A class assignment for a member of Notre Dame’s national championship women’s basketball team has generated thousands of dollars for children affected by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on America.p. Students enrolled in the Management 320 class, “Introduction to Entrepreneurship,” received a $20 loan and were assigned the task of offering a product or service that would generate at least $140 in nine weeks.p. Karen Swanson, a junior on the Irish basketball team, combined her athletic pursuits, photographic skills and entrepreneurial spirit to produce a calendar featuring photos and information on each of her teammates. She already has sold 400 of the calendars, which begin with December 2001 and continue through next December, and raised $4,000.p. All proceeds from the project are going to the Fund for Public Schools, a part of the World Trade Center Relief Fund which provides assistance to children who witnessed or were directly affected by the Sept. 11 attacks or whose schools were relocated due to their proximity to the site.p. Swanson began her project by photographing teammates at scenic locations on the Notre Dame campus. (Her brother Eric, a Notre Dame freshman, took the photo of Swanson.) She then took her work and ideas to executives at Lithotone, Inc., a printing company in nearby Elkhart, Ind., who were so impressed by the project that they donated all design services and printing for 1,100 calendars.p. Before she could begin selling the calendar, Swanson needed to gain the permission of officials on and off campus. She worked with Mike Karwoski in the compliance office of Notre Dame’s athletic department to secure approval from the NCAA, which allows student-athletes to participate in such charitable projects only when any proceeds are donated to nonprofit agencies. She also gained approval from Notre Dame’s licensing department for the use of University trademarks on the calendar.p. The calendar is available for $10 and can be purchased in the women’s basketball office in the Joyce Center, at the Gigot Center for Entrepreneurial Studies in Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, and at Gate 10 of the Joyce Center during women’s basketball home games.p. A 5-foot-8 guard from Westlake, Ohio, Swanson was a sophomore last season when the Fighting Irish won their first NCAA national championship in women’s basketball.
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