Vol. 77, No. 2

Cover

Performance review

By Scott Alessi
With President Obama’s term up for renewal, nearly 700 visitors to USCatholic.org judge the incumbent’s recored against the promises that swept him into office.

Feature

New man on campus

By J.D. Long-Garcia
Catholic coeds have long relied on the Newman Center to keep the faith at college, but now teams of missionaries are taking the gospel to the quad, two by two.

Sidebar:

A brief history of Newman Centers

Empowered by the spirit: The U.S. bishops on campus ministry

Interview

Dancing with the stars

An interview with astronomer George Coyne, S.J.
Stars aren’t just giant balls of glowing gas, says the former director of the Vatican Observatory. They are our parents and grandparents, cosmically speaking.

Feature

Off the corporate ladder

By Leslie Scanlon
As full-time parish positions become a career option, many laypeople are seeking a new degree of expertise.

Sidebars:

Not in it for the money

Degrees of service

Essays

(Essays, short stories, and poems are not available online.)

Admission impossible

By Gerald J. Beyer
A college education is a proven path to the middle class. So why are Catholic universities failing to provide this option for the poor?

Sorrowful mysteries

By Michelle Weldon
A single mom’s cancer diagnosis rekindles her relationship with the mother of God.

A Mass

By Brian Doyle
Miracles do happen. Sometimes there’s reggae music humming in the background.

Poem: Lesson Plan: Sonnets

By Margaret Pajakowski

Wise Guides: Woman of Substance

By Julia Smucker
12th-century visionary Hildegard of Bingen can still help contemporary believers see their way to unity despite differences.

Departments

Editors’ Note

You May Be Right (Letters to the Editor)

Signs of the Times (News)

Catholic Tastes (Humor)

Culture in Context: Music, book, and film reviews

Glad You Asked: Would God lead us into temptation?

At Home with Our Faith  (Family spirituality)

Eye of the Beholder (Art meditation)

Columns

The Examined Life: Stay of execution
By Bryan Cones

Margin Notes: Unbalanced diet
By Kevin Clarke

Culture in Context: Curious about George
By Patrick McCormick

Testaments: Medicine man
By Alice Camille