Print Edition of The Observer for Friday, November 11, 2016

o T re d ame and s ain T m ary’s

nd administers campus climate survey

Students

By ANDREW CAMERON news writer

on oct. 25, erin hoffmann harding, vice president for student a ffairs, sent out an email to all students with a link to the Fall 2016 sexual conduct and campus climate Questionnaire. according to the email, the study — administered by the office of strategic planning & institutional research (ospir) — is “intended to assess the knowledge base, experiences and perceptions of notre dame students in relation to sexual harassment.” The email also included resources for those who have seen or been the victim of sexual harassment.

a follow-up email from ospir informed students that a variety

of rewards (including one $400 gift card to the notre dame bookstore, one full year of reserved parking on campus, a semester of saint michael’s laundry service, and 50 smaller prizes of $50 domer dollars each) would be randomly distributed to students who had taken the survey.

both emails said all survey responses are strictly confidential.

deputy Title i X coordinator heather ryan offered additional information on the questionnaire in an email interview.

“The Fall 2016 sexual conduct and campus climate Questionnaire … marks the third time such a survey was administered at the university,” she

Irish dance team wins competition

By STEPHANIE SNYDER news writer

n ine students on the n otre

d ame/ s aint m ary’s i rish d ance Team brought back the team’s sixth c eili c lub c hampionship c up from the a ll- i reland c hampionship in b elfast, n orthern i reland on s aturday.

The team’s student coach, n otre d ame senior r obert b lack, said the team consisted of eight dancers selected from among the 70 students total who are involved

with the n otre d ame/ s aint m ary’s i rish d ance Team. a s team coach, b lack traveled with the team to n orthern i reland.

“The ‘ceili’ team is a group of eight students that are selected from the team at large based on dancing ability, endurance and aptitude for team dancing,” he said.

“The team met outside club practice time to learn a traditional set choreography, the ‘cross reel,’ in order

Cervelli’s inauguration celebrations continue

Observer Staff Report

Jan c ervelli took office as the 12th president of s aint m ary’s in June, bu this s aturday, she will be formally installed in an inauguration ceremony at 1:30 p.m. in o ’ l aughlin a uditorium, with a reception to follow in c ushwal eighton l ibrary.

“ i n s aint m ary’s 172-year

history, only 11 individuals have led as president,” m ary b urke, class of 1985 and chair of the b oard of Trustees, said in a press release. “This is a very special opportunity to formally welcome Jan c ervelli to s aint m ary’s and back home to s outh b end. The community of students, faculty, staff, alumnae and friends of s aint m ary’s c ollege look

forward to celebrating this momentous occasion with our colleagues that represent i ndiana’s universities and college, women’s colleges and the country’s top 100 liberal arts colleges.”

The inauguration celebrations began Tuesday with the planting of a Trinity Tree. a ccording to a release,

Researchers develop irisrecognition software

By ANDREW CAMERON news writer

in an effort to improve the iris-scanning technology used in forensics and law enforcement, a team of notre dame researchers recently released software used to determine similarity between iris scans using a new method. The software, which was released in

october on notre dame’s office of Technology Transfer, was developed by computer science and engineering graduate student Jianxu chen; duda Family professor of engineering patrick Flynn; computer science and engineering professor danny chen; and former computer science and engineering graduate student Feng shen. iris recognition is a common

method of identification which digitally analyzes the random pattern on the iris that is unique to every individual. since the technology was first patented in 1994, it has spread to a wide variety of applications in government and private businesses, primarily as a method of secure identification of individuals, as

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Question

Angie Abarca senior mcGlinn hall

“nelson mandela.”

Eddie Duffy sophomore Fisher hall

“helen of Troy.”

Eleanor Lyman freshman Welsh hall

“Abraham Lincoln.”

Griffin Cannon sophomore Fisher hall

“napoleon.”

Jorge Ramirez senior o’neill hall

“Alexander the Great.”

Nina Letz freshman Flaherty hall

“harriet Tubman.”

Today’s Staff

Corrections

The observer regards itself as a professional publication and strives for the highest standards of journalism at all times.

do, however, recognize that

will make mistakes. If we have made a mistake, please contact us at (574) 631-4541 so

can correct our error.

Friday

Boardroom Insights

Lecture Series: Paul Idzik

Jordan Auditorium

10:40 a.m. - 12:10 p.m.

CEO of E*Trade

Performance: Bach’s

Lunch

DeBartolo Performing Arts Center

12:10 p.m. - 2 p.m. Free but ticketed.

Saturday

Fall 2016 Freebie Classes: Vinyasa Yoga

Rockne Memorial Gymnasium

9:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.

Concert: Violinists

Tricia and Taylor DeBartolo Performing Arts Center

7 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. Open to the public.

Sunday

Mass at the Basilica Basilica of the Sacred Heart

11:45 a.m. - 12:45 p.m.

With music from the Notre Dame Folk Choir.

ND Volleyball vs. Virginia Joyce Center

1 p.m. The Irish take on the Cavaliers.

Monday

SMC Passport Photo Day Le Mans Hall

5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. Free passport photos will be taken.

ND Women’s Basketball WNIT Quarterfinals Purcell Pavillion

7 p.m.

Open to the public.

Tuesday

‘U.K.-U.S. Relations After Brexit’ McKenna Hall

12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.

Lunch discussion with British consul general.

Udall Scholarship Information Session Brownson Hall

5 p.m. - 6 p.m. Supports sophomores and juniors.

University partners with secondary ticket-selling platform

Observer Staff Report

notre dame and v ivid s eats, a c hicago-based ticket-selling company, announced a partnership that will allow Irish fans to buy and sell tickets from both the University and secondary market, according to a notre dame Athletics press release.

According to the release, v ivid s eats is now the official ticket marketplace for the Irish. The company has plans to launch the notre dame Ticket e xchange in 2017, which will be a hub for Irish fans to buy and sell tickets.

“I’m gratified by our fans’ response to the enhancements we’ve made to the ticketing experience in recent years, including moving renewals and applications online, accepting credit cards universally, eliminating all primary ticket fees and introducing digital tickets,” University director of athletics Jack s warbrick said in the release.

“ v ivid s eats’ innovative technology will enable us to transition from playing catch-up with industry best

practices to being proactive in providing the modern ticket solutions that notre dame fans expect,” he added.

“o ur common vision with v ivid s eats of creating a familiar, seamless and unified experience for the ticketholder was at the heart of choosing them as our partner.”

Fans could previously purchase tickets directly from notre dame, but secondary market tickets could only be bought through third-party websites, like stubhub.

v ivid s eats will guarantee fans an on-time delivery of authentic tickets, according to the release, or customers will be able to get their money back.

“This long-term partnership brings together two industry leaders and a track record of success that will benefit the notre dame fan experience,” A.J. machosky, vice president of sponsorships at v ivid s eats, said in the release. “o ur alignment with notre dame’s commitment to excellence, and the desire to bring a valuable service to fans, was important to both organizations. We look forward

to proudly serving as notre dame’s official ticket marketplace and will not only be integrating our top-ofthe-line technology, but also bringing the most advanced, industry-forward solution to Fighting Irish fans across the country.”

According to the release, the notre dame Ticket e xchange plans to blend primary and secondary ticket listings, so fans will be able view all the price and location options available. c ustomers will still be able to discern whether or not they are purchasing a ticket from the University or another fan.

The ticket office is also working on designing a mobile app to allow fans to buy, sell, transfer and donate tickets on their phones, according to the release. Additionally, they plan to introduce incentives and rewards for season ticket-holders and alumni who participate in ticket lotteries. Additionally, they plan to introduce incentives and rewards for season ticket-holders and alumni who participate in ticket lotteries.

Spoon University opens chapter at Saint Mary’s

By EMMA O’BRIEN news Writer

This fall, saint mary’s junior Kiersten Lieurance founded a chapter of spoon University — a national online food resource platform to teach college-aged students how to cook — on campus, exciting students who wish to share their culinary tips and tricks with other c ollege students.

“i’ve been kind of wanting to start something on our campus for a while — i just didn’t really know what i wanted that to be,” Lieurance said. “We need another club on our campus that provides another opportunity for us to bond as sisters, and what better way to do that than through food?”

spoon University was created in 2013 by two northwestern University students who moved off campus and realized they did not know how to cook. They started an online food publication for their school, and now over 170 chapters exist on college campuses across the nation.

“There’s generally a misunderstanding of it, so that’s what we’re kind of trying to project,” junior and editorial director for s aint mary’s spoonU stefanie d yga said.

“it’s not just food and drink — it’s a lifestyle, and it’s about how you can strive to have a healthier diet and have fun with it, as well.”

according to junior photography director megan brownley, the chapter doesn’t just focus on food on campus.

“We’re going to do lots of features and food events with different places and restaurants around south bend,” she said.

The chapter consists of four different teams: writers, photographers, marketers and videographers, brownley said. These teams work together to produce content and share their results by filming short videos and writing recipes so students can replicate these ideas in their apartments and dining halls.

“it’s kind of like the ‘Tasty videos’ [on buzzfeed] of college — that’s what it reminds

me of,” brownley said. spoon University also offers many options for vegans, vegetarians and those with gluten allergies, as well as other dietary needs.

“it’s really nice because so many college kids have dietary restrictions and we want to be a broad club and have stuff for everyone” brownley said. according to Lieurance, organizations can share the content students produce, and it will be published in magazines and on other forms of media.

“my friend had a video of a pizza-layered cake,” Lieurance said. “it was on the snapchat for Food network … because they liked it so much.”

“spoon is different from every other platform because it’s by college kids, for college kids,” d yga said. “The website is super accessible, and it’s fresh and colorful. i just think it’s really exciting and i think that [ saint mary’s] can take it and can run with it.”

Contact Emma O’Brien at eobrien03@saintmarys.edu

to compete at the a ll-ireland championships in belfast this fall.”

co-president of the team saint mary’s senior caitlin mcGarry said although the notre dame/ saint mary’s irish dance team primarily focuses on solo dancing, the team that travels to the a ll-ireland championship performs a special type of team dance known as ceili dancing.

“[Trying out] is not a requirement for our club, but it really is an honor and a privilege to be on the ceili team,” mcGarry said.

black, who has been dancing for nearly 18 years, said the team has been training for at least four hours every week since the start of the semester and worked up to practicing every day before the competition.

“one of the most important aspects of a ‘ceili,’ at this caliber of competition, is synchronicity,” he said. “everyone dancing needs to be performing the same footwork, the same way, at the same time.”

The team’s other co-president, notre dame senior christine Kerrigan, has competed in ireland twice previously and said the team success was not due to individual talent, but collaborative work.

“The girls on the ceili team have a special relationship forged by many hours of practice and the need to support and help each other achieve success,” she said. “The team performs at its best when every individual performs at her best, and it’s the responsibility of every member to encourage and push each other.”

a lthough black does not dance with the ceili team, he plays an essential role in their success.

“every line in the dance has to be straight and the dance has to be centered,” he said. “my role as the coach is primarily to offer adjustments in order to assist the girls, adjust the aesthetic of the dance.

“a fter a dancer stops competing, dance can sometimes be relegated to a hobby that you dust off as a party trick from time to time. i enjoy that i can continue doing something that i love beyond the traditional experience, and i treasure this opportunity because it is not available anywhere else in the world.”

mcGarry, who previously competed in ireland with her dance team from home, said prior to this competition she did

not expect to have the opportunity to compete in ireland again.

“i was extremely proud to represent both of our schools with some of my very dearest friends standing next to me,” she said. “The most exciting part for me was that i never thought i’d be back on that big stage ever again and there i was.”

Kerrigan said the cost of the trip was covered by team fundraising and grants given to them by the University and that the team is grateful for the opportunity.

“most of the eight girls on the team have been dancing since they started kindergarten, and it was the last opportunity for all of us to compete at a major competition,” she said. “Walking onto the stage to perform was invigorating — walking off was bittersweet.”

black said the pressure of the competition was released when the girls took the stage.

“i had been nervous going into the competition in the week leading up to our dance but when i watched the girls dance on stage i was so calm and so proud of all that they accomplished this semester,” he said. “The girls put their absolute best performance ever on stage at the competition and it was a privilege to watch something that i had been a part of on an international stage.”

mcGarry said members of the team did not only compete in the competition to win, but also because they simply love to dance.

“irish dance is like a whole other world, and once you’re in it, there’s no escaping it,” mcGarry said.

black added the victory was not purely based on talent.

“This victory simply underscores that success is not all about technique but also about passion and enjoyment,” he said. “everyone put in so many hours, danced through some pretty difficult injuries and put up with my coaching to earn an international championship — and did so in incredible fashion.

“motivating success has to come from igniting or kindling passion. Participating as a member of this team was a complete privilege and i hope that both the legacy of the team and the goal of sending a team to ireland every year continues to motivate and excite students both on our club team and those thinking about joining.” Contact Stephanie Snyder at ssnyder02@saintmarys.edu

the tree represented the shared values and collaboration among s aint m ary’s, n otre d ame and h oly c ross.

University president Fr. John Jenkins and b rother Jesus a lonso, vice president for strategic initiatives at h oly c ross, were in attendance.

a ccording to a press release, c ervelli grew up in s outh b end across the s t. Joseph r iver from s aint m ary’s. s he attended h oly c ross Grade s chool and s aint Joseph h igh s chool before pursuing a bachelor of science from Purdue University’s c ollege of a griculture and a master of landscape architecture from the University of Guelph.

Prior to arriving at the c ollege, c ervelli served as d ean of the c ollege of a rchitecture, Planning and Landscape a rchitecture at the University of a rizona. s he also served as d ean of the c ollege of a rchitecture, a rts and h umanities at c lemson University from 2000 to 2007.

“a s a women’s college rooted in a faith-based tradition, s aint m ary’s has a unique place in a merican higher education and serves an essential role in developing future leaders to address the world’s most pressing

Survey

said. “ i t incorporates much of the Fall 2012 and s pring 2015 instruments, continuing to examine student community culture, resource needs and understanding, barriers to reporting and experience with intervention strategies.”

s he added that the fall 2016 questionnaire is very similar to the 2012 and 2015 questionnaires, with minor changes

“With each administration, we adjust the wording on questions to make them as clear and understandable as possible,” she said.“ o ver the last two administrations, we have added questions related to dating violence, domestic violence and stalking.”

c hristine c aron Gebhardt, director of the Gender r elations c enter (G rc ), said in an email that the data is shared with the c ommittee for s exual a ssault Prevention ( csa P) for analysis.

“The assessment subcommittee of csa P looks for trends and patterns in the data to discern areas for growth as well as areas of improvement,” she said.

“The sub-committee then conducts focus group sessions with students to obtain

issues,” c ervelli said in the release. “ o ur mission is to educate students in mind and spirit to serve the greater good. i could not be more proud to lead the c ollege in its pursuit of that ideal.”

c ervelli’s appointment was announced in February. a ccording to the release, the b oard of Trustees chose c ervelli for her “sophisticated sense of building consensus, her strong commitment to shared governance, her ability to cultivate undergraduate and graduate programs and her emphasis on sustainability.”

s enior student body president e mma m c c arthy, said in the release that c ervelli believes in an education based in the liberal arts where students grow through collaboration.

“ s he knows women’s colleges, like s aint m ary’s, provide an amazing environment where young women thrive,” m c c arthy said in the release. “ i look forward to watching the ways in which s aint m ary’s will continue to flourish under her direction.”

c ervelli is also hosting a listening tour over the next year to prepare for her first strategic plan for the c ollege. Throughout the year, she will gather comments from students, alumnae, parents, faculty and staff about their vision for the future of s aint m ary’s.

further information about survey responses and to learn from various perspectives on how to proceed in addressing student concerns and needs.”

a ccording to the University’s a nnual s afety r eport for main campus, there were 12 reports of rape in 2015, compared to 15 in 2014 and 10 in 2013.

Gebhardt said she envisions a campus where students never need to worry about sexual assault or harassment. s he said the survey was “an important opportunity to learn about student experience and needs, as well as student thoughts on what can be done to achieve our goal of having a campus environment free from sexual harassment and sexual violence.”

s he said that the report on the questionnaire and any recommendations from the csa P are expected to be released in the spring semester of 2017.

r yan asked students to direct any questions regarding completing the survey, filing a report or identifying available resources to her at d eputyTitle i X c oordinator@ nd.edu or 574-631-7728.

Contact Andrew Cameron at acamero2@nd.edu

well as in law enforcement.

“ i ris recognition is very accurate; [current methods] can reach 99.99 percent accuracy,” Jianxu c hen said. “ h owever, that is based on some ‘black box’ method. People without expert knowledge on image processing can not understand what is going on there. … We wanted to make it visualizable and interpretable by humans.”

i n spite of iris recognition’s accuracy, Jianxu c hen said identifying via fingerprints is more common.

“a n example why people use fingerprints instead of iris [scanning] in law enforcement, even though iris is more accurate: when you do fingerprint matching, you can just say, ‘There’s a loop here; there’s a circle there’, and you just match them — there’s a very apparent pattern there,” he said. “We want to mimic this process.

n amely, we detect some features on the iris images, so whenever people want to match them, they just find whether you have this feature or that feature … i f you see five or six matched features, it’s probably a good sign that the irises are from the same person.”

Jianxu c hen said his job was to develop a more accurate algorithm for the program, which his colleague, s hen, had proposed and studied initially. h e said he believes it is important that the results of iris recognition tests be interpretable by humans, even if their new software is not currently as accurate as more common, current methods.

“Their accuracy may be around 99.99 percent — ours is maybe 97 – 98 percent. h owever, the benefit is that we want humans to judge the correctness. We can bring our result to humans,” Jianxu c hen said.

“ i f you give this picture to an F bi officer, it will mean nothing to them. h owever, if

you bring [the results of the new recognition software] to them, after some training, they can do this matching reliably.”

The code has been made freely available to any potential collaborators. Jianxu c hen said that the decision to make the software open source was motivated by the desire to improve the accuracy of the software’s readings. h e hopes that with outside contributions, the process of making this software ready for real-world applications in law enforcement, criminal justice and forensics can be accelerated.

“This method is not that accurate at the current stage,” he said. “We want to push it further. b y myself, it would be very hard. i want to take suggestions from others. When 10 or 20 other people are studying this problem, maybe they can provide a better answer and push it further.”

Contact Andrew Cameron at acamero2@nd.edu

dorm dynamics

When I go home on a break, I’ll meet up with family, friends and old teachers and field the same types of questions. They’ll ask about how I’m doing, how my studies are going, what I’ll be doing after I graduate in m ay. You know, the easy ones that you have a canned, quick, easy response to.

I also often get questions on where I’m living — if I’m in an apartment or a house. m y answer, of course, is neither.

The fact that I, a senior, still live on campus is emblematic of one of the key things that makes n otre d ame unique: dorm life. s ure, I could live somewhere with a little more freedom, with a little more comfort this year, but I chose not to.

When I try to explain this phenomenon to people unfamiliar with how n otre d ame works, it isn’t always the easiest of tasks. The simple, canned response is that o ’ n eill h all is a couple-minute walk away from the basement of s outh d ining h all — or, alternately, The o bserver’s office. And while there is a simple truth embedded within that — when I get out of our office at 3 or 4 a.m. after a long night of stitching together the next day’s edition, I really don’t want to have to get in my car and drive to my off-campus residence — it misses a lot of the reasons I never seriously considered moving off campus.

o n those late nights, or early mornings as they often are, I’m always struck by how great it is that I come back to the dorm to find a couple friends around, still hanging out in our section lounge or in the hallway. When we get together and make the trek to s outh d ining h all for section dinner, daily at 5:30 p.m., I sit there and marvel at how our humble section often fills two whole sdh tables — no small feat when everyone has their own busy schedules.

b ut above all else, I wanted to stay on campus to not just preserve the tight bonds I’d formed in three years, but to form new ones with our section’s latest class of freshmen. I went to a small private high school, and partially as a result, some of my best friends were a couple years older than I was. And when I got to n otre d ame, I found much of the same dynamic — that many of my closest, tightest friends graduated at the end of my freshman year.

s o, no, I don’t live in a nice comfortable apartment or a messy party house. And I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Contact Alex Carson at acarson1@nd.edu

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

From two legal aliens

“I have been living in that ‘reality’ for two and a half years now. It is not what you thought. o r ... ,” I did not know where that sudden urge of defending America came from, “Are you doubting my ability?”

Editor’s Note: Rebecca Feng co-authored this column with her twin sister, April Feng.

“Protect yourself. d on’t date American guys. r acism in America will never come to an end. he will never truly respect you.”

“mom, you read about America from the news. I will go to America, and I will find out for myself.”

“rebecca,” she sighed, “you are too young, too naive.”

I happily waved goodbye to my parents at the security checkpoint, my mom crying on my dad’s shoulder. I turned back and told myself — they were probably just too old to understand it all.

I saw him walking towards me, gold hair and blue eyes, exactly like Tom, the white boy who was in every dialogue example of my elementary school e nglish textbook. All characters in my textbook are white, but I thought that was just America, right?

I could feel his eyes moving from the moses statue behind me, to my black hair and to my black eyes. s mile, I told myself, people always smile to each other in this country. I smiled. h e smiled back. We walked past each other. s o satisfied.

b ack then, I wore a smile like I wore my clothes.

b ack then, I smiled at everyone I saw on campus.

b ack then, I had no experience nor fear.

That was the America I wanted to be in.

I realized my immigration status in this country — a “legal alien.” That phrase stuck with me. I found it funny to be an alien, because aliens have green faces, long ears and round eyes.

I told my professor I would be going back to c hina after graduation. “That’s home, you know?”

“ b ut America needs you.”

I couldn’t stop laughing. “c ome on Professor.”

“I said it with all sincerity and seriousness.”

he was not even blinking. Looking into his eyes, I, the legal alien, felt for the first time that I belonged to this little sacred campus, even this country. Then I felt as if I were about to fly.

“U. s . presidential candidate d onald Trump is being called a racist by the American mainstream media, and yet, he was able to gather large amounts of popular votes ... ,” the voice of c hina c entral Television’s news anchor echoed above the dinner table.

“I got an internship in Washington, d c .,” I told my mom, raising my voice to cover the broadcaster.

“ n ot bad,” she rolled her eyes. “ d on’t be too upset though if you don’t end up being as successful as you want,” she quickly added. “After all, there is a glass ceiling for c hinese people in America.”

I giggled. “ mom, I guarantee you. All my American friends are super nice. h onestly, they helped me more than I could ever imagine.”

“Good, good. I am just reminding you of the reality. You are still young.”

“ n o, not doubting you, my dear,” my mom’s voice trembled. “It is just … I don’t want you to be hurt.” s ept. 26, first presidential debate, couch in our room, listening to Trump talking about our country — “They’re using our country [America] as a piggy bank to rebuild c hina.”

“I feel like watching that old c hinese movie again, shall we?” April asked.

“Agreed,” I said.

In the movie, m eng’s lifelong dream was coming to America, the only place where all dreams could come true. he was talking to his friends in the cafe he once worked at as a busboy. he said he sucked his boss’ disrespect in and thought to himself that one day he would be stronger than her, and then she wouldn’t dare to laugh at him. “ b ut years later, I brought my proudest achievement, our business, to this country. I thought that would win me the respect I deserved. b ut no. I waited for the person I came to meet for eight hours and drank six cups of coffee. Then the receptionist politely told me that they never intended to meet me. That was when I finally realized, we were really just too young, too naive.”

Then I found myself repeating “too young, too naive.” s o did April.

“Why did we watch this?” I asked April.

“To remind ourselves of the reality.”

“What the hell is that?”

“ d unno,” she murmured, “but I know I have had enough brainwash.”

I laughed. “ b y America? b y c hina?”

“I will find out for myself.”

“Will you judge my country based on the result from last night?” m y friend was worried.

“ s orry, I cannot help it,” I said.

“Will you judge me then?”

“I hope not.” I didn’t want to lie. “You know, it seems like, in this country, many judge me personally simply because of where I come from, which I do not have any right to choose.”

s he looked down.

“ b ut no, I will not judge you based on your own president-to-be, whom your people have every right to choose. True, it would save my time to judge, but I guess I am willing to spend that time. I promise you.”

s he looked up, and I saw it in her eyes, yes, it is faith that explains both our failures and our hopes.

Rebecca Feng is a senior at Notre Dame, double majoring in accounting and English, but travelling and living abroad is her real education. She read Shakespeare and old English poems in Scotland last semester and interned at Forbes Magazine Asia business channel in New York this summer. Email her at yfeng2@nd.edu for story ideas and comments. The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

By MATTHEW MACKE scene Writer

It’s trendy to compare netflix’s british techno-dystopian series “black mirror” to the classic American horror show “The Twilight Zone.” The comparison is fair, as both feature psychological horror plots with a concluding moral lesson, but it’s a comparison that is probably increasingly irrelevant today. I’ve seen maybe three episodes of “The Twilight Zone” in my life — all of which have been at my grandparents’ house, who seem to have only four channel options: local news, public broadcasting, “The big bang Theory” and black-and-white television programs. The first and most influential run of “The Twilight Zone” ended in 1964, though it was revived in the ’80s and (very briefly) in 2002, meaning that most people today remember the show as a piece of television history rather than the biting critique on contemporary culture it offered in its heyday.

The premise of “black mirror” is probably best explained in the show’s name. The show reflects a dark image of our own society. In particular, “black mirror” focuses its criticism on the more alarming facets of our constantly-connected digital age. It extrapolates trends to terrifying levels. The first episode of the new season

— one of the show’s most poignant to date — provides a prime example of this. It features “Jurassic World” star bryce dallas howard as Lacie, a young woman looking to move up in the world. In this world envisioned by “black mirror,” one’s place in society depends on that person’s rating on a scale ranging from one to five stars. People rate every social interaction using their phones, from the way you talked to the cashier to the conversation you had with your boss. essentially, a caste system has emerged, and one’s social media profile determining which caste you fall into. People with high ratings, 4.8 or above, are eligible for better jobs and friendlier mortgages, which is important because Lacie needs some help to afford her dream house. she is invited to be the maid of honor at her old frenemy’s wedding, who just so happens to be a 4.8. Lacie plans to give a great speech and impress everyone on the (very affluent) guest list, propelling herself into a new social class. Unfortunately for Lacie, this is “black mirror,” so things don’t go the way she hopes.

The great thing about this show is that what scares you the most isn’t the grotesque monster or the gruesome death, but the implications of a society that permits these events to happen. The idea of a world where your social media profile determines how successful you are is vastly more disturbing than Lacie’s psychotic breakdown.

Aren’t employers already looking at what potential employees post? Isn’t LinkedIn vital for making professional connections? don’t we “stalk” people on social media to determine if we’ll get along or not? The worlds brought to life in “black mirror” are terrifyingly real.

one of the most amazing aspects of this series is its consistency. From its start back in 2011 to the recent release of the third season, none of the 13 hour-long episodes have fallen flat. To be sure, there are better and worse episodes, but that depends more on personal preference and less on narrative or stylistic shortcomings. Personal opinions about each chapter largely stem from one’s personal relationship with our screen-centric society, ranging from disgusted to amazed to disturbed. That emotional potency, combined with the show creators’ striking visions of the future, makes “black mirror” one of the most engaging shows on television.

It would be easy to call “black mirror” a modern “Twilight Zone” — easy, but unfair. The show falls only a hair’s breadth from the realm of science fiction and it uses stark realism in a way that its sci-fi ancestors never did. “black mirror” is must-see television today because it might be reality tomorrow.

Contact Matthew Macke at mmacke@nd.edu

By JIMMY KEMPER scene Writer

As we descend further into the abyss that is the 2016 notre dame Football season, we at least can take comfort in knowing one thing won’t fail us: tradition. Whether it be the tradition of wistfully remembering years where we didn’t lose to navy or the tradition of selling the rest of our season tickets in Facebook groups after the first home loss, notre dame fans can always rely on glorious tradition to compensate for the fact that we’re probably a basketball school now.

one tradition that has always remained a consistent source of pride for notre dame fans is the uniform. That’s why, every year, brian Kelly, Jack swarbrick and the gang at Under Armour cook up a special shamrock series uniform which throws all sense of tradition out the window in the name of being edgy. This year’s shamrock series uniform is a particularly atrocious affront to tradition at notre dame, as it mashes together military pride, religious imagery and on-campus architecture into a hideous, olive-green mess. but as mike vorel of the south bend Tribune notes in what I assume is the only article ever giving an in-depth criticism of this absurd perversion of notre dame tradition, this uniform isn’t for the fans. It’s not about how many overpriced jerseys they sell in the bookstore or how many #interactions they get with millennials on vine. The shamrock series uniform is about one thing and one thing only: marketing. The shamrock series is one of the best recruiting and marketing tools that notre dame has. dressing our players in ridiculously flashy uniforms in a nationally televised game in the heart of Texas – the epicenter of high school

football – is a fantastic way to attract new recruits to the program who will win football games and contribute to notre dame’s bottom line. so while we wait for Father Jenkins to devise a way to relocate campus crossroads to houston, let’s break down how effective this year’s uniform is:

Helmet: 3/5 Shamrocks

Per usual, the helmet is the least offensive part of the shamrock series uniform. As long as they don’t make it blue like they did for the 2012 game, viewers will be able to tell who the notre dame players are, since it’s the only part of the uniform that vaguely resembles what we’ve been wearing for the past 129 years. however, like the rest of the uniform and frankly, the rest of the football team, the helmet comes with its own share of problems. Under Armour toned down the gold to a deeper yellow shade than our traditional, storied gold. on its own, this isn’t a problem. Thankfully, it’s not the absurdly bright yellow of 2011’s game, which blinded everyone in Fedex Field. Yet because it doesn’t match the gold on either the jersey or the pants, our players will look like three-year-olds who tried dress up for the first time as they walk into the Alamodome on saturday.

Jersey: 2/5 Shamrocks

What happened here? I understand that the goal was to emulate military officer uniforms, but the olive green color simply doesn’t work with the notre dame aesthetic. having the stonework with the “God, country, notre dame” motto from the basilica on the helmet, the gloves and the jersey feels like overkill. combine that with the American flag on the back, and it seems as though we had

to make sure the Army knows we love America more than they do.

The one redeemable aspect of this jersey is the font of the “notre dame” wording. It’s slick and old-school, but the old english style feels surprisingly modern in light of the prominence of “Pablo”-style gear. one of the more unique ways to reach out to the kids.

Pants: 4/5 Shamrocks

While the gold here doesn’t match the bronzier gold of the jerseys, we’ve seen worse from Under Armour. It’s definitely a step above the Green Power ranger uniforms that players wore in Fenway Park last year.

It’s surprisingly minimal given the usual over-branding of shamrocks series gear, featuring only the obligatory Under Armour and notre dame logos.

As we prepare to lose yet another game on saturday, it’s discomforting to know that we won’t even have decent uniforms to compensate for the loss. If this uniform and this season are any indication of the future of notre dame football, then we can all look forward with dread to a 0-12 season in mendoza-themed uniforms.

Contact Jimmy Kemper at jkemper@nd.edu

Happy Birthday: set the stage and live the dream. you will come into your own if you are true to your beliefs. o pen up your heart and share your wisdom and experience. make your home a place of congregation. The greatest gift you can offer is your time, patience and understanding. c hoose mind over matter and a healthy, happy lifestyle. your numbers are 5, 9, 15, 21, 34, 36, 42.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Take good care of health issues. e xercise and proper diet will increase your ability to get things done. Put some time and thought into updating your appearance or picking up knowledge that will help you handle money matters more efficiently.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): d iscuss emotional matters and money concerns with someone you are in a personal relationship or business venture with. It’s important to keep your spending in check if you want to avoid stress and strive for long-term success.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): e motions will be difficult to deal with. sign up for something that will require physical effort, self-improvement or travel. keeping busy will give you the time you need to consider what you should do and execute your plan.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): l ook for a way to turn something you enjoy doing into a moneymaking opportunity. d iscuss your plans and travel to destinations that can offer insight into how to turn your dream into a reality. d on’t be afraid to do things differently.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): l ine up your agenda and get ready to have some fun. Travel, learning and enjoying the company of children, your partner or your peers will boost your popularity. A physical change will result in compliments and will help improve your life.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Take part in events that encourage partnerships or joint ventures. b e bold and discuss what you have to offer. d on’t miss out because someone is playing mind games with you. Tend to your business and let success be your reward..

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): make alterations at home that will encourage you to indulge in the things you want to pursue. nurture relationships and offer incentives to ensure you get the support you need to move forward. A little romance will improve your life.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Take advantage of any function that allows you to promote what you have to offer. your presentation will be well received, but could also result in jealousy. d on’t look back or let anyone slow you down. It’s your turn to advance.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): emotional matters will escalate, increasing your chance of hitting a setback in regards to a relationship or joint venture. l ook for positive solutions to tackle what needs to be done in order to reach your goals.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): An unusual opportunity will come your way. g et involved in organizations that share your vested interests, and you will discover a new way to put your ideas, skills and expertise to use. d on’t follow the crowd -- make them follow you.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Put some energy behind your ideas and you will turn something you want to do into a moneymaking endeavor. Trust in yourself and your ability to follow through and make things happen. A romantic celebration will make your hard work worthwhile.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): c heck out a business opportunity that will help you earn more. A reunion will revive old ideas and dreams as well as a friendship. d on’t share too much with others or it may end up costing you. secrecy is encouraged.

Birthday Baby: you are a dreamer and an explorer. you are original and helpful.

bouts

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opened with a series of jabs, but Kim responded by landing multiple combinations of strikes. despite the strong series of punches, Kim found herself cornered at the end of the second. The next round, Kim came out strong, and derubertis was on defense for the first time in the match, appearing tired. Kim nailed some solid combinations and her punches remained hard, but it was too late. derubertis won the match by unanimous decision.

Casey “remind you of my Love” Gelchion def. a lyssa “Lights out” Loffredo senior casey “remind you of my Love” gelchion of badin represented the blue corner in her fight with junior alyssa “Lights out” Loffredo of Lewis, who stood in the gold corner. gelchion started the match off by landing multiple strong right hooks. her powerful right continued in the first round until the referee stopped the match to check on Loffredo. Loffredo continued the round with her arms up in response to gelchion’s nasty combinations. in the second round, both girls come out with energy, but the match was ultimately called by the referee in the middle of the round, and gelchion was awarded the victory.

Jessica “Jess don’t mess” Wilson def. francesca mancuso off-campus senior francesca mancuso in the blue corner faced off against off-campus junior Jessica “Jess don’t mess” Wilson in the gold corner. Wilson started off strong, but mancuso stayed on the attack as well. mancuso connected a couple of strong combinations, and both fighters showed patience in the ring in the first round. The second round began with both women coming out aggressively. Wilson had two strong right hooks to end the round. The third round opened like the previous two, with energy on both sides. Wilson displayed good footwork and followed with a right hook. Wilson finished strongly with some solid jabs, and mancuso responded with a few counters, but in the end, Wilson won by unanimous decision.

Courtney “Watch the r ight Hook” Wright def. e velyn “Heavy e vy” Stein freshman evelyn “heavy evy” stein from Welsh family wore gold against off-campus senior courtney “Watch the right hook” Wright, who donned blue. Wright set the tone for the match with a strong series of jabs to start. Wright followed stein around the ring and controlled the first round, which finished with Wright backing stein into the corner. in the second round, Wright continued to dominate with her strong combinations. both women seemed stayed determined despite exhaustion in the third round, but stein did not back down. Wright, however, was awarded the win by unanimous decision.

meg “moneyhands” Hunt def. maura “flamingo”

Walsh freshman maura “flamingo” Walsh represented Walsh against junior meg “moneyhands” hunt of pasquerilla east. hunt came out of the gates throwing furious jabs, but Walsh was quick on her feet and showed strong defensive skills. both competitors had strong moments in the first round, but hunt had the edge. To start the second round, hunt threw a few right hooks — even though her dominant hand was her left — followed by a three punch combination. Walsh continued the aggression in the second round. The third round opened with a barrage of punches from Walsh, but hunt responded with two right hooks. at the conclusion of the match, hunt delivered a body shot followed by a big right hook to the head of Walsh. as a result, hunt won the match in the end by unanimous decision.

Contact Brenna Moxley at bmoxley@nd.edu

By ELIZABETH GREASON sports Writer

Shannon “KaPow” Chiao def. Grace “ace” maxwell grace “ace” maxwell, a cavanaugh senior, came out strong in the first round, as she landed some solid punches to shannon “Kapow” chiao’s torso. she forced chiao, a fellow cavanaugh senior, onto the defensive quickly, knocking her slightly off balance. however, chiao came into the second round with a much more aggressive attitude, aiming for maxwell’s head. While maxwell was able to get chiao trapped in a corner, chiao escaped and went back on the offensive. in the final round, chiao dominated, attacking maxwell’s gut and torso relentlessly. chiao was able to trap maxwell against the ropes and score some good hits, sealing her win. chiao defeated maxwell by split decision.

Samantha “Sam i a m” davies def. Caro “end of the Line” Chiaromonte samantha “sam i am” davies, an off-campus senior, got out to a strong and fast start and never looked back. her opponent, caro “end of the Line” chiaromonte, also an off-campus senior, was forced onto the defensive early in the matchup. davies attacked with series of rapid-fire jabs to the head, but chiaromonte was able to recover quickly. in the second round, davies became increasingly aggressive. chiaromonte began to tire and struggle to defend herself. davies trapped chiaromonte in a corner, and although chiaromonte escaped, she struggled to recover. in the final round, both fighters appeared to tire, but davies’ punches continued to be much more significant than chiaromonte’s. as a result, davies was declared the winner by unanimous decision.

a riel navotas def. ellen “dedangerous” mcCourt Welsh family senior ariel navotas dominated her fight against off-campus senior ellen “dedangerous” mccourt. navotas’ fast and powerful jabs gave her an advantage over mccourt, who

attempted to keep navotas at bay but was unable to match navotas’ speed. While the two appeared evenly-matched at first, in the second round, navotas began to get lower and pick up momentum, attacking mccourt’s torso and not letting her bigger opponent use her height. Toward the end of the second round, mccourt went on the offensive. however, navotas responded and came out strong in the final round. navotas’ technique remained sound throughout the match, and she was awarded the victory by unanimous decision.

Kathryn “oh no” Kehoe def. natalie “nattyChappo” Treadwell

Kathryn “oh no” Kehoe, a junior from Lewis, and natalie “nattychappo” Treadwell, a ryan sophomore, appeared evenly matched throughout the fight. both fighters had long wingspans, and both were effective at keeping the other at bay while protecting themselves. Kehoe came out more aggressively than Treadwell, but neither fighter gained much of an advantage until the second round. both fighters had similar approaches to the fight, as each would back away from her opponent to collect herself before attacking in a short spurt. in the end, it was Kehoe who took control in the third and final round with some powerful punches. Treadwell was able to defend against Kehoe with her speed, as she kept Kehoe moving around the ring, but Kehoe ended the fight with a solid hook to the side of Treadwell’s face, sealing her win by unanimous decision.

marissa “The minnesota monster” Kivi def. victoria “british inva Zn” Johnston marissa “The minnesota monster” Kivi, a sophomore in Lewis, took control early in the first round as she knocked over her opponent, off-campus senior victoria “british invaZn” Johnston. Johnston sought for a way back into the contest, but after escaping the ropes, Kivi again went on the offensive. she trapped Johnston, forcing the referee to pause the fight momentarily. once the bout resumed, Kivi was quickly able to trap Johnston once again. in the second round, Kivi continued her fast pace. While Johnston was able to put her entire body weight behind each jab for some good hits, Kivi’s hooks to the side of the face overpowered her. in the final round, both fighters appeared tired, and the match effectively came to an end when Kivi trapped Johnston in a corner before laying down a series of strong punches. Kivi won by unanimous decision.

Sophia “Hoops” Hooper def. mary “Had a Little Lamb” Lessard off-campus senior sophia “hoops” hooper, formerly of breen-phillips, came out with a vengeance. she knocked mary “had a Little Lamb” Lessard, a pasquerilla West junior, off balance within seconds, causing Lessard to fall. The two appeared more evenly matched in the second round, however, but hooper’s punches still made more of an impact than Lessard’s. While

the match was slow paced, Lessard was forced completely onto the defensive in the final round, as hooper attacked her torso. hooper was awarded the victory by unanimous decision.

madalyn “mo Chuisle” Schulte def. micaela “i a in’t Sorry” mitchell mcglinn sophomore madalyn “mo chuisle” schulte’s technical prowess shone through in her matchup against farley junior micaela “i ain’t sorry” mitchell. schulte got off to a fast, powerful start, aiming for mitchell’s head with her very first jabs. mitchell responded, however, with jabs to the head as well. schulte trapped mitchell against the ropes early, but mitchell was able to escape. both fighters moved around the ring swiftly, staying alert on defense while simultaneously looking for an opening. This continued in the second round, as schulte was able to move mitchell around the ring and keep her on the defensive. on several occasions, schulte managed to get close and land some strong hits on her opponent. in the final round, a quick series of jabs to the face from schulte, combined with her strong, impactful hooks, caused the referee to stop the fight and award schulte the victory.

Contact Elizabeth Greason at egreason@nd.edu

By RACHEL O’GRADY sports Writer

Kaley “Let’s Get” Cohen def. Kathryn “Ko” o’Callaghan Kaley “Let’s get” cohen, an offcampus senior, defeated Kathryn “Ko” o’callaghan, a senior from badin, by unanimous decision after an evenly-matched fight. cohen came out strong in the second round, with a number of jabs to her opponent’s head. o’callaghan’s quick footwork tired cohen out, however, which proved for a feisty third round, with both fighters throwing a flurry of quick jabs. cohen excelled in the third round, and a number of quick ducks saved her from o’callaghan’s punches directed at the head, allowing her to take home the victory by unanimous decision as o’callaghan’s punches lacked the impact they had at the beginning of the match.

emma “Gloves of Glory” Spiess def. mary driewer “fever” after a defensive match by both fighters, emma “gloves of glory” spiess defeated mary driewer “fever” by split decision. spiess, a freshman from Welsh family, matched evenly with driewer, a senior from pasquerilla West, as they traded punches around the ring. spiess came out with a burst of energy in the second round, giving her an advantage, despite a large blow from driewer as the round came to an end. going into the final round, both fighters exploded into the ring for an aggressive end to the round as spiess narrowly claimed the win via split decision.

Shannon “Ginger Snap” Hodges def. Caroline o’Grady

despite a tough fight from both fighters, off-campus senior and captain shannon “ginger snap” hodges defeated flaherty freshman caroline o’grady by split decision. o’grady came out with a burst of energy in the first round, dodging hodges initial jabs to the head and making her way quickly around the ring. however, hodges was able to land effective punches on o’grady. The fighters did not move much around the ring in the second round, as o’grady was able to execute a number of successful hooks and jabs to hodges’ head. both fighters came into the final round dealing with exhaustion and their punches started landing with less impact. hodges came out on top in the close fight, winning by split decision.

[editor’s note: caroline o’grady is the sister of sports writer rachel o’grady.]

a shley “big berd” berding def. madeline “maddog” Hagan madeline “maddog” hagan, a junior in Walsh, started out strong and aggressive in her fight against off-campus law student ashley “big berd” berding, landing key punches in the first round. however, as the first round came to a close, berding landed a key hit, giving her the momentum to take control of the fight. berding used the corner to her advantage, trapping hagan there a number of times to execute several powerful hits. footwork also came in handy for berding, as she maneuvered her way around the ring effectively throughout the match. hagan saw a brief resurgence in the final round, utilizing the ropes to her advantage, but she ultimately fell to berding by unanimous decision.

Caroline “ vanilla Killa” Haley def. Jessica Zlacket in a match attended by fanatic supporters for both fighters, caroline “vanilla Killa” haley defeated Jessica Zlacket by unanimous decision. Zlacket, a sophomore in flaherty, started the round with a number of powerful hits, but haley, a sophomore in mcglinn, fought back with equally decisive punches. as the match wore on, haley began to surge, landing a succession of wild punches and keeping the fight moving around the ring. The fight looked even going into the third round, but Zlacket’s punches began to lose impact as the fight drew to a close, and haley was declared the victor by unanimous decision.

Christa “boo boo” Zubic def. Katelyn “from Chicago” berens in an aggressive showing by both of the fighters, the referee stopped the fight between flaherty sophomore christa “boo boo” Zubic and off-campus senior Katelyn “from chicago” berens, giving Zubic the victory. The first round proved challenging for berens, as she was unable to stop a flurry of punches from Zubic. both fighters moved around the ring, and berens was able to stay alive with quick footwork and agility throughout the

Wesleyan on nov. 3, which the Irish won, 129-50.

“We’re really excited that we’re going to get to play really great competition, we’re going to have it all be at home and, really, just get a chance to play with each other and get a feel for how the season is going to be,” Irish sophomore guard marina mabrey said of notre dame hosting this year’s rendition of the preseason W n IT to begin its season.

o n paper, the c hippewas pose a difficult first-round matchup for the Irish. After claiming last season’s m Ac West division title and championship appearance in the conference’s postseason tournament, c entral m ichigan was picked to win the m Ac regular season title heading into this year by the conference’s coaches.

The c hippewas are lead by a trio of returning players who averaged double figures in scoring last season. s ophomore guard Presley hudson led the team with 13.9 points per game last season and led her team in 3-point attempts with 258. Junior forward Tinara moore finished just behind hudson at 13.7 points per game while also leading the team in rebounds, averaging 9.6 per game. Junior guard c assie breen rounds out the trio, as she scored 12.6 points per game while shooting over 40 percent from the 3-point line last season on 229

attempts. b oth hudson and moore were also named to preseason All-m Ac West team. d espite the talent of their first opponent and its ability to shoot from beyond the arc, the Irish are treating this game as they would every other, mabrey said.

“We really prepare for every game the exact same way, so we’re keeping things intense in practice, focusing on what the coaches are saying … really just coming in intense and ready right from the start,” mabrey said.

That intensity and focus showed through in the team’s exhibition affair against the redhawks, as the Irish shot nearly 62 percent from the field — including 60 percent from beyond the arc — en route to seeing six players score at least 15 points in the 129-point outburst.

should the Irish carry that momentum forward and defeat the c hippewas on Friday, other potential matchups for notre dame in the tournament field include no. 17 Washington and no. 24 m issouri.

The Irish are not looking ahead, however, but rather are simply looking to capitalize on their excitement and preseason work to start the regular season, mabrey said.

“We’re really excited,” she said. “We’ve been working really hard in preseason, and I think that we’re just ready for the season to start now.”

Contact Ben Padanilam at bpadanil@nd.edu

senior guard steve vasturia and junior forward bonzie colson, have been named this season’s captains, and, according to brey, they’re more than ready to lead this season’s team to another deep tournament run.

“The older guys are kind of like, ‘Alright, here we go,’” brey said. “This is all part of [their] resume. starting saturday is part of [their] resume, and so I think there’s a heightened awareness and they’re excited that we have a bunch of games coming in a row so we don’t have to practice six days in between games. We get to play other people. With the summer practices and the september practices … we’ve been together a lot, and it’s been good — it’s really been good — but you can get some burnout with pounding on each other a little bit. I like that we have a couple of games coming, and we can evaluate them in that and see how some of our young guys play in that atmosphere.”

The Irish managed to play a handful of new players, including last season’s four-star high school recruit, freshman guard T.J. gibbs. The scotch Plains, new Jersey, native came off the

bench for Farrell and played a total of 35 minutes in the preseason, recording a total of 19 points and 13 assists. The other new face, sophomore forward e lijah burns — who redshirted last season — scored 14 points and had five rebounds in 24 minutes of preseason action.

brey acknowledged that with the season starting, many of his players won’t see the minutes they saw in the preseason, but that’s all part of finding a consistent rotation that will give the team a rhythm as it progresses throughout the season he added.

“That’s where the reality will come in on saturday,” brey said.

“The minutes won’t all be the same. Then, you have to spend time and be ready — number one, the assistants with those guys who are playing and still talking to them about big picture, and then eventually my communication with them and getting to really managing guys and their psyche during that time. saturday is when it’ll start, and then we’ll have a couple [games] in a row.”

notre dame hosts bryant in its season opener saturday at Purcell Pavilion. Tipoff is scheduled for noon.

Contact Manny De Jesus at mdejesus@nd.edu

interhall

four remain in race to notre dame stadium

no. 1 St. edward’s vs. no. 5 duncan

By BRENNAN BUHR sports Writer

a s st. e dward’s and d uncan enter the semifinals, it is the last chance for the two teams to prove themselves worthy of playing in notre dame stadium.

for the no. 1 g entlemen (40), an undefeated season was in jeopardy last week against no. 8 c arroll, but they were able to ultimately pull out a razor-thin 7-6 victory. even as the top seed in the tournament, the g entlemen are not taking things for granted against a no. 5 d uncan team (3-1) coming off its first-ever playoff victory. s enior st. e dward’s captain phineas a ndrews trusts his team’s ability to execute on sunday and he praised the g entlemen’s overall spirit and mindset coming into the game.

“The team is very excited to compete in another playoff game and hopefully earn the opportunity to play in the stadium next week,” a ndrews said. “it’s always natural to have a little anxiety, but i would say the team is motivated more than anything else.”

a ndrews also said that d uncan poses several unique challenges on offense that st. e dward’s must plan for.

“They’ve got several guys who can make plays with the ball in their hands,” he said. “We need to limit big plays and not give up any easy points when on defense.”

o n the other side of the ball, a ndrews said that putting in a four-quarter effort and sticking to the fundamentals will give the g entlemen a good chance to prevail on sunday.

“o n offense, we are just working on executing our blocking schemes on run plays and improving our timing in the pass game,” a ndrews said. “o verall, d uncan has a pretty physical team so we are just looking forward to a tough, fun football game on sunday.” for the h ighlanders, last week’s 27-14 triumph over a lumni was not only the first playoff victory in dorm

W Soccer

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siue entered its conference tournament as a n o. 4 seed before upsetting both top-seeded murray s tate and n o. 2 e astern Kentucky. The c ougars are making just their second appearance in the tournament — the first occurring back in 2014. The c ougars had previously made five appearances in the ncaa d ivision ii tournament. The

history, but was also a significant motivating factor that has propelled the team to a high level of confidence in sunday’s game. Junior matthew Kase, filling in as team captain for the h ighlanders in place of junior captain Thomas staffieri, who is out with a concussion, demonstrated the upbeat attitude that his entire team has adopted.

“We are very motivated coming into this semifinal game,” Kase said. “This is d uncan’s first-ever playoff appearance. it has been really fun for all of us to change the perception of d uncan hall football. We would love to keep it rolling this weekend.”

i n preparation for sunday’s game, Kase said the h ighlanders need to hone in on stopping the g entlemen’s talented and multi-faceted offense.

“st. e dward’s runs almost everything they do through their quarterback,” Kase said. “We are focusing on shutting him down and hopefully everything else can fall into place.”

The game kicks off at 2:30 p.m. sunday at La bar p ractice c omplex.

Contact Brennan Buhr at bbuhr@nd.edu

no. 2 Keenan v. no. 3

Stanford

By MEAGAN BENS sports Writer

The “b attle for the c hapel” between rivals Keenan and stanford will kick off sunday, as stanford looks to maintain the name of the c hapel. for as long as no. 2 Keenan (4-0) senior captain m ichael Koller can remember, the rivalry between the two dorms has been intense and whoever ends up being victorious has bragging rights for the remainder of the year.

“e very year — except this year — we play stanford in the regular season once, and since we share a chapel, whoever wins the game gets the first name of the chapel,” Koller said. “s o if Keenan won the game, you can call it the Keenan-stanford c hapel; if

i rish and the c ougars have met once before in a match that ended in a 4-0 i rish victory back in 1991.

f riday’s matchup will take place at 7 p.m. at a lumni s tadium, and should they advance, n otre d ame will still be in line to have its second and third round matches on home turf as well.

o verall, the ncaa selection committee named seven acc teams to be a part of this year’s tournament — the most teams from any

stanford won the game, it’d be the stanford-Keenan c hapel. it’s a fun but also huge rivalry since we live right next to each other. my rector said he tried to talk to rec sports to see if we could get stanford back in our division this year, but luckily we have the chance to play them in the playoffs this year. stanford started getting a lot better during my four years here, so they are always one of the hardest teams we have to play, and both teams play a little harder due to the rivalry.”

a cknowledging the additional pressure of being in the semifinals along with facing their biggest rival, no. 3 stanford (4-1) senior captain Kevin Kohler discussed that the game will be close and low-scoring.

“Looking at Keenan’s past scores and their shutouts, their defense is strong and they score enough to win, especially after watching them play siegfried last week,” Kohler said. “it’s going to be a low-scoring game and points

conference. f ellow acc foes n o. 2-seed n orth c arolina, n o. 3-seeds c lemson, f lorida s tate, v irginia and d uke and unseeded n orth c arolina s tate comprise the acc tournament field. o nly the b lue d evils sit in the same region as the i rish, with a potential s weet 16 matchup awaiting the two teams. h istorically, n otre d ame has fared well in the ncaa tournament and have won three of the 29 ncaa national championships, the

will be at a premium. We have to not have turnovers in the red zone, which has hurt us in previous games.”

since the Knights and griffins are not in the same division this season, Koller said he does not know as much about the specifics of stanford’s performance this year, but he did note that the level of physicality is expected to be elevated for this game.

“i honestly don’t know much about the team since they aren’t in our division now, but i know they are always really hard hitters,” Koller said. “i know the level of intensity will be increased this game, and i know from the past that they’ve had a lot of big, strong linebackers and linemen which makes it more physical. We don’t really prep too much for the specific team we are playing ‘cause we don’t want to change the way we play. usually we stick with the same strategies and our players are knowledgeable enough to make adjustments in the game as it goes. We do our best and if

most recent coming in 2010. The team has made it to the ncaa semifinals 12 times total, with five of those coming in just the last decade. i f n otre d ame is able to make it out of their region, which includes the likes of not only d uke, but n o. 1 West v irginia and n o. 4 uc L a as well, the i rish will head out West as the semifinals and finals of the tournament will be held d ec. 2 and 4 at avaya s tadium in s an Jose, c alifornia.

it’s good enough to win, that’s awesome.”

Kohler also said that stanford will not prepare any differently for the upcoming game.

“We are going to continue to do what we have done previously this season, for the most part,” Kohler said. “We will have practice and probably meet again before the game. o ur primary focus before the game is on longer walk throughs. g uys are not always available during the week, so we meet two hours before the game to run through offense, defense and special teams. We are going to keep rolling, have chemistry between our receivers and quarterback and make sure our players are in sync. The defense needs to stick to their runs, and we need control our nerves and show up with intensity.”

The “b attle for the c hapel” will kick off at 1 p.m. sunday at La b ar p ractice c omplex.

Contact Meagan Bens at mbens@nd.edu

The winner of f riday’s matchup between the i rish and the c ougars will take on the winner of Kent s tate and n orthwestern, set to play s aturday at 4 p.m. b oth teams have each had just two losses on the season with Kent s tate coming from the m id- a merican c onference and n orthwestern representing the b ig-10.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m., as the i rish start on what they hope to be the road to the championship.

ND to take on Central Michigan in home opener

By BEN PADANILAM Associate sports e ditor

n o. 1 notre d ame will kick off its regular season Friday when it welcomes c entral m ichigan to Purcell Pavilion for the first round of the preseason W n IT.

The Irish will open their season competing in the 16team preseason tournament for the fifth time in program history and the first time since 2011, when they lost on the road to the eventualnc AA champions that year, b aylor, in the tournament’s final game.

This year, as the tournament’s top seed, the Irish would host all four games should they advance at each stage of the bracket. Friday’s game against the c hippewas, however, doubles as the team’s home opener for this season after a single exhibition game against r oberts

First quarterfinal fights take place

By DARCY DEHAIS sports Writer

kyra “she Got the” Powers def. sofia “la bestia” carozza

Junior Kyra “she Got The” Powers of mcGlinn bested sophomore sofia “La bestia” carozza of cavanaugh by unanimous decision. The match began with both competitors coming out strong, matching each other closely. Toward the end of the first round, Powers forced carozza into the corner of the ring, dominating the match up to that point. carozza came out ready to fight in the second round, but the referee stopped the match to allow her to tend to a bloody nose. she had the upper hand after the break, throwing hooks to Powers’ body. The match closed with Powers landing several strong hits to carozza’s head, sealing the victory.

nikki “not kelly” micelotta def. elizabeth “the striker” stoeckl

In a battle of seniors, off-campus resident nikki “not Kelly” micelotta dominated elizabeth “The striker” stoeckl of cavanaugh, winning by unanimous decision. stoeckl,

Irish look forward to NCAA tournament run Irish to open regular season

By MANNY DE JESUS s ports Writer

c oming off two straight e lite e ight appearances, notre dame will begin its 2016-2017 campaign against bryant on s aturday at Purcell Pavilion.

Just as they were after their first e lite e ight run two seasons ago, the Irish were met with a multitude of questions regarding who would lead the new-look team after it walked off the court this past march.

Following a couple of preseason games — in which the Irish defeated mercy 119-58 and c atholic 103-48 — Irish head coach m ike brey said he is more than confident in his team’s abilities from what he saw in the exhibition slate. more than anything, he’s hoping notre dame’s passing continues to excel.

“I would love to see us keep sharing that ball,” brey said.

“A couple of things that I’ve stressed on tape to them this morning is that I loved our

outlets. We’re getting the ball out. I love how we’re skip passing. We’re throwing that ball across the court, and we’re stretching the floor. Again, our unselfishness has been excellent. We’re making sure we’re getting great shots for the most part. I don’t think we’re taking bad shots.”

Against mercy and c atholic, the Irish recorded 26 and 28 assists, respectively. Junior guard matt Farrell, who will make his first career regular season start in the season opener, led the team in that category in both games by recording 18 total assists. In addition to Farrell, junior forward martinas Geben will make just his second career start against bryant. he scored 23 points and pulled down 16 boards between his two trial games as the team’s new big man.

The other three starters, senior forward v.J. b eachem,

who was at a height disadvantage, struggled against micelotta’s tireless offensive aggression. micelotta chased stoeckl around the ring until she was backed into a corner to close the first round. In the second round, micelotta felt the exhaustion from the previous round, letting her hands drop on defense and allowing for stoical to take advantage. Although appearing tired in the final round, micelotta remained strong to finish the fight with several strong jabs to the head to close the match, earning the victory.

sharon “ending climate” chiang def. sophie “the k iller” tiller

In a very close match, senior sharon “ending climate” chiang of Welsh Family pulled out a splitdecision victory against sophomore sophie “The Killer” Tiller of breen-Phillips. The match was close throughout between these fierce competitors, with each boxer demonstrating quick footwork. chiang managed to land several shots to the head early on, causing Tiller to fall to her knees. recovering quickly in the second

Observer Sports Staff

This Friday at Alumni s tadium, second-seeded n otre d ame will begin its quest to win the program’s fourth national championship as the nc AA tournament gets underway.

For the Irish (13-3-4, 7-1-2 A cc ), this marks an impressive 24th consecutive appearance in the nc AA d ivision I s occer c hampionship. After a strong finish to their season, which saw them go home with the regular-season A cc title, the Irish suffered a disappointing defeat in the conference tournament semifinals at the hands of n o. 1-seed n orth c arolina. d espite the loss, n otre d ame still comes into the nc AA tournament as a n o. 2 seed and will host o hio valley c onference champion s IU- e dwardsville (10-7-4, 6-3-1 ovc ) as announced during the field of 64 selection by the d ivision I Women’s s occer c ommittee.