By ANN MARIE JAKUBOWSKI news e ditor
w hile notre dame’s 2014 commencement speaker might not be a household name on this side of the atlantic, many of the seniors who will hear
Graduation orator gets good review campus mourns student death
l ord c hristopher patten’s address on may 18 look forward to hearing the speech the prominent british politician will deliver.
patten serves as chancellor of the university of o xford and chair of the bbc Trust, and his last appearance at notre dame came during the 2012 nanovic Forum, when he delivered a lecture titled “europe, a merica
and the c hanging world order.” senior Francine k im said although she did not initially recognize patten’s name, she did some research on his background and now looks forward to hearing his address.
“my first reaction was, ‘w ho is that?’” k im said. “i wished it was someone who i think is significant, especially because many of us have watched great innovators like steve Jobs and oprah w infrey speak. however, after doing a bit of research on l ord patten, i feel that he offers a unique perspective as a politician who has accomplished a great deal at an international scale.”
k im said the graduation ceremony in may is important to her regardless of the speaker.
“of course we all want our graduation ceremony to be special, as it signifies all we have accomplished here at notre dame … so i hope he can offer us a little bit of advice and
inspiration as we begin a new journey.
“i’m not particularly happy or unhappy about l ord patten being named our commencement speaker because i feel that graduation from notre dame and celebrating the time that i have shared with my friends is enough to make graduation feel special.”
senior steve Fox spent last year in close proximity to patten while studying abroad at o xford university, although he said he was never able to interact with the chancellor while he was there.
“i had a fantastic experience at o xford, but it’s a fairly large university and i didn’t have the chance to hear him speak or anything while i was there,” he said. “i think he has an interesting background, and i’m looking forward to hearing him … [though] i’m not really sure what to expect.
“i think i might be a bit more
graduate student appears on ‘Jeopardy,’ places second
By TORI ROECK
a ssociate n ews e ditor
m arika k uspa, a n otre d ame graduate student in biological sciences, competed in a Jan. 9 episode of the iconic game show “Jeopardy,” placing second and beating the previous day’s champion.
k uspa said she was neck and neck with her competitors during most of “ d ouble Jeopardy,” but fell slightly behind going into the final question. unfortunately, her answer was not correct.
“ i was very excited to see the ‘Foreign words and p hrases’ category in the ‘Jeopardy’ round and the ‘Two-word s cience Terms’ category in the ‘ d ouble Jeopardy’ round,” she said. “ i split that category with the other scientist.”
Photo courtesy of Marika Kuspa
Notre Dame graduate student Marika Kuspa poses with Alex Trebek, the host of the syndicated game show, “Jeopardy.”
a s the “fun fact” she used to introduce herself on the show, k uspa said she referenced her prior scientific research.
“ i said that i worked in a tuberculosis biosafety level three facility, which requires wearing a full suit, respirator and three pairs of gloves for protection,” she said. “ i thought it would be
interesting for people to get a glimpse of scientific research in real life.”
k uspa said she began the audition process with an online assessment and was one
excited than others about having l ord patten come, given my time at o xford.”
The announcement of the commencement speaker was a much-anticipated event for senior v ictoria k ay, and though she had not heard of patten before yesterday, she said she is excited to hear his speech.
“perhaps i put too much emphasis on this one person’s role, but i think that the commencement speaker has the unique opportunity to provide culminating thoughts on the end of our chapter here at notre dame and inspire us for our future ahead,” she said. “i hope to hear a little bit about his story, his passions and what inspired him to get where he is today. i want to hear about how he felt at our age and where he envisioned his future would take him.
“l astly, i hope he can give us
Observer Staff Report
a kash sharma, a graduate student from i ndia, passed away Jan. 1, according to an email
notre dame i nternational sent to international students Jan. 9. sharma was a third-year
Government plans to update constitution
By ALAINA ANDERSON news writer
saint mary’s student senate met Tuesday night to discuss proposed updates to the student government’s constitution and rules for the college’s upcoming election season .
student body president k at sullivan said creating changes to the constitution will help candidates who wish to participate in future elections.
“For the rest of the semester, we want to update our constitution for the next administration,” sullivan said. “we want to make sure there is a clear understanding of the rules on the student government side as well as [on] the student body [side].”
sullivan said updates to the constitution are meant to benefit both student government
members and the student body as a whole.
“we are updating the constitution so we can give the student body a better understanding of what our organization does and how we run on a daily basis,” she said.
e lections for student body president, vice president and senate will take place on Feb. 27, and elections for class boards and big boards will take place on march 6. sullivan said the student body can expect emails containing information on future elections.
“we have to give people two weeks notice because they have to get their materials approved by the elections community, student involvements, and multicultural services so we want to make sure everyone
Christopher Patten u niversity of o xford chancellor
sMC sEnAtE
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Policies
Question of the Day:
Vince
sophomore o’neill
“To
Nick
“To
Deandra Cadet junior ryan hall
“To
Catherine Yuan senior lyons hall
“To
Michael Romano freshman dillon hall
“To
Liliana Samano senior welsh Family hall
“To watch less netflix.”
Entrepreneur Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of the social media site Reddit, visited Notre Dame yesterday. His talk covered his
book “Without Their Permission” and entrepreneurship in the 21st century.
Today’s Staff
News c arolyn hutrya
rebecca o neil
a bi hoverman
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steph wulz
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Sports Joseph monardo c onor kelly henry h illiard Scene
m iko malabute
Viewpoint c aroline l ang
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
Registration for Spring Fitness
Classes
Rolfs Sports Recreation Center
7:30 a.m.
Visit RecRegister.
“No Little Art; No Little Beer”
Snite Museum of Art
5 p.m.- 7:30 p.m.
Try beers paired with art.
Friday
Film: “All is Lost”
DeBartolo Performing Arts Center
6:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
See Robert Redford’s 2013 shipwreck film.
Men’s Hockey
Compton Ice Arena
7:35 p.m.-9:35 p.m.
Irish play Lake Superior State.
Saturday
ND Women’s Tennis Eck Tennis
Monday
Film: “Herman’s House” DeBartolo Performing Arts Center
3 p.m.-4:45 p.m.
Film about longest surving prisoner in solitary confinement.
Zen Meditation Coleman-Morse Center
6:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m.
Open to all faiths.
Notre Dame and Loyola team up against cancer
By JOANNA LAGEDROST news writer
notre d ame has teamed up with l oyola university c hicago in a multidisciplinary effort to advance the fight against cancer.
This collaboration follows notre d ame’s recent cooperation with the h arper c ancer r esearch i nstitute and the i ndiana university s chool of medicine – s outh b end.
“The work with l oyola is just another avenue for sciences to interact with clinical collaborators,” director of the h arper i nstitute m s haron s tack said. “This is one way that we can interact and give [ notre d ame] scientists more opportunities to partner with clinicians.”
s tack said l oyola scientists and clinicians at the c ardinal b ernardin c ancer c enter within the s tritch s chool of medicine were initially motivated to “get together” because they were interested in a shared mission as two c atholic healthcare institutions.
The partnership began when members of the l oyola administration visited notre d ame in the spring of 2013 and suggested a research retreat for the two institutions
in c hicago in July of 2013, s tack explained.
“i would actually choose the word collaborate rather than partner for the interaction with l oyola,” s tack said. “[ l oyola is] more clinically focused in its cancer research program and it wanted to expand interactions with basic scientists. notre d ame has more basic scientists looking for clinicians to collaborate with.”
c urrently, the h arper c ancer r esearch c enter and the c ardinal b ernardin c ancer c enter have funded corporations and submitted proposals to establish specific collaborations, s tack said.
The collaboration is beneficial to cancer research everywhere, she said. it invites “novel scientific perspective” by bringing together “people with different sets of expertise.”
s pecifically, notre d ame scientists will have the opportunity to bring some of their drugs and ideas to clinical trials using the l oyola system, s tack said.
The h arper c ancer r esearch i nstitute routinely researches and discusses many different types of cancer, s tack said. o ngoing
paid a dverT isemen T
projects in collaboration with the c ardinal b ernardin c ancer c enter include cancer vaccine development, ovarian cancer, leukemia and melanoma.
s tack expressed high hopes for the collaboration.
“ we’re hoping that one or more of these collaborations would end up in some joint grant proposal between a h arper and a l oyola investigator,” d r. s tack said.
i n this way, she said the two institutes hope to progress the fight against cancer. h arper also plans to host a research retreat in s outh b end this spring with l oyola collaborators, similar to the retreat held in c hicago last summer, s tack said. The key to beating cancer lies in getting the best expertise possible by using the skills of various scientists to address cancer-specific problems.
“ w hat we’re really looking for … are people with clinical insight that can help us to make sure that the questions we’re addressing and our various model systems are the most accurate and representative of clinical problems,” s tack said.
Contact Joanna Lagedrost at jlagedro@nd.edu
student senate continues focus on sexual assault
By MARGARET HYNDS news writer
i n wednesday night’s student senate meeting, student body president a lex coccia addressed the new student government sexual assault prevention campaign, “one is Too many.”
“i’m very excited about it,” coccia said. “[The program] will roll out next week, and training will begin soon. i n total, we have 115 volunteers.” volunteers for the campaign will speak to the dorms about ways to prevent sexual assault, forms of sexual assault, and resources available to students. student body vice president nancy Joyce spoke with hall rectors on Tuesday about the project, as well.
during the meeting, dean of the college of science gregory crawford gave updates on events in the college.
“i like [to] come once a year to give you a little perspective on what’s going on in the college,” he said. “i think it’s pretty impressive what our students and faculty do.”
crawford spoke about enhancements to the research enterprise of the university, including raising more than $250 million in grants during the last three years, including a $23 million grant this year from the bill and melinda gates Foundation for research on malaria.
money was also allocated toward the hiring of additional science professors. d uring the last three years, the college of science hired 43 new professors,
Mourning
con T inued F rom page 1
ph.d. student in chemical and biomolecular engineering, according to the email. he served as co-president of the i ndian a ssociation of notre dame during the 2012-13 academic year and was a teaching assistant for several classes.
“a kash was an enthusiastic and passionate student with big dreams about the future,” the email said. “d ue to his always smiling and friendly
sMC s enate
con T inued F rom page 1
has a clear amount of time,” she said.
e lection rules remain under discussion, but sullivan said more information on the election policies and violations will be known shortly.
a nother exciting event being
increasing the faculty by about 25 percent. crawford said the college plans to make 12 new hires before this may.
crawford said the college also plans to expand its horizons, building upon the current nuclear physics and stem cell research programs.
crawford said he also hopes to involve more undergraduate students in academic research.
“i n 2008, only 18 percent of undergraduates in the college of science were participating in research. by 2013, it was 58 percent,” crawford said, adding that, 100 percent undergraduate participation is ultimately his goal.
The college also plans to make changes to the biology curriculum, to be put into effect in the next few years. crawford said one change would be a move towards a “flipped classroom,” where lectures are condensed and put online before each class so that valuable class time with professors can be dedicated to examples and problem sets.
on wednesday night, the senate also passed a resolution, on behalf of the student body, congratulating the men’s soccer team on their championship title.
Food services additionally announced a coffee tasting on January 27-28 to help decide what brand of coffee will replace the current type served in dining halls and at all events catered by Food services.
Contact Margaret Hynds at mhynds@nd.edu
nature, he was liked by a large number of graduate and undergraduate students. a kash will greatly be missed.”
The university declined to comment on the cause of sharma’s death.
grief counseling is available to students through the university c ounseling c enter, c ampus m inistry and i nternational student and s cholar a ffairs. details about a memorial service will be forthcoming, according to the email.
put on by the residence hall a ssociation is the saint mary’s prom-themed formal on Jan. 31. Tickets can be purchased at the moreau center for the a rts for $20. Ticket sales will begin about a week and a half prior to the formal.
Contact Alaina Anderson at aander02@saintmarys.edu
university aspires to inspire through T ed Talks
By LESLEY STEVENSON news writer
The most innovative members of the notre d ame community will take center stage Tuesday at T ed x und, an event coordinated by students and faculty to inspire conversation and examine critical questions through presentations by students, faculty, staff, alumni and local residents. The event will be held in the d e b artolo p erforming a rts c enter ( dpac ).
“ we really wanted to capture the spirit of innovation and creativity that we all love so much about a lot of stuff that’s going on at notre d ame in a variety of senses,” junior m ax b rown, director of student government’s department of academic affairs said. s enior student body president a lex c occia said b rown and senior b en e ichler, department member at the department of academic affairs, successfully joined forces with dpac , hesburgh l ibraries, the o ffice of the p rovost and university c ommunications to bring what he called an “inspiring event” to campus.
“nancy and i ran on a platform that stressed the passions of the student body,” c occia said. “o ur vision called for a student government that acts on student passions and advocates for student needs.
“ we do not have to look far to be inspired by the work of students at our university. … we, the students, have passion that drives us to grow, understand and truly live during our time at notre d ame.”
p aul van ness, marketing program manager at the dpac , said he initially applied last February for a
through a lottery. a dditional tickets to an 800-person live-streaming event in the l eighton c oncert h all will be available at the door Tuesday. he said the presentations will be streamed and later posted online, but he hopes viewers will choose to watch the T ed x und talks with each other instead of alone.
“it will be recorded, and we’ll post them on the web, and so it will live on beyond the event,” van ness said. “That’s exciting. i really expect there to be energy and ideas and new thoughts that come out of the event and hopefully it will lead to … more connections with people that will lead to new projects, new research, maybe an additional opportunity for a student speaker.”
whole process works.”
b rown said he hopes the “special connection” between students and their peers and mentors will make T ed x und even more inspiring to the event’s live and virtual audiences.
“There’s a lot of really cool stuff that’s going on at notre d ame that’s really engaging
and new and creative not only for the notre d ame community but for the world,” he said. “i think this kind of moves to the forefront those ideas which will most permeate the future and help us understand the past.”
Contact Lesley Stevenson at lsteven1@nd.edu
university license from the T ed organization. The license allows notre d ame to host a T ed x event in the style of T ed c onferences and use the T ed x logo, but van ness said the committee on campus takes full responsibility for planning and sponsoring the event.
“i’ve always considered this to be a university-wide event,” van ness said. “i mean it is. it has the und it’s not T ed x d e b artolo.
“That was one of the reasons i was particularly excited to have students and the library and all these other parties involved because it truly is a university-wide event,” he said. “a nd so it increased the energy and the excitement and the enthusiasm and the capability of the event.”
T ed x und’s 19 speakers underwent a selection process with a committee of students and staff from the dpac and hesburgh libraries, van ness said.
s ophomore and T ed x und speaker Joel o stdiek said he completed an initial application and follow-up interview before being selected. he said his talk will focus on the value of the arts and music education. a ccording to the event website, the speakers will address topics ranging from the physics of the universe to foreign aid.
“i’m most excited about watching all of the speakers at the event,” o stdiek said. “i think it’ll be an awesome chance to hear what other members of the nd community are thinking about and hopefully ignite some meaningful discussions.”
van ness said 100 people won tickets to T ed x und
van ness said the T ed organization stipulated that T ed x und seat only 100 audience members for the live presentations. he said the more intimate setting would better facilitate discussion and networking, in addition to making logistics easier.
b rown said T ed x und “definitely” has potential to become an annual fixture in the notre d ame event calendar.
“i f everything goes well here, we’ll be able to make it a lot larger,” he said. “ we wanted to kind of work out all the kinks and find out how the
STEPH WULZ | The Observer
advice on how to approach this difficult but exciting transition in our lives. i f he could get us laughing too, then i’d say he’d be a success.”
a lthough k ay said she was originally disappointed that p atten was not a name she recognized or had previously been interested in, she decided to keep an open mind and listen to what he has to say.
“ you cannot deny that this man has had a wealth of experience, so i ’m excited to hear his speech come graduation day,” she said.
a . James mc a dams,
director of the nanovic i nstitute for e uropean s tudies, said he is “delight-
“You cannot deny that this man has had a wealth of experience, so I’m excited to hear his speech come graduation day.”
Victoria Kay Senior
ed” that l ord p atten will be returning to notre d ame after his previous lecture in 2012, which was sponsored
filming, k uspa said.
of more than 100,000 people who took the test that year.
“a bout 2,500 people are called to in-person auditions in a major city,” k uspa said. “ i drove up to d etroit. d uring the in-person audition you take another written test and then play a mock game of ‘Jeopardy’ against your fellow opponents.
“a t this point, the producers know that everyone is pretty smart, so they’re looking for people who are T v-friendly.”
The production crew tapes two weeks worth of shows in two days and requires contestants to bring several changes of clothing for
i n addition to shopping for outfits, k uspa said she prepared for the taping by watching episodes of “Jeopardy” and reading 74-game champion k en Jennings’ book “ s ecrets of the Jeopardy c hampions.” Jennings’ winning streak ran during the 2004 season, when he won over 3 million dollars.
“ b asically i would peruse lists of facts and just see if any of it stuck in my head,” she said. “ i also started doing crossword puzzles because those are a great way to learn random facts and they’re fun. a lso, i try to stay up on more current events by listening to [ national p ublic r adio] in my car.”
paid a dverT isemen T
by the i nstitute.
“he is an incredible person, someone who has had a huge impact on the world stage,” mc a dams said. “a t the same time, as a c atholic leader, he is a natural fit for notre d ame. o n his last visit, i was impressed with how well he connected with the students.
“he has special insights into the kind of education we are seeking to provide, and i know how glad he will be to return to notre d ame. he is a terrific choice to be our commencement speaker.”
Contact Ann Marie Jakubowski at ajakubo1@nd.edu
b efore the taping, producers explained the rules about contestants’ buzzers, k uspa said.
“ you can’t buzz in on ‘Jeopardy’ before the question is over or the computer system will lock you out for a fraction of a second in which your opponent can ring in and score,” she said.
a lthough she did not win, k uspa said she was pleased with her performance on the show and was especially prepared for certain categories.
“ it was a really great game overall and it would have been even better to win, but i ’m not disappointed by my performance.”
Contact Tori Roeck at vroeck@nd.edu
Yoga Club stretches to 100, largest at SMC
By ANNEMARIE LOESSBERG news writer
a year ago, junior g race h arvey started teaching yoga s culpt to her friends in a ngela a thletic Facility. i nterest in her class grew, leading her to form a club, currently the largest on campus.
“i just started teaching in the gym,” h arvey said. “people started coming and i just made it an official club. This is the second semester of it.”
The club just celebrated its first birthday and is going strong, h arvey said.
“ we have five classes a week, 100 members. it’s the biggest club on campus,” h arvey said.
“i guess kind of [by] word of mouth, people hear about it and like it.”
h arvey said she took yoga s culpt throughout high school and wanted to continue at s aint m ary’s.
“a t home, everyone at our high school would always go to these yoga classes together, and it’s just what people did,” she said.
h arvey said it would be easier for club members to attend classes this semester.
“This semester will be better because of the times in the gym,” she said. “They won’t be so late, so hopefully more people will be able to come, have more flexibility in their schedule.”
The club is open to anyone and professors are even encouraged to join, h arvey said.
“o ne-hundred people is a lot of people already … there is no limit, but at the same time
we don’t want to have over 100 people coming every class,” she said. “b ut the more the merrier.”
yoga s culpt is not like a normal yoga class and adds cardio with weights, h arvey said.
c lasses are currently monday at noon, Tuesday at 6:30 p.m., wednesday at 6 p.m. and Friday at noon. h arvey said they hope to soon create a Thursday class at notre d ame.
“ we are still working on getting a class over at notre d ame, we had one over there last semester but so far they are all at s aint m ary’s.”
it only costs $20 a semester to join the club, h arvey said.
“That’s for unlimited yoga, five classes a week, maybe 50 cents a class,” she said. “ we don’t get paid, we do it because we love it.” h arvey said she now teaches alongside her sister, first-year c hristine h arvey and senior Jean m iller.
“i think it’s fun because we have three teachers,” c hristine h arvey said. “e ach of us has their own style of classes so people can go to which class they want to go to. e very class is a little different so it keeps it interesting.
“it’s definitely a fun workout. you can go with your friends. it’s definitely a stress reliever. Take a study break.”
If interested in learning more about the club or available classes, email yogaclub@ saintmarys.edu
Contact Annemarie Loessberg at aloess01@saintmarys.edu
Smiles for service industry
shopping this holiday season was rushed. i returned home from school four days before christmas break, and, because i didn’t really think about most of the gifts before i returned home, i had a lot of work to do. and i had to do it quickly.
dec. 21, i shopped in downtown chicago with one of my friends who stayed at our house for the weekend before completing his return from notre dame to mexico. i didn’t find much wandering around in the rain, and i returned home tired and empty-handed.
dec. 22, i trekked with my little brother to the old orchard shopping mall, the nearest cluster of stores to our house. Found a lot of presents, but in these two days of shopping i really felt the plight of the retail employee, exacerbated by the holiday season. after working at a store for a while, employees can distinguish the typical customers of their stores the moment they walk in their gigantic, glass doors. highend, low-end, novelty, sport and other stores all get customers: the good, the bad and the ugly.
i worked a few service industry jobs back in the day. i worked as a book restocker, online order filler, bicycle shop employee, retail sales associate, audiovisual department staff and cashier. i’ve also interacted with parts of the general public as a tutor, congressional intern, ngo intern and of course, as the observer’s assistant managing editor.
i’ve held these positions for a summer, for a few months or for a semester. other people work in those same positions fulltime, and soon after we graduate most of us will also be dealing with some contingents of the general public. and let’s face it, the general public is frustrating.
This winter break, i learned it makes a world of a difference to ask the harried guy ringing up my friend’s purchase in chicago’s downtown macy’s about his day and his weird, frazzled customers. it cheers the airline customer service representative to be treated like a person, instead of the human manifestation of my frustration. it makes the day of the snowboard shop employee in winter park, colo., when i call his shop and ask for his manager’s contact information so as to leave a glowing review of his service.
all we have to do is pay attention. it doesn’t take much more than a smile, a kind word, a “hey, how has your day been? w hat weird customers have wandered in here today?” to make someone laugh. maybe you haven’t been in one of these service industry jobs, maybe you will never be in one. regardless, especially around the holidays, throw them a smile. you might make someone’s day.
value of knowledge over capital
my senior year of high school, it seemed like i was becoming best friends with my guidance counselor. i would see her almost every day about college applications, and i was in her office so much that i actually memorized the walls. w hat i remember most is a sign in her office that read: “if you think education is expensive, try ignorance.” w hen i think back, this is only one of the many pieces of wisdom that mrs. mary charles offered me that year. how unfortunate it would be to live in ignorance, not experiencing what the world has to offer or what the human mind is capable of achieving. l ife is simply sweeter and more satisfying when one is aware. a college education allows students to move beyond their comfort zones, experience new things and develop their passions. it informs them of the urgency for a new generation of scholars, innovators, leaders, politicians, financiers and scientists. it is meant to inspire them to become those people. The amount of knowledge and enlightenment that can be received through higher education is invaluable because it will greatly improve one’s quality of life. The ability to think critically, communicate effectively and respond compassionately to the world at large are skills that can be applied to all aspects of life and that can only be fully acquired through
EDitoriAL CArtoon
higher education. it saddens me that so many college students are motivated not by passion or desire for knowledge, but by the elusive promise of a higher salary after graduation. Too often, the only goals are stability, financial security and corporate society’s definition of success. These are surely important to a certain degree, but the true value of a college education lies not in the bank, but in the human mind. Too many students go through college only focusing on memorizing facts for the next exam or writing what the professor wants to hear, rather than actually accumulating knowledge. They take for granted the irreplaceable opportunity they have been given to learn and grow. Through higher education, one can make informed political decisions, engage in intelligent conversation and appreciate the accomplishments of the human race. college provides an environment for one to develop passions — to pursue a career that is truly, personally satisfying rather than only one monetarily profitable.
w ith a college education, comes the responsibility to utilize that knowledge for the improvement of others and the community. a n education should not only benefit the individual, but the entirety of society. w ithout education, societal problems would remain unsolved, nations would fall to anarchy and the beauty and intricacy of the human mind would go to waste. everyone has something to contribute
to the global community, and one owes it to the world to reach one’s fullest potential because it could bring about a tremendous impact. it is tragic that this greater goal is often lost as people focus only on their individual gain and profit. it is no secret that college tuition in the united states is rapidly increasing and that the university of notre dame stands among the highest-costing institutions in the country. many believe a college education necessary because they believe it to be the stepping stone to a good job and steady income. w ith tuition increasing, however, many a mericans now associate a college education with an obscene amount of loans and mounting debt, and they wonder if a college education has become an unnecessary expense. if the only value a college education holds for an individual is its promise of financial security, then perhaps it has become unnecessary, because that cannot be guaranteed even by notre dame’s impressive statistics. but for those who desire to become the best that they can be, lead lives of satisfaction and awareness and contribute to the betterment of society, the value of higher education is in and of itself.
Bianca Almada is a sophomore residing in Cavanaugh Hall. She is studying English, Spanish and Journalism. She can be contacted at balmada@nd.edu The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
Bianca Almada This is real l ife
Nicole Michels a ssisstant managing e ditor
insiDE CoLuMn
Marie Beynon Ray American author
QuotE of thE DAY
‘Sticks and stones’ lied: words can always hurt
Amanda Peña
The bubble
bullying always seemed like such a strange idea: some cool kid pushes nerds in the hallway or shoves freshmen into lockers. at least that’s what T v always told me. i n reality though, it’s far more common than we may think, and we fail at teaching our kids how to recognize it and protect themselves from the harmful effects of bullying. i finally know that now as an adult who experienced it firsthand. growing up, i never quite fit in because i was the “teacher’s pet,” the overachiever. w here i grew up, academic achievement just puts kids on display for ridicule — kind of like a zoo animal everyone watches until it does something worth talking about. For me, they used my intelligence and weight to make me feel inferior … and it worked. really well.
Their words changed my life, and by the time i was 14 i struggled with an eating disorder, depression and, at one point, suicidal thoughts. i didn’t consider their occasional hurtful comments as bullying at the time, but now when i see younger kids using similar language with their peers, i wonder if it will have those effects on them, too.
LEttEr to thE EDitor
rejection didn’t mean checking ‘no’ on a do-you-like-me note; it was when i was scrutinized, judged or made fun of for being different. That’s not to say i don’t enjoy jokes that poke fun at me. i n fact, i tend to make fun of myself more than others do. i realized, though, that this behavior is a by-product of a fat joke made about me 11 years ago. now i find myself joking about my flaws first so i could control how they are used among others. a ll of my friendships thereafter changed along with my self-esteem.
unfortunately, as i got older, kids got smarter and their abilities to manipulate what i shared with them changed, too. i n college, i’ve found that my weight isn’t the issue anymore, but socioeconomic differences are. my depression morphed around aspects i’m incapable of controlling — my ethnic background and financial situation. i joke all the time about being poor or mexican after my peers used them as weapons to make me (or other students) feel inferior and different — kind of a beat-them-to-the-punch tactic.
now that i’m abroad, i’ve found it has altered again. my roommate here has taken my honesty about my life and uses it to get under my skin. he once joked, “The more i know about you, the
make room for roTc
i recently sat for office hours with Father Jenkins to talk about whatever came to mind, and this came to mind: w hy is the annual roTc pass in review always held in some remote place on campus? Three years ago, we had it in the Jacc , and no one came to watch. For the past two years, we have done it on the edge of the universe at a rlotta stadium — and no one has come to watch. a fter the second empty audience, it struck me that a university which talks so much about that nebulous ideal of tradition might provide a little help to one of its most traditional institutions, the organization to which it owes some small thanks for its survival. The lacrosse field hasn’t been cutting it, so i thought i’d ask if we could do it on one of the quads instead, for everyone to see.
Jenkins was reticent and raised two concerns. First, what about other student groups that might want to use s outh Quad or someplace like it? s econd, what are we supposed to do about outside protests against such a display? For the former, i can only say that if somebody else wanted to use a huge chunk of s outh Quad, i’d be all for it. e xcept the guys that fly model airplanes — they’re out. For the latter, i will only say that the ire of protest groups did not stop the current university administration from inviting p resident obama to speak in 2009. a lthough notre dame has seen some anti-war sentiment in its time, i feel confident that any pushback would be restricted to the lunatic fringe de facto, and i doubt it would draw much attention anyway, even if it accompanied a lumni hall’s Quad dancing. would it require some effort on the part of the roTc ? o f course. would it be difficult to pull off? o f course not. The answer from Fr. Jenkins told me that it is a matter of heart, not ability. The roTc is an integral part of the university; give us a little rhythm for a nice event.
rob mckenna
more i want to use that to break you down … but then i’ll build you back up. i just really enjoy grinding your gears.” a fter three days living with this kid, i noticed my depression and eating disorder creep back into my life. it tends to happen when outside controls mess with my self-esteem. he has me walking on eggshells in my living space worrying how he’ll unintentionally whittle away at my confidence next. i hate thinking of it as bullying, but we didn’t even know each other well enough for his comments and attitude to be appropriate or healthy for me. it’s easier to mask insults as jokes or blame the victim for being sensitive, but at the end of the day, what they feel is how they feel, and no excuse a bully gives can change that. i’ve recently tried talking to my ‘bully’ about how certain things he’s said made me feel ( m r. rogers would be proud), but unfortunately it hasn’t helped much. Thankfully, i am confident in my resilience and strength, but many can feel far more oppressed, and their bullies far more destructive. s o what’s the right way to react?
i remember when i was first told we had to love our enemies, i almost laughed. how are you supposed to love a person whom you have ever reason to hate? That Jesus guy sure knows how
EDitoriAL CArtoon
to give a challenge. even if you’re not a religious person, the way you treat your enemies tends to say a lot about the type of person you are. it’s so much easier to hate than love — it’s why the world is as messed up as it is. bullying happens all the time — we just fail to recognize it as such. it occurs because we allow it to occur. i nstead, we should be stepping in when someone is laughing at the victim of an insult. c all someone out for being rude, disrespectful or mean. bullying encourages kids to act violently because there aren’t enough brave voices standing in solidarity with them. it can feed suicide and depression rates the same way it did to me.
we need to keep fighting hatred with love. its potential is limitless. s o stand up and speak out even when it’s hard. you never know whose life you may be saving either now or down the road.
Amanda Peña is a junior and a sustainable development studies major with a poverty studies minor. She can be contacted at apena4@nd.edu
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer. The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
By MARISA IATI a ssistant managing e ditor
Editor’s note: This is the first installment in a series of columns chronicling the journey to the Holy Half Marathon on March 29. i don’t have an athletic bone in my body. not one.
unlike 80-something percent of the notre dame student body, i was not a varsity athlete in high school. The thought is actually laughable.
my dad tried in vain to find a sport at which i might be halfway decent. i did everything from gymnastics to softball to cheerleading to basketball. i was awful at all of them. The pinnacle of my childhood athletic career was once scoring six points in a recreational basketball game. it was a big day in my life.
so, you might ask yourself why someone like me would make running the holy half marathon the number one item on her notre dame bucket list. i’m asking myself the same question.
but let me try to explain.
i don’t like limits. i’m not a fan of assigning them to myself, and i’m even less fond of other people imposing them on me. The thought that i might be incapable of doing something scares me. i want to believe that if another human being can do whatever it is, then so can i
That’s probably foolish. but quite frankly, i don’t really care.
i’m going to run the holy half on march 29. it’s not because everyone else is doing it. it has nothing to do with fitness as a lifestyle, as admirable as that is, or my sense of body image. a nd it sure as heck isn’t because i have a natural inclination to run 13.1 miles.
it’s because i want to prove to myself that i can.
i’m not harboring the illusion that this will be easy. in all honesty, i’ve already failed once. l ast year, i began training at the beginning of winter break, made it through an eight-mile run in February and then quit.
i gave up for some reasons that i can justify to myself and other reasons that i
can’t. i got shin splints in one of my legs from using the wrong running shoes. i felt like i could no longer make time for four runs a week. but i also just got frustrated with how difficult it was to push myself so hard, day in and day out.
This time, though, i have no intention of quitting. barring an injury, i will be crossing that finish line approximately 10 weeks from now — probably sweating profusely and in a significant amount of pain, but still in one piece.
i’ve learned to consider this experience as about more than just the physical act of running. i think it’s bigger than that. at the onset of my training last winter, i sent a text message to my friend and training buddy. i told her that the whole thing was just too hard.
“it’s supposed to be hard,” she replied. “you just have to learn to keep running through the pain.”
Those words stuck with me, and i’ve since realized they don’t apply only to running. They’re relevant to just about everything.
every time a spoken word injures me,
every time i lose someone or something i loved, and every time a door slams shut in front of me, i face a choice: i can decide it’s “just too hard” and remain on the ground, or i can get up, brush myself off and keep going.
i choose to keep running — physically, around this university’s campus, until i’m capable of going 13.1 miles, and metaphorically, until i’m past the challenge of the moment and on to the next one. maybe my holy half aspirations aren’t really about running at all. perhaps they’re about the ability to keep going, despite pain, despite heartbreak, despite sweat and tears and (hopefully not) blood.
i fully intend to finish the race in march. but even if i don’t, i think i’ve already discovered what i needed to learn. at the end of the day, what matters is that we keep running. o ver the next two and a half months, i’m going to see if i can do that. stay tuned.
Contact Marisa Iati at miati@nd.edu
By KEVIN NOONAN
s cene e ditor
a nother day, another website for The observer. with new and exciting technology comes new and exciting scene series, a series which you will only be able to find on the website.
one new feature we’re debuting this semester (in addition to others, all of which you should check out!) is regular television coverage of a select number of shows. a scene writer will review and discuss each episode of their chosen series each week after it airs, or as soon as they can get to a streaming service to watch it. so far we’re covering lena dunham’s “girls” from hbo, “a rcher” and its new, blown up premise on FX, dan harmon and his return to “community” on nbc, the weekend stalwart comedy show “saturday night live” and hbo’s new, star-studded, limited-run series, “True detective.”
some coverage of these shows will appear in the print edition of the newspaper, but the weekly episode reviews will only be published online. if you watch these shows or are interested in them, i
encourage you to follow our coverage and pipe in with your own thoughts on the website. if you don’t watch these shows but you do watch television, keep an eye out as we’re still looking to add more shows as the winter/spring television season plugs along (“game of Thrones,” for instance, is a can’t-miss).
one show we won’t be covering online, for a number of reasons, is FX’s latest foray into animated comedy, “chozen.” The show, which comes from the producers of hbo’s “eastbound & down” and FX’s “a rcher,” features the voice talent of bobby moynihan as chozen, a homosexual rapper recently released from prison after being framed for crimes by former partner phantasm, voiced by method man.
The show presented a number of interesting premises and showed promise on paper. The creative team was responsible for two of the most popular and critically revered comedies in the last five years. The voice actors included known entities like moynihan from “saturday night live,” method man from the wu-Tang clan and danny mcbride from “eastbound & down,” as well as rising stars like
hannibal buress and michael peña as crisco and ricky, respectively, chozen’s two rapper-producer friends. FX has over the last few years proven itself trustworthy for comedies, backing projects like “it’s a lways sunny in philadelphia,” “louie” and “a rcher.” on top of that, the premise of the show included building blocks that, if not necessarily classic comedy material, at least indicated that this show would try something different than a typical animated comedy or sitcom ¾ namely, the main character is a gay rapper. as has been said often and elsewhere, the golden age of television, from “The sopranos” to whenever “mad men” has its seemingly obligatory new year’s eve 1969 series finale episode, has featured fantastic storytelling and fascinating characters, but has still focused mostly on straight, white men. The simple fact that the creators of the show centered their story on a homosexual character sets it apart from your average show. That doesn’t mean that it will necessarily be a good show or a bad show, it just means it has the opportunity to tell different stories than we normally
see on television.
but, at least in the series premiere, “chozen” commits the number one sin of comedy ¾ it isn’t funny. w hatever else the show tries to achieve is dragged to the bottom of the sea by the cement block that is the show’s plodding pace, stale jokes and general lack of wit. a lmost all of the gags in the episode play on chozen’s sexual orientation, and while the jokes are not necessarily offensive, they just aren’t that funny, and they’re certainly not doing anything to rise above or tweak stereotypes. but more than all of that, it just isn’t funny at all.
That’s not to say the show can’t turn around. There’s a solid recent history of comedies turning around after a few episodes or even a whole season of trying to find their footing, including the now-critically lauded “parks and recreation” on nbc but unless they start turning some jokes and speeding up the pace of the show, this animated program will be on the scrap heap before you know it.
Contact Kevin Noonan at knoonan2@nd.edu
WeeKeND eVeNTS CALeNDAR
THURSDAY
What: “fruitvale station” Where: DPAC
When: 7 p.m. how Much: $7
not only was it the hit that everyone was talking about just last year. not only was it a touching film about a man in the wrong place at the wrong time, whose death incites the entire nation. but it also stars michael b Jordan, the man who starred as vince howard — the second-greatest quarterback in the hit T v series “Friday night lights.”
FRIDAY
What: Concert: soMo Live at Legends! Where: Legends When: 10:00 p.m. how Much: free
somo, the r&b/pop singer and youT ube star hailing from denison Texas is performing at legends. somo is responsible for the hit 2011 mashup of drake’s well-known sophomore album “Take care,” which was met with positive reception. This culminated in mixtape releases, a record deal with republic records and “somo sunday.”
SATURDAY SUNDAY
What: “Le Dindon” Where: DPAC When: 7:30 p.m. how Much: $5
saturday night is the time where our classiness and sophisticated tastes are truly heightened. Thus, there is no better place to exercise such qualities than by experiencing “le dindon,” a play that explores 19th century France, but beautifully depicts a story of love, lust, infidelity and hilarity.
What: o’Malley sacred Music series
Where: DPAC
When: 2:30 and 5:00 p.m. how Much: free (with ticket)
barry Jordan, well-known conductor, organist and choral director of germany’s magdeburg cathedral, comes to notre dame. in addition to composition and playing, Jordan taught at from 2003-2006 at the leipzig academy of music. he is responsible for the 1996 composition, “i am the rose of sharon.”
By ERIN McAULIFFE
cene writer
s
w hile gallivanting about on horseback, shouting favorite artists back and forth with my friend, i discovered the magnificence that is Justin vernon or bon iver (pronounced “bone eevare” for those who want to avoid being shamed). british accents have a way of convincing you of anything. a fter spending the week riding horses in Jackson hole, wyoming, i returned home to ohio with a copy of vernon’s “bon iver” in my carry-on. w hen i got home i rushed to my laptop to finally play the album my new english friend had convinced me i would love. (british accents have a way of convincing you of anything).
a fter downloading Justin vernon’s “bon iver,” my ipod nano saw no other artist for the remainder of the summer. a round september i began to need some variety. i started a bon iver pandora station and came across James vincent mcmorrow.
mcmorrow had a similar style and the breathy, earthen tone that relieved my western nostalgia. The sound of his 2010 record, “early in the morning,” got me through just that as i listened to it everyday on my bus ride to school. perhaps the reason that both bon iver and James vincent mcmorrow had the ability to transport me to times of log cabins out-west was the fact that both artists recorded their albums in isolated cottages. The sound produced by this method of recording has a distinct rough yet airy resonance. my lumping of the artists was not the only comparison made between the two. The artists’ beards, falsettos and uncommon recording strategies inspired many a critic to connect the two. w hen i saw that mcmorrow would be releasing a new album this winter i was more than enthusiastic. i yearned for more of that unique crooning that can transfer me to carefree times spent on horses instead of Twitter. mcmorrow’s album, “post Tropical,” did not fail to deliver. he
wrote, produced and performed the entirety (talk about a triple threat). The record, released on January 13, is less folky than his first album. There is a definite r&b component to the songs not present in his previous work. This serves to produce a robust, smoky sensation and when mixed with his falsetto, watch out.
mcmorrow recorded the album in isolation, in the fittingly named “lone star” state. They say everything’s bigger in Texas and it seems as if mcmorrow took this saying to heart during the time he spent recording there. The record is confident and hearty, a contrast to the “early morning” album.
The lavish sound of this album has changed my mind about the relationship between vernon and mcmorrow. w hile i started using mcmorrow’s music as a much needed, similar substitute to Justin vernon’s crackly falsetto, this album’s lavish sound has convinced me that mcmorrow’s sound is more developed and lush than the sometimes cold
sound of bon iver. Therefore, until vernon releases a new album, mcmorrow’s Texascreation has made him the “lone star” in my mind.
“post Tropical” makes for a perfect studying companion. The rhapsody will surround you in (tropical) warmth as you watch the snow fall from your spot in hesburgh. if you enjoy bon iver, be sure to give mcmorrow a listen.
Contact Erin McAuliffe at emcaulif@nd.edu
“Post Tropical”
James Vincent McMorrow
Label: Vagrant
Tracks: “The Lakes,” “Gold”
If you like: Bon Iver
Why I rooted for Alex Rodriguez
That title got you, didn’t it? you thought i was going to make some twisted, convoluted argument as to why a lex rodriguez is not the most vile scumbag to ever grace the sacred ground of a baseball diamond. no, i can assure you that is not the case. as someone who adored a-rod growing up (he played the game with a child-like enthusiasm, we share the same name, he wore my favorite number three while in Texas), no one is more disappointed or let down than i if he never gets another at-bat in the mlb, baseball fans everywhere will be better off. w hat surprises me though is just how many people feel the same way i do. w henever something scandalous like this comes out, there are usually at least some supporters or defenders for the athlete implicated. people cheered barry bonds as he juiced his way to 762 home runs, and people still wear “livestrong” bracelets even after lance a rmstrong admitted to doping his way to seven Tour de France titles. but no one is standing behind rodriguez. Throughout the years, a-rod has lied and cheated his way into having the public more likely to believe a sleazy drug dealer than a three-time league mvp how did his fall from grace reach such epic proportions? how did it get so bad that even his own team doesn’t want him back? well, throughout the years, rodriguez hasn’t exactly shied away from controversy, and most times it is of his own doing. let’s look at just a few of the most notable a-bombs a-rod has dropped.
Contract with texas in 2001, rodriguez signed the biggest contract in the history of professional sports with the 10-year, $252 million deal he received from the Texas rangers. w hile a-rod did win his first mvp award during his Texas days, the team never contended and ultimately traded rodriguez after just three seasons. he would later go on to say the pressure to live up to this contract forced him to use peds. trade to Yankees – and opt out
The rangers dealt rodriguez to the one organization where the term “too burdensome contract” is not in its vocabulary – the new york yankees. a-rod won two more mvp titles in new york but failed to perform in the postseason. a fter another disastrous playoff season in 2007, rodriguez opted out of the most lucrative contract in history, only to re-sign for another 10 years
and $275 million. The enormous financial strain and headaches caused by a-rod and this deal led yankees general manager brian cashman to say the team will no longer give out 10-year deals.
Postseason failures
w hile rodriguez has won three mvp awards, he has not performed in the playoffs. his first season with the yankees he was part of new york’s unprecedented collapse to the boston red sox in the alcs, and has performed poorly in nearly every playoff series since. he has been benched, booed, and moved down in the lineup. on a team that was expected to win championships every season, he has won it all just once.
Madonna in one of the more bizarre stories of a-rod’s career, rodriguez and his wife filed for divorce due to a rumored affair with madonna. rodriguez’s former trainer then went on good morning a merica and claimed madonna had brainwashed him with the teachings of kabbalah. steroid use in 2009, rodriguez was outed as a steroid user in a report by sports illustrated. The report claimed rodriguez tested positive for an anabolic steroid and testosterone in 2003, his first mvp year. a-rod later claimed he only used steroids in Texas and stopped when he came to new york.
Benched in ALCs, flirts with fans during another disastrous postseason, rodriguez was pulled from game 1 of the 2012 alcs and then proceeded to flirt with fans from the dugout during the yankees loss to the Tigers, allegedly giving one fan – an australian bikini model – a baseball with his phone number on it.
Biogenesis in a-rod’s latest scandal, hundreds of text messages and documents link rodriguez and other players to ped distributor a nthony bosch. w hile every other player confessed, a-rod continues to deny any involvement with bosch. in sunday’s 60 minutes, bosch claimed rodriguez’s associates threatened his life and attempted to get him to flee to colombia. so why is a-rod arguably the most hated villain in the history of the game? The answer of course, is staring the tainted slugger right in the mirror – if only he could stop kissing himself in it to see the mess he has caused.
Contact Alex Wilcox at awilcox1@nd.edu
The views expressed in this Sports Authority are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
nCAA BAsEBALL
Using bats for diplomacy
Associated Press
havana — b alls and strikes, not politics, ruled the day wednesday at a baseball diamond in h avana, as last year’s ncaa d ivision ii championship team from the university of Tampa played an exhibition game against a c uban youth squad.
The visitors scraped out a hard-fought 2-1 win, but the encounter was more about bridging the vast gulf between these neighboring nations that disagree on just about everything except their shared love of the game.
“ s ports bring people together,” Tampa s partans head coach Joe urso said. “a nd when you talk about the history of Tampa and the c uban roots that we have in Tampa, to be able to come here and play baseball against them, win or lose isn’t the most important thing.”
i n their weeklong tour, the Floridians are acting as cultural ambassadors, not only in their interactions with the c uban coaches and players they face, but also student groups, artists, children and
others.
o n Tuesday they visited what’s known as h avana’s “hot corner,” after the baseball nickname for third base, a central park where islanders spend all day, every day, arguing passionately about baseball. Two Tampa players and a coach who are bilingual in e nglish and s panish translated.
“ watching them interact and talk about c uban baseball and ask questions about a merican baseball was very impressive,” urso said.
o n a gray, rainy wednesday, the weather held just long enough to get in a full nine innings before a few dozen spectators at s antiago mederos, a peeling-bluepaint stadium in h avana’s s porting c ity complex.
For one day at least, the heated rhetoric that often characterizes the divide between h avana and washington was set aside in favor of an umpire’s strike calls and the crack of the bat.
The trip is also about young men getting to know a country that’s largely off limits to a mericans, for whom tourism to the island is illegal under washington’s 52-year-old economic embargo. p reston p ackrall, a 22-yearold senior and Tampa native who expected to see action as a relief pitcher, called his first experience overseas “eye-opening.”
he said the team’s infielders took notes from the c ubans on footwork and rhythm, while the locals asked the visitors about how they structure practices.
“i think it’s a very important experience,” p ackrall said. “ you learn to appreciate others’ cultures through a common thing. ... They’re human just like we are. They put their pants on one leg at a time just like we do.”
Two more games are scheduled before the Tampa squad is set to return home on s unday.
The c uban team was drawn from a youth academy that feeds the city’s powerhouse i ndustriales club, and the a mericans praised their talent. w hen a c uban shortstop made a great diving grab on a line drive, the entire Tampa bench stood and erupted in applause for their rival’s play.
nCAA MEn’s BAskEtBALL | michigan sTaTe 54, norThwesTern 40
msu continues win streak
Associated Press
evans T on , i ll. — g ary h arris scored 14 points and n o. 4 m ichigan s tate beat n orthwestern 54-40 on wednesday night for its ninth straight win.
The preseason favorite to win the b ig Ten, the s partans (16-1, 5-0 b ig Ten) continue to roll along, although it was hardly an easy night for them. They overcame a sluggish start and pulled away down the stretch even though they struggled in a big way from the outside.
m ichigan s tate was 2 of 16 on 3-pointers with h arris missing all six and k eith a ppling going 0 for 3. h arris did have four steals, and a ppling managed to score 11 points.
b randen d awson, fighting an illness, had 11 rebounds and three blocks, and the
s partans came away with the win even though they were missing one of their top players in a dreian p ayne. The 6-foot-10 forward sat out his second straight game because of a sprained right foot, but m ichigan s tate had enough to get by in this one.
Tre d emps did his best to keep n orthwestern (8-10, 1-4) in the game, scoring 10 of his 12 points in the second half, but leading scorer d rew c rawford never got going. h e managed just six points with d enzel valentine guarding him most of the game, and the w ildcats came up short after beating then- n o. 23 i llinois on s unday night to give new coach c hris c ollins his first b ig Ten victory. They haven’t knocked off a top five team since they took out the fourth-ranked m ichigan s tate on Jan. 27, 1979.
c oming off back-to-back overtime wins against o hio s tate and m innesota, m ichigan s tate probably could have used a breather. The problem was the s partans had trouble sustaining a run.
They looked like they were poised to put this one away after Travis Trice nailed a 3 and m att c ostello scooped in a reverse layup to make it 40-31 with 11:36 remaining. b ut d emps answered with a basket for n orthwestern. it was 44-37 when a lex g auna banked in a shot to start a six-point spurt that gave the s partans a doubledigit lead.
h arris hit two free throws and stripped d emps, leading to two more foul shots for a ppling that made it 50-37 with 4:59 left, and the s partans hung on from there.
Alex Wilcox sports writer
i rish fall at Fenway, down c hargers over break
By JACK HEFFERON sports writer
notre d ame returned this weekend from its winter break, ending a period of over a month where it played just one game, but the team kept plenty busy at the halfway point of its first season in hockey e ast.
The i rish (12-8-1, 3-51) split their series with m assachusetts on d ecember 6th and 7th, then had some time off for finals and c hristmas, which many of the team’s athletes were able to spend with their families.
Two i rish forwards, however, took advantage of the break
to travel to m almo, s weden to represent the united states in the iih F world Junior c hampionships. Freshman v ince h inostroza contributed five points in five games, while sophomore Thomas d i p auli added two points as one of the team’s primary penalty killers in its run to the quarterfinals. h inostroza and d i p auli returned just in time to join their teammates for Frozen Fenway, a Jan. 4 game against no. 6 b oston c ollege at b oston’s Fenway p ark, home of the b oston r ed s ox. o n a bitterly cold s aturday evening following that storm that dropped a foot of snow, well less than the paid attendance
of 30,000-plus were on hand to watch the e agles jump out to an early 2-0 lead. The thenno. 14 i rish bounced back with goals from senior forwards T.J. Tynan and b ryan r ust, but a third period rally from b oston c ollege left notre d ame down 4-3 in the dying seconds of the third period. h inostroza appeared to jam a puck past the e agles goaltender and the goal line as time expired, but a video review revealed that the equalizer came fractions of a second after the final buzzer.
break last season. however, the i rish had no problem at all in dispatching the c hargers, sweeping the series with wins of 7-1 and 5-0.
Jackson credited the team’s strong showing after the break to a change in scheduling from previous years.
weekend, notre d ame will dive back into their challenging hockey e ast schedule when they host no. 11 northeastern.
The schedule will continue to ramp up, but Jackson hopes that these next games can spark even further momentum for his squad.
paid a dverT isemen T paid a dverT isemen T
“[Frozen Fenway] in itself was awesome,” i rish coach Jeff Jackson said. “i think the guys enjoyed it. … There was a good crowd and it was a great game with b oston c ollege. i would have liked a different result. i thought we played well after the first ten minutes for the most part, so it was a good start to the second half for us. i f we’d been able to win the game, it would have helped.”
The i rish built on the momentum gained against b oston c ollege when they returned to s outh b end to face a labama-huntsville the following weekend. c oming back from the winter break has been a problem for the i rish in past years, as the team won just one of their first seven games after the
“ we did try and do things a little bit different over the break this year,” he said. “ we did keep the guys on the ice for a couple days after the um ass series before reading days and then we brought them back a few days earlier. ... i think that the break was good for us in some ways to get guys healthy, and emotionally healthy too, not just physically.”
now, the i rish will look to keep that momentum rolling as they move through the second half of their season. The team’s next opponent will be l ake s uperior s tate, a former ccha foe and Jackson’s former team, which will visit the c ompton Family ice a rena this weekend. The following
“Fortunately, we had these weeks off from hockey e ast scheduling and had the chance to schedule some non-conference games, and l ake s tate is going to be a much better team than we faced in a labama, so we’re going to have our hands full,” Jackson said. “Then we have northeastern, one of the hottest teams in college hockey, who we’ve already played once and found out how tough they are… so were just getting guys reengaged and thinking about getting on some kind of a run here.”
Contact Jack Hefferon at wheffero@nd.edu
YU
Turnovers doom Belles in home loss to Calvin
By ANDREW ROBINSON sports writer
despite a promising comeback run early in the second half, a motivated belles team was unable to match c alvin’s offensive firepower as the k nights pulled away for a 9568 victory wednesday at the a ngela athletic c omplex.
s aint mary’s (4-11, 2-4 miaa) never led but stayed within striking distance to begin the first half, trailing c alvin (95, 4-2) by only one point with 14:39 remaining. s ophomore forward k rista k napke scored several early buckets to keep them in the game, going a perfect 4-4 from the field and snagging 4 rebounds in the first half.
however, k nights’ junior guard k ayla e ngelhard caught fire, making two pivotal threepointers. she would finish the first half with 16 points. w ith 10:01 remaining the belles trailed by seven, but c alvin went on an 11-2 run over the next three minutes to take a 34-18 lead, taking advantage of the belles’ offensive miscues. st. mary’s was unable to stop the fast pace of the k night offense and allowed 19 points off turnovers in the first half while scoring only four off of c alvin’s giveaways, which belle coach Jenn henley thought was one of the biggest problems.
“ we have to play better oneon-one defense and not give up so many points on transition,” henley said, “we need to shut them down on that type of
run.”
e ngelhard and k nights’ junior forward maria dekuiper continued to make shots in the last few minutes of the half and secured a 51-31 c alvin lead heading into halftime.
w hen e ngelhard made a three-pointer to open the second half, it seemed like the game was falling even further out of the belles’ reach, but junior forward a riana paul came right back and scored, put in buckets on the following two possessions as well. a fter an energized paul drew a charge, the belles seemed revitalized and picked up steam on their 14-4 run, trailing by just 9 with 10:09 remaining.
“ we talked a lot [at halftime] about creating second shot opportunities, and we started to do that well,” henley said. however, the k nights quickly fought back and began to pull away after back-to-back threepointers from dekuiper and junior forward breanna verkaik. w ith 7:22 remaining, c alvin had restored its lead to 20.
“ we had good bursts, especially coming right out of the second half,” henley said, “but it’s all about defense...we can’t give up 51 points in the first half and expect to do well.” They continued to struggle defensively as the game wore down, and the matchup ended in a 27-point loss for the belles.
s enior guard shanlynn bias, the team’s leading overall scorer at 13.9 points per game, was a bright spot for s aint mary’s, playing 37 minutes and
Belles sophomore guard Maddie Kohler dribbles
The Belles committed 22 turnovers as they dropped their
finishing with 15 points and a team-high five assists. k napke finished the game with a teamhigh 16 points.
“ w ith a lbion coming here s aturday, we’re going to have
paid a dverT isemen T
our hands full again,” henley said, “at the end of the day we just have to play better one-onone defense.”
s aint mary’s will take on the brits (6-9, 2-4), another
conference opponent, at 3 p.m. s aturday at the a ngela athletic c omplex.
Contact Andrew Robinson at arobins6@nd.edu
CAROLINE GENCO | The Observer
during Saint Mary’s 95-68 loss to Calvin on Wednesday.
third game in a row.
M Basketball
forward austin burgett countered with a 3-pointer of his own on the next trip down the floor, but notre dame would add only two more points the rest of the game.
w hile maryland had a strong second half run to take control of the game, the irish had one of their own in the first half. a fter falling behind 10-4, notre dame used a 22-4 run to take a 26-14 lead with 8:26 remaining in the opening period.
irish junior forward pat connaughton scored 15 points in the first half to pace the notre dame attack. connaughton shot 5-for-7 from the field and 3-for-4 from 3-point range in the first 20 minutes. notre dame as a team was also red-hot in the first half, shooting 58.3 percent. but turnovers — notre dame totaled 17 on the night — prevented the irish from blowing the game
open.
“i love how we played in the first half, but we still had nine turnovers, so that really hurt us,”
brey said.
connaughton added just four points in the second half — all on free throws. irish senior center
paid a dverT isemen T
garrick sherman shot 9-for-12 on the night for 18 points, but contributed zero rebounds in the second half after tallying six
in the opening 20 minutes. irish freshman guard steve vasturia scored just one point in his first career start and brought down four rebounds, while fellow freshman guard demetrius Jackson provided six points to go with three rebounds and three assists. wednesday’s game marked the first time since luke harangody and Tory Jackson started in the 2006-07 campaign that notre dame started two freshmen in the same game.
The irish now return home to purcell pavilion — the site of their only conference win this season — on sunday after three straight road losses for a critical contest against virginia Tech, as notre dame tries to keep pace in the ncaa tournament picture.
“[sunday] becomes a big one for us,” brey said. “you’ve got to get back to 2-3 in the league; you’ve got to remember what it’s like to win a league game. we’ll have a virginia Tech team that comes in that’s very athletic and gets up on the backboard, so keeping them away from second shots [is key] and we’ve got to take better care of the ball. but we’ll be excited to play on sunday. There’s a lot of basketball season left.”
Contact Sam Gans at sgans@nd.edu
ZACH LLORENS | The Observer
Irish senior guard Eric Atkins pushes the ball up the court during Notre Dame’s 80-75 home win over Delaware on Dec. 7. Atkins contributed 11 points and six assists in Notre Dame’s 74-66 road loss to Maryland on Wednesday.
guard Jewell Loyd plays defense during Notre Dame’s 99-50 win over UNC Wilmington on Nov. 9 in the Purcell Pavilion.
Break
dec. 22 with a 106-72 win over central michigan at purcell pavilion. sophomore guard Jewell loyd made 12 of her 15 attempted shots and scored 30 points, a career-high.
“[loyd] played just like she did in practice, and i was very happy to see that because her effort was tremendous and her efficiency was outstanding,” mcgraw said in the post-game press conference. “i thought her shot selection was excellent and [she] took a lot of good shots. w hen you go 12 for 15 you can’t really complain. it was a fabulous display.”
loyd echoed mcgraw’s sentiments and added that she drew confidence from her brother, who was in the stands for the game.
“it definitely helps when you have teammates telling you to shoot and you practice how you play, and i just think the momentum from yesterday’s practice carried over to the game,” loyd said.
The irish ran into their first real challenge of the season at oregon state on dec. 29. although the irish came back to win, 70-58, in front of a crowd of over 4,000 at gill coliseum in corvallis, ore., the beavers took a 33-31 lead into halftime. it was the first time this season that notre dame trailed after 20 minutes.
“we just didn’t shot the ball well; we missed easy shots,” mcgraw said, referring to her team’s 36-percent shooting in the first half. “[The beavers] were playing at home, [and] they had a great crowd. we weren’t as sharp as we usually are.”
The irish scored the last five points of the first half and the first six points in the second period to take the lead, which they held onto for the rest of the game. senior guard kayla mcbride led notre dame with 20 points.
“i think kayla had a huge break,” mcgraw said. “she’s been our most consistent scorer since christmas.”
mcbride shone again in notre dame’s next contest, shooting 8-for-8 and scoring 18 points in a resounding 94-51 win over south dakota state at purcell pavilion on Jan. 2.
“it was just the flow of the game. my teammates were finding me in open areas and i was just hitting shots,” mcbride said after the game. “it felt good as a shooter to
Pittsburgh
con T inued F rom page 16
earned recognition from the united states basketball writers a ssociation as the a nn meyers d rysdale women’s national player of the week earlier this month by averaging 23 points and seven assists against acc opponents no. 17 Florida state and v irginia.
This season, k iesel leads the panthers with 18.1 points per game, while she also averages 5.6 rebounds per game and 4.4 assists per game.
just go out there and hit shots that i hadn’t been making recently.”
Three days later, clemson proved a bit more troublesome.
The Tigers held notre dame to 28 percent shooting in the first half, and the irish led by just four points at halftime. but Jewell loyd came alive in the second half, when she scored 12 of her 16 points, and the rest of the team followed suit, shooting 63 percent as a team.
senior forward natalie achonwa and mcbride added 15 and 16 points, respectively, and the irish stretched the lead to 20 points.
“They were good defensively, [and] we struggled from the threepoint line,” mcgraw said. “we didn’t score as much as we usually do, but we kept them at 50 points, which was our goal.”
The irish wrapped up the home stand with a 95-53 win over boston college on Thursday. mcbride scored 20 points and added eight rebounds, and sophomore guard michaela mabrey hit six of her nine shots, scoring 18 points after going 0-for-12 in the previous two games. Freshman forward Taya reimer added 15 points while loyd scored another 14.
“i thought Taya [reimer] had an outstanding game and was really aggressive, something she has been working towards,” mcgraw said after the game. “This was a great game for her and the beginning of some great games coming up down the road.”
mcgraw said she is pleased with the progress of the freshman class as a whole.
“i think the freshman are coming along really well. They’re doing so many good things for us,” mcgraw said. “[Freshman guard lindsay] allen is so steady. we think reimer is the best big man in basketball.”
mcgraw added that the two other freshmen, forward kristina nelson and center diamond Thompson, are also improving despite relatively little playing time.
The irish finished winter break Jan. 12 with a 79-72 win over virginia in charlottesville, their first single-digit victory of the season.
The irish return to acc play against an old big east foe on Thursday, when they travel to pittsburgh to take on the panthers at the petersen events center at 7 p.m.
Contact Vicky Jacobsen at vjacobse@nd.edu
additionally, p ittsburgh senior forward/guard a sia l ogan is averaging 12 points per game and leads the team with 6.9 rebounds per game.
The i rish boast a talented roster as well, with three players averaging over 13 points per game. building upon an impressive freshman campaign, in which she was named the usbwa national Freshman of the year, sophomore guard Jewell l oyd leads the team with 17.1 points per game. l oyd also averages 6.5 rebounds per game.
s enior guard k ayla mcbride is next in scoring for the i rish, averaging 16.1 points per game and 5.6 rebounds. strong on the glass, senior forward natalie achonwa is averaging 13.4 points per game and 8.8 rebounds.
against pittsburgh, it may be on the glass that the irish possess their greatest advantage. notre dame’s average rebound margin of 13.5 rebound far outpaces pittsburgh’s average rebound margin of -3.1, as the panthers give up 41.9 rebounds per game. The irish pull down 44.9 rebounds per outing and allow only 31.4 to their opponents. if the irish win tonight, the team will take sole ownership of the second-best start in school history. currently, this season is tied with the 2009-10 season, when the irish won the first 15 games of the season. in 200001, notre dame won its first 23 games of the season on its run to the program’s first national championship.
Tonight, at 7 p.m. in the peterson events center in pittsburgh, notre dame will look to continue its perfect start against pittsburgh.
Contact Aaron Sant-Miller at asantmil@nd.edu
EMMET FARNAN | The Observer
Irish sophomore
CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: dave grohl, 45; Jason bateman, 45; ll cool J, 46; holland Taylor, 71.
Happy Birthday: make an effort to reach your highest potential and you will make a difference and leave an impression this year. The key is knowing what you are worth and not selling yourself short. That, along with offering suggestions, kind gestures and love to those you encounter, will make a huge difference to your life and your future. your numbers are 6, 11, 24, 29, 35, 37, 44.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): prepare for the unexpected. don’t make impulsive moves when thought and planning are required. size up your situation, look at your opponent or dilemma, and make simple moderate alterations to counter any diversion. set a standard and stick to it.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): a community event will bring you closer to someone you share the same interests with. you will learn a great deal from someone with experience and clout. a partnership will develop with someone responsible. stick to the truth.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): say what’s on your mind. you may face opposition, but at least you will know where you stand and who your allies are. once you establish your position, it will be easier for you to follow through with your plans.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): emotional issues will mount, making it important to reveal your feelings and clear the air before situations get blown out of proportion. re-evaluate your position and make the changes that will help you move forward. leave the past alone.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): don’t fear changing your mind if you are offered an opportunity. Talks will lead to change, and change will help you finish what’s holding you back. altering your surroundings will do you good and help you establish your direction.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Take a break; a little pampering and self-indulgence will do you good. self-improvements and socializing with your favorite person will make this a day to remember. keep things simple and enjoy life’s little pleasures. reflect and move forward.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Finish what you start or take a pass. avoid meddling and confrontations. stick to your priorities, not what someone else wants you to do. use your quick wit and intelligence to make improvements and help you build stronger ties.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): you’ll learn a lot if you establish your position within your community. participating in events that involve your friends, family or cultural background will open doors of communication that will help you make decisions that can improve your life.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Face emotional issues and deal with matters that have been holding you back or keeping you from doing what you know in your heart is the best thing for you. clear up the past and make a point to secure what you want.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Frustration and anger will lead to setbacks. Think your strategy through and make your decision based on what you know is true and how you want to handle any consequences or turmoil that arise. staying calm and being understanding will help.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): voice your thoughts. you may face some negativity, but that will help you fine-tune what you want to do. put your heart into a personal project that can help benefit you or someone you love. Taking action will make a statement.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): what you offer others will help you out in business and financial concerns, but don’t expect loved ones or someone who counts on you personally to understand your strategy. keep the peace at home but don’t miss out on a good deal.
Birthday Baby: you are imaginative, prolific and eager to advance. you are strong, dynamic, and beautiful.
MEn’s BAskEtBALL | maryland 74, nd 66
Trouble continues with Terrapins
Notre Dame comes up short in 74-66 loss to Maryland, falls to 1-3 in ACC action
By SAM GANS sports writer
notre dame dropped its third straight game for the first time since the 2009-10 season on wednesday night as the irish fell 74-66 at maryland.
The Terrapins (11-7, 3-2 acc) rallied from a 34-25 halftime deficit to surge past the irish (10-7, 1-3) in the second half. maryland utilized a 16-2 run at the start of the half to take a 41-36 advantage and never relinquished the lead.
notre dame did not score after halftime until 13:19 remained in regulation as the Terrapins controlled possession due to irish turnovers and strong rebounding. maryland outrebounded the irish 40-31 on the evening.
“They have 20 offensive rebounds; i think it was really hard for us to absorb that,” irish coach mike brey told und.com after the game. “we were in position,
nD WoMEns BAskEtBALL
but i thought second shots in their second-half run really hurt us.”
brey earned a technical foul in the middle of the run – when the irish were up 36-35 – after irish sophomore forward Zach auguste elicited an offensive foul call. unlike last season’s 5142 win at pittsburgh, in which the irish used a brey technical to spark a turnaround after a lethargic start, momentum did not shift back to notre dame’s favor.
maryland junior guard/forward dez wells scored 17 points – all in the second half – including two free throws with 2:21 left to give the Terrapins a 66-55 lead. The irish made a late comeback effort to cut the deficit to 66-61 before maryland junior guard nick Faust buried a 3-pointer to push the margin to 69-61 with 1:16 left. irish sophomore
i rish travel to face p itt break brings six wins
By AARON SANT-MILLER sports writer
Tonight the no. 2 i rish take to the road to continue their quest for perfection, as notre dame takes on p ittsburgh in its fourth acc game of the season. a longside no 1. connecticut, notre dame is one of only two teams in the nation still undefeated.
Though both teams are in their inaugural season in the acc , p ittsburgh (9-8, 1-2 acc ) and notre dame (15-0, 3-0 acc ) had competed in the big e ast together since the 1995-96 season. currently, the i rish sit atop the acc while the panthers are 12th out of the 15 member teams.
shooting 51.1 percent from the field and averaging 22.2 assists per game, the i rish enter the game leading the nation in both categories. The i rish also rank sixth in scoring, fourth in scoring margin, third in threepoint percentage and sixth in rebound margin. on the other side of the court, junior guard brianna k iesel leads the panthers. k iesel
By VICKY JACOBSEN sports writer
The no. 2 irish won all six of their games during winter break, but they had to contend with one of their most challenging opponents outside the gym.
The “polar vortex” and accompanying snowstorm that battered south bend kept the team confined to their hotel in south bend for nearly two days after beating clemson, 71-51, in their first ever acc matchup on Jan. 5.
irish coach muffet mcgraw said her team watched plenty of movies to stave off boredom while local roads were essentially shut down, but finding food became problematic.
“it was really challenging. it was not a hotel that had a restaurant, so we had to go to the supermarket and get food and bring it back,” irish coach muffet mcgraw said. “They were cooped up in the hotel for a few days. They made the best of it.”
but notre dame survived the long winter break with its no. 2-ranking and perfect record intact. The irish returned from a weeklong break for final exams
ZACH LLORENS | The Observer
Irish freshman guard Demetrius Jackson dribbles the ball during Notre Dame’s 80-75 victory over Delaware in the Purcell Pavilion on Dec. 7. Jackson had six points and three assists during Wednesday’s loss to Maryland.
EMMET FARNAN | The Observer
Irish freshman forward Kristina Nelson plays defense during Notre Dame’s 99-50 victory over UNC Wilmington on Nov. 9 in the Purcell Pavilion.