Print Edition of The Observer for Thursday, February 2, 2017
Company performs ‘romeo and Juliet’
Actors From the London Stage brings Shakespeare’s work
By COURTNEY BECKER news writer
The actors From the l ondon stage (a FT ls ) company debuted their production of “romeo and Juliet” in washington hall on wednesday night.
The company, made up of just five actors, visits notre dame every semester thanks to the university’s status as the “a merican home” for the organization, a aron nichols, shakespeare at notre dame’s audience development manager, said.
“i n the year 2000 the opportunity came for us to take a more active role in the organization,” he said. “ … it’s kind of exciting that every semester now we get to have this worldclass shakespeare group come to the university.”
nichols said the university
has played an active role in “determining the trajectory of the organization,” including introducing gender-fluid casting to recent productions.
“we’re not trying to flip it completely, but we’re saying any actor can play any role because we’re acting,” he said. “ … so as long as the audience goes with you on that journey and accepts that suspension of disbelief, there are some amazing actresses in the world who now have the opportunity to play some wonderful male roles.”
This gender-fluid casting becomes a necessity with such a small cast, nichols said.
“everyone is playing at least three roles,” he said. “because romeo and Juliet are such prominent roles those two characters don’t play as many other roles, but for instance,
see acTors PaGe 3
award-winning author reads excerpt from work
By MARIE FAZIO news writer
Kyle muntz is the 2016 recipient of the s parks p rize, an award given to a distinguished graduate of the c reative w riting graduate program.
students send sections of writing to an anonymous judge, chosen by the director of the program each year, who decides the winner. n icholas s parks, renowned author and notre d ame graduate class of 1988, created the s parks p rize in 2001. muntz is the 15th recipient of the award.
“Kyle is a lover of genre and writes in a swathe of them, including genres like the dystopic or the western romance. i n this regard, i think he is a lovely fulfillment of the vision of n icholas s parks,” Joyelle mc s weeney, current
director of the c reative w riting p rogram, said of muntz.
The s parks p rize awards $20,000 to the winner to allow them to spend a year simply writing, with one stipulation of a requirement of one public reading. muntz performed his reading at h ammes b ookstore.
muntz read the first chapter of one of his new novels “The e ffigies,” a novel which took inspiration from the anime “e vangelion,” as well as a section of his thesis novel, “The holy g host.”
c armen m aria m achado, author of “her b ody and o ther p arties” among other novels, was the judge of the 2016 contest. m achado described muntz’s work as “snapping and humming with a weirdness, queerness and eeriness
ACE program benefits low-income communities
By ANDREW CAMERON news writer
i n 1993, Fr. s ean m c g raw, c s c . and Fr. Tim s cully, c s c . received $5,000 from the p resident of the u niversity to found the a lliance for c atholic e ducation ( ace ) with the goal of preserving and spreading access to quality c atholic education throughout the country.
“The core mission of the program is to provide a ray of hope through educational excellence to underserved children,” s cully said in an interview.
s cully, who now serves as chair of the ace a dvisory b oard, said the program initially began by training 40 recent college graduates — nearly all from n otre d ame — in education and sending them to teach in c atholic schools across the country, typically in low-income
communities, as ace Teaching Fellows.
s ince it’s inception, the highly-selective ace Teaching Fellows program now receives over 400 applications a year and selects approximately 90 graduates — roughly half of which graduated from n otre d ame — to participate in the program.
“ we live in intentional communities of four to seven people,” s cully said.
“ we’re in 35 cities across the u nited s tates. These teaching fellows go out into their communities and teach in underserved c atholic schools for a period of two years, and they return to campus during the summers to receive a master’s degree and accreditation and licensing as a teacher.
i would describe it as an awesome leadership experience where you’re giving your heart and soul away to
needy kids.”
There are roughly 180 ace Teaching Fellows currently operating in schools around the country.
“ we started this effort in a sense because it was so difficult for some underresourced dioceses and schools to find great teaching talent, and so we’re looking for very talented people — not necessarily the highest gpa s and the highest gre s — but we’re really looking for people who, in addition to native talent, just kind of bring a passion and a zeal for our mission,” s cully said.
h e said the program has expanded considerably since its founding, now managing several independent schools, as well as other programs.
“ s ince we didn’t have a department of education we had no ability to impart
Photo courtesy of Aaron Nichols
The Actors From the London Stage perform during their production of “Romeo and Juliet.” Each actor in the company plays at least three roles, distinguishing each character through costumes and mannerisms.
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Hynds.
Question of the Day:
Which do you like better: Snickers or Twix?
Katie Wall senior howard hall “Twix.”
Robin Seay junior Welsh Family hall “snickers.”
Roxana Rodriguez junior Pasquerilla east hall “snickers.”
t he next f ive D ays:
Thursday
Lecture: Political Islam and America’s Long War Purcell Pavilion
12:30 p.m. - 1:45 p.m. Open to the public.
Scholars Lounge and Concourse Open House
Hesburgh Library
4 p.m. - 6 p.m. Food will be provided.
Friday
The Future of Liberalism in the Age of Trump
South Dining Hall
12:30 p.m. - 2 p.m. Lunch provided.
Men’s Hockey vs. Vermont Compton Ice Arena
7:35 p.m. The Irish take on the Catamounts.
Saturday
Have a question you want answered? Email photo@ndsmcobserver.com
Ignacio Gonzalez junior o’neill hall “snickers.”
Natalia Mesa junior Pasquerilla east hall “snickers.”
Sam Cavender junior dunne hall “snickers.”
Want your event included here? Email news@ndsmcobserver.com
Sunday
Indoor Cycling — Spring 2017 Freebies Rockne Memorial
11 a.m. - 11:45 a.m. Arrive early; space is limited.
Kroc Institute ScreenPeace Film Festival
DeBartolo Performing Arts Center 9:30 p.m. - 11 p.m.
Kroc Institute ScreenPeace Film Festival
DeBartolo Performing Arts Center 3 p.m. - 5 p.m.
Monthly Fellowship: Jamii Coleman-Morse Center
9 p.m. - 10 p.m. Food will be provided.
Monday
Kellogg International Scholars Research Night
Hesburgh Center for International Studies 6 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Women’s Basketball vs. Louisville Joyce Center
7 p.m. The Irish take on the Cardinals.
Group reviews departments
By MEGAN VALLEY Associate news e ditor
Today’s Staff
Corrections
The observer regards itself as a professional publication and strives for the highest standards of journalism at all times. We do, however, recognize that we will make mistakes. If we have made a mistake, please contact us at (574) 6314541 so we can correct our error.
The student senate convened Wednesday night to review the functions of the eight other branches of student government and to prepare questions for a University health s ervices (U hs ) representative’s visit in m arch.
“hopefully, these presentations [will give] you guys an idea of how you can stay involved in student government after this year,” student body vice president b ecca blais said.
student Union b oard ( s U b ) executive director Louis b ertolotti said s U b was divided into eight departments: Acousti c afe, AnTostal, the collegiate jazz festival, concerts, festivities, ideas and issues, movies and special events. Three directors of programming moderate three of the departments each, he said.
“s U b is huge, so it can be easy to get lost in,” b ertolotti said. “We have over 100 members and the largest budget in the entire student union, so there’s a lot going on.”
b ertolotti said he encourages
freshman to submit applications for next year’s s U b team.
representatives from each of the class councils also shared with the senate the activities they had planned throughout the year for their classes.
“We have this budget and we can decide what to do with it,” Junior c lass c ouncil president s ara d ugan said. “ … As far as what juniors have been doing, a lot of our class is abroad, so there’s a lot of focus on keeping the community together. We’ve had letterwriting events and cookouts.”
h all Presidents c ouncil ( h P c ) cochair e lizabeth Feeley said h P c mostly dealt with choosing the halls of the year.
“All of the work that we do with our presidents throughout the year focuses on developing programming and making sure they’re fostering great communities within their halls,” Feeley said.
student body president c orey robinson said the executive cabinet consisted of department directors who work to coordinate projects, set goals and discuss the needs of student body.
“b asically, what we do as student government, is we’re the mouthpiece to the administration,” robinson said. “ … We take all that information [from all the departments, councils and boards] to the administration and we work with them. We’re the last frontier between the students and the administration.”
s enators also heard from representatives from the student Union, Judicial c ouncil, c lub c oordination c ouncil, c ampus Life c ouncil and o ff- c ampus c ouncil.
Following the branch presentations, Flaherty h all senator Jade m artinez addressed the senate regarding director of University health s ervices sharon mc mullen’s visit to senate in m arch.
s enators made suggestions for questions to ask mc mullen about s T d testing on campus, cost differences between drop-in and scheduled appointments, rec sports training and payment, and access to birth control on campus.
Contact Megan Valley at mvalley@nd.edu
STUDEnT SEnATE
By MATTHEW MACKE s cene Writer
2009 was a landmark year for the state of Indiana. April of that year marked the beginning of Amy Poehler’s comedy sitcom, “Parks and recreation.” A few months later, A bc’s under-the-radar sitcom “The middle” launched with solid ratings and a fair amount of critical acclaim. I don’t think we knew then that a veritable Wabash r iver of Indiana-based television shows (by which I mean a total of four) would come flowing out of hollywood.
The next program claiming hoosier roots was netflix’s “Unbreakable Kimmy schmidt” in 2015. creator Tina Fey and the other writers undoubtedly saw how favorably audience’s reacted to Indiana and felt the need to hitch their wagon to the gravy train that is the “crossroads of America.” While “Unbreakable Kimmy schmidt” is primarily set in new York city — and deals with such big city issues as hipster gentrification — the titular indestructible heroine, Kimmy, was held prisoner in a bunker in her home state of Indiana for 15 years. most of the show revolves around her attempts to adapt to modern society as a former “Indiana mole woman.” most recently, in 2016, netflix decided to once again milk the Indiana cash cow by setting the vintage scifi horror “stranger Things” in the 19th state admitted to the Union. The show was originally going to be set in (and named) montauk, but I can only assume that someone in netflix’s financial department set them straight.
setting the sarcasm aside for now, it’s hard to explain why Indiana has become such a destination for television shows. It’s clear that audiences, and thus producers, are turning away from the city-centric programs of the 1990s and 2000s (think “seinfeld,” “Friends” and “sex and the city”), but they haven’t gone so far as to clamber for something pastoral. Instead, shows seem to have tried to become more adaptable, rather than pinning themselves to one certain setting or lifestyle.
This is where Indiana comes in. nobody outside of Indiana really knows anything about Indiana. even lifelong hoosiers like myself have a tough time pointing to anything our state is really known for. The Indy 500, I guess, but I’ve never been. (neither have any of the T v hoosiers as far as I can tell.) It’s completely unremarkable. michigan and Illinois, in detroit and chicago respectively, both contain major metropolitan areas that have already left a cultural impression in the minds of everyday Americans. Wisconsin has a stereotypical accent, the same goes for the dakotas. minnesota, nebraska and Iowa don’t have enough people. ohio is just generally terrible. In the m idwest, the idyllic home of the middle-class, that leaves only m issouri and Indiana. here, Indiana likely owes its small screen triumph to bureaucratic laziness and luck. For a show like “Parks and rec,” which revolves around small town government, it’s much more convenient to have the state’s largest city also be the capital — and if that capital’s name is as on-the-nose as Indianapolis, all the better. nobody wants to explain that the capital of m issouri is Jefferson city, the most famous city is st. Louis and the
largest is Kansas city. In Indiana, all three of those boxes are checked by Indianapolis. For “The middle,” one of the creators is from the hoosier state, so there was little debate where their blue-collar family sitcom would be based.
essentially, Indy’s emergence as the setting du jour of Los Angeles writers is due entirely to its lack of personality. You think this story would be better if it was snowing? no problem. need a home for a crazy reverend? Indiana makes sense. Want to place a painfully stubborn small town next to an obscenely bourgeois one? Indiana sounds like a place where that could happen. Practically any narrative situation can be set in Indiana. Indianapolis can be portrayed as a bustling metropolis or a friendly urban-area because most of the audience won’t know or care if that’s actually accurate. We even have a beach! In short, Indiana is a show writer’s dream. As far as how hoosiers feel about their place as plot Play-doh, I doubt you’ll hear many complaints. For myself, I’m just happy to hear my home state getting some recognition, even if T v Indiana ends up being very different from real-life Indiana. Also, even though the main characters of every Indiana-based program are goofy in the extreme, they all still end up being heroes. sometimes that means winning the city council vote you were fighting for, and sometimes that means using your telekinesis to destroy an interdimensional man-eater.
In Indiana, it’s all possible.
Contact Matthew Macke at mmacke@nd.edu
By NICK LAUREANO
s cene Writer
Why do I watch television?
That’s perhaps not the best question to ask yourself, especially if you’re a T v studies major like me. nonetheless, it’s one I’ve grappled with for as long as I can remember, and with heightened intensity in recent months. For obvious reasons, T v is now a source of angst and despair.
or it was until 3 a.m. last sunday, when tennis legends roger Federer and rafael nadal faced off in the Australian open final. nostalgia was the word of the hour. The whole world was surprised to see the pair advance to the final. Federer hadn’t won a Grand slam tournament since 2012, and nadal hadn’t even advanced to a final in three years. nobody expected the match would rival the pair’s classic showdowns from a decade ago. still, who could resist the chance to travel back in time? but nostalgia was only partly responsible for the transcendent T v experience that was the 2017 Australian open final. Another key reason was T v itself.
The 2008 Wimbledon final, in which nadal defeated Federer, may be the greatest tennis match ever played, but sunday’s Australian open final is the greatest match ever played for television. There’s a distinction to be made, I think, between watching tennis on T v and watching T v-tennis. The latter requires not just an
understanding of tennis, but also an appreciation of televisual spectacle. The action on the court on sunday didn’t rival that of the legendary 2008 Wimbledon final. but there’s more to it than just what’s on the court. T v has to please viewers in order to stay on the air. That basic principle can be used to explain a lot of what we see on the tube, including sports. The need to hook viewers, to convince them they must continue watching, is probably the reason legacy always tends to feature prominently in televised sports commentary. It’s the sportscaster’s way of telling you: “This is important. It’s historic. You can’t miss this.”
sunday’s match was the embodiment of this principle. Prior to the match, Federer had the edge in number of major titles, with 17 to nadal’s 14. A win for Federer would stretch the gap to a seemingly insurmountable four titles. A win for nadal would shrink the gap to just two. And if the victorious spaniard, once again in championship form, could then upset the likes of novak djokovic and stan Wawrinka at the French open, the gap would be just a single title. similar calculus could be applied to the pair’s head-to-head record on hard courts. Whoever won, it was clear that both were running out of time to make their case for GoAT status.
If that all sounds like hyperbole, ask yourself: Aren’t the most memorable sports telecasts always hyperbolic? (If you’re tempted to say “no,” ask yourself: “do you believe in miracles?”) That’s the point. John mcenroe repeatedly
insisting into his commentator’s headset that nadal is the toughest competitor in the history of sport is the point. co-commentator chris Fowler countering mcenroe by sharing bits of his conversation with Federer, in which the swiss said this Australian open would be his sweetest victory ever, is the point. computer-generated, artificially dramatized displays of players’ challenges of line calls are the point. Incessant commentary about how age affects strategy — Will the aging swiss try to fight his way back into this set after having his serve twice broken, or will he conserve his energy? — is the point. And of course, all the talk of legacy …
Proclamations that the match lived up to the hype may have been false. Indeed, the match mined drama more from its large swings in momentum than from sustained excellence. but that’s not the point. The point is there was hype. A lot of it. Which is another way of saying this telecast wasn’t an unmediated look at a tennis match contested across the globe — it was a hyper-mediated one. one in which the action on the court wasn’t spectacular in spite of being on T v one in which the on-court spectacle was inseparable from the trappings of television. It wasn’t just great tennis. It was a great telecast of great tennis. sunday’s match was T v-tennis par excellence. And it was a consummate reminder of why we watch television.
Contact Nick Laureano at nlaurean@nd.edu
Identifying as christian and pro-choice
As a college freshman, my religious beliefs motivated me to attend the march for Life sponsored by saint mary’s c ollege. As a junior, I attended the Women’s march in d c . to fight for social, political and economic equality of women and men. From experience, the two marches cannot rival each other, yet there has been social media, news coverage and campus climate arguing otherwise.
In early december, my co-marcher asked s aint mary’s faculty if they could offer funds for students to go to the Women’s march as they do for the march for Life. o ur all-women’s college turned her down, claiming the Women’s march was too political. The college’s opposition seemed unfair because our United states c onstitution outlines the separation of church and state, and I have only known the antiabortion cohort as led by the church. I understand abortion is against c atholic doctrine, but denying funds for the Women’s march for political reasons seems hypocritical, as the march for Life also carries a strong political agenda.
The Women’s march mission states, “We will not rest until women have parity and equity at all levels of leadership in society.” The s aint mary’s c ollege purpose statement reads, “In preparing women for roles of leadership and action, s aint mary’s pays particular attention to the rights and responsibilities of women in the worlds of work, church, community and family.” We, the female students, cannot fulfill the purpose of the college in a nation where women still fall far behind the leadership curve.
As pro-choice ideals claimed a fraction of the Women’s march’s theme, I expected to encounter anti-religious groups. Instead, I encountered many religious groups protesting with us. my favorite poster read, “s ocial Justice is a c hristian Tradition, not a Liberal Agenda.”
The Women’s march attracted people from everywhere, with every experience. At the Women’s march, I learned more about abortion than I did at the march for Life. I learned more about diversity amongst women than I did at the march for Life. As a c hristian, I like to think that if I had an unexpected pregnancy, I would choose to carry, but I’ve never had to make that decision. I’ve never lived in poverty nor been raped. I’ve never lived in a country where healthcare is scarce and death is a common sacrifice of birth. As a privileged woman, I don’t know if I could make that call for myself and certainly not for others barred with unspeakable burdens.
I do know that the c enter for d isease c ontrol reported a gradual decrease in abortions since 1984 which correlates with an increase in organizations who provide affordable reproductive healthcare for women. It is my understanding that most of these organizations also provide abortion procedures, thus are bombarded with pro-life protesters. I respect the rights of democracy, but if we look at the opposing sides from an anti-abortion viewpoint, the prochoice side is clearly doing a better job.
I left the Women’s march educated on social and global problems that I didn’t know existed. I also left the Women’s march as a pro-choice c hristian citizen.
Contact Megan Uekert at muekert01@saintmarys.edu
The views expressed in the Inside Column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
Kroc Institute
As scholars, practitioners and current and former students of the Kroc Institute for International Peace studies at the University of notre dame, we are writing to express our deep dismay and moral condemnation in response to the grave threats to international peace, justice and human security posed by recent proposals of the Trump administration. We are joined by members of the broader notre dame community who share our concerns.
The new administration is launching a frontal assault on the foundational principles of peace and international cooperation — the very ideas, values and practices that we study, teach and advocate.
new executive orders, administrative actions and draft proposals provide significant cause for alarm. They are aimed at reducing U.s. funding for international peacekeeping organizations, weakening diplomatic infrastructures, undermining international conventions on the rights of women and children and possibly renewing cIA ‘black sites’ for unlawful detention and interrogation. The president has signed executive orders that deny entry to refugees from syria and other countries, suspend travel and immigration from muslim-majority countries afflicted by conflict and direct the immediate construction of the infamous wall with mexico. The administration has announced its intention to massively scale up the deportation of ‘unauthorized’ immigrants in the Us, end the dAcA program and punish municipalities that provide sanctuary.
moreover, the administration’s wholesale denial of climate change — including the threatened withdrawal from the Paris climate Accords and slashing of programs designed to monitor and respond to these changes — not only further endangers the planet, but ignores the critical ways in which climate-induced pressures are intensifying resource inequities, community displacement and social conflict around the world.
These actions will damage the structures of international cooperation that are essential for peace and development and will cause great hardship and risk for vulnerable populations in the U.s. and internationally.
We are alarmed at the proposed dismantling of the international norms and institutions that seek to diminish conflict and protect human rights, as well as the withdrawal of support for development and humanitarian work focused on women, refugees and marginalized communities. We fear that these measures will exacerbate violent conflict and contribute to state fragility, political autocracy and repression, deepening social and economic inequality and intensified human suffering.
These actions are a clear violation of the basic principles of human rights, civil rights and catholic social teaching, along with those of countless other religious and moral traditions, including Jewish and muslim. each of these require that we defend the vulnerable and marginalized, respect the dignity of all human beings, strive for justice
and reconciliation and build relationships of mutual responsibility and stewardship.
Those of us who study and advocate for policies of justice and cooperation cannot remain silent in the face of these actions. We cannot carry on business as usual and ignore the wholesale attack on the ideas and practices that we research and teach.
We join with our colleagues at other institutions in using our expertise, our public action and our networks to oppose these policies, along with any future measures that violate the foundational values of peace and conflict scholarship and practice. At the same time, we call on our communities to work proactively to propose and defend alternative policies grounded in the principles of human solidarity, scholarly rigor and responsible leadership.
It is time for deep reflection, courageous action and conscientious resistance.
Please direct inquiries about this statement to david cortright, Asher Kaufman, George Lopez, Ann mische, Atalia omer, Jason springs and ernesto verdeja at: threats. to.peace@gmail.com
Kroc Institute faculty and staff: David Cortright director of policy studies
Asher Kaufman professor of history and peace studies
George Lopez rev. Theodore m hesburgh, c s c. professor emeritus of peace studies
Ann Mische
associate professor of sociology and peace studies
Atalia Omer
associate professor of religion, conflict and peace studies
Jason Springs associate professor of religion, ethics and peace studies
Susan St. Ville director of masters program in international peace studies
Ernesto Verdeja associate professor of political science and peace studies
J. Douglas Archer peace studies, global affairs and political science librarian
Jennifer Betz assistant director of masters program for international peace studies
Catherine Bolten associate professor of anthropology and peace studies
Megan Uekert news Writer
And the award goes to ...
I don’t know about you, but when I turn on an award show, I’m not looking for the glamorous dresses or dashing movie stars. What I’m really tuning in for is a healthy dose of political and social activism. I mean, what are celebrities if not the perfect, educated, shining examples of morality for all of us common folk? no one asked for them to step out of the realm of romantic comedy, with the occasional indie film, yet here they are, ready to bravely spread the word on whatever it is that’s wrong with the world nowadays. Where would we be as a society without these noble individuals preventing us from going astray?
Today more than ever, celebrities have been using any chance they can to spread awareness for their cause, whatever that cause may be. how much influence should celebrities really have in political and social disputes? Are award shows really the time or place to spread advocacy, especially when people are interested in the escapism your art provides, not your own political and social views? despite becoming a more and more prevalent recently (I’m looking at you, meryl), award-show activism is not a new fad. marlon brando famously abstained from attending the Academy Awards in 1973, the year for which he was nominated for best Actor for his work in “The Godfather.” The reason for his absence? To protest the role of native Americans in film. brando wrote, “The motion picture community has been as responsible as any degrading the Indian and making a mockery of his character, describing his as savage, hostile and evil.”
Given his stature in the very industry in which he was
criticizing, brando conceivably did have the power to achieve something. since then, however, the speeches and protests brought on by celebrities have become less focused on changing the film industry or raising advocacy for specific causes related to their lives or work, and more focused on letting us know how much their art represents the opposite of all that is wrong with the world, usually aimed at Trump and anyone evil enough to vote for him. Political discourse is essential for democracy, but is the stage of the Golden Globes really the place to shut down your “opponents,” none of which are in the room with you, a room full of the wealthiest, most-glamorous elite?
The activism extends outside the award stage. You couldn’t scroll through Instagram or Facebook without seeing your favorite celebrities explaining in simple, easy to understand diction (for us common folk) why you should vote for so and so. commercials aired showing all out favorite movie stars bashing certain candidates, encouraging us to get off the couch and vote. Well, I wasn’t going to vote, but now that matt damon is telling me to, you can be sure I will, dang it!
one the one hand, it’s easy to dismiss these people as being too out of touch with the common person. This can make their statements seem like a tad bit convoluted and meaningless.
on the other hand, perhaps it’s noble for such successful individuals to stick their necks out for a cause that they are so removed from. The bit that makes their pleas a bit hard to swallow is when the fact that they so often claim their artistic sense puts them in better connection with morality. The idea is that they so often portray characters struggling with depression, racism, sexism, dictatorships
Out of the wild
them. Thus, the environment of a wolf is unsheltered, inconsistent and dangerous, while the environment of a dog is sheltered, static and safe.
and oppression, so naturally they should spearhead the campaigns against such issues. Personally, the one thing I go to the movies for is to escape the real world, if even for an hour or two. That is what actors represent to myself and many others: escapism, and not much else. The question then becomes: Why are these people we see in films to escape so influential in our society? I’ll be the first to admit that I eat celebrity gossip up; I love to hear about their love lives, how they learned portrayed some of my characters so expertly, the favorite roles they have ever played. however, when we pay so much attention to these parts of their lives, it is probably easy for celebrities to think they have a duty to let us know their political stances as well. The majority of actors and actresses are not more educated than the “common man,” yet we as a society are guilty of looking to them to be societal movers and shakers.
The awards stage is not a platform for social change to the extent that recent stars have made it out to be, especially when used to insult or negate the voices of those who disagree. When I turn on the Golden Globes, I expect to see glamorous attire and hear about great films. but with a reality T v star as the current leader of the free world, who can really blame actors for thinking they belong in the political realm?
Aside from incessantly quoting “Hamilton” and other perfect works of theater/film, Lucy Collins majors in economics and history, is a sophomore at Notre Dame and is often found trying to balance her hopeless romanticism and nearly constant cynicism. Please direct comments to lcollin8@nd.edu
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
The process of domestication is one of the coolest things our ancestors figured out how to do. starting around 13,000 years ago, they began selectively breeding crops for traits that were beneficial to humans. Around 2,000 years later, they figured out how to do the same thing with animals, directing the evolution of a species away from its wild form, which was better fit to survive in nature, and toward a domesticated form which was better fit for human use.
Alfred russell Wallace, the co-discoverer of natural selection, describes a wild animal as having “to search, and often to labour, for every mouthful of food – to exercise sight, hearing and smell in seeking it, and in avoiding dangers, in procuring shelter from the inclemency of the seasons, and in providing for the subsistence and safety of its offspring. There is no muscle of its body that is not called into daily and hourly activity; there is no sense or faculty that it is not strengthened by continual exercise.”
A domesticated animal, on the other hand, “has food provided for it, is sheltered, and often confined, to guard it against the vicissitudes of the seasons, is carefully secured from the attacks of its natural enemies and seldom even rears its young without human assistance. half of its senses and faculties are quite useless; and the other half are but occasionally called into feeble existence, while even its muscular system is only irregularly called into action.”
This dichotomy is easy to see when you compare the life of a suburban pet to its wild counterpart. While wolves must constantly exercise almost all their senses and muscles in order to survive, most dogs can’t put more than a long walk to the park on their resume and rarely worry about anything other than when we will get home to feed
These differences explain why dogs and wolves have evolved in such different ways. dogs don’t face the same natural challenges that wolves do, and wolves don’t face the same artificial pressures that dogs do. The result is that dogs have evolved to make great pets for us but subpar survivalists, while wolves have evolved into survival experts but unwelcome house guests. such is the process of domestication, and humans have repeatedly used it to make other species better fit for our use.
so far, you may be thinking that this is obvious and irrelevant, but what if I told you that we actually began domesticating ourselves long before we figured out how to do it to other species? Instead of dogs and wolves, let’s consider ourselves and chimpanzees, our closest evolutionary relatives. Why did we become music-making, beer-brewing, gift-giving, bread-breaking, race-running humans while our sister lineage retained a wild existence within the forest?
The simple answer is that, through culture, we stumbled upon a social system of inheritance. It allowed us to pass down beneficial extrasomatic technology and knowledge from each generation to the next. eventually, this information allowed our ancestors to increase the fitness of their offspring by constructing a more favorable niche for them to inhabit. In doing this, they made an environment where their descendants faced less natural challenges but more artificial pressure from culture. sound familiar?
We’re not the only animal that does this. beavers do something similar when they build a dam and make the ecosystem around them more favorable for their offspring. When we do it through culture, however, we create a dramatically different environment than the natural one we would otherwise be forced to exist within. The result is that
our environment becomes sheltered, static and safe, while that of our sister species, chimpanzees, remains unsheltered, inconsistent and dangerous.
so the reason why we became city-builders and chimpanzees became forest-dwellers is that we are a selfdomesticated ape, and they are a wild one. Just like dogs and wolves, we are better house guests and they are better survivalists. neither we nor they are superior to the other, just different, because we evolved under different pressures. For chimpanzees, this pressure was constantly challenging their ability to survive in the wild, and for us it was constantly forcing us to become a more cultural creature.
This explains why harvard anthropologist Joseph henrich said that “undergraduates sometimes ask [him] if human evolution has stopped or reversed. Their intuition is that … natural selection somehow isn’t acting to better adapt us to the ‘natural world,’ the world without culture.”
In a way, they are right. While we are still evolving, the pressure from selection stopped favoring adaptations to ‘the natural world’ a long time ago. Instead, it began favoring biological adaptations that make us better adapted to the cultural world we create because culture is our adaptation to the natural world.
This helps explain why we are so strange compared to other wild animals. The answer lies in the fact that we aren’t wild anymore. We are captives of our culture, and while our culture is evolving to better combat the challenges of the natural world, we are evolving as a domesticated species caught in its web.
Matt is a junior studying anthropology. His favorite animals are humans and when he grows up, he wants to be a good one. Feel free to reach out to him at mwilli41@nd.edu with any questions or comments.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
Lucy Collins stuck in the m iddle
Matt Williams v ieology
Happy Birthday: Take action and make an effort to bring about worthwhile changes in your life. Donating your time and services will result in opportunities to branch out and get involved in something that has substance and brings you satisfaction. financial gains can be made, but don’t let your generosity leave you cash-poor. your numbers are 5, 12, 24, 27, 39, 45, 48.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Physical activity will keep you out of trouble. find a healthy way to channel your energy. Situations will spin out of control if you jump to conclusions. Be conscious of the way others feel. Offer help, not criticism.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Communication is encouraged. Speak up if there is something you want to share. Offering suggestions that will help others will put you into the spotlight, giving you the opportunity to bring about positive changes.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): g et involved in your community. Be a passionate leader and you’ll find ways to make life better for yourself as well as others. Put your energy and charm to work and take advantage of whatever comes your way.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Choose to be a witness when it comes to disturbances and arguments. Observation can be a valuable tool that leads to fast-tracking your way to success. learn from the mistakes others make and offer your best.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Network and get involved in educational pursuits. The people you encounter and the information you gather could result in interesting plans. A lifestyle or vocational change will allow you to use your skills successfully.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): you don’t have to overspend to make an impression. use your intelligence and you’ll find better ways to grab attention. Take an unusual approach to the way you treat people and you will get good results. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): you can spend your time arguing with people or you can look for a way to get along with them. Emotional ups and downs will wear you out. Don’t miss out on something great because you are too exhausted to take part. Call the shots.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): g et physical. Whether you just need a challenge or are trying to get into shape, taking up a sport or routine that will help strengthen you mentally, physically and emotionally should be your goal. romance is encouraged.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): find your comfort zone. Take refuge where you feel the most secure, and work on making personal gains or improving your relationships with those you love. Trust in yourself, not what someone else tells you.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): keep your thoughts to yourself and your plans a secret. Not everyone will see things your way, and emotional interference is likely to get in your way if you aren’t careful. “Moderation, simplicity and discretion” should be your mantra.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Make a couple of changes to the way you do things and you will gain respect and the chance to take on responsibilities that will help you grow and prosper. reconnecting with past peers will encourage new beginnings.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): you may need a reality check if you differ from the general consensus. reconsider your take on events and situations and listen to someone who has been a trusted ally in the past. you have much to gain if you compromise.
Birthday Baby: you are proactive, adaptable and fearless. you are broadminded and responsible.
Jumble | DAvID hOyT AND JEff kNurEk
sudoku | ThE MEPhAM grOuP
Just hoping for a close game
Michael Ivey sports Writer
This sunday, new england and Atlanta will face off in super bowl LI for the Lombardi Trophy. many people won’t cheer for the Patriots or the Falcons particularly, and instead will just root for the game to be close and exciting.
Well, if recent events are any indication, those fans will get their wish.
ever since the beginning of 2016, sports championships on the college and professional levels have had championship games that have come down to the wire and had unforgettable endings. You would think some of the championship games recently have been a part of a movie script.
The first of these championship games was the 2016 college Football Playoff national championship game between Alabama and clemson. clemson quarterback deshaun Watson had a performance for the ages, accounting for 478 total yards of offense. It wasn’t enough, however, as Alabama was able to hang onto a 45-40 victory in an exciting game.
A month after the national championship game, super bowl 50 between denver and carolina proved to be historic as well. The broncos won the game 24-10, and although it wasn’t the most exciting game, it will be forever remembered as Peyton manning’s last-career nFL game. It provided the perfect ending to a storybook career, as manning retired a champion.
Fast forward a couple of months later to April, when v illanova took on north carolina in the college basketball national championship game. With 4.7 seconds left in the game and v illanova winning by three points, north carolina guard marcus Paige hit a spectacular 3-point shot to tie the game 74-74. on the next possession, v illanova took the ball down court and forward Kris Jenkins hit a buzzer-beating 3-point shot to win the national championship. The play will forever be remembered as one of the greatest moments in march madness history.
A couple of months later in June, cleveland faced off against Golden state in the nbA Finals. It was a rematch of the previous year’s finals, and the Warriors had a 73-9 regular season record and were looking to cap off the greatest season by an nbA team ever with a win in the Finals. The Warriors held a 3-1 series lead, and everybody thought the series was over. but then Lebron James and the cavs stormed back to
win Games 5 and 6 to set up a do or die Game 7, in oakland. In a classic game, Kyrie Irving hit a 3-point shot with 53 seconds remaining and the cavs held on for a 93-89 win. They became the first team in nbA history to win the Finals after trailing 3-1 in the series. The championship was cleveland’s first major professional sports championship since the cleveland browns won the n FL championship in 1964. cleveland would get a shot to add another title later in the year, when the Indians faced off against the cubs in the World series. This time it was cleveland who blew a 3-1 series lead, and the cubs forced a Game 7 in cleveland. The cubs held a 6-4 lead in the bottom of the eighth inning when Indians center fielder rajai davis hit a two-run home run to tie the game at 6-6. A short rain delay soon followed, and many wondered if history would have to be postponed another night. however, play was able to resume, and in the top of the 10th inning the cubs scored two runs to regain the lead. In the bottom half of the inning, the Indians scored a run but the cubs were able to close the game out for an 8-7 victory. The championship was the cubs’ first since 1908, ending the longest professional sports championship drought in history.
In January 2017, clemson and Alabama met again in the national title game. Alabama controlled the first three quarters of the game, but clemson was able to mount a comeback and took a 28-24 lead with four minutes to go. on the ensuing Alabama drive, Alabama quarterback Jalen hurts rushed for a 30-yard touchdown run to put Alabama up 31-28 with two minutes remaining. on the ensuing clemson drive, Watson led the Tigers downfield and to the twoyard line with six seconds to go. on the last play, Watson threw a touchdown pass to wide receiver hunter renfrow with one second left to win the game and the national championship.
championship moments like the ones listed here and the reactions they ignite remind us what sports are all about.
With all of these legendary games happening in such a short time period, we’re left wondering; what’s going to happen in super bowl 51? A Tom brady lastsecond touchdown pass? A matt ryan last-second touchdown pass?
Let’s hope.
Contact Michael Ivey at mivey@hcc-nd.edu
The views expressed in this Sports Authority are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
This week I’ll do two good workouts, get some speed endurance and some nice tempo in, and then after Wednesday I’ll just be resting up for the mile on s aturday.”
Nd womeN’s teNNis
Although hosting the home meet has its additional challenges, h arris said she enjoys the atmosphere and competition.
“It isn’t easy balancing good training sessions along with other work and getting ready for the m eyo, but ultimately we are keeping eyes focused on A cc indoor nationals. We want to have these key races like the m eyo before then. Also it is exciting to host and having a home crowd is great.”
Contact Meagan Bens at mbens@nd.edu
Irish look to secure another win at home
By MOLLY MURPHY sports Writer
coming off of an Acc win over Pittsburgh this past weekend, notre dame is poised to take on no. 13 michigan this Friday at home.
“I feel good, and I think they feel very confident after playing well last weekend,” Irish head coach Jay Louderback said. “I think for us it was great confidence-wise because we played well on the road, and starting off 3-0 is always good.”
Although the Irish (3-0, 1-0 Acc) are mentally ready to take on the Wolverines after a so far successful season, Louderback is not allowing confidence to prevent the team from pushing their game in practice.
“during practice everybody’s been real positive and working hard, and we’re real positive with them on the court,” said Louderback. “The big thing for us is that we’re trying to get them to play a little bit more
aggressive. We can’t worry about them missing some balls. If you hit the ball real big you’re going to make a few errors and the big thing you’re able to do when you do that is that you’re gonna have more winners.”
The Irish have been honing this aggression in singles in particular this week, and Louderback said he is pleased with the results.
“our doubles has been very good so far so we’ve really been working quite a bit with our singles this week,” said Louderback, “since we’re gonna be indoors for quite a while we’re trying to keep our kids being aggressive and not wanting to play defensive and backing up from the baseline but staying in close on the baseline.” so far, the Irish’s season looks strong at 3-0 overall and 1-0 in the Acc, but michigan will be their most challenging competition yet, a fact the team recognizes, Louderback said.
“michigan’s very good, they’re top 15, and we’ve lost to them a few times in a row,” Louderback
said. “They’re a very good team and very deep so that’s going be the challenging thing. They’re a legitimate top-15 team, maybe even a top-10 team.”
Although michigan looms large as difficult competition to beat, Louderback said that with the aggression they have been focusing on in practice, the confidence they have earned from their previous matches and solid effort from each member of the team, the win is within their grasp.
“I just feel like for us we’ve gotta all play well,” Louderback said. “When you play a team that’s this good everybody has to play well. We’re not gonna win all of the matches but if we get everybody playing well, we’ll have a shot at winning.”
The Irish and the Wolverines face off at 3:30 p.m. sunday at e ck Tennis Pavilion.
Contact Molly Murphy at mmurph40@nd
ND set for ‘tune-up’ meet with Ball State
By BRENNA MOXLEY sports Writer
coming off a home meet in which the Irish men finished the weekend on top while the Irish women placed second behind Wisconsin and several pool records were broken, notre dame hopes to carry its momentum into this saturday’s away meet against ball state.
“We have a different take on this weekend’s competition compared to our last one,” Litzinger said. “It was our last home meet swimming against a ranked Wisconsin team and
two other teams in missouri state and Grand canyon university who have nationallevel swimmers. swimming against ball state is kind of a last minute tune-up for our conference championships. We are regional opponents and it is a good fit for this time of year, but it will be more of a polishing of our races rather than an intense competition.”
After completing the last home meet, Litzinger said he was confident in the team’s ability to win on the road.
“We have practiced swimming in away situations all
year long: at Louisville, at northwestern, at Georgia Tech,” he said. “We are used to swimming away from home and that was the point of the schedule I put together: to get off the bus, get a good stretch, have a good warm up, get good rest and compete. I think our mentality is pretty solid for this upcoming stretch of meets that are away.”
The Irish take on ball state on saturday at 1 p.m. at Lewellen Aquatic center in muncie, Indiana.
Contact Brenna Moxley at bmoxley@nd.edu
Home for Rent, avail. 20172018. Near corner of Angela and ND Ave. 4 bdrm, 2 bath, $3500/m, utilities incl. Contact Julie: jlafleur@gmail.com
Today is gonna be the day That they’re gonna throw it back to you By now you should’ve somehow Realized what you gotta do I don’t believe that anybody Feels the way I do about you now Back beat, the word is on the street That the fire in your heart is out I’m sure you’ve heard it all before But you never really had a doubt I don’t believe that anybody feels The way I do about you now And all the roads we have to walk are winding And all the lights that lead us there are blinding anybody Feels the way I do About you now And all the roads
swimmiNg aNd diviNg
a 76-27 blowout against instate rival v irginia. i rish head coach m uffet m cGraw said the recent h okies struggles have come from shooting issues, which means they may return to form and pose a challenge to her team.
“They’ve not been shooting the ball so well lately, but playing at home i ’d expect them to shoot it a lot better,” m cGraw said.
“Playing in the acc , every team is good. e very game is so important right now. When you have a loss in conference you have to think that every game matters. s o they
have to be ready, they have to be ready to be on the road, and they have to go out there and play their best game mentally.”
The i rish (20-3, 8-1 acc ), meanwhile, come into the game having won their last four games after losing hold of a 10-point fourth-quarter lead at Tennessee. a fter being upset at n orth c arolina s tate in their acc opener, m cGraw’s team have won their last eight conference games to hold a tie for first in the acc with Florida s tate.
i n their last outing, the i rish scored 82 points against the c avaliers team that held the h okies to just 27, but gave up 74 points on defense because of what m cGraw described
as a lack of defensive effort. m cGraw said defense is the area her team has focused on the most in preparing for v irginia Tech.
“We’re trying to get them to get up, pick up the ball sooner and try to get out into passing lanes a little more,” m cGraw said. “ i think we’re laying back a little too much, so we’re working on being more aggressive on defense.
“ i think it’s going to take some time to form habits, i think that’s what’s important. s o defensively, we just need to be a lot more aggressive, we need to work on our help rotation.”
Junior forward Kathryn Westbeld missed the last two i rish road games against
b oston c ollege and n orth c arolina before starting against d uke and then contributing six minutes off the bench against v irginia. m cGraw said whether Westbeld will play against the h okies, and if so how much, is still undecided, but she added she has no concerns about depth if the starter is ruled out.
“We have a really good bench,” m cGraw said. “ i f we start [freshman forward] e rin [ b oley] we still have [sophomore guard] a li [Patberg] coming off the bench, [freshman guard] Jackie [Young] coming off the bench and [junior forward Kristina n elson]. s o we still have three really good players coming
off the bench, they just have to be ready.”
The h okies boast four players who average over 10 points per game: sophomore guard c hanette h icks, redshirt sophomore forward r egan m agarity, senior forward s ydney c ook and senior guard s amantha h ill. h icks, the team’s leading scorer, is also third in the acc in assists and first in steals, while m agarity and c ook are second and third in the conference in rebounds, respectively.
The i rish and the h okies tip off at 7 p.m. Thursday at c assell c oliseum in b lacksburg, v irginia.
Contact Dan O’Boyle at doboyle1@nd.edu
Fortunato dressed for Team usa, leading them in points with five. despite the 22-5 loss to the national team, halfpenny feels the irish left Florida with some important takeaways.
“i really like our speed, i’m super excited about the new faces we’ve seen on the field,” halfpenny said. “but we’re also noticing areas we need to improve on, and clearing the ball
was definitely one of those areas. We’re making improvements there every single day in that area and taking care of the ball as well. but i was impressed with our speed, i was impressed with our understanding of our settled defense, our slide packages. i was excited about our will to compete, our persistence, our resilience and our ability to move onto the next play and stay really focused and determined, and i was thrilled with our goalie play from [sophomore] sam Giacalone. it was a great way to
start the season, playing at that kind of pace, challenging everywhere possible, building those strengths we were trying to develop.”
While the entire team has high expectations and hopes to build on last season’s quarterfinal loss to north carolina, who ultimately won the ncaa title, halfpenny is looking to her seniors to lead by example on and off the field to get them there.
“i’m really excited about our leadership,” halfpenny said. “our entire senior class was
remarkable in Florida. it’s great to know we have leaders in every single aspect of the game — on offense we have multiple leaders, in midfield we have multiple leaders and on defense we have multiple leaders. it’s great to see the passion they have, not just for their team but for leading at being at the university of notre dame.” opening the season against a highly ranked opponent in northwestern could be a deterrent for some programs. however, halfpenny is taking the challenge in stride and is
excited to see what the two teams will bring to the table.
“We’re not really focusing on media rankings for ourselves or our opponents,” halfpenny said. “We’re just focused on being the best team we can be regardless of who we’re playing because, in reality, notre dame always gets their opponents’ bests.”
The irish face off against northwestern on sunday at 1 p.m. at Loftus sports center.
Contact Elizabeth Greason at egreason@nd.edu
Paid a dverT isemen T
more news.
“A new guy has come in. Kofi Wardlow, defensive end,” Kelly announced to the crowd, amid cheers from the back of the room.
And thus, when Kelly left the podium after nine more questions from the press, notre dame had its full allotment of 21 commits, wrapping up a successful close to the recruiting season for the Irish staff.
Keeping the class together
When notre dame entered its season-opening contest with Texas in september, there were rumblings around south bend that the Irish could be headed for a class that rivaled the 2013 one, when Kelly recruited the rivals. com no. 3 class in the country after a 12-1 season and a trip to the bcs national championship Game. but instead of strengthening the class as the year went on, it got weaker, with notre dame dealing with decommitments as the team struggled to a 4-8 mark. early
offseason coaching changes didn’t help, as all in all, six players stepped away from their Irish ties between oct. 19 and Jan. 10.
Those de-commitments were likely why Kelly opened his press conference in a bit of an orthodox way: by thanking the 15 incoming recruits that stuck with the program.
“We couldn’t be where we are today unless we had 15 student-athletes that were committed to notre dame from the start to the finish,” Kelly said. “really during a very difficult season, this group of 15
really had to endure the things that would occur out there in recruiting during a very difficult season; other schools reminding them about a very difficult season that we had.”
Kelly said the recruiting “dead period” — which ran from dec. 12 through Jan. 11 — gave him an assist on the trail, letting him get a new coaching staff in place to reassure recruits about notre dame.
“I think this class, I guess what I’m saying, is about the 15 that really stuck together, giving myself an opportunity to reconstitute our staff, put our staff together, get back out on the road after the dead period, and finish it out really strong,”
Kelly said.
Kelly noted that, for these 15 recruits, it was the school, not the staff, that brought them to notre dame.
“We had really good coaches that left us, but notre dame did not change,” he said. “notre dame is still the number one reason why they choose to come here. Those 15 guys chose notre dame.”
Notre dame’s late adds
The commitment of those 15 recruits allowed Kelly and the Irish staff to focus their efforts elsewhere down the stretch, efforts that were rewarded with six commitments in the final week of recruiting.
safety Jordan Genmark-heath was the first new addition to the class Jan. 26, when he flipped from california to the Irish, before wide receiver Jafar Armstrong switched from missouri and kicker Jonathan doerer changed his pledge from maryland to notre dame two days later.
“coming at it late where you’re presenting notre dame for the first time from a fresh perspective, and they’ve been committed somewhere else, it’s kind of exciting in a sense,” Kelly said. “I mean, you hate to pull somebody from another school. [but] you know what, it works pretty good. I don’t mean it to slight the other schools, but when you can show notre dame unvarnished without the negative criticism of notre
dame, you can show it for who we truly are. It’s a pretty easy decision to come to notre dame instead of having to carry all that baggage of negative recruiting for such a long period of time.”
Around noon, well before Kelly stepped to the podium, the Irish picked up commit no. 19 — defensive lineman myron TagovailoaAmosa — before finishing out the day just after 2 p.m. with the gets of owusu-Koramoah and Wardlow, who switched on national signing day from maryland to notre dame.
Potential first-year impact
A majority of notre dame’s class of 2016 played as freshmen — something Kelly would prefer to avoid in 2017.
“Last year 13 of the 24 players that we recruited in this class got on the field,” Kelly said. “nearly 60 percent of last year’s class played for us. I hope it’s not that high this year, that number. There’s a lot of really good football players in this class, but we’re hopeful that it’s not at 60 percent.”
one of the guys Kelly does want to see in his first year on campus, however, is c.J. holmes. An early enrollee, holmes could see the field for the Irish at two positions in 2017: running back and wide receiver.
“versatility I think is what comes to mind. I look at him as a guy like a Theo riddick, c.J. Prosise,” Kelly said. “he’s going to play both running back and wide receiver for us. We think we have a nice package for him right away. We’re going to ask him to compete right away. he’s going to be one of those guys that we’re going to force feed him a little bit and get him involved.”
Four-star defensive lineman darnell ewell is another guy who could see the field as a freshman, Kelly said.
“he’s a guy that is prepared and wants to play immediately,” he said. “We’re not going to tell him anything different. come over here and compete right away. he’s got the physical traits and he’s got the mindset. That’s what we really like about darnell.”
When doerer pledged to the Irish on saturday, it probably didn’t stick out as a key commitment. however, the kicker could see the field in year one, with the Irish staff seeing him as capable taking over kickoff duties — which would help keep junior Justin Yoon “in his comfort zone” by just place-kicking in 2017.
“Given the fact we have a guy that can score points for us, let’s find a specialist that can kick that thing out of the end zone,” Kelly said. “Jonathan can do that. We don’t have to worry about anything. Wind conditions shouldn’t be an issue. We’re going to get that ball down there. We’ll do anything to make [special teams coordinator brian] Polian look good, too.
“he was banging on the table on this kid. I got to agree with him. When we were able to look at his numbers, the way he kicked the football, he was as good if not the best in the country.” Contact Alex Carson at
PAI d AdverTIsemen T
PAI d AdverTIsemen T
Notre Dame lands 21 recruits in 2017 class
By ALEX CARSON Assistant managing e ditor
Editor’s Note: See the rest of our Signing Day content in our National Signing Day edition of the Irish Insider within.
When Irish head coach brian Kelly stepped to the podium a little after 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, notre dame had received national Letters of Intent from 19 recruits in the class of 2017.
Then, around the midway point of the presser, Kelly’s cell phone rang. “rover” recruit Jeremiah owusu-Koramoah was on the other end of the line.
“I need to take this call,” Kelly said, walking out of the auditorium. “Jeremiah, how you doing? That’s great news. Great to hear it. Go Irish. Awesome. congratulations. I’m going to go announce it right now at the press conference. I’ll talk to you in a little bit. Talk to you later.”
Around 10 minutes later, a notre dame staffer interrupted the press conference to give Kelly a little bit
tr ack and field
Irish set to host meyo Invitational
By MEAGAN BENS sports Writer
The Irish will host the 30th annual meyo Invitational at Loftus sports c enter this upcoming Friday and s aturday.
As a prestigious meet, the meyo Invitational is one of notre dame’s biggest home meets besides the Acc indoor championships this year, according to junior Jessica harris.
“We have a good competition this weekend,” harris said. “It’s a pretty big meet that has a high profile for the m idwest. We even have professional runners racing the meyo m ile, and there will be good competition all around. It’s definitely more competitive than last weekend at the black and Gold Premier. There’s going to be a field where I can mix it up with some girls and get pulled along to a better time since this will really be our first encounter with the mile recently.”
In years past, harris said the meyo Invitational serves as an indication for the rest of the
indoor season.
“We normally place pretty high at meyo,” harris said. “I’d say it shows what we will be capable of for the rest of the indoor season. People should be getting up to good times, at least for mid-distance kids as they start building more endurance. e veryone is looking at their times and hoping to do well at Acc s and then looking for times to qualify for Acc nationals.”
While training for the meet this week, harris mentioned that the meyo Invitational will reveal what she will run later on in the season.
“my goal is to run the 800 [meters] and the mile at the Accs, and I want to place high in those events and improve my placement in the 800 from last year,” harris said. “saturday I want to see how my mile goes and see if it is a possibility to run it later on in the season. r ight now I am coming off of cross country so I need to get in key workouts before the Accs.
nd women’s lacrosse
nd looks forward to northwestern
By ELIZABETH GREASON sports Writer
The last time notre dame and northwestern met, the Irish were ranked sixth in the country and the teams were battling to advance to the quarterfinals of the ncAA tournament. The Irish came up victorious last may, taking down the Wildcats, 15-3.
no. 8 notre dame is looking for the same outcome as it opens its regular season against no. 9 northwestern (1-0) at home on sunday at 1 p.m.
notre dame has graduated 12 players since the two teams last met, but Irish head coach christine halfpenny feels the large cohort of new players on the roster are ready to step into the large shoes the departing seniors left behind.
“We’re really excited to see the campaign start and really excited to test ourselves against one of the country’s best programs in northwestern,” halfpenny said.
“It’s a battle for the midwest really and I’m excited to get things underway with this group. I’m excited about some of our rookies shining. We have a really strong group of
freshman attackers: [Freshman attack] Jessi masinko is a high school All-American out of Georgia who should get a good opportunity to make an impact, for example.
“I feel that our midfield could be a strong unit for us, led by AllAmericans [senior captains] casey Pearsall and Alex dalton. We’ll see some new faces in the midfield too, and it’s going to be really exciting, people like [junior] molly cobb, [sophomore] makenna Pearsall and [freshman] erin mcbride. We’re really deep and it’s going to be really exciting to see how we handle those combinations.”
The Wildcats opened their season with a win over canisius on monday. They were paced by redshirt-senior attack christina esposito, who scored four goals, and junior attack corinne Wessels, who picked up a goal and four assists.
The Irish have yet to play a regular season game, but traveled to Florida in January to play an exhibition game against Team UsA. Irish senior attack and Tewaaraton Award nominee cortney
Notre Dame prepares for test at Virginia Tech
By DANIEL O’BOYLE sports Writer
n o. 7 n otre d ame is on the road again Thursday, traveling to meet a v irginia Tech team that is hoping to regain its early-season form. v irginia Tech (16-5, 3-5 Acc ) had one of the best starts to the season in the country, beginning their campaign with a 15-game winning streak. That run — which featured a victory over the Tennessee squad that defeated n otre d ame — was good enough to see the h okies climb to n o. 15 in the rankings as the final remaining undefeated Acc team and one of only three undefeated teams in the nation. h owever, from there v irginia Tech’s season began to slip as its schedule became more difficult. After a sevenpoint loss to m iami and a victory over Wake Forest, the h okies went on to drop four consecutive games, including
EMMET FARNAN | The Observer
Irish junior forward Kathryn Westbeld drives the lane during Notre Dame’s 82-74 victory over Virginia on Sunday at Purcell Pavilion.
ALEX CARSON | The Observer
Irish head coach Brian Kelly addresses the media on National Signing Day in Isban Auditorium on Wednesday.
