Print Edition of The Observer for Wednesday, January 25, 2017
demonstration urges divestment
Students protest Trump’s environmental policies, call for University to divest from fossil fuel companies
By LUCAS MASIN-MOYER news writer
o n Tuesday, p resident
d onald Trump signed an executive order aimed to revive negotiations for the construction of the d akota a ccess p ipeline — a pipeline that has been of major interest to environmentalists in the fight for clean water because of damage to the environment and water supply that could happen in the case of an oil spill.
i n response to Trump’s recent actions and his nominations to various cabinet posts, Fossil Free nd hosted
a march Tuesday afternoon from o ’ s haughnessy h all to m ain b uilding.
s ophomore Tessa b onomo, a member of Fossil Free nd , said the organization hopes to force change on the u niversity level.
“ w e are asking [ u niversity p resident] Fr. [John] Jenkins and the administration to divest from fossil fuels,” b onomo said.
b onomo also said the organization wants to draw student attention to some of Trump’s cabinet picks for his new
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Speaker discusses relationship violence, stalking students attend summer study abroad fair
By GINA TWARDOSZ news writer
debbie riddle, a national speaker on stalking, spoke at saint mary’s on Tuesday to promote stalking awareness in honor of her sister, peggy k linke, who was a victim of stalking. riddle said before the death of her sister, she did not quite understand what stalking was, even as a previous victim of stalking herself.
“i was a stalking victim shortly after graduating from college,” she said. “my stalker followed me
everywhere, left notes, offered a marriage proposal and kicked out my door. so i went to the police department, filed for an order of protection and the behavior stopped. a few months after he was served with the papers, i saw him on the street and he turned around and walked the other way. a nd that’s what i thought the solution to stalking and abusive relationships was.”
riddle said 11 years after her own stalking incident, her sister peggy called her and said her
see sTalking PAGE 3
By MEGAN VALLEY
a ssociate news e ditor
notre d ame i nternational ( ndi ) hosted a summer study abroad fair Tuesday night for undergraduate students interested in attending one of the university’s 20 summer study abroad programs.
“ s ummer study abroad programs offer great opportunities for students who need to work over the summer, have an internship or who are planning on doing research someplace,” director of study abroad k athleen o pel said. “it helps them to get credits that they need, and almost all of the courses offered fill a university requirement, or it can fulfill major credits.”
a ny student currently attending notre d ame — whether they are a freshman or a graduating senior — is eligible to apply by Feb. 3 for any of the programs, o pel said.
The programs range in duration, which o pel said allows students who have other summertime obligations to accommodate their schedule.
“ we have a wide variety of
dates and lengths of time,” o pel said. “ s ome students want a six-week or an eightweek study abroad program, some students only want a two- or three-week experience, and they can go back and do internships or work.
“i think that these programs appeal to students who are athletes and can’t go during the academic year, or students who work with the newspaper or another activity that doesn’t permit them to go away, or for students who don’t want to be gone a whole semester.”
Freshman finance and economics major l orenzo b eer said he attended the fair to help him decide if he wants to study abroad during the school year or the summer.
“e verybody i’ve ever spoken [to] has said that studying abroad is amazing and one of the best experiences of your life and that you should definitely do it if you can,” b eer said. “i definitely want to make sure i look into it.
i f it’s during the summer, i could catch up on some courses. i f it’s during the semester, [ i could] maybe take a break from the notre d ame bubble and see other parts of
the world.”
m ary nucciarone, director of financial aid, said while the university offers a funding model to make a semester abroad cost about the same in tuition as a semester on campus, studying abroad over the summer has no such aid.
“The university does not have a budget for scholarships for summer study abroad, so students are looking more at student loans — whether it be a private educational loan or a federal parent loan,” nucciarone said.
b ecause the funding model is different, nucciarone said students looking to study abroad over the summer should start planning financially as soon as possible. “ w hat i say for summer especially is to be planning,” nucciarone said. “That’s the biggest challenge we find, is that students start planning really late — like in a pril for a m ay or June departure — and that’s really hard for us to help them.” most of the summer programs are in the same
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EMMET FARNAN | The Observer
Students march from O’Shaughnessy Hall to Main Building on Tuesday. Fossil Free ND hosted the march in protest of President Trump’s executive order to continue the Dakota Access Pipeline.
KATELYN VALLEY | The Observer
Stalking awareness advocate Debbie Riddle speaks to students Tuesday at Saint Mary’s to highlight the dangers of stalking.
Mary Clare Enright freshman cavanaugh hall “Wooly Wonka.”
Grace Enright sophomore cavanaugh hall
The
“Lucy, after my favorite sister.”
Sarah Drumm junior Walsh hall “I wouldn’t.”
Danny Cohen junior Zahm house “c huckee.”
Acrobats perform during the halftime show at the men’s basketball game on Tuesday night at Purcell Pavilion, in which No. 14 Notre Dame fell to No. 12 Virginia, 71-54. The Irish will next be at home on Monday to face No. 17 Duke. Have a question you want answered? Email
Wednesday
Social Concerns Fair
Geddes Hall
6 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Get involved with the community as part of “Walk the Walk Week.”
“A Year with The Saint John’s Bible: From Inspiration to Illumination” Eck Visitor Center
7 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Thursday
Fireside Chat on Leadership and Innovation Morris Inn
4 p.m. - 6 p.m. Reception will follow.
Second Annual Ernest Sandeen Memorial Reading Mckenna Hall
7:30 p.m. - 9 p.m. Open to the public.
Friday
Soup and Substance: Health Care and Race Geddes Hall
12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Fill your bowl, feed your mind.
Pulitzer Prize Winner, Paul Muldoon: A Reading McKenna Hall
3:30 p.m. - 5 p.m. Open to the public.
Saturday
Spring 2017
Freebies: Yoga
Rockne Memorial 205
11 a.m. - noon
Arrive early, space is limited.
28th Annual Notre Dame Student Film Festival DeBartolo Performing Arts Center 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Sunday
Women’s Basketball vs. Virginia Purcell Pavilion noon
KATHLEEN DONAHUE | The Observer
Therapist examines culture of over-apologizing
By MARIE FAZIO news Writer
“be conscious of who you are and that you have a place in the world and you don’t have to apologize for that,” Julia hogan, a mental health therapist and columnist for verily magazine, said in a lecture Tuesday.
in the lecture sponsored by the Gender relations center (Grc), hogan said the language people use — specifically apologies and soft openers — has the ability to negatively impact relationships.
hogan said that contrary to popular belief, this is a problem that plagues both genders.
“Women tend to notice more situations that warrant apologies from themselves, but both men and women say that they need to apologize at the same rate,”
hogan said. according to hogan, there is a difference between apologizing to take responsibility for something you have done wrong and over-apologizing.
“over-apologizing is taking responsibility for something that is unnecessarily yours,” said hogan.
hogan said two examples of over-apologizing is apologizing when someone bumps into you and apologizing when making a request because, for both situations, you are not to blame. she then defined soft openers, which she said are over-apologetic words used to preface the main point of a statement — such as “i’m just wondering” or “i’m sorry to bother you.”
both over-apologizing and soft openers are epidemics that seem
to be ingrained in the speech patterns of our society, hogan said.
“a lot of these things happen in small ways on a day-to-day basis,” hogan said. “if we can look at our language, understand what we are saying and shift it, then we can make a difference in how we relate to people.”
according to hogan, people tend to over-apologize for a variety of reasons, including the belief that it is courteous, to avoid confrontation, because of a low self-image or simply out of habit. over-apologizing reduces the meaning of an apology, and can culminate in the apologizer gaining a negative self-image and feeling resentful or taken advantage of by others, she said. it can also lead to a blurring of the apologizer’s personal boundaries.
“instead of over-apologizing,
hold people accountable for what they’ve done, and hold yourself accountable for what you’ve done,” hogan said.
To combat the issue of over apologizing, hogan said she suggests taking a moment to reflect on the reasons you have for saying sorry before uttering the words.
“Why do i over-apologize and use the language that i use, and can i change that?” hogan said. “can i make that more positive and relationship building?” hogan said she finds that substituting phrases that include a “thank you” for phrases beginning with “i’m sorry” — for example, saying “Thank you for listening” rather than “i’m sorry to bother you” — works in many situations to alleviate the need for an unnecessary apology.
additionally, hogan said it is important to establish and maintain boundaries, despite the fact that many people may interpret standing up for yourself as overly forward.
“it’s important to see it as a journey: one step forward, two steps back. it’s really easy to fall back into the habit,” hogan said. “Your boundaries define who you are. … You can make choices and be happy with those choices.” hogan said she recognizes the difficulty of changing a lifetime habit of over-apologizing, but she encourages people to be aware of their interactions with others.
“my hope is that you can walk away thinking about the language that you use,” hogan said.
Contact Marie Fazio at mfazio@nd.edu
ex-boyfriend had began stalking her. Previously, Peggy had been in a relationship with the ex-boyfriend that lasted three years.
“What my sister went through was three years of emotional abuse,” r iddle said. “With emotional abuse, the typical abuse is cyclical, meaning [he] would violently degrade her, then apologize, buy her flowers, take her out to dinner — but the abuse would come back again, maybe a week later, maybe a few days later. Peggy never knew what the trigger was, and this went on throughout the relationship.”
r iddle said victims put up with this behavior because they are scared of the punishment they’ll receive if they leave their abuser.
“Peggy did try to leave him,”
r iddle said. “she was in an airport in a lbuquerque, [ new mexico], trying to get to Las vegas where my [other] sister was on vacation, and she was physically sick. she spent the afternoon vomiting in the airport. she was so frightened about what was going to happen to her if she broke the relationship.”
r iddle said Peggy’s stalker would attempt to drive a wedge between her and her family by deliberately canceling Peggy’s flights and changing her hotel rooms.
“he wanted to make sure he had her extremely isolated by breaking her support system down, so he was left as the only person she could turn to,”
r iddle said.
“i n January 2002, she decided it was time to leave,” r iddle said. “she packed up her stuff and moved out of the condo they shared. When she went back to get her remaining items,
Paid a dverT isemen T
he had barricaded the door and called local law enforcement. he told them that someone was trying to break into his home, and he wanted Peggy to stay with him because he was so frightened. When the officer arrived, he asked Peggy if there was anything she wanted to tell him. Peggy looked at Patrick, and Patrick gave Peggy a look ... and Peggy said that no, there was nothing else she wanted to tell him.”
r iddle said the officer took this at face value and that it was a fatal mistake.
“he should’ve recognized what was going on and removed Peggy from her abuser,” r iddle said. “he should’ve taken her in a very confidential area to ask her what was happening. i feel that in his gut, he [knew] something wasn’t right by looking at them.”
“ ... Peggy went to court to file an order of protection, and [Patrick] walked in to file his own order of protection,” r iddle said. “he told the judge [that] Peggy’s an alcoholic, was often strung out on drugs and abusive. he told the judge he feared for his life.”
r iddle said the judge ordered both partners to stay away from each other.
however, Patrick began to stalk Peggy, calling her constantly, r iddle said.
“a nd the cyclical abusive behavior was back,” r iddle said. “[ c yclical abuse] goes on and on and on. it is a vicious wheel the victim cannot get out of.”
r iddle said Peggy tried very hard to get out of the cycle of abuse, but this went on every day, 24 hours a day.
“so when the text messaging, the phone calls, the surveillance didn’t work, he decided to propose marriage,” r iddle said.
“Peggy ignored him, and he was upset with that. he no longer had control over his victim anymore. When Peggy ignored the marriage proposal, he created a flyer and pasted it all over the city of a lbuquerque.”
r iddle said the flyer contained obscenities, insults and lies about Peggy. Peggy then took her cell phone; her cell phone records; her new, current boyfriend’s cell phone records — whom Patrick was also stalking— and the flyers into the police department, r iddle said.
“Peggy said she was being stalked relentlessly by this man,” r iddle said. “The officer said there was nothing they could do about it. [The evidence] was just pieces of paper.”
The stalker’s action grew more violent as he graffitied obscenities about Peggy onto the door of her mother’s garage and even set fire to Peggy’s boyfriend’s house, r iddle said. according to r iddle, he had stalked his ex-wife before meeting Peggy, and he had had seven previous police reports filed against him.
r iddle said the police department were very aware who they were dealing with, but they refused to acknowledge past evidence. a s the final trial between Peggy and Patrick neared, her family pushed Peggy to move away to ensure her safety. however, Patrick pushed back, posing as a police officer in an attempt to gain information and hiring a private investigator in order to find Peggy’s new whereabouts.
“on January 18, as Peggy is walking out of her condo, one week before her trial, Patrick walked in,” r iddle said. “Patrick had been hiding in her garage. he beat her senseless with the butt of a handgun, he put duct tape over her mouth and bound her hands behind her back. Peggy was able to get out of the duct tape and run out the front door. Peggy and her neighbor rachel went into rachel’s condo and barricaded themselves in the bedroom. Peggy was able to make a 911 call and the s WaT team [came] to the location.” however, as the police arrived, Patrick murdered Peggy, r iddle said.
r iddle said Peggy’s death was
devastating, but not shocking.
“Peggy once said to her lawyer, ‘is it going to take a bullet to my head for you guys to understand how serious this is?’” r iddle said.
r iddle said she spent the weeks after her sister’s death trying to find answers as to how the stalking had escalated so far.
“The week we were preparing for Peggy’s funeral, a thousand questions were going through my mind,” r iddle said. “how did this happen? how could she not survive? how is he permitted to harass her? how is this problem going to stop?”
r iddle said after the funeral she contacted Tracy baum, director of the stalking resource center. They worked together to come up with new ways to help victims of stalking, she said.
“First and foremost, i want law enforcement to be trained,” r iddle said. “They need to be trained to deal with cases like Peggy’s because nobody, not one person in the criminal justice system, ever helped her. so we needed to change that mindset.”
a fter her meeting, the story became bigger than she imagined, and everyone involved agreed they should do something lasting in honor of Peggy and all stalking victims nationwide, r iddle said.
“i n July 2003, we all met in Washington d.c . and declared January national stalking awareness month in Peggy’s honor,” she said.
r iddle said the death of her sister has inspired her to help victims of stalking.
“The root of this problem lies in developing a healthy relationship,” she said. “most people misunderstand stalking. many teenagers mistake stalking for positive attention. Listen and encourage victims, and do not downplay their stories.”
Contact Gina Twardosz at gtwardosz01@nd.edu
administration — especially in the d epartment of e nergy and the e nvironmental Protection Agency ( e PA) — which b onomo said do not represent the needs of the nation.
Freshman and Fossil Free nd member Greg c ampion stressed the importance of campus-level action.
“Last semester we circulated a petition asking for divestment and more efficient renewablew energy goals for the campus and we got about 1,200 signatures,” c ampion said. “There was not a word of acknowledgement from the administration, which we feel is not acceptable.”
c ampion said he was motivated to march for climate justice in part by the Trump administration’s recent actions.
“It didn’t take long for [the Trump administration] to delete information about climate change, and a lot of other social justice issues from the White h ouse website,” c ampion said. “It’s despicable.”
Freshman c ameron r ay, a Fossil Free nd member, said personal experience with the effects of climate change, as well as “Walk the Walk Week,” pushed him to attend the march.
“I’m from a small agricultural town, and we really get affected by the weather and big sweeping climate change — it has long-term effects,” r ay said. “It’s Walk the Walk Week, and I’ve never been able to express my opinions like this and wanted to be a part of something that’s happening on campus.”
o nce the march reached m ain b uilding, members of Fossil Free nd spoke about the problems they saw with some recent cabinet appointees.
s ophomore Adam Wiechman, another Fossil Free nd member, spoke on the actions of e PA nominee s cott Pruitt.
“As the attorney general of o klahoma for the last six years, s cott Pruitt has leveled lawsuits against the e nvironmental Protection Agency, the very department he is being nominated to lead,” Wiechman said.
b onomo said there are issues with e nergy s ecretary nominee r ick Perry.
“Perry was governor of Texas from 2000 to 2015, a time during which he received over $14 million of donations from the fossil fuel industry while proudly expanding both oil and natural gas production,” b onomo said. “After serving as governor, Perry was a member of the board of directors of the e nergy Transfer Partners
— the company behind the d akota Access Pipeline.”
After speaking about these nominees, members presented a letter to Jenkins’ office urging for fossil fuel divestment.
“The u niversity of n otre d ame, as a premier c atholic institution and moral leader, holds great influence over fellow universities, the c atholic community, and people across the world who
know and love n otre d ame,” the letter said. “If it is wrong for fossil fuel companies to wreck the climate, then it is wrong for n otre d ame to profit from that wreckage. b y continuing to financially support the fossil fuel industry, n otre d ame is standing with them and not our collective future.
Contact Lucas Masin-Moyer at lmasinmo@nd.edu
a broad
con TI nued F rom PAGe 1
locations as semester programs — such as s pain, b razil, c hina, Greece, Ireland, Italy and m orocco.
o pel said the shortened programs of the summer still allow students to immerse themselves in the culture, just as they would over a semester.
“If you want to go to m orocco, you have an opportunity to experience, in three weeks, a whole range of activities that will give you a little smattering of background: French, Arabic, literature, film, history, the religious differences,” o pel said. “And that’s just one example.”
Contact Megan Valley at mvalley@nd.edu
PAI d AdverTIsemen T
By CHARLIE KENNEY s cene Writer
After the ‘50s and ‘60s, the American populace let hollywood know they were tired of the musicals that flooded theaters every weekend.
A slew of films including “singin’ in the rain,” “West side story,” “The Wizard of oz” and “The sound of music” eventually wore out the musical genre’s welcome in movie theatres; the thousands who flocked to the ticket booth every weekend wanted change. They were tired of songs and happy endings. They wanted cutting dialogue, intense action and genuine excitement. In other words, they craved every feeling they hadn’t gotten from the musicals that had been dominating cinema for nearly two decades.
And that is exactly what they got. Lightsaber battles replaced moonlight serenades, smashing shark jaws replaced a kiss in the rain, and crude humor replaced poetic romance.
The musicals that truly made hollywood into hollywood altogether disappeared. most films released from the 70s to the 00s utilized their scores as background music rather than an integral parts of the plot.
however, that all changed at the turn of the century, when hollywood made an effort to turn back the clock to its recently dubbed “golden age.” musicals like “moulin rouge,” “c hicago,” “The Artist” and “Les m iserables” were consistently released to critical approval. The Academy and h FP showered them many accolades. one glaring and constant problem,
however, stood out among them. many moviegoers tended to leave the theater disappointed after seeing them.
A recent musical, if you can even call it that, however, has changed that trend. “La La Land,” currently in theatres, has left audiences (and box office profits) stunned across the country.
“La La Land” is the musical that finally found the balance between plot, cinematography and musical numbers.
during songs like “Another day of sun” and “Audition” you might forget that you are not watching a music video. Yet beautifully written and realistic dialogue between e mma stone and ryan Gosling delves deeper into plot than most musicals.
While “Les m is” is crammed full of musical numbers and “The Artist” lacks words altogether, “La La Land” strikes a marked balance between the natural and the staged. The film employs a mix of sounds from the 50s, 80s and our present day to seamlessly marry scenes of whimsy and realism, of singing and speaking.
The story paints a picture of what life is truly like. Aside from breaking into song randomly, the plot is down-to-earth, the characters are real and the ideas the movie evokes are approachable.
each moviegoer will find something to relate to whether it’s the desire to save a dying part of their culture, the despair of a passion worn down by rejection, or the romantic tendency to imagine what a dead romantic relationship could have been. While the experiences of living under nazi occupation in Austria, rebelling against the French government and
surviving as a cabaret actress in France can distance viewers from their respective musicals, many of us can (and perhaps have) easily imagine buying “La La Land”’s one-way ticket to pursue our dreams.
The part of the movie that truly embodies the name “La La Land” is what sets it apart from the herd of other great movies this year — the song and dance.
Justin hurwitz and damien c hazelle’s musical genius shines again as it did in 2015’s “Whiplash.” “La La Land” effortlessly embeds over two-dozen songs in the midst of its award-winning script, yet the tracks are so pleasing to the ear that they could easily thrive on their own. They manage to smoothly combine jazz, theater and pop in the blink of the eye.
Arguably, the worst part about the music of “La La Land” is its execution of the songs by Gosling and stone — two natural actors not singers. however, this does not turn out to be a negative, but instead only extends the realistic tone given to the movie by the dialogue. Why should an aspiring actress and jazz musician also have voices that could land them broadway roles?
With “La La Land,” c hazelle has leapfrogged the directing giants in hollywood, while hurwitz has earned himself a statue in the pantheon of score writers and stone and Gosling have managed to make the extraordinary seem ordinary. As Lin manuel m iranda put it so eloquently, “The musicals that leave us kind of staggering on our feet are the ones that really reach for a lot.” If “La La Land” didn’t leave you staggering on your feet, I suggest you find a new genre.
Contact Charlie Kenney at ckenney4@nd.edu
By JIMMY KEMPER
s cene Writer
“saturday night Live” (snL), for better or worse, is a fundamental institution in American political comedy. no other late-night show has received as many emmy nominations, covered so many topics or introduced so many comedians to us as snL has over its 40-year-plus run.
This history of great comedy has made it disappointing over the past few seasons as the show has lost its bite, specifically in relation to the 2016 elections. sn L’s relationship with donald Trump is, for lack of better words, a mess.
sometimes, the need to make a joke about the latest bit of news that’s coming out leads to simplification of complex issues or parodies that lack a punch. For weekly shows like snL that constantly have to produce content, this led to Alec baldwin’s uncertain characterization of Trump that put his absurdity on equal footing with other candidates. The portrayal ultimately failed to portray him as the extremist demagogue that he is.
At times, this characterization seemed to be a result of snL’s symbiotic relationship with Trump. The more that snL made lightweight jokes about Trump, the more he tweeted inane responses, and the more attention that snL got in the media. snL then benefits from a Trump presidency and the continued spotlight it places on their programming.
moreover, snL (and, for that matter, its parent network, nbc) has been largely complacent in enabling the
rise of donald Trump. From inviting Trump as a guest on “The Tonight show” to retaining Trump’s executive producer credit on “The celebrity Apprentice” and even allowing Trump to host an entire episode of snL, few networks have done more work than nbc to normalize a man whose violent rhetoric represents a major threat to muslims, mexicans and other marginalized groups on the fringes of American society.
It comes as a surprise, then, in the first episode since the inauguration — and one of the first since the election that did not feature Alec baldwin’s donald Trump impersonation — that snL took on the new president with an unprecedented clarity. or rather, host Aziz Ansari did.
Ansari’s now-viral opening monologue digs into the reasons that people voted for Trump without giving in to the simple “everyone is racist, homophobic and misogynistic” excuse that plagues numerous internet forums. Instead, he approaches the matter with a nuanced mixture of reason, criticism and optimism that has been seriously lacking since the election.
he emphasizes the outsized role that media organizations, like nbc, have had in alienating white America and propagating hatred of minorities, going so far as to suggest “homeland” replaces its ominous music with “Yakety sax.”
he preaches a level of understanding toward the majority of those who did vote for Trump, referring to a number of them as the equivalent of chris brown fans who want to enjoy the tunes without dealing with “the extracurriculars.” simultaneously, he holds that pocket
of Trump’s voting population that is actually racist accountable for their actions, referring to them as the “lowercase KKK” that engages in “casual white supremacy.” Underlying all of this, however, is a subdued anger at the America that failed him. he sarcastically pines for a time when George W. bush was president and didn’t hold all muslims accountable for 9/11.
his jokes are sharp, accurate and most importantly, funny. despite all his criticisms of how bad things have become, Ansari’s entire monologue is laced with the sort of hope that America needs right now. he ends his speech talking about the impact of the Women’s march that had just happened around the country, and argues that real change within America comes not from the individual actions of a single president, but rather from “large groups of angry people.”
regardless of whether Ansari’s brilliant monologue is simply a product of his personal views or representative of the whole institution’s take on the matter, the fact remains that snL provided an important national platform for comedians to engage with political commentary. comedy like this is paramount when times get tough.
As long as saturday night Live continues to showcase comedians like Aziz Ansari, dave chappelle and Kate mcKinnon — all of whom have presented powerful takes on the current political order — then the show is fulfilling its important role as a disseminator of critique, hope and even plain-old honest news when we need it most.
Contact Jimmy Kemper at jkemper2@nd.edu
JOSEPH HAN | The Observer
Who is the scranton strangler?
Two things I love very much in this world are “The office” and conspiracy theories; put them together, and I’m as happy as scott’s Tots before they found out michael wasn’t funding their college tuition. here is one of the most popular speculations about the show: Toby is the scranton strangler.
Toby’s loneliness and timidity may elicit sympathy from viewers, but upon further consideration, perhaps his isolation and lack of a social life contribute to an internal sense of rage just waiting to be unleashed. reasonably, michael’s hurtful comments and dwight’s scheming could become too much for poor Toby to handle, and he may need to let out his frustration much like Andy does when he punches a wall. Initially, he tries to find happiness by moving to costa rica, though he ultimately breaks his neck shortly after his arrival. This instance merely deepens his bitterness about his life, and some fans presume that after sustaining his injury, Toby resolves to seek retribution for his prolonged suffering.
When all of the dunder mifflin employees are enthralled with the police cars zooming by and pursuing the scranton strangler, Toby is conveniently nowhere to be found. even later that day, he neglects to show up to Gabe’s viewing party, likely because he was actually involved in the car chase and is still hiding. Toby does not seem to have many friends or social obligations whatsoever, so his absence cannot not necessarily be written off as natural or expected.
Though Toby may come across as gentle and shy, he makes a comment to michael that indicates he has a dark, and even violent, side. When michael calls him the silent killer, Toby directs his gaze to the camera and calmly replies “You’ll see.” Toby also happens to serves on the jury for the scranton strangler case, and he makes this responsibility known throughout the office, constantly seeking attention for his detailed descriptions of the trials. his direct involvement in the legal particulars ensures that the blame never falls on him; another indicator of his guiltiness occurs toward the end of the series, when the man convicted of strangling, George howard skub, faces the death penalty. At this moment, Toby remarks that he is no longer entirely sure that the suspect is actually to blame, implying that he cannot follow through with his initial plan to frame an innocent person.
more evidence abounds when oscar tries to get Kevin fired by claiming he has made errors in his work; when Toby eventually discovers Kevin’s innocence, he remarks “I knew it” and then immediately launches into a discussion of his time on the jury for the scranton strangler case, as if oscar’s placing false blame imitates his own behavior. Toby then says the words “I put an innocent man on death row,” practically revealing the vital role he played not only in killing scranton citizens but also in evading accountability for his crimes.
Ultimately, Toby visits George in prison, though the documentary cameras that capture practically every single interaction the characters ever have are suspiciously not allowed to accompany him. Afterward, Toby claims the man attacked him, so he dons a neck brace for the remainder of the episode; another logical — and more fun — explanation for this new injury is that Toby confessed to the wrongly accused man that he was the real scranton strangler, so George attacked him out of retaliatory anger.
These are a few of the major clues, though smaller pieces of evidence also contribute to this theory: For instance, Toby begins working on a book series called “The Flenderson Files” around the same time he is appointed to the jury, and he writes mostly about sinister topics such as murder. This is just one of many conspiracy theories about “The office,” but it is one of the most convincing and perspective-altering for viewers.
Contact Martha Reilly at mreilly01@saintmarys.edu. The views expressed in the Inside Column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
An American abroad in the time of Trump
every time I open my mouth in Ireland, somebody asks me about donald Trump. my American accent gives me away, and everyone from curious taxi drivers and bartenders to the person sitting at the next table at starbucks want to hear what I have to say about the new president.
It’s been like this since I arrived in d ublin last August. before the election, everyone wanted predictions. After four years studying political science, I told them what I knew to be true: past research seemed to indicate that donald Trump didn’t stand much of a chance, but that research also gave him even less of a chance of winning the nomination in the first place. I told anyone who asked that I honestly thought h illary c linton would win, but after the chaos of the primary season, I wouldn’t make any real predictions. Luckily I didn’t, because I woke up to a stunned world on nov. 9. In Ireland, the morning after the election was quiet, almost eerie. In a nation partly defined by its people’s ability to talk to anyone about anything, nobody I encountered seemed able to articulate what just happened. For that matter, neither could I.
That’s the reality of being an American abroad in the time of Trump. The world wants answers and I don’t have them. my opinion would do just fine, too, but right now I don’t know what I think. When the topic of the Trump administration arises with my Irish counterparts now, I can really only tell them, “Well, it’ll be an interesting four years.”
A few weeks after the election, I went on a tour of Irish parliament with a group of notre dame study abroad students. o ur tour guide, an Irish senator, asked who among us lived in a swing state — namely, ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida and m ichigan. he asked those students how it was that Trump won their home states. The line of questioning grew somewhat embarrassing, and when nobody gave an answer that satisfied him, we moved on with the tour.
As we walked into the next room, I turned to a few students walking with me and said, “That’s what the rest of the world thinks of us now.”
That’s the other reality of living outside the U. s right now, and the reality with which our generation will have to grapple for the rest of our lives. despite President Trump and his “movement’s” repudiation of globalization, we live and will
continue to live in a world that is more interconnected than ever before. The forces of globalization will long outlast donald Trump’s presidency, and our generation will be left to deal with whatever legacy he leaves behind on the global stage.
And for young Americans like me, who for the rest of our lives will perhaps live, work and travel overseas, our country and donald Trump’s leadership of it present a great challenge. In the same way that teachers tell their students that they represent their school on field trips, Americans abroad are ambassadors for our country wherever we go, for better or worse. r ight now, that’s a difficult task.
The final reality of being an American abroad during the Trump era snapped into focus as I watched his inauguration last Friday. A few Irish colleagues gathered around my desk to watch some of the ceremonies and the inaugural address. I sat mostly silent, absorbing the speech and its potential effects. They were enthralled. It was then that I finally realized that over the past few months, the world has watched the U.s closely not only as a practical matter of trying to foresee the course of international relations, but also as a form of entertainment.
All week, my Irish colleagues have been making jokes about “alternative facts.” They tell me that saturday night Live has never been more visible in Ireland than it has since Alec baldwin started playing donald Trump brilliantly. I can’t speak too broadly, but the final reality of living abroad right now is reckoning with the knowledge that a lot of the free world views its so-called leader as a joke.
I personally cast no judgement on President Trump and his new administration. I only seek to stay as connected as I can to what is going on back home and absorb as much of the experience of living abroad at such a fascinating time as I can. Indeed, it is a strange, captivating, challenging, sometimes surreal time to be an American living abroad, but that’s just the reality of it all.
Jack Rooney is a 2016 Notre Dame graduate, and The Observer’s former managing editor. He is currently spending a year living and working for the University in Ireland, and writes these columns to keep him busy and satisfy his need for journalism. Follow Jack on Twitter @RooneyReports and/or email him at jrooney1@nd.edu
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
InsIde Column
Jack Rooney Irish eyes
Martha Reilly Associate s aint mary’s e ditor
The humbling truth
The planet we inhabit began existing 4.6 billion years ago. It formed when heavy elements, produced in stars during the first 9 billion years of the universe, began to coalesce around our sun. o ver the next 500 million years, this molten mass slowly settled into what we call the “earth.”
shortly after it became hospitable to life, our most primitive ancestors moved in. These were not the hairy bipedal hominid ancestors or the first tetrapods, they were the simplest of all cells. It was from their humble beginnings that everything we now call “living” would eventually evolve.
With each successive generation, life found a way to continue thriving. some lineages kept the same strategy and others randomly discovered new ones. A minority amongst them began increasing in complexity, and by 500 million years ago, many of the animal phyla alive today were beginning to emerge.
The ancestors of all mammals evolved 150 million years ago. They were small and rather unimpressive by our standards, but this turned out to be for their advantage. As the dinosaurs rose to dominance on earth, these early mammals lurked patiently in the shadows. After 85 million years of waiting, a mass extinction event finally cleared the stage.
When it did, mammals quickly stole the show by once again randomly radiating into many new forms. The primates were one of them, and eventually a part of the primate order pushed the limits of complexity further than ever. The result is us: the first branch from the tree of life with the ability to comprehend the whole thing.
To me, knowing that we are part of something this large is a reassuring truth. While humans are only a small part of the tree, I believe we are a ripening fruit
hanging from its highest branch. We are supported by our biological family, but not bound to the tree in the same way that the rest of our earthly siblings are. by this, I mean that we have an unprecedented opportunity to do things that the rest of life on earth has never been able to. This is why we feel like we are from the earth but not of it; like we are destined for more. We want to be picked from the tree so-to-speak, and this is where I find faith comes in.
It exists because of our predicament. We have more control over what we’re doing than any other living thing, and we’re uncomfortably aware of this, but we don’t know what exactly we’re supposed to be doing. In trying to figure it out, humans have come up with many different theories, and we each place our faith in one of them to be right.
some of them make us grow and some of them slowly consume us. Importantly, they are not permanent, and it is never too late to question our faith, whatever it may be in, and consider placing it elsewhere. It is through this act of consistently questioning that humanity continues to converge on the truth of our existence.
Whether or not we get there is up to us, which is why we also need humility. Isaac newton once said, “I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.”
We have a nice collection of seashells going, but we mustn’t forget that they are only a fraction of the whole ocean. At the same time, there is another aspect of humility that we need: the ability to be wrong. For this, I like to think that the opinions we carry around should be like Post-it notes, not tattoos. We can easily swap them out when we find something better. Perhaps regaining this humility is the biggest
challenge we have to work on this year. It seems like the promise of modernity has caused us to forget that the story of human history is full of many more wrong answers than right ones. This is why the history books never call somebody the best ever; they were the best of their time.
What I’m saying is that maybe individualist thinking has led us to place a little too much of our faith in the individual, in each rational mind to deduce the truth on its own. by doing this, we neglect the humbling fact that we ourselves and everything we know is only a small part of something much, much larger. We forget that everything we are is a product of what has come before us, and as a result our humility begins to degrade.
I think this may be why, in the most informationdense time in earth’s history, we feel ourselves becoming more divided than united. We have grown so enthralled with our own collections of pebbles that we risk ignoring the ocean altogether. The result is an era of post-truth where every answer is as good as the next, regardless of how much truth it actually contains.
I am hopeful that renewing our humility will be a promising prescription for the truth, but even if I am wrong, I still think practicing humility is positive, because with it comes an overwhelming sense of wonder. This awe at life is an unavoidable side-effect of facing the truth. To do so is to gaze out to sea, to stand tall beside the tree of life, and while it is humbling, it is equally as astonishing.
Matt is a junior studying anthropology. He has no idea what he wants to do with his life, but he’s also still working on figuring out what exactly life is. If you have any ideas or suggestions, feel free to contact him at mwilli41@nd.edu
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
Don’t back down
In 1969, h illary c linton (then h illary r odham) gave the first student-offered commencement address at Wellesley c ollege. b efore she spoke, s en. e dward b rooke talked about how unnecessary protests were at the time, a complete counter to r odham’s speech about a youth dissatisfied with the current state of affairs. h illary spoke, and responded truthfully and gracefully to the senator’s remarks. s he said that “we feel that for too long our leaders have viewed politics as the art of the possible. And the challenge now is to practice politics as the art of making what appears to be impossible possible.” h illary didn’t back down in the face of someone who disagreed with a core belief, rather she stood up to them. Another c linton memory gives us this same lesson. h er mother made her face her bullies rather than hide from them. When you face a bully and are in a position of strength, you don’t back down. d onald Trump is our bully. h e has bragged about sexual assault, praised authoritarian leaders (looking at you, Putin), grouped a whole religion as terrorists, called m exicans rapists, made fun of a disabled reporter. n eed I go on? h e is the antithesis of what this University stands for. h e
wants power for his own gain; he has exploited time and time again his contractors, the very people he claims to support. h e is a man who will say and do anything with no real beliefs. This man, in a little over a month, will be the president of the most powerful country on earth. h e will be our president, whether we like it or not.
In the face of such an existential threat, we can either pretend to be above the base arguments he is presenting, or we can fight him at every place possible. As J. r r . Tolkien wrote, “I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.” We are allowed to fight without enjoying it, and more importantly, we must fight to protect what we love, or risk losing everything we have. We no longer have the luxury of moral high ground. d onald Trump has destroyed what was considered acceptable in American politics, and we must work to correct that.
n otre d ame, as it has done so often before, must play a part in this. Academia doesn’t have to be a place where all sides are right: There is
no moral ambivalence in truth. It does, however, need to be a place where all sides have the chance to be heard and, more importantly, challenged. Let Trump come to commencement and hope he will begin to heal the wounds he has poured salt in. As former s en. h arry r eid said, “If this is going to be a time of healing, we must first put the responsibility for healing where it belongs: at the feet of d onald Trump.”
In the spirit of h illary c linton, let the valedictorian and University President Fr. John Jenkins follow Trump’s speech, and if necessary, go off script. c hallenge him. c all him out, but we have no chance to silence him with our disgust: That didn’t work in the election, and it won’t work in the next four years. c oupled with action (like the University protecting our undocumented students), our words will have power. d onald Trump is more dangerous than we ever imagined he could be, and now more than ever, we need to challenge him on every front possible.
Tyrel London sophomore d ec. 12
LeTTer TO THe edITOr
Matthew Williams
c ritical reflections on Life
Happy Birthday: make a difference, reach out and offer your services and help to those in need. An enthusiastic approach will bring positive and negative results. you can’t please everyone, so choose your battles wisely and aim to do what brings you the most satisfaction. change will lead to greater satisfaction as well as prosperity. be a participant and make a difference. your numbers are 7, 18, 21, 24, 29, 38, 43.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): learn as you go. your dedication and desire to do your best will be praised by some but shunned by those who are jealous of you. don’t let anyone interfere with your progress. disagreements will only slow you down.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): foolish spending or selling yourself short when negotiating a deal will be apparent if you don’t take your time and consider unique ways to get the most out of your dollar, your time and your effort. don’t settle for less.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): emotions will take over, leading to disruption if you aren’t aware of all sides of a situation. Take a step back and consider what’s best for everyone, and do your best to make it happen. Avoid demanding people.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): live by your rules. make suggestions and paint a colorful picture of the way you see your future unfolding. honesty and integrity will help you avoid being trapped in a situation that doesn’t live up to your expectations. romance is featured.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): don’t get angry -- get moving. look for alternatives. don’t feel the need to stay put if you are bored. A partnership you form with someone will offer a little extra income and a chance to be your own boss.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): set up shop and get things done. don’t linger when a timeline is in force. stretch your imagination and you will discover ways to make your life easier. surprise someone who is expecting you to fall short. romance is encouraged.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): be careful how you handle friends and relatives. A diplomatic and disciplined approach to suggestions will help you avoid getting into a dispute. If you want to bring about change, offer incentives and choices.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): listen and learn. share your experience and knowledge. This is a great day for discovery and putting new plans in motion. children, friends and lovers will play a major role in your life and the decisions you make moving forward.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): listen to sound advice. It’s best to take time to mull over what you want to do or say before you jump into action. delays will arise while traveling, or confusion will set in regarding domestic issues. Avoid confrontations..
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): secrets will be revealed due to emotional outbursts. be prepared to take care of any damages that occur as a result of someone’s lack of discretion. keep your plans simple, honest and within reason to avoid controversy. make love, not war.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): be the one to bring about positive change. g et involved in events that will give you the platform you need to raise awareness. It takes reason, common sense and an astute ability to get things done properly and on time.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Proceed with caution. Trying to fit too much into your day will bring few results. It is best to concentrate on whatever will bring the highest returns. g etting emotionally caught up in someone else’s affairs will be to your detriment.
Birthday Baby: you are progressive, inventive and timely. you are passionate and intense.
jumble | dAvId hoyT
knurek
a llen
con T inued from page 12
program history. s he’s been vital to the i rish since her first day on campus, surpassing the 1,000-minute mark as a freshman with elite players such as Jewell Loyd and Kayla mc b ride alongside her.
“it really all starts with her,” i rish head coach muffet mc g raw said of a llen on Jan. 18. “Lindsay, she came in smart. s he came in as a freshman, knew exactly what to do in all situations, had that sense of urgency.
“We haven’t had a lot of players that have had that really high basketball i .Q., so she’s trying to teach [her teammates] as well as we are, and it’s been a long journey.”
a t point guard, a llen is responsible for directing notre d ame offenses that have been among the best in the country during her time here. i n addition to holding i rish records for most assists by a freshman and most by a sophomore, she’s averaging a personalbest 7.3 assists per game this year, putting her on track to break the notre d ame alltime career assist record of 778.
Yet, a llen said even she had to grow into the position.
“m y freshman year, i just wanted to run the plays, fit in, listen to my teammates, listen to the seniors and c oach,” a llen said. “i wasn’t really comfortable talking about what i saw, because i just didn’t know that much yet.”
b ut as she has racked up minutes on the floor — and at practice and in the film room — a llen said she’s reached a point where it’s a “collaborative effort” with mc g raw and associate head coach n iele i vey to keep the team on track.
“i feel much more comfortable as a senior leader going in and talking to [ mc g raw] about anything i see out there, and she feels comfortable coming to me with anything she sees and what she expects from the team this year,” a llen said. Those expectations were high. notre d ame has won the acc four years in a row and
was ranked no.1 nationally in the preseason.
“o n paper, this is probably the most talented team we’ve had in recent years,” a llen said.
i nstead, the i rish (18-3, 6-1 acc ) have struggled more than they’re used to, falling to no. 8 in the rankings and suffering a third loss in the regular season last week for the first time in years. b oth mc g raw and a llen attributed that to a lack of intensity among the less experienced players.
“it’s hard to get the younger players to have the sense of urgency that i do because this is my last year, and so i want to have the best year i can,” a llen said. “it’s hard to get them to understand when we need to do things, how quick we need to do things and have that sense of urgency every game.
“i’m trying to leave this year with a national c hampionship. it’s not their fault, because they have other years ahead of them, so it’s hard to have the sense of urgency that i do.”
nevertheless, a llen is eager to teach and do her part as the latest in the line of great notre d ame guards: Loyd, mc b ride, s kylar d iggins, megan d uffy, a licia r atay and so on. The latter three are the only other i rish players in history to have reached the 4,000-minute milestone.
The candidates to take the torch from a llen when she graduates in m ay include freshman Jackie Young and sophomores a rike o gunbowale and m arina m abrey. The best piece of advice she has for young players?
“ i would just tell them, don’t be afraid to make a mistake,” a llen said. “ i think early in your career, you’re kind of unsure of yourself — unsure of how you fit in the team, unsure of how you fit at the college level, unsure of a lot of things. i think if you’re gonna make a mistake, make sure it’s an aggressive mistake. m ake sure you’re going hard.”
o n a personal level, though, a llen is focused on ending her
room.
for the seventh-most wins by an i rish quarterback. r ees ranks second in n otre d ame history in passing touchdowns, and third in passing yards.
“ i ’m very excited to have Tom join our staff,” b rian Kelly said in a press release. “ h e possesses an understanding of the game, and most importantly the quarterback position, that’s unique. h e’s a true student of the game and great communicator that will offer immediate dividends toward guiding our quarterback
Irish senior guard Lindsay Allen fights a UConn defender for the ball during Notre Dame’s 72-61 loss to the Huskies on Dec. 7. Allen scored 11 points and picked up eight assists and five defensive rebounds in the game.
collegiate career on a high note. s he has no problem admitting that this year’s team has not fulfilled its potential, but she also is optimistic about what lies ahead, especially coming off a 77-55 win over n orth c arolina that she described as n otre d ame’s smoothest game yet.
“We haven’t felt a lot of times that we played our best, even though we’re winning and have a winning record,
tied for first in the acc ,” a llen said. “We want to be peaking at this point in the season, late January, starting to get to f ebruary. c oming out of that n orth c arolina game, i think we can use that momentum into the rest of the season.”
a nd while a n ational c hampionship would certainly cement her alreadyhigh place in i rish basketball history, a llen said she hopes to leave behind something
paid a dverT isemen T
less concrete, too.
“ i just want to leave a legacy as a hard worker, as a listener, as someone who’s passionate about the game, who cared about her teammates, who wants to win at any cost,” she said. “ it doesn’t matter whether i ’m playing 30 minutes or i ’m playing five minutes. i just want to win.”
Contact Renee Griffin at rgriffi6@nd.edu
“a s a former quarterback at n otre d ame, Tom also has a rare ability to truly relate with the quarterbacks on our roster. h e’s literally sat in their seat, dealt with the ups and downs, faced the criticism, deflected the praise and all that comes with playing the position at n otre d ame. h e can genuinely mentor them — not only on the football field, but in the classroom and the community as well.” b efore joining n otre d ame’s staff, r ees served as an offensive assistant coach at n orthwestern and with the s an d iego c hargers.
ALLISON CULVER | The Observer
Irish
guard Steve
on Tuesday
m Bball
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attempts during that stretch, including going 1-for-6 from beyond the arc despite some open looks.
Perrantes hit two shots with under five seconds left on the shot clock to spark v irginia’s offense, and the c avaliers maintained the lead for most of the first half. With a little over six minutes remaining in the first half, both offenses kicked into gear. i rish junior forward b onzie c olson completed a 3-point play to tie the game at 16. Perrantes came back at the other end of the floor and nailed a 3 to put the c avaliers back on top. c olton scored two consecutive baskets before Perrantes knocked down yet another 3-pointer, only to see c olson hit a jumper to tie the game at 22.
c olson finished the half with 14 points, but Perrantes’ 10 points and a late layup from junior guard m arial s hayok gave v irginia a 27-26 advantage going into the break. vasturia added eight points as well, but other than c olson and vasturia, the rest of the team scored just four points in the opening frame.
“ b onzie was huge in the first half,” vasturia said. “ h e obviously helps this team
around
go and he’s a big part of our offense, and we need him to keep scoring and keep attacking the rest of the season.”
The second half looked like it might get away from n otre d ame early. Three i rish turnovers gave v irginia three layups, but b rey’s squad punched back with six quick points from junior guard m att Farrell.
The i rish struggled to find a foothold, however, as they had trouble getting the ball into the paint against the aggressive v irginia defense. Without consistent driving lanes, the i rish were forced to the 3-point line, but they struggled to make shots.
The i rish finished the game shooting 3-of-18 from behind the arc.
“They’re always in position defensively,” b eachem said. “ e specially when you try to drive, they’re always there — they know when to gap and when to get back.” a nother facet that hurt the i rish was allowing v irginia offensive rebounds. The c avaliers picked up 10 offensive boards and outrebounded the i rish by a total of 38-22 on the glass.
“ i thought to try and help us offensively, we needed to go small,” b rey said. “a nd what happens is they took advantage of us on the backboard there. s ome of our most encouraging offensive
irish perform well in Louisville
By BRENNA MOXLEY sports Writer
notre dame fell to Louisville on Friday when the women were narrowly topped, 160-140, and the men were defeated, 179-121. it would bounce back, however, with wins over iUPUi and indiana state.
The women’s team was able to come back and tie the score late in the meet following sophomore sofia revilak’s and freshman erin sheehan’s first- and second-place finishes, respectively, in the 100yard butterfly.
The 10th-ranked cardinals came back with high scores in diving and the top-three spots in the 200-yard individual medley in their home pool at ralph Wright natatorium. notre dame continued to push and stole the win in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:31.33. however, Louisville still pulled out the overall win on the women’s side, while the seventh-ranked Louisville men won easily against the irish men.
irish head coach mike Litzinger spoke highly of his team’s efforts in the loss.
spurts were when we downshifted, but the other side of that is the backboard. a nd they got — i think — 15 points on second chance shots, and there’s where you get burned on it.”
a s the clocked ticked under eight minutes to play, n otre d ame trailed by nine points, but four straight free-throws from vasturia brought the i rish back within five.
b ut five clutch points from c avalier freshman guard Ty Jerome extended v irginia’s lead back to eight. a lso key for the c avaliers were freethrows: v irginia did not make it to the line in the first half, but shot 12-for-14 in the second period. o n the other side, the i rish, normally stellar from the line, missed five foul shots in the second half alone.
a s the closing minutes of the game wound down, n otre d ame couldn’t find a surge and dropped its second acc contest.
n ext up for n otre d ame is a road game against g eorgia Tech on s aturday, and b rey said he believes the tough loss can help propel the team forward.
“ i think it’s good; it gets your attention,” b rey said. “ i think it sets you up for really being able to have a heck of a practice on Thursday.”
Contact Marek Mazurek at mmazurek@nd.edu
The irish had a successful saturday in indianapolis with the men besting iUPUi and the women defeating both iUPUi and indiana state. on the day, the men swept five events and the women swept eight.
Litzinger said saturday’s meet in indianapolis had a different feel from Friday, and he added that it was a refreshing day after the tough loss the night before.
“saturday’s competition was not the same level of intensity or emotion compared to Friday, but it was a good team win,” Litzinger said. “The competition gave us the opportunity to swim our secondary events, which is really good for us. We were able to spread our team responsibilities around a little bit. it didn’t all fall on the same five or six kids — it was more of a team opportunity for us.”
notre dame hosts the shamrock invitational at rolfs aquatic center this Friday and saturday. it is the seniors’ last meet on campus.
“There are a lot of emotions that go into these types of meets,” he said. “it was the first acc dual meet that has really tested our team. one of the greatest things about that meet was that it was highly competitive. both the men’s and the women’s teams were really up to the challenge and fought hard. We really got the meet down to the last couple of events and fought our way against one of the top teams — not only in the acc, but in the country. We almost had it in our hands, but the points didn’t work out in our favor.”
and heading into that meet and beyond, Litzinger said he thought this weekend revealed an important lesson to his team and showed positivity for future meets against difficult competitors.
“We can hang with the very best teams in the acc,” Litzinger said. “That is really crucial for us as we approach championship time, where we are going to see Louisville again as well as nc state and virginia. To be able to go blow-for-blow with one of the best teams in the league really gives us a lot of confidence going into that championship weekend three weeks from now.”
Contact Brenna Moxley at bmoxley@nd.edu
KATHLEEN DONAHUE | The Observer
senior
Vasturia pivots
a Virginia defender during Notre Dame’s 71-54 loss to the Cavaliers
at Purcell Pavilion. Vasturia scored 14 points and tallied five rebounds in the game.
ND struggles offensively in loss to Cavaliers
By MAREK MAZUREK sports e ditor
s omething had to give.
n o. 14 n otre d ame came into its matchup against the c avaliers averaging 81 points per game, and n o. 12 v irginia came in giving up just 53.
o n Tuesday evening, it was n otre d ame who gave, as the Irish (17-4, 6-2 A cc ) lost to the c avaliers (16-3, 6-2 A cc ), 71-54.
“We got our butts kicked,” Irish head coach m ike b rey said following the loss. “They’ve not been a great matchup for us, and we take our hat off to them.”
c avaliers senior guard London Perrantes led all scorers with 22 points and went 5-of-8 from the 3-point line to help push the c avaliers to a road victory.
“Perrantes is a good player,” Irish senior guard s teve vasturia said. “ h e plays at a really good pace — he’s been doing it for four years for them. n othing really bothers him. h e’s a good player,
nd woMen’s BasketBall
and he made the shots he needed to.”
m eanwhile, the Irish offense suffered against the staunch Wahoo defense. The Irish shot just 42 percent from the floor and picked up only nine assists in the game. s enior forward v.J. b eachem, who tallied a career-high 30 points against s yracuse on s aturday, went cold from the get-go and finished the night with a mere two points on 1-of-10 shooting.
“It’s the opposite of s aturday,” b rey said. “We were going to have to make some stuff over the top. We made it s aturday, and we didn’t make enough of them and you’re going to have to make some shots over the top.
“ v.J. had some good looks; he just missed them.”
The top-ranked v irginia defense lived up to its billing to start the game, as the c avaliers took a 14-7 lead after nine minutes. The Irish shot just 3-for-11 in field goal
Allen’s work ethic sets standard for Irish
By RENEE GRIFFIN sports Writer
Four thousand minutes is a long time. It’s nearly three days. It’s 80 credits worth of college courses. It’s more than 133 episodes of your favorite half-hour sitcom.
It’s also the total length of game time senior guard Lindsay Allen has been on the court in her n otre d ame career, assuming she plays at least 34 minutes over the two home games this week.
s ince she’s averaging 32.9 minutes per game this year, that seems to be a safe assumption.
“I mean, it’s a lot of minutes,” Allen said with a laugh and a shrug. “I guess it just kind of signifies the trust c oach has in me and the confidence she has in me, wanting me to play that many minutes in my career. It’s a weird stat.”
Allen — or L.A., as her teammates often call her — would be just the fourth player to reach 4,000 minutes in
mcGovern to U vA, rees returns
Observer Sports Staff
s enior offensive lineman c olin m cGovern told the s outh b end Tribune on Tuesday he intends to transfer to v irginia for his final season of eligibility.
m cGovern started eight games for the Irish at right guard in 2016 and has seen the field in 21 contests during his time at n otre d ame.
b ecause he is set to graduate in m ay, m cGovern will not have to sit out a year when he transfers to v irginia. Former Irish defensive lineman John m ontelus also transferred to v irginia earlier this offseason.
The other four members of n otre d ame’s starting offensive line for most of the season — senior m ike m cGlinchey and juniors Quenton n elson, s am m ustipher and Alex b ars — are all expected to return next season.
rees hired as quarterbacks coach n otre d ame added a familiar face to its coaching staff Tuesday as Irish head coach
b rian Kelly brought back former Irish quarterback Tommy r ees to take over as quarterbacks coach.
r ees played at n otre d ame from 2010 to 2013, and started in every game but one his sophomore season and all 13 games his senior season. h e also helped the Irish get to the bcs national championship game in 2012 as a backup to e verett Golson during his junior season.
“When I finished my playing career and graduated from n otre d ame, I wanted to do two things,” r ees said in a University press release. “First, I wanted to coach, and second, at some point in my career, I hoped to get an opportunity to return and do it at my alma mater. I didn’t know when or if this opportunity might present itself, but I’m so grateful and honored that it did. I’m ready to get things rolling with this great staff and group of student-athletes.”
r ees’ career record as a starter is 23-8, which is good
KATHLEEN DONAHUE | The Observer
Irish sophomore guard Rex Pflueger dodges a defender and drives toward the basket during Notre Dame’s 71-54 loss to Virginia on Tuesday at Purcell Pavilion. Pflueger scored four points versus the Cavaliers.
ALLISON CULVER | The Observer
Senior guard Lindsay Allen dribbles up the floor during Notre Dame’s 72-61 loss to UConn on Dec. 7 at Purcell Pavilion. see ALLen PaGe 10
