Members of the Notre Dame Pom Squad pose in front of the Christmas tree in the lobby of Main Building for the Pom Squad Christmas card. The squad wears special winter uniforms throughout the month of December. Corrections
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EMMET FARNAN | The Observer
CRS launches ‘I am Migration’ campaign
By STEPHANIE SNYDER news Writer
i n this week’s installment of Justice Friday, s aint
m ary’s first year a nnie m aguire and sophomore Krystal h arris presented on the c atholic r elief s ervices ( crs ) campaign called “ i am m igration.”
m aguire and h arris are both crs ambassadors, meaning they work to inspire and mobilize students to achieve the mission of crs and to create global solidarity on campus. The crs mission encompasses faith, action and results.
The goal of the “ i am m igration” campaign is to educate students about what migration is and to encourage them to take action by supporting immigrants and refugees both locally and nationally.
b eginning the presentation, m aguire clarified the difference between a migrant and a refugee.
“ m any times, we hear the terms ‘migrant’ and ‘refugee’ used interchangeably, but there is a significant difference when it comes to legal proceedings,” she said. “ r efugees are protected under international law. They should not be expelled or returned to situations where their life and freedom are
under threat and are legally allowed to take refuge and asylum in another place.”
a ccording to a video from crs University (a crs outreach program to partner with universities and students across the country) included in the presentation, the refugee crisis is currently the worst in human history due to conflict and persecution. r efugees will be displaced for an average of 17 years. There are 65 million refugees and displaced people worldwide.
“ i n 2013, the number of international migrants worldwide reached 232 million up from 175 million in 2000 and 154 million in 1990,” m aguire said. “a t the end of 2014, 38 million people around the world had been forced to flee their homes by conflict and violence.”
m aguire also clarified what it means for someone to be native or indigenous to a certain area.
“ n ative or indigenous means originating in and characteristic of a particular region or county,” m aguire said. “We all have stories. a s a history of people, we always move.”
h arris and m aguire opened the discussion by asking students to share their own family migration stories.
s aint m ary’s junior d enisse m endez said her family originated in a guascalientes, m exico.
“ i was born in m exico and i came here when i was three years old,” m endez said. “ m y dad came to the U. s . first thinking it had better economic opportunities. e ventually my mom said ‘ i can’t take it anymore, we have to reunite our family,’ so then we came to Warsaw, i ndiana.”
s enior e lizabeth Kochniarczyk said although her immediate family doesn’t have a migration story, her grandparents and great grandparents immigrated to the U. s
“ m y family is from all over,” she said. “ i ’m Polish, i rish, n ative a merican and n ative a ustralian.”
Justice e ducation c lub president c aylin m c c allick said she enjoyed hearing everyone’s stories.
“ i t was nice to see the diversity even within a room of people,” m c c allick said.
h arris said s aint m ary’s, n otre d ame and h oly c ross are all the results of migration.
“a ll three schools were founded by the c ongregation of h oly c ross founded in the 19th century by Fr. b asil m oreau,” she said. “ h e migrated to the United s tates
from Le m ans, France.”
s am c entellas, who for the past three years has been an active member of the s outh b end youth and Latino community center, La c asa de a mistad, also shared his migration story.
c entellas is originally from s anta c ruz, b olivia. h is mother, who is from m ichigan, went to b olivia to be a missionary where she met his father who was a native of b olivia. h e said their decision to move came from the hyperinflation b olivia was experiencing in 1984.
“ m y dad was a business man and my mom was a teacher,” he said. “People had to pay him in goods — a dozen eggs or a gallon of milk.”
c entellas said sharing stories is an imperative part of understand and connecting with those who are immigrants or refugees.
“ i t is important that we all share our stories and talk about taking action,” he said. “ i n this area unless you’re Potawatomi i ndian, you’re not from this area.”
a ccording to c entellas, the U. s . needs to change its language concerning immigrants.
“Just because someone isn’t a citizen doesn’t mean they’re undocumented,” c entellas said. “The only difference between me and an undocumented immigrant is that my dad was married to an a merican. i t’s who their parents decided to fall in love with.”
“We’re trying to change that conversation piece from people being illegal to people being undocumented,” he said. “Those words matter.”
c entellas said promoting awareness concerning language can make a difference for people who qualify for d eferred a ction for
c hildhood a rrivals ( daca ). daca is the result of an o bama administration executive order, and shields certain undocumented immigrants who came to the U. s . as minors from deportation.
a dditionally, c entellas said 13 to 14 percent of s outh b end’s total population is h ispanic — approximately 18,000 people. a cross the U. s . there are 750,000 daca recipients — 1,200 in s outh b end alone.
“ i almost guarantee you if you’ve walked around in our community, you’ve met someone who is undocumented,” c entellas said. “Part of why we talk about action is that our community doesn’t want your pity. We need people to do tangible things, to come and help.” h arris said students can show their solidarity with daca students by spreading awareness for i nternational m igrants day on d ec. 18, participating in the “Week of ‘Poder,’” contributing to the Lenten crs r ice b owls and volunteering at La c asa de a mistad. s tudents can also wear a safety pin to show their support and promote safe spaces for everyone in the community.
m aguire said taking action in these ways support the mission of the s isters of the h oly c ross. a ccording to m aguire, the mission is to “deepen our understanding and appreciation of distinct cultures, realities and persons so we live our h oly c ross charism and identity more fully.”
“This knowledge of the mission really speaks to who we are as s aint m ary’s students,” she said. “We encourage you to be an activist, an advocate and an ally.”
Contact Stephanie Snyder at ssnyder01@saintmarys.edu
Paid a dverT isemen T
process by exposure to loud noises,” rowsell said. “In a younger ear, if you are exposed to loud noises it doesn’t necessarily mean that you are going to cause an immediate hearing degeneration or loss, but it may very well cause this to occur a lot earlier in life.”
mammals naturally lose hair cells as they age, and this results in hearing deficits, rowsell said. These hearing losses are permanent because the hair cells can’t regenerate, she said.
“These neurons that are connecting to our hair cells are taking information to the brain,” she said. “s o what’s happening here is hair cells recognize the vibrations caused by sound waves. neurons transmit that information to the brain for interpretation … these are the cells that are important for
Flex Points
other campus eateries — like Taco bell, Pizza hut, subway, smashburger, reckers and Au bon Pain — have the capacity to handle an influx of students during dinnertime, Abayasinghe said, for they already receive much more traffic during the lunch hours.
“based on this and based on our evaluation, we really feel that having these points will help shift some of that dinner traffic into the huddle,” Abayasinghe said.
campus dining also plans to introduce a “continuous dining” system in both dining halls, so students can eat at any point in the day — not just during specified meal times.
“We understand that there is the potential for displacement,” Abayasinghe said. “but we anticipate that — especially at dinner, when the compression happens — that we have the capacity to handle it.”
right now, most on-campus students are registered for the gold meal plan, which provides them with up to 14 meals in the dining hall each week and $410 Flex Points each semester. All students paying housing fees receive a meal plan through campus dining with no additional charges.
Funding for the increase in Flex Points will be included in the multimillion dollar renovation project budget. Abayasinghe said campus dining decided not to reallocate the money for some of students’ weekly meal swipes to Flex Points because they didn’t want to limit dining options even more.
Fifth-year Tom nye, a member of the executive Advisory committee for the ndh renovation project, said he appreciates that — because he thinks the notre dame community places a value on eating together.
“It’s so much a part of life on and off campus, but especially when it takes place in the dining hall,” he said. “I think that would be another
the function of hearing in the cochlea.”
however, fish and birds can regenerate these hair cells. b y studying the developmental pathways of hair cells in animals such as birds and mice, researchers like rowsell can explore different routes of promoting hair cell regeneration in mammals, she said.
o ne future possibility being explored in research is using stem cells in stem cell therapy to replace lost hair cells.
“First, you have to know the normal developmental pathway, how they make these decisions, if you want to force an undifferentiated [stem] cell down that pathway,” she said.
s chneider’s area of interest is in neurogenic communication disorders, and that interest was explored in her talk “Using speech Analysis for c oncussion d etection and o ther neurological d isorders.”
The lecture began with a video of a hard hit by a football
driving factor of how seriously campus dining considered the potential crunch.”
students living off campus — even those with meal plans — will not receive extra Flex Points, Abayasinghe said.
“Let’s say, for example, you have a block plan with certain points,” Abayasinghe said. “We’ve provided them as a convenience for students to dine while they’re on campus. but we acknowledge that students who are living off campus also eat off campus — have kitchen facilities and things like that.”
“From that perspective, in the scope of this and based on the feedback through the committees, we really looked at focusing on the on campus students,” he added.
nye, a resident assistant in dunne hall, said he also thinks offcampus students frequent the dining halls for lunch more often than they do for dinner.
“The crunch at dinner — I would add that that’s the time your residence hall plays the greatest role,” he said. “I live in dunne, where I’m more likely to go to north at night. Where at lunch, I’m an archie, I’m more likely to go to south. The data sort of proved the anecdotal evidence that that would be the general trend.”
nye said providing students with a higher amount of Flex Points will allow them to dine at places they would now frequent if the dining hall is closed or too busy.
“I think now with a smaller capacity at north, you’d more frequently go to these places anyway,” he said “And I think campus dining recognizing that is pretty thoughtful. It’s a way to alleviate any sort of impact that would affect the students due to this necessary construction.”
And hopefully, the end result will be well worth the hassle, Abayasinghe said.
“When that new dining hall opens — wow,” he said. “That’s all I can say.”
Contact Katie Galioto at kgalioto@nd.edu
player, who, despite displaying symptoms of having a concussion, played again later in the game.
“It’s an epidemic,” she said. “There are two different types of concussion … after a hard hit, the brain bounces up and back. The cranium is a very hard system. There is nothing it can do, but the brain gets knocked around … the other concussion that they don’t talk about as much is the face mask or any kind of rotational where they grab and twist the brain on top of the brain stem. both of those are equally damaging.”
c oncussions are a significant health problem in the United states, and are the leading cause of death and disability in young people, s chneider said. These concussions have long-term consequences, including temporary and permanent effects on personality, relationship skills and early onset dementia, s chneider
said. she said she often tells her class, “Touch the brain, never the same.”
“s ometimes symptoms don’t manifest themselves immediately to the physician or clinician who is looking that them, and yet [the athlete] will have delayed onset of symptoms where the functional ability it just difficult,” s chneider said. “Unfortunately, 90 percent of concussions go undetected.”
While people are finding ways to cheat current concussion tests, the voice is one thing humans can’t cheat, s chneider said. o ne example of this is when a student calls home, and their mother knows something is wrong simply by the emotions in the student’s voice.
b y collaborating with engineers at notre dame, s chneider uses her interest in speech to develop a technology tool to detect concussions, she said. such collaboration resulted in data collection for
over 2,500 subjects, and collecting numerous baseline and after-event recordings.
“We looked at movement,” she said. “hesitating with movement, pitch level change, also duration rate of what’s going on. Particularly motor speech execution involves about 100 different muscles containing about 100 different motor units. d uring normal speech 140,000 neuromuscular events are generated every second to produce one monosyllable.”
Using around 40 different motor speech execution biomarkers, s chneider and her collaborators have developed a tool for detecting concussions that has 94 percent accuracy. The idea of using motor speech execution biomarkers has potential future applications in areas such as detecting autism, she said.
Contact Kathryn Marshall at kmarsh02@saintmarys.edu
discovered the small window of availability for use of the diving boards at the rock.
“my brother discovered this like, four years ago, and back then, they called it the ‘splishsplash crew,’ and he and a bunch of his friends on the track team would get together and go over over to the rockne pool and just jump off the diving boards,” Krach said. “They would practice their dives and do flips and stuff, so it was a lot of fun.”
soon, Patrick Krach had a small group of people from Alumni going every week, so he started to make announcements at sunday dorm mass about the event.
“There’s no better way to spend a Wednesday evening than with my fellows dawgs, and lady dawgs, jamming out to classic rock and flinging ourselves off the high dive of the rockne pool,” Patrick Krach said in an email.
matthew Krach said his brother was responsible for making dive night an Alumni hall tradition.
“so [my brother’s] roommate was actually the guy who [was elected hall president],” Krach said. “[my brother] ended up — just for fun — making some announcements at mass after his roommate made announcements [about the hall] and it caught on. I think it was because people really thought it was funny, and that’s what made it catch.”
In the beginning, Krach said only a few people would show up, but his brother kept on making the announcements at mass anyway.
“he would mention it if that week there was a really small crew, but people didn’t want him to stop making these really funny announcements, so people would just show up to
make sure he kept on making the announcements,” he said.
Krach said he kept up the tradition because his brother started letting him make some of the announcements his freshman year.
“so all sophomore year I made an announcement every mass,” he said. “I think that helped contribute to me becoming president of Alumni. because I definitely got to know everyone in the dorm with being outgoing and stuff, but I think that certainly helped just to show people that I was committed to doing something fun in the dorm every week.”
Krach said the first dive night this year brought in over 40 Alumni men and their friends.
“more people trickled in as the night went on, and it was just nuts,” Krach said. “The guys were throwing footballs and chucking volleyballs at each other and just doing the stupidest stuff.”
Krach helps to maintain the dive night Instagram, which features photos and videos from the weekly event.
“There’s some really good videos on there,” he said. “We try and do some trick-shot type
things, so those are always fun. We also sometimes will do stupid contests, so like who can swim the longest underwater while holding their breath. but it’s all a lot of fun. ”
A major change in the 2016 school year has been the addition of themes to each dive night, Krach said.
“We have a different theme every week, but the most popular ones have been ‘Jorts’ and ‘America,’” he said. “We also have done corresponding themes, like one week was ‘danger’ and another was ‘safety’ because during the danger week, the high dive almost broke, a few of the bolts popped out, so we had to do safety the next week.”
Krach said the best part about dive night was the camaraderie and brotherhood it creates amongst the men of Alumni.
“I think people appreciate that it seems super immature and stuff, but I think people just think it’s so funny,” he said. “I mean, you’ve got 40 guys walking over to the rock in jorts, and it’s just great.”
Contact Rachel O’Grady at rogrady@nd.edu
CHRIS COLLINS | The Observer Sophomore Jack Waltrich prepares to jump off a Rockne Memorial diving board while pretending to study as part of the dorm’s event.
By CHRISTIAN BUNKER scene Writer
The Lemon Twigs were first recommended to me as sounding “exactly like the ’60s.” As an avid fan of the Zombies, the beatles, simon and Garfunkel and crosby, stills and nash, this was plenty to convince me to try out the new York-based rock band. however, as I listened to the album, I began to reflect on how distant the ’60s truly are in our era of continuous media consumption and evaluation; I feel guilty waiting until december to review an album that came out in mid-october. of course, hordes of music enthusiasts with vinyl collections far larger than my own still Thom Yorke’s sentiment when he sings “I wish it was the ’60s … I wish I could be happy.” but for better or worse, the ’60s aren’t getting any closer. my own mother, who in my eyes embodies old music, was born after both the beatles and simon and Garfunkel had broken up. even Pitchfork hasn’t attempted to bring back the decade; though they have crafted lists of the best albums of the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s and ’00s, they have neglected to do so for the almighty ’60s. I believe that this reflects an understanding that while those 10 years of immense musical progress is revered, that reverence may have put us out of touch with it.
This could explain why Lemon Twigs don’t really sound like the ’60s. of course, they shouldn’t be faulted for this because it is impossible to sound like the ’60s nowadays. What the Lemon Twigs do sound like is a well-intentioned imitation of that era. such a description that may sound like a put-down, but should actually be considered a
compliment. The legacy of the ’60s has granted us great music over the course of the decades that followed. After all, early ditties of the ’70s, like Pink Floyd’s “summer ‘68” and the velvet Underground’s “Who Loves the sun,” referenced the ’60s to great success, and other groups in british pop like supertramp and electric Light orchestra continued doing so in the same fashion. Then came the stone roses and “madchester,” another ’60s revival movement. The Flaming Lips carried the torch from there, and today we have Tame Impala (although they sold out their neopsychedelic roots in their most recent album).
The Lemon Twigs’ “do hollywood” fits perfectly into this spectrum. In fact, it registers as the kind of album that could have preceded Tame Impala’s debut album “Innerspeaker.” It may feature less synths, less ambition, less John Lennon vocals — but “do hollywood” is composed of the same core ingredients as the modern psychedelic touchstone. For example, the opening of “hi+Lo” sounds like the slowed down, drugged-out cousin of “solitude is bliss.” The soft guitar lines and softer singing of “A Great snake” echoes Tame Impala’s “I don’t really mind” as well.
more often, however, the slowness and conscious antiquatedness of the album sound nothing like Tame Impala’s high-end production. These instances, which include “I Wanna Prove to You,” “Those days is comin’ soon,” and “These Words” are a common source of comparison to actual ’60s groups, such as the beatles and beach boys. however, at no point do the Lemon Twigs manage to reach the heights reached by these predecessors. The energetic charm of “Good vibrations” and “Penny Lane”;
the melodic perfection of “God only Knows” and “here comes the sun”; and the power of “hey Jude” and “come Together” are all largely missing. Instead the Lemon Twigs sound like the less ambitious — or dare I say filler — tracks from each of these two groups. “As Long as We’re Together” channels “I’m Waiting for the day” quite nicely, while the unusual instrumentation of “baby, baby” reflects “Pet sounds.”
This is all well and good, but unfortunately “do hollywood” doesn’t offer anything that improves on these 50-year-old formulas. It’s certainly refreshing to hear music that goes back to a different time, but the Twigs lack the catchiness, and even the loudness, of the more successful members of the ’60s imitation genre. As a result, it simply lacks staying power. In the end, I fear that the Lemon Twigs music will fade away much sooner than the decade that inspired them.
Contact Christian Bunker at cbunker@nd.edu
“Do
Hollywood” The Lemon Twigs
Label: 4AD
Recommended Tracks: “A Great Snake” “As Long as We’re Together” “Baby, Baby”
If you like: The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Tame Impala
By AUGIE COLLINS scene Writer
In celebration of the album’s recent 25th anniversary, r e m’s landmark record “out of Time” has been reissued and expanded in style, boasting a second disc of 19 newly remixed demos. These extra tracks show the songs slowly taking shape; several drafts feature hummed or even silent sections of where lyrics had not yet been finalized. It’s a raw, bare bones set of artifacts featuring the songs stripped of their bells and whistles. such recordings invite the listener into the studio with r e m. as they forge the album that would consequently thrust them into the international spotlight.
The star of the show at the time of the album’s release, and to this day, is the alt-pop hit “Losing my religion.” originally, the track was a guilty pleasure for the band as they were attempting to deviate from songs employing the group’s standard chord progressions. Peter buck, the man behind the strumming of the mandolin on the track, noted that “Losing my religion” was “probably the most typical r e m.-sounding song on the record. We are trying to get away from those kind of songs, but like I said before, those are some good chords.”
Predictably, the song was eaten up by audiences around the world. Accompanied by a music video directed by Tarsem singh, which was heavily played on mT v, the album quickly topped the charts in the U.s
and the U.K. and eventually earned the band three Grammys. All of this was done with minimal touring for the album as well; r e m. relied on radio show appearances and the odd public function for promotion.
Twenty-five years later, looking back on r e m.’s legacy, we are able to obtain a clearer sense of the impact that “out of Time” had on r e m.’s stint as the most popular band in the world. before “out of Time”, r e m. was left on the outside looking in. Their previous six albums had cultivated a large and devoted following, yet they could still not grasp that elusive superstar quality that separates those who will be immortalized from those who are more easily forgotten.
some might say the success of “out of Time” was due largely in part to r e m. sacrificing a part of themselves in order to cater toward radio stations. however, the band defended the music from the outset; in a 1991 interview with rolling stone, Peter buck snapped back, “The people that changed their minds because of ‘Losing my religion’ can just kiss my ass.” Interestingly, the album remains relatively unique in r e m.’s discography and has prompted little imitation. It did not, after all, reign in a new age of mandolin-infused rock.
“out of Time” is indeed less edgy than previous albums such as “Green” or “Life’s r ich Pageant,” owing in part to scott Litt’s crisp, clean production, but this is what makes it such a turning point in r e m.’s career. The band’s brooding indie act was coming to a close.
After all, the track “shiny happy People” is the antithesis of what every classic grunge fan wants to bob their head to. some fans resisted the change, but “out of Time” heralded something even larger that was yet to come. The following year, the masterpiece “Automatic For The People” would be released, leaving no doubt as to whether the band’s name would be noted in the annals of music history.
While r e m.’s “out of Time” is easily glossed over by critics and listeners alike, the album was critical at the time. It warmed up audiences for the groundbreaking work that was on the horizon, while also providing a few gems of its own in tracks such as “me in honey” and “country Feedback.” This reissue is by no means monumental or even necessary, but the additional tracks do provide a nice bit of dressing for an already solid album. What the reissue does best, though, is shine a light on an album that deserves a little more recognition. The album is timeless and certainly does not sound like it made its debut a quarter of a century ago. “out of Time” marked the beginning of r e m.’s golden era, which would only increase in intensity until the release of the experimental “monster.” It is easy for one’s eyes to be drawn to the sound of r e m. at the height of their career, but we must not forget the cornerstone upon which it was built.
Contact Augie Collins at jcolli15@nd.edu
The most wonderful time?
No time of the year seems to produce as many mixed feelings for me as the holiday season does. All of the positive things that come with the holidays often feel like they aren’t quite as good as they seem. I type this as I listen to “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” and the first snow slowly falls outside my window. I should be perfectly content and not have a care in the world. But that’s just not true.
How can I sit back and enjoy the Christmas cheer when I have so much going on in my life? Finals loom menacingly on the horizon, and piles of procrastinated work — including writing this article — prevent me from even considering studying yet. Every night last week I returned to my proud home, Carroll Hall, to the sight of my fellow Vermin enthusiastically decorating the dorm for Carroll Christmas. I truly did wish to join in and help, but how could I rationalize ignoring my work when I knew I had an Organic Chemistry test on Thursday? At times the decorating was an actual burden on me. I was trying to do work in Carroll, but my study spot of choice was being repurposed into a Santa’sworkshop-themed room. I never felt upset or angry about any of this, as obviously the dorm needed to be spruced up — I just wish I could have joined in and felt the joys of holiday spirit.
Maybe there is more to this problem than just the stresses of school though. It often feels like there is an idealized version of Christmas in my mind that is never really matched by reality. Is it my fault for having this idea of the perfect holiday season in my head? I don’t believe so. I think that many Americans’ idea of Christmas is at least a bit overly rosy. When you are constantly hearing incredibly cheery music and having your heartstrings tugged at by Hallmark Channel specials, it is hard not to put Christmas on a pedestal. The truth is that Christmas won’t ever live up to these lofty ideals. You will get sick of listening to the same songs over and over again, and you will tire of trudging through the snow to get to class. But maybe that is OK. Christmas doesn’t need to be perfect. It is not a magical time of the year where everyone’s problems disappear and only happiness remains. That doesn’t mean it can’t be special though. I know I can’t wait to get back to my home and family — even if I know I’ll just feel like being alone at times. I want to drink hot chocolate by the tree, I want to pet my Golden Retriever and I want to eat a little bit too much pie. And when I really think about it, what more could I want?
Contact Brian Boylen at bboylen@nd.edu
The views expressed in the Inside Column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
leTTeR To THe edIToR
Quit crying over populism
Since the election of d onald Trump, I’m hearing frequent laments over the rise of populism in the political sphere in this country. In “National Review,” Andrew McCarthy likens populism to Bacchanalia, and defines it as “doing what you know is wrong, heedless of harmful consequences — some unintended, others easily foreseeable — because the masses will perceive it as empathy,” proving conclusively he has never looked up the word in a dictionary. Bill Kristol in ‘The Weekly Standard” wrote that the principles of populism and constitutional liberty are mutually exclusive, and that he would permanently reject the former in order to preserve the latter. d o any of those criticizing populism, including the two writers mentioned, actually know what populism is? Kristol said he would be “sympathetic to an enlightened populism,” as though that were an actual possibility. Enlightened populism is impossible, not because populism is some Neanderthalesque residue from the blood-and-soil nature of the European far-right, but because populism isn’t an ideology; there is absolutely nothing to enlighten whatsoever. You can have enlightened Socialism, or enlightened Christian d emocracy, but hoping to have enlightened Populism is like hoping to have an enlightened winter coat. What Kristol gets wrong is that, in order to be a Populist, the ideological position of what you say is totally irrelevant, but the manner in which that position is articulated is of the utmost importance. You cannot say, “Populists believe the following” because Populism has no beliefs at all. Populism is not an ideology. Populism is a style.
Let’s take an example of two individuals who align ideologically: Alexander Van der Bellen and Jean-Luc Melenchon, both prominent figures in the European socialist and social-democratic movements, who again, believe and discuss very similar things. Van der Bellen is running to be President of Austria on the Independent-Green ticket. Have you ever heard him speak? It is one of the single most mind-numbingly dull experiences you can ever have. I have been more entertained watching grey paint dry while having afternoon tea with my dead pet hamster. The opposite is true of Melenchon, the Populist French leader of the Parti Gauche, who again believes and discusses very similar things to Van der Bellen. d uring my time in the south of France, I happened to
stumble (literally) into one of his rallies in Montpellier, and given I had some time; I thought I’d hear him out.
Maybe it was the fact that the French language naturally lends itself to Leninist rants on hastily constructed wooden stages, maybe it’s the fact that that evening I had been fortunate enough to ingest one glass too many of the fabulous wine of the LanguedocRoussillon region, or maybe it was the magnificent rhetorical flair of the speaker that made the same dull ideas that Van der Bellen had discussed seem absolutely tantalizing. Let me make this abundantly clear, I’m a proud Capitalist, and I have the same reaction to a good quarter of earnings as a 13-year-old boy does to a Victoria’s Secret commercial, but even I found myself skipping on home humming “The Internationale” to myself that evening.
The difference is Melenchon is a populist; Van der Bellen is not. No matter how similar (and horrendous) their ideas are, they are always going to sound better coming from the firebrand Melenchon then they are from the decrepit Van der Bellen. The same can be said of any ideology in any country. Whether you’re a an Italian Centrist, a Scottish Nationalist, or an American Republican, Populism is nothing more than a marketing tool, designed to make your ideas seem exciting to your listener, irrespective of what those ideas actually are. Also, let’s not pretend that this is the first time populism has ever existed in the United States: Obama’s “hope and change” mantra was populist, Reagan’s Revolution was populist, Nixon’s silent majority was populist and oh right, before I forget, this country literally had a Populist Party.
So quit crying over populism. d isagree with Trump’s policies? Criticize the policies, sure, knock yourself out. But don’t sit there and weep at what you see as the looming specter of populism. Populism is a style, adopted by Warren, Sanders, Obama, Cruz, Ron Paul and d onald Trump. It’s the only thing any of them have in common, and has absolutely no bearing whatsoever on the substance of their ideas. The hysteria surrounding Populism is, quite frankly, totally juvenile.
Dylan Stevenson senior dec. 1
Brian Boylen Scene Writer
Happy Birthday: stand up and do your thing. you’ll have plenty of opportunities to make choices that will improve your life personally and professionally. Aim to please, but not at the risk of missing out on reaching your goals. The end result is that what you accomplish will benefit not just yourself, but others. set your priorities and stick to them. your numbers are 6, 9, 18, 24, 32, 43, 48.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): share your feelings and concerns with people you can count on for support. A favor will be granted if you offer your services to someone in need. change will only occur if you are open and honest. use past experiences as your barometer.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): let someone else contribute for a change. offer suggestions, hands-on help and supervision, but don’t donate to something that isn’t going to benefit you personally. love is in the stars, and romantic plans will improve your personal life.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): An interesting partnership will develop if you share your ideas with someone who has the experience and skills to contribute to your plan. socialize, network and listen to what others have to say. The information you receive will be valuable.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): An important deal can be made, but you have to be smart and negotiate what’s doable for you and what’s not. don’t allow anyone else to act on your behalf. diplomacy and being smart about money will lead to success.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): form a partnership and participate in something you’ve always longed to do. look for new beginnings as you tidy up loose ends. Plan a vacation that will give you the incentive you need to excel. commit to someone you love.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): An interesting alternative will be made available to you. before you decide to take part, run the numbers and see if it’s financially possible. don’t let fast talk persuade you to do something you are uncomfortable with.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): use emotional tactics if someone backs you into a corner. Avoid getting into a physical confrontation at all costs. use discipline to ensure that every move you make is strategic and measured. follow your heart.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): listen to complaints and find unique solutions. your challenge lies in understanding what you are up against and being willing to compromise in order to keep the peace. Personal improvements and romantic plans are encouraged.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): reconnect with old friends, attend a reunion or revisit an old idea. channel your energy into the projects and causes that inspire you. A change will lift your spirits and encourage personal improvements.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): say what you must and be prepared to implement your own plan if necessary. A problem with a friend or relative is best dealt with before it accelerates into a major dispute. don’t divulge personal information.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): use your emotional energy to push your way to victory. don’t wait for someone else to lead the way when you are fully capable of taking on that responsibility yourself. show off what you can do in order to get good results.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): you’ll be torn between what you believe you need to do and the responsibilities others expect you to fulfill. A strategic approach will satisfy your needs as well as the needs of those who are counting on you.
Birthday Baby: you are experimental, innovative and persistent. you are aggressive and upbeat.
Jumble | dAvId hoyT And Jeff knurek
sudoku
rethinking conference titles
Alex Carson Assistant managing e ditor
The committee got it right. If Penn state fans should have a complaint, it shouldn’t be that their team was left out — it should be about the opponent their team played in the big Ten’s championship game s aturday.
Two teams finished with 8-1 records this year in the big Ten: ohio state and Penn state. Logic dictates the conference champion should’ve been guaranteed to come from one of those two teams, right?
but, alas, as we all know, that didn’t happen. Instead of playing the other best team in the league, the nittany Lions played Wisconsin, a team that had the conference’s fourth-best mark at 7-2, in Indianapolis. Instead of getting a chance to prove itself one last time against a team it was competing with for a playoff spot in ohio state, Penn state got a solid but not game-changing win s aturday night.
Irrespective of the result s aturday in Indianapolis, the results of the Acc and Pac12 title games dictated that the outcome of the big Ten’s championship game would ultimately prove meaningless in the playoff discussion.
c onsider that alternate reality, though, where ohio state and Penn state played for the big Ten title instead. The winner of that game — be it the buckeyes or nittany Lions — would be in the field. no questions asked. Instead of “rewarding” Penn state with a chance to prove it’s the fifthbest team in the country, you could’ve rewarded it with a chance to prove it deserved a place in the top four.
Look around the country, and you’ll find a similar problem developing: Too often, a conference’s two best teams don’t meet to play for the title. We saw it two times this year alone — just like Wisconsin wasn’t the big Ten’s secondbest team, v irginia Tech wasn’t the Acc ’s, either — and we’ve seen the Pac-12 get involved in the past, too, in those years where o regon and stanford were the class of the league.
If they’re so great and important, conference title games should make the first s aturday in d ecember one of college football’s best days. but year after year, the slate becomes a disappointment. Instead of a c lemson/Louisville rematch — a game that would’ve been
incredibly compelling despite the c ardinals’ late slide — we got c lemson/ v irginia Tech, a game that continued a building tradition of c lemson or Florida state beating the Acc c oastal winner in a game that fits the, “I guess they could lose, but they won’t,” narrative quite well. The same, of course, could be said about the big Ten.
now, the issue: You can’t actually set up a system like the one I’m describing. If a conference is to have a championship game, it must either be split into divisions or play a full round-robin. The latter isn’t possible for four of the Power Five conferences, so the former is the necessary evil.
The funny thing about all of this? e arlier this year, the big Ten fought a proposal from the Acc and big XII that would deregulate conference title games entirely, allowing for leagues to conduct their championship games in whatever manner they see fit. Instead of deregulation, we got the full round-robin provision, allowing the big XII to hold its game.
What makes it funny, of course, is that the big Ten’s champion was kept from having a playoff chance because of the flawed system the conference fought to keep. While eliminating divisions — a byproduct of the system I’m proposing — could create chaos with three one-loss teams tying for one title game slot, it doesn’t differ from the current situation — see: 2008 big XII s outh. And what it would do, in fact, is end the silly system in many conferences that sees one group of teams — Florida and v irginia Tech were big beneficiaries this year — play a much easier schedule than other ones of a similar pedigree in the opposite division.
In three of college football’s four Power Five conferences with divisions, most of that power is concentrated in one division — it’s c lemson, Florida state and Louisville being together in the Acc Atlantic; Alabama, Auburn and L sU being together in the sec West; m ichigan, m ichigan state, ohio state and Penn state being together in the big Ten e ast — and as long as that system persists, we’re going to continue to have the opportunity for more problems like the one presented this year.
Contact Alex Carson at acarson1@nd.edu
The views expressed in this Sports Authority are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
Bell, Green lead Steelers over Giants at home
Associated Press
PITT sbU rGh — The Pittsburgh steelers have dished the flash of s eptember for a decidedly more pragmatic approach in d ecember.
heavy doses of Le’ veon bell and Antonio brown.
A dash of tight end Ladarius Green.
A defense that looks competent and maybe even a bit dangerous.
The steelers will gladly sacrifice the style points for the substance they showed in a 24-14 win over the new York Giants on sunday.
The result emphatically ended new York’s six-game winning streak and sent a message that Pittsburgh’s midseason funk appears to be firmly in the rearview mirror.
“I just think we’re finding our rhythm,” steelers coach m ike Tomlin said after his team allowed just 234 yards and picked off e li manning twice.
“I think we’re gaining continuity with the mix of guys who are playing. The young guys are growing up.”
A pivotal development for the steelers (7-5), who have
won three straight, each one a step up in class.
Two weeks ago it was a simple slump-buster in c leveland.
o n Thanksgiving, it was a decisive victory on the road in Indianapolis, albeit against a backup quarterback.
This time it was one of the league’s hottest teams, though new York (8-4) hardly looked like it at times while spoiling first-year coach ben mcAdoo’s homecoming.
mcAdoo grew up an hour east of heinz Field in homer c ity, Pennsylvania. The team he faced on sunday looked a bit like the one he idolized as a kid.
The steelers dominated the line of scrimmage at times behind bell’s 182 yards of total offense and prevented manning and wide receiver odell beckham Jr. from ever really getting comfortable.
“We are who we are right now,” mcAdoo said. “We need to go back to work. You can’t just flip a switch and have things change.”
The steelers have reinvented themselves on the fly following a four-game slide that took all the shine off their
high-flying 4-1 start. r ather than try to overwhelm opponents with firepower they have put the ball in bell’s hands and let him lead the way.
bell touched the ball 35 times — 29 rushes and six receptions — and went over 100 yards rushing for the third straight game by churning for 118.
he did so against a defense that hadn’t allowed an opponent to reach the century mark since Adrian Peterson in Week 16 of last season.
“I just wanted to make sure that I kept running hard,” bell said. “Then, in the fourth quarter, holes got a little bigger.”
ben roethlisberger passed for 289 yards and two touchdowns for Pittsburgh and brown caught six passes for 54 yards, including an acrobatic scoring grab in the back of the end zone that put the steelers up 11-0.
“It’s that time of year that we have to be our best self, offense, defense, special teams,” roethlisberger said. “everybody needs to just do their job, and I thought they did that tonight.”
Westbrook notches triple double in Thunder win
Associated Press
oKLA hom A c ITY — russell Westbrook became the first player with five consecutive triple-doubles since m ichael Jordan had seven straight in 1989 and the oklahoma c ity Thunder beat the new o rleans Pelicans 10192 on sunday night.
Westbrook finished with 28 points, 17 rebounds and 12 assists. The Thunder have won all five games during Westbrook’s triple-double stretch. It was Westbrook’s 10th triple-double of the season and the 47th of his career.
e nes Kanter had 17 points and 10 rebounds and v ictor oladipo added 15 points for the Thunder.
Anthony davis, the nb A’s leading scorer, had 37 points and 15 rebounds for the
Pelicans. buddy h ield, who led nearby oklahoma to the Final Four last season, scored 16 points in his first game back in the state.
oklahoma c ity led 49-41 at halftime. Westbrook had 12 points, nine rebounds and six assists at the break, and davis kept the Pelicans in it with 24 points and 10 rebounds.
Westbrook threw down a vicious right-handed jam on a drive down the middle in the third quarter that gave oklahoma c ity a 57-47 lead. he clinched the triple-double on an assist to Kanter for a dunk with 2:14 left in the third quarter. The Thunder took a 78-66 lead into the fourth quarter. h ield drained a 3-pointer to cut oklahoma c ity’s lead to four with just under two minutes to go, but Westbrook’s
3 with 51.3 seconds to go bumped the Thunder’s lead back to 99-92.
t ip ins
Pelicans: h ield got a standing ovation when he checked in late in the first half. ... G Jrue holiday started for just the third time this season. he missed the first 12 games while his wife, former U. s women’s national team soccer player Lauren holiday, recovered from surgery to remove a benign brain tumor. Thunder: made 14 of 15 2-point shots and missed all nine of their 3-pointers in the first quarter. ... c steven Adams sprained his left ankle in the first quarter and did not return. ... The Thunder missed all 15 3-point attempts in the first half, then made 6 of 13 in the second.
nba | ThUnder 101, PeLIcAns 92
from the beginning.
“[ s enior guard] Lindsay a llen, i thought, was spectacular today and did a great job, as well as [sophomore guard] a rike [ o gunbowale],” m cGraw said. “ … b ut good to see the freshmen getting some minutes, and for [freshman guard] Jackie Young today, the offensive output that i think people were used to seeing in high school and i think she’s more than capable of doing on a daily basis, i think, for us. … i t was good. i think that when the other team plays zone and didn’t press that we can really work some different people at the point, and we were able to give [ a llen] a pretty good rest today, which i think she needed.”
Young led the i rish both offensively and defensively against the c rusaders from the moment she stepped on the court midway through the first quarter. Young scored 20 points — only missing one shot, which came from beyond the 3-point line — and tallied six steals and three assists. s he refused to bask in the glory of a career-high game, however, and said she is already focused on how she can improve.
“ i mean, i shot well, but i have a lot to work on,” Young said. “Just understanding the defense a little bit more and i think i ’ll get more comfortable.”
i ncluding Young, six different i rish players ended
the game in double digits: o gunbowale scored 18, sophomore guard m arina m abrey had 16, freshman forward e rin b oley added 15, junior forward b rianna Turner scored 13 and junior forward Kathryn Westbeld finished with 10. m cGraw was particularly happy with b oley’s performance, as she said the freshman is settling into the i rish offense.
“Getting comfortable, i think, was big for [ b oley],” m cGraw said. “ s he’s a great shooter. s he shoots it well at practice. i think just getting in the game long enough to feel comfortable [was good for her]. i think, early on, she wasn’t getting in the game for very long stretches, so we’re trying to give her a little bit longer when she’s on the floor. Just time to get ready [and] to get comfortable, and i think she’ll respond well.”
The i rish offense slowed in the second half, however. a fter leading 72-23 at halftime, n otre d ame scored 27 and 15 points in the third and fourth quarters, respectively. The c rusaders continued to struggle to keep their turnovers down, however, as they amassed 31 by the final buzzer.
a fter falling by 60 points, d orow had nothing but praise for the i rish and feels that now that the c rusaders know where the bar has been set on a national level, they can do their best to reach for that bar going forward.
“ i n the second half, i think we did a better job. i know they were working on some of
their zone things and things like that, but i feel like c oach m cGraw is very classy and handled the whole game with a lot of class,” d orow said. “They could have run the score up on us, and i don’t think they did.
“ … These are young women that are the same level. They’re ncaa d ivision i basketball players, and [ n otre d ame is] setting the bar right now. i mean, obviously, U c onn has set the bar for years, and it’s nice to see somebody else, especially n otre d ame — i mean, instate, we like that. i t’s nice to see them setting the bar so high and doing the things they need to do to be a better ball club, and now we know that we have to match that kind of speed and physicality and things. a nd it should help us in preparing for our future opponents as far as getting into practices and being able to play at the next level.”
While the 114 points n otre d ame scored marked the fourth-highest point total in school history, m cGraw said she was not gunning for the record.
“We just want to get 88 points [to earn burger coupons for fans in attendance],” m cGraw joked. “We just want to keep the fans happy. That’s it.”
The i rish will next take the court Wednesday when they host n o. 2 c onnecticut at Purcell Pavilion. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Contact Elizabeth Greason at egreason@nd.edu
Transfers
job after e verett Golson transferred to Florida s tate, but he suffered an ankle injury in the second game of the season and did not play the rest of the year.
Zaire, who lost the starting job to junior quarterback d e s hone Kizer this year, is reportedly considering Florida, m ichigan s tate, Pittsburgh and Wisconsin amongst his options. h olmes announced his intention to transfer via Twitter on s aturday.
h olmes will receive his degree from the University this summer, and like Zaire will be able to play in 2017 if he graduates as expected. i n an interview with the s outh b end Tribune, h olmes said m iami (Fla.), a rizona s tate, n orth c arolina and U c L a are amongst the schools he is considering. m ontelus, a reserve offensive lineman this past season, also announced he plans to transfer Tuesday on i nstagram. m ontelus, who played in two games this season, also has not determined where he will transfer.
Paid a dverT isemen T
MICHAEL YU | The Observer
Former Irish senior quarterback Malik Zaire looks to throw across his body during Notre Dame’s 45-27 loss to USC on Nov. 26.
GRACE TOURVILLE | The Observer
Irish freshman guard Jackie Young defends an opposing ballhandler during Notre Dame’s 114-54 win over Valparaiso on Sunday at Purcell Pavilion. Young led the Irish in points and steals in the victory.
Notre Dame sets program records in win over North Carolina A&T
By ALEX CARSON Assistant managing e ditor
o n most nights, when Irish freshman guard T.J. Gibbs hits a 3-pointer in the final two minutes to give his team a 51-point lead, the bucket would be a bit of an afterthought.
b ut s unday night, it helped n otre d ame set a program record, as for the first time ever seven Irish players hit double figures in the same game — this one a 107-53 win over n orth c arolina A&T, n otre d ame’s largest-ever victory at Purcell Pavilion.
“You’ve got skilled shooters with skilled passers — it’s just fun to watch,” Irish head coach m ike b rey said following the win. “I thought they handled their business. I guess seven guys in double figures is a record, but you think about how we pass it and a number of different
see m bbALL PaGe 11
Women’s basketball | nd 114, vALPArAIso 54
nd offense shines in blowout win
By ELIZABETH GREASON sports Writer
Giving up 26 unanswered points to start a game typically proves difficult to bounce back from. valparaiso learned this the hard way s unday, as no. 1 notre d ame continued its undefeated season by putting away the c rusaders, 114-54.
The Irish (8-0) began the day by recognizing associate head coach and former player n iele Ivey, as she was inducted into the r ing of honor above the court. Irish head coach muffet mcGraw said she and her team were thrilled that Ivey received the distinction, although the induction made it difficult for the Irish to focus during the first few plays of the game.
“I thought it was an emotional start to the day,” mcGraw said. “I’m just so, so proud of n iele and what she’s done for us, and I’m so happy that she was inducted into the r ing of honor today, but it definitely — I think the emotion, you saw that in the first couple of possessions, but I
thought we settled in.” however, once that settling in mcGraw mentioned began to happen, the Irish did not look back. The c rusaders (44) failed to put a single point on the board until the Irish held a 26-0 lead with just over three minutes left in the first quarter. valparaiso head coach Tracey d orow attributed her team’s poor start to notre d ame’s ability to overpower the c rusaders defensively.
“They came out, just, on a mission, and they put us on our heels early and dominated that whole first half, especially in the first quarter,” d orow said. “I know they scored more in the second quarter, but a lot of that was just us being on our heels, and they put us there. I give them a lot of credit for their defensive pressure and the way they really attacked us and our young kids, and we didn’t respond to it very well.”
mcGraw said she was pleased with her team’s ability to put points on the board
Hockey | UmAss 5, nd 4;
Football
Three players to leave
Observer Sports Staff
In the past week, senior quarterback m alik Zaire, junior receiver c orey h olmes and senior offensive lineman John m ontelus have announced their plans to transfer from n otre d ame. o n Wednesday, Zaire was granted his release from the University. According to es P n , Zaire will be free to transfer to any school he wishes, including those on n otre d ame’s 2017 schedule. Zaire will graduate at the end of this semester, so he will be eligible to play immediately in the 2017 season. Zaire’s first career start came in the m usic c ity b owl in 2014 against L s U, where he won the game’s m ost valuable Player award. In 2015, Zaire won the starting see TrAnsFers PaGe 10
Irish, Minutemen split weekend series
By JOE EVERETT sports Writer
no. 12 notre d ame returned to action over the weekend on the road in Amherst, m assachusetts, splitting its series against U m ass.
The Irish (8-6-2, 4-3-1 hockey e ast) bounced back from a 5-4 loss Friday night to post a 3-0 shutout of the m inutemen (4-8-2, 2-6-1) on s aturday.
After a scoreless first period to kick off the weekend series Friday night, n otre d ame lost control of the game in the second period, surrendering goals to m inutemen senior forward r ay Pigozzi, freshman forward n iko h ildenbrand and senior forward s teven Iacobellis to fall behind 3-0 after two periods of play. Irish head coach Jeff Jackson credited the m inutemen’s effort on the ice for his team’s sluggish start.
“For whatever reason, we were not sharp in the early part of the game,” Jackson said. “Give them credit, too.
KATHLEEN DONAHUE | The Observer
Irish senior forward and captain V.J. Beachem looks to escape a baseline trap during Notre Dame’s 10753 win over North Carolina A&T on Sunday at Purcell Pavilion. Beachem had 19 points in the win.
MACKENZI MARINOVICH | The Observer
Irish junior forward Anders Bjork settles the puck and surveys the ice during Notre Dame’s 4-1 loss to UMass Lowell on Nov. 17.
