Joseph Bumbleburg '58

Dana Nahlen '77

Amy Cashore Mariani '92

Alison Main ’00

Reflections on the Dome

When you scan the pages of your editions of the Dome yearbook, you inevitably wonder what some of those people—the ones you used to see on a daily basis—are doing today. But what about the students responsible for the book you now treasure? We take a moment in this issue of ND Today to talk with six of the Dome’s past editors: Bernard LaLonde ’55, Joseph Bumbleburg ’58, Dana Nahlen ‘77, Christine Caponigri Frech ’89, Amy Cashore Mariani ’92, and Alison Main ’00.

Being editor of the Dome may lend itself to a career in the law, as Joseph Bumbleburg, Dana Nahlen and Amy Cashore Mariani all joined the field after graduation, each in a different area. Bumbleberg, law graduate from Indiana University, joined the Ball Eggleston Firm in Lafayette, Ind. after serving three years in the Army. Nahlen, a graduate of Columbia University, is now the international compliance counsel for Hewlett Packard and an adjunct faculty member at Southern Methodist University. And Mariani took her law degree from Boston College on to a variety of law firms before joining the boutique litigation firm, Fitzhugh & Mariani, LLP in Boston.

LaLonde and Frech have followed other paths. LaLonde, who received his Ph.D. from Michigan State University, has taught at The Ohio State University since 1969 and was designated professor emeritus in 1995. Frech traveled extensively since leaving Notre Dame, but for the past few years she and her family have settled in Brazil. Retired from her position as technology consultant for Accenture after the birth of her first child in 2001, Frech divides her time between her family and volunteer commitments.

Main is the only one of our respondents who continued professionally in the field of publishing. A graduate of the Parsons School of Design in New York City, she is an in-house advertising designer, copywriter, and marketing specialist. She recently started her own freelance graphic design business in Manhattan.

Even with such a varied group of people, their shared experience as editors has impacted their careers and lives. ND Today asks them what they most treasure and what was most helpful about their time with the Dome. 

ND Today: What did you learn during your time as editor?

Joseph Bumbleburg: Being editor taught me leadership, how to handle people, and how to schedule activities.

Alison Main: As editor of the Dome, I’d say the most integral, holistic goal is to capture the ethos, values, and ideas of Notre Dame, and then translate those through words and images into a contextual, meaningful, and creative story of the University in a particular moment in time.

Bernard LaLonde: I learned you cannot boss people in a volunteer organization—you have to lead, and you can only do this by sharing a vision with the team. I learned a lot about leadership, deadlines, self discipline, and teamwork in a few short years. I have used this learning throughout my academic career. It has influenced how and what I teach, how I have managed my research, and my interactions with the business community.

NDT: Do you have any special memories of your time at Notre Dame?

Bumbleburg: My years on campus were great years. I always remember God, Country and Notre Dame, to which I would add family and community.

LaLonde: I have memories of long days in the Dome office in the basement of Farley Hall...deadlines conflicting with classes...trying to energize a volunteer organization...trips to the printer in Lafayette, Ind. for last minute proofing...pride in the final product.

NDT: How have your experiences with the Dome helped you in your post-Notre Dame career?

Dana Nahlen: Being able to organize, write and "tell a story" in a way people can understand is a significant part of my professional success—both as a lawyer and as a teacher. There is no doubt those are skills I honed working on the yearbook and continue to use daily.

Christine Caponigri Frech: I really enjoyed my work on the Dome (sometimes more than my classes!) I published a family cookbook with recipes and stories in 2001, and earlier this year I published a book of family weddings with pictures and stories. (For me, the stories were more interesting than the pictures!) I am working on our family tree, and anticipate several more books in my future. And, of course, managing and motivating a team and planning for deadlines is always applicable in the workforce.

NDT: We all look through our old yearbooks from time to time, but why do you particularly value your old volumes of the Dome? 

Amy Cashore Mariani: Books will still be around through technology changes (think all those slides from the 60s and 70s you can't look at without some antiquated machine), and there's nothing like sitting down with a yearbook for a great trip down memory lane!

Nahlen: They preserve my memories—that is what yearbook is all about—and those shared memories are precious because what you think now you could never forget, you will forget as times go by. There are so many ways now to take photos on my phone and keep in touch electronically. Yearbook is not the only way to preserve memories, but it is the most important way to preserve the active memory which will become a part of history—your history.