PDF of The Observer for 10-27-10

The Independent Newspaper Serving Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s

Kramer sells portion of portfolio

By KATLYN SMITH News Writer

Editor’s note: This is the final installment in a twopart series about Kramer Properties and Campus Apartments, which both lease off-campus housing to students in South Bend.

Local landlord Mark Kramer said selling a portion of his portfolio to Gross and Cohen Real Estate Investors has benefitted his business.

“I believe that it’s impacted my business in a positive way,” Kramer said. “I’m able to continue with the personal service.”

Kramer finalized the deal two years ago but continued to manage the properties until the national chain Campus Apartments, hired by Gross and Cohen, took over management last spring.

Maintaining personal interactions with students motivated Kramer to sell, he said.

“You get to a point where

you get too large, and then you need to bring in more staff, and I’m a hands-on person,” Kramer said. “When I was approached by Gross and Cohen to sell a portion of the portfolio, I just thought it was a good idea so that I could continue to maintain that personal level

of business with my clientele, the students of Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s.”

Kramer gave no advanced notification to students who had signed a lease with Kramer Properties.

“It’s a sensitive process, but I did notify them once the process was complete via

Eddy Street provides off-campus jobs

By LISA CARLSON News Writer

The new additions to Eddy Street to the Notre Dame community provide not only places to eat, shop and live near the University, but jobs as well.

Storms hit; students take cover

Students took cover in the lowest level of buildings for about an hour and a half Tuesday morning after the University issued a campus-wide alert notifying the community of a tornado threat.

The University informed students via e-mail, phone calls, text messages and overhead announcements to take cover. The messages called the threat “imminent.”

No tornado occurred, but winds reached more than 70 mph, the South Bend Tribune reported.

e-mail and expressed to them that please feel free to call me so that I could help them with any transition situations, which many of them did,” Kramer said. Kramer said he would not hire a national chain to man-

page 6

University spokesman Dennis Brown said there was no damage on campus besides “a couple branches [down] here and there.”

Brown said the branches did not hit any buildings and he was not aware of any trees that came down.

Week seeks to raise alcohol awareness

Cedric Strickland, a sophomore computer science major who worked at Hammes Bookstore on Eddy Street over the summer, found the job while living off-campus for a summer semester.

While Notre Dame strives to provide on-campus jobs, some students find they prefer working off campus.

“I needed a job, and I liked the environment off campus better,” he said. “I didn’t want to be a student worker. I wanted a real job.”

Senior Katrina Corcoran also found summer employment at Eddy Street.

By JOHN CAMERON News Writer

As part of the ongoing efforts to inform Notre Dame students about the use and misuse of alcohol, the Office of Drug and Alcohol Education, PILLARS and student government are

sponsoring Alcohol Awareness Week on campus.

“It’s extremely relevant to college students and their lifestyle,” student body president Catherine Soler said. “We think promoting education and awareness, not necessarily

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Bob Besio freshman Alumni

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Brendan Kiefer senior Off-campus

“What tornado?”

Kyle Roshak senior Dillon

“The spacious basement of Dillon Hall.”

Lauren Hoedeman senior Ryan

“Trapped in the basement of South Dining Hall.”

Nate Lee junior Stanford

“Huddled in the basement of Stanford with 200 of my closest friends.”

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COVENEY/The Observer

A tornado warning was issued for St. Joseph County Tuesday morning. Here trees in McGlinn Fields bend beneath the wind. Students, faculty, and staff were held up in the basements of various buildings from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m.

OFFBEAT

Man calls cab to make robbery getaway

MISSOULA, Mont. –Police in Montana say a man robbed a bank and then called a taxi to make his getaway, tipping the driver $5 just before squad cars surrounded the cab.

Taxi driver James Anderson told the Missoulian the man was acting strangely when he picked him up at a Missoula coffee shop.

TODAY’S STAFF

He said the man first asked to be taken to the University of Montana campus, but couldn’t give Anderson a specific location. The man then asked to be taken to a hotel, but not before stopping to buy cigarettes.

The cab fare was $7.50, and Anderson said the man tipped him $5 as they arrived at the hotel. Officers then pulled up and surrounded the taxi with guns drawn.

Police allege the man earlier entered a downtown bank, told a teller he had a weapon and demanded money. No one was injured.

Charges have not yet been filed, and the man’s name wasn’t released.

Man on all-spud diet wishes he set goal of one month MOSES LAKE, Wash. –

The Washington state man who’s on a 60-day allpotato diet wishes he would have set a goal of one month instead of two.

Chris Voigt told the TriCity Herald that — as good and healthy as potatoes are — there’s only so many ways they can be prepared. And, about halfway through his tuber diet, he’s had them boiled, baked, steamed, grilled, fried, marinated and mashed.

The Moses Lake man is executive director of the Washington Potato Commission and is on a mission to prove spuds aren’t junk food.

For variety Voigt soaked one potato in pickle juice. And his wife made him potato ice cream.

Information compiled from the Associated Press.

IN BRIEF

The Special Olympics Notre Dame will be selling T-shirts on the first floor of LaFortune today from 8 to 10 p.m. The shirts are $5 each and they will be accepting Domer Dollars or cash.

The Debartolo Performing Arts Center will host the world premiere of the Sean Curran Company’s “ Left Exit ,” today at 7 p.m. Left Exit is a dance performance that examines spirituality, faith and religion, illuminating our core desire to search for significance and purpose in one’s life. Tickets can be purchased online at performingarts.nd.edu or at the DPAC box office.

Lisa Morje Howard will present the lecture , U.S. Foreign Policy and the Illiberal Peace , Thursday at 12:30 p.m. in C-103 of the Hesburgh Center . Howard is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Government at Georgetown University. The lecture is free and open to the public.

The Debartolo Performing Arts Center will present the film: It’s Hard Being Loved by Jerks Thursday at 6:30 p.m. The film is an incisive examination of the complex, often conflicting issues of free speech, self-censorship, secularism, and assimilation

RecSports will be accepting entries for CoRec Broomball, CoRec Innertube Water Polo and Campus Badminton Singles until 11 p.m. on Thursday , Entries are limited and will be accepted on a first come, first serve basis.

To submit information to be included in this section of The Observer, e-mail detailed information about an event to obsnews.nd@gmail.com

Alum finds success with classical music group

By KRISTEN DURBIN News Writer

46 states,” Quigley said. “I couldn’t find a downside to being involved in music.”

the Top Ten.”

2.”

When Patrick Dupre Quigley came to Notre Dame as a freshman in the fall of 1996, he was unaware that his participation in campus choral ensembles would provide him with a clear career path into music, let alone help his musical group top Lady Gaga on the iTunes charts this past summer.

“I helped found The Undertones during my freshman year and served as their music director for four years,” Quigley, a 2000 Notre Dame graduate, said. “Working with that group taught me that there is a market for vocal music out there, and I realized that I wanted to be a conductor.”

As a music theory major and member of The Undertones and the Glee Club, Quigley explored his interest in music and had the opportunity to travel the world as a performer during his time at Notre Dame.

“My interest in music was twofold: I really loved the music we performed, and at Notre Dame, I was able to perform in three continents and

After following his interests to a master’s degree in conducting from Yale University, Quigley currently serves as the founding artistic director for Seraphic Fire, a Miami-based professional choral ensemble that performs classical, renaissance, baroque and secular music.

Their recent collaboration with the Western Michigan University Chorale, Claudio Monteverdi: Vespers of the Blessed Virgin 1610, was released in August, reached the No. 1 spot on the iTunes classical charts and outsold Lady Gaga’s The Fame Monster at one point.

The 64 performers who appeared on the album — including 12 members of Seraphic Fire and 40 members of the Western Michigan University Chorale — harnessed the power of the Internet and word of mouth to publicize their new album and garnered outstanding results, Quigley said.

“When the disc was released, iTunes featured it on their classical homepage,” Quigley said. “From there, I tagged all the members of the ensemble in a post on Facebook, and they shared the iTunes link to the album on their Facebook pages. It got to the point where people I knew from grade school started publicizing the album, which propelled it to

Quigley said this “viral moment” caught the attention of the National Public Radio program “All Things Considered,” which did a segment on the group and its grassroots publicity methods. The effects of this national attention for the group were unprecedented.

“Within an hour of the program’s airing, the album hit number one on the iTunes classical charts,” Quigley said. “We remained on the best seller list for over a month, and one day we even beat out Lady Gaga.”

Seraphic Fire’s commercial success comes eight years after Quigley first became involved with the group, shortly after he completed graduate school and relocated to Miami to work as the music director for a large Catholic parish.

“While I was working at the church, I met a number of professional singers who were section leaders in one of the seven church choirs I directed,” Quigley said.

Quigley and a group of eight professional vocalists initially performed three concerts as Seraphic Fire, but the group expanded significantly over the next three years to the point where Quigley could no longer direct the group as a mere side project.

During its third year of existence, Seraphic Fire was invited to record with Shakira on her album, “Oral Fixation, Vol.

That same year, the group also began performing with the Miami Symphony Orchestra, and Quigley decided to commit to the group as its full-time artistic director.

“At that point, only two people worked for the group — myself and the office manager/grant writer,” Quigley said. “Now the organization is much bigger and involves more performers.”

A number of the group’s performers were doctoral students at the University of Miami who eventually went on to become music professors or full-time professional musicians who perform with operas and symphonies or in choral ensembles around the country, Quigley said.

In fact, the members of Seraphic Fire are all professional musicians or professors, and none perform with the group full-time.

Seraphic Fire, now in its ninth season, comprises 40 members from around the country and performs about 65 concerts per season, mostly in Miami and other southern Florida metropolitan areas, Quigley said.

The group did perform in Mexico City in May, and it will travel to the Midwest twice this winter, including a concert at Notre Dame on Jan. 19.

Additionally, the group often collaborates with other ensembles in its performances and recordings, such as the

Firebird Chamber Orchestra and various choral ensembles. Quigley said the group has two more albums due out within the next few months, including a Christmas recording and a disc with the Firebird Orchestra.

“Our goal for the future is to expand our recorded legacy because there’s a big shift away from the traditional recording model for classical music to the new digital music economy,” Quigley said. “One of the great things about our album’s success is that the power of large record labels in digital distribution of classical music is diminished, but word of mouth is much more important in promoting our product in the digital world.”

Quigley said the demographic of iTunes customer is generally much younger than the traditional classical music consumer, usually assumed to be affluent people over the age of 55.

The popularity of Seraphic Fire’s album on iTunes leads Quigley to believe that his group has successfully “cracked the egg that is the digital music economy.”

“If younger people are buying classical music on iTunes, that means that classical music is alive and well, and new audiences are being exposed to it,” Quigley said. “It’s incredibly heartening.”

Contact Kristen Durbin at kdurbin@nd.edu

Members approve ‘The Shirt’ president nominee

By JOHN CAMERON News Writer

The Council of Representatives (COR) voted to approve the nominee for president of The Shirt Project 2011 and discussed Alcohol Awareness Week, which is cosponsored by student government, at its meeting Tuesday.

Senior Christian Gigante, president of The Shirt 2010, gave members an update on the successes of last year’s Shirt, which has sold 145,000 shirts so far, approaching the record 155,000 shirts sold in 2006.

The profit from The Shirt sales benefits various campus clubs and organizations, the rector funds and The Shirt Project Fund, which assists students with serious accidents or illnesses, Gigante said.

“That number, hopefully, will be close to $700,000 which is pretty exciting,” Gigante said. Gigante, who is responsible for the preliminary choice of the new president, introduced junior Lauren Marzouca, the nominated student.

Marzouca, a pre-professional major from McGlinn Hall, said she was excited to be president of the Project because she feels students should be reminded of where the money from the Project goes.

“I want to be president because I don’t think people really know where the money goes. The money goes back to the students and people who need it,” Marzouca said. “It means something more than just another T-shirt.”

Contact John Cameron at jcamero2@nd.edu

Lecture explores faith, science

By CAITLIN HOUSLEY News Writer

Mathematics Professor

Joanne Snow and associate mathematics Professor Colleen Hoover presented “Faith and Reason in the Life and Work of Mathematician Marston Morse” at Saint Mary’s Believing Scholars Lecture Tuesday.

As Snow mentioned, the lecture, put on by Saint Mary’s Center for Spirituality, was “a very broad overview of one man’s philosophy of the link between science and religion.”

Snow and Hoover addressed many topics, including the development of Morse’s spiritual life, his philosophy that religion supports science and the influence of faith on Morse’s personal and professional life.

According to Snow and Hoover, Morse was very prolific, writing many books and articles, serving his country in times of war, raising seven

children and on top of that, providing many insights into the field of mathematics.

Morse fathered the Morse Theory, helpful in the study of topology of mathematical space, Snow said.

Morse was raised as a staunch Baptist until his future wife entered his life.

Louise Morse was a Catholic, and refused to marry a nonCatholic. Morse converted, and was a strong advocate of his faith ever since, Snow said.

each other; rather, they complement each other.

Morse’s philosophy stated that there is no conflict between science, philosophy and theology, Hoover said.

Morse argued that any spark of conflict between these fields would only arise due to misunderstanding of the definition of “science,” Hoover said.

“Recognition of the infinite gives the scientist the humility to make great discoveries.”

According to Hoover, Morse was not afraid to stand up for his newfound Catholic faith. He was not afraid to correct the misconceptions and false assumptions others had about the Catholic Church.

Colleen Hoover Professor of Mathematics

Hoover highlighted one of Morse’s many philosophies, which stated that “both religion and science recognize the power and limitations of reason.”

“Morse believed that faith is as much needed in science as in religion,” Hoover said.

In their lecture, Snow and Hoover argued science and religion do not contradict

Spirituality’s study of the infinite, Morse argued, greatly complements science.

“Recognition of the infinite gives the scientist the humility to make great discoveries,” Hoover said.

Snow said Morse believed that “without faith, science lacks the wonder and awe” of discovery.

Morse was not a stranger to the Notre Dame community.

According to Snow, he knew many influential people, including Einstein and Notre Dame’s own Father Hesburgh. Morse was consulted in the renovation of the Notre Dame math department, and he donated many books to the Hesburgh Library,

Despite already having written an article about a connection between Morse’s work and the arts, it was the study of Morse’s connection between science and religion that most interested Snow, she said.

She said her research on this topic gave her “a greater respect and admiration of the man.”

Sarah McCroy, a junior Mathematics and Business major at Saint Mary’s, also discovered a greater respect for Morse.

“Studying as a mathematician, I like to look for ways I can use my study to learn more about my faith,” McCroy said. “I look to examples, such as Morse, to understand how they use their field of study to reflect on their faith.”

Sister Kathleen Dolphin, director of the Center for Spirituality, said this student reaction was the ideal outcome of the event.

“Students seem to be interested in the connection between faith and reason. The Center for Spirituality’s goal is to address these questions in an academic way.”

In particular, Dolphin said she wanted to help students address the current problem of science versus spirituality.

Contact Caitlin Housley at Chousl01@saintmarys.edu

Alcohol

continued from page 1

abstinence from drinking altogether, but more responsible behavior is always a good thing.”

While Soler said she does not think the drinking situation at Notre Dame is especially alarming relative to most universities, she said it is still an important issue to keep in mind.

“We’ve been doing some benchmarking for other offcampus issues at other schools. At Boston College they have a really big drinking problem right now,” Soler said. “It’s the mindset in college and at big universities that everything needs to have a pregame. I think it’s a national trend and something to keep an eye on.”

Soler said informing students through events like Alcohol Awareness Week is important to preventing drinking at Notre Dame from becoming a problem.

“I don’t think we’ve reached the point at Notre Dame where we need to panic, but hopefully by raising awareness we won’t have a problem,” Soler said.

Soler said she thinks the University’s alcohol policies put students in a slightly different position compared to other college students.

“I do think it’s unique that we don’t have a dry campus,” she said. “We think it’s an opportunity that we’re trusted with a little responsibility in the dorms that we should take advantage of it by being

responsible with what we’re doing.”

To help with the educational aspect of the week, Monday kicked off an informational campaign, which included posters, cab phone number cards distributed to dorms along with various events later in the week.

“They’re going to be table tents in the dining halls, we’re planning a big poster campaign on The Wall and in academic buildings. They’re going to have beer goggles and different activities out on Fieldhouse Mall” Soler said. “We’re also having a mock tailgate on Saturday before the game.”

The events at Fieldhouse Mall include an information table with free non-alcoholic “mocktails” from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday and a “Food and Fun” event on Friday from 10:30 p.m. to midnight, sponsored by Student Activities Office.

Soler said she hopes this weeks programming will not only enable students to be smarter and safer with alcohol but will also help improve the standing of students in the community.

“I think there’s a lot of things we can take away from this week as far as thinking of drinking in a different way, or of the consequences,” she said. “I think we can definitely improve our situation in the community if we can be more responsible with the drinking and improving our attitude towards alcohol.”

Contact John Cameron at jcamero2@nd.edu

Kramer

continued from page 1

age his properties, including 75 houses, Lafayette Square Townhomes and 20 apartments.

“If I decided someday that I wanted to retire, I would not bring a national chain to manage my company,” Kramer said. “I would hire my family and that’s why we have succession plans in place.”

Living in South Bend his whole life, Kramer has been in the student housing business for 20 years. Kramer said Kramer Properties is a “family business” where his wife manages the front office at 812 East LaSalle Street in South Bend.

but I’m totally approachable.”

A security firm patrols Kramer’s properties from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily. Each property has a security system, peepholes in every door and motion sensors. Kramer said incidents concerning security have decreased.

“We’ve had less incidents than we’ve had in past years,” Kramer said. “I think that has something to do with student awareness.”

Kramer said he is “actively” leasing for next year.

“To me, it’s business as usual,” Kramer said. “My business is active as it’s ever been and popular as it’s ever been.”

“If I decided someday that I wanted to retire, I would not bring a national chain to manage my company. I would hire my family and that’s why we have sucession plans in place.”

“That’s not a company name on my building,” Kramer said. “That’s my name. It’s not a big corporate name that’s sort of a shield, and that’s why I use my name.”

Mark Kramer landlord

Kramer said his personal service makes him unique in light of his competitors.

“My students can call me directly,” Kramer said. “I’m the owner of the business,

According to Kramer, houses lease for $425 per month, and Lafayette Townhomes lease for $325 unfurnished and $395 fully furnished.

Kramer has no plans to retire or sell any more properties.

“I still have the desire to continue on and have fun in my business,” Kramer said. “Students make me young.” Senior Deirdre Murdy lives in a house on South Bend Avenue. Murdy said she and her roommates approached Kramer about installing additional motion sensors the morning after a security

incident.

According to Murdy, the house’s security system was not on, and a burglar crawled through an open window and allegedly stole an iPod and some speakers.

“He was there later that afternoon and fixed it all for us,” Murdy said.

Murdy said students should communicate with Kramer.

“He’s really easy to get in touch with,” Murdy said.

Senior Eileen Bingle lives in a five-person house managed by Kramer on Saint Louis Boulevard.

“It was a little disconcerting that he had dropped some of the people that had originally signed with him, but as far as what I’ve experienced personally, I have no problem being under Kramer management,” she said.

Bingle said Kramer has responded to the “few” issues she and her roommates had in a prompt manner.

“We had mice, which was a little scary, but he came over and had an exterminator come in right away and took care of the problem,” Bingle said.

Bingle said she values offcampus living.

“It’s really a real-world experience dealing with paying bills, and things like that will help me in the future,” Bingle said. “It’s a lot of fun living with your friends in your house.”

Contact Katlyn Smith at ksmith33@nd.edu

Eddy

continued from page 1

“I was here over the summer for summer classes and saw that Kildare’s was opening,” Corcoran said. “I knew that working at an Irish pub would be a lot of fun, or ‘craic’ as the Irish say, and, on the more practical side, more lucrative than continuing to work on campus. It is very convenient and adds balance to your life as an ND student.”

When it comes to balancing school with work, though, oncampus jobs win out, Strickland said.

“Working at Kildare’s is more intense than where I have previously worked [on

campus] because you are constantly waiting on customers and helping out in the kitchen.

Fridays before game days I normally go seven to eight hours without taking a break,” Corcoran said.

Off-campus jobs can also be used as a supplement to oncampus jobs students already have.

In addition to being a waitress at Kildare’s, Corcoran still works at the Center for the Study of Language. Strickland said he also worked at The Huddle and Legends in addition to the bookstore on Eddy Street.

“I ended up having two jobs — I worked at Legends as well as the bookstore — and that meant balancing everything with coursework,” Strickland

said. “On campus is more flexible. Off campus would work around my school schedule, but they wouldn’t work around Legends.”

In spite of this, students still like working off campus.

“My favorite part has been meeting more people from the South Bend area,” Corcoran said. “I feel like I am finally learning more about South Bend after being here for three years. I have also had the chance to meet [football] coach [Brian] Kelly, [former Irish football player Daniel] “Rudy” [Ruettiger] and [former Irish football player] Jim Flanagan while working at Kildare’s.”

Contact Lisa Carlson at lcarlso2@nd.edu

Christie calls off construction

TRENTON, N.J. — New

Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is standing firm on calling off the biggest public works project under way in the country — a multibillion-dollar rail tunnel under the Hudson River linking his state with New York City, officials said Tuesday.

Christie is sticking by a decision he made more than two weeks ago, when he argued the state can’t afford to pay any overruns on the $9 billion-plus project, an official familiar with the decision told The Associated Press. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because an announcement had not been made.

Construction began last year on the tunnel, which has been in the works for 20 years. It’s designed to supplement a cen-

tury-old two-track tunnel and would double train capacity between New York and its populous New Jersey suburbs.

The Republican governor was given four financial options for salvaging the project, including one plan that eliminated his state’s risk for paying cost overruns, said an aide to Sen. Frank Lautenberg who also spoke on condition of anonymity. Lautenberg, a Democrat, has been a vocal proponent of the tunnel.

The Star-Ledger of Newark reported that federal officials offered to improve financing terms but offered no new money. The newspaper first reported the decision, citing three officials close to the project.

Lautenberg said that he urged the U.S. Transportation Department to give Christie

options to minimize New Jersey’s financial risk and that federal officials complied.

“The federal government demonstrated its strong commitment to building this tunnel, but it was clear from the beginning that Gov. Christie planned to kill this project no matter what,” the senator said in a statement that stopped short of confirming the governor’s decision. An official announcement is expected Wednesday.

Christie said Tuesday after a town hall meeting in Monmouth Junction that he would “make the decision when I’m ready.”

Later in the day, spokeswoman Maria Comella declined to confirm reports the project was dead, saying only: “We’re not commenting on this until we make a formal and public announcement.”

Severe

continued from page 1

The University sent out the first alert around 9:10 a.m. and asked everyone on campus to go to the lowest level of a building. A second message was sent out at 10:26 a.m. reporting that the warning had been extended.

of the alerts — through text messages, phone calls, e-mail, the University website and the public address system — was effective in getting the word out to students, faculty and staff.

“I think for the most part the combination of tools that we used to alert the campus worked well.”

The University gave the “all clear” for students to return to normal activity at 10:46 a.m., Brown said.

Dennis Brown University spokesman

Brown said the “redundancy”

The public address system, which was activated last spring, was a “very effective tool” for making an emergency announcement, Brown said. “I think for the most part the combination of tools that we used to alert the campus worked well,” he said. “It was a disruption this morning, but I think most people were able to cope and go to the lowest level and wait it out.”

Joint-effort research project receives grant

Special to The Observer

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a five-year, $5 million grant to a research project titled “Science of Integration for CyberPhysical Systems,” in which Panos Antsaklis, H.C. and E.A. Brosey Professor of Engineering at the University of Notre Dame, is playing a key role.

The project is a joint effort of Notre Dame, Vanderbilt University, the University of Maryland and General Motors Research and Development Center. Vanderbilt will lead the project and Notre Dame will be in charge of its theoretical aspects, under a $1.5-million agreement. In addition to Antsaklis, Vijay Gupta from Notre Dame’s Department of Electrical Engineering and William Goodwine from its Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering will participate in the research effort.

“This is a highly competitive and very prestigious NSF award,” Antsaklis said. “The project aims to develop the theory, methods and tools to build Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS), by combining seamlessly the necessary heterogeneous com-

putational and physical components. The Notre Dame team will be using theoretical concepts such as passivity and symmetry to address system uncertainties and the interdependence of design concerns. The scientific results will be validated on a GM electrical vehicle automotive test-bed.” Industry has long recognized the huge significance of systems integration and regarded it as a grand challenge. The NSF funded project is designed to solve this challenging problem.

“Cyber-physical systems are physical, biological and engineered systems whose operations are monitored, coordinated, controlled and integrated by a computing and communication core,” Antsaklis said. “As computers become ever-smaller, faster and more efficient, and communication networks become better and ever cheaper, computing and communication capabilities are being embedded in all types of objects and structures in the physical environment. This intimate coupling between the cyber and physical will be manifested from the nano-world to large scale, wide-area systems of systems, and at multiple time scales.”

Viewpoint

INSIDE COLUMN

Not how I roll

When Dayne Crist failed to run the ball into the end zone on Notre Dame’s first drive Saturday against Navy, the die-hard Irish faithful sitting around me nearly coughed up their gourmet California Rolls in disgust.

Yes, you read that right. Sushi, at a football game, in the same stadium where the famously rugged and tough New York Jets and New York Giants play.

Sushi at a sporting event? At a professional sporting event? At a football game? That’s not how I roll. It seems to be the trend in athletic stadiums these days to cater to the upscale crowd. The average Joe who values his tickets and lives and dies by his team has fallen out of favor as professional sports have become increasingly corporate. Perhaps the biggest issue that people have with this trend is rising ticket prices. But I’ll leave that for another column.

For my purposes, let’s assume the average Joe has his ticket and is through the stadium gates. The atmosphere that meets him inside New Meadowlands Stadium (or the new Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, or any number of new sports palaces) isn’t a sporting event anymore — it’s a glorified cocktail party. On my way to my seat at the Navy game, I passed a well-furnished and stylish bar, a sushi station, a soup vendor, a Food Network concession and a little nook that resembled a fancy Italian restaurant, wood-fired pizza oven and all. It took me about three minutes of searching to find a place that served a plain hot dog.

Ticket prices aside, this is the most alarming problem for the die-hard sports fan. It’s part of the reason that I disliked the beautiful new stadium in North Jersey that will one day host the Super Bowl. The seats are beautiful, the sight lines are perfect, and the JumboTrons were awe-inspiring in size and clarity. The whole thing just feels so ... urbane.

To make this point hit home with more Notre Dame fans, just consider one of the most contentious Viewpoint discussions of the year: cheering (and the various levels of intensity that students have displayed in it). Long story short, I think we can all agree that if you go to the game and want your team to win, you belong in the stands, cheering your team on as you deem fit. If Notre Dame Stadium was equipped with the same overabundance of amenities as the newer pro stadiums, a good chunk of the fans would enjoy the game from a lounge inside the stadium. That’s not sports. That’s a travesty. Give me a hot dog, a good seat and a cold drink, and I’m happy. I hope others share my devotion to the game being played on the field. If they don’t, let them eat sushi.

The views expressed in the Inside Column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

Contact Chris Allen at Callen10@nd.edu

Looking for good role models

The other day I was reading in the bathroom, as I normally do when nature calls. The book I had (hastily) selected for my time of need was an English translation of “Cyrano de Bergerac.” For those not in the know: Cyrano is an unusually eloquent man who also bears the unfortunate cross of a longer-thanaverage nose, rendering him unattractive to women. He is in love with his cousin Roxanne, but she prefers the handsome Christian, but Christian is really dumb, so Cyrano nobly decides to help Christian seduce Roxanne by putting words in his mouth. Christian dies in battle before he and Roxanne can consummate their marriage, and Cyrano nobly hides his role in the seduction from Roxanne until he is on his deathbed.

Now Cyrano used to be one of my favorite stories, and I’m still carried along by the sheer momentum and craft of the play. But rereading it in the water closet yesterday I had a revelation: Romantically speaking, Cyrano is a terrible role model. And that started me thinking of all the other terrible role models in literary history — among them Cinderella, Romeo and Juliet, and Edward Cullen.

Why is it that it’s so difficult to accurately portray a functional relationship? One answer might be that dysfunction makes for more compelling reading. There must be a rea-

EDITORIAL CARTOON

son most fairy tales end with “and then they lived happily ever after.” But is it that all the interesting stuff happens before the ending — or that capturing “happily ever after” in less nebulous terms is beyond the literary skill of the tale-spinner?

But the vague-out of “happily ever after” is by far less pernicious than the romanticisation of tragedy and drama which works like “Cyrano” and “Romeo and Juliet” perpetuate. Where “happily ever after” simply glazes over the inevitable difficulties in sustaining a serious romantic commitment, tragic romances like these actively work against the goal of finding a happy relationship.

“Cyrano” is bad because it hides Cyrano’s fear of rejection under the guise of his lavish self-sacrifice. When Christian comes along it’s a huge relief for Cyrano: all of his pentup emotion can finally have a safe channel that won’t damage his relationship with Roxanne. Roxanne doesn’t have to put on the red light for Cyrano (telling him to stop), she can green-light Christian’s forward progress. As much as Cyrano proves his courage on the battlefield, in love he is a coward.

“Romeo and Juliet,” one of the bestknown and worst-written of Shakespeare’s plays, is equally awful. Its status as an archetype belies the monumental stupidity of all characters, not least that of R and J themselves. It’s actually painful to read how much angst and perfectly metered, excellently rhymed, terrible

teen poetry Shakespeare managed to pack into this play. What truly galls is that at the end Shakespeare has the Prince of Verona declare, “For never was a story of more woe/Than this of Juliet and her Romeo,” thereby elevating their callow and foolish actions to an inappropriately large scale. Flawless execution of a bad idea doesn’t make the idea any better (see: Twilight, Showgirls, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies).

It may be as hard to write about a good relationship as it is to have a good relationship, and no doubt most writers have managed neither. Or to be more exact: it may be as hard to write well about a good relationship as it is to have one — documentations of happy relationships from the parties involved tend to be cloying and irritating (if Facebook is a good barometer of such things). So there’s the challenge: write a story about a happy relationship that can’t be turned into a self-help book for the lonely or anthologized in “Chicken Soup For The Soul.” I will offer a large monetary prize to the winner of this contest, which I’m calling the Burger King Love Story Contest in hopes of attracting a certain wealthy corporate sponsor. Submissions can be anytime between now and my graduation. Let’s get it started.

Brooks Smith is a senior. He can be contacted at bsmith26@nd.edu

The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

“To win without risk is to triumph without glory.”

Pierre Corneille French author

“Stress is an ignorant state. It believes that everything is an emergency. Nothing is that important.”

Natalie Goldberg U.S. author

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Viewpoint

Internet overload affects our attention spans

The likelihood of you finishing this column is not good.

These first two sentences are already boring you.

After a few more words your eyes are going to scan down until something else catches their attention, and from there you may read a little longer, skim to the last paragraph, and finally move on to the next page.

Don’t worry, I won’t be offended. It’s not your fault. It might not even be my fault.

Instead, blame the Internet.

Not only is it changing our brains, but it’s changing society.

Those reading online will say, “Of course, there’s always something better to find on the Internet than the Daily Nebraskan.”

Maybe so, but that doesn’t explain why your patience ran out after a few seconds.

And if you’re waiting for class to start and your laptop is stashed away at home, this excuse doesn’t work so well.

The blame would theoretically fall back on me for producing a boring column.

But maybe not.

We have limited patience because our brain is being rewired to prefer reading brief segments of information over long blocks of text.

Shortened attention spans aren’t only the result of countless distractions surrounding us throughout the day, but also what those things do to the neurological pathways transferring data through our brains.

So while the Internet gives us libraries of information at our fingertips and has revolutionized worldwide communication, it might also be making us dumber than the generations before us.

Is it all worth it?

Is losing the ability of deep, contemplative thought and long, deliberate reading worth the benefits of a hyper-connected race with the ability to ‘know’ anything after a .18 second Google search?

Nicholas Carr’s latest book, “The Shallows,” asks these same questions. However, as Carr points out, the idea of technology degrading human intelligence is nothing new.

He cites Greek philosopher Plato’s “Phaedrus,” in which Socrates tells the story of an Egyptian god discussing the new invention of reading with a prince of Egypt named Thamus.

Although the ancient Greeks were the first civilization to put together an effective alphabet, they didn’t trust the written word, instead favoring those with skills in oration and memorization.

Plato makes this clear through the prince, Thamus, who said the ability to write “will implant forgetfulness in (people’s) souls: they will cease to exercise memory because they rely on that which is written… (the written word) is a recipe not for memory, but for reminder… They will seem to know much, while for the most part they will know nothing.”

The argument between Thamus and the Egyptian god could easily be applied to our ability to learn and the negative consequences of Google.

The former represents the potential for deep, lifelong knowledge in a subject, while the latter grants us endless access to information within seconds of wanting it, but it’s longevity in our minds is reliant upon our limited memory (as opposed to the infinite cloud of online information) to save it.

Yet, in this particular case, Thamus was wrong.

Over the next two millennia, the ability to read and write brought literacy, communication and history to the masses.

It accelerated the development of human society and culture more in those 2,000 years than in the 200,000 before it.

In fact, all changes in how we read and write throughout history were made to make reading more efficient.

The Greeks read aloud because words wereruntogetherlikethis, a slow, clunky process difficult to pick up without years of schooling.

Because of this, the poor weren’t learning how to read much more than the occasional street sign.

After words were broken up, hardbound books (as opposed to scrolls, which are impractical and difficult to navigate) made research easier for ancient scholars.

In 1450 the Gutenberg press was introduced and eventually made reading accessible to the lower classes of society.

Again, every new technology and innovation in reading and writing has, as a whole, made us collectively smarter and better off than before.

So why would the Internet be any different?

Evolution has nothing to do with our ability to read better than our ancestors; 2,500 years of reading with an alphabet is a sliver of time on the geologic scale of human existence.

As a species who, for most of our being, needed to be acutely alert of our surroundings to avoid predators and other humans, long periods of blinding focus on one thing goes against the evolved physical makeup of our brains.

Learning to read and write takes a considerable amount of time, and forces the brain to rewire itself in the process.

Therefore it is in our nature to focus our attention from one thing to another more so than to read a long book or engage in meditation.

Surfing the web may be more natural to us than reading a book, but that doesn’t mean it’s better.

With our attention spans shrinking because of the Internet’s bombardment of distractions, we lose the ability to form long-term memory.

Because of everything occupying our attention, our short-term, or working, memory is laboring overtime to keep up.

And as Carr states in “The Shallows,” “The depth of our intelligence hinges on our ability to transfer information from working memory to long-term memory and weave it into conceptual schemas (the concepts which aid us in complex decision making).”

These schemas are responsible for the creativity and original ideas that are needed to solve complex problems.

All of which are critical to the further advancement of society.

But with Facebook, Twitter, blogs, email, text messaging, television, smart phones and more often being engaged all at once, the information overload is weakening our long-term memory, and the intuitive wisdom that goes with decision making is being lost with it.

So what does it mean for society if we are losing our attention spans while gaining access to vast amounts of information

at the same time?

For students it makes long reading assignments harder to digest, and lengthy papers require even more time and focus to write.

It may be good for a stock broker to be able to scan through piles of information in a short time, but for a lawyer looking through dry, lengthy summaries of court cases to keep their client free, one would hope they could concentrate on their work.

Or look at our president (notorious for spending time on his Blackberry), who is unable to commit to memory even the basic points of his speeches without the help of a teleprompter.

Would this be a sign of someone who can’t make major decisions because his brain hasn’t stored enough long-term memory?

Does he not have the schemas necessary to provide him with enough creativity to come up with the best solution?

Probably not, but it is a new way to start looking at the changing world around us.

None of this is meant to be a call for everyone to abandon the Internet and read James Joyce’s “Ulysses” this weekend.

But it should be a reminder that humanity and culture are not static, not even the physical makeup inside our heads.

Moving forward with new technologies, we should be aware there is a give and take involved, and we are giving away as much as we are taking.

While we distract ourselves with endless amounts of media, our ability to fully understand it is slipping.

And if you’re still with me and not halfway through the crossword by now, you’re either my mother or none of this applies to you.

To the latter, I’m envious, and to my mother, “Hi

Nick Pelster received a Facebook message and forgot to finish this column. Reach him at nickpelster@dailynebraskan.com.

This column first appeared in the Oct. 25 edition of The Daily Nebraskan, the daily publication serving the University of Nebraska.

The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

Beatles death conspiracy theory lives on

Whether you believe in them or not, people love to hear ghost stories. You probably had a pretty boring childhood if you didn’t spend at least one sleepover or camping trip trying to tell the best and creepiest horror story or most ridiculous urban legend.

Like we do with horror movies, most of us enjoy the scary thrills of a good story — we can experience the feelings of the situation without actually being part of it. Conspiracy theories are part of that fascination because while no one seems to actually believe in them, they’re still fun to talk about, and we’re willing to let them creep us out sometimes.

Take for instance the theory that Paul McCartney has been dead for more than 40 years and was replaced by a lookalike. Although one website claims that there are 376 documented clues that Paul died in an accident in late 1966, it seems as if many of these were pulled out of nowhere just to keep the theory, and the fun, alive. The majority of the clues appear to be taken from song lyrics, reverse playing of the songs themselves, and album covers and pictures; not many are supported by official documentation. For example, sup-

posedly if you play the beginning of “Revolution 9″ backwards, you’ll hear “turn me on, dead man” and at the end of “Strawberry Fields Forever,” someone says “I buried Paul.” Certain lyrics also point to Paul’s death, including in “Come Together” (“one and one and one make three”) and in “She’s Leaving” it states “Wednesday morning at 5 o’clock as the day begins” which is the proposed day and time of Paul’s death. On many album cover and pictures, Paul is distinguished from the rest of the group: on “Abbey Road,” he’s out of step from the others and barefoot (a tradition for burying corpses).

The Sgt. Pepper cover has a “grave” of a guitar, an open palm is shown above Paul’s head (another indication of death), and if you place a mirror in the middle of the drum, an arrow points to Paul next to the words “He Die.”

While I don’t believe that Paul McCartney is actually dead, there are admittedly a suspicious number of clues. If there is a real conspiracy at all, it’s more likely that The Beatles planted some “evidence” to drive people insane and generate more interest in the band. The Beatles were a fun-loving bunch, so it’s not impossible to believe they decided to play a prank on their fans. Still, all four

Beatles denied planting false evidence, so the most likely conclusion is that people like to look for patterns and signs. If they concoct a theory, they’ll find ways to make the facts fit and not the other way around.

The most fascinating part about conspiracy theories is not the surrounding speculation and rumor mill, but the people taking them so seriously. The creator of Officially Pronounced Dead? — The Great Beatle Death Conspiracy, although he has list upon list of evidence, has several pages disproving the theory, which attests to its true nature — a fun story that probably isn’t true. One minor Internet celebrity, however, has taken it to extremes by posting videos on YouTube with images and audio relating to the dead Paul theory, writing songs that sound like Beatles songs when you play them backwards, and even planting suitcases at various locations around the world with supposed clues. Of course, no one knows his or her real identity, but the celebrity theorist has implied recently that he or she came upon explosive evidence that once belonged to a long-dead former assistant of McCartney, which may be revealed.

Perhaps this fan hasn’t gotten more attention because he or she is just another kook, a crazy person who can’t let go of

an idea that can’t be true (according to general opinion). But almost all of the greatest scientists in history were considered insane or ridiculous until their theories were proven correct years later. While it seems unlikely that Paul McCartney is dead, it’s possible that this believer has evidence of something just as monumental. Followers of the conspiracy believe that the former assistant’s suitcase may contain unreleased Beatles demos, a Beatles biography and proof that he had helped create the concept for “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” If turns out to be true, it could change history.

These sorts of theories can help us to not be passive observers of the world around us. By looking for hidden meanings behind our books, films, music, and whatever else, we’re able to interact with them in a deeper way. And then who knows? Maybe we’ll find and open doors that we never even dreamed of.

This column first appeared in the Oct. 18 edition of The Daily Nebraskan, the daily publication serving the University of Nebraska.

The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

Legends & the ‘Senior Bar’

Every current Domer has undoubtedly stepped into Legends of Notre Dame at least once. Whether you’ve attended the infamous “Hip Hop Night” at the Night Club, sat down for dinner with a visiting family member or listened to a student band play on the weekend, you’ve experienced the venue in one of its many forms. But Legends has expanded immensely throughout the years. Until 1982, there was just a house where Legends currently sits. With a sign emblazoned “ND AlumniSenior Club,” the house was affectionately nicknamed the “Senior Bar.”

This structure was torn down in the summer of ’82 and replaced with a building that has since been drastically modified into Legends. In the ‘80s and ‘90s, it was still a Senior Bar that was exclusively meant to entertain of-age seniors and alumni.

In the eras when the Senior Bar stood as a house and the aforementioned building, it was run completely by students. Customers were charged only to cover the cost of expenses, and students assumed the roles of managing, bartending, renovating and maintaining cleanliness. It was open Wednesday through Saturday nights, and offered drink specials to seniors. Often, the Bar sold passes to students and alumni at an affordable lump sum for repeated admission.

The Senior Bar closed after the 2002 football season for renovations. It reopened in fall of 2003 with a new moniker, Legends of Notre Dame, and a new role as restaurant, pub and nightclub, plus about 50 percent more square footage. The University now owns and operates the venue, and all profit goes towards “positive social programming for Notre Dame students,” according to the Legends website. Legends maintains the same role as the Senior Bar in regard to its purpose on game day — many alumni still gather for drinks and food at the venue on football Saturdays. But it has lost much of its exclusivity. According to “The Dome” of 1982, “for three years, underclassmen eagerly await[ed] admittance to the Senior-Alumni Club.” Now, Legends attracts a younger crowd, especially on weekends where it offers safe, on-campus activities at the Night Club. Additionally, Legends is open to the public, not just Notre Dame, Saint Mary’s and Holy Cross College students.

A group of alumni in 2007 sought to resurrect the Senior Bar, posting a Facebook page that expressed a need for investors. Citing the former K’s Grill on South Bend Avenue as a possible location, the project obviously has yet to come to fruition.

Though the idea of a student-run bar right on campus for seniors and alumni does sound fun, Legends of Notre Dame adds a lot to our campus. Host to a variety of musical acts and other events, it entertains several underclassmen safely each weekend. And if you’re 21, you can still enjoy one of their 24 draft beers at the Pub, but you just might not know everyone surrounding you, as would have been the case at the Senior Bar of old. Maybe the Facebook project “Re-Opening the Senior Bar” will reactivate and we can have the best of both worlds here in South Bend.

The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

Contact Marissa Frobes at mfrobes@nd.edu

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Scene

By ANKUR CHAWLA Scene Writer

Wes Craven, the writer of classic horror movies like “Scream,” “A Nightmare on Elm Street” and “The Hills Have

By SHANE STEINBERG Scene Writer

Eyes” once again proves his prowess in the genre with a fresh and original plot in “My Soul to Take.” The new film stands out from the regular slew of horror movies coming out in time for Halloween, such as “Saw 3-D” and “Paranormal

Joaquin Phoenix’s self-indulgent, at times head-scratching documentary, “I’m Still Here” is, as many suspected, one big lie. But that’s part of its fun and mystique, because the documentary, directed by Casey Affleck, plays it straight the whole time.

It’s a waste of time, really, for both the creator and the view. Despite Phoenix’s “character” so desperately wanting to be taken serious, there is nothing serious about a pot-smoking, hobo-looking nut trying to make sense of his life while beating up on his close friends and calling on prostitutes. If this were real, then it’d be sad really, as though a male Britney Spears documented his fall from grace, hygiene and decency.

At the core of the film is a man on a soul-searching mission who departed from

he vows to come back and complete his mission, inhabiting the soul of one of the seven kids.

Sixteen years later, the seven kids continue to practice a ritual in the woods to ward off the evil spirit of the “Ripper” when they, as expected, get split up and

unnecessary 3-D is aggravating and needlessly expensive. The extra $3.50 for a pair of glasses theaters expect returned is more than a little absurd. Additionally, there was not a recognizable face in this cast of fit-for-TV-sitcom teens, with the central character, Max Thieriot,

My Soul to Take

Directed by: Wes Craven Starring: Max Thieriot

Contact Ankur Chawla at achawla@nd.edu

spirit. Who knows how much of this is actually grounded in Phoenix’s true life, but in either case, the actor gives an outrageous, nearly believable performance.

After announcing his retirement from acting in 2008, Phoenix appears to give up all logic and personal hygiene in favor of becoming a drugged-up loony. He rebels against the overly controlling Hollywood system that took hold of him at a young age and brought him A-list celebrity status at a price. He instead takes his “talents” to South Beach, New York and Los Angeles as he pursues his dream of becoming a hip-hop star.

Phoenix’s journey is one of a dream waiting to fail. Because of his name and the novelty, he’s able to book several respectable rap gigs for his epic fails.

With Affleck, his brother-in-law, joining in for the ride, Phoenix chases this dream in ill-fated concerts, P. Diddy meetings (he actually tries to get P. Diddy to produce his record, which plays out hilariously) and emotional blow-

Aside from the emotional rampages and bipolar turnarounds that show Phoenix try-

obtrusive antics, the real intrigue comes in his interactions with those in the entertainment industry. P. Diddy reluctantly meets with him, actor Edward James Olmos imparts wisdom on Phoenix that appears to really touch him, and David Letterman awkwardly clashes with him during Phoenix’s infamous appearance in 2009.

The plotline goes that his goal is to “find himself.” It’s not so clear how his actions — abusing his assistant, blowing-up in Ben Stiller’s face when Stiller is trying to pitch him a role in “Greenberg,” and not taking care of himself to the point that he looks homeless — adds up to self-actualization. More importantly, the film being a hoax, it’s completely unclear what Phoenix’s actual intentions for the film were. Is this supposed to be a “screw you” to Hollywood? Is it supposed to be a critique of how society views and treats celebrities? Did he make “I’m Still Here” just for kicks?

For whatever reason,

I’m Still Here

Directed by: Casey Affleck Starring: Joaquin Phoenix

Phoenix, a gifted actor who has twice been nominated for an Oscar, felt the need to spend two years of his life making this film. He paraded around the country and crafted himself a new identity with a beer-belly, a pipedream of hip-hop stardom and a journey of selfdiscovery that is paved with idiocy.

It’s one big hoax though, and as a hoax it fails. So let’s hope for Hollywood’s sake that the gig is up and that he really is still here.

Contact Shane Steinberg at ssteinb2@nd.edu

Men’s water polo falls to Flames in semifinals

Irish equestrian competes at Northwestern show; Men’s

The Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s Equestrians competed at two shows over the weekend of Oct. 15 at Augustana College and Northwestern. The team claimed Reserve High Point Team finishes each day. Highlights of the Augustana show included Katie Walsh taking second in open flat and third in open fence and Amy Giordano placing second in intermediate fences. Catherine Mikkelsen and Mana Espahbodi took fourth and fifth, respectively, in novice fences, with Espahbodi also finishing sixth in intermediate flat. Whitney Preisser and Mikkelsen claimed first and fifth, respectively, in novice flat, while Laura Powell, second, and Katrina Steward, fourth, scored points in walktrot-canter, and Amy Giordano qualified for Regionals in intermediate fences. Wisconsin finished as high point team at Augustana.

At Northwestern, Walsh and Girodano took first and fourth in open fences, while Nicole Oberschmied and Sarah Lusher tied for third in novice fences. Walsh garnered a second first in open flat, with Giordano fifth. Preisser, Oberschmied and Christine Martine finished second, third and fourth in novice flat, and Patty Walsh, Powell and Steward rode third, fourth and fifth in walk-trot-canter. The Irish again finished behind the Badgers, although Walsh earned High Point Rider honors. The squad followed up those two performances with another strong showing this weekend at home. In open fences, Mia Genereux claimed first place with Giordano close behind in second on the first day of competition. In novice fences, Oberschmeid claimed second and Victoria Scheid took third. Scheid earned third place again in intermediate flat and Espahbodi placed fifth.

Natalie Stoeger and Sarah Dalton had very strong rides in novice flat, taking first and second for their class. The team had an especially good day in advanced walk-trotcanter, with Notre Dame or Saint Mary’s riders filling the top three in all classes. Stewart won first while both

Laura Tiche and Patty Wash earned second. Emma Rhoades and Catie Hrabrick split third place. In beginner walk-trotcanter Laura Powell took first and qualified for regional. Lisa Folkerth took second.

At the end of the day Notre Dame and Northwestern were tied for reserve and University of Wisconson-Madison was the high point team. On the second day of competition Genereux had another outstanding ride, taking first in open fences and a second in open flat. In novice fences, Sarah Lusher rode her way to fourth. Katie Pietrucha placed third in intermediate flat, while Whitney Preisser had a great ride in novice flat and earned first in her class. Patty Walsh and Natalie Valent took second and Hrabrick placed third in advanced walk-trotcanter. University of Wisconsin Madison was high point team the second day as well while Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s took third place overall.

Men’s Water Polo

The No. 3 Irish lived up to their ranking this weekend at the conference championships, but were unable to advance to the nationals.

Notre Dame with a 7-5 win over Loyola-Chicago. After the first quarter, the game looked as though Loyola would have the upper hand holding a 2-1 lead. At that point, though, Sebastian Testero and Dan Geisman powered the Irish into a 4-3 halftime lead.

In the third quarter, goalkeeper and sophomore captain Tate Kernell shut down Loyola’s offense and the Irish held on for the win.

In the semifinals, against top-seeded Illinois-Chicago, Notre Dame started strong, but wilted as the game wore on. The first half ended with the Irish trailing 5-3 in a close contest. However, the Flames rallied in the second half, quickly scoring a several times early in the third quarter. Notre Dame was unable to turn the momentum around, and dropped the contest 16-5.

The final game was a battle for third place in the conference against Ohio. The Bobcats made a very strong showing in the first quarter, taking a 4-1 lead at the first break.

In the second, Irish freshmen goalkeeper Geno Freeman held strong, shutting down the Ohio

offense. This allowed the Irish offense to score four unanswered goals and take a 5-4 lead.

The third quarter looked good for the Irish as junior captain Dan Geisman scored on a powerful skip shot and an upper bar to give the Irish a commanding three-goal lead. However, Ohio rallied and scored a goal with three seconds left to tie the game 7-7.

In overtime, Notre Dame senior captain Matt Fordonski scored two goals from hole set to secure a 9-8 Irish win.

Men’s Rowing

After the club trained at Notre Dame for the first half of fall break, the Irish traveled to Boston for the Head of the Charles. The regatta, the largest fall race in the world, featured a handful of former Olympic medalists, hundreds of international participants and most of the elite varsity and club programs in the United States.

The club 4+ boat raced first for the Irish early Saturday afternoon in an event featuring 56 boats. Coxed by Lauren Mach, with Cliff Roberts, David Link, Kurt Krautmann and Phil Brunner from stroke to bow, the crew placed 24th overall.

Later in the afternoon, the collegiate 4+ competed against some of the top crews in the country. Coxed by Rebecca Holmberg, with Charlie Janini, Mike Benvenuti, Mark Kettler and Brent Shawcross from stroke to bow, the Irish placed eighth out of the 41 boats in their event.

The highlight of the weekend for the Irish was the collegiate 8+ event early Sunday afternoon. Coxed by Chris Bennett, with Garrett Campbell, Tim Parks, Michael Maggart, Greg Flood, Zach Stackhouse, Graham Boechler, Sean Gibbons and Michael Wagner from stroke to bow, the crew placed fifth out of the 42 boats in their event, finishing second out of the club teams behind only the University of Virginia. The fifth-place finish was the highest ever for the Notre Dame collegiate 8+ in this event.

Many Notre Dame rowing alumni participated in the regatta as well, dotting the field in the singles and fours races. The most notable was probably Michael Lehmann, a 2010 graduate, who coxed the U. S. National Team 4+ to first

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place in the champ 4+ event.

Men’s Rugby Notre Dame held on late to earn a close win over Bowling Green this weekend, beating the Falcons 33-32.

The two teams have maintained a healthy rivalry within the Midwest, and the match served as a preview of how the teams would perform in the collegiate premier league this spring.

The match was extremely aggressive from the opening minutes. After 10 minutes of scoreless play, the Irish broke through the Bowling Green defensive line and scored underneath the posts.

However, the Falcons were able to take advantage of two costly Irish penalties within two minutes of the Irish score to tie the game at seven. Although Bowling would convert two penalty kicks in the first half, a converted try by Notre Dame senior Nick Severyn put the Irish up by one at halftime.

The second half started with 20 minutes of hard-fought scoreless play. But after a costly penalty by Bowling Green, the scoring floodgates opened up.

Andy O’Connor booted a high kick, which was recovered by Irish freshman Byron Henry, who juked out the final defender for the score. The next 20 minutes tested the depths of both teams, and with three minutes remaining, the Irish found themselves with a 33-32 lead. Despite the efforts of the Falcons to punch in a score before time expired, the Irish held them off to close out a hard-fought victory.

The Irish earned another victory in the B-side game, taking down the Falcons 12-0. Senior Chris White took control of the match, directing the stalwart Irish defense. The combination of White at flyhalf and Dan Palmer at center truly proved key to the win over Bowling Green.

Men’s Volleyball

Notre Dame opened preseason play this Saturday with a tournament at LoyolaChicago. Although the Irish did not have the entire roster available at the tournament, they opened the year well. In pool play, Notre Dame defeated NAIA opponent St. Ambrose 2-1 (27-25, 23-25, 15-13) in the opening match of the sea-

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I don’t get why parents are always complaining about how tough it is to raise kids. You joke around with them, you give them pizza, you give them candy, you let them live their lives. They’re adults for God’s sake.

-Michael Scott

son. The Irish, led by senior Mark Iandolo, used scrappy defense and powerful hitting to top the Fighting Bees.

Sophomore outside hitter Rob Bauer used his powerful hitting from every position on the court to lift the Irish in their second match to a late 21 (21-25, 25-22, 15-13) victory over Clarke. The Irish welcomed back the high-flying hitter Kevin Padden from his study abroad last year, and he contributed immediately at both outside and right side hitter.

Senior outside hitter Jason Healy also had several clutch plays and remained a consistently good passer. Junior right side hitter Tom Johnson also contributed with powerful hits and precise serving. In the last match of pool play, the Irish were defeated 2-0 (25-22, 25-22) by the adult league team, Ballsagna. The loss put the Irish in the Silver playoff bracket for the tournament, In the first knockout match against Clarke’s second team, the Irish fell 2-0 (25-23, 2516).

Several freshmen made their collegiate debuts at Loyola this weekend, including defensive specialist Brian Bucciarelli, setter Pat Laskowski and middle Scott Canna. All three freshmen contributed extensively throughout the day, and it provided much needed game experience as well as built more cohesive on court play for the team.

Junior middle Steve Walsh also played well on his birthday, and his clutch kills and timely blocks were key in the Irish victories.

Sophomore Middle Jim Waclawik also had a strong day. Patrick Condon, a sophomore outside hitter, was at the tournament, but could only provide sideline support after recently having his wisdom teeth removed. With former teammates and Notre Dame alumni Mike Nejedly, Alex Lewis and John Tibble in attendance, the Irish made a strong season debut.

Players unable to make the tournament Saturday were senior defensive specialist Pete Balestracci, sophomore setter Mark Dediana, freshman defensive specialist Liam Gallagher, freshman outside hitter Ronnie Seman and junior setter Josh Rehberg, who is currently studying abroad in Australia.

I’d keep playing. I don’t think the heavy stuff is coming down for quite a while.

-Caddyshack

Turn off the Xbox magic man. -Unknown

I’m a hermit crab -Dan

If I'm not back in five minutes...just wait longer -Ace Ventura

What Jefferson was saying was, Hey! You know, we left this England place 'cause it was bogus; so if we

-Fast Times at Ridgemont High

Ray, next time someone asks you if you’re a god, you say yes! -Ghostbusters

You’re killin’ me Smalls!

Iowa hopes to derail Spartans

Associated Press

EAST LANSING, Mich. —

For the second straight season, an unheralded Big Ten team is undefeated in late October, its fans dreaming of a conference championship— and maybe more.

Last year, that team was Iowa, and this time it’s Michigan State, so perhaps it’s fitting that the fifthranked Spartans will put their perfect record on the line against the 18th-ranked Hawkeyes in Iowa City this weekend.

“The next step is probably what we thought going into the season, one of our bigger challenges: going on the road to play at Iowa,” Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio said. “They win the right way. I think they win with execution.”

The Hawkeyes started 9-0 last season, making a valiant bid for an unexpected conference title before dropping a pair of November games and ending up in the Orange Bowl. Michigan State’s rise has been an even bigger surprise. The Spartans (8-0, 4-0 Big Ten) didn’t receive a

single vote in the preseason AP poll, but here they are, inching their way into the national title discussion.

After this weekend, Michigan State plays two of its last three games at home.

The Spartans are already alone in first place in the Big Ten, and since Ohio State isn’t on the schedule this season, Michigan State would certainly have the inside track to the league title with a win over Iowa (52, 2-1).

“We need to have fun with this, enjoy the ride a little bit.”

Mark Dantonio Michigan St. coach

“That’s no fluke. They’ve earned every one of them.”

Kirk Ferentz Iowa coach

“We need to have fun with this, enjoy the ride a little bit,” Dantonio said. “In saying that, you know, continue to be enthusiastic in our own way and continue to try and put the next block up. That’s how we’ve tried to do it.”

In between trick plays, Michigan State has worn down opponents with a relentless running game and a maturing quarterback. Kirk Cousins has thrown 14 touchdown passes and only four interceptions.

“It’s something you dream of doing around here—a Big Ten championship and going to a BCS bowl game,” Cousins said. “I think being 8-0 is special, but 9-0 is that much more special. It’s something that hasn’t been done around here a lot.”

Michigan State provided one of the season’s most memorable highlights last month, beating Notre Dame with a fake field goal in overtime. The Spartans also edged Northwestern last weekend after a successful fake punt in the fourth quarter.

The Spartans are seldom dazzling but always effective, which means they’re pretty similar to last year’s Iowa team, which eked out close wins over Northern Iowa, Arkansas State, Michigan and Michigan State before finally falling to Northwestern and Ohio State.

The Hawkeyes were 7-0 when they came to East Lansing a year ago, and they needed a 7-yard touchdown pass from Ricky Stanzi to Marvin McNutt as time expired to beat Michigan State 15-13.

“This was the game last year that a lot of people were picking us to lose,” Iowa offensive lineman Julian Vandervelde said. “Like, ‘Oh, there’s no way they’ll get past Michigan State.’ We pulled it out at the end.”

Now it’s Michigan State dealing with the skeptics. The Spartans have passed every test so far, and they’ve moved up the rankings accordingly, but there’s still a sense people are waiting for them to lose.

“They may be waiting for a while. That’s a good football team,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. “That’s no fluke. They’ve earned every one of them.”

Michigan State went 6-7 last season, including a handful of close losses like the one against Iowa. Dantonio, who missed a couple games after a mild heart attack last month, is convinced the Spartans are more prepared to handle tight games this season.

“When you start making plays at the end of a game to win a football game, you’re in a close game, you start developing confidence you’re going to win that game and you find a way,” he said. “I think there’s something to that.”

Notes: Dantonio wouldn’t comment on suspended DB Chris L. Rucker, who has been jailed for violating probation but is scheduled to be released Thursday after serving eight days. Rucker pleaded guilty to reckless driving. … Michigan State has not won at Iowa since 1989.

LeBron just can’t bring enough of the H e a t

B O S T O N L e B r o n J a m e s ’

Miami Heat looked an awful lot

l i k e L e B r o n J a m e s ’ C l e v e l a n d

Cavaliers

The Heat fizzled in the debut of their superstar threesome on Tuesday night, scoring just nine points in their first quarter of the

s e a s o n a n d f a l l i n g b e h i n d t h e Celtics by 15 points at halftime Then, James took over just like he was forced to so many times in Cleveland but his 21

s e c o n d - h a l f p o i n t s w e r e n ’ t enough to prevent Boston from winning 88-80

T h i s i s o n e o f 8 2 , s a i d

Dwyane Wade, the Heat’s incumbent star “I’m sorry if everybody thought we were going to go 820 It just ain’t happening ”

The Celtics knocked the Heat out of the playoffs last season, and one round later eliminated James and the Cavaliers for the second time in three years Thus

b e g a n o n e o f t h e m o s t t u m u ltuous summers in NBA history, culminating in James decision to leave Cleveland and join Chris Bosh and Wade in Miami

But even with their three-star lineup, the Heat were unable to w i n t h e i r m u c h - a n t i c i p a t e d d e b u t a g a i n s t t h e d e f e n d i n g Eastern Conference champions

More disturbing: They couldn’t

d o m u c h o f a n y t h i n g u n t i l

J a m e s w h o w a s s u p p o s e d t o have more help in Miami than he did in Cleveland, simply took over the game

James scored 15 points in the t h i r d q u a r t e r m a k i n g 2 o f 3 from 3-point range as an outside threat and 5 of 6 from the line after picking up fouls on drives to the basket. He took seven of the team’s 13 shots in the quar-

t e r, a n d M i a m i c u t a 1 9 - p o i n t deficit to 63-57

“We knew we wouldn’t necessarily hit on all cylinders right

a w a y, ” H e a t c o a c h E r i k

S p o e l s t r a s a i d “ W h e n w e g o t close and started grinding that w a s m o r e o f h i s c o m p e t i t i v e nature the second half

B u t J a m e s m i s s e d t h r e e 3point tries in the fourth as the H e a t f a i l e d t o c l a w t h e i r w a y

b a c k a n d t h e s o l d - o u t T D Garden crowd began serenading t h e a l l e g e d s u p e r t e a m w i t h chants of Overrated! Wade finished with 13 points on 4-for-16

s h o o t i n g , a n d B o s h h a d e i g h t points making 3-of-11 shots

“It’s going to take time, and we understand that, James said I

t h i n k r i g h t n o w i t ’ s a f e e l - o u t p r o c e s s I t a l m o s t f e l t l i k e w e were being too unselfish, trying to get each other into the game ” In what might have been the most anticipated regular-season

g a m e i n N B A h i s t o r y, M i a m i s c o r e d j u s t n

l e s s - t a l e n t e d r o s t e r s c o r e d i n any quarter last season; same with James and the Cavaliers, for that matter True, it’s only one game

But it’s an early reminder that p a p e r t a l e n t d o e s n ’ t a l w a y s translate into a winning team especially when superstars and t

Boston from the start winning their first eight games in 2007-

0 8 a n d 2 9 o f t h e i r f i r s t 3 2 e n

r o u t e t o t h e

easy The first half was an indication of that,” Spoelstra said It s not a reason to panic right now I already imagine we’ll be much better tomorrow ”

Celtics coach Doc Rivers fears that Spoelstra is right

They re going to be great, he s a i d “ T h e y ’ l l b e m u c h b e t t e r Hopefully, we will, too ” The sold-out crowd a single ticket in the luxury suites was

before the game booed James virtually every time he touched the ball and delighted in Miami’s early struggles

But that was no different from when he with the Cavaliers I actually felt like I was in the playoffs It had the same feeling, that same energy,” said Celtics guard Ray Allen who scored 20 points “That’s how it was com-

ing into the building today ” And James left it feeling the same way R

ended James avoided questions about the controversial summer in which he became the NBA s biggest villain except to say, “It was pretty long ” “I’m at a point where I’m looki n g f o

games ” he said before the tipoff

Maxwell focuses on legacy

By MICHAEL TODISCO Sports Writer

Senior standout Samantha Maxwell’s accolades over the past three years speak for themselves, and it looks like she’ll be adding to her résumé once more this season.

Maxwell earned an invitation to the NCAA championships in each of her first three seasons on the Irish squad and was named an All-American her past two years. In her sophomore year, she was named the team’s MVP and the Big East’s Most Outstanding Swimmer.

Although her list of honors is impressive, Maxwell measures success by more than individual accomplishments. While she still aims to represent Notre Dame at the NCAA championships this year, having her teammates join her there would make the achievement that much sweeter.

“Since my freshman year it has always been Amywren Miller and I, and we would love nothing more than to walk on deck at the NCAA championships with a team beside us,” Maxwell said.

Besides leaving her own legacy at Notre Dame, Maxwell hopes to leave the Irish squad with more than just personal awards.

“Since it’s my senior year I want to be able to leave our swimming program with people who are going to outshine my own accomplishments.”

Not only does Maxwell root on her teammates but she also views them as a key reason for her own success. The tight-knit team dynamic of the Irish team has enabled her to persevere through long workouts and stressful situations throughout her college career.

“We all have our days where practice isn’t at the top of our list of enjoyable activities, but having coaches and teammates that are there to push me and who want the best for me helps me a ton,” she said. “Nothing makes a practice go by faster than being able to laugh and joke around with teammates.”

Outside of her teammates, Maxwell views her family as a main source of support and encouragement. She credits the values her parents instilled in her for much of her success.

“I wouldn’t be where I am today without my family,” she said. “Growing up, they taught me what it means to have a true work ethic and it has only served me well so far in life. We have a running joke in our house that my dad and I are both ‘too stupid to quit.’”

Maxwell’s superb work ethic is manifest in the goals that she sets forth for herself and for the team. She said she wants to win a 15th consecutive Big East title and she would like to lead the team into national prominence.

“Although the thought of winning another championship is always present, I think our team is really trying to set its sights on the NCAA championships and moving our program to the national scene,” she said. “By doing this, winning another Big East title will only be a stepping stone to greater accomplishments.”

Maxwell and the Irish are well on their way to another victorious season. Notre Dame opened the season with a win at the Dennis Stark Relays before traveling south for strong showings against perennial powers LSU and Auburn, despite falling in both meets. Maxwell was one of two Notre Dame swimmers to post a win in the three-team meet. She believes that the meet against the two SEC opponents set the stage for team and for her personal success later in the season.

“We went into the meet against Auburn and LSU as the underdogs,” Maxwell said. “It was really just a chance for us to practice racing quality opponents while at the same time seeing what progress has been made since the our last meet. Although it was a loss on the scorecard, we gained a lot of valuable knowledge moving forward.”

Maxwell and the Irish will next hit the water when they travel to Michigan State on Oct. 29.

Contact Michael Todisco at mtodisco@nd.edu

MLB Playoffs may add more wild cards

SAN FRANCISCO — Baseball’s playoffs could be expanding in two years.

The new head of the players’ union says his members are open to adding more wild-card teams for 2012 and possibly extending the division series to a best-of-seven.

Union head Michael Weiner says it’s also possible players would agree to cutting the regular season from 162 games, but that’s more problematic because it would cost teams revenue.

“There is sentiment among a substantial segment of the players to consider expanding the playoffs,” Weiner said Monday in an interview with The Associated Press ahead of his first World Series since replacing Donald Fehr as union head.

Eight of 30 baseball teams make the playoffs under the format that began in 1995, a year later than intended because of a strike that wiped out the postseason in ’94.

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig appears to be increasingly in favor of proposing more playoff teams during collective bargaining with the union next year, which will determine the postseason format for 2012 and beyond.

“We have less teams than any other sport,” he said last month. “We certainly haven’t abused anything.”

In the NFL, 12 of 32 teams make the playoffs. In the NBA and NHL, 16 of 30 teams advance to the postseason.

The first round series have been best-of-five since they began. It’s possible they could

follow the path of the league championship series, which began as best-of-five in 1969, then expanded to best-of-seven in 1985.

“There are some players who have expressed an interest in that, as well,” Weiner said. “Obviously, you’ve got to look at everything together. But I think we can have a very healthy discussion with the commissioner’s office when bargaining begins about these issues.”

Weiner said the union likely would generate a consensus on its playoff stance during its annual executive board meeting in December. Bargaining is likely to start in the first half of the year on the labor contract to replace the one expiring on Dec. 11, 2011.

Only minor tinkering with the playoffs is possible for next October.

“We’ve been talking about a revised schedule in 2011 that would be a compressed schedule for postseason play,” he said. “The structure for playoffs in 2011 will be the same as it’s been throughout this contract.”

The regular season expanded from 154 games to 162 in the American League in 1961 and the National League a year later, when each of those circuits went from eight to 10 teams.

“Certainly some of the players have said either we should shorten the regular season because the regular season’s too long, or we should shorten the regular season to accommodate expanded postseason,”

Weiner said, adding that would have “revenue implications for the industry.”

“That is one of the ideas that

Rematch next test with MIAA tourney ahead

By ANDREW OWENS Sports Writer

The Belles travel to conference rival Adrian tonight in search of their third MIAA victory as next week’s conference tournament quickly approaches.

they are kicking around. But having said that, we understand that a proposal to reduce the length of the regular season will be viewed one way by the owners as opposed to a proposal to expand or modify the structure of the postseason.”

Not all players are in favor of a longer postseason.

“Personally, I like the system the way it is,” San Francisco Giants outfielder Aaron Rowand said as he prepared for Wednesday night’s World Series opener against the Texas Rangers. “I think just the one wild card team from each league. If you’re in a division where you’ve got a team running away with it, it gives all those other teams hope of something to play for throughout the course of the season.”

Through 1968, there were no divisions and the team with the best regular-season record in each league advanced to the World Series.

Giants reliever Jeremy Affeldt is concerned that adding wildcard teams or increasing the length of the division series would make a long season even longer.

“If they’re going to do that, they need to shorten the season then. That’s a lot of games and that’s a long time. Even in the playoffs now we’re going potentially to Nov. 5,” he said. “Sometimes they think we’re just robots, but you’ve got to think of potential injuries. On pitchers, that’s a lot of throwing. Position players, some play every game all year. It just takes a toll on the body. If they’re going to do that, they’ve got to think a lot about the ramifications.”

Saint Mary’s (4-18, 2-11 MIAA) dropped a 3-1 (22-25, 25-17, 26-24, 25-19) decision to Adrian (9-15, 3-10 MIAA) on Sept. 25, but Belles coach Toni Kuschel said she was optimistic that Saint Mary’s can win the match this time around.

ence tournament.

“We are taking it one match at a time,” she said. “We have three big matches this week, which means we have three opportunities to get better. Our goal all season has been to get better every time we step out on the floor as a team. I really believe we have had a lot of success with that.”

Kuschel added that the underclassmen on the squad would be very important during the next week and as the program moves forward.

“Our team has improved in a lot of ways since the beginning of the season.”

“We need to play our best and have some fun out on the court together,” Kuschel said. “We need to come out with a lot of energy and enthusiasm.”

Toni Kuschel Belles coach

In their last match against Adrian, the Belles jumped ahead early with a win in the first set. The Bulldogs evened the match at one win apiece in the second and never looked back, taking the remaining two sets. This time around, the teams meet in a crucial match that falls only one week before the MIAA tournament. The Belles currently find themselves in eighth place, but a win would tie them with Adrian and put them only one game behind Trine. Kuschel emphasized how important it is that the Belles continue to get better and prepare for the confer-

“We have had a lot of freshman step up and play big roles on this year’s team and do a good job,” she said.

“Our team has improved in a lot of ways since the beginning of the season. We feel that our freshman have really had some great accomplishments.”

One area where the rookie players have excelled this season is in their ability to easily step up to the level of play on the collegiate level.

“We need to play our best and have some fun out on the court together.”

Toni Kuschel Belles coach

“They have had to adapt very quickly to the college game,” Kuschel said. “A lot of players on the team have had to adapt to new roles that they have never had to play before, and it is just making us that much stronger for our future.”

The Belles take on Adrian tonight at 7 p.m. in Adrian, Mich.

Contact Andrew Owens at aowens2@nd.edu

longest,” Lavin said. “The things that I had to do to get here gained a lot of their trust. It wasn’t the easiest thing to do transferring schools — there was a lot of work to do. I needed to catch up on all my work and catch up credit-wise. So just because I made the commitment to do that I think it earned a lot of trust with the guys.”

The long journey that ended with Lavin suiting up as captain in his first full year with the Irish (4-1-0) began at Providence College, where Lavin recorded eight assists in his freshman campaign before leaving the Friars twelve games into his sophomore season. Lavin played out the rest of the year with the Omaha Lancers of the USHL.

“At Providence, it was an up-and-coming team, but things didn’t get rolling as soon as people thought,” Lavin said.

Eventually, Lavin set his sights on South Bend and envisioned himself playing for the Irish — more specifically, playing for coach Jeff Jackson.

“It’s a lot different. There’s a lot of history here, you know. Coach Jackson is one of those coaches that has a lot of respect around the country, and even throughout Canada. The teams that have been through here in the past have been really good, so there are a lot of expectations,” Lavin said. “It was up to me to decide what I wanted to do, and this was a place that I

wanted to come to, just because of coach Jackson’s history and the successful teams over the years.”

The respect that Lavin expressed for Jackson has served the senior well in his stint as captain, a stint that has begun with the young Irish squad reeling off four wins in their first five games and losing only a late 5-4 decision to No. 6 Boston University. Lavin also said that, in his role as captain, he strives to be a liaison between the team and Jackson.

“I have a great relationship with coach Jackson. He’s very open with me and I’m very open with him. He tells me what he wants done, and I tell him, you know, what the guys want,” Lavin said. “If there’s a message to be relayed to the team, and it would be more effective through me, that’s what my job is. I do feel I have a responsibility keeping the team motivated and at their best.”

Lavin’s biggest challenge has been leading a team that lines up with a staggering amount of youth throughout the roster. Notre Dame has 12 freshmen on the roster with only four seniors.

“I think that a lot of the 12 players that came in were the best players on their teams beforehand. So I think that they were leaders, and once you’re a leader, you’re always a leader. You always have those leadership skills,” Lavin said. “Then you have the three other seniors who are great, and the other upperclassmen, so it’s not really as tough as people think.”

Contact Chris Allen at callen10@nd.edu

ND WOMEN’S TENNIS

Frilling takes tournament

By MEGAN FINNERAN Sports Writer

The ITA Midwest Regional match in Ann Arbor, Mich., brought some initial struggles for the Irish, but junior Kristy Frilling fought through all the obstacles to win the singles title, advancing farther than any other Irish female tennis player since 2006.

Coming out with anything less than a victory wasn’t an option for Frilling.

“I definitely came into this tournament wanting to win, and I’m happy with the result,” she said.

Frilling, the No. 1 seed, concluded the week’s events Tuesday, when she beat the No. 2 seed, Michigan senior Denise Muresan. Frilling started with an early lead, taking the first set 6-2. She began the second set leading 5-2, but Muresan came back to take a 6-5 lead. Frilling fought back, though, to tie set at 6-6.

“It was tough because I was up in the second [set] and let her come back and almost win the set. I had to really dig and play aggressively because I knew if we went to a third set it would’ve been a long, grueling match,” Frilling said.

Her perseverance paid off as Frilling took the tiebreaker 7-2, winning not only the match but also the title. The final match was the only one that went to a tiebreaker of the five she played throughout the tournament.

“I think I got some good matches at All-Americans, and I have been really focusing in practice on taking more shots, being more consistent and just being mentally prepared for match play,” Frilling said of her preparations leading up to this tournament.

The doubles pair of Frilling and junior Shannon Mathews fell 8-6 in the quarterfinals to Ohio State’s Kelsey Haviland and Gabby Steele after triumphing over Ohio State’s Paloma Escobedo and Cami Hubbs the previous day. Irish senior Kristen Rafael and freshman partner Britney Sanders also fell in the quarterfinal round, losing 8-6 to Northwestern’s Linda Abu Mushrefova and Nida Hamilton. They had previously beaten Northwestern’s pair of Kate Turvy and Belinda Niu in the round of 16.

In the singles division, sophomore Chrissie McGaffigan, Mathews and Rafael were all knocked out in the quarterfinals.

After three sets, McGaffigan fell to Michigan’s Mimi Nguyen, while Mathews lost to Northwestern’s

Brittany Wowchuk and Rafael was knocked out by Muresan, Frilling’s final opponent.

While Frilling was the only Notre Dame player to advance past the quarterfinals, the team has big hopes for the future.

“I like it so much better when we are all together and playing together,” Frilling said. “It was so weird without them, and it just made me more excited for the spring season where we will all be working together towards the same goals — Big East and NCAA Championships.”

Frilling’s win secures her a spot in the singles competition at the National Individual Indoor Championships in Flushing, N.Y., which begins on Nov. 4.

continued from page 20

a little margin won’t help you much. In golf, unlike in football, running up the score is a good thing. We want to run it up.”

Kubinski got both of his wishes — a solid third round and an increased gap between his squad and the Gaels — as the Irish fired a 3-over-par 291 to conclude the tournament.

Junior Tom Usher led the Irish, as a 4under-par 212 earned him sole medalist honors for the first time in his career.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever been more proud of a player,” Kubinski said of last year’s Big East co-medalist. “His first round 68 was bogey-free, which is super. He even missed a few short putts. He really almost could have been in the 20s on the front nine.”

in the second round. He fought back with an eagle-birdie-birdie and scored for us which was huge.”

The team’s first-place finish at the Bayonet and Blackhorse Golf Club marked the first time in program history that the Irish have started the season with five straight finishes in the top two.

Kubinski said his team has enjoyed the success and expects their efforts to be recognized nationally.

“It’s been really cool for the guys,” he said. “I expect when the newest rankings come out we’ll be in the top 25.”

“I don’t know if I’ve ever been more proud of a player.”

Jim Kubinski Irish coach

Part of the impressive string of tournament finishes for the Irish was their runner-up finish at the Lone Star Invitational in San Antonio last week. Kubinski left Texas impressed with his team’s play down the stretch.

On the opposite end of the Irish scorecard was freshman Niall Platt. The first-year golfer has been one of the top performers for Notre Dame this season, but finished in a tie for 57th with a 15-over-par 231. Kubinski downplayed Platt’s struggles, chalking it up to fatigue as the freshman navigates his first semester in college.

“Trying to get through exams and then fall break, he’s not used to it,” he said. “He just got tired, that’s all it really was. I was really proud of how he did

“The guys did a great job in Texas, playing extremely well down the stretch,” he said. “We honestly had a chance to win that tournament with a better first round performance. I think Chris Walker played well, his personal best score. It gave us some good momentum going into fall break and carrying over into the play in California.”

The Irish now enter into their off-season, returning to action in Florida on Feb. 10 at The Match Play.

Clark

continued from page 20

tion.

Though the Panthers are not one of the contenders for the Big East title this season, a victory in South Bend could help them qualify for the conference tournament as they are on bubble for one of the remaining available positions.

“Of the three teams that can win the league at the moment, it’s us, Connecticut and Georgetown,” Clark said.

“They’ll be playing to get into the tournament. It’s a big game for them also — they’re looking to win this game.”

The Irish will play the Pittsburgh Panthers at 7 p.m. today at Notre Dame’s Alumni Stadium with important conference positioning on the line.

“[Winning the Big East is] one of our major goals,” Clark said. “If we’re going to be successful we’re going to have to take care of business [today].”

Contact Molly Sammon at msammon@nd.edu

Williams

continued from page 20

Saturday’s game, and he added six more to that total before suffering the injury in the third quarter.

“I think somebody just got rolled up into me,” Williams said. “Just like a freak accident, things like that happen sometimes.”

Kelly said Navy doubleteamed Williams throughout the game, so it would be hard to determine where the block that injured him came from.

“It’s hard to look at any particular block and say, well, that was high or low,” he said. “I didn’t feel that way. Our coaches didn’t feel that way, and he was in there battling a couple of guys virtually every play.”

Williams has not watched the play in which he was injured either, and does not plan to.

“It’s kind of painful, but I didn’t want to start secondguessing what if I’d have done this or that,” Williams said. “So I chose not to watch it again.”

The MCL sprain, Williams’ first football injury in his career, will not require surgery, and Williams insisted his season is not over, even if Notre Dame will only have one game left four weeks from now.

“I’ll be alright though, I’ll be back soon,” he said, citing a return date of “as soon as possible.”

In the meantime, junior Sean Cwynar will start in Williams’ place, after spelling Williams for spurts of plays throughout he first eight games of the season.

“Sean’s been a consistent performer in there when Ian came out of the game, so we feel good about Sean step-

ping in for that position,” Kelly said. “The next player for us is [junior] Hafis [Williams], and Sean can’t play the whole game. He doesn’t have the work volume to do that yet. So Hafis and Sean, together, can get that done.”

Ian Williams said his two back-ups look as if they will be able to fill his void without

Belles

continued from page 20

been honing in on their weak spots.

“Finishing is our biggest challenge, so we’ve been working on that,” Joyce said. “We attacked the goal against Adrian every which way, but we’re missing that final touch.”

With the season coming to a close, Joyce said he hopes to end it on a positive with a win to inspire work in the off-season. He will also be looking to some of Saint Mary’s younger players to lead the young team, which has one senior this season in Corissa

much of a problem, after watching them in practice Tuesday.

“Watching them today out here, they looked pretty good,” he said. “Came off the ball pretty hard, they knew what they were doing, so I think they’ll be fine.”

Contact Douglas Farmer at dfarmer1@nd.edu

Hart.

“I’m looking to our juniors to really step up against Trine and to start assuming the responsibility of the team moving forward,” Joyce said.

The Belles have also found leaders in freshman Valencia and sophomore Morfin, who Joyce feels have set new standards for the rest of the teammates.

“I think their play is inspiring for the team and sets a level of work and excellence for the rest of the team,” Joyce said.

The Belles take on Trine College this afternoon in Angola, Ind., with a 4 p.m. start.

Contact Maija Gustin at mgustin@nd.edu

MEN’S INTERHALL

Dillon, Sorin earn playoff confidence with wins

By SAM GANS, MEGAN GOLDEN, JOSEPH MONARDO, ADAM LLORENS, VICTORIA

JACOBSEN and MATTHEW DEFRANKS Sports

Writers

Knott 8, Alumni 0

Knott raced off to a quick start early and held on late to upset previously unbeaten Alumni in a heated contest Oct. 14 for their first win of the season.

After Knott (1-3) stopped Alumni (3-1) on the opening drive, the Juggerknotts proceeded to take their first drive 76 yards for a touchdown behind the passing of sophomore quarterback Dylan Walter. Walter went 4-for-6 for 64 yards on the drive, including a 23-yard swing pass to senior running back Cam Smith to convert a key third-and21. Walter finished the drive with a one-yard sneak.

Knott had attempted to move the ball through the air the whole season, but never achieved great success until it faced the Dawgs defense.

“We’ve been passing the ball all year, but today it just really came together,” Walter said. “I felt more comfortable. The line was giving me a lot of time.”

interhall playoffs by finishing its regular season with a dominant victory over Keough Oct 14.

Dillon (4-0) freshman defensive back Patrick Touhy shut the Kangaroos down early with an interception on the first play of Keough’s (0-4) opening drive.

“I saw the ball and it got to me,” Touhy said. “The defense played great. They’re working really hard and doing a great job.”

The first half was predominantly a defensive matchup between the Big Red and the Kangaroos. Big Red senior defensive end Jack Winnike picked up a safety to close the half, giving Dillon a 9-0 lead over Keough.

In the second half, the Big Red’s passing game took center stage, connecting on several long balls and touchdown passes. Sophomore wide receiver Will Salvi had one of three Dillon touchdown receptions.

“I just went deep and got open,” Salvi said. “We have a great connection, me and [freshman quarterback] Kevin [Fink]. We dominate — we stay after practice and work hard.”

“I think we’re definitely the favorite in the playoffs, but we can’t let that get to our heads.”

After Knott sophomore Jake Coleman ran in a fake extra point for a two-point conversion, Alumni drove into Juggerknott territory, but was stopped on third-and-7 when Knott junior captain Dan Shaffer laid a crushing hit to break up a screen and helped to continue the momentum.

Will Salvi Dillon sophomore receiver

The Big Red is looking forward to competing as the top seed in the playoffs, as the Thursday win over Keough established them as the team to beat on the way to the championship game at Notre Dame Stadium.

“I think we’re definitely the favorite in the playoffs, but we can’t let that get to our heads,”

Salvi said. “People are going to start saying that we’re No. 1, and we can’t start thinking that because we need to play every team.”

“We came in intense and everybody kept it going,” Shaffer said. “Everybody got big hits, not just me, but that helped, too.”

Knott nearly lost the lead late in the game, with Alumni deep in Juggerknott territory. But when Alumni junior running back and captain Dan Dansdill fumbled the ball at the 10-yard line, Knott recovered the ball to seal the victory.

Though Alumni’s option offense, led by Dansdill and freshman quarterback Will Cronin, gained 45 more yards than Knott, but Alumni’s slow start and inability to finish drives led to its first loss.

“We came out flat,” Dansdill said. “They wanted it more than us. They pushed us around.”

Alumni, which had already clinched a playoff berth, was hoping to build momentum for the postseason. Instead, it left Thursday trying to pick up the pieces.

“The main thing is to regain our focus,” Dansdill said. “We need to all get on the same page and start working as a team.”

Though Knott was eliminated from postseason contention, the victory wasn’t any less sweet.

“It’s amazing,” Shaffer said. “It feels great, and it’s really good for next year.”

While Knott’s season is over, Alumni hopes to rebound as the No. 3 seed in an upcoming playoff game against Carroll.

Despite O’Neill’s inability to lock down Naylor and what Schwartz referred to as “boneheaded plays” — including untimely penalties and zone breakdowns on defense — the Angry Mob was able to hang around until the very end.

Trying to mount a comeback in the fourth quarter, O’Neill junior quarterback J.P. McCabe led his team to inside the Stanford 5yard line, but the Angry Mob was stopped on four consecutive plays. The goal-line stand, along with junior defensive back Dan Mulligan’s interception in the first half, highlighted the impressive performance of the Stanford defense.

“Our plan was, on defense, to be more aggressive,” Rizzo said. “Last game I think we played really soft and gave up a lot of yards.”

The importance of defense was not lost on Rizzo.

“When you don’t give up any points,” Rizzo said, “It’s hard to lose.”

The Angry Mob barely missed out on a playoff spot, falling just short in point differential. Stanford will face Siegfried as the No. 4 overall seed in the first round of this year’s playoffs.

Siegfried 12, Morrissey 7

It wasn’t pretty, but Siegfried got the result they were looking for, defeating Morrissey on Oct. 14 before heading home for Fall Break.

The Manor (2-2) dominated the first half, controlling the tempo on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. In fact, on their first drive of the game, Morrissey freshman quarterback Nick Conrad connected with one of his wide receivers to put the favored Ramblers (3-1) down 7-0 early.

Winnike, who was disruptive in the Keough backfield all game, said the undefeated team has great chemistry.

“It was a really great season. In my four years this was the best team I’ve been a part of,” he said. “This is a great group of guys to be a part of. There’s great chemistry, a killer quarterback and a great coach.”

Dillon will take on their South Quad neighbors, Fisher, in the first round of the playoffs.

Stanford 14, O’Neill 0

Powered by aggressive defense and an effective passing game, Stanford closed out its regular season with a crucial victory over O’Neill Oct. 14. The win sent Stanford into the playoffs on a high note, while the loss marked the end of another season for O’Neill.

Both the Griffins (3-1) and the Angry Mob (2-2) entered the game with their playoff hopes in the balance. Coming off a loss, Stanford was eager to provide a decisive victory against O’Neill. While the Griffins’ running game struggled to establish itself early, senior quarterback Tony Rizzo was able to hook up with junior wide receiver Griffin Naylor for the first score of the game. Naylor hauled in a number of passes on the day, including a long catch on a key fourth down to set up Stanford’s second touchdown before halftime.

“We knew [Naylor] was the guy we would have to worry about coming in,” O’Neill junior coach Guy Schwartz said. “He still did a great job making plays.”

Dame Stadium.

“In the second half, we played together as a team,” Whitmore said. “If we could play like this every game, we will be a dangerous team in the weeks to come.”

Quarterback Matt Meinert agreed with his running back.

“When we are playing like this, we are a force to be reckoned with,” Meinert said.

A coach-less and young Manor squad kept it close against a Siegfried squad which, besides having multiple seniors and three coaches, had a WNDU cameraman and reporter on their sideline.

Despite the potential distraction, Siegfried is back in the playoffs seeking yet another title. Their quest begins against Stanford next Sunday.

Zahm 14, St. Ed’s 7 Zahm closed out its season with a thrilling victory over St. Edward’s Oct. 14.

Though the Zahmbies (1-3) have suffered from a lack of scoring in recent years, the offense came alive late in the first half, sparked by a catch in the end zone for the first Zahm touchdown in three years.

The Zahmbies opened the second half with another touchdown scoring drive. Although the Gentlemen (1-3) threatened late in the game with a touchdown from of sophomore wide receiver Zach Siefring, the rally proved unsuccessful, with the game ending on a desperate but futile series of lateral passes.

A number of factors contributed to Zahm’s first win of the season.

“Heart. We came out with a lot of heart,” Zahm senior Dylan Fernandez said.

The momentum shifted back to Siegfried quickly after halftime, though, as Siegfried senior linebacker Dan Scime intercepted an errant Conrad pass inside Manor territory.

“Their quarterback made a good read, but I made a better one,” Scime said. “That was a play worthy of beast house.”

Shortly after, Siegfried sophomore running back David Whitmore scored on a 15yard option pitch.

“[Senior quarterback Matt] Meinart made a great pitch to me and I saw a hole and took it in,” Whitmore said.

Despite the absence of senior captain Mark Pomerenke, the Zahmbies did have sustenance in the form of a pre-game pizza party, in keeping with their team motto of “Eat pizza, win games, eat more pizza.”

The Zahm defensive line also contributed to the winning effort.

The unit is nicknamed the “SWAT Team,” and includes sophomore Tom Mealey and sophomore Brian Salat. The Zahmbie line knocked several pass attempts out of the air, shutting down the St. Edward’s passing attack.

”When we are playing like this, we are a force to be reckoned with.”

Matt Meinert Siegfried senior quarterback

Although the extra point was mishandled, Siegfried junior cornerback Sam Fenker intercepted another Conrad pass on the ensuing Manor drive.

Shortly after the pick, Meinert pulled off a 51-yard touchdown run to seal the game for the Ramblers.

“My touchdown run was the same play that we ran for Whitmore earlier,” Meinert said. “This time, the defense all thought the pitch was coming, making it easy for my to burst away from the pack.”

Now the Ramblers are in a place they feel the most comfortable — the playoffs. As the defending champion, Whitmore said Siegfried has its sights set on nothing less than a trip to the championship game in Notre

with the performance of junior defensive lineman Neil Mathieson, who had three sacks in his first game. Both teams will have to turn in their pads as neither will be advancing to the playoffs.

Sorin 20, Carroll 2

In a potential offensive fireworks show between Sorin and Carroll, one team lit up the sky while the other used a wet fuse.

Sorin (3-1), behind its strong running game and stout defense, cruised to a victory over the previously undefeated Vermin on Oct. 14 at LaBar Fields.

The Otters employed a balanced attack to rack up 203 yards of total offense — 105 of those coming on the ground. Senior captain and running back Michael Browder sliced the Vermin defense for 82 yards on 15 carries.

“Our offensive line played really well. We just went double tight [end] the whole game basically and we were able to run it down their throats,” Browder said. “[The] offensive line just opened up a bunch of holes, made it easy for me and [junior fullback Matthew] Pepe.”

Pepe himself ran the ball for 75 yards on nine carries, including a 15-yard touchdown run out of the Wildcat formation and a key 30-yard third-down late in the second quarter.

Pepe’s run was just the beginning of an interesting series that put Sorin up two scores. On the next play, Sorin sophomore quarterback Ted Spinelli had a touchdown pass negated by a penalty. Two plays later, Carroll freshman defensive lineman Connor Miller sacked Spinelli, bringing up a third-and-15. After an incomplete pass, Spinelli connected with junior wide receiver Bobby Sullivan for 25 yards on fourth down, and the Otters were able to punch the ball into the end zone.

On its first two drives combined, Sorin ran 26 plays from scrimmage for 160 total yards. Coming out of halftime, the tide appeared to be turning. Sparked by a 23-yard punt return by freshman wide receiver Bobby Dorman to the Sorin 36-yard line, Carroll’s offense drove inside the Otters’ 1-yard line before being turned away on four straight plays.

Although the Zahmbies were pleased with their victorious effort, they did admit that they could have been more prepared for the game.

“We could have practiced more this past month,” Fernandez said.

The excitement did not extend to the Gentlemen’s sideline.

“Nothing went well,” St. Edward’s junior captain Jay Mathes said. “We were too concerned with putting points on the board, and Zahm came to win.”

The Gentlemen noticed that their players were not staying in position during much of the first half, but halftime adjustments weren’t enough to catch the Zahmbies.

“90 percent of the game is half mental, and we lost both halves,” St. Edward’s junior offensive lineman Ryan Kim said.

Although the Gentlemen were disappointed to end their season with a loss, they were pleased

“We stepped up,” Browder said. “We haven’t been playing well on the goal line and we just made it happen. We had a couple big plays by our defensive linemen and our linebackers.”

The following Sorin series saw an errant snap roll out of the end zone for a Carroll safety. Those were, however, the only points the Vermin would score on the night. Carroll managed only three first downs and a meager 10 yards rushing.

“[We have] great momentum. This is the best game we’ve played all year,” Browder said. “Our offense is clicking, our defense is playing well.”

Both teams will play in the first playoff round this weekend, with Sorin matching up against Morrissey and Carroll clashing with Alumni.

Contact Sam Gans at sgans@nd.edu, Megan Golden at mgolde01@saintmarys.edu, Joseph Monardo at jmonardo@nd.edu, Adam Llorens at allorens@nd.edu, Victoria Jacobsen at vjacobse@nd.edu and Matthew DeFranks at mdefrank@nd.edu.

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FOOTBALL

Blocked out

Senior NT Williams out for 4-6 weeks

By DOUGLAS FARMER Sports Editor

If the Irish defense wasn’t suffering enough after giving up 367 rushing yards to Navy during Notre Dame’s 35-17 loss Saturday, news on Monday certainly set that mood further back.

During his weekly press conference Tuesday, Irish coach Brian Kelly confirmed reports that senior nose tackle Ian Williams will miss the next four to six weeks with a sprained MCL.

“It seems to be the worstkept secret in America,” Kelly said. “Ian Williams will be out four to six weeks, and we will be able to modify any of those comments based upon when we can get him moving around again.”

Williams had registered 37 tackles heading into

MEN’S SOCCER

MEN’S GOLF

Team runs away with fall finale

By CORY BERNARD Sports Writer

The Irish concluded the fall portion of their schedule on Tuesday with a blowout tournament win. At the Saint Mary’s Invitational in Seaside, Calif., Notre Dame finished with a 3under-par 861 after two days, good for a 20-stroke victory margin over second place Saint Mary’s College of California.

After the first two rounds at the Bayonet and Blackhorse Golf Club, Irish coach Jim Kubinski said that his team would focus on continuing their solid play in the final round, and also attempt to increase their lead if possible.

“I think the important thing is not to go out there worrying about winning and losing, but just to play a solid round,” he said. “We want to separate ourselves in the rankings. A win by

Panthers to be next test in quest for conference crown

By MOLLY SAMMON

Sports Writer

The Irish will test their seven-year win streak against Pittsburgh at home this afternoon, opening a crucial week of play that will determine their potential as a contender for the Big East crown as the regular season enters into the final stretch.

“We’re in a position that we

SMC SOCCER

can win the league,” Irish coach Bobby Clark said. “The team will need to take care of that themselves. If we’re going to do that, we need to win both games this week and that starts [today].”

Though the Irish (7-4-4, 42-1 Big East) have won eight of the last ten contests against the Panthers (6-7-2, 1-4-2), Clark said Wednesday’s matchup will be a big challenge and very

Belles travel to Trine to play season finale

By MAIJA GUSTIN Sports Writer

The Belles hope to end the season on a winning note as they hit the road and travel to Trine today for their last game of the season.

Saint Mary’s (2-16) is coming off a tough defeat last week against Adrian College, but Belles coach Michael Joyce said the team is feeling optimistic about their chances against the Thunder.

“I think on paper we’re a little better than Trine when you look at similar opponents we’ve played,” Joyce said. “But they are good enough to win if we don’t play well.”

Though the Belles fell 2-0 at home against Adrian College in their last game, the team rallied for many scoring chances throughout, with shots on goal from freshmen Jordan Diffenderfer and Mollie Valencia and sophomore Ashley Morfin.

“We have some spectacular possession,” Joyce said. “We just need to convert that into more goal scoring opportunities.”

Sophomore Caitlin Walsh had 10 saves against Adrian to bring her total to 96 on the season.

Trine lost 3-0 in its last game against Kalamazoo College, making Joyce more confident in his team going into the match. In preparation, the Belles have

important to get a good jump into the Big East tournament.

“I think every game is a different game, every year is a different year, and every team a different team. It’s what we do [today] that will influence the outcome,” Clark said. “There’s no use looking back, there’s no use looking forward. It’s what we do [today] that’s going to be important.”

To learn about this year’s

HOCKEY

particular group that will travel to Notre Dame, the Irish went over previous games to get a better grasp on what to expect from Pittsburgh Wednesday.

“They are having a pretty good season this year. I think we’ve watched tape on them, and we’ve been impressed with them on tape. They’re a strong physical team,” Clark said.

Notre Dame faced some of

the nation’s toughest competition over last week’s fall break, losing one game to No. 1 Louisville and ending in a scoreless tie against No. 5 Connecticut. After playing three big games over the break, Clark gave the Irish an off day Monday and a light run through of drills Tuesday to rest their legs for the ensuing week of competi-

Lavin makes mark quickly

A year ago, Irish senior defenseman Joe Lavin hadn’t even officially joined the Notre Dame team. Today, he is the captain of a No. 13 Irish squad coming off a 2-1 upset of previously topranked Boston College squad on Saturday and the unquestioned leader of the Notre Dame blue line. So much for slowly rising the ranks.

“I think coming in [this year] as a senior, the seniors have a certain amount of responsibility. Even though everybody works together, as a senior you do a little more because you’ve been here the