Print Edition for Wednesday, March 4, 2015

‘a great and holy priest’

University President Emeritus Fr. Edward Malloy recalls final

By LESLEY STEVENSON

news e ditor

“come, holy spirit.”

when university president emeritus fr. edward “monk” malloy stood before a capacity crowd at the basilica of the sacred heart on Tuesday night, he invoked god’s guidance in illuminating the complex, dynamic life of university president emeritus fr. Theodore hesburgh.

facing a congregation of hesburgh’s family and friends and flanked by dorm presidents, class council executives and student body leadership, malloy recalled the circumstances of his last meeting with hesburgh.

“a couple weeks ago, fr. charlie kohlerman, the superior of holy cross [house], our healthcare and retirement facility where fr. Ted lived for a number of years, called me and a number of other of Ted’s close friends and said, ‘The end is near. if you want to have a last, final conversation with Ted, you’d better do it quickly,’” malloy said.

malloy eventually found hesburgh outside in the cold, smoking an unlit cigar.

“i said, ‘Ted, what have you been thinking about?’” malloy said. “he said, ‘eternity.’

“he said, ‘The phrase that keeps coming into my mind: no eye has

see hesburgh PaGe 4

words with Hesburgh

smc announces sga election results

By HALEIGH EHMSEN

a ssociate saint mary’s e ditor

saint mary’s college student government association (sga) announced the incoming student

body president and vice president, kaitlyn baker and maddie kohler on friday.

election week was exciting and stressful, but kohler felt particularly confident during her speech in the dining hall wednesday during dinner, she said.

“we were always anxious to see how the other candidates were going to campaign,” she said. “but wednesday night, when we gave our speeches, i was so proud to be telling the students what we want to do, if elected, and express our love for the college.”

kohler said she and baker plan to attend sga meetings and shadow the college’s outgoing student body president and vice president, mckenna schuster and sam

moorhead, to prepare for their term, which officially begins april 1.

baker said she and kohler will begin the board application process for student-run organizations

like student diversity board (sdb), residence hall association (rha) and student activities board (sab).

students were elected into such positions prior to this year, baker said.

Though they both have sga experience, kohler said she and baker look forward to working with schuster and moorhead to guide them into their new positions.

kohler said she and her partner intend to add a function to the new bellemobile app that would track blinky, a nightly shuttle service sponsored by saint mary’s security to transport students safely around saint mary’s campus, as well as back and forth from the grotto.

“There’s a lot of questions that see elecTions PaGe 4

senior lisa yang, a resident of mcglinn hall, died Tuesday at memorial hospital in south bend, according to a notre dame press release.

yang was a student in the mendoza college of business and a native of herndon, virginia, in the washington, d c. metropolitan area.

yang was also a member of the student international business council (sibc), according to the sibc website.

“our heartfelt condolences and prayers are with lisa’s family and friends,” said an email sent to students and staff Tuesday evening from vice president of student affairs erin hoffmann harding, university president fr. John Jenkins and mendoza college of business dean dr. roger huang. a memorial service will be held the week of march 16, according to the email. more details will follow.

“Thank you for keeping lisa, her family and all who loved her in your prayers during this significant time of remembrance and reflection for our notre dame community,” Jenkins said in a statement.

Committee begins decennial curriculum review

By KAYLA MULLEN

a ssociate news e ditor

every 10 years, notre dame reviews its core curriculum.

The process for the most recent review began with the appointment of a core curriculum review committee in august 2014 by university p resident fr. John Jenkins and p rovost Thomas burish, according to the core curriculum review website.

The committee consists of 12 faculty members from several university departments and is co-chaired by gregory

crawford, dean of the college of science, and John mcgreevy, dean of the college of a rts and l etters. The committee was tasked with performing a comprehensive review of the entire core curriculum, drawing on feedback from faculty, students and alumni.

“i f i were to characterize our [the committee’s] conversations … i think the things we have talked the most about are, ‘w hat is it that we want students to have when they graduate? w hat knowledge, dispositions

see core review PaGe 5

Ques T ion oF T he d ay:

What’s the most important value that Fr. Ted has instilled in you?

Colleen Crooks sophomore le mans hall

“The encouragement of pursuing goals and not letting people change those goals.”

Colleen Naumovich sophomore le mans hall

“The promotion of justice and equality.”

Kaitie Maierhofer freshman mccandless hall

“a desire to impact (or try to) others’ lives the way he did.”

Ellen Raymond sophomore regina hall

“a strive for education and justice.”

Rachel Rahal junior le mans hall

“The notion of faith strengthened through catholic tradition.”

Seton Brems sophomore howard hall

“l ove for others.”

The casket of

in preparation for Fr. Hesburgh’s wake and visitation hours, which took place Tuesday night.

Today’s Staff

Wednesday

Procession to Burial

Site for Fr. Hesburgh

Holy Cross Community Ceremony

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. i f we have made a mistake, please contact us at (574) 631-4541 so we can correct our error.

Thursday

Mindful Meditation

3:30 p.m.

Line the procession after funeral mass.

Memorial Tribute for Fr. Hesburgh Joyce Center

“Romeo and Juliet” Debartolo Performing Arts Center

7 p.m. - 8:15 p.m. Theatre performance.

Friday

Graduate Student Mass Basilica of the Sacred Heart

5:15 p.m. - 6:15 p.m. Worship service.

Men’s Hockey

Ice Arena

p.m.

ND, SMC students receive Orr Fellowships

By KELLY KONYA and RACHEL O’GRADY saint mary’s e ditor and news writer

Two saint mary’s seniors, bailey shrum and sam moorhead, and one recent belle graduate, clare maher, as well as one notre dame senior, brooke kovanda, were recently named incoming fellows in The governor bob orr indiana entrepreneurial fellowship.

“The orr fellowship is holistic,” kovanda said. “it gives me even more real-world skills, a chance to hone my business education from all sides and the opportunity to create a new network.”

The orr fellowship was established in 2001 and offers recent graduates the opportunity to work for select indiana-based host companies for two years. The program ultimately allows students to build professional networks, receive mentorship from leading executives and refine their skill sets, according to saint mary’s director of media relations gwen o’brien.

The orr fellowship website defines its fellows as students who have demonstrated strong leadership skills throughout their undergraduate career and who take interest in business, entrepreneurship or technology.

“my parents’ greatest wish for me is to ‘love what i do, so it’ll feel like i’ve never worked a day in my life,’” kovanda said. “i think the orr fellowship combines these values of doing what you love and knowing that there is more to your life than just your career.”

for the incoming class of 2015, 45 new fellows have been selected out of a record 724 applicants to work at 32 host companies.

This is the fourth consecutive year saint mary’s students have

been selected as orr fellows.

o’brien said four college alumnae have served as orr fellows since 2012, including current orr fellows nichole clayton ’13 and sara napierkowski ’14.

“essentially, it’s a two-year, postgraduate opportunity, regardless of what your major is — we’re just interested in people that are really willing to do really good work,” clayton said. “it does have an entrepreneurial feel to it, and it really builds on future business leaders.”

maher, who has worked in indianapolis since her graduation in fall 2014, said she first applied for the fellowship due to a visit by clayton and napierkowski to her senior seminar course. she said the women’s positive experiences inspired maher to look into the opportunity. maher said she was grateful for her saint mary’s education as she went ahead with her application.

“saint mary’s as a whole gave me the the education and experience i needed to present myself as an asset to the companies i interviewed with, knowing i had the qualifications to back me up,” maher said. “it’s not a coincidence that saint mary’s produced three orr fellows this year and has had past success with the program; a saint mary’s education absolutely gives you everything you need to succeed, and the orr fellowship is one example of the outside world recognizing that.”

maher is currently the head of the human resources department for cloudone, a company that specializes in the “internet of Things,” personalized cloud data analytics and “software as a service.”

being an orr fellow, maher

paid a dverT isemen T

career center begins ‘check-up’ program

said she not only gets to interact with cloudone’s ceo and coo daily, but she gets to be an integral part of the rebuilding of a new and innovative hr system to fit the company’s growing needs.

“really, you couldn’t ask for a better first job out of school,” maher said.

both shrum and moorhead said they are looking forward to the many opportunities this fellowship will present, along with the occasion to showcase and utilize all they have learned the past four years.

“The diversified education that a liberal arts curriculum provides will allow me to approach issues from a variety of different perspectives with knowledge gained from a many fields,” moorhead said. “i am most looking forward to being challenged on a daily basis in my first job and meeting all of the new fellows who will form a great community for the next two years.”

shrum said she is grateful to be chosen out of a group of so many qualified individuals, and she is going to take the opportunity to both grow as a leader within an unrivaled network of peers and give back to the community. according to shrum, it is essential for students to recognize these types of opportunities that strengthen and support the way that college can transform students into leaders.

“programs like orr are looking not only for talent, but driven individuals willing to lead, something saint mary’s is known for helping to foster in its students,” shrum said.

Contact Kelly Konya at kkonya01@saintmarys.edu and Rachel O’Grady at rogrady@nd.edu

By MATTHEW McKENNA news writer

The university career center recently partnered with the economics, history and english departments in the college of a rts and l etters to launch a pilot “sophomore check-up” program, which aims to provide sophomores with information and resources in order to help them achieve their professional goals.

bridget k ibbe, career engagement manager at the career center, said the center has a wealth of resources for every undergraduate class year, but freshman, juniors and seniors have “more of a systematic touch point” with the career center.

“we recognize that the sophomore year is actually a very important time for making decisions, so we wanted to do a special outreach to focus on resource awareness that would meet students where they are during that time, regardless of the paths they are considering,” k ibbe said.

k ibbe said the career center began the program with a few departments in order to evaluate the potential success of the program.

“it is our hope that we will be able to figure out a way to scale sophomore checkups so more students can participate while retaining the small group design,” k ibbe said.

sophomore l ouis bertolotti said the program helped him to become more knowledgeable about the resources the career center has to offer.

“This recent program specifically helped me utilize the online databases about which

many are unaware,” bertolotti said. “furthermore, it provided me with the information on how to secure funding for unpaid summer internships.”

bertolotti said a liberal arts education is very valuable — it helps to teach students about a variety of topics and disciplines.

“a liberal arts education culminates in a complete education of the mind, body and spirit,” bertolotti said. “The career center helps one translate the knowledge that comes from a liberal arts education into an actual career path.”

matthew Zyniewicz, the dean’s e xecutive administrator in the college of a rts and l etters, said the college teaches students to tackle today’s most pressing issues in a demanding intellectual environment, which results in the development of skills that are highly sought after by employers.

“no matter what course of study you choose in the college, you will acquire skills that are powerful assets in any profession: the ability to think critically and creatively, to analyze complex information, to identify and solve problems, to write well and to speak persuasively,” Zyniewicz said. “These versatile skills are increasingly valuable in today’s rapidly changing global economy.”

“[The ‘sophomore check-up’ program] will be a great way for our students to learn about and take advantage of all of the opportunities that are open to them during their time here — and also to begin thinking about their post-graduation goals and how to achieve them,” he said.

Contact Matthew McKenna at mmcken12@nd.edu

eateries to stay open over break

By ANDREA VALE news writer

beginning saturday, notre dame’s dining halls will stay open during spring break for the first time in school history. in response to complaints from students who stay on campus during fall and spring breaks and are forced to rely on their own money to obtain food, notre dame food services has implemented a trial program from march 7 to 15 to determine if permanent changes should be made for the future.

“The university recognizes that a number of students remain on campus for spring break,” a nn hastings, senior communications specialist in the office of student a ffairs, said, “understanding the potential utilization of the dining hall over break can help food services and the university assess future

plans as it relates to the dining hall schedule. a ny student with a current meal plan is eligible to visit during this time.”

according to chris abayasinghe, director of food services, dining halls were previously closed during school breaks. The only campus meal options that remained open during breaks were fast food restaurants in lafortune student center and various other establishments on campus, including reckers and au bon pain.

“we listened to student feedback on meal needs,” abayasinghe said, “The feedback that was shared centered around the number of students remaining on campus during the break and if their meal needs would be better served in a dining hall.”

The open dining halls are especially convenient to those students who stay on campus during spring break to save

money that would otherwise be spent on traveling. meal swipes used during spring break will count towards students’ current meal plans at no additional cost to students.

“usage information will assist my department in evaluating the need, and number of students dining on campus during break periods,” abayasinghe said. “based on this data, we can then evaluate future operations during break periods.”

north dining hall will be open saturday for brunch from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and dinner from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. from sunday to march 15, south dining hall will be open for brunch from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and dinner from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. both dining halls will reopen for dinner and resume normal hours march 15.

Contact Andrea Vale at avale@nd.edu

hesburgh

seen nor ear heard what god has in store for those who love him.’

“i was blown away, of course. and i recognized at that point that he knew that he was going to die soon and that he was full of utter gratefulness for his life and all of the gifts that he had enjoyed along the way.”

malloy and hesburgh fondly remembered the people who had helped and otherwise impacted hesburgh throughout his life, starting with ned Joyce, the former university executive vice president hesburgh described as “his best friend in his whole life,” malloy said.

“you couldn’t have found two people that personality-wise were more different. Their politics, their ecclesiology — all different. but Ted was proud when he said, ‘we never had a fight.’ i think that was influenced by the fact that Ted had the last word.”

malloy said hesburgh recalled helen hosinski, his secretary and assistant for 47 years, who in 2004 earned a place among only 24 other individuals on notre dame’s wall of honor in the main building.

“Ted used to say, ‘we’re just figureheads. it’s the women of notre dame like helen who really run the place,’” malloy said. “That, of course, is very true.”

malloy recalled the early beginnings of the kroc institute for international peace studies, a program made possible only through Joan kroc, the inheritor to the mcdonald’s fast food fortune, after hesburgh presented “his dream of a peace institute” at a conference in san diego.

“after it was over, a woman came up he had never met before and she said, ‘how much would it cost?’” malloy said. “… we came back [to notre dame] … he said, ‘it’s going to take six or seven million dollars. we’ll be happy to come out and meet with you.’ she said, ‘That won’t be necessary. i’ll send it to you in the overnight mail.’ he went, ‘w hat?’”

hesburgh and malloy talked about hesburgh’s fondness for notre dame’s land o’lakes environmental research center in wisconsin, where he often went after the academic year to fish, read and enjoy nature.

“w hen i was having my last meeting with him, i said, ‘did you ever hear the rumor that when you were out fishing, when you couldn’t see anymore, that somebody in a wetsuit would go down below the boat and hook the fish on the line?’” malloy said. “he said, ‘no, that couldn’t possibly be true.’”

malloy recounted hesburgh’s appointments to the civil rights commission as a member and later as its president. Though inexperienced in civil rights and policy issues, hesburgh did not shy away from the chance to fight “this great scourge on american life.”

“he went from somebody without much experience in this important issue in our common life to someone who was responsible,

in a sense, for the civil rights act of 1964,” malloy said. “hard to explain it, but many times he played a providential kind of role in the events of our time.”

hesburgh was a “daredevil,” malloy said while laughing about hesburgh’s drive to experience every place he went to the fullest. Through all his travels, hesburgh remained devoted to celebrating mass every day and frequently invited non-catholics and atheists alike to join him.

“he celebrated mass in a submarine between california and hawaii and on aircraft carriers. he went to the antarctic, and then he flew in a supersonic transport,” malloy said. “… but his great dream in life was to be the first priest to celebrate mass in outer space as an astronaut. he and walter cronkite were lined up, but then the tragedy of the challenger disaster happened, and he was never able to fulfill that dream.

“one time on one of his birthdays we celebrated mass right along the sea of galilee in a motel in a room with a christianarab driver,” he said. “and all i could think of, here was Ted, right next to where Jesus would have been doing the same thing in his ministry.”

hesburgh was the first priest to say the mass at lambeth palace, the london residence of the archbishop of canterbury, and he always sought new opportunities to explore and inform himself about the world, malloy said.

“Ted was in 100 countries, i think,” malloy said. “one time, i was able to go to Tibet, and he said, ‘i’m so envious of you. i’ve only been to nepal and afghanistan and china and india and — but i’ve never been to Tibet.’ i said, ‘Too bad, Ted.’”

malloy closed his reflection with a blessing for hesburgh.

“w hen i left him on that last meeting, i asked him to bless me, which he did graciously,” malloy said. “now i want to say on behalf of all of us, fr. Ted hesburgh, c s c., you have been a great and holy priest. you have been our pastor here at notre dame, as you have for the country and the world. now, go to god, and may you rest in peace.”

university executive vice president John affleck-graves said the wake service served as “a wonderful way to send [hesburgh] off.”

“it was a beautiful service, and monk did such a wonderful job of touching every aspect of fr. Ted’s life and i think, bringing him back to life for all of us,” affleck-graves said.

lewis hall president, junior katie ferrara, said her experience sitting behind the altar was “humbling.”

“we were invited to represent the dorm communities,” she said. “i know that fr. hesburgh really encouraged the family aspect of the university and to be here feeling incredibly unworthy to be here — someone told us yesterday, ‘it’s not you, it’s your position,’ — being able to represent the dorm family for someone who — the notre dame family meant so much to him, was quite the

blessing.”

in the lafortune student center, one of many campus hubs where the wake service was streamed live, viewers crossed themselves whenever the priests made the sign of the cross, participating through the Tv screen with malloy and the congregation.

student body vice president senior matthew devine said despite the campus-wide sadness following hesburgh’s death, the community has an opportunity to celebrate hesburgh’s life and legacy. malloy’s speech “struck the perfect tone,” he said.

“we’re very glad to see his life remembered in this way, to bring together so many people over his life who were so meaningful to him and to celebrate his life,” devine said. “we hope that our lives can be a testament to his, to the life that he led. we’re just very grateful to have been a part of this and to be with his friends and family in this important time.”

“beautiful” became the defining word of the evening service, as both student body president senior lauren vidal, student body president-elect junior bryan ricketts and junior class vice president michael fliotsos also described the wake as such.

“as students here, we’re all honored, and we look forward to continuing remembering him throughout the days to come,” vidal said.

News Writer Clare Kossler contributed to this report.

Contact Lesley Stevenson at lsteven1@nd.edu

e lections

need to be asked and a lot of research to figure out how we could create such a function,” kohler said. “i’ll have to reach out to iT and try to develop that over the summer.”

baker said they want to begin promptly on some of their larger initiatives, such as the blinky tracker and diversity within sga in addition, baker said they want to talk with security about transporting students during the day.

“The issue seems to be that girls come home with groceries and luggage, and they need a little help getting from point a to point b, so maybe we can talk with security about being more available during the day,” baker said.

kohler said she wants students to know she and baker are interested in their concerns.

“we’ve already had students reaching out with ideas, and students feel like they can communicate their wants and needs to us,” kohler said. “ i really want students to know we are approachable.”

baker said she and kohler hope to recruit a diverse group of students to be in their presidential cabinet.

“i want to make sure minority groups are represented and reach out to some of the diverse clubs to find out what their needs are,” she said. “i want to make sure their voices are heard.”

sga added an “international chair” to ensure the needs of all students are met, and baker said

paid a dverT isemen T

she thinks including sga representatives within that addition may help.

“we can’t really cater to the needs of diverse students if we don’t have any diversity in sga,” baker said.

baker said she also wants sga to maintain its transparency while she and her partner are in office.

“in our platform, we tried to be really honest and highlight ideas we know we could work towards,” she said. “we really want to hear from students and keep senate meetings open to students to voice their concerns.”

baker and kohler both said they are excited for the “big belle, little belle” program to begin next fall. The program will pair up current sophomores and juniors with incoming first-year students and give new students a guide for their first year of college and beyond.

“right now, the program is voluntary and the office of student affairs is in charge,” baker said.

“we hope students will want to share their saint mary’s experience with new students and serve as a mentor and friend.”

kohler said, overall, the elections were a good example of friendly competition amongst classmates.

“all of the candidates did a great job campaigning and getting their message out there,” kohler said. “now i’m really excited to meet with [the] administration and communicate our ideas and figure out what plans are already in the making.”

Contact Haleigh Ehmsen at hehmse01@saintmarys.edu

core review

and skills?’” mcgreevy said. “This can range from particular courses to writing skills, speaking skills — a range of things.

“Two, [the question is], ‘how best can these be substantiated, incorporating certain requirements and organizational structures, from academic advising to the relationship between first year of studies and the colleges and schools?’”

The committee is organized into three focus groups: the advanced placement (ap) focus group, the academic advising focus group and the catholic mission focus group.

“one [focus group] is focusing on ap and to what extent should notre dame accept ap credit and in what areas and try to get a handle on what our peers do,” mcgreevy said.

“The second is focusing on advising,” he said. “how can we do advising better? is there a way to make the handoff, as they call it, from first year of studies to the colleges more effective? can we give students better advising earlier about possible careers, certain majors, how they can figure out their intellectual passion?

“The third focus group — the real question there is, how can we instantiate a serious commitment to our catholic character? it has been done historically through two theology and two philosophy courses and that might be the best way, but we want to take a look at that and think it through. a re there other ways we can instantiate our catholic character?”

The current core curriculum, which has largely stayed the same since 1969, consists of the requirements of one writing and rhetoric class, two mathematics courses, two science courses, one history course, one social science course, two theology courses, two philosophy courses, one fine arts or literature course and two courses in physical education or roTc, though a different first-year course will replace the traditional physical education requirement in the fall 2015 semester.

Public meetings

The review committee has held a staff information session, hosted several open faculty forums on the topic and spoken with the faculty senate, marie blakey, the executive director of academic communications, said. The committee also spoke with the student senate and released a survey to a sampling of students yesterday. in the future, the committee plans to release a survey to alumni, meet with the alumni board in april, receive recommendations from different departments, meet with students selected through their dorms and through their majors and speak with all campus residence hall rectors on the topic, blakey said.

“both with staff and with students, we have been really trying to pull them into the conversation on campus,” she said. “we also are reaching out to alums … trying to incorporate everyone into our listening tour.” at the faculty forums, various staff members and departments have made suggestions, ranging from the importance of integration within the core curriculum to critiques of the appointment system to the committee.

sustainability and foreign language

debra Javeline, associate professor of political science, proposed a sustainability requirement for the core curriculum at a feb. 3 faculty forum.

“we are all deeply concerned about the sustainable issues of environmental change and whether our students come out of notre dame to participate in the conversation,” Javeline said. at the same forum, theology professor gary a nderson called for reforms to the structure of introductory classes so that students do not have to take as many beginning classes taught by graduate students.

“w hen i arrived in 2003 and began teaching the intro course, i was told i had to do the university seminar with 17 students because we have to have senior faculty members teaching those seminars,” a nderson said. “plus, the university requires us to fund our fifth-year graduate students by putting them in these classes, so we are forced to do this,” he said.

a ssociate professor of classics elizabeth mazurek, who also spoke at the feb. 3 forum, stressed the importance of foreign language courses.

“i think that if you were to explore a thematic requirement of diversity, foreign language would be perfect,” mazurek said. “you would not be forcing all students to take so many semesters of a language requirement, but it would be an option for diversity exploration.

“The catholic church is a world church, and if we are to talk about ecological literacy, i think we also have to talk about world language literacy.”

diversity proposal

individual departments also submitted proposals to the committee, suggesting changes or additions to the core curriculum. The a merican studies department’s proposal recommended the addition of a “united states diversity” requirement.

“one way, we believe, is to take seriously our obligation to prepare our students to be faithful catholics and effective citizens by helping undergraduates gain the knowledge, skills, and habits required to respectfully engage difference,” the proposal said.

“we believe, as our faculty colleagues at another institution do, that ‘a critical component of a liberal education is the capacity to see human experience from the point of view of others

who encounter and interpret the world in significantly different ways.’”

The proposal draws on diversity requirements from other top institutions, citing the university of pennsylvania’s current requirement as the most similar to what the a merican studies department is proposing.

“our colleagues at the university of pennsylvania agree with us in suggesting that a u s. focus is needed,” the proposal said. “Their ‘cultural diversity in the u s.’ requirement ‘aims to develop students’ knowledge of the history, dynamic cultural systems and heterogeneous populations that make up the national culture of the united states.’

“Their requirement defines ‘diversity’ as courses that focus on ‘race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, and religion.’”

The proposal states this requirement could be double-counted with other requirements, allowing it to be integrated across the core curriculum. The proposal also suggests that the requirement can be fulfilled across departments, allowing a wide range of classes to fit the requirement.

The theology requirement changes to other requirements have been proposed as well, most notably the theology requirement.

“The current curricular discussion is not driven by the status quo, but by a vision of what we expect 21st century graduates of notre dame should know,” mark roche, professor of german and chair of the catholic mission focus group, said in a feb. 9 debate about the place of theology in the core curriculum. “v ision should be the guiding force at a university.

“Theology and philosophy were privileged in our vision and are important in the core, but they are not the only carriers of vision or even of catholic vision.”

reforming the theology requirement would fix current problems in the curriculum, roche said.

“only 53 percent of students who have taken a first theology course agree or strongly agree that the course would be worth taking, even if it were not a requirement,” roche said.

“of course, we should require students to take some courses that they otherwise would not take, but we hope that after taking a course, they recognize the intrinsic value of the course that they took.

roche said the university needs to look into offering more demanding theology courses.

“of all the university’s required courses, theology has the lowest scores on intellectual challenge,” he said.

“r ight now, students who have had multiple years of intensive theology at premier high schools have to take the introductory theology course. shouldn’t we be offering them

options to place up, to take more demanding course? The ‘grade 13’ problem is longstanding.”

To fix these problems, roche proposed implementing new ways of looking at the foundational theology courses.

“w hy not add a course on students’ highest priority: theological understanding of the catholic faith?” roche said.

“w hy not add some theme options, such as the cross and the Trinity, which is more likely to create wonder?

“student choice has advantages, as we know students learn more when they are actively engaged and have an existential interest in the subject matter. some level of choice is likely to aid the overarching goal of inspiring further learning in the area.

“

w hile the review itself is a beneficial activity, it also runs the risk of losing sight of what the university already does well, theology professor Jean porter said at the feb. 3 faculty forum.

“notre dame is an institution that prides itself on giving our undergraduates a first-rate, humanistic education,” porter said. “we initiate them into certain critical thought, we initiate them into the learnings of the church and i think we do it at a very high level.”

The idea of possibly changing the theology requirement has raised some concerns from both students and staff.

“i do believe there is something seriously wrong with the emerging ethos at notre dame, which i believe is very much symptom in one regard as the runaway enthusiasm of our irresponsible invention represented in the core curriculum review,” theology professor cyril o’regan said in a feb. 9 debate on the place of theology in the core curriculum.

“despite the fact that the first universities in the west were all catholic institutions, since the 19th century, the notion of a catholic university has been problematized,” he said.

o’regan argued that while other courses may be able to integrate catholic identity, only theology is able to teach revelation.

“The purpose of theology is not strictly the reproduction of

received faith as such, but is the generation of educated faith, which can not only render a bold account of witness to revelation, but can comprehend revelation as far as it can be comprehended and deal with the difficulties — interpretative, intellectual and moral — that faith presents throughout history and especially in the modern world,” o’regan said.

“i think this is a moment of common reflection, of what and who we are and of what and who we are becoming.”

many students posted on various social media outlets, defending theology in the core curriculum with the hashtag #loveTheonotredame.

next steps at the student senate meeting on wednesday, students voiced concerns, suggestions and questions in other areas of the curriculum review, including the suggestion of a technical literacy requirement and an international education requirement. other concerns included ap credits, transfer credits and the amount of credits required for the core curriculum.

The committee, however, is in the very early stages of the review and focused mostly on discussion of the various directions that the core curriculum can go, mcgreevy said.

“i would just really stress that we are really just talking and even more than talking, we are listening, trying to figure out what our college faculty and our students think every notre dame student should know,” mcgreevy said.

“our hope is to have a report sometime next fall [fall 2015] with recommendations. That would then lead to another long round of discussion between faculty and students and the entire campus community.

“ultimately, we imagine through the normal processes of faculty government, there will be votes taken and recommendations that we may take and changes implemented.”

To learn more about the core curriculum review, visit www. curriculumreview.nd.edu

Contact Kayla Mullen at kmullen2@nd.edu

The longest month

Michael Ivey sports writer

according to the calendar, february is the shortest month of the year with only 28 days (29 in a leap year). however, with a combination of bad weather, lack of entertainment and knowing how close we are to warmer weather, february seems like the longest month of the year. february is one of the worst weather months of the year. during the second month of the year, folks in the north and midwest regions get bombarded with heavy snowstorms and bone-chilling cold temperatures. record-setting snowfall and bitter temperatures have plagued these two regions for the past two winters. but it seems to reach another level during the month of february. we spend most of our days shoveling snow to make pathways to our houses or cars. we have to layer up every time we go outside so we don’t get frostbite. a huge snowstorm will come and blanket the ground with a fresh coat of snow, and after we’re all done moving the snow, another huge snowstorm will leave even more. it gets so cold that we can’t go outside on even the nicest of days because of the freezing temperature. people hate being confined to their houses, and it seems like they are confined for an entire month. This leads to many people becoming sad and depressed.

a nother thing about the month of february is that not much happens. The first sunday of the month is super bowl sunday, but after that, there isn’t much happening. only a bunch of boring regular season nhl and nba games make up the weeknight entertainment. a nd don’t even mention the nba a ll-star weekend, which just gets more boring every year. There are some award shows, like the grammys and the oscars. however, those are televised sunday nights and run late, meaning many people get tired and tune out.

one more reason why february seems longer is all the stuff that starts in the month of march. The weather starts to get nicer and the snow starts to melt. people are finally able to go outside and start doing normal activities. mlb spring training and march madness begin. a nother event that happens in march is spring break. with all of these events happening in march, the anticipation for them begins in february. The heavy workload the week before break combined with the anticipation to go on break is almost too much to handle for some students. w hen you’re waiting to do something you are really looking forward to, the wait seems even longer.

The calendar says there are only 28 days in the month of february, but the month itself seems to hint otherwise.

Contact Michael Ivey at mivey@hcc-nd.edu

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

leTTer To The edITor

fr. Ted’s lesson in saying ‘yes’

The first time i met f ather Ted, it was by accident — i was in the right place at the right time. i was a freshman, nervously studying for my exams on the first floor of the library, when f r. Ted’s incredible assistant came into the room. s he asked if anyone would like to read to f ather h esburgh, because the person who would usually do so was not available that day. i hesitated — a common theme in my college years and in my life. i was poised to say no, to let the opportunity slip by out of fear or need to focus on my studies. i waited, expecting someone else to snatch up the opportunity in my slowness to answer. a s no one did, i timidly raised my hand and stammered, “ i — i ’d like to.” i followed the assistant, m elanie, into the elevator and up to his office. w e casually chatted; she asked my name, what i studied and the like. w hen we arrived in f ather Ted’s office, she brought him in and introduced me. “This is m olly, f ather, and she’s going to read to you today.”

r eading the n ew york Times to f ather Ted was an amazing opportunity for many reasons. i remember reading him headlines from which he would decide if we would read the full story (we almost

edITorIal carToon

always did). a s i read him each story — from notes on oil digging to the situation in i raq — he would stop me and give me his opinion. i sat in awe, listening to him casually spout off words of wisdom. To be honest, i don’t remember much of what he said. i was focused on making sure i read every word correctly and clearly, keeping his interest. i was trying not to think about how dry and scratchy my throat felt after an hour of reading through that cigar smoke. w hat i will always remember from that hour has little to do with the actual readings. i n fact, my clearest memory from that day was a story f ather Ted told me just as i walked in — one that encapsulates who he is in my mind. h e gestured to some beautiful flowers sitting on his coffee table and told me they were from a kind older couple. h e explained that he had been in the g rotto a few weeks before, where he met up with this couple visiting campus. They had both been previously married, their spouses had passed away, and the two had found love together. f ather Ted explained to me that he told them, “That’s really great — but it would be even greater if the two of you could live together. w ould you like to be

married?”

i imagine the couple was a bit taken aback by this, but they agreed — and he invited them to come back a week later, where he married the two of them in the b asilica of the s acred h eart. This story has stuck with me throughout the years as the picture of who f ather Ted is — a no-nonsense, no-frills man who loved the church and its people. a man who was willing to say “yes” and who inspired that desire in others — a man who helped each of us take a leap in one way or another. i n some ways, i use that story to remind myself to take leaps of my own sometimes. i still have a tendency to say no to things or to stay in my comfort zone, but this couple and f ather Ted’s story remind me of how important it is to say “yes” sometimes. a fter all, if i hadn’t said yes that afternoon in the library, i may not have ever met f ather Ted, and i would have missed out on one of the most valuable experiences of my time as an undergraduate. Thank you, f ather Ted, for reminding me to say yes.

An uncertain welcome

o n m arch 3, i sraeli p rime m inister b enjamin n etanyahu addressed a joint session of c ongress, cautioning lawmakers against a proposed nuclear deal with i ran. The proximity of the i sraeli election and the topic of n etanyahu’s address have drawn criticism from s usan r ice, n ancy p elosi and John k erry. Their objections did not deter n etanyahu from presenting his case to c ongress and the a merican people.

m any college students consider i srael to be an imperialist power, created on the land of dispossessed p alestinians. They condemn i srael as an apartheid state, accuse its leaders of war crimes and promote the bds ( b oycott, d ivestment and s anctions) m ovement at their universities. This limited narrative serves to further complicate issues such as the i sraeli presence in the w est b ank, the recent war in g aza or the political status of Jerusalem. p rotesters chanting, “ f rom the river to the sea, p alestine will be free,” some knowingly and others not, demand that i sraelis abandon their historical and political homeland. They undermine negotiations between i srael and the p alestinian a uthority, encouraging the latter to view any agreement as a placeholder. This empowers anti- s emitic factions attempting to create a new p alestine, stretching from the Jordan r iver to the m editerranean s ea. o bviously, such plans ultimately preclude the existence of an i sraeli state. l ikewise, those who view this conflict in such black and white terms tend to view suicide bombers and missiles from g aza as mere consequences of i sraeli oppression. a more nuanced view is required for this complex situation. i sraelis are threatened by internal terrorism while absorbing missiles and raids from the g aza s trip. f ew would argue that the present situation of the p alestinians

is desirable, but envisioning what concessions one would make in the role of an i sraeli official is challenging. This is because a significant percentage of the entities seeking the concessions have vowed continued violence until i srael is no more.

h istorical context explains i srael’s security concerns and importance to a merica. The s tate of i srael declared independence in 1948, but it traces its origin back to the time of a braham, i saac and Jacob. a s is the case, the Jewish people have a deep historical connection to the land, despite the brutal occupation of r oman, a rab and c rusader armies. m any Jews were crucified for defying the r oman e mpire, while their descendants suffered under centuries of foreign occupation. a fter surviving the terror of the h olocaust, the Jewish people finally seized the opportunity to declare independence for i srael. a u n . mandate partitioned the land between m uslims and Jews, restoring a homeland to both the refugees of the h olocaust and the present Jewish occupants. a s the occupying b ritish armies departed, i srael immediately faced invading armies from e gypt, s yria and Jordan. o ver the radio, a rab l eague leaders advised m uslims within i srael to flee. This enabled indiscriminate bombing, handicapped i sraeli industry and made every remaining i sraeli a target.

b y their victory in establishing the state of i srael, the i sraelis created a liberal democracy in a region of brutal dictatorships, defending their small state in several wars. m any nations in the region continue to refuse to recognize i srael as a state. i sraelis live under constant threat of terrorism but are subject to world condemnation when they attack the source of violence. i t is not in dispute that h amas uses the hospitals and schools in the g aza s trip

h istoric day of man

d ear n otre d ame c ommunity, o n behalf of s iegfried h all and the s outh b end c enter for the h omeless, we would like to sincerely thank you for another successful d ay of m an fundraiser. o ur online donation site closed this weekend, bringing the grand total to $12,772.36 for the s outh b end c enter for the h omeless. e very single dollar and coin counted in helping us surpass our goal and helped us have the best year we have ever had. i f you would like to still donate

or learn about ways in which you can volunteer at the s outh b end c enter for the h omeless, visit their website at www.cfh.net

Thank you for your generosity, and g od bless

Thomas Ridella senior

Matthew Miklavik senior

Alex Campbell junior leTTers To The edITor

to launch hundreds of missiles into i sraeli cities, purposefully exploiting the deaths of p alestinians it created by luring the i sraelis into making retaliatory strikes. The terrorist attacks against i srael are not limited to local actors, and i ran-directed h ezbollah in l ebanon has also bombed i srael in the recent past. i ran continues to support terrorism against i srael through its proxies of h ezbollah and h amas. The u s d epartment of s tate has long listed i ran as a state sponsor of terrorism. a s recently as last n ovember, i ran’s s upreme l eader, the a yatollah k hamenei, publicly called for the destruction of the state of i srael. h e stated, “This barbaric, wolf-like and infanticidal regime of i srael, which spares no crime, has no cure but to be annihilated.” d espite a democratic façade, this man and other hardline clerics control the government of i ran. n etanyahu addresses c ongress this week to ensure these clerics never control nuclear weapons or smuggle them to h ezbollah and h amas.

a s a merica’s primary ally in the m iddle e ast, i srael gathers intelligence for a merica, coordinates with a merica’s military and provides a guaranteed base in the m iddle e ast. The political unrest and terrorist movements affiliated with h ezbollah in b ahrain and Qatar occasionally threaten our military bases in those countries. a merica can depend upon i srael for support, regardless of the coalition in power. n etanyahu has asked for our support. i hope my fellow students at n otre d ame will listen to his concerns rather than dismiss his visit as a political gesture.

Tom Olohan junior morrissey manor march 3

By CAELIN MILTKO scene writer

To say i wasn’t quite sure what to expect when i walked into “a girl walks home a lone at night” would be a bit of an understatement. The debartolo performing a rts center billed the movie as the first ever “iranian vampire western,” and after reading about it a bit online, i was intrigued to say the least. still, i wasn’t sure how exactly this unique movie would manifest itself. by the end of the movie, i agreed wholeheartedly with what i originally felt was a rather confusing and cryptic description. The film was all those things — iranian, vampire and western — and because it was those things, it was also artsy, cryptic and at times confusing.

That the film was in a rabic was hardly a challenge. in fact, being forced to read the subtitles sometimes seemed to add to the entirely mysterious air the movie had. i couldn’t know on my own what the characters said, but i wouldn’t fully understand their meaning — or most of the film's plot points — until the very end anyway. some scenes will continue to confuse me.

The aspect of mystery that pervades the film is important. it is what keeps the audience engaged and what drives the plot, up to the film's very end (which presents puzzling mysteries of its own to consider). like typical vampire movies, there are a series of murders, but the mystery is never a question of who is committing these acts of violence. from the beginning, we are all aware it is the unnamed “girl” of the title. still, she is a puzzle. it is clear there is some method to her madness, but due to her tendency towards silence and

her lack of associates, her thoughts are never clear. even by the end of the film, the audience is left to fill in the blanks themselves.

There are two stylistic choices which make this movie both a success and a bit of a conundrum. by this i mean if the idea of an “iranian vampire western” intrigues you and encourages you to see the movie, you will likely appreciate these choices. if you think that idea sounds just plain strange and would like to stay far far away from such ideas, then these choices will only further your frustration with the film.

The first is that the movie was shot in black and white. sometimes, when not much seemed to be going on, i would attempt to imagine the film were it made in color. i failed. This is a movie that would be complicated by the inclusion of color, and the choice to shoot in black and white is essential to the film. The lack of color makes the entire movie seem as though it is shot during the night and mutes some of the action, forcing the audience to pay attention.

The second is the use of silence in the script. There were a number of scenes that included absolutely no dialogue. some of these scenes were confusing and didn’t seem to have much of a place in the entire film. others were important, action-filled moments that changed the entire course of the plot. in either case, the use of silence was masterfully done.

i specifically enjoyed how little the eponymous character spoke. it allowed her to continue to be mysterious, foreboding and sympathetic all at once. The audience was often forced into the position of her love interest. To create her character, one had to read between the lines and

decide for oneself what her actions and intentions were.

This ambiguity in characterization opens the door for many reactions to the movie. in what was perhaps a mistake, i brought both my father and grandfather to “a girl walks home a lone at night.” both of them hated the film. for the rest of the weekend, they teased me about how they were now frightened of any girl with a long black coat. w hen my grandfather and i discussed the ending, it became clear how starkly different our interpretations were.

i thought that its ending was left deliberately open, with a distinct possibility for tragedy but also for resolution. The movie closes with its two main characters "making up," but the issues between them are never fully resolved. To me, it was a story with an unresolved ending but also a story without an inevitable conclusion.

in contrast, my grandfather was sure that the ending implies inevitable tragedy; there is no way around the violence the pair’s affair will bring.

These two interpretations of the film's conclusion are likely emblematic of our views of the movie as a whole. i liked it because i felt its various ambiguities left open several worlds and implications; he hated the film because he believed all of its loose ends had inevitable conclusions. i’m not sure which interpretation is correct.

i think, though, one’s enjoyment of "a girl walks home a lone at night" can be determined by one’s reaction to the words “iranian vampire western.” if you’re intrigued, then you'll probably find the movie fun. if you just think it sounds just too weird, you may be better off staying away Contact Caelin Miltko at cmoriari@nd.edu.

By KELLY McGARRY

scene writer

The timeless tale of romance and tragedy is coming to dpac, this time in the interesting style of a traveling troupe with the exciting addition of live acoustic music. notre dame shakespeare festival’s professional on Tour group will perform an abridged, 75-minute version of shakespeare’s classic "romeo and Juliet."

dan Toot, one of the players in the production who will play the role of mercutio, gave an account of his experience in an interview. w hen asked what attracts him to shakespeare, Toot pointed to the timelessness of plays.

“These are stories that resonate to something deeply human, and allow everyone — performers included — to reflect on their condition and their connection to community,” he said.

Toot described the ndsf on Tour group as supportive and welcoming, which has benefitted the production, he said.

“it's easy to undertake such a daunting project in such a

short amount of time when you have a crew of supportive and viciously intelligent people,” he said. in addition to preparing for its upcoming performances at notre dame, the group has spent some time touring local schools, where they not only perform but also lead acting workshops. Toot said the enthusiasm and interest of the community has been humbling.

“it really makes the entire exercise worth it to see student, teacher and townspeople alike all light up a bit when they connect with shakespeare in a new way,” he said.

This weekend’s performances of "romeo and Juliet" will be unique in several ways. for one, it will include live acoustic music, which poses only the single challenge of logistics, Toot said. otherwise, he said is excited about the addition.

“if i had all the power, i would require every theatre performance to be scored with live music,” he said. “There's a certain breath of life that instruments give, and the texture they provide puts an energy in the room that i find vital.” another interesting facet of the production is the style of a traveling troupe, which affords only a small cast with

limited props and costumes, allowing the audiences’ imaginations to create the scene. Toot said he sees this as its own element in the storytelling.

“by condensing the experience to a small company of six actors all onstage for the whole experience, we allow a look into the life of the performance,” he said.

The audience will see the performers change costumes, and each piece is tied to a specific character, Toot said.

“as the audience member, you develop a specific relationship to it. it takes no time at all for those watching to jump right into that conceit and take a certain delight in seeing the acrobatics that a simple addition or subtraction of a pair of glasses can display — remember that pair of glasses, that's pretty ... impressive!”

notre dame shakespeare festival’s abridged production of "romeo and Juliet" will take place march 5-7 at 7 p.m. in the regis philbin studio Theater at debartolo performing arts center. Tickets are available online or at the door as supplies last. seating is limited.

Contact Kelly McGarry at kmcgarry@nd.edu

a 2014 mT v study found a peculiar paradox amongst millennials: 73 percent of those surveyed believed that “never considering race would improve society,” while 83 percent also believed that “celebrating differences between the races would improve society.”

The issue of being “color blind,” to borrow a term from the study, is something we see more and more amongst those who preach politically correct speech. we ought not call people out by their race, gender or any other differentiating factor. To be equal is to be neutral. or is it?

Though this is a multi-dimensional issue, i’d like to approach it from a gendered point-of-view. i am not a gender studies scholar, and i do not claim to be an expert on every issue that could be raised here. in a feb. 12 article i wrote, “fear of revision: harper lee’s ‘go set a watchman,’” i referred to harper lee as “the almighty authoress of ‘To k ill a mockingbird.’” in a podcast released feb. 23, slate’s “lexicon valley” called me out for my use of the anachronistic, diminutive term “authoress.” They used my article as a jumping off point to discuss the disappearance of gendered terms like this from the english language, with a few exceptions like “actress” and “goddess.”

There is a concern that use of terms like “authoress” implies that females who write are invading a maledominated sphere and that their status as “authors” is in question. “authoress,” they argue, implies something less than “author” because it is a gendered term. The use of such terms does not have to be condescending, insulting or even unnecessary. in the case of harper

lee, i certainly never meant any insult by calling her the “almighty authoress.” in fact, my intention was to emphasize her status in mainstream american literary canon. i freely concede to slate that the term “authoress” is anachronistic. in part, my use of the term was to intentionally play on the fact it is hardly ever part of our modern-day lexicon.

“To k ill a mockingbird” is a timeless classic, and we don’t expect such books to have living authors who continue to write sequels. To earn the title of “classic,” a book must stand the test of time and prove relevant to multiple generations. “To k ill a mockingbird” has done this. harper lee is a giant literary figure of the 20th century, not subject to the tides of modern popular culture. as such, though the term “authoress” fell out of use long before harper lee’s “To k ill a mockingbird” was first published, the use of an anachronistic term conjoined with “almighty” is intended to set this tone while recognizing her stature. as the “almighty authoress,” lee has unparalleled power to deconstruct and change a story that is now part of our a merican psyche. more troubling, however, is clearly the implication that being an “authoress” is somehow less than being an “author.” i would never deny harper lee’s right to the term “author.” but she is also an “authoress,” and to deny her femininity is to deny part of what is so important about “To k ill a mockingbird.”

one of the reasons for this is that “To k ill a mockingbird” is one of the few bildungsromans we have in mainstream canon that tells the story of a female protagonist. scout is not the typical protagonist of a riteof-passage novel, which is typically the domain of young boys. harper lee wrote a seminal text for young girls. she gave the world a growing female protagonist. now such

characters are much more common, but this was not always the case.

a longside english, i study irish gaelic. a mong linguists, there is a theory that if languages are fossilized — not allowed to grow and change with each new generation — then their death sentence has already been written. The natural state of a language is one of constant change and variable. words grow and change as time goes on.

To limit the term “authoress” to how it has been used in the past is to deny this aspect of language. i would consider lee not only an author but also an authoress. her status as a female sets her apart from her contemporaries in an important way — it is certainly not the only thing to consider about her writing, but it ought not be erased in some mistaken quest for “equality.”

w hen i called harper lee an “authoress,” i meant only to encapsulate her gender as another reason to note the extraordinariness of “To k ill a mockingbird.” mainstream literary canon is made up almost entirely of male authors — it is only recently we have truly begun collecting and analyzing a female literary canon that stretches across time and space.

“authoress” is a useful term here because harper lee’s name is androgynistic. unless noted, it is not clear “To k ill a mockingbird” was written by a woman. This may have even contributed to the novel’s initial success but to make her gender-neutral in 2015 is to deny some of her power. she is an authoress amongst authors. a nd that, i think, is important.

Contact Caelin Miltko at cmoriari@nd.edu

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

By ADAM RAMOS

starting organically as a way to produce songs for his girlfriend on valentine’s day, michael a ngelakos’ passion pit has effortlessly evolved into the meticulously produced indie pop group we have today.

a euphoric smorgasbord of synth beats and falsetto melodies coupled with a ngelakos’ provoking lyrics has lifted passion pit over the years into a throne of critical and public acclaim. both thematically and musically complex, passion pit’s 2012 sophomore album "gossamer" marked a clear transition from a playful indie group to full fledge pop quartet. yet with the announcement of the forthcoming follow-up album, "k indred," and the release of two new singles, it is yet to be seen if passion pit will continue to impress and evolve or simply regress. due to drop april 21st via columbia, "k indred" will be comprised of ten songs, two of which — “lifted up (1985)” and “w here the sky hangs” — have already been released.

The announcement of "k indred" comes after a ngelakos’ release of an interesting collection of songs via soundcloud, produced under the pseudo name eastern shift. w hether or not the eastern shift collection

will make an appearance on "k indred" is still up in the air, though doubtful.

w hile both recently released singles share a common ethereal and airy nature — likely a theme throughout "k indred" — they also emphasize passion pit’s range. “lifted up (1985)” is a fun, spirited song accented with an infectious chorus. “w here the sky hangs” shows how passion pit will not focus on creating a commercial pop album. The track is a simple, relaxed single with swinging melodies and graceful verses.

Though this claim may sound straight out of the 1920s, i can only describe the two new singles' accompanying music videos as living pictures. both videos for “w here the sky hangs” and “lifted up (1985)” are surreal images of children peacefully staring out in the distance. There's no speech and little movement, not even a sneeze, just the occasional blink as airy synth pop dances in the air. w hile this all sounds a bit creepy, it’s more like a dream that pairs nicely with the music, an almost effervescent experience.

passion pit has also recently released tour dates to accompany the upcoming album. The 23-stop tour will make frequent stops throughout much of the u s and canada and also include london, paris and Tokyo. passion pit will be joined with fellow indie poppers coin

and holychild and will make appear in several notable festivals including buku, big guava and neon desert. The tour will begin mid-march in new orleans and progress through mid-august.

a lthough passion pit’s production level has changed tremendously over the years, a ngelakos has remained steadfast with his impressive array of thought-provoking, emotional lyrics. This makes sense, as a ngelakos has stated that his music is therapy in helping his struggle with bipolar disorder. in a recent psa video about bipolar disorder, a ngelakos opened up about his experience.

“once i started really just accepting my mental condition, it stung for a little bit and then everything improved,” he said in the video.

The psa is part of a campaign in partnership with organizations “bring change 2 mind” and “project 375,” which focus on lessening the stigma surrounding bipolar disorder.

with a fifth of the album already a thumbs up, i am hopeful "k indred" will continue passion pit's growth and evolution. you can pre-order the album on iTunes now, which includes both “lifted up (1985)” and “w here the sky hangs."

Contact Adam Ramos at aramos6@nd.edu

NBA must change one-and-done rule

i n 1995, k evin g arnett announced he would forego college and enter the nba draft. h is decision was met with much scrutiny and has turned eligibility issues into some of the most prominent in basketball discussions over the last 20 years.

g arnett paved the way. i n the 10 years leading up to 2005, 38 high school players were taken in the nba draft. b ut after a new collective bargaining agreement in July 2005, potential nba d raft entrants had to be 19 years old and at least one year removed from high school. w ith the cba , high schoolers are effectively forced to go to college for a year.

The longstanding argument has been that these players were mentally and physically unprepared to turn professional right out of high school. b ut is that really the case? Just look at what k obe, Tracy mc g rady and kg did in their first few years or the r ookie of the year trophies sitting on a mar’e and l e b ron’s shelves.

The biggest argument against the rule is that a lot of basketball players just stay the bare minimum time at their respective universities. f rom 2006 to 2013, 60 basketball players bolted for the nba after their first season. There are the bona-fide stars — a nthony d avis, John wall, kyrie i rving and d errick r ose come to mind — but there are also the middling prospects whose potential maxes out as rotation players or even bit contributors. These are guys like m aurice h arkless, r icky l edo or a rchie g oodwin, non-lottery picks who had a much less certain professional future.

These guys knew they were going to the nba after year one whether they averaged nine points a game in college or 29: think Zach l av ine. w hy not let them test the waters out of high school? i f high school basketball players think they are ready right away, so be it. The risk would be their own. w ith the cba ,

however, there is no decision to be made. i n essence, the nba has made it for them. here’s my solution: change the eligibility requirements to mirror m ajor l eague b aseball, where players can be drafted out of high school. however, if they decide to enroll in college, they have to wait until they are 21 or have completed their junior year.

This puts the decision back into the players’ hands, while also prioritizing the college degree to those who choose not to jump straight to the pros.

yet this problem cannot be tackled without considering the second glaring deficiency of the nba — its lack of a decent farm system. i n order for my scenario to work, the nba would have to devote more resources towards its d evelopment l eague, which falls well short of its nhl and mlb counterparts in prestige and structure.

The d -l eague has been on the upswing for the last few years, but the nba still needs to show more of a commitment to player development. a llowing players to go straight from high school to the pros again could be the impetus for the nba to finally commit to a legitimate farm system. This would not only benefit the players directly from high school, who had no interest in college and need a year or two of seasoning, but also the college prospects that wouldn’t have a chance to get drafted otherwise. w ith a larger farm system, the nba expands its talent pool and allows athletes to continue realizing their dreams of playing professionally.

s ure, it might water down college basketball a little. b ut that’s something i am willing to accept for two reasons; it puts the decision back in the athlete’s hands, while giving the college game only to the kids who truly want to be there.

Contact Brian Plamondon at bplamond@nd.edu

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

Rio government halts cleaning of sailing venue

Associated Press

rio de J aneiro — a program has been halted to retrieve floating rubbish from the sailing venue of the 2016 o lympics in r io de Janeiro, according to b razilian media.

a report Tuesday in the newspaper o g lobo comes just three days after top i nternational o lympic c ommittee officials ended week-long meetings in r io, saying they had been “reassured” that severely polluted g uanabara b ay would be suitable for o lympic sailing when the games open.

o g lobo said 10 rubbish collection boats were out of service because of a lack of funding from r io’s state government. it said that some barricades to keep household waste from reaching the bay also lacked funding.

The paper quoted c arlos m inc, the former secretary

mlb | Tigers 15, orioles 2

for the environment for the state of r io de Janeiro.

water quality has become a hot-button issue for r io.

s everal o lympic-medal winning sailors have said it’s the dirtiest place they have ever competed, citing incidents of dodging floating sofas, dead animals and plastic bags.

r io g overnor l uiz fernando p ezao said recently that 49 percent of the area’s sewage is being treated, a number repeated last week by ioc officials.

a year ago the figure was reported to be about 30 percent. o lympics officials say they believe a goal of treating 80 percent can be reached in 17 months when the games open.

i n d ecember a drug-resistant “super bacteria” normally found in hospitals was also discovered in the water around the bay.

f ish die-offs are also common in r io’s r odrigo

de f reitas l ake, where the o lympic rowing competitions will be held.

s evere water pollution also plagues the lagoon that touches the o lympic p ark — the heart of r io’s games — and the new o lympic golf course.

a erial photos taken last week by the environmental group o lho verde showed a massive bacterial bloom inside the lagoon that has spilled into the a tlantic and a popular nearby beach.

nawal e l moutawakel, head of the ioc inspection team, said last week she was assured by government officials that the problem was being tackled.

“ we want every single venue to be ready for the athletes to compete in a secure and safe manner,” she said. “ we have been given reassurances that all the venues will meet the level ... so athletes can compete.”

Tigers rout Orioles with slam from Cespedes

Associated Press

lakeland, f la. — yoenis

c espedes hit a grand slam in his first game for detroit, ian k insler added a three-run homer and the Tigers routed the baltimore orioles 15-2 Tuesday in a spring training opener.

c espedes connected in the fourth inning for an 11-0 lead. The Tigers got the slugger from boston in an offseason trade.

c oming off a disappointing year, baltimore starter u baldo Jimenez allowed six runs in 1 1-3 innings. he walked two, hit two batters and made a throwing error.

Jimenez said he was working on pitches and wasn’t concerned about his performance.

“a ll i can say is i did what i wanted to do,” Jimenez said. “i like my fastball and there’s no reason to change anything. i expect more out of my control, but the error is the main thing that bothered me.”

four detroit batters were hit by pitches. Third baseman nick c astellanos was hit in the left hand and exited soon after that, but manager brad ausmus said he might play wednesday.

kyle l obstein, vying for the final spot in the Tigers’ rotation, allowed two hits in two shutout innings. he began last year at Triple-a before going 1-2 with a 4.35 era in six starts for detroit at the end of the season.

“i am kind of the sixth starter right now,” l obstein said.

“it’s kind of the same situation as last year, but this year i feel more prepared.”

l obstein went 1-2 with a 4.35 earned run average in six starts for the Tigers last season.

sTarT ing T ime

orioles: showalter said it is far too early in the spring to be worried about Jimenez.

“he just has to throw strikes,” showalter said.

Tigers: Tigers manager brad ausmus said he liked what he saw from l obstein but it was too early to concede a spot in the rotation. The Tigers have david p rice, Justin verlander, a nibal sanchez and a lfredo simon already in place, leaving one opening.

T rainer’s room

orioles: showalter said there were no injuries to report.

Tigers: ss Jose iglesias skipped this game but plans

to start on wednesday in sarasota. iglesias all of last season with stress fractures in both legs. ... dh v ictor martinez was at camp and said he is coming along nicely from a knee injury sustained playing catch with his brother on his front lawn during the offseason.

“i’m glad to be back and glad to start doing some baseball activity,” he said. “i’m just getting my strength back. i just started hitting for the first time. we keep moving forward.

ausmus said that martinez’s return was a “grey area.” up ne XT orioles: kevin gausman will make the start wednesday in sarasota against the Tigers.

Tigers: sanchez will make his spring debut followed by ian k rol, a l a lbuquerque, blaine hardy and drew verhagen.

T ime of T he game

ausmus said he hardly noticed a change in the first game under baseball’s new pace of play changes. Tuesday’s game lasted just under three hours despite the high score. he said he thinks the changes will hardly matter.

Flames beat Flyers in OT; Capitals defeat Blue Jackets

Associated Press

philadelphia — Jiri

h udler scored 1:23 into overtime to give the c algary f lames a 3-2 win over the p hiladelphia f lyers on Tuesday night.

The f lames won for the second time in six games as they try to make a push in the western c onference playoff race.

i t was a successful homecoming for 21-year-old rookie and n ew Jersey native Johnny g audreau, who had hundreds of fans in attendance. g audreau assisted on the winning goal, helping the f lames rebound after blowing a 2-0 lead.

s ean m onahan and m ikael b acklund scored for the f lames.

s ean c outurier and m ark s treit both scored in the third period for p hiladelphia.

Trying to get back into the e astern c onference playoff race, the f lyers gamely rallied in the third. c outurier scored his 13th goal early in the period to cut it to 2-1.

The f lyers appeared to get the tying goal minutes later as n ick s chultz crashed into goalie k arri r amo. b ut after the officials huddled for several minutes, the no-goal call stood because s chultz made incidental contact in the crease with r amo before the puck crossed the line.

r amo went down the next time the f lyers were near the crease and this time the tying goal counted. s treit’s tipin for his ninth goal evened

the score at 2 and sent the net flying.

m onahan scored his 22nd goal of the season 6:30 into the game on a slap shot from the right circle. b acklund’s seventh of the season made it 2-0 in the second, and r amo made it stand for a while with 22 saves through two periods.

The win belonged to c algary. The night belonged to g audreau.

g audreau, out of nearby c arney’s p oint, grew up a huge f lyers fan and played last season at the wells f argo c enter for b oston c ollege in the f rozen f our. h e even played in the youth hockey games at the arena staged during f lyers intermission — when he wasn’t rooting on the orange-and-black from the stands.

“ we went to a ton of games.

i t’s definitely going to be a little weird,” g audreau said before the game.

g audreau has stamped himself as one of the top rookies in the nhl and entered third on the team in points with 44. h e had two assists in the nhl a ll- s tar game.

“ i ’m getting a ton of scoring chances,” he said. “ we’re playing well. i t’s definitely a little bit more of an adjustment going from 40 games to an 82-game season. i t’s something i need to learn throughout my pro career.”

h e expected several hundred fans to attend the game, even some from his old high school. g audreau

paid a dverT isemen T

had his n o. 3 jersey retired by his g loucester c atholic high school team on m onday night.

“ i t was exciting for me, getting to head back to my old high school and see a ton of teachers that really helped me,” he said.

g audreau, just 5-foot-9 and 150 pounds, moved on to b oston c ollege where he led the ncaa last season with 36 goals and 80 points. h e won the h obey b aker a ward as college hockey’s top player and earned a familiar nickname — “Johnny h ockey.”

The f lames also won their first game without captain m ark g iordano. The defenseman tore a biceps muscle near the end of the f lames’ 3-1 win in n ew Jersey last week. h e went down awkwardly after getting twisted off balance while attempting to fire the puck down the ice. The a ll- s tar defenseman, who had a team-leading 37 assists, will miss the rest of the season.

c apitals 5, b lue Jackets 3 columbus , o hio — a lex o vechkin added to his nhlleading total with two goals Tuesday night, leading the charge in w ashington’s 5-3 victory over the b lue Jackets, c olumbus’ seventh loss in a row.

e ric f ehr and Tom w ilson also scored, and m arcus Johansson added an emptynet goal.

n icklas b ackstrom and Jason c himera each had two assists for the c apitals, who solidified their hold on the first wild-card playoff spot in the e ast before starting a five-game homestand. b raden h oltby had 27 saves.

o vechkin, who has won the r ichard Trophy as the league’s goal-scoring leader the last two years and four times overall, now has 43.

s cott h artnell had two goals and an assist — and was stopped on a penalty shot — while d avid s avard also scored for the b lue Jackets, 0-6-1 in their last seven.

s ergei b obrovsky started in goal for c olumbus, making his first appearance in 18 games since sustaining a groin injury on Jan. 21. h e had 27 saves.

u p 3-2 heading into the final period, the c apitals expanded the lead on o vechkin’s one-timer from the left dot on the power play. h e was wide with an identical shot just seconds before.

ND to bask in West Coast sun

Observer Staff Report

n otre d ame will head west next week for the l amkin g rips s an d iego c lassic, which takes place at s an d iego c ountry c lub in c hula v ista, c alifornia, on m onday and Tuesday.

The i rish will be hoping to improve upon their performance from the Jones i nvitational, in which they finished 14th with a 43-over-par 907 in the 54hole competition held in l os a ngeles.

n otre d ame will compete against teams from all around the country in the tournament hosted by s an d iego and s an d iego s tate.

The course at s an d iego c ountry c lub is a classic course with a par of 72, designed by w illiam p b ell. k nown for its deep bunkers and fast greens, the 6,896 yard-long course has previously hosted the pga s an d iego o pen and the usga w omen’s o pen.

c urrently, it has not been announced if n otre d ame head coach Jim k ubinski will make any changes to the team that competed at the Jones i nvitational, or stay with the lineup of seniors Tyler w ingo and p atrick g rahek and sophomores b lake b arens, l iam c ox and m atthew r ushton. a few days later, n otre d ame will travel from the w est c oast to the g ulf c oast, as they arrive at Talis p ark g olf c lub in n aples, f lorida, for the Talis p ark c hallenge starting m arch 15. The field for the event will include i ndiana, Toledo and vanderbilt.

The Talis p ark course was designed in 2005 by g reg n orman and p ete d ye and measures 7,025 yards long.

The l amkin g rips s an d iego c lassic will start m onday morning, and continue through Tuesday, while the Talis p ark c hallenge will run from m arch 15-16.

junior w hitney k ay.

n otre d ame is keeping challenge in perspective by treating the matchup as just another in a long list of tough acc opponents.

“ i t’ll be a good test for us,” l ouderback said. “ i t’ll be a lot like the other tough acc matchups. w e just played against [ n o. 5] v irginia with chances to win. w e took the doubles point against [ v irginia], and we had some close matches in singles, even though we lost. n orth c arolina’s much of the same. w e’re excited to have a chance to play such a quality opponent, as they’re the top team in the country right now. w e’ve played quite a few matches where we were the favorite. i t’s different against better teams. a gainst v irginia we played really loose, and i like to see

that from this team.” a fter their matchup with n orth c arolina, the i rish must then turn their attention to a familiar opponent in b oston c ollege.

The n o. 45 e agles (7-4, 1-0) will be looking for revenge after losing twice to the i rish last spring, once in a regular-season match in c hestnut h ill, m assachusetts, and once in c ary, n orth c arolina, at the acc championships.

o ne b oston c ollege player cracks the i T a rankings, with senior Jessica w acnik slotting in at 71st.

The i rish are set to take on e ast c arolina on Tuesday at 9 a.m. and f lorida g ulf c oast at 5 p.m. later that day. They will then host n orth c arolina and b oston c ollege on f riday and s unday respectively, with the first serve at 1 p.m. both days.

Contact Hunter McDaniel at hmcdani1@nd.edu

three, that will set us up for a great race.

400-meter, where she set a n otre d ame record of 52.10 seconds.

s enior Jade b arber, who struggled earlier in the season, rebounded with an 8.20 mark in the 60-meter dash in the final meet of the regular season to make the all- acc first team and qualify for the ncaa championships.

“ i f she makes some small, minor adjustments, she’s as good as anybody,” Turner said. “ s he needs to sharpen up her technique … and i ’m confident that she will do very well.”

Junior d anielle a ragon qualified for the mile run with a time of 4:37.68 at the acc meet. h owever, since she is also the anchor of the i rish distance medley team, which will run f riday night, Turner said they decided it would be most beneficial for her to drop out of the mile and focus on the medley.

a ragon will be joined in that race by two freshmen, Jessica h arris and s amantha m urray, who will run the 800-meter opening leg and the 1,200-meter third leg, respectively. b amgbose will run the second, 400-meter leg of the relay after a three-hour turnaround from the open 400.

“[Jessica] been running lights-out for us,” Turner said. “ h er leg is probably the most important leg; if we get out in the top two or

“ w e think the race will tighten up for the anchor leg. i f that happens, then we have as good a shot as any team in the country. [ a ragon] is running great right now. l ast year we were third, and i think we can finish in that range again.”

Turner said he looks forward to seeing the i rish athletes compete on such a big stage.

“ i t’s extremely elite … once you get there, everyone is fast,” he said. “ i t’s all about who’s best prepared at that time to perform, and

we’ve been able to structure our athletes’ workouts throughout the year to have them peak at this meet.

“ i f they execute well, all seven athletes could be top-eight and make firstteam a ll- a merican.”

The i rish will cap off their indoor season m arch 13 and 14 when the seven qualifying athletes compete for national titles in the ncaa i ndoor c hampionships at the r andal Tyson Track c enter in f ayetteville, a rkansas.

Contact Andrew Robinson at arobins1@nd.edu

a dverT isemen T

Notre Dame to travel to Arizona for Clover Cup

By SEAN KILMER sports writer

a s the u niversity heads into its spring break, n otre d ame will jet off to sunny m esa, a rizona, for a week of practice in preparation for the c lover c up.

Two weekends ago, the i rish started their spring season on a high note, finishing tied for third at the w estbrook s pring i nvitational in p eoria, a rizona. a ll five i rish golfers factored into the team’s score at some point in the weekend, and the tournament marked the team’s third top-three finish in five tournaments this season. f urthermore, their four-over-par 868 (291-289288) was the fourth-lowest 54-hole gross score in program history.

Tournament champion n o. 14 Tennessee finished 13-under par, and o regon finished three strokes behind the champion to claim second place. The i rish tied with the c ollege of c harleston and finished two strokes ahead of o hio s tate.

n otre d ame head coach s usan h olt said she was happy to get back on the course again.

“ w e played well, scored well, and we were excited to get out on the course

Women’s sWImmInG

and start playing as a team again,” h olt said. “ b ut at the same time there is always room for improvement, and we will look to get better this week in a rizona.”

f or the past few months, the team has been practicing at the r olfs f amily g olf f acility, located at the w arren g olf c ourse. The facility, which has six hitting stations that overlook the golf course’s driving range, has been important for the team’s development, h olt said.

“ w e have a state-of-theart golf facility at the golf course,” h olt said. “ i t’s a 1,000 [plus]-square-foot facility with heated putting greens and chipping stations. m ost importantly, the six hitting stations allow us to refine out swings regardless of the weather.”

h owever, during spring break, the team will travel back to the valley of the s un for a week of outdoor practice and acclimation to l ongbow g olf c lub, where they will host the c lover c up from m arch 13 to m arch 15.

The tournament should present some steep competition, with n o. 26 a rizona s tate headlining the tournament field. w hile acknowledging that the s un d evils will be tough to beat, h olt

declared that the i rish have expectations of winning the tournament.

“ e very time we compete we try to win,” h olt said. “ i t’s certainly not going to change because it’s winter here. w e have a really talented team, and our attitude is to come out and win. asu is

the top-ranked team, and we might come in right behind them, but we always try to win.”

The i rish will look toward their depth for success next weekend at the c lover c up in m esa, a rizona.

Contact Sean Kilmer at

skilmer@nd.edu

Irish divers will compete at NCAA Zone C meet

By BEN PADANILAM sports writer

notre d ame will send its divers to c olumbus, o hio, at the end of spring break to compete in the ncaa Zone c d iving meet from m arch 12-14.

The i rish will be competing in the Zone c d iving meet with the hopes of qualifying as many divers as possible for the ncaa c hampionships, which are set for m arch 19-21. The zones are separated by region throughout the country, and as a result, the i rish will be facing several big Ten programs in the meet. s enior a llison c asareto said she believes this will provide the team with a challenge, as the big Ten has six teams ranked in the top 25.

“it is a really hard zone,” c asareto said. “The big Ten is a really great conference.”

d espite this challenge, recent changes in the format of the zone meets do provide greater opportunities for advancing to divers. These changes have increased the number of divers from each event who advance to the ncaa c hampionships.

“now it’s [the] top eight [divers] on every board [that advance],” c asareto said.

“it used to be around top three or four on every board.

Technically, it looks easier, but it is still a tough zone [to compete in].”

i n addition, the new rules change the way in which a diver qualifies to compete in specific events at the ncaa c hampionships.

“o ne more thing that they switched was that you don’t automatically qualify to compete in all three events [in the championships] if you qualify on one board,” c asareto said.

“s o you have to qualify in each individual event if you want to compete in all three events at the championships.”

h aving prepared throughout the season, the i rish have begun the process of tapering, or reducing the strain of their exercises, with the hope of resting up just prior to the championship stretch, the senior from l a h abra heights, c alifornia, said.

“s ome divers believe in tapering, and some divers don’t,” c asareto said. “here at notre d ame, we go a little

lighter in the weight room, and we cut down on repetition in the pool. s o right now, we’re still working on maintaining a low-repetition workout in the water and just focusing on our technique. That helps get us focused for the meet.”

w hile the goal for the team is to qualify as many divers as possible for the ncaa c hampionships, the i rish also realize it could be the last meet for many of the seniors on the team, c asareto said.

“This meet is crazy because it could be the last meet of my entire diving career, but it also could not be my last meet,” c asareto said. “There’s a lot of mixed feelings, lot of mixed emotions, but it’s also really exciting because i get to see all of the people that i’ve always seen the last four years one last time.”

The i rish will continue to practice for the remainder of this week before heading to c olumbus, o hio, for the meet next week. The threeday event begins m arch 12 at 1 p.m.

Contact Ben Padanilam at bpadanil@nd.edu

m bball

con T inued from page 16

for n otre d ame to practice more against a zone defense, especially after the i rish offense went dormant against s yracuse’s 2-3 zone. n otre d ame shot 34.7 percent from the floor and 3-for-22 (14 percent) from 3-point range.

“ you just [getting] reps against it i think is a good thing,” b rey said. “The days we’ve looked good, we’ve made shots.”

l ouisville’s challenging zone defense coupled with c ardinals head coach r ick p itino’s patented full-court press add up to an elite defense, ranked sixth in the country in defensive efficiency by k en p omeroy’s metrics.

“That’s sort of a double test of your mental toughness,” b rey said.

n otre d ame has spent the past three to four practices preparing for the pressure, and b rey said n otre d ame planned to pipe in crowd noise during m onday’s practice, simulating the raucous game environment of the 22,090-seat kfc y um! c enter.

“ i think between dealing with the press and then the crowd noise, that’s a great test,” b rey said. “The crowd noise sometimes makes you play too fast.”

o n the road at f lorida s tate this past s aturday, l ouisville forced 21 turnovers from the s eminoles and converted those miscues into 32 points en route

to an 81-59 victory.

“ i was real impressed after watching the tape of what our team did team-wise — moved the basketball very well, shot a good percentage, took high-percentage shots and played good defense,” p itino said.

The c ardinals have won three in a row, the last two without senior guard c hris Jones, who was dismissed from the team f eb. 22. i n three total games without Jones, freshman guard Quentin s nider has averaged 10 points and four assists. p itino said Jones needs to improve in the pick and roll and better understand when not to pick up his dribble in the lane.

c ardinals sophomore guard Terry r ozier (17.4 points and 5.4 rebounds per game) and junior forward m ontrezl h arrel (15.4 points, 9.3 rebounds) pace l ouisville, which currently holds fourth place in the acc ahead of n orth c arolina.

n otre d ame can finish anywhere from second through fourth in the conference, while l ouisville could slot third, fourth or fifth.

b rey said he fully expects drama w ednesday.

“ i t’s just one of those great rivalries,” p itino said. “ e very game is exciting and a lot of anxious moments.”

n otre d ame and l ouisville tip off tonight at 7 p.m. at the kfc y um! c enter in l ouisville, k entucky.

Contact Mike Monaco at jmonaco@nd.edu

Notre Dame prepares for NCAA Regional Qualifier

By BRETT O’CONNELL sports writer

fresh off of a series of successful individual showings at the usfa nationals and a pair of acc titles, notre dame prepares for the upcoming ncaa midwest regional Qualifier on saturday in evanston, illinois.

Two irish fencers medaled in division i competition this past weekend at the u s fencing association’s national meet in reno, nevada. senior a shley severson earned a bronze medal in women’s epee, while junior nicole mckee earned bronze in the women’s foil event. freshmen sabres claudia kulmacz and francesca russo finished sixth and seventh place, respectively, on their weapons.

on the men’s side, standout freshman sabre Jonah shainberg earned a seventh place finish overall on his weapon, securing him an automatic spot on the u s men’s Junior olympic fencing Team.

The no. 2 irish women’s squad (20-2) and no. 4 men’s team (17-7) will now turn their focus toward a return to ncaa competition as they will travel to the ncaa midwest regional Qualifier on saturday.

The irish competed in evanston on Jan. 31, when they made short work of their competition en route to undefeated afternoons for both the men’s and women’s sides at the northwestern duals. in fact, the irish have been undefeated in ncaa competition since their last trip to evanston, posting perfect records in the

decicco duals at the castellan family fencing center on feb. 7-8 as well as at the acc tournament feb. 21-22, when the team took home its first sweep of acc titles in program history.

despite notre dame’s recent success, tough competition awaits the irish in the upcoming ncaa championships. despite their performances as of late, the notre dame women’s squad sits second in the polls, one spot behind columbia. columbia received nine of the 10 first-place votes, with the final vote going to the irish women. The men find themselves in fourth place in the polls behind the likes of rival ohio state, columbia and top-ranked penn state.

The first-place votes are more disparate in the men’s poll, though, with penn state receiving only six of the 10 top votes. others receiving votes include columbia, which received two, and notre dame and no. 6 st. John’s, which received both one apiece.

russo said the team is focused on carrying its momentum through to the end of the season.

“a ll in all, everyone is taking it fairly seriously, and we know that it is crunch time,” russo said.

russo spoke highly of irish head coach gia kvaratskhelia, who joined the irish staff in 2007 before being promoted to the head coach position last december following the retirement of longtime head coach Janusz bednarski.

“coach gia is one of the sweetest and most supportive coaches i have ever dealt with,”

said russo. “he is a natural leader and is very knowledgeable about what it takes to be a national champion. he will always be on his student’s side and will do anything it takes to make us each individually happy and comfortable.”

This will be kvaratskhelia’s first ncaa championship appearance while at the helm of the irish program. The irish finished sixth place overall in the ncaa championships last march, despite gold medal finishes in both men’s and women’s foil by gerek meinhardt and lee k iefer, respectively. k iefer, now a junior, looks to win her second consecutive gold at this year’s tournament, while meinhardt graduated last spring but remains on the team in a coaching capacity.

The irish will be training intensively over the upcoming break in an attempt to make final improvements and preparations for the ncaa championships, according to russo.

“This spring break, we will be staying on campus and doing an intense training camp that will consist of two practices a day,” she said. “it is going to be relaxing not having the stresses of schoolwork, but definitely intense thinking about fencing for all of us.”

behind their recent momentum, the irish travel to evanston, illinois, this saturday for the ncaa midwest regional Qualifier at northwestern university.

Contact Brett O’Connell at bconne1@nd.edu

Happy Birthday: keep your emotions in check and avoid overindulgence. sticking to the facts and not taking on too much will be your best bet if you want to accomplish your goals. having unrealistic expectations will be what leads you astray. d iscipline, determination and hard work will win out in the end and lead to your success. your numbers are 7, 12, 16, 28, 34, 43, 47.

Birthday Baby: you are a humanitarian and a go-getter. you are passionate, aggressive and intuitive.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): muster a to-do list and don’t stop until it’s been completed. The satisfaction and confidence you get from taking care of your responsibilities will give way to having fun with someone whose company you enjoy.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): refrain from bringing up emotional matters until you feel you can handle the consequences. focus more on work and the contributions you can make that will make a difference to your peers, community and future prospects.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): m ake changes because you want to, not because someone else pushes you. you have a much better handle on what you want to see happen than an onlooker has. a love relationship will improve if you discuss and plan to do more together.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): e xpect to meet with opposition. you may not like change, but it will bring about a favorable new lifestyle. d on’t fight the inevitable. m ake do with what you are given. a ccept and move forward and you will get positive results.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): step up and take on a position of leadership. d o your own thing, put your plans into motion and leave time for a little romantic fun. s hort trips will lead to a bargain or a reconnection with an old friend.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): money, health and legal matters will be prominent, so do your best to take care of your responsibilities at home. personal papers are best dealt with sooner rather than later. d on’t get angry, get moving.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): size up your situation and your current position. partnerships are bountiful and will help you increase your momentum as well as your reputation and confidence. d on’t let someone hold you back. r id yourself of dead weight and move forward.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): e xplore different ways of doing things. a tweak here and there to the way you’ve been conducting your life will help you appreciate what you have. a n offer is heading your way and must be taken seriously.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Tie up loose ends and make plans to travel or get involved in a home improvement project that will help stabilize your future. realistic plans coupled with hands-on work will ensure that you are successful. l ove is highlighted.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): avoid travel, communication or being around unpredictable people. rely on past experiences and your intuition to help you make good decisions now. a n exaggerated joint venture will entice you. you are best to take precautions and rely on facts, not hype.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): you’ve got the right mindset and moves to make your dreams come true. a moneymaking opportunity is within reach, along with a partnership that can help you expand. p resent, promote and enjoy the recognition you receive. romance is encouraged.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): a colleague, superior or peer will have a hidden agenda. Take your time and make sure whatever you get involved in is to everyone’s benefit. Question motives as well as how realistic a project or joint venture is. b e smart, not sorry.

men’s baskeTball

Notre Dame set to clash with Louisville

By MIKE MONACO senior sports writer

w ith a second open weekend in a three-week span, m ike b rey has found himself a bit bored of late.

“ you don’t know what to do with yourself,” the head coach quipped.

i f history is any indication, tonight’s clash with n o. 16 l ouisville at the kfc y um! c enter should be the proper pick-me-up for b rey and the n o. 12 i rish.

n otre d ame (24-5, 12-4 acc ) and l ouisville (236, 11-5) met 13 times while members of the b ig e ast, and seven of those games were decided in overtime.

“ i can’t put my finger on why, but my god have they been good college games,” b rey said.

The i rish, who have sewn up a top-four seed and a double bye in next week’s acc tournament with two regular-season games remaining, and the c ardinals did not meet last season, with l ouisville in the a merican a thletic c onference and n otre d ame in the acc “ e verybody got a break,” b rey said. “Their heart

Track and fIeld

and their blood pressure is better.”

n otre d ame was able to come to a resting rate last week after a frenetic, late comeback fell short against s yracuse on f eb. 24. The

i rish sliced to within two of the o range with 39 seconds remaining before losing 6560 at home. s even days between games afforded the i rish the opportunity to rest, b rey the chance to recruit

and n otre d ame the ability to log extended practice time heading toward the postseason.

b rey said it was crucial

nd readies for ncaa championships

By ANDREW ROBINSON sports writer

a s the indoor season draws to a close, seven i rish athletes head towards the pinnacle as they prepare to compete in the ncaa i ndoor c hampionships, held m arch 13-14 at the r andal Tyson c enter in f ayetteville, a rkansas.

f our individual competitors and one relay team will represent n otre d ame as part of the elite field; in order to qualify for nationals, an individual must finish in the top 16 nationally, and a relay team must be among the top 12.

f or the men’s team, which has been riddled with injuries this season, senior sprinter c hris g iesting is the lone i rish qualifier. g iesting, a two-time a lla merican and second-place finisher in the acc championships last weekend, will compete in the 400-meter dash, in which he has the ninth-best time in the country (45.98 seconds).

“ h e’s been a little banged

up since a rkansas [the r azorback i nvitational], so the two weeks he has going in should help him out a lot,” i rish head coach a lan Turner said. “ h e’s proven that when he’s healthy, he can run with the best in the country.”

The women’s squad, ranked 25th nationally, recently finished third overall at the acc championships, where junior distance runner m olly s eidel was the meet mvp s eidel won the 3,000- and 5,000-meter runs on back-to-back days and will compete in the 5,000 at nationals.

“[ m olly] has just been incredible this year,” Turner said. “ s he’s being nominated for the g reat l akes r egion a thlete of the year. i think her fitness level is as good as anybody in the country right now, her confidence is up and she is peaking at the right time.”

Junior m argaret b amgbose will also look to follow up on her acc title in the

By HUNTER McDANIEL sports writer

w hile most students will be on spring break, the i rish have yet another busy week ahead of them; n o. 25 n otre d ame heads to f lorida for a pair of contests Tuesday before returning for two home matches m arch 13 and m arch 15.

i n f lorida, the i rish (74, 3-1 acc ) will start off by meeting e ast c arolina and f lorida g ulf c oast, clashing with the p irates (8-2) in Tampa on Tuesday morning before heading to f ort m yers for their matchup with the e agles (2-8) in the evening. a lthough n otre d ame will get a short break from acc play, i rish head coach Jay l ouderback said this spring break trip to f lorida is important for his squad.

“The big thing for us is getting outdoors,” l ouderback said. “ w e’ll get five days of practice and matches outside, which is something we need because we’ll start transitioning to more outdoor matches after spring break. w e have those two matches against n orth c arolina and b oston c ollege here indoors, but then we go to f lorida s tate and g eorgia Tech the weekend after for two outdoor conference matches. s o this trip to f lorida next week will be good for us.”

a fter a week of tennis and sunshine in f lorida, the i rish will return to campus for a f riday date with potentially their toughest opponent of the entire season, n orth c arolina.

The n o. 1 Tar h eels (130, 3-0) have a stacked roster on both the singles and doubles sides. w ith six singles players ranked by the i ntercollegiate Tennis a ssociation ( i T a ), including n o. 8 sophomore Jamie l oeb, n o. 15 senior c aroline p rice and n o. 19 sophomore h ayley c arter, n orth c arolina should provide the i rish their toughest challenge thus far. e ven the doubles point will be difficult to come by, as the Tar h eels boast tandems of n o. 11 l oeb and p rice, n o. 20 juniors a shley d ai and k ate