Print Edition of The Observer for Wednesday, November 9, 2016

election night captivates student attention

Students across campus keep vigilant watch as Trump defeats Clinton in presidential election

A

SMC president plants Trinity Tree

By MARTHA REILLY

ssociate

p receding her inauguration this s aturday, c ollege p resident Jan c ervelli went out on a limb and planted a tree outside s pes u nica h all on Tuesday, reminding students to remember their roots at the c ollege while also engaging with the tricampus community.

s aint m ary’s deemed this river birch tree the Trinity Tree because it grows with three connected trunks, symbolizing the h oly c ross congregation’s vision for unity among s aint m ary’s, n otre d ame and h oly c ross c ollege, according to a press release.

The Trinity Tree will

By KATIE GALIOTO

next semester, north dining hall will undergo some big changes. There will be fewer seats, more hours and — eventually — a completely new setup. a nd for the dining hall’s 139 staff members, it may mean a change of pace. i n addition to its fivephase renovation plan for the

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Policies

Alex D’Alesio freshman breen-Phillips hall “The office.”

Ankur Kumar sophomore Zahm house “spongebob.”

Laurel Schreier freshman breen-Phillips hall “scooby doo.”

Andrew Lessard sophomore Zahm house

“spongebob should be the only response.”

Katie Lucke junior ryan hall “Lizzy mcGuire.”

Michael Krebs junior duncan hall “Arthur.”

Moira Griffith, a sophomore from Ryan Hall, proudly shows off the fact she voted by holding up an “I Voted” sticker. For most undergraduate students, Tuesday marked the first opportunity to vote in a presidential election. Corrections

Lecture: Can We Eat

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Theater Performance: “Frankenstein” DeBartolo Performing

Lecture: “The Rise of Transnational Insurgent Citizenship in African Diaspora” Hesburgh Center 12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.

Lecture: “The

Conference to explore beauty, Catholicism

By CIARA HOPKINSON news Writer

n

otre d ame’s c enter for e thics and c ulture will host its annual fall conference, an interdisciplinary exploration of a specific aspect of c atholic tradition, this Thursday through s unday. This year’s conference, “You a re b eauty,” will address the relationship between imagination, beauty and the c atholic faith.

Ken h allenius, the c enter’s communications specialist, explained the thought process behind choosing this year’s theme.

“This year, knowing that the conference was coming immediately on the heels of the presidential election cycle, we wanted to provide an opportunity for people to

focus on beauty and imagination as a counterpoint to the pervasive angry rhetoric and political infighting,” he said in an email.

h allenius said the fall conference is notre d ame’s largest academic conference each year — and “You a re b eauty” is expected to the best-attended conference in its 17year history.

“We expect more than 750 attendees to take part, and we will have 90 presentations during the weekend,” he said.

The fall conference’s speakers consider the topic from a wide variety of approaches, presenting on beauty as expressed through mediums such as music, the human body, food, the planet, architecture, literature and a number of others as well. The

job. a nd you’re going to be able to keep working through this whole project,” he said.

building, c ampus d ining introduced a three-phase staffing plan to redeploy workers during the construction period.

n one of the n orth d ining h all ( ndh ) employees will be laid off, director of student dining s cott Kachmarik said.

“We’ve guaranteed all the staff here in n orth d ining h all, ‘You’re going to have a

i nstead, Kachmarik said, workers will be reassigned to temporary positions in s outh d ining h all ( sdh ), at the c enter for c ulinary e xcellence ( cce ) and in other departments around campus. The c ampus d ining leadership team will conduct one-on-one assessments with each employee to determine a good fit for each person.

“ i f folks say, ‘ i want to go

Paid a dverT isemen T

speakers will examine beauty not as simply a physical quality, but a spiritual, intellectual and social one.

“ it is amazing to hear, in one place, talks on d ante, biology, sacred music, cooking, architecture, the vatican museum, poetry, filmmaking and Tolkien,” h allenius said.

The c enter for e thics and c ulture sent out a call for papers to over 3,500 academics and received over 150 paper proposals; of those, 70 were chosen to be presented, h allenius said. The conference is broken up into in colloquiums, during which two or three scholars present their papers, and in larger talks followed by questionand-answer sessions.

“We are blessed to have a great representation from

work in b uilding s ervices,’ or ‘ i want to go work in a thletics,’ this is a time where we can make that happen,” Kachmarik said.

The process is similar to the one used for the m orris i nn renovations back in 2013, he added. When the hotel was closed for eight months, employees filled in at other jobs on campus.

What n otre d ame does is almost unheard of, Kachmarik said.

“ i f you were to go to n ew

the student population each year,” he said. “ … a ll of the speaker sessions are open to the entire n otre d ame community, even for those who didn’t pre-register, so we encourage students to come to the talks that interest them.”

Peter c asarella, associate professor of theology, will be speaking on his essay, “The Poetics of s pace: The s ocioe cological h orizon of the Lived e xperience of b eauty.”

The essay focuses on two primary topics: Latinos in the c atholic faith and the principles outlined in Pope b enedict X vi ’s encyclical, “ v ia Pulchritudinis.”

“The talk will be about the relationship between the concepts of space and place in beauty,” he said. c asarella said his talk will

York c ity and there was a hotel — or if you were to go to some restaurant here in town — and they were doing a renovation like we’re doing, they would just shut the place down, stop serving and lay everybody off,” he said.

a t points when the building is completely closed — such as winter break — Kachmarik said the ndh staff would be encouraged to use their vacation days. o thers will likely work on some deep cleaning projects for c ampus d ining.

While most of the workers will likely return to ndh after it reopens for the fall semester in 2017, some may find they prefer their new worksites, Kachmarik said.

“ it happened at the m orris i nn,” he said. “There were three or four people who got into their positions and just thought it suited them better.”

s tarting in January,

discuss priests in b uenos a ires who often venture into the depressed shantytowns at the edges of the city. he said the priests wrote to members of the city government, asking them to focus on the poor and downtrodden as they worked on improving the city. For these priests, beauty is found in “the ecology of daily life.”

it is the idea of taking those on the periphery of society into account that is beautiful, he added.

“ i t isn’t physical beauty at all — there’s nothing beautiful in being poor,” c asarella said. “ b ut wouldn’t there be more beauty in the world if there were more unity?”

Contact Ciara Hopkinson at ckopkin1@nd.edu

Kachmarik estimates that 15 to 20 ndh staff members will be sent to work at s outh.

“We know there are going to be more people at s outh,” he said. “a lot of people, if they aren’t feeling lazy, are going to walk to s outh.”

Though ndh will be able to seat less people, the kitchen area where 90 percent of food is prepared will remain pretty much intact over the course of the renovation, Kachmarik said.

“o ur staff is going to be very thoughtful in helping design menus to speed the traffic through during this time period,” he said it’ll be a big change, when everything’s finished. b ut Kachmarik said he thinks that’s the exciting part.

“The end result is really something,” he said.

Contact Katie Galioto at kgalioto@nd.edu

Trinity Tree

remind people to reflect on the shared values and interests of the three institutions, c ervelli said.

“o ur collection of three campuses is special,” she said. “They’re all beautiful, and they all have the most exciting and engaged intellectual activities on them.”

c ervelli said the Trinity Tree will foster unity while helping s aint m ary’s honor its holy c ross tradition.

“ b lessed b asil moreau, the founder of the h oly c ross congregation and a guiding light for us today, foresaw that ‘ holy c ross will grow like a mighty tree,’” c ervelli said. “The Trinity Tree symbolizes the partnership between the tri-campus schools and our commitment to higher education in the c atholic tradition.”

University President Fr. John Jenkins said the Trinity Tree will help preserve the interconnectedness of the three schools.

“The image of a tree is a sign of the relationships between s aint mary’s, holy c ross and notre dame, which really does go back to the founders of these institutions,” Jenkins said. “a dear friendship, a close friendship, has bonded these institutions for many, many years and will continue to do so.”

c ommunity members thrive when all three campuses support one another, as evidenced by the consistently high work ethic of s aint mary’s, notre dame and holy c ross students, Jenkins said.

“You can’t force [young people] to be anything, but you try to give them the environment that will allow them to grow and flourish,” Jenkins said.

“We look forward to continuing the work of education that has gone on in this place for almost 175 years, and we look forward to a wonderful future.”

according to Jenkins, the c olleges and University must tend to the needs of their community members just as planters protect and nurture their trees.

“o f itself, kind of mysteriously, [a tree] grows, and that’s true of education,” Jenkins said. “[ moreau] said ‘e ducation is the art of bringing a young person to completeness.’”

br. Jesus a lonso, vice president for strategic initiatives at holy c ross c ollege, said all the branches of moreau’s religious vision must collaborate for the tri-campus community to reach its full potential.

“When we talk about the holy c ross tradition, we’re all stronger when we have the sisters, the priests and the brothers working together,” a lonso said. “blessed b asil moreau ... saw his religious family as a tree that constantly shoots forth new limbs and branches and is nourished by the same life-giving sap.”

a ccording to a lonso, the Trinity Tree will help students grow in understanding of the rich history of their schools.

“[ moreau] dedicated the priests to the sacred heart of Jesus, the sisters to the heart of mary, the brothers to s aint Joseph and the entire congregation to mary under the title of o ur Lady of s orrows,” a lonso said. “The threefold relation of father, son and spirit has found true expression in the relation of s aint mary’s c ollege, holy c ross c ollege and the University of notre dame.”

Contact Martha Reilly at mreilly01@saintmarys.edu

By ERIN McAULIFFE scene e ditor

“easy” is easy to watch. The netflix series’ short, episodic format and realistic, if “yuppie,” content channel half-hour Instagram stories: aesthetically-curated in a “real-life,” personal way. shots of The bean, lattes and brunch flood the series, each episode opens with colorful title art designed by a different artist and episode five even features a selfie artist.

one season of eight half-hour installments, you can watch “easy” episodes as stand-alone relationship studies and in any order (however, you do need to watch episode three before episode eight — an odd hiccup in the series’ structure).

As someone who didn’t hop on the “mad men” bandwagon until after the finale (I know, I know), I’ve been wading through the show’s six seasons of hour-long episodes for years. “easy,” a netflix original, is wrapped into a neat one-season package that will requires approximately the same viewing period as a sad! notre dame football game. This is the second netflix original series to take an episodic approach on a usually binge-reliant platform: “The characters” gave six comedians free reign over half-hour slots, creating a variety of skit comedy held together only by a similar title sequence.

Although”easy” has a similar format to “The characters,” every episode was written and directed by Joe swanberg in his hometown, chicago. The show’s

sense of rooted place shines and intrigues, especially as many notre dame seniors consider living in the city after school. The episodes shout out dark matter coffee, half Acre brewery and don’t Fret art, supplying viewers with just enough material to satisfy the “insufferable yuppie” title that The r inger gave the series based on the “sure sign we’re in the presence of yuppies: orlando bloom as a hot dad.”

speaking of bloom, the show’s casting is impressive. swanberg employed big names for half-hour showings and manages to avoid residual typecasting effects with ease: Aya cash (a fumbling adult-in-the-making in FX series “You’re The Worst”) acts as a surprisingly “normie,” pregnant character in episodes three and eight. marc maron (host of “WTF Podcast”) gets it on with emily ratajkowski (model in the “blurred Lines” video) in episode five.

The series’ character structure resembles “high maintenance,” a web series turned hbo show — there are some intertwined story lines but as much by the chance of “small world” mentality. essentially, swanberg’s direction and development of place function as much to unite episodes as The Guy, “high maintenance” creator ben sinclair’s friendly marijuana deliveryman character.

swanberg has experience in content that is easy to watch, his film “Kissing on the mouth” sparked the beginnings of mumblecore, a film genre focused on naturalism that encourages improv amongst conversational “likes” and “umms.” swanberg has two mumblecore films

currently on netflix, “happy christmas” and “drinking buddies.” Although “easy” is his first foray into television, he called on some actors he’s cast in his films: orlando bloom (“digging for Fire”) and Jake Johnson (“digging for Fire,” “drinking buddies”).

mumblecore films essentially leave you questioning the outcome and effect of what you just spent an hour and a half watching — and “easy” does the same. episodes end with a character chopping vegetables or skittles pieces spinning into oblivion.

The realistic aspect of mumblecore is striking at points, especially since I fall into the “chicago-looking senior” category mentioned earlier. The poignant work-life balance struggles in a city where many of us will soon be working and living is illustrated throughout the series. In the first episode, a husband and wife struggle to make time for each other between phone calls regarding jobs and kids. In the seventh episode a female actress breaks up with her longtime boyfriend — whom we impressively feel for although we only see him (Jake Johnson) on skype calls — to pursue new developments in her career.

The relationships examined in “easy” span relationships, family and friendships, and the proximity of place makes their careful understanding even more poignant. Take the time to watch this series and jot down notes for how to pursue your own swanberg-approved “insufferable yuppie,” Instagram story-worthy trip to chicago.

Contact Erin McAuliffe at emcaulif@nd.edu

By CHRISTIAN BUNKER scene Writer

It’s been four years since American pop duo The chainsmokers formed, and they are still yet to release an album. This kind of wait is by no means unprecedented — 16 years separated the Avalanches’ first and second album — nor would it be unforgivable if their work up to this point showed any promise. At this point, however, it doesn’t seem like the group plans to ever come out with an album. Instead, they will continue to churn out hit singles until they retire and an equally vapid act rises to prominence. Although the duo’s latest release is technically an eP, each of its five tracks were also released as singles. It seems ridiculous to call it anything else, so a collection of singles is what I will evaluate it as. The collection opens with “setting Fires,” the newest release and by far the least well known of these five. The song’s uptempo chorus, dance grooves and house music-inspired outro meet all requirements for a typical chainsmokers hit, and the first placement of this track seems designed to turn “setting Fires” into their next big song. however, with a fan base raised on the skip button, I’m skeptical about this strategy, especially since the back end of the eP contains the band’s biggest hits. Whether it catches on or not, however, rest assured that this song easily satisfies the two golden rules of pop music, being both incredibly derivative and endlessly repetitive.

moving on to “All We Know,” I was disappointed but not surprised to find a simple riff opening the song, as if “starving,” “Love Yourself” and “Treat You better” had not yet provided recent pop with enough amateur guitar playing. Further in, lyrics like “We’re falling apart, still we hold together” sound a little inauthentic from two guys who make donald Trump’s life look like one of hardship (they make Trump look humble, too — check out their interviews). musically, the build-up/drop near the 1:15 and 2:40 marks are edm 101 and lie firmly within the capabilities of any high schooler with Garageband.

“closer” opens with a great example of classical conditioning. Whenever I hear those first piano notes at work, my body instantly knows that the next four minutes are going to be excruciating. before this song became big, I firmly believed that sappy songs about the transience of life were the absolute worst mainstream music had to offer. This remains a compelling thesis — the likes of Trace Adkin’s “You’re Gonna miss This,” Five for Fighting’s “100 Years” and Kenny chesney’s “don’t blink” are good evidence of that — but “closer” made me realize that songs that flatly deny the transience of life are even worse. “We ain’t ever getting older,” the song ridiculously declares. I don’t know about that, but the chainsmokers’ music certainly isn’t maturing. by the time “Inside out” arrives, we’re on our fourth song and fourth feature. The purpose of features is to diversify the music by bringing in another artist to add

a different dimension to the song. When all five songs feature a very similar sounding female vocalist, it kind of defeats the point. This reflects the main problem with “Inside out,” which is that it sounds like every other chainsmokers song.

I will admit that “don’t Let me down” is the one decent song of these five. The intro is strong and the tune is catchy, but the fact that the song’s title is repeated no less than 35 times reveals that this song is nothing more than catchy. As the track concludes, I’m tempted to complain that all these guys could muster for what is only their second eP is eighteen minutes of already-released music. however, the alternative to this is for there to be more chainsmokers music, which would be far worse.

Contact Christian Bunker at cbunker@nd.edu

“Collage”

The Chainsmokers

Label: Columbia

Tracks: “Closer,” “Don’t Let Me Down”

If you like: Major Lazer, Avicii, DJ Snake

e lection season

It’s over.

After a year and a half of scandals, lies and cringe-worthy soundbites from both candidates, the presidential election is finally over.

Let’s be honest, this year’s race wasn’t met with very many positive or inspiring moments pointing to a promising future in U. s politics, and many are rightfully concerned about how this election will change the landscape of politics down to the local level. n ow that it’s all said and done, it would probably be best that we avoid another hectic election between two very polarizing candidates.

d espite it all, there are indeed positives to take away from what we have witnessed in the past year or so. There’s a wide range of answers that a person can give when asked what the positives of the election were, but objectively speaking, there’s one positive that many have continued to take for granted: For yet another election, every single person in this country had a say in who should be the leader of this country.

It’s seems simple and insignificant at first, but the simple fact that we can vote for our leaders is something that we should continually appreciate and recognize regardless of how terrible the candidates are. Unlike several countries around the world, we can have open debates on the news, on social media, on university campuses and at home about politics and who we think is most fit to sit in the White h ouse. Unfortunately for people who live in countries like n orth Korea, s omalia, Libya, and s udan, among others, they don’t have the option to sit and debate about who should lead their country because they don’t have the option to pick. m any of these countries are either outright dictatorships or are in such political turmoil that elite, powerful families step in to take advantage of a state of political corruption. In Latin America, there are several countries who are continually dominated by the same few families that have been in power for decades, and while elections are open to the public, the candidates to choose from have already been decided by the corrupt parties that run the government.

Just recently in n icaragua, d aniel o rtega won his fourth term in office in an election that U. s s tate d epartment officials have said was concerning. o rtega reportedly won the election with 72 percent of the votes, but officials have said that o rtega, who changed the constitution to allow for a president to run for more than two terms in 2014, has made the elections difficult for the opposition to compete. Keep in mind that his wife also won the vice presidency. In h onduras, Juan o rlando h ernandez has done the same in extending the number of terms a president can hold and is looking to win a third term in office next year. d espite the corruption, nothing is done about it and life goes on in these countries.

s o while many of us struggled to get through this election season, let’s remember how lucky we are to even have the choice to decide who we want to lead our country.

Contact Manny De Jesus at mdejesus@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

What has silence cost you?

This election year has proved particularly polarizing on salient issues of difference; civility and discourse around challenging topics no longer seems to be a priority. o ften we are left wondering, can we still talk? o r is it better to remain silent?

While it might be more comfortable to not talk about issues of diversity and inclusion, it hurts all of us.

The harm done by silence can be more than interpersonal — it can make an entire campus indifferent. Whether the silence has been driven by stigma or a fear of shame, it is more important than ever to confront it. r ace, gender, class, religious identities, sexual assault, mental health, socioeconomic status, disability: these easily become absorbed by negative fields of silence. We should strive to cultivate a culture that opens up spaces for vulnerability and difficult, albeit oh so necessary, conversations.

That is why this year, s how s ome s kin, a student-run production that combines the arts of personal storytelling and performance to give voice to unspoken stories, asks: what has silence cost you?

s how s ome s kin’s story collecting process centers around encouraging members of the n otre d ame community to step out of the safe zones, to encourage and nurture people being okay with uncomfortable conversations. The show encourages us to proudly step into the spotlight as the most honest versions of ourselves. To stand in that spotlight, and celebrate something we are so quick to shy away from: vulnerability. The stories that are told through s how s ome s kin are without barriers, and the name of the show itself instructs us to lay bare the thing we are most afraid to share.

e veryone has a story, yet so many go untold. Why? Perhaps it’s because you are trained to convince yourself that there’s always someone who has it worse than you. o r maybe you feel ashamed of the story you have to tell. o r maybe

you don’t think anyone will care enough to listen. m aybe you think you aren’t justifed in feeling what you feel. b ut your story is valuable, and don’t do yourself a disservice by thinking otherwise. o ur emotions embody judgments about the world; the significance in the role they play in each of our lives should not be neglected.

The stories you have trusted us with, n otre d ame community, have been hilarious, alarming, poetic, full of pain, full of hope, and above all, honest. They are filled with fighting words. When we read your monologues, above all, we are honored you trusted us and our show with them. We can only hope to do them justice. Without your stories, there is no show.

e ven now, six years after the show’s creation, we are continually in awe of the impact s how s ome s kin has had in our community and how much room we still have for growth. We hope to continue to support and expand the mission is to be a catalyst for the campus community’s discovery and appreciation of n otre d ame’s true diversity. d iscovery and appreciation are words that describe the process by which we absorb the world around us, and grow into it ourselves. A world full of people and perspectives entirely different from ourselves. s o when we fail to talk and listen, we are building a wall around ourselves.

We challenge you to break the silence. To engage in conversation. To find the balance between listening and sharing. The goal of a conversation is not to bicker, not to prove, nor to win. It is with this in mind that we ask you, members of the n otre d ame community, to start by sharing your story.

Let’s build conversations, not walls.

Leah Jacob and Natasha Reifenberg show some skin e xecutive co-producers nov. 7

It doesn’t matter who wins

election is not who wins, but how he or she responds to the polarization their campaigns have both shown and sown.

It doesn’t matter who wins this presidential election.

I’ll be following the results from Ireland, where polls won’t close until 11 p.m. at the earliest, so I have to submit this column before I know who wins anyway. b ut it really doesn’t matter.

In most election cycles, politicians and pundits frame the race for the White h ouse as a duel between two competing visions for the country’s future. As you probably know by now, though, this isn’t most election cycles.

I’ve seen so many people post and heard so many others say that they will be so happy, so relieved when the election is over. There’s a sense that when the polls close and a winner is declared, all the chaos, hate and anger that have come to define the campaign will end. I don’t think it will.

This campaign officially began 595 days ago when Texas s en. Ted c ruz became the first of 17 r epublicans and 23 major party candidates. And in these nearly 20 months of campaigning, we as a country have seen less of a dignified competition between ideas for the future and more of an ugly brawl between self-inflated egos. It’s naive to think that such a prolonged, nasty fight will end calmly and quietly, and equally starry-eyed to think that the problems the campaign has revealed to us will be solved with the election of a new president. s o no, it doesn’t really matter who wins.

o kay, it matters a little. Perhaps I’ve been influenced by such a hyperbolic campaign. h illary c linton and d onald Trump represent two drastically different visions not only of our country’s future, but also of its current state. r egardless of who we elect, though, the biggest story of this

The final national nbc /Wall s treet Journal poll taken before the election found that 64 percent of Americans feel the election has made the country more divided. o nly 23 percent said it has made us more united. And 62 percent said the election makes them less proud of the country, compared to 12 percent who said the same before the 2008 election.

c ount me among those six in 10 Americans who feel less proud and more divided following the campaign. o ver the last year and a half, we have seen politics at its worst. We have seen people vying for the nation’s highest office demonize entire groups of people based on race and religion. We have seen them distort the truth and spout blatant lies over and over again. And somewhere along the way, the media became the scapegoat for the nation’s problems and attacks on “political correctness” became appallingly acceptable ways to abandon civility and kindness toward one another.

The next president will have largely contributed to these problems, but the country will turn to him or her to solve them. At the same time, it also appears likely that the next president will win the election without a mandate, and thus face intense opposition from a huge portion of the country. s o, when it comes to easing the polarization this election season has put front and center, it doesn’t really matter who wins.

s o, it may seem that 2016 has made a cynic out of this generally optimistic millennial. Well, not quite. The campaign has shown me, and my generation, that we need to start now and never stop working to bring our country together. This is a herculean task, but a vital one.

s o how do we do it?

In a recent video produced by the c ollege of

Arts and Letters, political science department chair professor d avid c ampbell gives us the foundation of an answer when he briefly explains the link between civic engagement and polarization.

“As people pulled back out of civic life, out of community involvement, it has led to the rise of a form of political or ideological extremism dominating our political system,” c ampbell says in the video.

I’ve heard this message before. I took my political science senior seminar with c ampbell last year. We spent the semester studying U. s . presidential elections and how candidates, parties and voters interact to elect a new leader. At the end of the semester, though, c ampbell left us with a haunting message. h e told our class of 19 that polarization is the single biggest challenge facing our democracy today.

“This is not a problem for other people,” he told us. And he was right. It is up to us — as n otre d ame students, young people, citizens — to seek common ground and build upon it, refusing to let polarization define us. It’s up to us to turn outward and involve ourselves in civic life — through our churches, schools and governments, as c ampbell suggests — in the pursuit of a more unified country.

s o, it doesn’t really matter who’s elected. The next president will not solve this country’s polarization problem. o nly we can do that. It’s not a problem for other people. It’s a problem for We the People.

Jack Rooney is a 2016 Notre Dame graduate, and The Observer’s former managing editor. He is currently spending a year living and working for the University in Ireland, and writes these columns to keep him busy and satisfy his need for journalism. Follow Jack on Twitter @ RooneyReports and/or email him at jrooney1@nd.edu

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

Immigration: a consequential topic

Imagine you’re young again. You’re a 13-year-old girl and you’ve got your innocence, you’re curious and your whole life is ahead of you. Imagine now that you live in a majority- m uslim country. Imagine your father sells you into marriage with a 35-year-old man. Imagine your mother is almost beaten to death because she tries to stop your father, and she flees to another country. You won’t talk to her for eight years. Imagine now that your new husband brings you to nightclubs, forcing you into prostitution for his own profit. Imagine your escape efforts — sometimes even to other countries, only to be caught and beaten. Imagine this goes on for over seven years until you are finally able to escape. You escape to another country and track down your mother who is now a U. s . citizen. s he books you a flight, and you enter the United s tates as a visitor.

You have finally made it to the U. s ., where your mother is a citizen by virtue of her bona fide marriage to a citizen. Your visitor status expires in just a few months — at which point you become an overstay, or “out of status.” s ome might call you an “illegal immigrant.” You have no high school or college education, because your youth was robbed from you.

Imagine there is no form of immigration relief available to you. You aren’t an “immediate relative” of a U. s . citizen because you are over the age of 21. You aren’t eligible for asylum because you don’t fall into the overly restrictive categories of recognized victim groups. You aren’t a

“victim of human trafficking” according to the d epartment of h omeland s ecurity, because you didn’t arrive in the U. s . as a direct result of human trafficking. Your options: go “home,” stay. If you go home, your father likely finds you because you have no friends, family, money, education, skills and nowhere to go. If you stay, you may not work. If you are ever caught, you might go to jail — or be at risk of deportation. It does not matter that your mom is a U. s . citizen.

Imagine this isn’t a hypothetical. Imagine that girl — still waiting out of status, hoping that one of the applications she sent in to h omeland s ecurity will stick, because truth-be-told, she really doesn’t fit in any of the categories.

c ases like this are not rare, unfortunately. In my time working with an immigration attorney I saw many cases where common sense would say, “of course this person should be allowed to stay here,” but the hyper-complex immigration code said otherwise. m y purpose for writing this is not to ruffle feathers or to convince readers of anything. I merely write to inspire compassion when considering such a consequential topic.

Happy Birthday: diplomacy will be required this year when dealing with delicate situations. o ffer love, peace and plenty of understanding when dealing with loved ones. refuse to let the past come back to haunt you or you will miss out on what lies ahead. c hange can be a beautiful thing if you are innovative and let your intuition guide you. your numbers are 2, 12, 23, 26, 34, 41, 43.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): keep a clear head. emotional situations will interfere with your logic and reasoning, causing you to make poor assumptions and choices. focus on personal enhancement and spending more time with someone you love.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Partnerships will take an emotional turn. before you jump to conclusions, ask questions and listen carefully to what’s being said. nothing will be as it appears. use what you know and do your best to advance.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): you’ll face some deception from others, so make sure you get all your facts straight before you proceed. A problem with a partnership will surface if promises aren’t carried out. focus inward and work on personal improvements.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): l ive, learn and build on what you have already accomplished. A partnership that gives you the strength and courage to embrace change and try new things shouldn’t be ignored. make the most of the time you have been given.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): you’ll be torn between spending and saving when it comes to entertainment and home improvements. Trying to please everyone will be impossible. consider the most cost-efficient ways to proceed, and do your best to keep the peace.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): dividing your time between personal and professional responsibilities will be difficult, but organization, precision and paying attention to detail will help. use your persuasiveness and patience in order to keep the peace.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): you have to put yourself first. be honest about what you want and need in your life and make the changes that will help you reach your personal goals. network with people who enjoy the same things as you. romance is highlighted.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): l ay out your plans and strategize to finetune what you want to pursue. Think outside the box and let your creative imagination lead to new and innovative ways to use your skills. d on’t let an emotional situation hinder your progress.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): dealing with institutions, government agencies or underhanded individuals are all discouraged. keep your personal information a secret or someone will use it to manipulate you. focus on personal, financial and physical gains. Work hard and do your best.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): emotional spending is never a good idea. When you are feeling down, lock your credit cards in a safe place. making snap decisions or letting someone else’s actions prompt you to make a move is discouraged. concentrate on honing your skills.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): An emotional situation will escalate if you get into a deep discussion with someone. g etting involved in an event that brings out the best in you will result in meeting someone you can learn from. c hoose reason over emotion.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): you’ll come across a good investment if you reconnect with someone you have worked with in the past. Take better care of your health by getting sufficient rest, exercise and proper diet. you’ll miss out if minor illness takes over.

Birthday Baby: you are perceptive, curious and novel. you are intense and determined.

n FL refs ignoring player safety

For a long time, the n FL has been criticized for its lack of concern for player safety.

All one needs to do is look to the way the league refused to recognize the dangerous and potentially fatal consequences of repeated head trauma for players during their careers. It put the brand of the n FL, and the potential damage such an admission could do to that brand, before the players themselves.

b ut as of late, the n FL has made it a point to address the issues it long ignored. now, independent neurologists patrol the sidelines should players suffer a head injury during games and need to be checked out. The concussion protocol, while perhaps not perfect, has been bolstered as time has progressed.

Yet, despite these changes, we continue to see examples of player safety in games ignored, particularly as referees fail to protect players during games. o ne only needs to look to the cases of c am newton and, as of monday, d an c arpenter to see this is the case.

In m onday night’s game, b uffalo b ills kicker d an c arpenter was hit at below the waist on a field goal attempt by s eattle s eahawks cornerback r ichard s herman after a whistle had already ruled the play dead. s herman had been called offsides, claimed to not hear the whistle that blew the play dead and proceeded to take out c arpenter.

r egardless of whether the play by s herman was intentional or not, it clearly met the standard that has been set for a roughing the kicker penalty. b ut no call was made by the referees. Fortunately, c arpenter was okay, but the lack of a flag in an obvious case of a penalty by rule is concerning. s ure, this incident was an isolated case, but it establishes a precedent: Players are rewarded, rather than penalized, for

aggressive play that could lead to serious injury when penalties are not enforced. more concerning is the case of c arolina Panthers quarterback c am newton, who has repeatedly drawn hits to his helmet while in the pocket this season. In just about any other case, these hits on quarterbacks consistently draw roughing the passer penalties due to the added emphasis on protecting the very players who are iconic of their teams and the league.

b ut for n ewton, these hits — one need only watch a Panthers game from this season or any of the highlights of their games to find an example — have failed to be treated the same way. As a 6-foot-5, 245-pound mobile quarterback, newton is treated as a runner rather than a passer. While such treatment by referees is fair when he is in fact outside the pocket, treating him that way when he stays in the pocket is subjecting him to the repeated head trauma that the league claims to be protecting its players against.

b y refusing to throw the flags they should, referees are putting n ewton at greater risk than he already is for head trauma as a quarterback because — as the case with c arpenter — it sets a precedent for players to continue to illegally target n ewton without fear of drawing a penalty for it. And we know this to be the case by the very fact it is already a precedent, one which n ewton has spoken out against with the hopes of garnering equal treatment as his fellow quarterback brethren receive.

These issues all point to the real problem: Until the n FL addresses the failures and shortcomings of its referees, player safety will continue to be disregarded by all those involved.

Contact Ben Padanilam at bpadanil@nd.edu

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

Whirlwinds, Wildcats advance to championship

no. 1 Welsh family def. no. 5 breen-Phillips, 18-0

By ELIZABETH GREASON sports Writer

no. 1 Welsh Family shutout no. 5 breen-Phillips 18-0 in an anticipated matchup on Tuesday evening.

The defending champion Whirlwinds (6-1) dominated on both sides of the ball, as they were able to overcome the babes (4-3) and keep them off the board.

Welsh Family scored twice in the first half on pass plays to give it a solid lead going into halftime. The Whirlwinds added to their lead in the final minutes of the game when they were able to pick up another touchdown, the final score of the game, on a long run.

babes senior captain emily Affinito said she was proud of her team’s performance this season and believes that in future seasons they will be able to continue this year’s success.

“overall, I’m just proud of the team for making it this far,” Affinito said. “obviously the game didn’t go the way we wanted it to, but [breen-Phillips] has never made it this far, so that’s already a win in my mind. It was a great group to go out with for my senior season, and I know that bP Team 2016 will not be forgotten.”

While the babes’ playoff berth has come to an end, top-seeded Welsh Family will attempt to defend its title in the championship game when it takes on no. 3 ryan

m Tennis

sachire said. “The tournament in minnesota was chalk full of lineup players — players that will play for teams in the ncAA tournament — so it was a really good gauge of competition, and I thought we did a really good job of getting ourselves to the point in matches where we were on the doorstep of winning. The downside was we didn’t close out matches the way we need to during the spring, so we had a lot of situations where guys were in a position to control the match and they couldn’t close them out. so that’s the good and the bad right there. We were in a position to win a lot of matches, and we didn’t finish the way we are capable of.”

sachire said one thing they will work to improve upon is how his players serve the ball at the beginning of a set.

“I think the aspects of what we need in those pressure-packed

in a West Quad battle on nov. 20 at 2:45 p.m. at notre dame stadium.

Contact Elizabeth Greason at egreason@nd.edu

no. 3 r yan def. no. 7 badin, 19-6

By MIA BERRY sports Writer

no. 3 ryan’s fast start allowed it to overcome no. 7 badin, 19-6.

ryan started the game out strong when senior quarterback Kathleen conaty threw two touchdowns to senior receiver and captain emily Tessitore to give ryan a 12-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

badin rebounded when senior defensive back nicole handa intercepted the ball, and senior quarterback and captain rachel Wimsatt capitalized with a touchdown pass to freshman emma bzik to cut ryan’s lead to six.

Late in the fourth quarter, conaty ran in a 40-yard touchdown and converted on an extrapoint attempt to give ryan a 19-6 lead with three minutes remaining in the fourth. The bullfrogs marched down the field until ryan came up with the interception, ending the drive and the comeback attempt.

senior ryan captain shawn hall said she was thrilled that the Wildcats will be playing in the stadium.

“[It] feels super exciting to play

moments where you are trying to close out a match, and it starts with the serve when you are serving for a match,” sachire said. “I felt like that was an area where we did not do a great job. We did not serve well as a team this past weekend, so I think up and down the line is the most important shot in tennis and is something we have to improve upon from now to January.”

When asked who stood out to him over the weekend, sachire mentioned rayl, Kempin and Gamble in particular.

“I think you have to start with daniel rayl, a sophomore on our team,” sachire said. “he had a great tournament. I think he lost his first singles match then won his next three, and him and brendan Kempin went 3-1 in doubles as well. I think they both did a really good job. danny especially did a really good job in singles. Another person who had a good weekend was matt Gamble. matt went undefeated in singles and beat a couple of high level players, which was great to see. I think

at the stadium,” hall said. “emily and I both played there as freshmen, and we didn’t win so it would be a great opportunity for us to get some revenge and end our interhall careers on a high note.”

Tessitore attributed her team’s success to offensive execution.

“offensively, we just wanted to stay true to us, and the only time we got in trouble is when we started to freak out, and in the second half we calmed down, executed and played football the way we know how to,” Tessitore said.

Wimsatt was proud of her team’s performance despite the wet conditions.

“I’m really proud of the girls,” Wimsatt said. “our defense pulled it together and did the best they could for us. They gave us all the opportunities. offense was harder to play today. It was windy, raining, cold, the ball was wet.”

Although badin lost in the semifinals, Wimsatt said she is optimistic about the future of bullfrog football.

“It’s always sad to see the season end, but I’m really proud of this team, and how far they’ve come, and I’m very excited about their future in flag football,” Wimsatt said.

The Wildcats take on no. 1 Welsh Family on nov. 20 at 2:45 p.m. at notre dame stadium.

Contact Mia Berry at mberry1@nd.edu

those young guys stood out in terms of probably having the best tournaments that they’ve had to date at this point in the fall.” notre dame now enters a twomonth vacation from matches. Their next match will be Jan. 20 against ball state to begin the spring season. sachire said he will continue to monitor his players as they begin to work on their game individually.

“We’re still going to be able to train and work with our guys on a much more limited basis than we were previously, and they’ll have to do a lot more practicing on their own,” sachire said. “A lot of our success early in the year is going to be determined by the work our guys put in on their own over the next couple of months. Fortunately, our team has a great culture and our guys do work hard on their own, and that’s going to be necessary for us to start the way we want to start in January.”

Contact Michael Ivey at mivey@hcc-nd.edu

due to having new setters in the lineup.

“Pass better, set better, hit better,” mcLaughlin said. “You know, there’s a little different rhythm change with our setters. That just comes with the territory. Those kids were thrown into action and they did a good job, but we just have to improve and get those hitting percentages up.”

Junior setter Taylor Zwickl saw her first action of the season over the weekend as she returned from injury. Zwickl spent the majority of the season as junior setter c aroline holt’s backup, but when holt went down with a fractured leg, Zwickl was already

nued from PAge 12

team in n avy, and they know that they’ve gotta prepare in a manner that allows them to go out there mentally and physically beat their opponent.”

Though the Irish led at halftime and pulled within one point of the m idshipmen in the fourth quarter, n avy was ultimately able to limit the Irish to just six offensive possessions. In the second half, n avy held the ball for over 20 minutes, and when facing Army, Kelly said third down is a key for his team.

“ o bviously, we have to focus on third down,” Kelly said. “We gotta get off the field. We had a number of third-down situations where we didn’t get off the field. And we have to stay on the field on third down. We can’t have a foolish penalty. And so those right there are extremely important. In the red zone, we can’t settle for field goals, we have to score touchdowns. s o those two right there probably stand out for me. Let’s say it is a six-possession game, we can still win the football game if we get off the field on third down and we’re more efficient in the red zone and we don’t have a foolish penalty.”

In order to get more possessions against Army, Kelly said he may look to throw the ball more, in order to get quick scoring opportunities. While the running game can be successful against an undersized defense like n avy or Army, Kelly said the running game often takes too much time off of the clock.

“And yeah, they’re going to give you some room, but they’re going to try to minimize big plays,” Kelly said. “ s o yeah, you scored five times, but it took you too much time. You know what I mean? s o it’s a double-edged sword. You run the football, yeah, maybe you could knock

injured, leaving the offense in the hands of freshman setter hanna Klein and sophomore outside hitter rebecca nunge for two matches. mcLaughlin said having Zwickl back on the court with Klein will make a difference for the Irish offensively going forward, as it allows nunge to return to her usual role as a hitter.

“It allows us to have [Zwickl] play a position she’s used to playing, and then it also allows nunge to play her role that she’s been playing all year instead of being a setter too,” mcLaughlin said. “now, she can focus on being a hitter and a blocker, so that allows nunge to play at a higher level. And then, Taylor — she didn’t get many reps and we threw her right in there, and I thought she did a good job and she’s

them off the ball, but it’s going to take you a little while to score. ... b y the time you look up it’s the third quarter and you’ve got five possessions or four possessions. s o you gotta balance all of those things as you’re trying to decide how to play a game against n avy.”

Injuries

Last week, junior defensive lineman d aniel c age did not play against the m idshipmen due to his not having cleared the concussion protocol.

Tuesday, Kelly said c age was going to see another doctor to receive additional treatment.

“[ d aniel] c age we’re going to send for further evaluation,” Kelly said. “ h e’s made some progress, but anytime that somebody’s in their second week and has not fully gone through the stages as we see them, we’d like to get a second opinion and make sure that everything is good. s o we generally go

just gonna keep getting better with more opportunities.”

e arlier this season, the Irish swept the c ardinals (8-16, 3-11) on s ept. 23 at home, which mcLaughlin said could give the Irish some additional confidence going into Wednesday’s matchup. however, he also emphasized that most of the team’s confidence will stem from their preparation for the match.

“I think confidence is more a function of knowing what you need to do and preparation, believing, ‘hey, we’re getting good at this,’” mcLaughlin said. “Winning and losing affects it a little bit, but I think just having a good week in practice is the most important thing.”

o ne key to the Louisville match will be minimizing

to d r. [Jeffrey] Kutcher, who has been really good as a resource for us, so we’ll have that appointment set up this week.”

Junior safety d rue Tranquill and freshman cornerback Julian Love both suffered head injuries s aturday, but Kelly said both hoped to practice Tuesday in non-contact roles and look to be cleared to fully participate in Wednesday’s session.

Field goal decision

Kelly again clarified his decision to go for a field goal with 7:28 left in the fourth quarter facing fourthand-4 on n avy’s 14 yard-line Tuesday.

“I think each play is a little bit different, each game is a little bit different in terms of circumstances,” Kelly said. “I think what’s most important is getting the feel for each game in terms of what is needed to what I thought was needed to win a game. I don’t think you can think

errors, something notre dame has focused on throughout the season. It struggled against d uke in this category, posting 22 attack errors. mcLaughlin said the most effective way to reduce errors is to play smart.

“[We have to] just stay in rhythm better and make better shots,” mcLaughlin said. “And then, not to get hurt on a tough swing. You know, we got hurt on some tough swings — that was uncharacteristic, but the thing that I did like is that we were aggressive. but, you’ve got to be intelligent, and they have to understand that.”

With a win over the c ardinals, the Irish would be posting their first 20-win season since 2012 and have already secured their best season in the Acc yet. notre dame’s goal at the start of the season

with a broad brush.”

“... We had, I felt, the wind and [with] the game circumstances at that time, it felt

was to win the Acc , according to mcLaughlin; however, the Irish currently sit in fifth place in the conference. mcLaughlin said even though the regular season is beginning to come to a close, his team is going to keep working and improving to finish the season even stronger than it started.

“We gotta just build on the foundation of the program,” mcLaughlin said. “We’ve gotta get better and keep investing high in every position. You know, we don’t have much time left, so we’ve just got to keep grinding.”

The Irish will take on the c ardinals at the K fc Yum! c enter in Louisville, Kentucky, at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Contact Elizabeth Greason at egreason@nd.edu

like the right thing to do.”

Contact Marek Mazurek at

mmazurek@nd.edu