PDF for Wednesday, December 4, 2013

nd sues for relief from HHs mandate

University re-files lawsuit against U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

By MARISA IATI

a ssistant managing e ditor

notre dame re-filed a lawsuit Tuesday for relief from a mandate of the department of health and human Services (hhS) that the university claims violates its right to religious freedom.

The mandate requires employers, including notre dame and similar religious organizations, to provide contraceptives through their insurance plans or through third-party administrators.

The complaint, filed in u.S. district court for the northern district of indiana, called on the court to rule that the hhS mandate

violates the First amendment, the religious Freedom restoration act and other laws. The lawsuit names hhS Secretary kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of labor Thomas perez, Treasury Secretary Jacob lew and their respective departments as defendants.

“What’s at stake is this fundamental right of religious organizations to be exempt from government interference in their religious practice,” university president Fr. John Jenkins told The observer on Tuesday. “So, really, for me, it’s not about the contraceptive services or any particular thing. it’s about that larger issue of the fundamental right of any

religious organization, whatever the religion, to live out its mission without government interference.”

The university initially filed a lawsuit challenging the mandate in may 2012. a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit in January, ruling that notre dame’s claim was not yet “ripe,” meaning it was not ready to be litigated because the university had not incurred any damages as a result of the mandate.

a university press release published Tuesday stated the university now seeks relief from the courts because the mandate

Former admin claims discrimination

By NICOLE MICHELS

a ssistant managing e ditor

dr. g david moss, former assistant vice president of academic affairs, filed a lawsuit in federal court in South Bend against the university and vice president for Student a ffairs erin hoffmannharding, in response to alleged discrimination he faced from the administration.

moss, who now works as an administrator with the South Bend community School corp., sued because he was demoted following his condemnation of two

incidents of racial discrimination at the university in the spring 2012 term.

The complaint alleges moss pursued a promotion from his position as assistant vice president of student affairs to associate vice president of student affairs.

Subsequently, the complaint asserts hoffmann-harding demoted moss to the post of senior consultant while attempting to arrange his further demotion or termination.

hoffmann-harding indicated

Army ROTC battalion wins top award

By LESLEY STEVENSON news Writer

The notre dame a rmy reserve officer Training corps (roTc) battalion outperformed the other 272 collegiate roTc programs across the nation to win the order of the Founders and patriots of a merica award, according to a university press release.

The order of the Founders and patriots of a merica award is considered the “heisman Trophy” of a rmy roTc and honors one outstanding roTc battalion each year for success in military

science and academic programs, according to the press release.

The Fightin’ irish Battalion also won the award in 1986 and 1988.

lieutenant colonel John polhamus, professor of military science, said the battalion’s cadets are the reason nd a rmy roTc received the award.

“We always say that this is truly a cadet-driven battalion, and to me this award really validates that and it goes to show how well-rounded our cadets are,” polhamus said. “The award is really about them.

e xpert restores statue of Jesus

By TORI ROECK

a ssociate news e ditor

a pedestal reading “venite ad me omnes,” l atin for “come to me everyone,” still stands on g od Quad, but the invitation currently lacks a speaker.

The pedestal normally supports the Sacred heart of Jesus statue, which has stood there since 1893, according to the notre dame archives, but this image of Jesus was removed in late november for restoration.

charles l oving, director and curator of the g eorge r ickey Sculpture a rchive at the Snite museum of a rt, said he put the university in touch with Thomas podnar, a sculpture conservator from the mckay l odge conservation l aboratory in oberlin, ohio. podnar is to restore the Sacred heart of Jesus and three other campus statues: notre dame (our mother) at the north end of notre dame avenue, Father Sorin on g od

see STaTue PAGE 5

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Policies

Shourik Dutta freshman keough hall “p rancer.”

Cole Wintheiser freshman morrisey manor “dasher.”

Melchior Perella-Saverese freshman Zahm hall “v ixen.”

Melange Gavin freshman Badin hall “rudolph, duh!”

Ali Flores freshman pangborn hall “v ixen.”

Rich Hidy sophomore dillon hall “l ebron!”

Irish senior safety Austin Collinsworth successfully stops Stanford junior quarterback Kevin Hogan on the one-yard line at the start of the second quarter on Saturday. Hogan finished with eight carries for 32 yards, but failed to get into the

as Stanford won 27-20.

Today’s Staff

Corrections

The observer regards itself as a professional publication and strives for the highest standards of journalism at all times. We do, however, recognize that we will make mistakes. i f we have made a mistake, please contact us at (574) 631-4541 so we can correct our error.

Learn about the oneyear masters degree.

Snapshots with Santa LaFortune Student Center

7 p.m.-10 p.m.

Take pictures with campus celebrities.

Thursday

Zen Meditation Coleman-Morse Center

5:15 p.m.-6:15 p.m. Held in the Meditation Room.

Syria: Why it Matters to US Hesburgh Center

7:30 p.m.-9:15 p.m.

Talk by aid worker Kenan Rahmani.

Friday

Soup and Substance on HIV/AIDS Geddes Hall 12:30 p.m.-1:30 p.m.

Lunch and discussion in the Coffee House.

Track and Field Loftus Sports Center 5 p.m.-9 p.m. Blue and Gold Invitational.

Saturday

Transpose Show: “City Beat” South Dining

2 p.m. and 7 p.m.

See Notre Dame’s dance collective.

Holiday Gift Auction Robinson Center

4 p.m.-6 p.m.

$5 ticket includes auction, entertainment, and refreshments.

Sunday

Classic Film: “It’s a Wonderful Life”

DeBartolo Performing Arts Center

3 p.m.-5:15 p.m. Free for ND students.

Advent Lessons and Carols Basilica of the Sacred Heart

7:15 p.m.-8:15 p.m. With all Basilica choirs.

Freshman spotlights ND community on blog

By JACK ROONEY news Writer

every person at notre dame has his or her own story, and one freshman is trying to tell as many of them as possible on her new blog.

Freshman laura gruszka lives in cavanaugh hall and operates the recently established blog, “i a m notre dame.” gruszka officially launched the blog on nov. 21 and said the page already has over 4,000 views, more than she ever imagined.

The blog seeks to tell the story of people within the notre dame community, whether the subject is a student, faculty member, fan or has some other connection to the university, no matter how small.

The blog’s “our goal” section says, “notre dame is more than just a campus. more than just a college. more than just a university. people who pass through campus even once (or never have the chance) find themselves irrevocably entwined into the ‘notre dame family,’ a community of people that spans generations, continents, genders, orientations, creeds and colors.”

gruszka said she was inspired by a similar blog, “humans of new york,” which features

short posts about people in new york city with accompanying pictures.

“i saw the blog humans of new york and i was fascinated. Seeing that made me realize there was more to the world than my own little bubble,” gruszka said. “a nd when i came [to notre dame] i realized how connected everyone is and how special this place is.”

gruszka, who is originally from valparaiso, ind., said she does not restrict the blog to students and faculty of notre dame.

“it’s not limited to just the students. even the people of South Bend who aren’t a part of the university are still affected by it and have a story,” gruszka said.

gruszka plays percussion for the notre dame band and said her friends in the band opened her eyes to the diversity of the university.

“There’s more diversity here than there was at my high school, and meeting all the people on drum line made me realize just how special notre dame is,” gruszka said.

gruszka said she will interview “basically anyone” for the blog, but she needs to be brave enough to approach someone she thinks is interesting.

gruszka said people have been “crazy willing” to talk to

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her for the blog.

“That’s just the notre dame family, i guess. When i ask people if they have a minute to talk, they always say ‘yeah,’” gruszka said.

gruszka said she is grateful for the support and encouragement she has received from friends and strangers alike.

“i am so humbled and grateful that i just don’t know what to say,” gruszka said. “everyone has just been very supportive.”

gruska said she plans to keep the blog active throughout her time at notre dame, but does not yet know what she will do if the blog is still fruitful at the end of her senior year.

“i though it would be cool to keep it running through my four years as a testament to my time at notre dame,” gruszka said. “if it lasts until senior year, i’ll figure out what to do with it then.”

gruszka said she tries to keep herself out of the blog and simply let people tell their own stories.

“it’s not about me. i want it to be about the people of notre dame and i am the vehicle for them,” guszka said. “i try to keep myself out of it as much as possible.”

Contact Jack Rooney at jrooney1@nd.edu

Snowy BYU weekend honors football seniors

By ANN MARIE JAKUBOWSKI news e ditor

notre dame’s home football season wrapped up with the nov. 23 game against Brigham young university in frigid weather, and director of game day operations mike Seamon said it was a “very successful” weekend celebrating the team’s 31 seniors.

Seamon said the highlight was recognizing the contributions the senior players made to the program at the Friday Football luncheon, the pep rally and the pre-game program.

“overall, it was a great weekend honoring all the seniors and their contributions to notre dame,” Seamon said. at the pep rally Friday night, captains Bennett Jackson, TJ Jones and Zack martin spoke about their experience as part of the team and the university. a highlight video was shown for each captain at the pep rally, and all seniors were recognized with

highlight videos during the Friday luncheon.

“despite the extremely cold weather, there was still a sizeable crowd on campus for the home season finale,” Seamon said. “The tunnel on Friday had 4,150 visitors and the pep rally at the compton [Family ice arena] had approximately 6,800 in attendance.

“We estimated that there were approximately 85,000 fans on campus for the Byu weekend.”

phil Johnson, chief of police for notre dame Security police, said the day turned out well from his group’s perspective despite the cold weather and snow.

“Traffic ran smoothly and there were no reported crashes,” Johnson said. “police made two custodial arrests Saturday, nov. 23. one man was arrested for public intoxication and possession of marijuana and the other for public intoxication.”

Contact Ann Marie Jakubowski at ajakubo1@nd.edu

Smc screens documentary on girls’ education

By CHELSEY FATTAL news Writer

The film “girl rising,” which tells the stories of nine girls from different parts of the world all seeking education, will be shown today at 5:15 p.m. in the vander vennet Theatre of the Saint mary’s Student center.

connie adams, administrative director of Belles against violence (Bavo) said the film is well suited to the mission of Saint mary’s as a women’s educational institution.

“What if there are females in the world not obtaining an education? Who will fight for them if you don’t?”

Connie Adams administrative director Belles Against Violence

“The featured film is about the strength of the human spirit and the power of education that will work to transform societies,” adams said. “as an institution, we are dedicated to the empowerment and education of women. Saint mary’s is the perfect venue

to feature this film and provide a space for dialogue on the importance of education for girls and women.”

The documentary illuminates the general prevalence of the gender issues in countries around the world, where females are commonly neglected educational opportunities, simply because of their gender, adams said.

adams said admission to the screening is free and she hoped it would be well-attended by students, especially those unfamiliar with global education issues and education policy.

“We have a passion for equality and women’s issues, and we want to be active in spreading this interest. our goal is to support, empower, educate and challenge our fellow students,” adams said. “What if there are females in the world not obtaining an education? Who will fight for them if you don’t?”

adams said the idea to sponsor a showing of “girl rising” originated among the members of Bavo Bavo is sponsoring the film screening in collaboration with the women’s education organization She’s the First and Saint mary’s campus ministry, adams said.

Contact Chelsey Fattal at cfatta01@saintmarys.edu

will take effect Jan. 1, 2014.

under the final iteration of the mandate, which the obama administration announced on July 2, an organization that objects to providing contraceptives on religious grounds can offer employees a plan that does not provide contraceptive coverage. The health insurer administering the plan then enrolls employees in a separate, individual, private policy that only covers contraceptives at no extra cost.

notre dame is self-insured. a self-insured organization that

Lawsuit

to moss that she was considering terminating his employment from summer 2012 until august 2013, the complaint claims.

moss supervised the call to action movement, an a fricana merican student group, in the spring of 2012 as part of his job duties, the complaint alleges. during this time, the complaint asserts someone or a group of people targeted the group, leaving pieces of fried chicken in the organization’s mailbox on two separate occasions.

moss responded comprehensively and vocally to these racial stereotyping actions on campus, the complaint asserts, and his actions earned significant publicity both on and off campus. his response included supporting the call to action movement, calling for investigation of the incidents and planning ways to “address the underlying racism on campus that caused them,” the complaint alleges.

moss sought promotion after his public involvement with the movement, and the complaint alleges hoffmann-harding’s subsequent actions in demoting and threatening moss with termination were motivated by race and in retaliation for moss’s contributions to the call to action student group.

moss is seeking monetary damages and a judgment that proves the university’s actions were unconstitutional and violated federal employment statutes.

university spokesman dennis Brown said the university is investigating the complaint.

“We are examining the complaint, which we just received, but we’re confident that mr. moss was treated fairly during his employment, and we reject the claim that we discriminate,” Brown said. “We also want to make it clear that the incidents that occurred in February 2012 were unacceptable. We have taken them very seriously and — as evidenced by the committee on diversity appointed by [university president] Fr. Jenkins earlier this year — we continue to make every effort to ensure that our campus is welcoming to all.”

Brown said the town hall meeting called by the university

objects to providing contraceptives can notify its third-party healthcare administrator that it objects.

The administrator then “notifies enrollees in the health plans that it is providing or arranging separate no-cost payments for contraceptive services for them for as long as they remain enrolled in the health plan,” according to the hhS website.

“What we have to do is we have to write a letter saying we object to these services, and then this third-party administrator is obligated by the government to provide them,” Jenkins said. “So, we have to cooperate in that,

in response to the discriminatory incidents has been employed as a way to train staff.

and our objection is with the cooperation.”

Jenkins said the lawsuit is not specifically about contraceptives, but about notre dame’s right to practice the catholic faith.

“What it is about is the fundamental right of a religious organization to live out its mission, to follow its own teaching, rather than the government mandate of the day,” he said. “We feel we have a right grounded in the constitution and in standing legislation to be exempt from [the hhS mandate], … and we want that right recognized.

“now, if the government wants to provide those [contraceptive]

services another way, that’s their business. We’re not trying to prevent that. We’re just saying, ‘let us live out our mission.’”

a n email the office of human resources (ohr) sent to faculty and staff Tuesday stated “the university will continue to provide coverage for contraceptives when medically necessary for reasons other than contraceptive purposes.”

The university engaged in discussions about the mandate with the obama administration, but the groups were unable to reach a mutually satisfactory agreement, Jenkins said.

“i thought it would work. in the

“The town hall meeting sponsored after the event in 2012 was videotaped, and has been used extensively in training of student affairs staff, including hundreds of residence hall staff and each department within student affairs,” Brown said. “in addition, in collaboration with student leaders and at the suggestion of students, diversity training has been added to freshman orientation and with campus safety officers.”

end, it didn’t work,” he said. “But what is in question is the scope of our rights as a religious organization. … The courts will decide that, but this dialogue will continue.

“We’re not going to take our ball and go home. We understand the government has concerns. We’ll continue to work with them to try to find a way in which we can retain our rights.”

Managing Editor Meghan Thomassen contributed to this report.

Contact Marisa Iati at miati@nd.edu

moss also filed a claim with the u.S. equal employment opportunity commission (eeoc). a fter investigation of his claim, the commission reported that it is “unable to conclude that the information obtained establishes violations of the statutes.”

Thomas dixon, moss’ attorney, did not respond to requests for comment.

Contact Nicole Michels at nmichels@nd.edu

Quad and Thomas dooley near the grotto.

loving said the university reached out to the outside conservator because he will be better equipped to meet their restoration goals.

“if we had done nothing, it would have just rusted out and collapsed, so [the number] one [goal of the restoration is] to ensure its long-term preservation,” loving said. “[The number] two [goal is] to make it look like what it looked like initially.”

loving said podnar restored the other three campus images without removing them, but the Sacred heart of Jesus Statue had to be transported to ohio for proper refurbishing because it had suffered extensive damage from “weather and age.”

“There’s probably some atmospheric fall of pollutants from places like gary, ind., and east chicago, but primarily just weather,” l oving said. “l ike an old car, eventually the paint will wear off. many of the sculptures are not painted metal. many are cast bronze, but that particular one is cast iron.”

Because the Sacred heart of Jesus Statue is painted, most of the restoration entails stripping paint from the statue, repairing cracks in it and repainting it, loving said.

“The paint is coming off and in places it’s cracking, so it was removed,” he said. “They’ll chemically take off the paint. They’ll repair the cracks by welding

them and somehow finishing them so the welds don’t show, and then they’ll repaint it.”

loving said podnar will attempt to recreate the original paint color of the statue, which will look quite different from the weathered version the campus is accustomed to seeing when the statue returns next February.

“it might be a little shocking to some people, but in the long term it’ll be good for it to have been preserved so it’s there for future generations,” he said. “it’s something that any sculpture requires over time. it doesn’t suggest any deficiency in the way it was manufactured or the way it’s been taken care of. it’s just part of the process.” even though restoration is an important part of maintaining outdoor statues, loving said the university does not have its statues restored very often. he said he believes this is the first time since 1893 the statue has been repaired.

Within the past five years, members of the notre dame a lumni club of gettysburg noticed damage on the statue of Fr. William corby outside corby hall, a copy of which also stands in gettysburg, and raised funds to restore it, loving said.

“it’s kind of nice when people who are alums or friends of notre dame recognize the need and come up with the money,” he said. “a s far as i know there’s no existing budget line to take care of these statues.”

Contact Tori Roeck at vroeck@nd.edu

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Army

“To earn the first place honor out of [273 programs] speaks volumes. That goes to show how well our cadets are performing and how well respected they are once they’re commissioned.”

master Sergeant marshall yuen, senior military science instructor, said he was glad the cadets were honored for all the work they put in above and beyond their regular courses.

“it’s nice to see [the cadets] get recognized on a national level for that hard work that they put in there because they do put in a lot more work than the average college student does,” yuen said. “They have all their academics and normal notre dame things that they have to do on top of all of this a rmy stuff they have to do.”

president emeritus rev. edward a. “monk” malloy presented the award to polhamus and senior cadet and battalion commander chris lillie during the men’s basketball game versus a rmy on nov. 24, lillie said.

“We actually requested Father malloy. he’s been a big proponent of roTc on campus,” lillie said.

polhamus said having the ceremony during the a rmy game highlighted the fact roTc cadets are peers of those studying at West point.

“i’m an a rmy grad,” polhamus said. “i’ve always preached, having been on both sides of the fence now — West point as well as roTc — that

notre dame cadets are absolutely on par with West point in every respect.

“So i thought it was very appropriate to be recognized at the notre dame-a rmy game to show that there are others out there, other than West point, who have volunteered to put themselves in harm’s way and be a merica’s future leaders.”

a ll members of the Fightin’ irish Battalion marched onto the court during the halftime event, which included a presentation by the color guard and a video highlighting the battalion’s current members and alumni.

notre dame a rmy roTc has a history of distinction among roTc programs. The Fightin’ irish Battalion earned the u.S. a rmy’s cadet command maca rthur award, which recognizes to the top school in each of the eight regional roTc brigades, in 2012 and 2013, polhamus said. notre dame is one of only two schools ever to win the maca rthur award twice in a row.

“i have a suspicion that the reason we were nominated [for the order of the Founders and patriots of a merica award] is that we won back-to-back maca rthur awards,” polhamus said. “Those designate us as the top program in our brigade, so of the 40 schools in our brigade we earned that designation.”

Senior cadet and company commander macklin Wagner said winning a maca rthur award helps, but does not guarantee, success with the order of the Founders and patriots of a merica award.

“it’s more like a BcS than it is a playoff system,” Wagner said.

“i’d say it’s definitely more likely to be from one of those schools [that win a maca rthur award].”

lillie said the potential for recruiting new members was a positive byproduct of winning the award and receiving it at a public event.

“it’s kind of a recruiting tool on campus,” he said. “We don’t have very good visibility … so these kinds of things [help us with] getting our name out there and showing the campus

that we actually have a good program here.”

roTc cadets receive scholarships once they commit to serving in the a rmy after graduation, and one way the a rmy ranks battalions is by measuring how many scholarship students continue in their roTc programs, Wagner said.

“part of the criteria in the award is how many cadets you retain that are on scholarship,” he said. “if people quit and get rid of their scholarship then that reflects poorly on the program in general but also in terms of the award.”

Wagner said physical fitness of the overall battalion also counts heavily in determining the award recipient. he said the battalion must submit physical training (pT) scores to the brigade leaders once per semester for each cadet.

“There are three events: pushup, situp and two-mile run,” Wagner said. “it boils down to a 300-point score.”

The rising senior class attends an intensive four-week evaluation course during the summer, lillie said. more than 5,000 cadets are ranked from first to last based on their performance in activities testing their physical, tactical and leadership skills.

“our program had one of the highest averages in the nation with these last summer’s scores,” lillie said.

despite the accolades, preparing cadets to enter the army and serve their country remains the chief priority, yuen said.

“These cadets, they have an awesome responsibility once they leave college,” yuen said. “They’re going to be leaders in the a rmy, what we call the nation’s greatest resource.

“We try to impart on them that it’s not just about them once they get out there and start serving as officers in the army. it’s about the a rmy, their soldiers, soldiers’ families and their country all rolled up into that awesome responsibility that they’ll have in a very short amount of time from now.”

Contact Lesley Stevenson at lsteven1@nd.edu

InsIdE CoLuMn

Taken for granted

Wei Lin photographer

a fter going back to new york city for the Thanksgiving break, i thought about what i am most thankful for. over the span of five days, three groups of people showed me what i am most thankful for. Seeing their unfortunate circumstances allowed me to reconsider what was actually important in my life. it shouldn’t be the money, fame and respect i was so intent on achieving. instead, i should be thankful i have a good and stable family, great friends and relatively normal health.

i met some family friends, Jennifer and a nthony, when they visited my home on Thanksgiving day. What was strange about their visitation was they came alone, without either parent. What i learned about them was their parents had divorced years ago and Thanksgiving was not something they celebrated together. To think Thanksgiving did not mean a single thing to their parents shocked me. Seeing them spend their holidays without their parents made me realize how lucky i am to have parents who love each other and their children so much.

Friday night, i accompanied my former co-worker, Jeremy, to the hospital because his grandmother had fallen ill. Jeremy felt lonely waiting in the hospital by himself and wanted someone to talk to so he called me to come over. odd thing is, i never expected to be asked since Jeremy and i never casually hung out with each other. i asked him why he asked me to come instead of someone else. he replied by saying he didn’t have any friends who would have been willing to come and he knew i was the only who would have agreed to sit with him in the hospital. This trip to the hospital showed me how lucky i am to have friends who i trust to be there for me when i need them to be. it made me happy to know i made the right choice in having a couple of really close friends instead of innumerable acquaintances.

The last couple of people i met with were my cousin, his wife and his daughter. his daughter is so sweet and cute she’ll make your hearts melt. She is still so young the signs of her down syndrome are not as prominent. my cousin was distraught when he first found out his only daughter had down syndrome, but he is handling it very well and loves his daughter unconditionally. he offered my family a few words of wisdom. my cousin said while he will have to face many obstacles in the future, my parents were blessed to just have healthy children and good health trumps over all.

i learned a lot this Thanksgiving, and i am truly grateful for all i have that i may have overlooked in the past. The simplest thing we take for granted may be someone else’s one and only wish.

Contact Wei Lin at wlin4@nd.edu

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

l et’s talk about sex

The beer pong tournament lasted for hours. 20 cups, 18 people, two tables, only one winning team. Standing in a puddle of cheap natty l ight, you peered into your opponent’s soul as you sunk the game-winning shot into the final cup. you and your teammate rejoiced in drunken camaraderie until coming back from that epic Friday night halloween party.

a week later, your teammate got a cold sore from the herpes Simplex 1 virus ( hS v-1) without ever realizing some random person passed it to him (and potentially others) from the cups in the beer pong tournament. a nd let’s say someone else in the tournament was also infected but did not show any symptoms. l ater that week, she performed oral sex on her boyfriend and months down the road he later found he has genital herpes.

These people may be sharing drinks, c hapstick or an unclear memory captured on nd makeouts. nevertheless, whether you engage in sexual intercourse or not while at notre dame, your sexual health and the health of your peers play a vital role in your future.

hS v-1 is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections (ST is), often showing no-to-mild symptoms or being passed without having intercourse. The cdc shows chlamydia as the most commonly reported bacterial ST i, with roughly 75 percent of infected women and 50 percemt of infected men showing no symptoms. There are also many sexually transmitted diseases (ST ds) making its way through our student body that you may never become aware of.

now, if you’re not sexually active or think these types of statistics don’t apply to our student body, i implore you to seriously reflect on the hookup culture imposed by tense gender

relations and interaction among our peers. c hances are, you probably have several friends who are sexually active — or at least you know of a few people who are. i am not in any way implying every person hooking up or in relationships is an immediate threat to the sexual health of our student body, but without careful consideration of the consequences and a general lack of information about individual health, they have the potential to be. a nd in the relationships you’ll develop after college, it will become even more important to own your sexual health.

The prominent catholic identity engrained in our environment is a double-edged sword that shapes a culture of compassion and concern for the greater good while hindering our ability to have important conversations surrounding sexual health or sex in general.

a friend of mine recently visited St. l iam’s for precautionary ST d/ ST i testing. To his disappointment, he was turned away because he did not exhibit any symptoms that would necessitate testing. a nother friend shared how she takes birth control for menstruation regulation in secret because she fears others will assume she is sexually active.

Students should not be afraid, quieted or turned away when it comes to taking control of their health.

a lthough the catholic mission strictly opposes the use of contraceptives and premarital sex, it can successfully cultivate healthier relationships that lead individuals toward making morally conscious and informed decisions that affect them and all of their relationships — romantic or not — with others.

notre dame students are just as susceptible as any person to contracting diseases that increase their chances of developing hiv/aids or cervical cancer, or passing them on through pregnancy. v ictims of sexual assault and rape are also incredibly vulnerable,

and the emotional trauma for all infected persons can be particularly damaging.

my parents openly and honestly educated me about my sexual health from a very young age; however, many parents are not as blunt or comfortable having these conversations with their children. The sex talk needs to extend beyond knowing where babies come from by including the importance of regular check-ups with a physician (i.e. pap tests), reintroducing awareness of ST i/ST ds and making resources and conversations more accessible and normalized.

d ue to notre dame’s catholic mission, general sexual health information is widely underutilized and unknown. i am currently developing a sexual health program proposal that could reconcile the need for sexual health information with o ur l ady’s ideals. i anticipate implementing a pilot program by the 2014-15 academic year that can increase competency of sexual health-related issues, create familiarization of existing resources for ST i/ST d testing, unplanned pregnancies, abortion and assault survivor support and create avenues of support where there are none available. it is my great hope this article will foster discussion about the types of resources students would like to see and identify ways in which we can improve the visibility of existing ones. your questions, suggestions and comments can have a tremendous impact on the direction of this program. So let’s talk about sex and learn how to handle a highly taboo topic for the betterment of our nd family.

Amanda Peña is a junior and a sustainable development studies major with a poverty studies minor. She can be contacted at apena4@nd.edu

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

Funding sources for reported lawsuits

By way of background to my questions, The n ew york Times reports on the date of this letter the u niversity of n otre d ame plans to file suit this date against the federal government challenging certain requirements of or under the a ffordable c are a ct.

m oreover, the u nited States Supreme c ourt has already agreed to hear at least two “similar suits” which raise issues similar to those the u niversity contemplates pursuing in litigation, both of which have already reached the Supreme c ourt level.

See Sheryl g ay Stolberg, “a n ew Wave of

c hallenges to h ealth l aw,” p. a 1, col. 6 ( n ew york Times n at’l ed., Tuesday, d ecember 3, 2013).

m y questions to you are:

1. What is or are the source(s) of funding for this lawsuit you reportedly intend to file?

2. a re any funds for your contemplated lawsuit going to be drawn from student tuition or other fees paid to you by or on behalf of students attending n otre d ame?

3. a re any funds for your contemplated lawsuit going to be drawn from offerings donated by persons attending c atholic churches anywhere

(whether the churches are in the u nited States or anywhere in foreign countries)?

i f you desire to go beyond answering these questions in your reply, please kindly provide answers to these questions in any case. Thank you for your attention to these matters.

Sincerely yours,

d ennis J. Wall, e squire

nd deserves our support

o n Tuesday morning, the u niversity announced it has refiled its lawsuit in the u.S. d istrict c ourt for the n orthern d istrict of i ndiana, suing k athleen Sebelius, the d epartment of h ealth and h uman Services ( hh S) and others for relief from the coercive hh S insurance mandate.

n otre d ame deserves the entire campus community’s support and gratitude for taking this courageous step “neither lightly nor gladly, but with sober determination,” as Fr. Jenkins put it in an announcement accompanying the u niversity’s initial m ay 21, 2012 filing (which was dismissed on technical grounds last d ecember). This decision is one that bespeaks real institutional courage and a willingness to speak truth to power,

which is never easily done, and only at great cost. i am very proud of both the u niversity’s decision to renew its litigation — a decision that was surely more difficult than her initial decision to sue — and the way in which her leadership arrived at this decision.

Fr. Jenkins said, in his presidential inaugural address in September of 2005:

“The struggle to be a great c atholic university in a world that has become both increasingly secular and more radically religious has placed n otre d ame in a unique position at the heart of the most complex issues facing our society. We have not just an opportunity, but a duty to think and speak and act in ways that will guide, inspire and

heal — not just for the followers of the c atholic faith, but for all our neighbors in the nation and the world.”

With this decision, n otre d ame has done just that.

Thank you, Fr. Jenkins and the leadership of o ur l ady’s u niversity, for making this courageous witness against an unjust law. i sincerely applaud your decision to do so.

Critics of Healthcare.gov, Obama go too far

completely ignorant of just how bad things were when he asserted that m ichael Brown, then-director of F ema , was doing a “heck of a job.”

i n the past few weeks, heaps of criticism have been piled on the obama administration for the botched rollout of the a ffordable care act, and rightfully so. more than a month into the law’s implementation, problems with healthcare.gov aren’t fully resolved. While critics — who come from both sides of the political spectrum — are certainly justified in taking issue with how the administration has handled things to this point, some have taken it too far.

l ast Thursday, The new york Times published an article in which columnist m ichael d. Shear essentially compares the mishandled obamacare rollout to p resident g eorge W. Bush’s response to hurricane k atrina in 2005.

a lthough each serves as an example of a presidential misstep, there is no justifiable way to compare hurricane k atrina to the a ffordable care act. k atrina devastated an entire region of the country, costing billions in damage and claiming thousands of lives. p resident Bush appeared to be

i n reality, F ema responded slowly and demonstrated a complete lack of preparedness.

Today, the administration has shown a lack of preparedness in terms of implementing the website that allows citizens to choose an insurance plan, but its response has not been nearly as disastrous as the Bush administration’s was.

nor have the consequences of obamacare’s troubles been nearly as horrific as those of the botched hurricane k atrina response.

What are the consequences of the technical problems experienced by healthcare.gov? at worst, potential enrollees must wait longer to sign up for a plan.

now consider the consequences of the Bush administration’s response to k atrina. it’s not unreasonable to think that more lives could have been saved if F ema had been more prepared and taken action with more urgency.

Thankfully there’s hope for the law once the technical issues plaguing it

are resolved.

according to a report published in the l os a ngeles Times, some states that use their own systems, such as california, are on pace to hit enrollment targets for 2014.

“What we are seeing is incredible momentum,” said peter l ee, director of covered california, which is the nation’s largest state insurance marketplace.

i f and when healthcare.gov is fully operational, this trend will hopefully be seen nationwide, which is exactly what proponents of obamacare have hoped for.

i n the event that happens, it’s quite possible that the law’s troubled rollout will be largely forgotten and be seen as a success, rather than a disastrous liability.

What’s important is that it happens sooner rather than later, because the 2014 midterm elections are just less than a year away. The success (or failure) of obamacare has big implications for how democrats — who have largely supported the law — will perform in these elections.

The problem-laden implementation of medicare part d, which took effect in

2006, proved to be an embarrassment for the Bush administration, and ultimately cost the gop some of the support of senior citizens, who comprise a solid portion of the republican base.

a nd look what happened in the 2006 elections: democrats won control of both houses of congress (albeit for more reasons than just medicare part d ).

Simply put, obamacare could be wildly successful, but the administration needs to first figure out what’s causing these issues and fix them. it’d be a big boost for the democratic party, who is trying to retain control of the Senate and win back the house.

a nd if p resident obama is going to win more victories on issues such as immigration reform, he needs a congress controlled by democrats. l et’s hope the administration can get its act together and produce a smoother rollout going forward.

The Daily Orange is the independent student newspaper serving Syracuse University.

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

By JIMMY KEMPER Scene Writer

The christmas season is upon us. as we drift toward the end of this semester and a muchneeded break, our heads are filled with visions of sugar plums and … death metal? Bassist J.J. hrubovcak of death metal band hate eternal has just released “death metal christmas: hellish renditions of christmas classics,” which, contrary to popular belief, is exactly what it sounds like.

hrubovcak teamed up with his brother mike, vocalist of hard rockers monstrosity and vile, and his hate eternal bandmate erik rutan, a guitarist and notable producer, in order to produce the most twisted christmas album you will ever hear. unlike those atrocious, terrifying novelty metal christmas albums that no one enjoys, this ep is actually an excellently crafted piece of musicianship. hrubovcak overlays primal growls, crushingly heavy guitar work and pounding drums on top of once innocent traditional melodies, and it surprisingly works, thanks to its wonderfully intense passion.

With “death metal christmas,” hrubovcak has taken some of the world’s most cherished christmas carols and ripped out the very soul of the songs, replacing those tired, overdone themes of the joy of the nativity with messages of humanity’s impending doom at the birth and rise of a zrael, an angel of death in some hebrew and islamic lore.

With the song’s opening track, “unrest For melancholy

men (god rest ye merry gentlemen),” hrubovcak says, “at this stage in the story, the earth is in great turmoil, thus the melancholy men can get no rest from their suffering. cultures from around the world are looking for answers. The song lyrics basically warn the human race that this demon is now born and will seduce every last mind on this planet into altering their morals and convictions to suit his purpose unless man refocuses. he is not at all direct but very insidious.”

The record’s other four songs are not lacking in terms of intensity, either. The grim, down-tempo “earthen k ings” retains the time signature of the original “We Three k ings,” but really highlights the concept of the album, painting a dark image of an unholy apocalypse. nothing is safe from the spirited wrath of “death metal christmas,” not even the kid-friendly “The dance of the Sugar plum Fairy” from Tchaikovsky’s nutcracker ballet. This instrumental track, which begins with the opening bars of the classic orchestral version, is sure to melt your face off with its epic death metal prowess and even puts Trans-Siberian orchestra’s intense christmas works to shame. The group even has a murderous rendition of “greensleeves,” better known as “What child is This?”

The album finishes off with “o come, o come a zrael,” based off “o come, o come emmanuel.” it tears the original apart in a violent, impressively brutal symphony of death metal bliss that is sure to leave you paralyzed by the end.

What’s great about this album is that it manages to avoid making a mess of sillier christmas songs such as

“rudolph the red-nosed reindeer,” instead focusing on more somber and sacred pieces to create a serious and disturbingly beautiful piece of work. if you’re looking for the most heretical and bloodcurdling renditions of oldtime carols and vintage hymns ever recorded, want to hear one of the most fascinating death metal concepts ever recorded or even just want to terrify your roommates while they study for exams, you should without a doubt give yourself the gift of “death metal christmas” this holiday season.

“death metal christmas: hellish renditions of christmas classics” is available now at the project’s Bandcamp page, but be sure to also visit deathmetalchristmas.com, where you can read the original and updated song lyrics.

Contact Jimmy Kemper at jkemper2@nd.edu

“Death Metal Christmas: Hellish Renditions of Christmas Classics”

J.J. Hrubovcak

Label: Bandcamp

By DREW KOCAK Scene Writer

i would like to start this off by saying that i am not an avid follower of rap and hip-hop. i can’t even say that i know more than one song by Tupac or Biggie. okay, i don’t know any songs by either of them. hate me. But i feel, in an industry saturated with painfully meaningless radio rap, hopsin has made a name for himself as an artist truly passionate and serious about his craft. a fter starting underground, as most respected rappers do (apologies to all you drake fans out there), hopsin has accrued quite a following, including 1.5 million fans on Facebook. a west coast rapper, i like to compare his style to that of the revered eminem. at this point, some of you are probably dismissing this review thinking, “hold up, this kid doesn’t even know any pac songs and now he’s comparing a rapper i’ve never heard of with marshall?” give me a chance to explain.

hopsin raps about whatever is on his mind at any given moment. he doesn’t worry about putting off an image to please audiences. his music is anything but insincere — the emotions he conveys through his lyrics tend to involve extreme levels of pent up anger at the world around him. his lyrics can be cruder than they need to be at times and involve a good bit of hate toward promiscuous women. But though he has his crude songs, he writes what he wants, strives to write not just a few inspirational songs and backs all of this up with lyrical prowess, much like eminem.

now that i’ve explained myself, i’ll focus on hopsin’s latest release, “k nock madness.”

The album opens up with a more serious track, “The Fiends a re k nocking,” including his thoughts on the hype behind the album, then transitions into inspirational stories about how hopsin has changed fans for the good. These stories gave me that tingle you get when an artist establishes that brief little emotional connection through their music and lyrics. (or is that just me?) either way, it’s an impressive track.

in the next song, “hop is Back,” hopsin gets hostile, calling out kanye West and kendrick lamar. he raps, “i got a problem yo/i was ecstatic to buy yeezus/But i burned it first, heard it and snapped it in five pieces.” he goes on to address kendrick saying, “his high is still really short to me.”

This single caused a good bit of controversy, as well as some warnings from fans cautioning hop not to get on kendrick’s bad side. it’s definitely worth checking out.

“hip hop Sinister” displays an angry hop shouting about george Zimmerman, self-righteous rappers and his own lyrical ability. it’s a “rap god” type of song in which hopsin defines his position in the rap game. While eminem claims to be the greatest rapper alive, hopsin secures his spot as the bad guy of rap.

a nother single on the album, “old Friend,” is actually the sixth song in the “ill mind” series hopsin has released. This series includes six songs in which hopsin expresses his social views, and he does so quite strongly. “old Friend” shows a sad hopsin reminiscing over a

friend he lost (mentally) to crystal meth. The choruses are soulfully sung by hop, and every verse ends with a line about the fire of drugs burning his friend out in the end. The final lines involve a teary-sounding hop and a trancelike chant about crystal meth, artistically representing his friend’s addiction to the substance.

i would have given this album a perfect five if i believed in perfect scores. hopsin is swiftly climbing to the top of the rap game and his confidence leads me to believe he’ll become an even bigger name in rap than he already is. in a recent interview, he spoke about blowing up, “it’s going to happen. how do i know? Because i am a human on earth and if one human does something, then i can do it too. There’s no difference.”

Contact Drew Kocak at wkocak@nd.edu

Tracks: “Unrest For Melancholy Men (God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen),” “Earthen Kings” “Knock Madness”

Hopsin

Label: Funk Volume

Tracks: “Hop Is Back,” “Tears to Snow,” “Bad Guys Get Left Behind”

If you like: Eminem, Tech N9ne

By MATT McMAHON and JOHN DARR Scene Writers

Before getting into the next five albums in the countdown, let’s take some time to explore the concept of a collaborative ranking list. When John asked me to help him out with a Top 20 list he was assigned for the paper, i was originally apprehensive about contributing.

i was worried about differing music tastes. as much as we respect each other’s opinions concerning music, there are naturally going to be dissentions or unfamiliarity. John knows a lot more about electronic music than i do. personally, my biggest issue was if i downright did not agree with an album’s inclusion or exclusion. For me, this came to fruition with John’s love of chvrcheS’ debut, which i did not find nearly holistically as strong as he does. however, such is the nature of a collaboration of this sort. We agreed on a lot and defended a few records, respectively. Still, do not let either one of us detract from the other; all of the albums featured on the entirety of this list are worth exploring. —M.M.

15.) “old” – danny Brown

By maTT mcmahon

When danny Brown released the cover for “old,” i proclaimed if i enjoyed the tracks half as much as the artwork, i would love the album. Somehow, Brown outdid himself and his music surpassed even the album’s cover. a follow-up masterpiece to his excellent breakout mixtape “XXX,” “old” proves he should definitely be considered one of the best in the game. Brown constructed a music lover and appreciator’s album. he juxtaposes the serious and haunting styles of his somber, gothic persona with the outrageous bombast of his partying nature.

Brown wants to be at the forefront of his genre, remembered for his innovation and critical appeal. With his storytelling

and hook writing ability, ear for beats and collaboration with strong producers and other artists, he’s achieving what he has set out to do.

choice cuts: “Side a [old],” “Side B [dope],” “dip”

14.) “Major Arcana” – speedy ortiz

By maTT mcmahon

The release of “major a rcana,” the proper debut full-length studio album of massachusetts’s Speedy ortiz, proves that guitar driven indie rock still exists. a nd better yet, here it absolutely flourishes. The angst-ridden voice of lead singer Sadie dupuis, coupled with warped, crunching riffs combine for one of the catchiest and grittiest releases of the year. The frontwoman, sharing guitar duty with matt robidoux and bassist darl Ferm, create angular, distorted melodies swinging from quiet to loud tension and explosion. on top of it all, dupuis’s tenacious-while-poetic lyricism and wry-yet-caustic tongue exude personality. The band’s performance recalls the fondly remembered 90s indie noise pop. meanwhile, dupuis charms with her starkness and a raw emotional performance that cuts to the core and stings through the speakers.

choice cuts: “no Below,” “plough,” “Tiger Tank”

13.) “obsidian” – Baths

By John darr

“obsidian” is dark. it’s not the kind of jump-when-the-ghost-pops-out dark, not the apocalyptic movie dark. it’s the tension and fear we face our everyday lives. it’s seeing a cliff and instinctively seeing yourself fall off its edge. it’s wondering if your intense, close relationship with someone is deeper than a hormonal push and pull. it’s wondering how to live in the face of death’s inevitability.

“obsidian” finds Baths (singer/ songwriter/producer Will Weisenfeld)

exploring all these things over sonic tapestries that ebb and flow in the wake of each word. Flitting from light postal Service electronica to symphonic electroacoustic ballads to throbbing industrial, Baths covers as much musical ground as he does lyrical. a nd yet “obsidian” is tightly focused, bound by meticulously tight production and thematic cohesion. Whereas many albums sacrifice either scope or coherence, Baths manages both here, and the product is truly something to behold.

choice cuts: “ironworks,” “no eyes,” “phaedra”

12.)

“the Bones of w hat You Believe” – CHVRCHEs

By John darr

Somewhere in this world, there is a huge pile of bright shiny things and it is guarded by a moat of golden retriever puppies. For their debut album, chvrcheS swam/ cuddled through the moat, ascended the pile with proper equipment and found the twelve shiniest and brightest things. They then threw them in the moat so that the puppies could play with them, thus infusing them with magical even-shinier powers. When they got home, they melted them into millions of cds and the rest is history.

in the end, “The Bones of What you Believe” is a perfect pop album. it’s stuffed to the brim with ridiculously catchy hooks, features golden production that allows every instrument to stand out, and is fronted by ridiculously cute and amazingly talented singer a manda mayberry (and she has a Scottish accent. game over). a nd if you perhaps thought, “i like sophisticated music, it’s probably not for me,” you’re still in luck – the album boasts not a single cheesy lyric and concludes with a gorgeous dream-pop ballad straight out of hipster heaven. Just give it a listen — your ears will thank you.

choice cuts: “recover,” “We Sink,” “Tether,” “you caught the light”

11.) “ we Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic” – Foxygen

By maTT mcmahon

it seems like forever ago that Foxygen’s third lp came out. not just because the indie rock duo released the album in January or because of the ongoing news from the band over the year — from inner turmoil between the two founding members to solo albums and side project — but because the record has such a solid, classic rock sound.

Soulful, psychedelic, with the production style of any 60s and 70s rock favorite, the band pays tribute to the best of experimental and glam icons like david Bowie and lou reed. What lifts this album the most though, is that it remains completely the band’s own. Their pop songwriting is inventive, taking the elements given to them from the past and turning them into something fresh.

choice cuts: “We a re the 21st century a mbassadors of peace & magic,” “no destruction,” “San Francisco”

Enjoy final year of BCS madness

For all the complaints about the current B c S system written in columns over the years (and there have been plenty), this is supposed to be the year that not even a computer can screw up.

i n the 15 years since the system was adopted, there’s been seasons with five undefeated teams, there’s been seasons with no undefeated teams. There’s been plenty to be argued about each year, and the Wikipedia article titled “B c S c ontroversies” has a fairly lengthy entry for each and every season since the system was enacted. it’s an unpopular system, and has managed to infuriate the country every winter, without fail. The B c S reign has come to an end though, as the outcry of a nation — and some of our c ongressmen and p residents who apparently have nothing better to do — has successfully lobbied to enact a four-team playoff next year.

The B c S should be riding off into the sunset with a can’t-miss matchup this year. From the six major conferences with automatic bids ( acc , aac , S ec , Big Ten, Big 12, p ac-12), just two teams have emerged from their regular seasons undefeated: no. 1 Florida State and no. 2 o hio State. a few weeks ago things looked much less clear, but losses by a labama and o regon paved the way for an easy B c S pairing. i f the Seminoles and Buckeyes can survive their conference championship games this weekend and move to 13-0, they’ll meet each other on January 6 in p asadena. e asy as can be, right? not so fast, my friend.

While those in Tallahassee and c olumbus inarguably see a win this Saturday as a ticket to the title game, plenty of folks in other towns have inserted themselves in the conversation, too.

The entitlement starts, as it usually does, in the S ec When a uburn pulled off their miracle, greatest-ever finish to shock a labama last week, they knocked off their conference’s last undefeated team, vaulting them over the c rimson Tide into the S ec title game against m issouri. a s of now, it would seem that no. 3 a uburn would need some help from either d uke (against FS u ) or m ichigan State (against o S u ) to spring them into the title game. But the S ec , which has won seven

straight national titles, is not one to be content on the outside looking in.

“The winner of the S ec championship game belongs in p asadena,” a uburn athletic director Jay Jacobs said this week. “it would be, quite frankly, un-a merican for us not to get a chance to go to p asadena if we’re able to beat m issouri, and i believe the same about m issouri.”

The fever has spread further than the South, too. no. 14 northern i llinois, out of the mac , is the country’s other undefeated team, and boasts a bonafide heisman candidate and an average margin of victory of nearly 20 points. With a win in the mac c hampionship over Bowling g reen, the huskies will have bested every team on their schedule, but still appear to have no shot of playing for the crystal football. e ven m ark d antonio, whose no. 10 m ichigan State team lost to an unranked team from i ndiana, said that his one-loss Spartans should be a possibility for the title game as well. The motto for these teams has been “We Want ‘Bama,” and while the opponent they’d face has changed, their stubborn sentiment hasn’t.

(But don’t mention this to a labama fans, who don’t believe something as small as a late-season loss should separate them from the B c S threepeat that’s rightfully theirs.)

Supporters of the current system always assert that the one virtue of the B c S is that it protects the sanctity of college football’s regular season. The argument goes that without a playoff at the end of the year, each game is a playoff game in its own right, where one loss can eliminate a team from title contention. yet, when it comes time to find the game’s two worthiest teams to compete for its ultimate prize, the regular season results still seem to take a backseat to hype and style points.

So thank goodness for the coming playoff system in 2014-2015, which will set a championship matchup based on what happens on the field — as opposed to biased ballots and mysterious computers. But in the meantime, be sure to enjoy one last go-round with the nationwide insanity that is the B c S. it’d be un-a merican not to.

Contact Jack Hefferon at wheffero@nd.edu.

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

Stadium construction stalls

Associated Press

coSTa do Sauipe, Brazil — a t least three World c up stadiums in Brazil will not be finished by the end of d ecember as F i Fa requested.

Soccer’s governing body said Tuesday the stadiums in Sao p aulo, c uritiba and c uiaba are unable to meet the deadline because of construction delays.

The announcement came after the World c up organizing committee received updates from the six host cities that still must turn over the venues for next year’s tournament. The other six were ready for this year’s c onfederations c up.

“Two stadiums will be delivered more in the region of February than in January or d ecember,” F i Fa Secretary g eneral Jerome valcke said. “c uritiba is the one where we are facing the most problems. c learly, c uritiba will not be delivered before the end of February 2014, so that’s a fact.”

The stadium in c uiaba also is expected to be ready in February, four months before the World c up opens on June 12. F i Fa said it still doesn’t know when it will have the venue in Sao p aulo, where a crane collapse last

week killed two workers and damaged part of the stadium. a report on the scale of the damage is expected by the end of the week.

“We are in a period of time when the opening game of the World c up will be played in Sao p aulo,” valcke said. “We are not in a crisis mood where we are looking for an alternative to Sao p aulo. We are confident they can deliver the stadium on time (for the opener.)”

The Sao p aulo venue, which will host the opening match, was almost ready when a giant crane buckled while hoisting a 500-ton metal structure that clipped part of the roof and cut through a huge lighting panel that runs across the venue’s outer facade.

F i Fa said it would not tolerate the same kinds of delays that plagued the c onfederations c up, when only two of the six venues were completed by the original deadline.

The a rena da Baixada in southern city of c uritiba was only 85 percent completed by o ctober, according to the latest numbers released by local organizers. The a rena p antanal in the wetlands city of c uiaba was 90 percent completed in the end of

n ovember. There was also concern with the venue in the jungle city of m anaus, which was 91 percent ready in n ovember.

The other cities that still need to deliver stadiums are natal in northeastern Brazil and p orto a legre in the southern region, though work is more advanced there. The stadiums in Salvador, Fortaleza, Belo h orizonte, r ecife, r io de Janeiro and Brasilia were ready for the c onfederations c up.

valcke said F i Fa is already rearranging plans for the installation of temporary facilities at the venues that also will not be delivered by the deadline. F i Fa p resident Sepp Blatter downplayed the delays.

“There are some small delays in construction of stadia, but so small that, with one exception, we can just close (the) case and say everything will be ready,” Blatter said.

F i Fa wants the stadiums ready at least six months in advance mainly so there is time for at least two test events in each host city. it says there is no way of moving games because about 1 million tickets have already been sold for next year’s tournament.

louisville secures easy win

Associated Press

loui S ville , ky. — Shoni Schimmel scored 14 points, Bria Smith added 12 and n o. 7 l ouisville cruised to a 91-49 victory over m issouri State on Tuesday night.

a sia Taylor added 10 points and seven rebounds for the c ardinals (8-1), who played most of the game without senior guard a ntonita Slaughter after she collapsed and was taken off the court on a stretcher early in the first half.

l ouisville was leading 7-2 with 17:13 to play in the first half when Slaughter, who had started the game and scored the first basket, went to the bench and suddenly collapsed. c oach Jeff Walz and his staff rushed to her aid and em S was immediately called to the bench. Slaughter was transported to the hospital by ambulance. a l ouisville spokesman said Slaughter

was awake and alert and undergoing tests.

“She’s coherent, she’s responding to questions and talking with her family,” Walz said. “We’re not sure and they’re not sure what took place yet. i would say by tomorrow morning we should know more.”

l ouisville used a 15-4 run that included three 3s from Schimmel to boost its lead to 24-8, and the c ardinals continued to bolster their double-digit lead.

k enzie Williams scored 13 points and Tyonna Snow added 12 to lead m issouri State (1-5), which lost its fourth straight.

Schimmel, who finished 4 for 10 on 3s, said the team was relieved to get good news about their teammate during the game and they hoped to visit her as soon as possible.

“ c oach Walz told us at halftime that she was doing good, that she was conscious,” Schimmel said.

Smith added: “ i t’s tough to see anybody get carried off the court on a stretcher. d efinitely, to see a ntonita in that position is hard for all of us because we’re like sisters.”

l ouisville — ranked 10th in the country at 48 percent shooting from the field — finished at 56 percent against the Bears, including 36 percent on 3s, and finished with 24 assists.

The c ardinals shot 61 percent in the first half. m issouri State committed 24 turnovers, compared to 12 for l ouisville.

The c ardinals rebounded from Sunday’s 69-64 loss to intrastate rival k entucky which dropped them from n o. 4 to seventh in ap poll. a gainst the Wildcats, the c ardinals led by 14 in the first half but shot just 28 percent in the second half en route to their first loss of the season and their third straight against their top non-conference rival.

Belles face adrian in first conference matchup

By KIT LOUGHRAN Sports Writer

Saint m ary’s kicks off conference play today when they take on a drian at 7:30 p.m.

The Belles (2-4) face the Bulldogs (2-3) after a tough 77-71 loss to d efiance on Saturday. Saint m ary’s failed to capitalize on an early lead against the yellow Jackets and dropped its fourth game of the season.

“ r ight now, i think we are a little deflated after the loss against d efiance,” Belles coach Jennifer h enley said. “Fortunately, we have [had three] days to regroup and get ready for a drian.”

The Belles allowed the yellow Jackets a 9-0 run late in the second half, and they have focused their preparation for the game against the Bulldogs on the issue of

allowing teams to score so many unanswered points.

“We continue to emphasize team defense,” h enley said. “We can’t get caught up in trading baskets during key stretches.”

The Bulldogs also enter the game suffering a recent loss. a drian fell 64-49 to Siena h eights on n ov. 26.

The Bulldogs were unable to recover after Siena h eights had a 14-0 run in the first half. a drian is led by senior guard l aQwana d ockery and senior forward a my v an g essel. d ockery scored a game-high 17 points and v an g essel grabbed 13 rebounds against Siena h eights.

The Belles are led by sophomore forward k rista k napke and her career-high 24 points and 17 rebounds against d efiance.

d espite the Belles’ four losses, they feel prepared

to begin conference play, h enley said.

“We have to keep in mind that we needed to use our non-conference opponents as a way to prepare for miaa play,” h enley said.

The Belles look forward to facing a drian and have generated a specific strategy with the skills they developed during the past few games.

“a drian is a solid team who traditionally likes to run, so we need to continue to focus on our transition defense, controlling the boards and getting to the foul line,” h enley said.

The Belles take on the Bulldogs to open conference play Wednesday at m erillat Sport and Fitness c enter in a drian, m ich. at 7:30 p.m.

Contact Kit Loughran at kloughr1@nd.edu

Seahawks make statement, Saints reevaluate

Associated Press

SeaTT le — r ussell Wilson was so impressed with the way Seattle prepared for its showdown against new o rleans

that he made a point of texting coach pete c arroll about it.

That’s just how Wilson is wired and partly why the Seahawks were the first team in the n F l to clinch a playoff

paid a dverT iSemen T

spot with their 34-7 manhandling of the Saints on monday night.

“That preparation was big,” Wilson said. “i really think it showed up tonight.”

Seattle is the first team bound for the postseason. They need to go 2-2 in their final four games to wrap up home-field advantage and make the n Fc playoffs go through Seattle.

Wilson finished with 310 yards passing and attempted only three passes in the fourth quarter for 13 yards. h is first three quarters were so good he could have become a spectator in the fourth. he threw touchdown passes of 2 yards to Zach m iller and 4 yards to d oug Baldwin in the first half as Seattle built a 27-7 lead.

Wilson added a pinball 8-yard T d pass to d errick c oleman in the third quarter.

Wilson completed 22 of 30 passes and finished with a quarterback rating of 139.6. he is 14-0 at home and has 22 regular-season wins in his first two seasons, tied for the most ever by a second-year QB.

“They definitely played the run well tonight, we didn’t run the ball as well as we’d like,” c arroll said. “it allowed us to hit a bunch of other stuff.”

new o rleans (9-3) again failed to earn a signature road victory to prove it can win outdoors on the road late in the season. d rew Brees finished 23 of 38 for 147 yards. Jimmy g raham had three catches for 42 yards. darren Sproles led new o rleans with seven catches, many of them on check downs. The seven points matched the fewest scored by the Saints since Sean payton became coach in 2006 and the 188 total yards were the fewest in his coaching tenure.

The Saints were just as

flustered by their defense and the inability to slow Wilson. “i don’t even know what to tell you. i don’t even know what happened out there,” Saints linebacker Junior g alette said. “We better watch the films and see what we can adjust.” here are five things we learned from the Seahawks’ dominating win over the Saints:

B a FF led Bree S: it’s rare to see Brees confused and unsure of where to go with his passes. But he was regularly double clutching his throws and being forced to move around the pocket. Seattle used unusual coverages with its linebackers to try and make Brees hesitate with his timing, and the Seahawks pass rush was able to make him uncomfortable in the pocket.

“They put it all together and they play very, very well together within their scheme,” Brees said. “obviously, they play very well at home because they can thrive on that crowd noise and typically an offense’s inability to communicate as well in snap count and all those things. But listen, they deserve a lot of credit.” no drop oFF: a ll those concerns about Seattle being without cornerbacks Brandon Browner and Walter Thurmond appeared unfounded. Byron m axwell and Jeremy l ane both played well filing in for Browner and Thurmond. m axwell got the majority of the playing time on the outside, with l ane coming in as the nickel cornerback. m axwell was credited with two passes defensed.

on p enn State, senior forward a riel e dwards, is averaging more than 10 points less than l ucas.

“ l ucas is one of the best players in the country,” i rish coach muffet m c g raw said. “She’s probably the pre-season player of the year in the Big Ten. She’s really the focal point of their team.”

l ast season, l ucas hit over 46 percent of her 3-point shots, finishing in the top five in the nation in this category. This season, the senior is shooting over 40 percent from behind the arc once again.

“[ l ucas is] a great 3-point shooter and one of the best in the country,” m c g raw said. “She can really score fast. She’d good off the dribble and can score in a ton of different ways, but she is really an exceptional 3-point shooter.”

o n top of her talent from behind the arc, l ucas has hit 43 of her 44 free throws so far

M Bball

n otre d ame lost despite a career-high 29 points from i rish senior center g arrick Sherman, the most by a n otre d ame player since 2011.

“The game that g arrick Sherman had, establishing himself, he needs to be a main guy,” Brey said.

i rish senior point guard e ric a tkins poured in 20 points and fellow senior guard Jerian g rant added 13 points and 10 assists. Five h awkeyes scored in double figures, as iowa shot 56.9 percent from the field and connected on seven of 13 3-pointers.

“We’ve got to be better defensively,” Brey said. “o ur transition defense really cost us probably the game. We just couldn’t get back enough to stop easy buckets.”

iowa led 52-43 at the intermission after playing much of the first half at a breakneck pace, pushing it quickly in transition and scoring a flurry of fast buckets. The h awkeyes led by as many as 11 in the first period, despite Sherman’s best efforts. The big man poured in 18 firsthalf points on 7-for-10 shooting to keep n otre d ame close.

But iowa had its way throughout the opening stanza and drilled 19 of its 33 field goals, good for a 57.6 percent clip. n ine different h awkeyes scored in the first 20 minutes — though no player reached double figures — and junior center g abriel o laseni tallied nine points and five rebounds while junior forward a aron

this year.

“We don’t want to foul her,” m c g raw said. “ i think this year, with the way they are calling the game, we have to try to work on not fouling as much. We definitely want to avoid fouling her.”

To counter l ucas, n otre d ame will have to utilize its own scorers. The i rish have six players averaging over 10 points per game and are led by sophomore guard Jewell l loyd’s 17.2 points per game.

a s a team, n otre d ame benefits from its 20.8 rebounding margin average, the best in the nation.

“ i think this is the best rebounding team i ’ve ever had,”

m c g raw said. “We just have so many players capable of getting a double-double on any given night. i ’m really happy with the rebounding and i think it’s the reason we’re undefeated to this point.”

n otre d ame is also second in the nation is assists, averaging 23 assists per game.

“ i think we’re a team that

White added eight points. iowa’s 52 points were the most allowed by n otre d ame in the first half since 2003. Trailing by nine at the intermission, n otre d ame stormed out of the gates in the second half, quickly exploding on a 14-3 run to claim a 57-55 lead — its first since leading 9-7. a tkins capped off the spurt with a difficult left-handed layup.

But h awkeyes senior guard r oy d evyn m arble — the team’s leading scorer — burst out for 13 consecutive points as iowa squad reclaimed the lead, 68-62. n otre d ame tied

shares the ball well,” m c g raw said. “We have a lot of great players who can score, but all of those great scorers are always looking for their teammates.”

n otre d ame has continued to move the ball well, despite trying to replace former i rish guard and a ll- a merican Skylar d iggins.

“ i think [our assist num

bers] reflect our team chemistry, especially when you realize it’s not just the point guard,” m c g raw said. “ it’s in the post and it’s from the shooting guard. e verybody is averaging a lot of assists. it’s a result of great team chemistry and they really enjoy playing together.”

For the i rish, m c g raw said, the building of strong team chemistry begins with the recruiting process

“ i think we’ve been growing each year,” m c g raw said. “When we do our recruiting, we want kids that are a good fit for our program and will fit in well with our offense and

things at 71 when freshman guard d emetrius Jackson buried a right-wing three. The h awkeyes, though, then ran off five straight points and never gave up the lead again.

“ i just loved our fearlessness of — after taking big punches in a tough road atmosphere — coming back and keeping game pressure on them,” Brey said.

The i rish return to p urcell p avilion on Saturday to host d elaware at 4 p.m.

Contact Mike Monaco at jmonaco@nd.edu

our players. c hemistry is an important part of recruiting and we really take that into account when we’re offering scholarships.”

The i rish will look to take advantage of their team

chemistry and skills on the glass when they travel to p enn State today for their 7:30 p.m. game against the l ady l ions.

Contact Aaron Sant-Miller at asantmil@nd.edu

Panken excels academically, breaks out as player

By SAMANTHA ZUBA Sports Writer

evan panken knows how to work. Whether he’s in the classroom or on the field, the sophomore midfielder has impressed irish coach Bobby clark with his energy and motivation.

“he’s a hard worker,” clark said. “he has tremendous enthusiasm, tremendous determination. … he’s just a fantastic player to have on our team, but it’s really his work ethic, his enthusiasm and determination. There is no one more determined than evan.”

a lthough no. 3 notre dame (14-1-6, 7-1-3 acc) doesn’t redshirt players, panken did not play last year, so he technically qualifies as a freshman in terms of eligibility, clark said. panken stepped up in 2013 as a sophomore to play 1,571 minutes and start all 21 games for the irish.

“The position opened up when [junior midfielder] Brendan lesch tore his acl in our first exhibition game down at creighton,” clark said. “We had to find someone who was going to play in that wide midfield role. evan had done this in the spring and had done very well. … he works so hard. he just he compliments the other players in the midfield well.”

nCAA FootBALL

clark said panken’s work ethic extends to his academic endeavors. as a freshman, panken was named a Big east academic a llStar. panken also received recognition from notre dame for his academic achievements when he was named to the dean’s list in the spring semester. First year students qualified with a minimum 3.688 gpa

panken said the combination of commitments to soccer and school have strengthened his work ethic.

“i think that especially with coach clark, he emphasizes good work in the classroom,” panken said. “a lso i just think that hard work in soccer transfers over to commitment to education as well and just making sure you get everything done on time and do it right.”

Balancing both commitments can be challenging, but the team makes the extra effort worth it, panken said.

“i would describe it as similar to a family,” he said. “We’re all really tight, and my best friends are on the team. We spend a lot of time together. a nd then [it’s] just hard work and time-consuming. i mean we practice and then homework, so it’s a lot of time commitment, but i love it and wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

panken has certainly

contributed to the irish soccer family, according to clark. in addition to four goals and one assist on the season, panken brings a generous attitude to the team.

“evan is one of those young men who always wants to be helping,” clark said. “he has a very willing disposition. he works very hard and he’ll always help. if you ever need someone to lend a hand, he’s your guy.”

panken said his teammates return the favor whenever he lends a helping hand.

“on the field, i just work hard for everyone,” panken said. “That’s what we all do. We all work for each other, and so i like to bring energy and help set the tone.”

on Sunday, panken helped his team with two goals, including the game winner, in notre dame’s 4-2 victory over no. 14 Wake Forest in the round of 16 of the ncaa men’s Soccer championship. panken said he and the rest of the irish have to maintain their focus and teamoriented attitude moving forward in the tournament.

“it’s tough,” panken said. “There’s a lot of distractions with school and then just seeing how everyone else has done, but, for us, everyone is really motivated, and we play for each other, and we’ve had a motto all year:

‘execute the triangle,’ which basically just means stay focused, do your job, and that’s what we’ve been aiming to do.”

Beyond the tournament, panken has tremendous upside as a young midfielder, according to clark.

“he’ll obviously pick up more leadership roles as he goes through school,” clark said.

“i think that’ll just happen

naturally. The kind of person he is, he’ll just want to improve. as a team, we want to get better each game, and it’s the same with each player. he’s a very focused young man. he’s a good student; he’s a very good student, and he works very hard. it’s everything he does.”

Contact Samantha Zuba at szuba@nd.edu

p urdue searches for silver lining in lost season

Associated Press

indianapoliS — not even a bad season can deter darrell hazell.

The p urdue coach is sticking to his original plan. he believes his young quarterback is bound for stardom, and he’s confident those young receivers can emerge as playmakers. he insists his young defense will emerge as the kind of reliable, stout unit the Boilermakers

need to get back to the postseason and he’s intent on getting more speed into the program next season.

it’s time to find out if hazell has it all right.

“you have to get players in,

but you also have to develop the players that are in your program,” he said after Saturday’s 56-36 loss. “We’ll work the plan and we’ll be a good football team when it’s all said and done.”

The question is when.

hazell doesn’t have a definitive answer yet after one of the worst seasons in school history. p urdue went a whole month without a taking a red-zone snap, wound up losing its final 10 games, failed to score more than 24 points in any game until the season finale and did not beat a Bowl Subdivision team all season. it closed things out by turning over the old oaken Bucket to the dreaded hoosiers last weekend, and hazell & co. will be reminded of all those struggles next season when they try to avoid matching the school’s record skid — 11 straight losses from 1906-08 — in the august opener against Western michigan.

hazell went through similar struggles at a moribund program at kent State before turning things around in year 2, and he’s been studying how Jimmy Johnson in dallas and chuck noll with the Steelers and Barry a lvarez at Wisconsin turned floundering programs into consistent winners.

“They had a plan and they were going to stick to the plan,” hazell said. “They understood that things aren’t always exactly the way you want it when you first go into a situation. But you’ve got to get it to the point where you do want it.”

that would take a good, hard look at us.”

Since the loss to p ittsburgh on n ov. 9, the B c S suits have disappeared from the n otre d ame press box, to be replaced by a bevy of smaller bowls in search of a cash cow in what is certainly the largest of the at-large teams looking for a suitor. a t Stanford, a dvo c are v 100 Bowl (formerly known as the i ndependence Bowl) representatives from Shreveport, l a., were on hand with hopes of swaying the i rish. o ther contending destinations include the p instripe Bowl, the p oinsettia Bowl, the l ittle c aesars p izza Bowl, the h awaii Bowl and the h eart of d allas Bowl.

a fter the loss to Stanford, a few n otre d ame players available to the media issued a preference, not of destination but of locale.

“ d efinitely not somewhere where it’s snowing,” senior receiver TJ Jones said. o thers were less direct, yet still increasingly hopeful for some sunshine.

“Wherever they send us really,” senior tri-captain Zack m artin said. “ l ike most people, don’t want to play in the snow. But if we play there, we’ll be happy for it.”

The climate may be the biggest deterrent of the p instripe Bowl at yankee Stadium, considered by many to be the favorite for landing the i rish. n otre d ame may also find itself at the very same bowl over the next few years with its acc tie-in.

m eanwhile, the l ittle c aesars p izza Bowl in d etroit and the a dvo c are v 100 Bowl most likely don’t have the flair necessary to draw a consensus and the i rish already played in d allas this season with the Shamrock Series. The h awaii Bowl is a dream location, as it was when the i rish visited in 2008, but appears to be looming on the fringe with its d ec. 24 date and a complicated travel schedule.

The p oinsettia Bowl in San d iego on d ec. 26 seems to be another one of the heavy favorites, with the p instripe Bowl, and would be a welcome choice among the players for its weather and competition — Boise State and Fresno State are potential opponents. But the p oinsettia has a backup tiein with the mac , which has

only four tie-ins throughout the bowl season with seven bowl-eligible teams. a nd although money may not be the biggest factor to the i rish, the p oinsettia Bowl has the second-lowest payout of all the bowls at $500,000 (compared to the p instripe Bowl’s $1.8 million prize).

But for some seniors, the destination isn’t nearly as important as the chance to play one final game.

“We just want to play. For us, we don’t have much decision about where we’re going,” senior quarterback Tommy r ees said. “We just want to play another game. We’ll get that opportunity. We’re just ready to compete.”

m eanwhile, Jones said the captains and veteran seniors would meet with k elly on Thursday to discuss their

options. k elly had previously mentioned he would heavily consider the input of the seniors, who will be the first i rish class since 1995 to go to a bowl game for all four years.

For m artin, the bowl game represents a curtain call for a senior class that started in e l p aso, Texas, with stops in o rlando, Fla., and m iami along the way.

“ i mean, we want to go and win our last one,” the offensive lineman said. “We got one more game together. This team has worked too hard to not go out and play the right way our last game. We’ll go where they send us. But we like to go where it’s sunny out.”

Contact Andrew Gastelum at agastel1@nd.edu

academic mission of this university at the same time, We are excited to welcome him and his family to oxford.”

coached defensive backs before moving to the other side of the ball following former offensive coordinator charley molnar’s departure to massachusetts.

“(kelly) has always been the same on you’ve gotta make decisions in the best interests of your family and think it’s in the best interests of your career, even though we don’t have a crystal ball on where things can take you,” martin said to irish illustrated. “he understands making decisions in the best interests of your family is what it’s always about.”

in a statement released by miami (ohio), athletics director david Sayler said martin was a good fit with the school.

“When i laid out the criteria that miami was looking for in its next head football coach, it aligns perfectly with chuck martin,” Sayler said. “coach martin comes on board with a plan that will succeed here at miami, while embracing the

in the same statement, martin said he was excited to join the program.

“i am excited to be joining the miami football family and want to thank david Sayler for this incredible opportunity,” martin said. “i look forward to getting back to the excellence miami stands for and am excited to hit the ground running.”

according to cSn chicago, kelly said wide receivers coach mike denbrock would be the offensive coordinator for notre dame’s bowl game. The irish have yet to accept a bid to a bowl game.

Golson to be readmitted soon in an interview with eSpn com, kelly said suspended quarterback everett golson should be readmitted to the university on dec. 13.

“i’ve been assured that based upon all of the information that has been provided that he’s going to be re-admitted on dec. 13, and

that information has been provided to admissions and it’s just a matter of them sending out the admittance letter and then him being back on campus sometime around the 15th of december,” kelly said to eSpn.com.

While golson would be eligible to practice with the irish before the bowl game, kelly said the short timeframe between his return and the bowl game would likely prevent that.

kelly also said golson would not be able to travel with the team to the bowl game.

in leading an undefeated 2012 campaign, golson threw for 2,405 yards with 12 touchdowns and six interceptions. he added 298 yards and six scores on the ground. golson is expected to assume the starting quarterback position in the spring although kelly has said it would be a competition with freshman quarterback malik Zaire. golson will have two seasons of eligibility remaining.

Contact Matthew DeFranks at mdefrank@nd.edu

Edited by Will Shortz No. 1030

answers, call 1-900-285-5656, $1.49 a minute; or, with a credit card, 1-800-814-5554. Annual subscriptions are available for the best of Sunday crosswords from the last 50 years: 1-888-7-ACROSS. AT&T users: Text NYTX to 386 to download puzzles, or visit nytimes.com/mobilexword for more information. Online subscriptions: Today’s puzzle and more than 2,000 past puzzles, nytimes.com/crosswords ($39.95 a year). Share tips: nytimes.com/wordplay. Crosswords for young solvers: nytimes.com/learning/xwords.

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: amanda Seyfried, 28; holly marie combs, 40; Brendan Fraser, 45; Julianne moore, 53. Happy Birthday: don’t pass up an opportunity to learn something or to make new acquaintances. The information you gather will help you reach your goals over the coming year. change is inevitable, and if you adapt to what you encounter along the way, you will end up benefiting from the developments that take place. procrastination is not an option. your numbers are 2, 8, 17, 25, 32, 38, 41.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): do what suits you. Take a leap of faith and head in a direction that encourages you to learn about new people, places and skills. Step away from anyone putting pressure on you to do something that doesn’t feel right.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): interact with knowledgeable people with whom you share an interest, but don’t make a decision that might hold you hostage. check out your options as well as how you can cut corners to make a new project more feasible.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): don’t waste any time when it comes to helping others or living up to your promises. a personal accomplishment will make you feel good about your future. networking or reconnecting with an acquaintance will make you reflect and move on.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): you’ll pick up information easily. look for signals that can guide you to a better position. a personal relationship will need an adjustment if you want to move forward without baggage. an infatuation may lead you in the wrong direction.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): make adjustments that will help improve future dealings. attend a lecture or make minor self-improvements that will put you in a better position to negotiate what you want. enhance your chance to achieve success. a change will do you good.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): There will be a fine line between saying what’s on your mind and letting your emotions spill. concentrate on what you can change, not what you cannot. The people you feel most comfortable with are the ones to gravitate toward.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Share your thoughts and explore subjects and interests that can help you meet new people. you may want to make an impression, but don’t spend or overdo it in order to do so. Sticking to a budget and being responsible will be noticed

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): offer ideas and share your plans. you can make personal domestic alterations that will improve your living conditions. don’t be reluctant to do things differently. it’s your uniqueness that will garner attention. love is on the rise and will enhance your life.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): gravitate toward change and try something new. don’t let anyone stand between you and your professional goals. anger won’t pay off but outdoing someone who challenges you will. make an impression and show how passionate you are about what you do.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Stand your ground. don’t feel you have to give in to someone who is making last-minute changes. proceed down the path you chose without giving in to what anyone else is doing. you will come out on top if you are tenacious.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): listen carefully and go about your business. don’t make trouble by arguing or trying to get others to do things your way. pick and choose what works best for you and follow through with your plans. don’t fold under pressure.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): keep personal business at a distance. you cannot win an emotional battle, but you can get ahead where investments and professional jobs come into play. Focus on money, expanding your interests and upping your income and your reputation.

Birthday Baby: you are gracious, charming and accommodating. you are courageous and fair.

irish mull bowl options martin to coach m iami

By ANDREW GASTELUM

e ditor-in- c hief

even with its close-but-no cigar loss to no. 8 Stanford on Saturday, it seems that notre dame’s bowl options have yet to change.

“i don’t think [the loss alters postseason plans],” irish coach Brian kelly said on Saturday. “i couldn’t tell you for sure … But there’s going to be some opportunities for us that we’ll just have to sit and evaluate and find out.”

With one week left in the college football season, the pot of bowl-eligible teams can still be stirred. But with no bowl tie-in as they had with the champs Sports Bowl for the 2011 season and one year away from the acc tie-ins, the irish have the opportunity to be a bit more picky than usual.

“There’s a lot of schools that obviously still have an opportunity to take some of those spots that are there,” kelly said. “We’re in a unique situation this year. We’re appreciative of any bowl

MEn’s BAskEtBALL

nd falls in close match to iowa

By MIKE MONACO Sports e ditor

The atmosphere was everything i rish head coach m ike Brey wanted in n otre d ame’s first away game: a difficult opponent in an equally challenging road environment.

The result, however, left n otre d ame looking for more as the i rish fell 98-93 to n o. 23 i owa at a sold-out and “Blacked-out” c arverh awkeye a rena on Tuesday night in i owa c ity, iowa.

“They’re disappointed they didn’t get it,” Brey said in a post-game interview with Watch nd. “But i just told them i said, ‘ i love my team. i love the fearlessness. i love how we kept game pressure on them. a nd it’s something for us to kind of build on.’” iowa (8-1) cracked open an 11-9 lead despite five early turnovers in the first 3:56 of the game. The h awkeyes, however, did not commit another turnover during the

first half.

a fter the h awkeyes soared through a near-perfect first half, n otre d ame (5-2) responded with a strong second stanza, knotting the game at 71 with 8:17 remaining in the contest. But from there, i owa never allowed the i rish to lead again.

n otre d ame got within three with 38 seconds remaining and did so again in the final second, but i owa packed so great an offensive punch that n otre d ame couldn’t counter defensively. iowa’s 98 points were the most allowed by the i rish in regulation since n ov. 2008, when n orth c arolina scored 102.

“ it was going to be an offensive kind of game,” Brey said. “These are two good offensive teams that had a hard time guarding each other a lot of the night. They just were harder to guard than us for longer periods of time.”

nd woMEn’s BAskEtBALL

By MATTHEW DeFRANKS a ssistant managing e ditor

irish offensive coordinator

chuck martin accepted the head coaching position at miami (ohio) on Tuesday, ending a four-year run as a notre dame assistant coach.

“Just a great opportunity from a head coaching standpoint,” martin said to irish illustrated. “great school, cradle of coaches, ara parseghian, Bo Schembechler, Woody hayes, there’s a lot that goes along with it.”

martin served as a defensive coordinator under irish coach Brian kelly while at grand valley State and succeeded him as head coach when kelly left for central michigan. martin was the head coach of grand valley State for six seasons before rejoining kelly in South Bend.

martin will become kelly’s second offensive coordinator to leave the program in the last three seasons.

at notre dame, martin initially

Irish look to contain Lucas

By AARON SANT-MILLER Sports Writer

Just seven games into its season, n o. 4 n otre d ame will face its third ranked opponent of the year when it travels to n o. 10 p enn State tonight.

i n the l ady l ions (5-1, 0-0

Big Ten), the i rish (6-0, 0-0 acc ) not only take on one of the best teams in the nation, but also face off against one of the most talented players in the country.

p enn State senior guard m aggie l ucas was the Big Ten p layer of the year last season, a John r . Wooden award

finalist, a Wade Trophy finalist, and a member of the a ssociated p ress a ll- a merica second team. l ucas currently leads the l ady l ions in scoring, averaging more than 22 points per game. The second-highest scorer