Print Edition of The Observer for Monday, April 3, 2017

new administration transitions into term

Robinson, Blais reflect on year in office

By RACHEL O’GRADY a ssistant managing e ditor

Though outgoing student body president corey robinson’s time in office has come to an end, he and outgoing vice president becca blais used their term to begin a number of enduring initiatives — ones that would not have been possible without the duo’s focus on teamwork, robinson said.

“w ithout the team, none of this would have happened at all,” he said. “we couldn’t have done half of the things we did without the team. w hen you have extraordinary people who are passionate and highly capable, you get a great, see ouTgoing PAGE 4

Dance Marathon raises $133,363

By JORDAN COCKRUM news writer

on saturday, dancers at saint mary’s 12th annual dance marathon — which took place at holy cross college’s pfeil center — took all the right steps to raise $133,363 for patients at

riley hospital for children in indianapolis.

paige spears, senior and morale executive, said the event — during which participants stay on their feet for twelve hours — raised a record-breaking amount

see dance PAGE 4

Blais, Shewit discuss goals for upcoming year

By COURTNEY BECKER news e ditor

The notre dame student body gained new leadership saturday, as juniors becca blais and sibonay shewit took office as student body president and vice president, respectively. blais, who served as vice president for the past year, said the administration will spend a large portion of the rest of the semester focusing on training new cabinet members and “rebranding” student government — a movement inspired by the knowledge she gained over the past year about how members of student government can most effectively fulfill their leadership roles.

Office of Civil Rights launches investigation

Observer Staff Report

The united states department of education’s office of civil rights (ocr) is investigating the university for possible Title i X violations pertaining to two cases, according to documents obtained by The chronicle of higher education.

The more recent case was

opened by the ocr on dec. 23 and, according to the letter the ocr addressed to university president Fr. John Jenkins, “the complaint alleges that beginning in the 2015-2016 academic year, the university subjected a female undergraduate (student a) to discrimination based on sex. The complaint raises whether the university fails

to promptly and equitably respond to complaints, reports and/or incidents of sexual violence of which it had notice, including student a’s report of [redacted], thereby creating for students a sexually hostile environment.”

university spokesperson

3

nd community, visitors run holy half marathon

By COURTNEY BECKER news e ditor

around 1,700 notre dame community members and runners from across the country put their best foot forward while running in saturday’s holy half marathon and 10K, which took participants on a run throughout the university’s campus.

The event, which started as a lenten goal for a group of students 13 years ago, is always popular, senior and holy half controller Kelly Janakiefski said. This year was no exception, as all 1,700 registration slots were filled within a month of registration opening, she said.

“it [started out] very small, and it has exploded in

popularity,” Janakiefski said. “and i also think it’s fun because it’s so many seniors and so many notre dame students who never run anything in their life, and they’re like, ‘This is great. This is so fun.’ so it’s fun to see how engaged students are with the event.”

holy halF PAGE 4

Saint Mary’s President experiences dorm life

By NICOLE CARATAS senior news Writer

i n an effort to better understand the student experience, s aint m ary’s President Jan c ervelli gave dorm life the old college try, spending the night in a quad in Le m ans h all on Thursday.

“ s ince i began as President, i ’ve wanted to experience daily life in a s aint m ary’s dorm from a firsthand perspective,” c ervelli said. “ i received an invitation from juniors a bbie s pica, s am a llen and Katie Long to join them for a slumber party. i t was a great opportunity to see how our students live, learn and socialize in our residence halls and to personally experience if our dorms are meeting students’ needs and keeping them engaged.”

c ervelli said her night included a section event with the residents of the second annex in Le m ans, during which she was able to meet and talk with residents in the hall while celebrating one student’s birthday. c ervelli said she also brought her guitar and performed a number of Joni m itchell songs.

s pica, who lives in the

room c ervelli slept in, said she enjoyed the experience.

“ i t was so cool to see a social and human side of an administrator,” s pica said.

“ s he genuinely showed that she wanted to connect with us and that she likes spending time with students.”

c ervelli said her favorite part of the slumber party was interacting with students.

“ i really enjoyed the gathering of second annex residents, stopping by and checking out various rooms and chatting with students about a wide range of subjects,” she said. “a bbie, s am and Katie were warm and welcoming and made sure my every need was met, including giving me the most comfortable bed in their room. i learned about their studies, their hopes and dreams for the future and how dedicated they are to helping make the world a better place. i feel a special bond with these wonderful women.”

c ervelli said participating in the sleepover will help her better lead the c ollege.

“ i better understand the quality and depth of our students’ connection with one another,” she said. “ i saw

Paid a dverT isemen T

that the physical structure and layout of the historic building does a good job of accommodating students’ needs but that we need to make continuous improvements to Le m ans and other residence halls to keep the quality high. i learned that students really like living on campus and are mostly satisfied with their living environment and that the camaraderie between residents living on campus far outweighs occasional slow WiFi.”

The sleepover mostly consisted of talking about student life at s aint m ary’s, according to s pica.

“ i learned that President c ervelli is not only devoted to helping s aint m ary’s grow as a community, but i also learned that she cares about students on an individual basis,” s pica said. “ s he wants to know about personal lives of students, and i think that is unique because it makes us feel valued.”

c ervelli said she has received other invitations for sleepovers and hopes to make it an annual event.

Contact Nicole Caratas at ncaratas01@saintmarys.edu

“my past year has informed a lot of what i believe and a lot of what we’ve seen works and doesn’t work ... it allows us to skip a lot of the learning curve,” she said.

sophomore chief of staff Prathm Juneja said the shared experience he, blais and shewit have as part of notre dame’s student government has aided in a smooth transition process.

“everyone will always tell you that experience is the most useful tool,” he said. “ … combining the administrative aspects from our experience with our new perspectives on being productive and [what] being a voice for change can look like is where i think the diversity of experience comes in really well.”

one of the biggest projects for this year’s administration, blais said, is restructuring student government to function more effectively and efficiently.

“We’re tearing [student government] down and rebuilding it, pretty much, from the ground up,” she said. “it started with the executive cabinet, [which] was restructured to have a more efficient department system. so we actually have fewer departments, but the size of the departments will be larger, and they have more of an internal structure with commissionerships.”

While restructuring the cabinet was done with the long-term success of student government in mind, blais, shewit and Juneja selected people for positions within their administration carefully, considering how individuals could help them accomplish their goals, shewit said.

“We kind of kept in mind, the entire time, how much we want to accomplish,” she said. “ … so it’s very much that our platform mirrors the abilities of our department directors, of their commissioners and of their department members, too. so we’re widening the umbrella, but it’s in a way that matches what we plan to do this year, too.”

Part of that plan, blais said, includes making student government more visible on campus and improving communication throughout the entire student union.

“The rebranding is going to be the biggest thing,” blais said. “a nd that is a lot of what’s happening in this first month. We have to address that image of, ‘student government doesn’t

do anything.’ a nd so what we’re doing is actually trying to make a unified brand for the whole student union. because the student union, in total, is over 500 people.”

shewit said this project is already underway, and she pointed to blais’ restructuring of senate as an example of positive change in student government.

“as far as rebrand goes, i would say the biggest rebrand so far has been senate,” she said. “The way people look at senate and talk about senate is totally different, so now that i’ll be taking over, i just want to build on that momentum. … We’re trying to answer the question of how [we can] make this group the most reflective and representative of the notre dame community.” in addition to adjusting aspects of student government that are already in place, blais’ administration has also created positions to focus on new aspects of student life at notre dame, such as campus crossroads, which will open during her time in office, blais said.

“We created a new department called the department of student life,” she said. “ … We want to be constantly getting student feedback on campus crossroads, because — especially when it’s in its baby stages — we’ll have good opportunities to make adjustments.” at present and in the immediate future, student government is working with the university to improve aspects of student life, such as the moreau First-Year experience course, Juneja said.

“We’ve started a lot of meetings that have basically guaranteed us administrative response, which is really useful,” he said. “ i think the things that we want to get done this semester are student representation on a lot more things.”

The ultimate goal for the new administration, shewit said, is to positively impact students’ experiences at the university.

“if i was graduating and i could talk to someone who isn’t involved in student government at all, and they could tell me something that we did that impacted their time at notre dame, i would be so happy,” she said. “once the rumor is dispelled that student government doesn’t do anything because we are impacting individuals’ experiences at notre dame, then i will be happy. i will graduate and be on my merry way.”

Contact Courtney Becker at cbecker3@nd.edu

con T inued F rom Page 1

d ennis b rown confirmed n otre d ame is under investigation and the u niversity has complied with all requests for information from the ocr

“We have provided all of the information requested by the ocr and therefore there are no ocr investigation

requests currently pending with the u niversity.” b rown said in an email. “These matters, and the information we have provided in accord with the ocr ’s investigations into the individual complaints, are now being reviewed by the ocr .”

d ocuments have not been made available for the less recent of the two cases, which was opened by the ocr on Feb. 19, 2016.

Holy Half

senior volunteer mary Patano said she appreciated the opportunity to be involved with the holy half in more ways than just running the race.

“The holy half is just such a notre dame tradition, and if i were more athletic, i would participate in it, but i’m not, so i figure the next best thing is to volunteer,” Patano said. “a nd it’s also fun seeing the parents and the kids and everyone — young and old — coming to do this tradition.”

Without the work of volunteers such as Patano, the holy half would not be possible, Janakiefski said.

“[The volunteers are] absolutely huge,” she said. “We have a fairly small group of people who work on the holy half all year, but we get, on race day, upwards of 100 volunteers just for the day. They’re huge. We have to put them out on the course, they help us set up during the day and we literally could not do it without them.”

senior rachael mahle, who ran the half marathon, said the event is emblematic of the university.

“i think it’s cool that it brings together the entire notre dame community,” mahle said. “not just the students, but also i saw staff here — professors, people from st. Liam’s — and it’s also become a family event. … my dad came and ran it with me, and we actually got to run it together. i think that really embodies the community and family spirit of notre dame.”

Part of this spirit, Janakiefski said, is apparent in the number

of people willing to contribute to a good cause. This year the holy half will be making “meaningful donations” to four different notre dame-affiliated or south bend charities.

“The holy half is one of the biggest donators on campus, i think, to local charities,”

Janakiefski said. “ … We’re hoping to do a donation this year of over $50,000, which is incredible. a nd part of that is because students and people who come to run are willing to pay more because it’s a charity race, and it’s such a fun notre dame event.”

sophomore bill boehner, who ran in the half marathon, said he was excited to see the event in its entirety after last year’s holy half was cancelled due to a snowstorm the morning of the race.

“i couldn’t run it last year because it was snowed out, so i decided this is the year,” he said. “ … i liked how there were so many people around. The people definitely got me through the race. … it basically encompasses notre dame. We’re all active in the community and within our own community and the surrounding community.”

Janakiefski said she was grateful to everyone who helped make this year’s holy half a success.

“We knew what we wanted to do to do the best race possible, and i think it [went] really well,” Janakiefski said. “ … from the holy half, we want to say thank you to the students and to all of the participants who come to volunteer and who come to run, because they make the event possible.”

Contact Courtney Becker at cbecker3@nd.edu

both financial and emotional support to patients and medical staff at r iley hospital for children, spears said.

and still has to account for lastminute donations.

“This year, being on stage watching the hundreds of people dancing like nobody is watching for such an amazing hospital ... my heart has never felt more full,” spears said in an email.

according to spears, this year’s event raised about $25,000 more than last year’s, thanks to the executive committee for dance marathon.

“The 16 people on the executive committee with me are easily what contributed to our gain,” spears said. “These women have a passion people wanted to either enhance or emulate.” spears said serving as a morale executive enabled her to boost the energy and spirit of the marathon.

“i assisted those lovely ladies just with an immense amount of enthusiasm and positivity,” spears said. ‘it’s very easy for your feet to hurt, legs to shake and your mind to just want to go home, but one day of standing for 12 hours is nothing compared to what those children at r iley go through.” dancing for just one day lends

extraordinary product. That’s what i’m proudest of.”

blais said she was consistently impressed with the commitment every team member showcased in the past year.

“We have this incredible team in here that is so dedicated to other people and making their goals reality,” blais said. “it’s been really cool to see that in motion and the momentum that’s building for that.”

one of their major successes this year was changing the way student government worked at notre dame, blais said.

“student government is just different now, and i love that,” blais said. “i get reached out to by a different student at least several times a week. somebody will be like, ‘i’m really passionate about this. i really want to change this,’ and they really see student government as an avenue to make change, which is monumental.”

blais said she and her team understood the importance of contributing to sexual assault awareness on campus.

“i think three, four years ago, [sexual assault] was definitely a discussed issue on campus,” blais said. “but compared to

now, i think you could walk up to any student on campus and ask them what the three biggest issues facing students are, and one of them would be sexual assault. To have people cognizant of that, and not only recognizing it but moving into the steps of making a change, and getting involved … the progress has been really cool.”

robinson said he was proud of his involvement in increasing conversations about diversity.

“i mean that in the big sense of the word diversity,” robinson said. “We started off in the summer with getting to work on talking about police brutality, then moved into race relations, then we talked about undocumented students … it’s diversity in a lot of different aspects, and it was a constant conversation for a year, and, personally, that’s what i’m proud of.” reflecting on the year, robinson said the team “left it all on the field.”

“Like i said to the team, i’m just so proud of everything they’ve done, and i’m so thankful for being able to serve alongside them this year,” robinson said. “We gave it everything we’ve got, and to be honest, when you’ve given it all that you’ve got, and you did something that was really

worthwhile and matters, you can’t go wrong with that.” his only regret, robinson said, is that he and blais do not have more time in office.

“i walk away feeling like i did everything i possibly could have, but of course there’s things i wish we would have done more of,” robinson said. “i wish we could have gone to more club meetings, gone to the students, gotten more people involved in the process. i just wish we had more time.” robinson said he hopes the legacy he leaves assures students that their voices are powerful.

“You don’t have to wait until you graduate to make a difference,” robinson said. “That can be in anything. You don’t have to wait. You can act now. There are resources now. if you have a will and a passion, there is a way.”

The most important lesson robinson learned, he said, was being able to “live what you say.”

“i think trying to live that example, being intentional about what you do, is really important,” robinson said. “it all comes down to one thing for me, and that’s integrity.”

Contact Rachel O’Grady at rogrady@nd.edu

“it is a way to take a self-centric time of young adult’s life — college — and put their ends in a compassionate direction,” spears said. “[dance marathon] is a movement full of nothing but, love, support, hope, happiness and way too much fun. i feel that it is important for all these qualities to be more present in the world.”

To further this mission and movement, spears said committee members and executives try to accomplish more than raising money.

“We really focused on becoming a movement, more than a philanthropy,” spears said. “We aren’t just asking people for money. We are showing every child at r iley hospital for children how many people support them and realize how strong they are. i can’t imagine what those children go through, but if they ever need an extra push of strength and hope, they know saint mary’s dance marathon believes in them and knows they can get through it.”

Contact Jordan Cockrum at jcockrum01@saintmarys.edu

Liam Stewart c onservative c onscience

Martyrdom: the promise of jihad

An assignment at Iowa s tate University drew national attention last week, evoking outrage from conservative news outlets and right-wing groups across the country. The assignment asked International s tudies students to write a paper that “gives a historical account of 9/11 from the perspective of the terrorist network.”

Political pundits were quick to criticize the prompt as an abhorrent and thinly-veiled effort to advance a negative and deeply distorted view of the United s tates. The professor, a registered d emocrat and long-time lecturer at Iowa s tate, declined to comment on the assignment, although a University spokesperson did release a statement of support Tuesday morning.

While these criticisms of the professor’s motivations are almost certainly warranted, the assignment itself is not entirely without merit. Understanding the ideology that drives radical Islamists to commit acts of terror should be an integral component of any course that addresses this issue.

o f course, any attempt to rationalize or somehow validate this perverse ideology by conveying a distorted view of the U. s . and the Western world is utterly detestable. The portrayal of the United s tates as the ‘great s atan’ throughout much of the radical Islamic world has popularized antiAmerican sentiment and inspired decades of jihadist attacks. It is important that this not only be recognized, but also categorically and completely rejected.

It has been argued that the greatest threat to global security is not conventional interstate conflict or even the proliferation of nuclear weapons; rather, it is the threat of international extremist groups, radicalized individuals and transnational terrorist networks. The rise of I s and the frequency of radical Islamic terrorist attacks in recent years

would certainly seem to support this view. Given the severity of this threat, understanding the motivations of those responsible for the vast majority of global terrorism is crucial to defending against future terrorist attacks. Too often in hollywood, villains are portrayed as absolutely evil, driven solely by a desire to harm others — evil for the sake of evil. These characters are the typical ‘mustache-twirling,’ James b ond class of villain: usually a psychopath that prides himself on being the ‘bad guy.’ In reality, of course, this is rarely the case.

In a conflict, each side perceives itself as justified and fighting for what it believes is right. This is certainly also true of radical Islamic terrorists and the ideology of global jihadism. As difficult as it is for us to conceive, most of these individuals and groups perceive their actions to be moral and pious. d riven by an extreme and perverse interpretation of Islamic texts, jihadi terrorists justify their horrific acts under the banner of religious conviction.

v iolence, in the view of those radicals, is necessary to preserve the rule of Allah, promote Islamic fundamentalism and ultimately establish a worldwide Islamic state. Islamic militants commonly identify as martyrs and typically record ‘martyrdom videos’ to profess their beliefs and inspire others. The hijackers in the 9/11 attacks famously released a martyrdom video titled “19 m artyrs,” in which they claimed to be soldiers of the prophet mohammed.

m any of these terrorists consider the West to be godless, decadent and morally corrupt; others see the U. s .-led invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq as a profane imperial conquest. m ost adhere to a strict interpretation of the Islamic faith that is fundamentally opposed to mainstream Western values. This extreme interpretation includes a stringent enforcement of s haria Law that oppresses women, persecutes homosexuals and allows for the public execution of dissidents. It favors totalitarian theocratic regimes over democratic ones, fanaticism

over tolerance and brutal violence over political reform.

In 2014, I s declared itself an Islamic “caliphate” or dominion, having effectively seized most of Iraq and s yria. Its leader, b akr al-b aghdadi, proclaimed himself as a “caliph” — successor to the Prophet mohammed — and called on muslims everywhere to unite behind the newly-formed Islamic s tate. r estoring the Islamic caliphate has long been the stated goal of s unni-muslim extremists, most of whom consider it a sacred mission ordained by God.

This declaration led to a global increase in terrorist activity, including well-coordinated operations like those carried out in Paris, and lone Islamist attacks, such as the events of s an b ernardino, c alifornia, and o rlando, Florida. I s also began to cultivate a sophisticated and prolific propaganda machine to recruit and radicalize muslims internationally.

The importance of understanding and rebuking the motivations of these terror groups cannot be underestimated. To ignore the ideology of radical Islamic militants — or simply portray terrorists as mentally-deranged, evil psychopaths — is irresponsible and disingenuous. The war on terror is, at least to some extent, less of a military conflict than it is an ideological one.

As the leader of the free-world, and the greatest beacon of hope and freedom on e arth, it is incumbent on the U. s . to lead the fight against terrorism and completely eradicate the ideology of radical jihad.

Liam Stewart is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Letters majoring in political science. Liam was born and raised in the beautiful Irish city of Dublin, although he has been proud to call Seattle home for the past six years. He enjoys country music, hardback books and binge-watching TV shows. He can be reached at lstewar4@nd.edu

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

The importance of adoption

Last Wednesday, notre d ame r ight to Life hosted an event to pack backpacks for foster children in the s outh b end, Indiana, area. s omething as little as packing backpacks with arts and crafts supplies and blankets is important because it allows for children in transient circumstances to have something material to call their own. It is a small way for us as a club to recognize the dignity of these children. In this small way, we let them know that “You Are Loved.”

This was the theme of our club last week: “You Are Loved.” We want to demonstrate how we genuinely care about the lives of others, especially those in most need of care. When talking about basic human needs, what comes to mind are needs of safety and physiological needs. however, what can be overlooked is how instrumental love is as

a need, especially in development and childhood. m y summer service learning project going into my junior year was spent at the Astor home for c hildren & Families. I spent most of my time there in gym class with children who have mental health problems stemming from emotional trauma as a result of abuse or neglect. What stuck with me that summer was how much love and sound structure in the family unit were essential to the success and growth of children. A primary factor for why these children had these problems was because they did not have someone to love them and care for them.

Although the cases I saw that summer were more extreme, I learned that more needs to be done to aid in the lives of all children in similar circumstances to these. Advocate for better policies in our country for children and adoptive parents, or

donate to organizations that have resources to help these children. I challenge you to be open to adopting children in your life or fostering a child. We’re a human family. Too often, that gets overlooked. To be authentically c hristian means to love your neighbor. Foster care and adoption directly participate in what it means to love one’s neighbor. The interaction can be a complete gift; it would be a gift that goes both ways. I challenge you to be open to the idea that someone else’s child could be a gift to your own life. You can give a child love who, in some cases, may not have even known what love is. What greater gift is there than that?

Happy Birthday: set sail. go to places that will help you get a better understanding of who you are and what you want out of life. rely on your intelligence and fortitude to see matters through. don’t settle for less when you are capable of more. live, learn and do what feels right to you. don’t take a step back to accommodate your competition. your numbers are 5, 16, 20, 27, 35, 38, 47.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Invite change, but be fully prepared to see matters through to the end. live life your own way and take on challenges that will help you accomplish your goals. let your life experiences and your determination lead the way.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): get involved in current affairs and community events. you can make a difference if you stand up and express your opinions. not everyone will agree with you at all times, but you will gain ground and make others realize that there are options worth considering.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): say what’s on your mind when dealing with important relationships. clear the air and make way for better days ahead. once you are on the same page as those you love and cherish, it will be much easier to achieve happiness.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): don’t reveal personal secrets or your intentions unless you are prepared to follow through. causing problems due to changes going on around you will not solve your problems. do your best to maintain an inexpensive yet suitable lifestyle.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): be a participant. stand up for those less able than you. do your part and make a difference. your strength and courage will give you the edge you need to separate yourself from any competition you face. live life your own way.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): use incentives to get your way. your persuasive overtures will make others question whether they can move forward without you. A physical challenge will do you good and help you raise awareness about your concerns.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): sometimes love hurts. don’t let emotional matters spin out of control. A personal affront is likely unintentional. remain composed and protect your heart, your physical wellness and your possessions from anyone who causes you grief.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): explore your options and look for ways to boost your income and lower your overhead. Taking care of personal issues before they escalate is in your best interest. use your intelligence and ability to play on others’ weaknesses. romance is highlighted.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): you can bring greater stability to your personal life if you make a commitment or follow through with a promise you made. Working alongside the ones you love will bring you closer together. A joint venture will pay off.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): your intelligence coupled with your innovative ideas will help you discover talents you didn’t know you had. Indulge in pastimes that bring you joy, knowledge and something to look forward to, and you will create a happy and prosperous future.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): opportunity is within reach. A moneymaking venture looks promising. use your ingenuity and work alongside someone who is as inventive and creative as you. A networking opportunity is encouraged and love will result from your achieving greater personal stability.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): you’ll have to rely on common sense and facts in order to avoid an emotional situation at home. Working alongside others will be challenging, but also the quickest route to reaching your goals. keep the peace, but don’t tolerate lying.

Birthday Baby: you are smart, versatile and entertaining. you are outgoing and progressive.

Someone will sign Kaepernick

Brenna Moxley Sports Writer

It is very unusual for a 29-year-old quarterback with the ability of Colin Kaepernick to remain unsigned. He is a seasoned quarterback who has experience playing in the Super Bowl and has amassed a passer rating of 88.9 over his career. This is the 17th best mark of all-time, ranking above respected, signed starters such as Eli Manning and Joe Flacco.

Kaepernick’s demand to start, and to be paid accordingly, limits his chances to sign with teams like the Panthers, who need solid backups for established starters. Additionally, teams are unsure of Kaepernicks’s commitment to football due to his off-the-field behavior. One concern is his vegan diet because, although other players have restrictive diets, very few players go as far as being strictly vegan. For example, Tom Brady is vegan for most of the year, but he adds lean meat to his diet during the winter months. Kaepernick struggled to maintain his weight during last offseason, and building strength is vital for an NFL quarterback.

The Chicago Bears signed Mike Glennon to a threeyear, $45 million contract early in the free-agency period, and they have plans to start him. Kaepernick has better career numbers and reportedly only wants $9 million per year, so why wouldn’t the Bears sign a quarterback who is better on paper and wants less money?

First of all, Kaepernick is viewed as a distraction because of his outspokenness on political issues: Browns’ left-tackle Joe Thomas tweeted on March 25 as to why the Browns won’t pick up Kaepernick even though the team has been in dire need of a quarterback since 1999: “Teams don’t currently view him as a starting QB, and NFL teams accept ZERO distractions from their backup QBs.” However, teams have put up with Tim Tebow — a third stringer — who brings loads of media personnel and attention everywhere he goes. Also,

Ninth inning lifts Arizona over Giants in opener

controversial figures such as Michael Vick, Vince Young and Jeff Garcia earned places on teams after gaining negative attention and causing significant distractions for their teams.

The sad truth is that if Kaepernick were a distraction for other reasons — such as getting arrested for DUI or failing a drug test — he’d be on an NFL team right now, guaranteed. Instead, he is a distraction because of his views on something controversial. As a result, he is stuck without a job for which he is clearly qualified.

Overall, the quarterback market will determine Kaepernick’s fate. Late in the free-agency period, there will be teams with holes and they will take a better look at him.

Will his political views and protests factor into teams’ decision-making?

Absolutely. But that won’t be enough for teams to avoid him.

In the end, teams want to win, and they will sign Kaepernick if he gives them the best chance to do that. If he loses, the team will cut its ties after a single season, and Kaepernick will struggle in the subsequent freeagency period. On the other hand, fans will overlook his political drama if he wins, and he may be able to build a solid career with a team.

NFL teams are smart marketers; they will find ways to sell a player to the public. For example, teams are currently trying to figure out ways to draft and sell Joe Mixon — a former Oklahoma Sooners running back known for knocking a woman unconscious — to their fan bases. Teams will do just about anything to sign the talent they want, appease their fan-base and, most importantly, win football games.

Kaepernick will end up on a team this season, and if he can prove himself as a winning quarterback, his team and its fans will finally accept him as their leader.

Contact Brenna Moxley at bmoxley@nd.edu

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

Associated Press

PHOENIX — Two big swings from Madison Bumgarner were undone by another bullpen meltdown in a wild opener for the San Francisco Giants that looked an awful lot like last season.

Chris Owings singled home the winning run and the Arizona Diamondbacks scored twice with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning off new San Francisco closer Mark Melancon for a 6-5 victory Sunday.

Derailed by a dreadful relief corps last year, the Giants started this season the same way — even after trying to fix the problem by bringing in Melancon on a $62 million, four-year contract.

Bumgarner retired his first 16 batters and became the first pitcher to hit two home runs on opening day. He struck out 11 with no walks in seven innings — all for naught.

Arizona got a double by Jeff Mathis and three singles after Melancon (0-1) retired his first two batters in the ninth. A.J. Pollock singled in the tying run, and Owings dumped a base hit into right field to end it.

The Giants had 32 blown saves last season, including nine in September. In their final playoff game, Bochy went through

nhl | SHARKS 3, CANUCKS 1

five relievers in the ninth inning against the Chicago Cubs, and San Francisco was eliminated from its NL Division Series after allowing four runs for a 6-5 defeat.

That led to an offseason overhaul in the bullpen, headlined by the arrival of Melancon as a free agent. He saved 98 games over the past two seasons, most in the majors.’

“You never really want to start it off this way, especially after a heck of a performance by Madison,” Melancon said. “This was one of the more impressive games I have seen by anybody. I really wanted to cap off a good start by him. Obviously, it didn’t go that way.”

New Diamondbacks closer Fernando Rodney (1-0) gave up a run but escaped a bases-loaded, one-out situation to get the victory.

It was an emotional debut for new Arizona manager Torey Lovullo, the former Boston bench coach who had many family members in the crowd and thought often of his father, television producer Sam Lovullo (Hee Haw), who died earlier this year.

“It couldn’t have been scripted any better,” Lovullo said. “The walk that we’ve been walking, the concepts that we’ve laid on

these guys, they went out there an earned every part of that victory.”

The Diamondbacks lost 93 games last season.

San Francisco took a 5-4 lead when Joe Panik led off the ninth with a triple and scored on pinchhitter Conor Gillaspie’s sacrifice fly.

Bumgarner’s line-drive homer off Zack Greinke put the Giants ahead 2-0 in the fifth. The pitcher’s second solo shot, off lefty Andrew Chafin, broke a 3-all tie in the seventh.

“That is obviously pretty special, having the chance to do that and for that to happen,” Bumgarner said, “but my job is out there on the mound. That is where my concern is at.”

Bumgarner has 17 career home runs, three last season.

Mathis broke up Bumgarner’s perfect-game bid with a one-out triple into the left-field corner in the sixth. Mathis scored on Nick Ahmed’s pinch-hit single, and Pollock — who missed virtually all of last season with a broken elbow — followed with a tworun homer just over the left-field fence that tied it at 3.

Greinke was limited to five innings due to a high pitch count. He allowed two runs on four hits, striking out four and throwing 92 pitches.

Hertl, Jones power Sharks to win over Canucks

Associated Press

VANCOUVER, British

Columbia — Tomas Hertl scored twice in the first period and Martin Jones made 29 saves as the San Jose Sharks beat the Vancouver Canucks 3-1 Sunday after losing Joe Thornton to an apparent injury to his left leg.

Patrick Marleau scored an empty-netter and Jannik Hansen picked up an assist in his return to Vancouver for the Sharks, who have won 11 straight regular-season games at Rogers Arena dating back to Jan. 21, 2012.

Sven Baertschi scored for the Canucks and Ryan Miller finished with 22 saves.

Already missing center Logan Couture because of a facial injury, Thornton crumpled to the ice with

about three minutes left in the first when he ran into Vancouver forward Michael Chaput from behind. The 37-year-old managed to get to the San Jose bench under his own power, but couldn’t put any weight on his left leg and had to be helped to the locker room.

Vancouver, 2-9-2 over its last 13, is set to miss the postseason for the third time in four years and has not won at home since Feb. 18, going 0-8-3 since. The Canucks’ last win in regulation at home came Jan. 20 against Florida.

Hertl opened the scoring with his first goal in 17 games nine minutes into the opening period on a weird sequence. Vancouver forward Drew Shore was stripped in his own zone, with the puck eventually finding its way to Mikkel Boedker.

His initial backhand was stopped by Miller before Hertl popped home the rebound for his ninth of the season.

The Sharks’ forward then made it 2-0 just under two minutes later when Marc-Edouard Vlasic’s point shot hit Canucks defenseman Alexander Edler in front and bounced right to Hertl, who buried his second past a helpless Miller.

Jones, who came in just 1-5-0 over his last six decisions with an .856 save-percentage, wasn’t overly busy, but had the shutout bid broken with 3:53 left when Baertschi’s weak shot leaked under his arm for his 18th.

The Canucks pressed late, but Marleau sealed it into an empty net — his 27th goal of the year — with 2.6 seconds left.

answered with another to make it 5-3.

Freshman attack Jessi m asinko scored a goal, assisted by Fortunato, who then added one herself to tie the game. The i rish struggled to gain momentum, however, as n orth c arolina added four more to push the lead back in favor of the visitors. s enior attack Grace m uller managed to score an impressive behind-the-back shot to give the i rish a spark just before the half ended, and Fortunato had a chance from distance as the half expired, but her shot was saved to see the i rish enter halftime down 9-6.

“o ffensively i think we saw some moments of really great spurts,” h alfpenny said. “Unfortunately against the style of defense they were playing, which was a little bit of denial on certain players, they limited some of the looks that we really like and i think that we got caught looking for options as opposed to taking lanes that were open, and for that we paid for.”

i n the second half, U nc came out with two early goals to push the lead to five, and Fortunato answered six minutes into the half with her third goal of the game and 42nd of the season. The i rish tried to get back into the game, and both teams forced

m Golf

con T in U ed F rom PaGe 12

to knock those errant shots down. i n fact, the course famously has only one tree, referred to as the “Lone Fir.” i rish sophomore Kevin c onners will make his debut

turnovers and had chances. b ut the next goal did not come until there were just under 11 minutes left in the game, as n orth c arolina captain and senior attack m olly h endrick scored after a U nc timeout to make the score 12-7.

The Tar h eels followed with another three goals to push it to 15-7, and although the i rish called a timeout, they struggled to find the back of the net and spark the game back to life. a lthough midfielder a lex d alton and attack h eidi a nnaheim, both seniors, added two late goals for the i rish, U nc scored again with 37 seconds left to seal the win. The Tar h eels took more shots and won draw controls than the i rish, and despite a career performance from Giacolone, who set a career-high with 18 saves, in the end it simply was not enough.

“We got some decent possessions and some great looks; we just couldn’t quite solve it,” h alfpenny said.

“We’ll go back to the drawing board and work on it, but i ’m excited about where this team is headed. i think we’re still figuring things out, and that’s okay, we’ll get some players back from injury in the foreseeable future, and i think that will help us with our depth, and we’ll grow from this one for sure.

We’re able to take away a lot of positives, and we have some things that we need to

at the event. The i rish squad will be rounded out by sophomores b en a lbin and m iguel d elgado, freshman d avis Lamb and senior b lake b arens.

The i rish will tee off in the r edhawk i nvitational at c hambers b ay Golf c ourse on m onday.

fix, but i ’m excited for this group. i t was a great opportunity today to get better, and i think we’ve identified things we want to get better at, and

there’s a lot of positives.” n otre d ame next plays Thursday in a non-conference clash with Kennesaw s tate in a tlanta’s Fifth Third b ank s tadium. First draw is scheduled for 1 p.m.

Contact Tobias Hoonhout at thoonhou@nd.edu

fired off 30 — was time of possession.

both teams traded scores in the first quarter, which was highlighted by i rish sophomore midfielder brendan Gleason’s two goals. The e ssex, vermont, native opened up the scoring halfway through the opening quarter by taking a pass from sophomore attack r yder Garnsey and converting it into a score from about 10 yards out. i n the last four minutes of the quarter, the o range scored three goals, but the i rish added on a couple more to keep the score tied, 3-3, heading into the second quarter.

That’s when syracuse made an adjustment that notre dame struggled to defend.

e ach time the o range took possession, they moved the ball around the entirety of the field, forcing the i rish to exhaust their efforts defensively for minutes at a time. despite notre dame’s tight defense, syracuse made timely passes and took accurate shots that earned it the lead.

a fter a score from notre dame to open the second quarter, syracuse’s patient offense went on a 4-1 run. heading into the second half, the o range outshot the i rish 23 to 13, which gave them a 7-5 lead at the break.

“They kept the ball away from us for a good part of the second quarter, and i think our guys got — for a lack of a

W Tennis

a really good job of coming back. We had three matches where we lost the first set and came back and split and went into the third set. We

better term — greedy offensively,” i rish head coach Kevin c orrigan said. “We were getting good things early in possessions, and sometimes when you’re getting good things early in a possession, it makes it hard to wait for a great thing. That’s what we needed to do. Just to be able to play more offense and really just be a bit more efficient.”

down 9-6 in the third quarter, the i rish offense found its spark when sophomore midfielder Timmy Phillips took a pass from Garnsey and scored a flashy, behind-the-back goal five yards away from the goal. a bout two minutes later, Garnsey — who was held scoreless throughout nearly three quarters of the game — maneuvered past his defender to get a clear shot in the middle of the field, which went in for a goal.

To end the quarter, i rish captain and senior midfielder s ergio Perkovic muscled his way past two defenders and launched a shot right into the top left corner of the syracuse net to tie the game at nine. With each goal, the over-capacity crowd’s cheers grew with intensity.

c orrigan said the team’s late third quarter run was just another example of how composed and experienced notre dame is as a team, despite a three-goal deficit.

“We knew that it was going to be a close game,” c orrigan said. “i don’t think we felt any insecurities about where we were at that point, but again,

won only one of those three sets, but it was key to keep the match going. i just felt like we did a good job of adjusting to playing indoors on a fast court.”

Louderback said he has liked the improvement he has seen from his team’s

we felt like — in the second quarter, i think they had 14 shots, [and] we had four. You can’t win many games when you get outshot by 10 shots in a quarter. We knew we had to even that.”

i n the final quarter, however, the i rish were only able to muster up enough offense for one goal. syracuse scored two goals, including mariano’s fourth with 8:42 left in the game. c oming out of a timeout with 12.4 seconds left, the i rish

doubles play.

“We’ve been focusing quite a bit really the entire semester on our doubles and i feel like it’s payed off,” Louderback said. “We’re playing better doubles right now and i think that’s one of the things we’re working on. a lso from here on out, most of our matches will probably be outdoors, so we’re working on trying to get out and play in the elements a lot more than we have in the past. s o we’ll practice outdoors now a lot more than we have in the past, just so we can get used to the elements outside.”

Louderback also said he liked how the back end of his team’s singles lineup played.

“ d uring the last couple of matches, we haven’t really won as much as we did earlier in the year in the bottom of our lineup, the four, five and six spots, so it was really good to see our bottom carry us, as those three all won,” Louderback said. “Those were the three singles matches we won. s o i really felt like our depth helped us a lot this last match.”

n otre d ame will be back in action Friday afternoon as they host conference-foe d uke at c ourtney Tennis c enter, beginning 4 p.m.

held the final possession of the game with a chance to send it into overtime, but Gleason was knocked to the ground after contact, which caused a loose ball that syracuse was able to pick up to end the game.

“They just made more plays at the end of the game,” senior goalie shane doss said. “i think they possessed the ball well — i don’t think we had a lot of time on offense — and they did a good job of that.”

Four of the last five matchups

for the i rish resulted in a onescore game, and three of the last four games finished with an 11-10 score, with two of them being losses. With the loss, the i rish drop their first conference game of the season, but they will have a chance to rebound with another acc matchup s aturday against d uke on the road, beginning at noon.

Contact Manny De Jesus at mdejesus@nd.edu

The i rish will then host n o. 4 n orth c arolina on s unday.

Louderback knows how difficult these next few matches will be for the i rish.

“We’ve got two tough matchups coming up, probably the two best teams in the acc will be here this weekend, n orth c arolina and d uke,” Louderback said. “We’re very excited to play

the top two teams, and right now we’re just getting ready for both of them. That’s our big thing is having a chance to play the top two teams and going out and playing loose and i feel like we have a chance to go out and do well this weekend.”

Contact Michael Ivey at mivey@hcc-nd.edu

men’s lacrosse | syracuse 11, nd 10

Top-ranked Irish slip up against Orange at home

By MANNY DE JESUS sports Writer

In what turned out to be its fifth straight one-goal victory, no. 4 s yracuse squeaked by no. 1 notre d ame at a rlotta stadium on s aturday, winning 11-10.

Led by senior midfielder n ick m ariano, who scored a game-high four goals, the o range (7-1, 3-0 acc ) gave the Irish (5-2, 1-1) all they could handle offensively. o n paper, the game was just about evenly matched: The o range committed nine turnovers, while the Irish recorded 10. s yracuse had the advantage on ground balls, winning 21 to notre d ame’s 19, and notre d ame won 13 of the 24 faceoffs on the day.

however, what separated the o range from the Irish besides the number of shots taken — s yracuse recorded 38 shots, while notre d ame

see m Lacrosse paGe 11

|

no. 2 unc takes down squad

By TOBIAS HOONHOUT a ssociate sports e ditor

Facing perhaps their biggest test of the season so far, the n o. 13 Irish battled hard against n o. 2 n orth c arolina at a rlotta s tadium on s unday, but in the end fell short 16-9 as the Tar h eels maintained a perfect 7-0 lifetime record against n otre d ame.

For Irish head coach c hristine h alfpenny, n orth c arolina’s ability to control the game is what made the difference.

“The pressure they put on teams in the ride, the relentless pressure is outstanding, and the draw game is very, very good,” she said. “That credits [ unc senior attack] s ammy Jo Tracy and [junior midfielder] m arie m c c ool. They do a fantastic job of coming up with the ball and kind of forcing you into a make it-take it game. b ecause they got into that run in the second half, that made it

doubles play helps nd edge hokies

By MICHAEL IVEY sports Writer

Friday, n otre d ame defeated v irginia Tech 4-3 in an acc road match at b urrows- b urrleson Tennis c enter in b lacksburg, v irginia.

In the singles competition, sophomore r achel c hong won her match for the Irish (16-3, 7-2 acc ) in straight sets 7-5, 6-0, while senior m ary c loss also emerged victorious 6-4, 6-2.

Freshman Zoe s pence came up just short in the first set of her match 7-6 (10-8), but she was able to bounce back and win the final two sets 6-3, 6-1. Junior b rooke b roda dropped the first set of her match 6-1 and recovered in the second set, winning 7-6 (9-7). h owever, she lost the final set 7-6 (7-3), ultimately losing the match. Junior a llison m iller lost her first set 6-3 but bounced back to win the second set 6-1. In the third and decisive

set, m iller dropped a 6-1 decision. s enior m onica r obinson came up short in her match 6-3, 6-1.

In the doubles competition, the n o. 2 pair of b roda and m iller won a close 7-6 (7-4) match, while the n o. 3 pair of senior Jane Fennelly and s pence also came out on top by a score of 7-5. The n o. 1 pair of c loss and r obinson dropped a 6-2 decision.

Irish head coach Jay Louderback said he liked how his team adapted to

playing indoors.

“We played indoors at v irginia Tech (7-9, 0-7 acc ) and their indoor courts are very fast and we were worried going in about playing on fast courts,” Louderback said. “I thought our team handled going in on fast courts really well. We won the doubles points, so we started off 1-0, and then we got down in almost every singles match and did

see W TennIs paGe 11

notre dame heads to c hambers bay

Observer Sports Staff

really difficult for us in regards to the possession game, so you have to credit them for that, winning the draw 17-10 and the score’s 16-9. That’s kind of where we see the game won and lost for us.”

The first half saw the Tar h eels (11-1, 4-0 acc ) open the scoring just 35 seconds in, as Tracy ran right down the middle of the field and beat Irish sophomore goalie s amantha Giacolone to give the Tar h eels the early lead. b ut n otre d ame (9-5, 3-2) responded with a methodical approach on offense, as senior captains attack c ortney Fortunato and midfielder c asey Pearsall both scored to put the Irish up by one. unc , who leads the acc in goals per game, countered with three consecutive goals, leading to an Irish timeout. Pearsall scored again after the break to cut the deficit to one, but the Tar h eels

McGraw makes Hall of Fame

Observer Sports Staff

Irish head coach muffet mcGraw added yet another — and perhaps her most impressive — accolade to her coaching resume saturday, as she was named a member of the naismith memorial basketball hall of Fame’s 2017 class.

a fter a brief rest coming off a trip to the Georgia s outhern s chenkel Invitational, the Irish head west to compete in the r edhawk Invitational, which is hosted by s eattle. This year marks the first time the Irish will compete in the event. The field boasts four teams who are ranked in the top 60 teams in the country: n orthwestern, Iowa s tate, byu and T cu

Invitational two weeks ago.

The field is rounded out by a labama s tate, a rkansasLittle r ock, c ampbell, d ePaul, Grand c anyon, Loyola m arymount, o hio, Princeton, s acred h eart, s eattle, s tetson and Louisiana- m onroe. o hio is coming off a fifth place finish at the m ission Inn s pring s pectacular, where T cu took first place, and Iowa s tate placed sixth in the a rizona s tate Thunderbird

The r edhawk Invitational is set to be held at c hambers b ay Golf c ourse in u niversity Place, Washington. The course presents a distinctive test for the Irish, as its unique layout and links style has proved an obstacle for those who have crossed its path, such as the professionals on the PG a Tour — many of whom have criticized its layout. c hambers b ay was

the site of the 2015 u s o pen, which Jordan s pieth won with his score of 5-under par. The course can play anywhere from 5,100 to 7,500 yards with fast greens and fairways surrounded by fescue. Furthermore, the course sits right on the water, offering another hazard for competitors, especially with winds blowing shots out of play and without trees

see m GoLF paGe 10

mcGraw is the sixth-winningest female coach in women’s basketball history, and her career record of 853-227 ranks her as the 10th winningest coach of all time. her 765 wins at notre dame makes her the winningest single-sport coach in the university’s history. although she is notre dame’s seventh inductee into the naismith memorial basketball hall of Fame, she is the first from the women’s program. she was a 2011 inductee into the Women’s basketball hall of Fame, having amassed seven Final Four appearances in her 24 ncaa tournament appearances, which includes her current run of 22 straight appearances.