PDF for Monday, Dec. 9, 2013

Advocate reflects on formative years

In preparation for Urban Plunge, Notre Dame welcomes director of ILAACP

By HENRY GENS

news writer

a special guest speaker headed the third and final pre-immersion class of notre dame’s urban plunge program over winter break on sunday.

malik nevels, executive director for the illinois african american coalition for prevention (ilaacp), talked sunday night about dignity and justice for urban america, sharing his life experiences and current work.

nevels began his talk by discussing what dignity and social justice means to him, and how he’s been exposed to these ideas

see JusTice PAGE 5

islamic culture fostered by student group

By GABRIELA MALESPIN news writer

a s part of the ongoing effort to promote and understand diversity at notre dame, the muslim student a ssociation (msa) has successfully incorporated an interfaith dialogue between muslim students and the university to spread awareness of islamic culture and religion.

The msa boasts approximately 30 members of both graduate

and undergraduate. club vice president itrat bin shams, an electrical engineering graduate student at notre dame, said the msa uses annual events to promote islamic culture around campus.

bin shams said the eid festival (eid al-Fitr), which means the Feast of breaking Fast, takes place every year to commemorate the end of ramadan.

see muslim PAGE 5

Home robbed

Observer Staff Report

a burglary occurred at a student residence in the 400 block of n . Frances s treet last week, according to an email from the o ff c ampus c ouncil sent s aturday.

The email stated that the crime took place between 3 p.m. on n ov. 26 and 2 p.m. d ec. 1. The burglar gained entry by unknown means, there were no signs of force and the house’s rear door was found unlocked.

Two flat screen televisions, an Xbox 360, an unknown

see robbery PAGE 3

Students bring holiday cheer to Robinson Center

By ALEX WINEGAR news w riter

holiday cheer filled the air with cookie decorating, holiday music, snacks and s anta visits at s aturday’s fourth annual w inter wonderland at the robinson c enter.

The c ommunity o utreach event, sponsored by student a ctivities b oard ( sab ), was held for students at s outh b end community schools and the

see winTer PAGE 3

p rofessor analyzes history of c hristmas star

By GRACE MCCORMACK news w riter

a lthough most people associate c hristmas with a manger, shepherds and overbooked inns, astrophysicist g rant J. m atthews from notre d ame’s department of physics enjoys examining the nativity story from a cosmic perspective.

m atthews gave a lecture

titled “ w hat and w hen was the c hristmas star?” this past weekend.

“There’s actually a wealth of astronomy about the circumstances of how we celebrate c hristmas,” m atthews said.

The lecture utilized Jordan h all’s state of the art d igital v isualization Theater to explore potential explanations of the c hristmas star, which is described in the g ospel of

m atthew.

“ w ithin our 10 computers here, we have programmed in memory every star, every object in the sky known to humankind. we can calculate their trajectory and where they’ve been, so we can go forward and back in time,” m atthews said. “using this, we can go back to the time when that c hristmas star first appeared and see how the sky

might have appeared to the m agi and might have signaled that there was a newborn ruler in Judea.”

m atthews said the m agi were early astrologers who searched for meaning in the carefully followed movements of celestial objects.

“[The m agi] believed that each sign of the zodiac referred to a different time of the year and a different geographic

location of the world,” he said.

The night sky the m agi studied 2,000 years ago is distinctly different from the one we know today, m atthews said.

“The location of the vernal equinox changes with time,” he said. “The vernal equinox was just departing the constellation of a ries, which actually fixed a lot of the lore of the

see sTar PAGE 3

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Policies

Question of the Day:

Suzannah

Jordan

Andres

“Johnnie walker.”

Ana Arredondo junior le mans hall “hot

Sophomore midfielder Connor Klekota heads the ball during Notre Dame’s victory over Michigan State Saturday night. The thirdranked Irish defeated the Spartans 2-1 to advance to the College Cup Final Four, to be held on Friday at PPL Park in Chester, Pa.

Today’s Staff

Corrections

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7 p.m.-9 p.m.

The Irish take on Bryant University.

Community

7 p.m.-8:30 p.m.

Snite Salon Series

Snite

5 p.m.-5:45 p.m.

Discussion and debate on works of art.

Cultural Differences and

Geddes Hall

5 p.m.-7 p.m.

Student research presentations about developing countries.

3 p.m.-4 p.m. Prepare for exam week with free yoga.

Physics Colloquium Nieuwland Hall

4 p.m.-5 p.m.

Lecture by Prof. Daniel S. Elliott of Purdue University.

Thursday

Zen Meditation Coleman-Morse Center

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

Open to all faiths.

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe Basilica of the Sacred Heart

5:15 p.m.-6:15 p.m. Bilingual Mass.

Friday

President’s Christmas Reception Main Building

2 p.m.-4:30 p.m. For faculty and staff.

Graduate Student Mass Basilica of the Sacred Heart

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

Social in ColemanMorse Center to follow.

SMC clubhouse event promote sustainable arts

By EMILIE KEFALAS news writer

saint mary’s art department featured different forms of social media through a variety of media arrangements Friday at The sustainable arts café and market at dalloway’s clubhouse.

dr. adrienne lyles chockley, social justice program coordinator at saint mary’s, said when we think of social justice, art, poetry and music are not usually the first forms of expression to come to mind, but these mediums were at the forefront of last Friday’s event.

“i wanted to have an installation of artworks created by students, and then [art professor] Julie [Tourtillotte] came up with the idea of having students sell their goods,” chockley said.

“Then the students chose to have all proceeds going to st. margaret’s house, so it’s another way of promoting social justice by providing funding for a really important social program in downtown south bend.”

a ll of the featured media, from the artwork to the poetry, had an underlying theme of social justice, including the selection of free organic snacks and fair trade coffee and tea, Tourtillotte said.

“you’re making sure that the coffee was produced in ways that

were environmentally sound and also fair in terms of the people working are fairly treated both in terms of their wages and in terms of the kind of chemicals they might be exposed to in producing those products,”

Tourtillotte said.

student-created pieces such as eco-dyed scarves, notecards and recycled denim paper were all made in Tourtillotte’s “sustainable Textiles” course. she said selected pieces were all on display for show and for purchase.

“everything from a-Z is the

student’s work,” Tourtillotte said “They fashioned everything really from scratch.”

The student-made pieces allowed the café to increase awareness about the justice behind production of the things we consume, chockley said.

“people didn’t know all these things were available on campus,” chockely said. “ Just knowing you have a choice is an important issue to be raised today,

Contact Emilie Kefalas at ekefal01@saintmarys.edu

Winter

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e arly c hildhood d evelopment c enter ( ecdc ) children of s aint m ary’s and notre d ame, sab vice president a lli g erths said.

g erths said over 1,500 flyers were printed to advertise the event and 300 families from ecdc were invited,.

“ w inter wonderland is primarily for underprivileged students so it’s really important that children have a chance to spend c hristmas with their families and big holidays that might not have the opportunity to do so otherwise,” g erths said.

s he said sab recognizes that c hristianity isn’t the only religion celebrated in s outh b end.

“ we don’t want to just exclude it to [only] c hristmas although there is a lot of c hristmas stuff going on,” g erths said. “ we want all the holidays to be celebrated, that’s why we call it winter wonderland.”

i n addition to the visiting s anta, children had access to a variety of crafts such as make your own reindeer and coloring pages, g erths said.

Robbery

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amount of u s . currency and an i p ad mini were taken, the email stated. s uspect information is not available.

For more information on crime prevention and ways

“ we want to make it a warm welcoming place for kids to be able to decorate their houses with, we assume they take those crafts home and actually use them to decorate their house because that’s apart of the c hristmas spirit,” g erths said.

s he said s anta was an especially big hit at the event for kids of all backgrounds.

“Their excitement about s anta is unreal. we have kids here from every different nationality and kids from oversee,” g erths said. “s anta goes across worlds so it’s really cool to see them get excited about it, just as we are excited about it in the united states.”sab values the importance of giving back to the s outh b end community through outreach events like w inter wonderland, g erths said.

“i know sometimes there’s a little bit of riff between community members and the college students,” she said. “ we want to allow the kids to make really good memories here at s aint m ary’s and make it a positive place for the community,”

Contact Alex Winegar at awineg01@saintmarys.edu

to reduce the risk of crime, the o ff c ampus c ouncil said students should visit the n otre d ame s ecurity p olice website or consult the live crime map of n otre d ame, s outh b end and m ishawaka available at www.crimereports.com

time.”

a ries, the first sign of the zodiac, is symbolized by a lamb and was considered by the m agi to signify Judea.

“s omething that would have been seen as important at the time would be represented by something occurring in the constellation a ries,” he said.

Though scientists are unsure about what exactly this phenomenon was, m atthews said the four most likely theories suggest it was a comet, nova, supernova, or conjunction of planets.

using records of the c hinese c ourt, researchers discovered a few comets and supernovae that occurred near the time of Jesus’s birth, m athews said. however, m atthews does not think that the m agi would interpret these occurrences as joyous indications of a great leader being born.

“[ c omets, novae, and supernovae] were seen as harbingers of a great disaster. For example, each comet is associated with some catastrophic event: the death of c leopatra, the death of c aesar, these were not harbingers of joy, they were warnings of disaster” m atthews said. r ather,

m atthews said he believes the most likely explanation for what the m agi saw in the sky lies within our own solar system.

“[The m agi] would be very concerned with the location of the planets. w hat they would look for would be where planets line up. a round 6 bc , the sun, Jupiter, and the moon are all in a ries and venus and s aturn are right next door,” he said.

This grouping of planets would have been interpreted eagerly by the m agi. m atthews said different objects in the solar system were thought to represent different symbolic meanings.

“Jupiter is the symbol of a powerful leader. The moon means that the leader had a special appointed destiny in their death. s aturn indicated a giving of life. a powerful leader, a newborn king, born in the land of Judea in our time frame of interest.”

m atthews said he believes this grouping closely matches the one reported in the original nativity story, sayingd the “c hristmas star” most likely refers to this unusual grouping of celestial bodies.

Contact Grace McCormack at gmccorma@nd.edu

Banquet invites students to experience hunger

By CHELSEY FATTAL

n ews w riter

‘Tis the season of celebrating together over food and drink. h owever, many a mericans will be hungry and cold during this holiday season.

To combat this issue, the s aint m ary’s c ollege s tudent d iversity b oard ( sdb ) will host a h unger b anquet this Tuesday before winter break. c aroline b rown, chairwoman of the s aint m ary’s s tudent d iversity b oard ( sdb ), said the event is well suited to the mission of the c ollege.

“The h unger b anquet is designed to raise awareness and understanding within the s aint m ary’s community,” b rown said.

“ i t is a great opportunity to experience what it is like to be placed in poverty. a s a c atholic institution, our social responsibility plays a large role in the mission statement of s aint m ary’s, as well as our diversity board.”

s tudents, faculty and staff will take on new identities to give them a true sense of the struggle faced by the hungry, she said. i dentity slips will be given upon entry to the b anquet, placing participants in either the lower, middle or upper economic class. The participant’s role will determine which and how much food is

placed on his or her plate.

The b anquet will simulate each economic class and participants will be asked to manifest this identity throughout the evening.

b rown said sdb decided to go forward with the event

paid a dverT isemen T

because the members believe hunger and poverty are prevalent issues that are greatly overlooked at s aint m ary’s.

“ we hope that our participants will take a couple things away from this event,”

b rown said. “First, as o xfam

i nternational and sdb believe, aid alone will not solve hunger, education will. we hope that our participants will come out of this event more educated and aware of the implications of hunger and poverty, and with the knowledge of how to take action. s econd, we hope that our participants will take away a sense of passion for helping those in need around the world.”

i n addition to the roles given, sdb will give a short presentation about getting involved through organizations like The c enter for the h omeless, s t. Joseph’s Food p antry, s alvation a rmy, h ope m inistries and others.

b rown said that although the content of this event is serious, the event will also be an enjoyable and educational. “ h unger is not an option, so where will you sit?” said b rown.

The h unger b anquet will be held on Tuesday from 7-8 p.m. in the s tudent c enter l ounge.

Contact Chelsey Fattal at cfatta01@saintmarys.edu

Professors experiement with new technology

By GABRIELA MALESPIN news writer

notre dame’s center for digital scholarship hosted a workshop on high-resolution digital panorama photography Friday.

The new program incorporates elongated and interactive digital images that professors hope to utilize in academic disciplines such as architecture, archeology and anthropology.

The workshop was hosted by paul Turner from the office of internet Technology, eric nisly, from curatend, david hernandez, an associate professor in the department of classics and matthew sisk from the center for digital scholarship.

The men performed a hands-on demonstration of the high resolution technology and how it can be used use in an academic setting.

“it’s a very modern technology, one that has only been used for the past four or five years,” hernandez

said. “i’m always trying to find ways to record the archeological site as best as possible. archeology is a non-repeatable enterprise and information from the excavation is dependent on how much is recorded.”

hernandez said he used this technology in his archeological investigation in butrint, albania with funding from isla and oiT.

“i have no doubt that this technology is going to become a central component of all archeological excavations in the near future,” hernandez said. “The photographic potential of it is extraordinary.”

hernandez said the workshop included gigapan technology, a new type of visual technology that gives an interactive visual interface and provides highly detailed resolutions of different aspects in an image.

meanwhile, sisk said collaborating with others has helped him see the value in the new technology.

“where i came from i was the only person who even knew what this technology was,” he said. “To come here and find people who are already entrenched in this technology not only for science but also for archeology and anthropology is really great.”

hernandez said he and other members of the university are collaborating to launch a website under the department of classics that will continue to implement and promote this technology and showcase the gigapan images taken at the butrint archeological site.

James belushi, a participant in the workshop said he could apply the lesssons from the demonstration to his interests.

“i think it was a great experience to see how this technology can be used in a very real world way,” beluhsi said “it’s a submersive experience.”

Contact Gabriela Malespin at gmalespi@nd.edu

“we invite people from all around campus and give a presentation of what eid is, as well as information on the msa .” bin shams said. “we also take part in the ‘prayer from around the world,’ a series organized by campus ministry, where people from all religions show their practices and how they pray.”

The msa is also hosting an upcoming seminar titled “syria: w hy it matters” and a Fast-athon, an event organized over the summer where attendees were requested to skip a meal and donate proceeds to Fighting hunger in a frica.

bin shams said the club works hard to create community between muslim students by hosting smaller events.

“we have several students who came from Turkey or pakistan. The muslim student a ssociation provides a very nice umbrella for them. we try to bring them together, for example, we pray together, we share our thoughts together, etc.” bin sham said. “our mission is not only to provide facilities and

bring muslim students together but also to breach a network together between all students at the university.”

next semester, the club is hosting islam awareness week. bin shams said the weeklong program will include a number of seminars, dinners and speakers from outside camps. bin shams said despite the majority of notre dame students belonging to a christian background, the msa’s impact on campus has been noticeable.

“i truly believe the impact we have had on campus is huge,” bin shams said.

sara abdel rahim, a freshman biology major and an active member in the msa, said she believes the club has built a strong foundation that will allow its influence to continue to grow in coming years.

“i’m very proud that we have a club like this on campus because i do appreciate the fact that we can practice our faith in a university that is predominantly catholic,” abdel rahim said.

Contact Gabriela Malespin at gmalespi@nd.edu

over the course of his life and in his career.

“w hen we think about or talk about or begin to explore the concept of dignity and social justice i think what we’re really speaking about or thinking about is the

quest, the search, for dignity and social justice, whether it be in the context of politics, race, gender or class,” nevels said. “we are talking about a particular group’s activities to persuade their audience to value who they are or what they say as well as acknowledge certain unalienable rights to which they should have title.”

paid a dverT isemen T

This concept of dignity and social justice shaped the lens through which he views his experiences, nevel said.

“i thought about two questions in particular,” nevels said. “one was how has this quest or search for dignity and social justice shaped or framed my personal narrative, and vice versa — how

has my personal narrative shaped my quest for dignity and social justice?” nevels then shared at length about four crucial life experiences that strongly influenced the work that he does now at the ilaacp, beginning with his mother’s involvement in the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

“Throughout my life, and i remember early on, my mother passing on concern for those that were from disadvantaged communities, so every month we would volunteer in some type of capacity,” nevels said.

next, nevels highlighted the guiding principles of catholic social teaching that his education in chicago catholic schools exposed him to during his childhood.

“it would be a disservice for me to ignore that catholic social teaching to a great degree shaped how i view the work i do in dignity and social justice,” nevels said. “There are three key things in catholic social teaching that stood out to me: The first was the call to family, community and participation. in that sense, people have a right and a duty to participate in society. The second thing that resonated with me was rights and responsibility, that human dignity can be protected and a healthy community can only be achieved if human rights are protected and responsibilities are met. and last, but not least, is the option for the poor and vulnerable. basically for a society, to a degree, how well it has done is based on how well it treats its poor and vulnerable.”

The third experience that nevels talked about was a period of urban gentrification in the lincoln park neighborhood he lived in during the late 1970s, and how it altered and erased the demographics of the community seemingly overnight. lastly, nevels discussed his

involvement as a public ally in chicago in the mid-1990s, when michelle obama led the program. nevels headed a funding program for the schools in the city, and was shocked by conditions he witnessed there.

“even though this was in ‘95, some of these conditions exist today and are even worse,” nevels said. “you’ve got kids who are learning in hallways, taking class in the summer with no air conditioning, they’re learning from textbooks that are outdated and, in some instances, they’re being taught by people who have no business teaching them. seeing this, what i thought was an injustice, led me to the work that i do today.”

The work nevels focuses on preventative measures against the negative outcomes associated with social and economic disparities, rather than acting as a reactionary agency, nevels said.

“w hat if we started making the greater investments on the frontend of life? w hat if we started upstream?” nevels said.

The ilaacp has efforts across a wide range of fronts, from raising public awareness about disparity to partnering with communitybased programs to raise money and evaluate efficacy, nevels said.

“we help those that help others do it better,” he said.

“one of the things that takes place in chicago because it’s so political is that chicago will get a large Federal grant to, let’s say, improve the public education in chicago, but you don’t know who got the grant,” nevels said. “and they keep it a secret. so one of the things we’ve been able to do is get access to the information and share that with local communitybased organizations.”

Contact Henry Gens at hgens@nd.edu

let’s talk, not text

over the last few weeks, i’ve had way too many thoughts about what i consider the dreaded “g” word — graduation.

in full disclosure, i’m not one of the approximately 2,000 seniors set to graduate in may. my graduation date doesn’t arrive for another year and a half.

still, as i’ve been preparing to study abroad next semester, i’ve had to combat the sad realization that i only have two semesters and about 10 days remaining on campus.

naturally, facing this realization evokes several emotions, the most common of which is regret.

now, regret is a term i like to avoid, mainly because it seems to marginalize the impacts of the actual choices one has made. a nd i’m certainly happy with the sum of my decisions here at notre dame. but at the same time, regret does cause one to look at the roots of missed past opportunities and see what changes they can make to take advantage of future opportunities.

in my case, that involved looking at some of the reasons why i didn’t try to get to know those around me better — fellow residents of my dorm, classmates, members of some of the activities i participate in, etc.

a nd in investigating these reasons, i came up with one common thread — my over-reliance on technology.

i’ll be the first to admit that if there were an olympic competition for internet surfing, i might have a good shot at medaling. i’ve spent more time than i can count perusing news sites and social media outlets. a nd while these ventures into the web have filled my brain with plenty of inane facts, it’s also detracted from the time i could have spent with others, people who have richer stories than can be found in a wall of text.

i still remember a recommendation my mother made during my first few days of college: “don’t get too caught up in social media. your friends and family will still be there when you get back.”

i wish i had heeded her warning right then and there. w hile it’s important to maintain past relationships, it’s equally important to cultivate new ones.

Fortunately, i’ve realized this tech obsession is not just limited to me. i can’t even begin to count the number of times i’ve gone to a dinner or party and seen everyone texting more than actually talking. unfortunately, this issue will never quite go away, especially as technology evolves. but i do have a pretty simple solution for it. over these final few days of the semester, put down the phones and laptops (except when you need them to study, of course).

They’ll still be there when you get back.

Contact Brian Hartnett at bhartnet@nd.edu

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

Considering vegetarianism

o ver two-and-a-half years ago, i ate the last steak i ’ll ever eat in my life. i distinctly remember cutting into that medium-rare steak, slicing it into small pieces and eating every single tender bite. it was delicious, but i felt ambivalent at the time. i had just started researching vegetarianism, and for the first time, i was looking at that steak not simply as a piece of food, but as a product of violence. i looked down at something so common to the average a merican and thought about the destroyed life represented in this small chunk of protein. c ould i really ethically justify my consumption based on the fact that it tasted good?

Two weeks later, i finally made the decision: i was going to go vegetarian. a t the time, even i was surprised by this decision. a s an incredibly picky eater, somehow i ’d managed to survive on a diet of turkey sandwiches, pasta, chocolate, hamburgers and r amen noodles for 19 years. i threw fits as a child when m om put chicken pot pie on the table. b ut being the stubborn person i am, i ’d made up my mind and taken the vegetarian plunge. i told myself presumptuously that there wouldn’t be any more hidden violence on my plate, thank you very much. s ince then, i ’ve followed a meat-free diet for over two years, enduring many awkward dinners where people challenged my eating choices and repeatedly hit me with the protein question (let’s clear that one up once and for all: m eat is not the only protein source, let alone the healthiest source. The world is full of beans, soy products, nuts and seeds, quinoa, vegetable proteins,

lentils, whole wheat grains and dairy products, if you eat those). s o here are a few reasons why you should consider vegetarianism, even if it’s just for one day a week. First, respect for life. m ost people disassociate their meat from the animals that provide it. m ost meat, at least in the u s ., is produced on gigantic factory farms where animals are mistreated, violated and murdered. i ndustrial chicken producers keep the birds in cramped, excrement-filled pens where the birds cannot even spread their wings. d ue to hormone injections and unnatural fattening, many chickens cannot support their own weight and their vertebrae snap, causing paralysis. o n pig farms, sows spend their entire lives confined without being able to turn around, and male pigs undergo castration without anesthetic. c ows are similarly miserable. a fter spending their entire lives knee deep in manure, their murders are carried out in a cursory fashion, as cows are strung up, thrashing in pain for extended periods of time as they bleed profusely and die. we must realize that humans are not the only organisms that form friendships, have families, work together, pursue projects, grieve over death or suffer in pain. i f we truly respect life, we ought to work to stop animal suffering. a nd even if animals are treated “ethically” before being murdered, can we really justify killing them when humans clearly do not need animal proteins to survive? s econd, health. The average a merican, according to the movie Food, i nc., eats over 200 pounds of meat each year. This incredible rate of carnivorism has resulted in the rise of a variety of diseases that could be easily fixed with a healthier diet. m eat-eating is linked

to heart disease, multiple types of cancer (colon, prostate, ovarian and breast), kidney stones, osteoporosis, hypertension, diabetes and obesity. w hile there are healthy meat-eaters and junk food vegetarians, eating a more plant-based diet can lower your risk for an array of diseases and improve life expectancy. a nd there’s a bonus. n o animals had to die for that rice and beans dinner.

Third, environmental stewardship. a ccording to an investigation by the c entre for a griculture and e nvironment, one cow produces the equivalent of 4.5 cars in greenhouse gas emissions. m oreover, the livestock industry is responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. This is higher than the emissions produced by cars, lorries, ships and planes combined. m oreover, pollution and manure run-off from factory farms seeps into water sources, the air and our bodies. i nstead of exploiting the rest of creation and the environment for tasty food, we must consider more sustainable and ethical ways of consuming.

i n sum, everyone has to eat, but not everyone has to eat meat. i challenge you to try vegetarianism, even if it’s just once a week. g o meatless on m ondays. Think about the food you eat, and don’t let it escape the ethical standards you uphold in other areas of your life. l et’s move beyond surface explanations for eating meat (“ it tastes good” and “ i need protein”) and critically think about what we put in our bodies.

Lisa Taylor is a senior studying political science. She can be reached at ltaylo13@nd.edu

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

The chocolate games

Hello and good morning Domer friends

Although my time here has come to an end, I wanted to do something special for you Because of the love you’ve shown for Big Lou.

The prize I have is cool, I swear An authentic signed jersey that I wear.

Put together the clues in this space in The Observer each day

And this authentic jersey could come your way.

Only time will tell who will win There can only be one... Let the Chocolate Games begin!

c lue one is easy — it’s from my favorite show. you need to know where this man had to go. g iddy-up, d omers, and solve this capital clue. s olve it before — oh before! — the others do

Louis Nix senior i n your hearts d ec. 8

The real issue with the contraception mandate

This past week, notre d ame made national headlines when it announced that for the second time in two years, it will be suing the federal government over the a ffordable c are a ct’s contraception mandate, which forces employer-provided health insurance to cover birth control as a part of its standard package of benefits. The university argues that such a mandate imposes an undue burden on their religious freedom and that they and other religious organizations should be exempt from the law. i really have no idea how the courts will rule in the matter, but i am confident of this: the contraception mandate is simply bad policy, for an entirely different reason — an economic one.

To understand why, you have to begin with an understanding of the real purpose of insurance. Fundamentally, the point of insurance is to protect people against risk. a n individual gives up money each month in the form of premiums to make sure than when and if something bad happens to him, he won’t have to bear the brunt of the cost — the insurer will. i nsurance thus makes perfect sense to buy in order to protect oneself against big unexpected risks, since most people would absolutely prefer not to be vulnerable to big negative financial shocks.

b ut what about for small, predictable expenses like birth control? here insurance makes far less sense. a s university of c hicago economist John c ochrane put it in the wall street Journal, “there are good reasons that your car insurance company doesn’t add $100 per year to your premium and then cover oil changes … markets would become much

less competitive, and you’d end up spending more.” w hen insurance companies have to provide more benefits, they end up passing these costs back to their customers through higher premiums, and if the cost of your employer-provided health insurance goes up, your employer will likely reduce your salary accordingly. i f instead of spending $50 a month on birth control an individual’s birth control becomes free, but their salary is reduced by $50 per month due to a rise in the premiums paid by their employers, are they really any better off than they were before?

p roviding health insurance that doesn’t provide free contraception isn’t denying access to birth control any more than providing health insurance that does provide free contraception is denying access to the other goods an employee could have purchased with the wages they gave up to pay for their higher premiums. a s anyone who’s taken economics knows, there’s no such thing as a free lunch, and pretending there is only worsens the debate about an important issue.

now, none of this is to say that access to quality birth control isn’t an important health issue. it is, and there are a number of ways we should work to make access easier for women. To begin, the government can make birth control available over-thecounter instead of requiring a prescription from a doctor. The a merican c ollege of o bstetricians and g ynecologists has already endorsed this idea, which is how women in some 50 other countries around the world — including s outh Korea, portugal, a rgentina, mexico, i ndia, and c hina — are able to get birth control. e ven socially conservative r epublican b obby Jindal, governor of l ouisiana, thinks this is a good idea, and it would certainly expand access by reducing hurdles most

medical professionals don’t think are necessary, thus giving women more control over their health decisions.

There are other ways to give individuals more control over their health decisions, too. however, the solution isn’t forcing businesses to provide more in benefits, it’s letting individuals buy insurance policies on their own instead of receiving them from their employer. c oincidentally enough, the a ffordable c are a ct can actually help with that, with its exchanges creating a market in which individuals can purchase their own insurance and decide for themselves how generous or stingy their benefits should be. Transitioning more fully towards a system in which employers provide fewer benefits and higher salaries will give people more autonomy in regards to how they spend their money, which will leave us better off. i ncidentally, this would also solve notre d ame’s woes, since employees would be responsible for their own insurance and the university could simply boost employee pay by the value of the healthcare they used to provide. birth control is an important part of healthcare, and figuring out how to expand access is an important issue, but mandating employer coverage ignores the economics of the situation and is simply the wrong answer to the problem. i nstead, we should focus on solutions that actually give individuals more autonomy over their economic and healthcare decisions and remove hurdles to contraception access. we’ll all be better off for it.

Conor Durkin is a senior studying economics and political science. He can be contacted at cdurkin@nd.edu

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

The most dreadful time of the year

Stembaugh subject to c hange

The last few weeks of the semester seem to change us all. w hen we catch sight of someone with a pillow and blanket spending the night in a library study room, we think nothing of it. w hen we don’t see a good friend for a couple days, we understand. w hen all junk food is sold out of The huddle, everyone seems to have compromised immune systems and more than one person is fast asleep at the dining hall, we don’t bat an eye. we simply turn to one another, shake our heads and murmur, “Finals.”

Final exams make strange behavior completely understandable. b ecoming slaves to work with grades occupying nearly every thought becomes the norm. The very idea of the elusive break to celebrate making it out alive is pushed out of mind. i nstead, we flock to the library in the hopes of being productive, yet still generally procrastinate until we have no option but

to start working. we hole up in a study room for days without sleep with the hope that cramming will pay off, and we fight for grades at the expense of sleep and friends.

a s we find ourselves on a collision course with finals and the endless quest for a better grade, it is easy to become overwhelmed and lose sight of what is important. yet 10 years from now, it is unlikely that our exam grades or anything we learned in those hours of cramming will be remembered. e xams give each of us a chance to show what we have learned throughout a course, but putting ourselves through a week of misery is not the intent. g rades serve as a measuring tool to indicate what we have personally gained, not as a tool to measure ourselves against others or to indicate self-worth.

The good news is that exams do not need to be a horribly depressing. it’s c hristmas time and the semester is coming to a close. b efore long, we will be home for the holidays and finals will be a distant memory. b ut before

the semester ends and we part ways, take a step back to enjoy the school and the people here. w hile it’s easy to forget why we put ourselves through the stress of exams, taking a moment to remember why we came to this university can provide the motivation to keep going.

The next few weeks give us the opportunity to experience both the most stressful and the most cheerful time of the year. Finals cast a pall over campus, yet the excitement for c hristmas is impossible to ignore. snow is falling, hallways are being strung with lights and m ariah c arey is in the air. r arely is there an obstacle that a warm cup of hot chocolate, a good laugh at w ill Ferrell trying to survive as an elf and a trip to the g rotto can’t conquer — even that 12page research paper that is too daunting to even begin.

c hristmas is a time of joy and cheer. it is a time of giving to others and a time to come together as a community in recognition of all that has been done and all that we have to be

thankful for. d on’t let finals detract from the season. c hristmas means giving up oneself to focus on bringing joy to others. it can be easy to lose sight of others during finals week and to forget that a lot of people are dealing with issues far more serious than final exams. Keep perspective, spend precious moments with friends, help others, take study breaks to sing c hristmas songs, make time for the d illon light show and don’t forget about your favorite c hristmas movies. we have only a couple weeks left. use it. b ury your heads in the books, but don’t forget to come up for air. Keep the hot cocoa coming, and take the time to celebrate the bigger things in life with the people who make it special.

Alexandra Stembaugh is a junior studying economics and English living in Welsh Family Hall. She can be reached at astembau@nd.edu

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

By MATT McMAHON

s cene writer

Two weeks ago “The c hris g ethard show” arguably became the most successful show ever to grace public access television. created and hosted by comedian c hris g ethard, the loosely structured call-in show has been airing live on new york’s manhattan neighborhood network and streaming online at thechrisgethardshow. com every wednesday at 11 p.m. for the past twoand-a-half years. d ue to the strength and growing popularity of the show, comedy central has ordered to film a pilot of Tcgs originally developed as a stage show for the upright citizens brigade Theatre in 2009, this will be the second time g ethard and company have had to restructure the show for a different medium.

The show’s website describes it as “the most bizarre and often saddest talk show in new york city.” episodes feature a varying panel of regular, recurring and special guests, who take calls from viewers to discuss either predetermined topics or anything on the viewers’ minds. additionally, guest appearances by various fictional characters, episodic-themed games, musical guests and prerecorded video shorts round out each hour. in the absurd episode titled “The culture show,” special guest and independent wrestler colt cabana takes requests from callers to demonstrate wrestling moves on panel members. simultaneously, other friends of the show present lessons on such highclass topics as the playfulness in architectural design and how to properly pair wines and cheeses.

The public access iteration of The chris g ethard show has an unexpected charm to it, majorly due to its do-it-yourself production. moreover, chris g ethard conducts the show with authentic acceptance and considerate inclusion. he forms bonds with frequent visitors and callers, creating relationships between them and the show. random people are often plucked from the audience and become characters or features of the show’s weird antics.

in fact, in the show’s second episode, the nowintegral idea of the “random,” a panel member who bears no ties to the show came about as a result of this inclusiveness. a viewer stumbled upon the show by channel surfing, called in to ask what it was about and was asked to head to the studio to get a full explanation. she showed up, sat on stage and c hris himself offered her a spot on the panel. it has since become tradition for a new “random” to star on the show for 15 weeks.

These randoms come out of nowhere, with the rest of the panel frequently reiterating that

they know absolutely nothing about them. not only do the randoms surprise and add another dynamic to the show’s aesthetics, but they also represent a microcosm for the entire show’s viewership: they start out as unknowns and, through the show, form meaningful connections by way of revelations, both serious and silly.

i n another notable episode, which fell the week after c hris g ethard appeared on l ate night with Jimmy Fallon and plugged the show, g ethard challenged viewers, audience members and even his own panel to “ruin This show.” w hat ensued was a maddening onslaught of insubordination, disrespectful talking from audience members in the studio and arranged bits designated to irritate g ethard as he attempted to push through the show. For the first half of the episode, these foibles result in laughs and amusement from g ethard’s reactions and building annoyance. people were ruining the show, and it was funny. yet, at around the 40-minute mark, each bit starts to get stale and grating. c hris begins to get more serious; he slouches in his seat, takes off his glasses and rubs his eyes. retreating into himself, he mutters something along the lines of “This was a mistake, this isn’t funny, it’s all getting old.”

i n this moment of collapse and dejection, the essence of the show is revealed. g ethard asked everyone to ruin the show, and they did, making it more entertaining. but it was not until the efforts became tired and he declared the episode a mistake that the episode was truly ruined.

c learly c hris g ethard and his cohorts, which are far too numerous to list off, are not afraid to fail, as they concurrently remain optimistic and realistic. w hether in high concept episodes like “ruin This show,” loose concept episodes like Thanksgiving-themed “sandwich night” which only shows people making and eating sandwiches or episodes with no structure at all — in which the cast has come into the studio with nothing planned and just sees what develops over the hour — the panel, cast, crew and audience commit to it all. This all makes for some of the most compelling television broadcasting in recent history.

moreover, this attitude has fostered the sort of “outcasts-welcomed” atmosphere of the show; Tcgs coined “l oser is the new nerd” as one of its taglines. v iewers have to invest in the show as much as those directly involved in it do. i n another episode, c hris completely abandons whatever was scheduled and, because of his mood, asks callers to call in with stories to discuss “g enuine sadness.” g ethard makes it known throughout the run of the show that he’s self-deprecating, suffers from depression, frequently has panic

attacks and often cries for seemingly no reason.

h even the most absurd of episodes to dip into seriousness, if necessary.

“ topic allows for a lot of catharsis, not only for the panel members and callers but also for the viewers. in the show encourages the audience to really reflect introspec tively as well as beyond themselves.

c fer very sincere advice that comes from real life experiences.

mined what format the pilot will take on c show will probably be 30 minutes instead of an hour, F tions restrict some of the show’s freedom and the call-in dynam ic may not work), it is clear that the show has already had a wealth of success. There are 119 episodes archived on line to search through.

s (see the “ saga and “ a m this run showcases the development and evolu tion of “The s celebrate.

the charm and the uncon ventionality have all been recognized, with c and the show a well-deserved chance.

ble version of “The g in the same light as its pre decessors and gather an even larger fan base.

Contact Matt McMahon at mmcmaho7@nd.edu

By ALLIE TOLLAKSEN

s cene writer

as 2013 comes to a close and we look back on the year, the top-10 lists start rolling in. we collectively need to know the best albums, shows and movies that took us by storm in the past 12 months. as i began to read the critics’ choices, best sellers and highest-grossers, i found myself in agreement with most lists. but when i turned to scroll through this year’s chart toppers in music, one band made an appearance over and over again, and i couldn’t help but cringe. it’s the band that undeniably took 2013 by storm — imagine dragons.

i know i am voicing an extremely unpopular opinion here. i realize that i am putting my head on the chopping block with this statement. many of my close friends and beloved family members are huge fans of the four-piece pop-rock group, but i can’t stay quiet any longer: i cannot stand imagine dragons.

The first time i heard imagine dragons was last year when the group’s breakout hit “it’s Time” came onto everyone’s radar. it was catchy, kind of inspirational and though i wasn’t a huge fan of front man dan reynolds’ scream-singing, i was okay with hearing the song around every now and then. sure, the chorus is repeated five times and makes up over half the song, but i went with it.

Then came “radioactive,” and everything changed. no matter how many times i hear the song “radioactive,” it still completely baffles me as to how it is so popular. no part of me can find the pulsing, lowregister synth and heavy, industrial crash of the percussion enjoyable. it sounds like the theme song of some sort of dystopian theme park you would never, ever want to visit. in fact, it’s like the band knew this when the created the music video for the song, which featured the group’s members dramatically locked in prison paired with some puppet cage-fighting.

w hen reynolds’ finally comes in on the track, we are confronted with his harsh vocals and heavy breathing in the first verse. Just when you think it can’t get any more dramatic, the chorus begins, and the song becomes a whole new kind of bad. This may be a controversial statement, but nothing about a group of people screaming the word “radioactive” paired with superfluous bass-drumming is pleasant or interesting.

i’m pretty sure that the song is supposed to be about change and revolution and the apocalypse or something, but the lyrics are far too ambiguous and repetitive to inspire. nevertheless, the song was called the most popular rock song of 2013, so somehow i am apparently the only person who feels like someone is yelling incoherently at me every time i heard “radioactive.”

a fter “radioactive,” the group released two more singles that became unavoidable this year, “demons” and “on Top of the world,” both of which are essentially just iterations of their first two singles. w hen i first heard “demons,” it sounded enough like “radioactive” for me to immediately loathe it. again, the song is not subtle about its theme of addressing personal issues, but the lyrics are pretty much just a vapid series of couplets sung emotionally over a heavy beat. hard pass.

Finally, “on Top of the world” is the band’s latest single. The song is a happy-go-lucky single in the same vein as “it’s Time.” chock-full of clichéd lyrics and a lot of clapstomping, it’s basically a hybrid of all of the kitschy songs we love so dearly in artists like fun., The lumineers and Train. at least no one is screaming in it.

i know that the love of imagine dragons runs deep, especially at notre dame. i know i’m going to catch a lot of flack for my stance on the band. That’s okay. i will continue to be a “hater” and fight the anti-“radioactive” fight every day just as imagine dragons will continue to make more music and rack up millions and millions of dollars. we all know the joke’s on me, because while i spew my imagine dragons hate, they’re the ones “on top of they world.” ugh.

Contact Allie Tollaksen at atollaks@nd.edu

By KEVIN NOONAN

s cene e ditor

Though it likely and shouldn’t win any oscars and will probably bomb at the box office, “out of the Furnace” will always hold a special place in my heart — it’s the first time since graduating from diapers and grade school that i’ve ever fallen knockout, drop dead, full on snoring asleep in a movie theatre.

on one hand, an argument could be made that if i was dreamland for a good 15 minutes in the middle of the movie then i probably can’t give an objective review, but i disagree. i would argue that it provides a perfect anecdote for just how earth-shatteringly boring this supposed awards season contender was.

The poorly labeled drama-thriller stars christian bale as russell baze, an honest and decent steel mill worker who goes to jail after a few drinks lead to a car accident that kills two people. his brother rodney, played by casey a ffleck, is a soldier whose repeated tours to iraq leave him more and more damaged and mentally unstable.

The film is ostensibly about the dynamic of the two brothers living in western pennsylvania, neither able to escape their lives for something better. a fter he is released from prison, russell learns that his girlfriend (Zoe saldana) has left him for Forrest w hitaker’s police chief (real-life age difference: 17 years, real-life believability: zero), and the steel mill is closing, so he knows his future is dim.

rodney can’t get over the horrors he experienced in war (which, in one scene, he graphically lists off with overacted emotion that makes for one of the least effective

“horrors of war” scenes in any movie i’ve ever seen), and the a rmy isn’t doing much for him now that he’s home. on that level, the film had promise. if the story had focused on the parallels and conflicts between these two brothers, it might have pulled off a watchable drama. a fter all, along with bale, a ffleck, saldana and w hitaker, the cast includes woody harrelson as a brutal hillbilly drug kingpin, sam shepard as russell and rodney’s uncle and willem dafoe as a local bar owner and petty criminal. a ll together, that’s a lot of acting talent — two oscars and another five nominations, to be exact. instead of that dynamic, though, the film focuses more on russell’s increasingly sad post-prison life. rodney decides to make money in underground boxing, which quickly escalates to him traveling to the inbred, “their own breed of justice up” hills of new Jersey, where harrelson’s drug lord is judge, jury and executioner. There’s some deal that rodney and dafoe’s characters make that involves rodney taking a fall in a fight, and this is supposed to wipe out dafoe’s debt with harrelson’s character. long story short, and though it does feel like an eternity to get there it’s actually in the first half of the film still, harrelson kills them all. The rest of the film follows russell’s struggle with what to do to avenge his brother’s death.

i listed off the astoundingly talented cast earlier, but it seems like to this point i haven’t mentioned many of them in the plot of the film. a nd it’s because there’s almost no point to having them in this movie.

shepard’s uncle character does literally nothing. it’s a total waste of time and space to even explain who he is. he goes along with russell on one trip, a fake drug buy

that also had no real point in the movie, but the whole scene could have been done without him. saldana’s girlfriend character sort of shows us how down in the dumps russell is after being released from prison, but it draws away from any of the actual story so much that it’s more of a distraction than anything. Forrest w hitaker decided to spend the entire movie auditioning for batman, talking in gravelly, undistinguishable tones for no real reason. he provides some stiffly delivered exposition that the film didn’t really need and a voice of conscience at the very end that doesn’t make any sense.

a ll in all, this could’ve been a three-person film, and it still would’ve been terrible, but at least it would’ve been shorter.

The rumor is that christian bale turned this role down at first, then later accepted after he heard the writer-director, scott cooper, wrote the role specifically for him. in retrospect, he should’ve just let it go.

Contact Kevin Noonan at knoonan2@nd.edu

“Out

of the Furnace”

Relativity Media

Director: Scott Cooper

Starring: Christian Bale, Casey Affleck

Genre: Crime/Drama

BCS never lacks excitement

Mary Green sports writer

i hate to admit it, but i’m going to kind of miss the bcs sure, it seemed fickle at times, with rankings produced by a combination of humans and computers looking at strengths of schedules, big wins and probably even uniforms and styles.

b ut it also produced down-to-the-wire, winand-you’re-in games like yesterday’s big-Ten and sec c hampionships.

i f this situation had taken place next year, when the college football playoff is in place, o hio state need not have worried about dropping the conference title game to m ichigan state. The b uckeyes still could have claimed one of the four postseason slots and retained their chance at a national championship.

b ut with the bcs this year, urban meyer and his squad knew its season was over, at least in terms of capturing the crystal football, as soon as the clock hit zero and the spartans started to put on their official championship caps.

The same goes for a labama, which did not even play in its conference championship game. The c rimson Tide needed losses from Florida state and o hio state to have a prayer of advancing to p asadena and claiming their third title in a row, but a big s eminoles win thwarted those dreams.

There are many bcs critics who say the current system is unfair because it helps one-loss teams that fell early in the season, like bcs c hampionship-bound a uburn, and hurts one-loss teams that gained their only blemish later down the road, like a labama and o hio state. yes, that certainly is not fair if your team is one of those that dropped a critical game late in the season. b ut if your team was also that vulnerable so close to bowl time, how would it have fared compared to a team that lost early and had more time to regroup and

address its weaknesses?

From the perspective of a fan of the game with no cheering ties to schools with hopes of taking the title, there is nothing better than the drama that comes with the s aturday lineup of conference-championship games precisely because the implications of those matchups can be so titanic.

l ook at the 2009 sec c hampionship, which pitted undefeated no. 1 Florida against undefeated no. 2 a labama. w ith a playoff system, both teams would have already had virtually guaranteed spots in the bracket, so the game might not have been as exciting and certainly would not have had as many consequences as it did.

b ut there was not a playoff system in 2009; there was the bcs , and a labama took its spot in the championship by beating the g ators 32-13, while Florida and a crying Tim Tebow had to settle for a sugar b owl appearance. not only did this game quell any fears of fans outside the s outh of a potential all- sec championship matchup, but it gave weight to a final contest before bowl season began. it provided an all-in, for-allthe-marbles game that entertained fans, no matter which team they rooted for.

The bcs has its faults, as any system does. i f your school ends up on the short end of the stick when it comes to bowl selections, it is understandable to criticize the system that slighted you and your team.

b ut when you are just a fan cheering not for any particular team but just for a good game, the bcs keeps you filled up on drama, unpredictability and excitement.

i guess i’m just afraid we will lose that late-season magic, when every game has something on the line, this time next year.

Contact Mary Green at mgreen8@nd.edu

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

rookie propels bucs to win

Associated Press

Tampa, Fla. — rookie mike glennon is leading a secondhalf turnaround that may help the Tampa bay buccaneers save coach greg schiano’s job. rebounding from arguably his worst performance of the season, glennon threw two touchdown passes to pace a 27-6 victory over the struggling buffalo bills on sunday.

bobby rainey scored on an 80-yard run on the second play of the day, and the bucs (4-9) intercepted eJ manuel four times en route to their fourth win in five games following an 0-8 start.

manuel, buffalo’s first-round draft pick out of Florida state, was sacked seven times and doubled his interception total for the season.

The bills have lost five of six, are assured of finishing without a winning record for the ninth straight year, and also are likely to extend the nFl’s longest current playoff drought to 14 consecutive seasons.

glennon wasn’t exactly sensational following a 27-6 loss at carolina, going 9 of 25 for 90 yards. but he had T d throws of 5 yards to Tim wright and 38 to v incent Jackson, who had three receptions for 70 yards to go over 1,000 for the season for the second straight year. rainey finished with 127 yards on 22 carries.

buffalo took up where it left off in a 34-31 overtime loss to atlanta. The bills lost fumbles on their final two possessions of that game, stevie Johnson in the final minute of the fourth quarter and scott chandler two plays into oT.

This sunday, they turned it over three times within a fourpossession span of the second quarter, a stretch that might have been game-changing if glennon hadn’t thrown two interceptions.

a fter outgaining the bills 169 yards to 38 while building a 14-3 lead in the first quarter, the bucs were limited to 77 net yards the rest of the way to finish with 246.

it didn’t matter.

w ith manuel throwing two more interceptions in the third period, the bills never made a serious move to get back in the game, finishing with field goals of 40 and 46 yards by dan carpenter. manuel hit c.J. spiller on an 83-yard scoring play that was wiped out by a fourth-quarter holding penalty.

manuel was picked off twice in the second quarter. l eodis mcKelvin muffed a fair catch on a punt inside the buffalo

20, and a roughing-the-passer penalty — albeit a borderline call — against Jairus byrd helped set up glennon’s T d pass to wright that extended Tampa bay’s lead to 24-3 at the half.

byrd also had the 22nd interception of his career, moving him into a tie for 10th on buffalo’s all-time list. stephon gilmore’s pick six minutes later prevented Tampa bay from turning mcKelvin’s muff into points.

l inebacker l avonte david had two of Tampa bay’s four interceptions. he also had a sack.

49ers 19, Seahawks 17

san F rancisco — Frank g ore saw a huge hole with the clock ticking down and his team trailing, and went for it with everything he had.

maybe not a season-saving 51-yard burst, but darn close to it.

The s an Francisco 49ers are far from ready to hand over their two-year division reign — and certainly not on their home field, where they rarely lose against the n Fc west.

phil dawson kicked a 22yard field goal with 26 seconds remaining and the niners held off the s eahawks 19-17 on sunday, denying s eattle a chance to clinch the division at c andlestick park.

“ we’re playing for our lives,” wideout a nquan boldin said.

“ we’re playing playoff football right now. it’s win or go home.”

g ore broke for his big gain with just more than four minutes left, sparking the key 11-play, 76-yard drive that helped the 49ers (9-4) stop the playoff-bound s eahawks (11-2) from grabbing away the west in s an Francisco.

dawson’s fourth field goal gave him 20 successful attempts in a row, a franchise record topping Joe nedney’s 18 consecutive kicks in 2006-07.

russell w ilson threw a 39yard touchdown pass to luke w illson and marshawn lynch ran for an 11-yard score for s eattle, denied a franchisebest sixth road victory in its fifth straight loss at The ‘stick.

“i don’t know if it was their super b owl, but they played a great game,” s eahawks defensive end red bryant said.

The 49ers are unbeaten at home against the west since losing to the s eahawks on o ct. 26, 2008.

i n an emotionally fueled afternoon of missed chances and costly penalties, this rivalry game more than lived up to the hype.

“e njoy it? not the word i

would use. it’s like going to the dentist chair for 3½ hours and getting a root canal,” 49ers coach Jim harbaugh said. “These games are only for the tough.”

e ric wright, who briefly left the game with a head injury, intercepted a last-ditch deep pass by w ilson with 9 seconds left to seal it.

The two young quarterbacks finished with nearly the same stats. w ilson went 15 of 25 for 199 yards and a touchdown with one interception, while counterpart c olin Kaepernick threw for 175 yards and completed 15 of his 29 passes with a T d and an interception.

vernon davis caught an 8-yard touchdown pass just before halftime to give s an Francisco some momentum. a fter a home rout of new o rleans on monday night, the s eahawks were trying to make it two mammoth wins over n Fc powers in seven days. They hurt themselves several times down the stretch.

g olden Tate helped put the s eahawks ahead midway through the fourth quarter with a 38-yard punt return. w ilson then hit Jermaine Kearse for a 14-yard gain and first down from the 24. but on third down from the 13, w ilson was forced to throw out of bounds under pressure. s eattle settled for steven hauschka’s 31-yard field goal that stayed just inside the left upright with 6:20 remaining. w hile lynch went over 1,000 yards rushing for the third straight season and fifth in his seven-year career, he slowed down in the second half. he wound up with 72 yards on 20 carries — just 22 yards in the second half — as the 49ers defense kept intact its streak of not allowing a 100-yard rusher this season.

“it’s d ecember and we’re playing our best football,” linebacker navorro b owman said. “There’s something about this game that required a full 60 minutes of football.”

Kaepernick recovered from an interception late in the third quarter with the 49ers deep in s eattle territory. momentarily helped by d onte w hitner’s 15-yard taunting penalty against lynch, it came right back three plays later on m ichael robinson’s facemask flag and s eattle punted.

w ith l a m ichael James catching the punt, o’brien s chofield bumped James and received a 15-yard fair catch interference penalty. That started s an Francisco’s drive at the 48 but the 49ers went three and out.

nd dominates at hawkeye

Observer Staff Report

notre dame continued its strong fall season with a dominant win in the hawkeye invitational in iowa city, iowa over the weekend.

a fter starting the season 0-3 with losses to several ranked opponents, the irish rattled off four straight dual-meet victories before this past weekend’s performance, which saw the irish win by 80.5 points, their largest margin of victory all season.

The three-day-meet began Friday, and notre dame wasted no time in establishing itself as it won four of the day’s six events and jumped out to a 28-point lead.

irish junior emma reaney set a meet and pool record in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 1:55.65 and then won the event later that night. irish junior diver a llison casareto also captured the 1-meter dive title.

The team also claimed two relay victories in the 200-yard

freestyle and 400-yard medley relay. The 200-yard freestyle team consisted of reaney, seniors christen mcdonough and Kelly ryan and sophomore catherine galleti. The 400-yard medley team of reaney, ryan, junior courtney w hyte and freshman Katie miller set a meet record with a time of 3:36.84.

The irish won two more events on saturday and expanded their lead to 82.5 points over boise state and nebraska. The team of reaney, galletti, ryan and freshman catherine mulquin took home the 200-yard medley relay, but the star of the day was miller, who set a meet record in the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 4:12.06.

on sunday, notre dame wrapped up the victory, led by reaney’s record-breaking performance in the 200-yard breaststroke. a fter a rare loss in the 100-yard breaststroke the night before, reaney set a meet record in the preliminary race with a time of 2:07.64. reaney followed up that performance

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by shattering her own record and swimming the fastest 200yard breaststroke in the country with a time of 2:05.85. w hile reaney stole the show, senior christen mcdonough also placed third in the event with a time of 2:13.79.

in the 200-yard butterfly, the irish had four swimmers finish in the top six, led by a one-two finish by junior bridget casey and miller at 1:57.62 and 1:58.70, respectively. w hyte and junior melissa scott placed fourth and sixth, respectively. notre dame took second and third place in the 200-yard backstroke behind ryan and miller, and three irish divers placed in the top 10 in the platform dive. sophomore lindsey streepey recorded the highest irish finish in the event, placing third with a score of 241.55.

with the win in the hawkeye invitational, the irish concluded their fall season. Their next meet will be Jan. 11 against northwestern and michigan in evanston, ill., for a dual meet.

Irish take first

By MARY GREEN sports writer

notre dame broke six school records and claimed first place for the first time in school history at this weekend’s hawkeye invitational, held at the iowa campus recreation and wellness center in iowa city, iowa.

“The meet was wonderful for us,” irish coach Tim welsh said. “we swam well. we dove well. we had great spirit and great energy. it was just a great weekend for our team.”

The irish (4-4) earned 1228.5 points throughout the three-day meet, topping no. 20 iowa’s 977.5, denver’s 669 and w isconsinmilwaukee’s 248.

The team jumped out to an early lead Friday, finishing in second place or better in each event except the 50-yard freestyle.

The 400-yard medley relay of sophomore bogac ayhan, junior cameron miller, senior Frank d yer and junior Zach stephens set a new school mark in 3:11.15, and ayhan’s lead-off backstroke split of 47.80 also found a spot in the record book. stephens’s performance in the 200-yard individual medley rounded out the first day’s record-breaking swims, taking first place in the event in 1:44.34.

“we did prepare differently [for this meet], so we did want to see what would happen if we took a little more rest midseason,” welsh said. “we took a little more rest before than we previously had for this meet, and our guys shaved, and we haven’t done that. so the results set us up very well for the acc meet [in February], and we should be pretty well set up for the national meet [in march].”

more records fell on day two, as the four members of the 400-medley relay returned to the pool for the 200-yard version and set an all-time school best with their time of 1:26.11. however, freshman Tom

a nderson turned in the biggest new-record swim in the 400-yard individual medley. a nderson first broke the mark in saturday’s prelims and then topped that time by over four seconds to lower the new standard to 3:46.22, also good for a first-place finish.

“it was wonderful to see him do that,” welsh said of a nderson’s swim. “his time was faster than what went to the ncaa championships last year. we don’t know if it’s fast enough to go this year, but he’s in that range, so we were just thrilled for him for how that 400 im went.” notre dame finished in first place in 11 of 14 events in the first two days of the meet, and stephens, d yer, ayhan, miller, a nderson, junior John w illiamson and senior colin babcock all took home multiple wins for the irish over the weekend.

“we came in trying to swim fast in every event, and that’s what we did, and we are very excited by the results of this weekend,” welsh said.

w illiamson was the team’s lone winner on the final day, claiming first place in the 200yard butterfly, and d yer set one last school record for the meet with his time of 46.92 in a 100yard butterfly time trial. despite just the single victory sunday, notre dame racked up enough points over the three days to earn the top spot at the meet.

“we will take [monday] off, and we’ll go back to work on Tuesday,” he said. “but we’re going to do it with renewed energy because things turned out very well here, and we’re very optimistic.”

The irish take their win into an almost month-long break from competition, which will conclude with a training trip to p uerto r ico at the copa coqui meet on Jan. 4-5.

Contact Mary Green at mgreen8@nd.edu

rish head into break with ‘disappointing’ split

By ISAAC LORTON sports writer

notre dame’s weekend series with massachusetts was a tale of two nights, as the no. 13 irish took advantage of three power-play goals Friday to win 5-3, while on saturday the minutemen converted on a power-play goal with 2:47 left in the game to win 3-2.

“[Friday night] was an ugly win,” irish coach Jeff Jackson said. “we played better in the third period. we did what we had to do.”

“[ saturday’s loss was] disappointing,” Jackson said. “i thought we played a lot better tonight and lost. we had a chance to score a few goals in the first period and we couldn’t finish. The difference in the game was special teams. They capitalized on the power play, we didn’t.” special teams played a crucial role in both games. on Friday, the irish (10-7-1, 3-4-1 hockey east) and massachusetts (4-112, 2-7-2) combined for 15 penalties for 30 minutes. notre dame capitalized on three of its power plays, while the minutemen mustered two power play goals. on saturday, both teams had seven penalties for 14 minutes in the penalty box, and t he rash of penalties contributed to a season high in shots allowed by notre dame on Friday. irish senior goaltender steven summerhays made 36 saves on 39 shots, while minutemen junior goaltender steve mastalerz blocked 27 on 32 shots in the series’ first game.“a number of [massachusetts’ shots] were on the power-play situations, especially the five-on-threes” Jackson said. “They put a lot of pressure on us. They are very aggressive with their forecheck and we turned too many pucks over, especially early in the game.”

The irish jumped to an early 1-0 lead in the game’s fourth minute when, after being hauled down on a breakaway, senior left wing and captain Jeff costello converted a penalty shot for his fifth goal of the season.

notre dame picked up a 2-0 lead on a goal from sophomore left wing sam herr four minutes later. senior center T.J. Tynan kept the puck in the offensive corner, spun around a minutemen defender and hit herr with a pass in the middle, who put it past mastalerz.

notre dame then became familiar with the penalty box, committing four penalties in the next eight minutes, which resulted in two five-on-three power plays for massachusetts. notre dame killed three of the four penalties but conceded a goal with 10:55 on the clock. massachusetts freshman center steven iacobellis gathered a pass from senior defenseman Joel hanley, found the left side of the net wide open and knocked

it in to make the score 2-1.

“a fter they scored right away off the first five-on-three, and then to get another one against us right away, you don’t see that very often,” summerhays said. “it would have been easy for us to point fingers at the refs and kind of back down and let them score on the five-on-three, but we had great blocks and the defense got good clears. a nytime you can kill a five-on-three, let alone a 1:45 one, that’s a big confidence boost, and i think we really rode that the rest of the period.”

in the second period the teams each scored a powerplay goal to make the game 3-2 to end the middle stanza. irish sophomore defender a ndy ryan launched a laser-like slap shot past mastalerz at 13:34 to take a 3-1 lead, but the minutemen responded with five seconds left in the second with a power-play goal of their own on a wrist shot from minutemen senior center branden gracel.

sophomore mario lucia took advantage of notre dame’s three power plays in the third, scoring on two of them to make the score 5-2. lucia knocked home a rebound seven minutes into the period and 10 minutes later hit a one-timer top-shelf past mastalerz. The irish gave up a late goal to minutemen freshman right wing brandon wahlin but closed out the game to win 5-3. lucia credited notre dame’s strong power play to the return of senior right wing mike voran, freshman center v ince hinostroza and sophomore center Thomas di pauli.

“our power play was struggling prior to not having our guys back,” lucia said. “so it is good to have two good units.” on saturday, the irish fell behind massachusetts for the first

time all weekend. notre dame split the first period with the minutemen 1-1, with herr deflecting a shot from ryan past mastalerz for the irish tally, but then conceded a power-play goal to hanley in the third minute of the second period to go down 2-1.. notre dame tied the game up at 2-2 with 1:32 left in the second period as hinostroza kept the puck in the offensive zone along the left boards then fed a pass to lucia in the middle of the ice, who placed the shot past mastalerz. The irish led massachusetts in shots on the game 35-22 but were unable to convert on their early

opportunities, including a twominute five-on-three power play in the 12th minute of first period.

“[Friday] night pucks were going in and we weren’t overly sharp,” Jackson said. “but it isn’t a matter of how pretty it is. it’s a matter of getting pucks to the net and getting pucks through.” w ith 4:18 left in the game, costello got a two-minute penalty for slashing when he attempted to knock in a shot that had rebounded off of masatlerz, missed the puck and hit mastalerz’s pad instead. minutemen senior center adam phillips netted the game winner

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1:31 later to give massachusetts the 3-2 victory.

“yeah, it was definitely frustrating,” costello said. “That was one of the better games we have played in this last stretch here and obviously it is frustrating to lose a goal that late in the game. everyone battled [ saturday night] and it came to me making a stupid play at the end of the game that cost us.”

The irish will now take a break and return to the icen Jan. 4 against boston college at Fenway park in boston.

Contact Isaac Lorton at ilorton@nd.edu

up goals on restarts, but to their credit they finished it,” r ensing said. “ i never thought this was going to be a one-goal game, so i don’t think that was the end. i think the goal that really hurt was the one that we gave up early in the second half.”

That second goal came from sophomore midfielder p atrick h odan, who has now scored a goal in each of the last five games. Three minutes into the second half, h odan dribbled the ball around multiple s partan defenders and threaded a right-footed kick past another to put the i rish up by two. c lark described the goal as “a piece of beauty.”

The s partans battled their way back into the game with a goal of their own following n otre d ame’s second. w ith 31 minutes remaining, redshirt junior forward Tim Kreutz sent in a cross that

sophomore midfielder Jay c hapman headed into the net to cut the lead to one.

“ i t was good build up. [ r edshirt junior Tim] Kreutz made a great serve, [sophomore midfielder] Jay [ c hapman] flicked it in,” r ensing said. “ o ur guys played well tonight from top to bottom, so i ’m very proud of them.”

e ach team had a few more close misses in the tense final minutes, but as victory drew closer and closer the i rish did their best to run out the clock.

“ you don’t want to sit too far back and just invite them to hit balls behind us, so it’s tough,” p anken said. “ we just want to get the ball down as fast as we can and try and play the ball in the corners and kill the game off.”

The entire match was played in sub-30 degree weather, and players on both teams occasionally struggled to find their footing on the frozen pitch.

“ i t was a hard game on a

very difficult surface,” c lark said. “ o ur ground staff was getting it ready, but the longer we played the slicker it became. They took the cover off maybe at three o’clock, but by nine o’clock it’s really quite difficult. i was glad it didn’t go into overtime.”

a lso on s aturday night, c lark’s son, w ashington

coach Jamie c lark, was busy coaching his n o. 2 h uskies in their own e lite e ight match against the l obos. b ut w ashington fell to n ew m exico 1-0, and c lark and his son will not meet in the Final Four.

The i rish will kick off their first ever visit to the c ollege c up against the l obos at 5

p.m. on Friday at ppl p ark in c hester, p a. The game will be followed at 7:30 by the second semifinal game between n o. 5 m aryland and n o. 8 v irginia, the only team that has defeated n otre d ame this season.

Contact Vicky Jacobsen at vjacobse@nd.edu

Cable leads balanced Irish attack over UCLA

By MARY GREEN sports writer

it was a tale of two halves for notre d ame as the i rish scored from inside the paint and outside the arc in their 9048 win over ucla on s aturday in the p urcell p avilion.

“e very team that comes in here, it’s the s uper b owl to them,” head coach muffet mc g raw said. “They want a big win. They want to knock us off — we’re a ranked team. we’ve got a lot on it, so it’s important for us to take every game seriously.”

The game opened with back-and-forth play between the two teams, with the b ruins (3-5) responding to each i rish score and taking an 8-6 lead five minutes into the contest.

however, the i rish (8-0) went on a 29-6 run over the next 12 minutes to reclaim a lead they would never relinquish, using transitions and fast breaks to score easy layups for quick points.

“i like how competitive we are,” senior guard Kayla mc b ride said. “ i think that with [sophomore guard]

Jewell [ l oyd] and [sophomore guard] m ike [ m ichaela m abrey] and [junior guard] m addie [ m adison c able], i think that they want to be on the court, and they want to be able to represent notre d ame just like the seniors, like we have the past three years, and i think that competitive nature just fires everyone up.”

s enior forward natalie a chonwa led the way for n otre d ame with 10 points and six rebounds at the break as the home team held a 44-20 advantage, with 26 of its points scored in the paint.

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ucla opened the second half trying to crowd the lane to deter notre d ame from scoring down low, but the i rish looked to their bench for help scoring from the outside.

Junior guard m adison c able hit three consecutive threepoint shots en route to a career-high 21 points, firing up the home crowd and contributing to the 46 points off the bench for the i rish throughout the game.

“it doesn’t really surprise me much because we see her in practice. s he doesn’t miss,” mc b ride said of c able’s performance. “ b ut just for m addie to get that confidence, because we’re going to need her in big games, it’s just great for her to come out there and hit those shots.”

c able shot 7-for-8 from the floor and 5-for-6 on three pointers, falling just shy of tying the p urcell p avilion record for highest three-point percentage in a game.

her 21 points also represent the first time a notre d ame player has scored 20 or more

points off the bench since junior forward m arkisha w right had 20 against s t. Francis on d ec. 31, 2012.

“it was fun,” c able said. “ it felt good, i ’ll just say that. … m y teammates made good passes and found me when i was open, and we called some plays that i might be open, so it was just working.”

l oyd added 15 points for the i rish, and mc b ride had 12 points and six assists. b ruins sixth-year senior forward a tonye n yingifa earned a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds.

mc b ride and m abrey split duty at point guard after freshman guard l indsay a llen picked up her third foul less than a minute into the second half and her fourth after returning to the game nine minutes later.

“i think it’s tough for a freshman heading into final exams,” mc g raw said of a llen.

“ s he’s got a lot on her plate as a pre-med major, and so i think she came out the last game not feeling she played as well as she could’ve, so i think she maybe was trying a little too hard to get things going today. b ut the foul trouble really, really hurt her game.”

The i rish did not skip a beat without their starting point guard, however, and mc g raw emptied her bench as her team cruised to the victory.

“i think for us, it’s been a long week, mentally,” mc g raw said. “ we need to rest. we need a break, mentally and physically. s o we’re going to take a few days off, come back Tuesday and get ready for m ichigan.”

notre d ame next hits the road to take on the wolverines at the c risler c enter in a nn a rbor, m ich., on s aturday.

Contact Mary Green at mgreen8@nd.edu

games before accepting the bid to play in the pinstripe bowl, including the poinsettia bowl in san diego and the hawai’i bowl in honolulu.

“There were three or four bowls that were certainly vying for notre dame as we were going through this process,” Kelly said. “The poinsettia bowl was certainly one of those we

were interested in … but once northern illinois lost that football game [to bowling green on saturday], that kind of evaporated any opportunity for us in that game. The other one was the hawai’i bowl, but because of our exam schedule, which took us through the 20th, we would have had to gone out there on [the 21st, 22nd and 23rd], and it would have been practice, practice, practice and play the game. a nd then they don’t hold the hotel rooms after the game for you, so you gotta

leave, or you gotta find other accommodations ... so it just didn’t make a whole lot of sense to go there for three days and practice, play the game and then, ‘sorry guys.’”

a lthough the pinstripe bowl does not offer the warm weather some of notre dame’s other bowl options did, the opportunity to spend christmas in new york and the attractive gift package that includes clothes, hats and a playstation 4 were determining factors in the irish players’

excitement to face rutgers in yankee stadium.

“it’s yankee stadium,” irish senior receiver and tri-captain TJ Jones said. “we went there my freshman year, we had a great time. everything from the game to just being in the city, being around the area, it was a great experience for us and we are happy to be experiencing it again.”

The irish will travel together to new york on dec. 23 after the players finish exams on dec. 20, but Kelly said they still have a lot

of work to do to finish their season on a high note.

“we’ve got to prepare our football team,” he said. “we want a win for our program to get to nine wins, we want to win for our seniors. a nd then in that preparation if we can get some of our younger players some working during this bowl practice, this is a worthwhile time for us and very helpful for our program.”

Contact Joseph Monardo at jmonardo@nd.edu

with 23 points and 10 assists. s enior guard d avon usher and junior guard Kyle a nderson each had 19 points in the losing effort.

The i rish also had three players with 19-plus points. s herman followed up a 29-point effort against iowa with a 19-point, six-rebound performance against the b lue h ens and c onnaughton added 19 points to go along with 11 rebounds.

c onnaughton, who has been starting as the secondbiggest player for the i rish behind only s herman, said his rebounding game will continue to be important for n otre d ame.

“ it’s something that we need and it’s something that i ’ve really focused on throughout the summer, throughout practicing,” c onnaughton said. “ it’s something i ’ve always been able to do, i ’ve just kind of lacked the last two years. i just want to step up this year and do it.”

n otre d ame took an early 10-point lead following a 12-0 run in the first half, with s herman notching eight points during the run.

d elaware clawed back into the game with timely 3-point shooting. The b lue h ens made five straight 3-pointers

in a span of three minutes to turn a seven-point deficit into a two-point lead. d elaware shot 43.5 percent from behind the arc for the game.

“ you’re feeling like we’re off to a good start and after the … third [3-pointer], i ’m going ‘a ll right,’ and then they bang down two more,” i rish coach m ike b rey said. “a nd they’re tough shots and i ’m thinking ‘ you’ve got to be kidding me.’”

The b lue h ens stretched their lead to five before the i rish closed the first half on a 13-1 run, taking a seven-point edge into the half.

“ we let them spurt us and that was probably the difference in the entire game,” r oss said.

The b lue h ens did not make a field goal in the final 6:06 of the first half and never led in the second half.

“ h ow we finished the half, i ’m really proud of,” b rey said. “ we got in there, we defended. we hit a couple shots. That was a key for us to answer that charge right there. That gave us enough confidence and cushion, really, to win the game.”

n otre d ame will continue with the b lack r ock g otham c ity c lassic tonight when they take on b ryant and wednesday when they play

n orth d akota s tate.

“These next two teams are just like d elaware,” b rey

25 points against Delaware on Saturday.

said. “They’re veteran teams. They’ve won together before and they will come in here loose and letting it rip like the b lue h ens did.”

b ryant (6-3) lost to north d akota s tate (6-3) 66-62 on s aturday. b ulldogs junior guard d yami s tarks leads b ryant with 23.4 points per

game and has only scored in single-digits once this season. h e scored 26 against n orth d akota s tate.

n otre d ame is in the midst of an eight-day stretch that features four games. b rey said the team would have minimal contact s unday before playing m onday.

“There’s no day off until [next] s unday,” b rey said. “ we’re going right on through.”

The i rish and the b ulldogs tip at 7 p.m. tonight at p urcell p avilion.

Contact Matthew DeFranks at mdefrank@nd.edu

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: nicki minaj, 31; ian somerhalder, 35; dominic monaghan, 37; Teri hatcher, 49. Happy Birthday: stick to the truth; don’t exaggerate. be aware that the people you deal with are just as likely to embellish as you. Keep your stories simple and your goals doable. promise less and strive to accomplish more. your actions will make a difference. don’t evade issues; be prepared to deal with whatever you face. Find a solution and keep moving. your numbers are 5, 14, 17, 20, 32, 36, 45.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): go over your personal financial paperwork and set your budget up for the turn of the year. you have more assets than you realize and are capable of bringing in more money if you look for other ways to use your skills.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): make plans to host a get-together at your place or engage in something that you know someone you love will enjoy doing. nurturing important relationships or reconnecting with people from your past will be rewarding. love is in the stars.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): be careful how you react. emotional deception will cost you if you manipulate a situation or falsify information. put your time and energy into helping others and avoiding personal problems that can lead to a no-win situation.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): you will enjoy unusual people and destinations that offer something unique. a different philosophy or lifestyle may appeal to you but before you cozy up to a change, question what’s being offered. romance will enhance your love life.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): a change will do you good. check out activities or events that will bring you knowledge about something that interests you. getting together with friends or collaborating with someone you admire will change your life. don’t spend what you don’t have.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): compromise will be necessary when dealing with domestic matters. making alterations to the way you live or where will be exciting but costly. put greater emphasis on stabilizing your personal relationships. romance can conquer any partnership problems you face.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): don’t be afraid of change. be a trendsetter. step into the limelight and show everyone what you can do. spontaneity will lead to all sorts of new and exciting adventures. learn as you go and you will discover victory.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): put everything in place. open up about the way you feel and what you want to do. make a promise and follow through immediately to show your good faith and reliability. romance will bring your love life to a new level.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): proceed with caution. whether you are en route or having a discussion, confusion will set in and the information you obtain will be sketchy. stick close to home where you can make personal changes that will improve your living situation.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): an interesting encounter will jog your memory about a money matter. a little hard work and ingenuity will lead to extra cash. an older individual will be an asset. a competitive challenge will favor you. experience will make a difference.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): make changes that will help improve your financial situation. cut corners or present a wider variety of services to clients and you will get good returns. use your intelligence, but don’t mislead anyone regarding what you have to offer.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): expect to have a change of heart or feel indifferent about your future. gauge what’s going on around you and stick to the truth. an emotional situation is likely to spin out of control if you are ambiguous.

Birthday Baby: you are quick and mysterious. you are creative, original and sensitive.

From out in the cold, into the College Cup

Goals from Panken, Hodan propel Notre Dame past Spartans in quarterfinal matchup

By VICKY JACOBSEN

s ports w riter

a s the announcer counted down to zero and the horn blew to end the game, despondent m ichigan s tate players sank to the ground and the n o. 3 i rish rushed to embrace each other in celebration of a 2-1 ncaa tournament quarterfinal win, the first in program history.

“ i t’s an incredible feeling,” sophomore midfielder e van p anken said. “ we’ve been working for it all year, all summer. e veryone worked so hard, and it’s just a team win here, and we’re all really excited.”

The i rish (15-1-6, 7-1-3 acc ) are now headed to their first ever c ollege c up, where they will face n o. 7 n ew m exico (14-5-2, 7-1-1 m ountain west) in the semifinal game in c hester, p a., on Friday.

“ i t’s a huge win for us,” i rish coach b obby c lark said. “ we’ve been knocking on the door for a while now. i think

Notre Dame’s 2-1 win over Michigan State on Saturday at Alumni Stadium. With the win, the Irish advanced to their first College Cup.

this is our third final-eight, but the first time we’ve actually gotten [to the c ollege c up]. l ast year we felt we had a very good team and were

the n o. 1 seed going in but we fell [in the third round] to i ndiana, the eventual winners, so that was disappointing. That inspired the guys.”

The i rish controlled the ball during the opening minutes of the contest as senior forward h arrison s hipp gave the i rish a couple of close

scoring opportunities before n otre d ame cracked open the scoring in the 31st minute. a n i rish corner kick landed near the far post, and though the ball was initially cleared, p anken corralledit. h is first shot bounced off a s partan defender, but he found the ball again, this time burying it in the back of the net.

“ we’ve been working on that corner kick for a while now,” p anken said. “[Junior midfielder n ick] b esler got a great flick on it, and it came back post and i saw it, took a touch, and i just put it in the back of the net. i was at the right place at the right time. i t felt great, scoring a big goal to put us up ahead in a big game like that. i t’s a great feeling.”

m ichigan s tate coach d amon r ensing said his n o. 11 s partans (14-6-3, 3-2-1 b ig Ten) were not worried after the first i rish goal.

“ you don’t want to give

MEN’S BASkEtBAll | nd 80, delaware 75

Irish to face Rutgers in Pinstripe Bowl in NYC nd escapes delaware at home

By JOSEPH MONARDO a ssociate sports e ditor

The schedule hanging in the isban auditorium inside the guglielmino athletics complex since the beginning of fall had a bowl destination already picked out for the irish — the bcs championship game on Jan. 6. but after a four-loss season, notre dame (8-4) had to readjust its postseason plans and will face rutgers in the pinstripe bowl in new york on dec. 28.

“it’s been a great place for us,” irish coach brian Kelly said of the destination. “i remember us being at yankee stadium [in 2010 against a rmy] and the way we were treated there. new york is certainly a great place for notre dame, and we’ve got great support in that area, ‘subway alums.’ it’s a home away from home … the pinstripe bowl has been terrific to work with, they’ve done everything to make it a great event for our players.”

rutgers (6-6, 3-5 aac) enters the game coming off 31-6 victory over usF on saturday, but have won only two of its past seven

contests. The scarlet Knights have been outgained by their opponents by an average of more than 30 yards per game this season, and in their six losses have been outscored by an average of 20 points. despite rutgers’ struggles this year, Kelly said he does not view the pinstripe bowl as a game in which notre dame has nothing to gain.

“i don’t see how that’s the case when they’re a bcs team,”

he said. “They beat a rkansas this year, you know they played louisville and Fresno tight. They’re going to the big-Ten, this team is going to be in the big Ten next year, so if we don’t play well they’ll beat us. so we’ve got everything to lose. we want to win the football game.” notre dame had considered participating in other bowl

By

MATTHEW DeFRANKS a ssistant managing e ditor

i n the opening game of the b lack r ock g otham c ity c lassic, n otre d ame needed a superhero-like performance from senior guard Jerian g rant to avoid d elaware’s upset bid and defeat the b lue h ens 80-75.

g rant scored 25 points on 10-of-16 shooting and nailed two late buckets to give the i rish (6-2) some breathing room with time winding down.

“ i just knew we needed a basket,” g rant said. “They were creeping in and it’s the end of the game, coach is giving me the ball, my teammates are giving me the ball and telling me to make a play.

s o i did.”

n otre d ame looked like it was going to blow the game wide open in the second half after junior forward p at c onnaughton drained a 3-pointer to put the i rish up 12 with 16:30 left in the game. The b lue h ens (5-4) chipped away at the i rish lead, cutting

it to one on junior guard Jarvis Threatt’s driving layup with 2:09 left in the game. g rant made sure the b lue h ens would not take the lead, burying two jumpers on the next two i rish possessions to quell the d elaware comeback.

“ h e’s one of the best badshot shooters i ’ve ever played with,” i rish graduate student center g arrick s herman said. g rant’s two shots, which were 36 seconds apart, were almost identical. h e drove right before pulling up and knocking down his final two shots of the game.

“ i told them ‘That was better offense than our defense, so no worries,’” d elaware coach m onté r oss said. “There’s nothing you can do.”

The i rish closed the game with a 10-6 spurt to secure their sixth win of the season. d elaware, who had lost three games by a combined eight points, had three players score at least 19 points. Threatt led the b lue h ens