Print Edition of The Observer for Tuesday, April 11, 2017

n otre Da M e an D s aint Mary’s

stanford Hall awarded Hall of the year

Farley Hall wins women’s dorm of the year, Carroll Hall wins men’s dorm honor at awards banquet

By LUCAS MASIN-MOYER

a ssociate news e ditor

notre Dame’s student leadership awards Banquet took place Monday evening at legends where hall presidents council (hpc) announced stanford hall as its hall of the year. Men’s hall of the year and women’s hall of the year were also announced with carroll hall and Farley hall taking home the awards respectively.

hpc co-chair christina Fernandez said the halls were selected through an extensive evaluation process.

“the halls throughout the year submit seven rockne reports, which adds up to one a month, in which they detail events they have, who attended [and] what the purpose of the event was,” she said. “all [the halls’] presentations detail the work that they’ve done this year — what were their goals, did they achieve them how did they do so, how did they impact residents personal growth.”

Fernandez said each dorm’s unique approach to residence life was crucial in selecting victors.

“each hall caters to its residents’ needs differently and that’s something very valuable for us,” she said.

andrew Foster, president of hall of the year recipient stanford hall, said the dorm made strides in growing an already strong community this year.

“it was really just everyone getting out, everyone really forming that good group of people in stanford hall — people who are proud to be there,” he said.

stanford hall vice president, Matt geenen said a new mantra help to motivate the dorm to be its best.

“we had the mantra of ‘record year’ and everyone just really got behind that and it went towards everything we did,” he said. “... i think it was the whole mentality of the dorm, everyone just really

see halls PAGE 3

achievements.

Notre Dame researchers

shed light on tuberculosis

Observer Staff Report

n otre Dame researchers have developed a new strain of tuberculosis ( t B) as well as a new method to study the disease in an effort to increase the global health community’s understanding of the disease, according to a u niversity press release. t he n ational i nstitutes

of h ealth funded the study in which n otre Dame researchers improved upon analytical techniques that measured the mass of proteins. Before their efforts, the proteins were unsuitable with current analytical methods. a fter this study, scientists were able to study the functions of the e sx a protein more thoroughly.

Matthew c hampion, research associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry in the Mass s pectrometry and p roteomics Facility in Mc c ourtney h all, and p atricia c hampion, associate professor of biological sciences, improved the analysis of the e sx a protein

see research PAGE 4

saint Mary’s announces visiting artist in-residence

Observer Staff Report

w riter, comedian and actress c asey w hitaker is this year’s Margaret M. h ill visiting artist in residence, an annual series made possible by a gift from h ill, an alumna and Broadway producer, according to a c ollege press release.

Speaker explores charitable work

By NATALIE WEBER news writer

o ccassionally referred to as “ t he Mother teresa of a frica,” Marguerite Barankitse spoke on Monday on her humanitarian work, sparked in response to a genocide she witnessed in her native country, Burundi.

Fr. e mmanuel k atongole, associate professor of theology and peace studies, interviewed Barankitse in a lecture titled “ l ove h as Made Me an i nventor.”

a group of both h utus and tutsis. h owever, a group of tutsis came to take revenge on the h utus for the killings from a few days before.

“ h utu and tutsi were together but they came to [take] revenge,” she said. “But i said to them ‘ w hy do you [take] revenge [on] these mothers and fathers and children who are here? t hey didn’t kill.’”

Barankitse was tied down by her fellow tutsis and forced to watch as they killed h utus who were hiding in the bishop’s buildings. s he said this experience inspired her to want to bring change and peace to the world.

“ t he students receive advice about how to make their way in the professional theater

see artist PAGE 4

“ s aint Mary’s is forever grateful to p eggy h ill for her gift to the c ollege which allows us to, year after year, host artists who coach and instruct our students,” professor of theater k atie s ullivan said in the release.

a ccording to Barankitse, a h utu politician arranged for the murder of several of her family members due to social conflict between h utus and tutsis; her family members being tutsis. s he lost 60 percent of her family to the massacre that day and a few days later, Barankitse, a tutsi herself, took refuge at her bishop’s house with

“ … t hat was why i wanted to create a new generation,” she said. “ w hen i was there, watching, i couldn’t stop them. i knew all the killers. s ome of them were members

see genociDe PAGE 4

c

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Ques T ion oF T he d ay:

Describe prospies in a few words.

Grace Ryan junior mcGlinn hall

“eager, confident, happy.”

Michaela Wiese sophomore Welsh Family hall

“confused.”

Maddy Delmedico sophomore Farley hall

“more loved than Fr. hesburgh.”

Evelyn Heck sophomore Lyons hall

“Inspired, hopeful, interested, excited, appreciative.”

Aemile Donoghue sophomore Farley hall

“curiously asking questions, lots of questions.”

Connor Knapp sophomore sorin college

“really just cool guys.”

Today’s Staff

Corrections

The observer regards itself as a professional publication and strives for the highest standards of journalism at all times. We do, however, recognize that we will make mistakes. If we have made a mistake, please contact us at (574) 631-4541 so we can correct our error.

4

Create an image of “unity” in 30 minutes.

“Agricultue:

Ecology in relation to human dignity.

A wrongfully convicted man shares his story.

Dogs

4 p.m. - 6 p.m.

De-stress with rescue dogs and Rise ’n Roll donuts.

The story of a crime that rocked Taiwan.

Cooking Night Flaherty Hall

7 p.m. - 11 p.m.

Classes will resume on Tuesday, April 18 for all students.

Stations of the Cross Basilica of the

Campaign aims to dispel victim blaming

By SELENA PONIO

a ssociate news e ditor

m embers of the n otre d ame community will be wearing denim around campus Wednesday for a special cause.

This year marks the 18th year of d enim d ay, an annual campaign that aims to raise awareness on sexual violence and victim blaming myths, and the fourth year the Gender r elations c enter (G rc ) is hosting the event at notre d ame.

a ccording to their website, the d enim d ay campaign was started after an italian s upreme c ourt overturned a rape conviction on the reasoning that the 18-year-old victim’s jeans were too tight.

b ecause of the tightness of her jeans, the court said she must have helped her rapist

remove them, thereby implying consent. e nraged by this verdict, women in Parliament showed up to work in jeans the next day to demonstrate their solidarity with the victim and disapproval of the court’s ruling.

c hristine c aron Gebhardt, director of the G rc , said d enim d ay breaks the silence for victims of violence and acts as a concrete way to bring awareness to statements and questions that further isolate victims instead of supporting them.

“b y questioning what someone is wearing or how much they were drinking, it shifts the focus to the victim doing something wrong rather than holding accountable a perpetrator who did not seek and receive consent,” Gebhardt said in an email. “Given the prevalence of sexual assaults,

the events that we have — we have a lot of events, maybe three a week — are good opportunities to bond,” he said.

rallied behind it.”

This spirit, Geenen said, was shown in events put on by the dorm throughout the year.

“i think our new signature event, the irish iron classic, went super well,” he said. “We raised over $1,000 for the center for the homeless. Just having guys from across campus come and lift weights, something they don’t get to do or compete in often i think it was a really great event we did this year.”

a similar sense of community helped motivate carroll hall, the men’s hall of the year, to stage new events and make its community tighter. This growing bond was easy to forge despite changes in the hall, carroll vice president John mccormack said.

“The fact that we had a new rector, two new [assistant rectors], a new cleaning lady … that was just by the wayside,” he said. “[The hall] was [about how] we’re a family, we’re a community and we’re going to take this place to heights it’s never been.”

carroll hall president andrew rebholz said new events were key in helping with the changes.

“it’s a lot about making sure

rebholz said these events were more constructive than in years past.

“We added a lot of dialogue in carroll this year which was awesome to see because people could bond on a more spiritual and mental level which is pretty nice to have,” he said.

carly Gray, vice president of Women’s hall of the Year recipient Farley hall, said successful execution of the dorm’s signature event was key to Farley’s success.

“i think we really pulled off an incredible be Fine day,” Gray said. “We were really proud of how much progress we made in terms of that signature event.”

a shared sense of community was also cited by Gray as a source of pride for the hall this year.

“We work[ed] with hall staff to really create a bond between Farley sisters,” she said. “it’s … people having strong relationships within the hall and caring about the hall so they come to events and participate in the community. You felt a really great presence on campus this year.”

Contact Lucas Masin-Moyer at lmasinmo@nd.edu

people wonder why folks do not tell someone or report.

s ome of the reasons are that victims are afraid people

“These numbers and reports represent actual members of our ND family who have been harmed — and the number should not matter. One is too many.”

Christine Caron Gebhardt director Gender Relations Center

won’t believe them and they will be judged.”

s tudents, faculty and staff are invited to sign up for d enim d ay at n otre d ame in s outh d ining h all at lunch

Tuesday by signing a pledge and receiving a sticker indicating their denim is worn as a statement against erroneous attitudes regarding sexual violence.

Gebhardt said students can take more initiative toward stopping victim blaming by taking the campus climate survey results and c lery a ct warnings seriously.

“ d on’t let people make a joke out of them,” she said. “These numbers and reports represent actual members of our nd family who have been harmed — and the number should not matter. o ne is too many.

“c ome to ‘Take b ack the n ight’ and hear the courageous stories of survivors. Let them know they are not alone. Learn the resources on campus to help someone harmed, but also get trained

on how to prevent these violations from happening in the first place.”

d enim d ay is an easy way for students and faculty to show their support victims, Gebhardt said. s he said although the campaign is a small step in the large fight against sexual violence, it is one that holds a lot of weight. “ i t is a step that carries the hope of a vision of a campus where no one can ignore the issue of assault ... where we stand against all forms of violence and we all do our part to prevent future harms,” she said. “ i t is how our campus becomes a Gree nd ot community. e veryone can do a green dot on Wednesday. Just wear jeans and take the d enim d ay pledge.”

Contact Selena Ponio at sponio@nd.edu

of my family and they killed my friends.”

b arankitse started an organization called m aison s halom, a home for orphaned children. i n addition to functioning as a living community, the home featured a school, businesses run by the children, a swimming pool and a cinema.

The swimming pool was built as sort of a “revenge” against the military, b arankitse said. a fter buying land for the construction of the pool, the m inister of d efense opposed her decision to use the area. The reason for his opposition was that the military had put the bodies of their massacre victims on the land.

h owever, she decided to build the pool despite this and invited military members to join her in clearing the land and swimming in the newly built pool.

“a t first, i invited the military to come, and we swam together and we cleaned our land … ” b arankitse said. “ i put a cinema, i put a library there and also a hall for waiting for friends to celebrate

research

con T inued from Page 1

along with their research team. The bacteria mycobacterium tuberculosis causes T b and secretes the e sx a protein, a key protein enabling the bacterium to cause disease, m atthew

a rtist

con T inued from Page 1

world. They also have the opportunity to ask the artists various questions about their technique, particular roles or scripts or shows, how to balance career and personal life and how to take the first steps after college.”

a ccording to the release, Whitaker trained with s econd c ity in c hicago and has toured with s econd c ity’s s hred c o. for the past three years. i n addition to her work as a performer, Whitaker is a freelance comedy writer for the card game, u tter n onsense: an i nappropriate a ccent g ame. c urrently, Whitaker is directing s aint m ary’s theater students in their spring

and to turn the page together.

“This was … because i want to show that it’s possible ... where there was much death, i wanted to put much life and celebrate together — perpetrators and victims together. ” Though she said she experiences anger at the injustices perpetrated throughout the world, b arankitse retains hope in g od’s love.

“To see, since i was young, to repeat always this war— massacres in r wanda, massacres in uganda—it’s a shame,” she said. “a nd then i feel in my heart a holy anger, but i am not bitter. b ecause i know that i will win. i know that love will win. We pass, but g od is an eternal love.”

e ventually exiled from b urundi by a government who tried to assassinate her, b arankitse moved to r wanda where she started a community center to help victims of mass atrocities heal.

“ i said ‘o h g od. i know that you give me … my mission. i went in the refugee camp. i have seen miserable, tortured children, raped women,’” she said. “Then i said ‘we are builders of hope.’ i decided to [build] a community center i called ‘o asis of Peace’ where people can come and express

c hampion said.

The study attempted to support the scientific community’s efforts to block the secretion of the e sx a protein which would then mitigate a T b infection and reduce the need for the bacterium to develop a resistance to antibiotics.

production, a play she wrote called “Lucky, Liar, Loser.”

The play will run from a pril 27-30 in Little Theater.

“Lucky, Liar, Loser” tells the story of the aftermath abuse takes on nine women, according to the press release. The play includes sketches, shadow puppetry and modern dance and includes choreography by h annah f ischer, a 2011 alumna.

“The play presents a uniquely complex mix of the serious and the comic that is always unexpected, creative and highly theatrical,” m ark a bram- c openhaver, associate professor of theater, said in the release. “‘Lucky, Liar, Loser’ is a sophisticated treatment of this emotionally charged and current subject matter.”

their suffering.”

b arankitse was also able to help students earn an education, she said.

“ i [have] sent more than 400 young students to the university in r wanda and 10 in f rance … “ she said. “ i want to create a community center where r wandans, c ongonese and b urundians

will celebrate the victory of the love over hatred.”

b arankitse said the most powerful and important force in life was love.

“The treasure we have it’s not houses, it’s not car[s], it’s our capacity to love,” she said. “ … With love, you can change the world. b ut with money, i don’t know.

“ i f you have no love, even [if] they give you the money, will you buy drug[s]? Weapons? You will destroy. b ut if you have love and they give you even one hundred dollars, then you [can] change the life of people.”

Contact Natalie Weber at nweber@nd.edu

Just keep running

Kathryn Marshall news Writer

r ight now, I can’t feel my legs. o r my feet for that matter.

In fact, I think I am currently in r unner’s heaven, a place where you can’t feel your legs, where the Gatorade is always cold, and where the weather is approximately 63 degrees with a light breeze.

If I’m in r unner’s heaven, then my body is somewhere on the avenue where I hit m ile 16. The girl wearing size 10 s aucony r ides? Yup, that’s me. b ecause I thought it would be a good idea to train for something called a ‘marathon.’

I find it extremely ironic that the term ‘marathon’ refers to a Grecian town where the Athenian army defeated the Persians during a battle in 490 bc . The word is accurate, because marathon training is definitely a battle.

e ach week, you push the body a little harder than it has ever been pushed before. A positive attitude is mandatory, because running with a grumpy self for two plus hours is miserable. I promise. naturally, that’s why you need an excellent training buddy. The weekly long run begins laughing at the previous night, and then ends cursing the previous night while scheming how to convince all your nonrunner friends to have a movie night next weekend that includes large bottles of water and bowls of pasta.

d espite being a mental and physical battle, marathon training is fun, I promise. A long run two weekends ago gave me an excellent excuse to experience sporadic torrential downpours and flash flooding in the streets of s outh b end. Why dance in the rain when you can run in the rain, am I right?

Training gives me plenty of time to think about the world. For example, I often find myself asking “Why?” First of all, why did Pheidippides have to run 25 miles to announce the victorious news to the Athenians? Were horses not an option? Also, why the additional “0.2?” Apparently that extra distance was added so runners would finish in front of the royal family’s viewing box during the 1908 London o lympics. e xcellent.

b ut then there is also the persistent question of “why not?” hundreds of thousands of people have raced this distance before me, my own mom included. I imagine there is something deeply satisfying about conquering the distance. It is as if the final 26.2 mile race is the runner’s own victory run, celebrating the previous eighteen week battle that made him or her stronger than ever before.

s o join me in putting your legs up and raising a Gatorade to the runners of the world, especially the runners who scare away the geese when I am running around the lakes. Keep up the good work, you are greatly appreciated.

Contact Kathryn Marshall at kmarsh02@saintmarys.edu

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

leTTer To THe ediTor

Hall of the Year

monday night, the hall Presidents council had the honor of announcing the 2016-2017 halls of the Year at the student Leadership Awards banquet. This was a year of abundant growth and firsts for hall Presidents council, as we welcomed two new halls into our residential life community. hall Presidents council would like to provide insight about this year’s residence life transformation up to and including the award determination. We, hall Presidents council, are a group of 30 sets of hall presidents and vice presidents that serve our individual halls and collaborate to cultivate the notre dame community. our executive board consists of six former hall presidents: co-chairs e lizabeth Feeley and christina Fernandez, athletics chair shannon r iley, finance chair carlos covarrubias, and social chairs cory Jbara and e llen mccourt. our purpose is not only to circulate information from other campus entities to the residence halls, but also to serve as a forum for collaboration and ideation. In creating a supportive environment throughout the year, we created a platform for candid discussion of hall community matters as well as opportunities for collaboration between halls, making our campus community feel more connected. In doing so, we hope to have facilitated the growth of notre dame students personally, as members of their hall community, and as members of the communities beyond the hall. hall Presidents council also allocates funding for signature events, and for the first time, this year we had every residence hall plan and execute a signature event, and some even executed multiple. This year, we had 61 signature events across campus, and 18 of these events were new. These signature events raised over $60,000 dollars for organizations locally and abroad while providing opportunities to unite our campus community.

This year, the hall of the Year calculation included 55 percent hall of the year presentation (47.5 percent presentation score, 5 percent hall council visit, and 2.5 percent resident testimonials) and 45 percent rockne (35 percent total of seven monthly rockne scores, 5 percent signature event form, and 5 percent favorite event form). Using this as a lens, the hall of the Year review board was able to understand how each unique hall community flourished this year. Final scores will be made available online.

The first award, Women’s hall of the Year, was awarded to Farley hall. Its approach to community-building began first and foremost with its residents this year, and the positive change that rippled from this strong community of women seemed almost effortless as a result. From “Girls night In” events to faith-based discussions led by residents each week, Farley consistently showed its dedication to the personal growth and development of each woman throughout the year. Its emphasis on unity is best reflected in the frequency with which Farley brought its residents together, whether to share a meal through family cookouts and community dinners or to participate in campus events through the always highly-attended walkovers. Farley succeeding in fostering a tight-knit community that constantly made residents want to engage with one another for the sake of sharing life together.

Farley hall collaborated with a number of other groups in its efforts to provide quality programming and affect positive change including the she’s the First organization, the order of dominican sisters, and its signature charity hannah and Friends. Farley also spent time welcoming others into its community by hosting faith based and social events with its brother and sister halls. This welcoming energy extended to the whole of campus and is most notable in Farley’s signature event, be Fine day. The intentionality shown by this hall in framing its event this year in an inclusive and positive manner sparked organic, meaningful conversations about human perception, mental health, kindness and much more. Thank you to Lauren suanee, Lydia Piendel and carly Gray for a truly fine year.

2016-2017 men’s hall of the Year was awarded to carroll hall. Its weekly men’s group which gathered every Wednesday to engage in discussion about the important issues in life, along with its weekly monday night prayer which capped off the first day of every week, truly targeted the hearts and minds of each resident. carroll’s

passion for others was evident in its service to the boys and Girls c lub twice a week. An area in which carroll showed great success was in using its amazing outdoor spaces to provide alternative programming for its residents. every Friday, carroll hosted cookouts on its front lawn. When it got too chilly for cookouts, they began hosting Tournament Fridays in which they held billiards tournaments, super smash bros. tournaments, and so on.

carroll did not shy away from showing its spirit and brotherhood to campus by hosting three signature events this year. It kicked off its term last spring with the secondannual Lakeside music Festival which they co-hosted with badin hall. In november, carroll co-hosted a sand volleyball tournament with Lyons hall in which it raised money for the notre dame veterans Fund. In december, it spread c hristmas cheer as they do every year by hosting carroll c hristmas. Furthermore, it proved to be the most collaborative hall by traveling to the third floor of each women’s hall and one men’s hall in order to share its intense Third Floor Abs workout regimen with the rest of campus. congratulations to Andrew rebholz and John mccormack along with the rest of the carroll hall community for an amazing year.

Finally, the 2016-2017 hall of the Year is stanford hall, led by Andrew Foster, matt Geenen, and George Krug. They began their term with two main goals: to establish a signature event that could become an annual tradition, and to provide more service opportunities for its residents. however, its two goals grew quickly into many more as stanford realized how it could effectively meet the needs of its residents. service opportunities in stanford grew exponentially with monthly opportunities available with the south bend center for the homeless and collaborative opportunities with circle K and the st. v incent dePaul society.

Programming toward personal development of residents and ensuring a variety of resident needs and interests were met was exemplary. This included a majors night where upperclassmen shared their wisdom with underclassmen about the majors available on campus, a weekly card night where residents gather after Thursday mass to play a variety of card games, and section snacks which provided opportunites for section bonding.

All forms of spirit were abundant in stanford hall this year whether it was athletic spirit or holiday spirit. The residents of stanford ensured that those who were staying on campus for Thanksgiving still had the opportunity to feel at home and surrounded by family by serving a home cooked Thanksgiving dinner. Around c hristmas time, stanford hosted a c hristmas party with its sister dorm, and also held an ugly c hristmas sweater contest within its community. stanford hall not only showcased its athletic spirit by supporting a variety of notre dame varsity teams, but also by taking the stadium by storm and claiming victory in the interhall football championship.

stanford hall strives to create men of virtue and has dedicated the last three months to the three qualities it believes cultivates a man of virtue: mind, body and spirit. To nurture the mind throughout the year, this hall hosted stanford series in which it invited special guests to discuss important issues with its residents. Furthermore, it hosted a T ed Talk event with its sister dorm. The importance of body was brought to life through its new signature event: The Irish Iron c lassic. This event is a weightlifting competition designed to promote a healthier lifestyle which was able to raise over $1,000 for the center for the homeless. stanford has just entered into its month of spirit in which it is focusing on being introspective and growing in its faith.

congratulations to these three halls and the remaining 27, each of which deserves genuine acknowledgement. We are grateful for all that you did to cultivate and transform our campus community this year. Thank you to all who contributed to hall Presidents council’s mark on notre dame for the 2016-2017 term.

Hall Presidents Council

Improving free speech at Notre Dame

Neil Joseph moderately opinionated

This past week, I finished my thesis on free speech on university campuses. When I started thinking about my topic, it was mainly focused on theoretical arguments about free speech. I realized, however, that I wanted the project to have some practical application. And thus, my thesis concluded with a set of recommendations for free speech policies that notre dame should pursue, a few of which I will outline below.

Safe spaces

much of my project consists of arguing for protecting speech on campus. Amidst this, I believe that there should be safe spaces on campus, which many think run counter to the idea of “protecting speech.” When used judiciously and correctly, however, safe spaces do not restrict speech in a significant way.

The constant push against safe spaces is based on the fact that safe spaces insulate individuals from arguments they may differ from or be offended by. And that is true. At notre dame, however, it is the responsibility of the institution to both promote freedom of expression and ensure that students are in an environment that allows them to take full advantage of the university experience. notre dame, for the most part, promotes free expression on campus (for one example, look at the open speaker Policy). A safe space does not hinder this free expression; it merely provides a place where students can go if they do not want to engage in dialogue. When used right, the university itself does not promote a specific ideal within a safe space — it just makes the safe space a

place where difficult arguments are not pursued. For one to encounter opposing viewpoints, one does not have to be subject to those viewpoints at every time, in every place, regardless of whether or not they want to. Importantly, however, safe spaces should be implemented with a caveat: they are only to be used if students temporarily want to retract from discussion, not as a way for students to fully and completely insulate themselves from difficult opinions.

Trigger warnings

surprisingly, notre dame has no official policy on trigger warnings, which is a hot-button issue around the country. similar to my recommended policy on safe spaces, the notre dame policy towards trigger warnings should be a restrained adoption.

Trigger warnings do have a vital use. certain writings can actually trigger traumatic events and have a negative mental or even physical impact on individuals. Far too often, however, trigger warnings are used to protect students from offensive or difficult topics. because of this, notre dame should consult with psychological experts to create a trigger warning policy that is centered on creating warnings where real trauma is actually triggered (which, admittedly, I have not done and thus cannot specify when this happens). Trigger warnings can protect students, but must protect students from psychological trauma, not difficult topics.

Discrimination harassment policy

one of my main recommendations was an amended discrimination harassment policy on campus. According to the current version of the policy, one can be subject to community standards repercussions if they make derogatory comments or insults at

individuals or groups, or if they display or circulate written materials or pictures that are offensive or degrading.

As it is written, the policy is far too broad and chills speech on campus. certain political groups on campus could feel like they would be punished for promoting a political view that others are offended by, or individuals may fear that their political opinions would be taken as derogatory by others. because of this, some may not speak their mind out of fear of punishment, limiting freedom of expression on campus.

The policy must be written much more narrowly. “discriminatory harassment” could be restricted to acts such as threatening language and direct verbal abuse. In writing the policy, the university must firstly define what is not allowed so that students know exactly what could be subject to community standards review. Then, notre dame must also restrain the policy to ensure that political opinions are not silenced because some could receive others’ opinions as offensive.

In addition to these three broad recommendations, I believe that notre dame should both make some subtle changes and also continue some actions that it has taken. obviously, I cannot write about all of them here.

Neil Joseph is a senior from Columbus, Ohio, majoring in Political Science and Economics. He hopes that you don’t use these articles against him when he’s running for School Board one day. He welcomes all compliments at njoseph2@nd.edu, and sometimes responds to those who criticize him.

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

The science of the syrian chemical attack

In 1938, a lab in Germany developed the chemical sarin for use as a pesticide. In 1939 the nazis began producing it as a potential chemical weapon; they never used it. In the 1970s the chilean secret police assassinated Pinochet’s enemies with it. In 1988 saddam hussein’s regime used it to massacre three to five thousand Kurdish civilians. It was used twice in the 1990s by a Japanese religious cult, killing 19. In 2013, bashar al-Assad’s regime used it in the syrian Ghouta attack, which killed somewhere between three hundred and two thousand people. And on April 4, 2017, the syrian government released it on the town of Khan sheikhoun. The death toll is hovering around 70. sarin is a nerve gas. In its vaporized, weaponized form it can be inhaled, or penetrate the skin directly or get into the eyes. It can persist in clothing for up to thirty minutes. It can kill someone in 10. It is colorless, odorless and tasteless. It is 50 more deadly than cyanide.

sarin works by over-stimulating muscles. It is a small molecule — three carbons, two oxygens, a phosphorous and fluorine — and a chemist would call it an organophosphate. sarin operates at a person’s neuromuscular junctions, the place where neurons tell muscles what to do. There’s a molecule in these junctions called acetylcholine, which acts like a molecular

on-switch. When released from a neuron, acetylcholine binds receptors on a muscle cell and tells it to contract. Then, acetylcholine gets degraded by acetylcholinesterase, and the muscle relaxes. Unless there is sarin present.

sarin binds acetycholinesterase, inhibiting it from degrading acetycholine. The on-switch stays on, and muscles contract again. And again. And again.

v ictims of the attack last Tuesday went into convulsions as their muscles could not stop spasming. some of them went into respiratory failure because their lungs could not exchange gasses fast enough to keep up. some of them lost consciousness as their bodies were exhausted. These are the people who died on Tuesday. reports estimate there were between seventy and one hundred of them; around thirty were probably children.

but sarin is not always fatal. If a patient exhibits the above symptoms, they will likely die within an hour. but if a patient is exposed to a smaller dose and they have different symptoms, they may survive. sarin attacks almost always leave more injured than dead; for example, the 1988 attack by hussein killed five thousand, but injured seven to 10,000 more. The matsumoto attack of 1994 killed eight people, and injured 200. In Khan sheikhoun right now, there at least 70 are dead, and 300-500 injured.

The non-fatal symptoms of sarin poisoning include severe headaches, exhaustion, blurred or teary vision, rapid breathing, excessive sweating, nausea, vomiting

and diarrhea. Aid workers reported that victims bled from the nose and mouth when oxygen was administered. severe muscle twitching is common.

There has been limited research on the long-term effects of sarin exposure. studies of the Japanese victims of the 90s noted abnormal brain activity for up to five years after the attacks. In most cases there was eventually complete physical recovery, although there may have been lingering psychological problems. The survivors in syria may have fewer problems from the physical effects of sarin than from the mental weight of watching their friends, family and neighbors writhing and gasping for breath as bombs fell from the sky.

That is the science of sarin. It is an organophosphate; it inhibits acetylcholinesterase and causes constant muscle contraction; its symptoms range from respiratory failure to nosebleeds, and the long-term neurological effects are unclear. It killed at least 70 people last Tuesday. now you know.

so what are you going to do about it?

Sarah Cate Baker is in her third year at ND, double majoring in biology and English. When she’s not in the lab pouring over viruses under a microscope, you can usually find her shooting caffeine in the Hesburgh basement, while she desperately tries to write papers and make deadlines. If you would like to question her sanity or her science, feel free to email her at sbaker6@nd.edu

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

Happy Birthday: Take your time and do things right the first time. d on’t feel pressured to make a move just because someone else does. research, educate yourself and weigh the negatives and positives carefully, but once your vision is clear and your mind is made up, act quickly. Partnerships will play an important role in the decisions you make and the direction you head. your numbers are 4, 13, 19, 27, 30, 34, 45.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): s crutinize any offer or information you receive carefully before you make a decision to get involved with someone that can change or influence your life. d o the best job possible and go about your business discreetly.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): l ook at what you can accomplish instead of laboring over what you cannot. staying positive and giving your all will help you avoid being criticized by people who like to meddle in other people’s affairs. d on’t overdo or overspend.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): your carefree attitude can get you into trouble if you believe everything you are told. b efore you offer to help someone, find out exactly what’s entailed and why you are being summoned to pitch in. refuse to be taken advantage of.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): c hoose to err on the conservative side when it comes to helping others, making donations or bringing about change. d on’t make decisions based on emotions or you will face partnership problems. c oncentrate on self-improvements rather than trying to change others.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): s hare your enthusiasm and you will get your ideas up and running. Altering the way you do things at home or at work may meet with some controversy, but in the end you will find a way to succeed.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): d on’t labor over what others are doing. l ook at your own responsibilities and get busy chipping away at what needs to be completed before the day comes to an end. Progressive action will result in satisfaction and achievements.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): you’ll be caught in the middle of an emotional meltdown if you don’t take time to deal with someone who is opposing your plans. If you offer explanations, the positive gains you make will cancel out any interference.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): speak up and let others know what you are thinking and how you feel. your words will have an impact that will bring about positive changes at home and to the way others treat you. romance is on the rise.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): l ook for any opportunity you can get to network. A change to the way you work is likely and should be handled with enthusiasm, not fear. Welcoming any sort of new beginning or change with open arms will ensure success.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): you will accomplish the most at home. Try not to venture into any situations that are unpredictable. d on’t feel like you have to follow someone just because he or she is your partner or friend.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): l ook for opportunities that will help you get ahead financially. A new position or investment prospect will be offered through an old friend or associate. Joint ventures are best handled conservatively. l ive within your means.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): b e cautious when asked to pitch in and help. d on’t let anyone take advantage of you without some sort of remuneration. b e open about what you want in order to avoid disappointment. d on’t promise anything you cannot deliver.

Birthday Baby: you are adventurous, outgoing and hardworking. you are opportunistic and persistent.

went on a 4-0 scoring run to take a lead they would not relinquish for the rest of the game. a lthough Wynne, Perkovic and sophomore i rish attack r yder g arnsey would score goals over the course of the rest of the half, the b lue d evils would add two more to their total to carry a 6-4 lead into the half.

d espite allowing the game’s opening score just a minute into the quarter, the b lue d evils dominated the shot column throughout the rest of the half, as they tallied as many shots in the first quarter (11) as the i rish did in the entire first half. h owever, g arnsey said he thought the quality of the team’s shots were high, but d uke’s senior goalkeeper d anny f owler made it difficult for the i rish to convert on those opportunities.

“ i really felt like our offense did a lot of good things, especially in the first half, but their goalie played well, and we had a tough time finishing,” g arnsey said. “ i n the second half, we just hurt ourselves, as we pressed a little bit too much when we found ourself in a bit of a hole.”

That “hole” to start the second half featured two goals by the b lue d evils within the first four minutes of the third quarter. a nd though the i rish were able to pick up one of their own, two more d uke goals over the course of the remainder of the quarter pushed the b lue d evils’ lead to 10-5 entering the game’s final quarter. g arnsey said the i rish offense didn’t make any changes that led to the struggles in the third quarter, but the unit pressed a little too much and was not as clean in executing the game plan as a result.

“[The offense] didn’t change that much honestly in the second half, especially when we were already getting a lot of good shots like we were in the first half [ s aturday],” g arnsey said. “When you act like you are running out of time and

pressing, then it’s really hard to be effective.”

The deficit would prove too much for the i rish to overcome, as they would outshoot the b lue d evils 13-5 in the final period on their way to a 3-1 scoring advantage, but still fell by a final score of 11-8. g arnsey said he thought the team could have done a better job of staying composed after falling behind early in the first quarter and finishing around the net, but he expects both of those areas to see improvement quickly.

“[We need to work on] maintaining our composure when we go down a few goals,” g arnsey said.

“With that said, i think we’ve done a good job of that historically in the 1 1/2 years i ’ve been here, so i don’t think that will be a problem. a lso, i think the guys that we count on to make plays and score goals need to do so. i think both myself and m ikey [Wynne] need to do a much better job of finishing around the goal. We had six shots from under six yards in the first half and only wound up with four goals, with two of them coming from outside of six yards.”

n ow, as the i rish prepare for a midweek game Tuesday night against an unranked m arquette squad — the first unranked team the i rish will have played in its last seven games — g arnsey said he expects the team to learn from its mistakes in its last two losses and execute better going forward.

“ i think we try to learn as much as we can from each game that we play, both wins and losses. i t’s just more obvious that you’ve got things to work on when you lose some games,” he said. “ i think we just need to make sure we actually have learned from the mistakes we’ve made in previous games and stick to the game plan that our coaches put forward for us.”

The i rish and the g olden e agles (6-3, 2-1 b ig e ast) will square off at 4 p.m. Tuesday at a rlotta s tadium.

Contact Ben Padanilam at bpadanil@nd.edu

M Bball

to take the court here and i am impressed with the way he has handled his decision.”

d ue to new rules implemented a year ago, c olson

W Bball

con T inued from Page 12

action in 22 games. Patberg only attempted 11 field goals throughout the season.

b oley saw action in 37 games and made 10 starts,

could have declared for the nba d raft without hiring an agent — as forward v.J. b eachem did after last season — and received feedback and maintained his eligibility. c olson, however, opted not to go down that path. i n c olson’s three years, the i rish have gone a combined 82-28, with an acc championship and two e lite e ights on the resume. i f n otre d ame wins 16 or more games next year, c olson and his classmates will stand alone as the all-time winningest class in school history.

playing an integral part in the offense after junior forwards Kathryn Westbeld and b rianna Turner went down to injury in January and m arch, respectively. b oley made a name for herself as a 3-point shooter, draining 47 threes on the year and

Paid a dverT isemen T

shooting .395 from behind the arc — a percentage which puts her second on the team behind sophomore guard a rike o gunbowale. b oley also collected 104 rebounds her freshman season. n either player has indicated where they will transfer.

Notre Dame heads to ACC Championships

By JACK CONCANNON sports Writer

b eginning this Thursday, the i rish will compete at the acc championship at the r eserve Golf c lub in Pawley’s i sland, s outh c arolina.

The 54-hole tournament features a loaded field that boasts five top-25 teams and eight top-50 teams, including fourth-ranked Florida s tate and 10th-ranked d uke. For notre d ame, who took home a 12th place finish at the b ryan national c ollegiate Tournament in its last outing and returns four golfers from last year’s lineup, the key is to make sure the team produces a consistent performance.

“We’ve had good play from everybody at times, we had even par or one-over-par rounds from everybody in our last tournament,” i rish head coach s usan holt said.“We need to develop our consistency. i f we can get that from everybody, every day, we can really compete.”

a t the beginning of the season, the team largely set its goals around the acc tournament. it’s a crucial event for the program every

year, and one that will largely determine how the season as a whole is remembered.

“it’s huge,” holt said on the tournament.“The acc is one of, if not the most, competitive conferences in the country. i f you can be competitive in this conference you’re in going to be in a great position nationally for sure.”

notre d ame will look to lean on its stars as it heads into acc tournament play.

Leading the lineup is e mma a lbrecht, who picked up an 11th place finish at the b ryan national c ollegiate, shooting an even-par 216 over the whole tournament.

a nd while the sophomore will certainly be called upon to produce, for the i rish to be successful, the whole team needs to deliver, holt said.

“e verybody needs to perform,” holt said.“You can’t put it all on one or two people to carry the load. e mma’s had a great semester. s he’s about nine-over-par for the whole semester, which is incredible. her highest round has been 74. i ’m happy for her, and this will be a great chance for her go head to head with some of the best

players in the country.”

This is also the final tournament for senior Jordan Ferreira, a four-year contributor for the i rish and a critical part of the team’s makeup. s enior Janie Fineis is also playing in her final tournament, and she’ll look to put forward a few good rounds to have a positive impact.

“Jordan’s been in the lineup since her freshman year,” holt said on Ferreira.“ s he’s had a really good, solid career for us. a nytime you play in every single tournament for four years, that means you’ve had a great career.”

it would be a success for the i rish to leapfrog any of the squads above them and put themselves in the top eight of the acc , as notre d ame has finished in the top six in two of the last three seasons at the acc championships, but have struggled this year.

The i rish open the first round on Thursday at the r eserve Golf c lub in Pawley’s i sland, with the final round set for s aturday.

Contact Jack Concannon at jconcan2@nd.edu

irish earn multiple top finishes

Observer Staff Report

o ver the weekend, notre d ame competed with some elite talent at the Lake natoma i nvitational in s acramento, headlined by no. 2 c alifornia and no. 6 stanford. The i rish put together two solid days of rowing with a couple of standout performances.

o n s aturday, the 2nd varsity Four of junior Lauren m atchett, senior k ate Trankina, junior Lauren mc k ee and junior meredith s wartz defeated stanford, s acramento state, and b oston University in e vent 10 with an impressive time of 7:24.33. a mong other races that morning and afternoon, notre d ame collected six second

place finishes and one fourth place.

The next day, notre d ame competed in three more races. This time, the 2nd varsity e ight boat of freshman m ara bhalla, junior c hristine s chindele-murayama, senior b ailey a menabar, junior e rin d olan, senior bridget a dam, senior moira h amilton, junior e lizabeth Walter and sophomore k elly Fischer led the charge to victory over Gonzaga and Uc F with a time of 6:39.32. a dditionally, notre d ame picked up two more second places.

The i rish next travel to c olumbus, o hio for the acc / big Ten d uel on s aturday — the penultimate tournament before the acc c hampionship.

M tennis

pair of kempin/broadus both lost by 6-3 scores.

sachire said his team will work on improving how they perform at the beginning of matches.

“The way we started matches was not where we needed to be as a group,” sachire said. “being really confident in what we do and how we want to start matches. We got off to some slow starts in a lot of our matches over the weekend, so if you play against good players and good teams, it’s not always easy to be in the comeback role. so just making sure every guy knows how they want to start matches and what he wants to do early on, and to do it with confidence and conviction.”

The i rish will be back in action this weekend when they travel to north carolina to face-off against conferencerivals d uke on Friday and north carolina on sunday,

and sachire said his team will spend time this week resting to re-energize for their weekend on the road.

“We’ve played a lot at this stage of the season,” sachire said. “a lot of the guys are in a good rhythm as far as hitting the ball. it’s more about recovery this week and being fresh as much as we can. We’ll travel down and practice at d uke on Thursday, so we’re probably looking at one day of good practice here on Wednesday. i think it’s just going over specifics and going over situational tennis and what are some of the patterns each guy wants to run in the biggest moments and make sure they’re locked in on the basics of how they want to play, and if there’s anything from a technical perspective that we want to tweak or help a guy work on, we can do that. We’re going to be really specific in our practices and then we’ll be back on the road on Thursday.”

Contact Michael Ivey at mivey@hcc-nd.edu

Irish look to move on from consecutive losses

By BEN PADANILAM e ditor-in- c hief

n o. 10 n otre d ame stumbled on the road this past weekend, falling for the second straight game to an A cc rival in an 11-8 loss to n o. 7 d uke.

c oming off a close loss to top-ranked s yracuse, the Irish (5-3, 1-2 A cc ) were looking to bounce back with a win over the b lue d evils (93, 2-1) at Koskinen s tadium on s aturday. And it appeared as though they were well on their way to doing that early in the first quarter, as Irish junior attack m ikey Wynne took a pass from senior midfielder and captain s ergio Perkovic and converted a behind-the-back shot into the game’s first goal less than one minute into play.

Yet the one-goal advantage would last less than six minutes for the Irish, as d uke

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nd splits contests in Florida

By MICHAEL IVEY sports Writer

notre dame spent the weekend down in Florida playing conference-rivals Florida state on Friday, and miami on sunday.

The Irish (12-9, 3-5 Acc) defeated Florida state 4-2 before losing to miami 4-3.

Against Florida state (148, 4-4), sophomore Grayson broadus won in straight sets 7-5, 7-5 to clinch the win. sophomore Alex Lebedev also won in straight sets 6-4, 6-3, while senior Josh hagar came out on top in his match 6-2, 6-3. senior eddy covalschi narrowly lost his match 7-6(0), 6-4, while freshman matt Gamble dropped his match 6-3, 6-3.

Irish head coach ryan sachire said he was impressed with the play of two of the sophomores on the team.

“both matches were super close, like they all are in our conference,” sachire said. “I think some positives were two of our sophomores, Grayson broadus and Alex Lebedev; both got back on the right track. both had been on a bit of a losing streak coming into the weekend, and both

Patberg, Boley announce decision to transfer colson to return for senior season

Observer Staff Report

Fresh off a first-team all-Acc season where he averaged a double-double, junior forward bonzie c olson announced monday that he would return to notre dame for his senior season.

“After a lot of discussion with my family and [head coach m ike brey] about possibly entering the nb A d raft this season, I have decided to pursue my dream of earning a degree from the University of notre dame and return for my final year of eligibility,” c olson said in a tweet. “I promised myself and my family when I committed to notre dame that I would earn a degree from the University and help lead the program to new heights. returning to play another season with my brothers and the possibility of hanging more banners in Purcell Pavilion and establishing ourselves as one of the best teams in program history is an opportunity

of a lifetime.”

Irish junior forward bonzie c olson implores the Irish crowd to cheer during notre dame’s 83-71 loss to West v irginia on s aturday at Keybank Arena

c olson’s usage rate increased dramatically during the 2016-17 season, and his stat lines progressed to reflect that; he averaged 17.8 points and 10.1 rebounds per game, both team highs, as he stretched his game behind the 3-point arc, shooting 26-for-60 (43.3 percent) on the season from deep. c olson signed off the 2016-17 campaign with a 27-point performance in the second round nc AA tournament loss to West v irginia, shooting 10-for-15 from the field including a 4-of5 night from deep.

“It is exciting to know that bonzie will be back for his final season,” brey said in a release. “he has an opportunity to finish his career as one of the best

of them got wins in both of their matches, so that’s something they can certainly build on and gain confidence from as the season continues on. so that certainly was a positive.”

In the doubles competition, the no. 1 pair of covalschi/hagar won 7-5, while the no. 2 pair of Gamble/Lebedev also won by a 7-5 score. The no. 3 pair of junior brendan Kempin/broadus dropped their match 6-1. Against the hurricanes (8-9, 2-6) on sunday, broadus lost the first set of his match 6-0, before coming back to win the final two sets 6-4, 6-4. cabrera (6-4, 6-2) and Lebedev (6-3, 6-3) both won their matches in straight sets. covalschi won the first set of his match 6-3 before dropping the final two sets 6-2, 6-4. hagar lost the first set of his match 6-4, before bouncing back to win the second set 6-4. hagar came up short in the third set 6-1. Gamble dropped his match 6-1, 6-4.

In the doubles competition, the match featuring the no. 2 pair of Gamble/Lebedev was discontinued as the no. 1 pair of covalschi/hagar and the no. 3

Observer Staff Report

Irish head coach m uffet m cGraw announced m onday that sophomore guard Ali Patberg and freshman forward e rin b oley would transfer from n otre d ame followed the end of the semester.

Irish freshman forward e rin b oley defends the paint against b oilermakers sophomore forward d ominique m c b ryde during n otre d ame’s 88-82 overtime win over Purdue on s unday at Purcell Pavilion. e mmet Farnan | The o bserver Irish freshman forward e rin b oley defends the paint against b oilermakers sophomore forward d ominique m c b ryde during n otre d ame’s 88-82 overtime win over Purdue on s unday at Purcell Pavilion.

Patberg missed her freshman season sue to a torn A c L and battled illness throughout her sophomore year. s he played 169 minutes in the 2016-2017 season and saw

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