing dynamics in higher education that resulted from professors putting course content on the internet for non-university students to access.

Feb 16, 1990

An article in the Features section lamented that current children’s television was low quality and reminisced on 70’s shows Superfriends, Land of the Lost, Jason of Star Command, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Underdog, and Scooby Doo.

Feb 17, 1989

An article in the sports section headlined “Next home game: CUA vs. Jewish Seminary”, tagged “from the editor’s wastepaper basket: sports commentary” puzzled over the numerous schools up against Catholic with “Mary” in the name: St. Mary’s, Mount St. Mary’s, Marymount, Mary Washington, Marywood. The author recommended adding Mary Baldwin College, Marycrest, Maryville, Marygrove, Mary Magdalen College, and St. Mary-of-the-Woods College to the schedules.

Feb 19, 1988

An article in the Features section announced that Ed McMahon, long-time co-host of The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, would receive an honorary degree

Feb 17, 1984

An article on a new board game, Trivial Pursuit, included how-to-play instructions and listed on-campus tournaments. “The demand for Cabbage Patch dolls has subsided only to be replaced by Trivial pursuit… CUA is caught up in the Trivial Pursuit craze.”

Feb 19, 1971

The Tower Laura Kiernan spoke politics with M*A*S*H actor Donald Sutherland, who said, “Anything you do is a political act. Ideally, politics is a manifestation of your own self. I say that you cannot draw a line between the individual person and the political person.”