PDF of The Observer for Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Judicial Council withholds election results

Both LaMagna-Andresen, Vidal-Devine accused of campaign violations

By LESLEY STEVENSON and ANN MARIE JAKUBOWSKI

n

c ampaign violations and sanctions against the

l a m agna- a ndresen ticket for student body president and vice president prevented the Judicial c ouncil from releasing election results as scheduled 12 a.m. Tuesday, according to the Judicial c ouncil.

i n a press release issued late m onday night, the c ouncil said it sanctioned junior o livia l a m agna and sophomore r ohan a ndresen for “insulting the opposing ticket in a f acebook post by a supporter.”

The c ouncil asked l a m agna and a ndresen to remove the post from

f acebook.

a ndresen told The o bserver the incident was “a miscommunication and a misunderstanding of one of our supporters who did not mean to offend anyone in any way.”

l a m agna said she was grateful for the dedication her and a ndresen’s supporters had shown during the campaign process.

“There was absolutely no harm or offense intended, nor did we perceive that anything that any of our supporters have done over the course of this could be in any way, shape or form offensive,” l a m agna said. “ w e don’t want this to downplay all of the

researchers publish cross-disciplinary biological study

By HENRY GENS news writer

i n a cross-disciplinary effort, notre d ame biology and mathematics professors have published a study on stathmin, a key protein in the cytoskeleton, demonstrating the success of mathematical computer modeling and lab work in photographing of stathmin. notre d ame associate professor of biochemistry holly g oodson recently published the study in conjunction with professor of applied mathematics m ark a lber.

“m ark a lber’s lab specializes in doing biological modeling and they had already approached us about the possibility of trying to put something together with this,” g oodson said. “ we’ve actually been working on this for quite a long time. The models had to start very simply and we’ve built complexity over time.” i n developing the

mathematical model, g oodson said the goal was to create a system that was not overly complex.

“The first thing we’re looking for is just general behavior,” she said. “Then you can add extra levels of details to make it more precise. o ne of the main things you can get out of something like this is to figure out what really matters.”

using computational models in a systems biology approach indirectly tests and observes conceptual models of the dynamic subcellular system, g oodson said. a lthough electron microscopes can capture images nanometers in size, such pictures are often incomplete, she said.

“it’s like trying to understand a football game: if you’re trying to figure out football from a hundred random

see biology PaGe 3

ND graduate Ahearn emphasizes development of whole person, moral compass

By EMILY McCONVILLE n ews w riter

r etired u s a ir f orce general, engineering consultant and n otre d ame graduate Joseph a . “ b ud” a hearn spoke to engineering students and faculty m onday night in d e b artolo h all on the importance of social and moral consciousness in engineering.

The 90-minute talk, titled “ e njoying the leadership journey from good to excellent to extraordinary — performing in the flow,” focused on the development of the whole person and a moral compass and the applications of those qualities to careers in engineering.

a hearn spent several decades in the a ir

see lecTure PaGe 4

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Clarissa Schwab sophomore farley hall “Tagalongs.”

Ezra Kim sophomore alumni hall “Thin mints.”

Madelyn Nelson freshman badin hall “samoas.”

Michelle Mann freshman breen-phillips hall “a ll of them; i’m a girl scout.”

Mike Feula freshman Zahm house “Tagalongs.”

Shannon Takahata freshman mcglinn hall “Thin mints.”

Intrepid geese brave subzero temperatures on the wind tunnel of South Quad for a quick snack. Apparently the presence of these geese implies that South Bend is a more hospitable place to spend the winter than wherever they came from; a sobering thought.

Tuesday

Lecture: India’s Urban Slums

Hesburgh Center for International Studies

12:30 p.m.-2 p.m. With Adam Auerbach.

Men’s Basketball Purcell Pavilion

7 p.m.-9 p.m.

The Irish take on the Clemson Tigers.

Have a question you want answered? Email obsphoto@gmail.com Want your

Wednesday

Gallery Talk

Snite Museum of Art

12:30 p.m.-1:15 p.m. Renaissance artist Albrecht Durer.

Women’s Lacrosse Loftus Center

5 p.m.-7 p.m.

The Irish take on the Cincinnati Bearcats.

Thursday

Workshop on Dante’s Inferno Information Technology Center 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Focus on Canto VIII.

Film: “A Touch of Sin” DeBartolo Performing Arts Center 7 p.m.

Part of AsianAmerican Film Series.

Friday

Junior Parents Weekend begins Everywhere All the time Includes gala, workshops, Mass.

SonnetFest O’Shaghnessy Hall

11 a.m.-3 p.m. Valentine’s Day with all 154 of The Bard’s sonnets.

Saturday

Play: “The Graduate” DeBartolo Performing Arts Center

7:30 p.m.-9:15 p.m. L.A. Theatre Works revives the classic.

Film: “Sharknado” DeBartolo Performing Arts Center 11 p.m.-12:30 a.m.

“Are you not entertained?”

SMC music department hosts “Such Sweete Melodie”

By ALAINA ANDERSON news writer

The s aint m ary’s music department invited students to a concert by guest b aroque ensemble “ s uch s weete m elodie” in l e m ans h all on m onday.

m usic department chair n ancy m enk, who organized the event, said it is important to learn about music from the 17th century in order to increase understanding of music today.

“[ s uch s weete m elodie is] fantastic and it’s great for our students to hear music of this quality on these original instruments, as well,” she said.

The performance included experimental music from the early 17th century baroque era.

m enk said she thought it was an educational experience for students and

“Our

program

focuses on the early years of the baroque era, featuring the music and styles that came to define ‘baroque’ as a break with the old style and something clearly on the edge.”

Jeffery Noonan former professor

was very pleased with the performances.

“ w e try to expose our students to as many different styles and types of music as we can,” she said. “ w e don’t have any early music performers on our faculty right now, so we bring them in from the outside.”

Jeffrey n oonan, former s aint m ary’s professor and

member of “ s uch s weete m elodie, played both lute and theorbo during the performance. h e said the group participates in a wide variety of music, including b roadway show tunes, medieval dance music, a rgentine tangos and the standards of the classical repertoire.

a lthough they have a diverse range, n oonan said the group gravitates to the expressively experimental music of the early 17th century.

“ o ur program focuses on the early years of the baroque era, featuring the music and styles that came to define ‘baroque’ as a break with the old style and something clearly on the edge,” n oonan said.

d uring the concert, l indsey a dams performed as mezzo-soprans, c harles m etz played the virginal, a lice c ulin- e llison played the baroque violi, and p hilip s pray played the violone, lirone and the baroque guitar.

m etz said he found the virginal for sale in an antique shop eight years ago as a painted piece of

paid a dverT isemen T

e lection

con T inued from page 1

awesome work that we’ve had with the innovative team behind us and we don’t want this to overshadow the impressive work that happened by the hard work of a lot of people over the course of this election.”

advertising on f acebook for specific posts.”

furniture. h e said he was happy to stumble across the instrument and had it restored to playing conditions.

“ l ong story short … we can determine it had been built by f rancesco p oggio who lived in f lorence, i taly and died in 1634,” m etz said. “ w e believe [this instrument] was built in about 1590.

“ i firmly believe it’s important to not have [the virginal] sit in a museum, there are 18 of these in the world, all in museums except for three by this maker, this is one of the three.“ i think it’s very important to take it out on snowy days … and have people such as yourself hear it and hear an instrument as s hakespeare and Queen e lizabeth would have heard it, because they were both alive when this instrument was built.”

n oonan said he has looked forward to returning to s aint m ary’s sincethis teaching days from 1977 to 1980.

“ h aving taught here and knowing the kind of students and faculty that are here, how interested they would be and how appreciative they would be of what we’re doing was what i was really looking forward to,” n oonan said.

“ i t is also very important to me that we bring an ensemble here fronted by two young professional women musicians who are making their living as professional players,” he said. i think it’s an important part of what s aint m ary’s does in terms of promoting women to get out and do what they love to do.”

Contact Alaina Anderson at aander02@saintmarys.edu

The c onstitution of the u ndergraduate s tudent b ody of the u niversity of n otre d ame du l ac states that election results cannot be released while any allegation or appeal is pending. c andidates may appeal the e lection c ommittee’s decision within 12 hours of the hearing.

Judicial c ouncil stated that the results of m onday’s vote cannot be released until 9:15 a.m. Tuesday at the earliest, according to these rules.

a n earlier press release from Judicial c ouncil issued m onday morning said juniors l auren v idal and m atthew d evine “exceeded their campaign spending limit by paying for

biology

snapshots of the game, you would never see anything interesting,” g oodson said.

“ you would never see a touchdown, it would never happen. That’s kind of like electron microscopy: it’s hard to figure out what’s really going from these snapshots frozen in time.”

stathmin plays a crucial role in the destruction and uptake of microtubules, g oodson said, a dynamic, continuous process that is difficult to track. her lab formulated conceptual ideas for the mechanism of this process, g oodman said, and obtained only limited evidence by traditional biochemical means.

“it was frustrating because we couldn’t really figure out how to test if these ideas were correct,” g oodson said.

“it goes back to the saying that you don’t really understand something until you can predict it quantitatively.

“it’s too complicated a system to write down mathematical models — all we

“a s an appropriate sanction, the e lection c ommittee hereby asked the v idal- d evine campaign to completely delete from f acebook the three advertised posts that caused them to exceed their campaign spending limit,” the press release stated.

a ccording to the c onstitution, “a campaign limit is set for all s tudent body p residential and v ice- p residential candidates’ tickets at $200.00. p enalties are up to the discretion of the e lection c ommittee.”

d evine said he and v idal were looking forward to hearing the vote tally Tuesday.

“ l auren and i are going to get rest tonight,” d evine said. “ w e’ve been working hard these past few weeks, and we’re excited to hear the results [today].”

Contact Lesley Stevenson at lsteven1@nd.edu and Ann Marie Jakubowski at ajakubo1@nd.edu

really know is how the individual pieces interact, but we don’t really know how that would give rise to specific predictions about the behavior of the system other than that ‘it grows’ or ‘it falls apart.’”

g oodson said she studied computational biology as a rotation student working on modeling protein folding in the lab of m ichael l evitt, one of the winners of the 2013 nobel p rize in c hemistry. g oodson said she believes computational and interdisciplinary approaches are the way of the future in biology, as shown by joint efforts of notre d ame’s biochemistry and mathematics departments.

“This is an example of why it’s important for people in a variety of sciences to be learning something about biology because there’s a lot of science that’s going to be done in the next 20 years or so at this interface between biology and the other sciences,” she said.

Contact Henry Gens at hgens@nd.edu

f orce before joining the engineering consulting firm ch 2 mh ill. h e was also a founding director of e ngineers w ithout b orders and is a member of the n ational a cademy of e ngineering and the n otre d ame e ngineering a dvisory b oard.

g reat leadership arises from the development of “whole personship,” beyond simply talent and technical competence, according to a hearn.

“ i f you think consciously about being a whole person, a whole leader, a whole follower, a whole team member, you’ll find that the community is very significant,” a hearn said. “That’s why we have this remarkable . . . service program [at n otre d ame] going on. w e want you to take that topical learning, that partial experience, those courses and take them to your own communities, wherever you end up living.”

a hearn said engineers should be aware of the factors that influence “whole personship.”

“ i f you go to work for somebody who won’t let you bring the whole package — family, lifelong learning, great jobs, great opportunities, participation in the profession, allowing you to speak about the guiding principles of your faith framework and go have some fun — if they don’t make those measures, don’t go there,” he said. “They’re a bunch of jerks.”

“ w hole personship” was also influenced by one’s “inner compass,” the moral principles and outlook that guide performance and leadership, a hearn said.

“The inner compass definition is that you own it,” he said. “ n obody else owns it. i t’s yours, and it’s what you bring to market, and it’s the offering of how you can multiply the force of you the person.” a pplicable to engineering, the inner compass included f r. Theodore h esburgh’s principles of “character, commitment and caring,” as well as talent, vision, ingenuity and a positive worldview, a hearn said. “ y ou become known as the clarifier, the engager, the highly-competitive, highly-reliable, highly-attractive and worth a hell of a lot of money,” he said. “ l et me tell you, these folks are really good to organizations.”

The event was organized by the e ngineering l eadership and c ommunity e ngagement p rogram. d irector g ary g ilot, said the program was founded in s eptember after

engineering faculty members, including dean p eter k ilpatrick, encouraged service and connectios with the s outh b end community. g ilot said the talk, program retreats and design project are meant to help engineering students develop social consciousness in their work.

“ w e’re trying to awaken sort of the whole student, the spiritual side as well as the intellect and get them engaged with community,” g ilot said. “ s outh b end is a community with a lot of needs. w e want to open people’s hearts a little bit, see the challenges within the community as an opportunity to learn, how to work in teams, how to do multidisciplinary stuff, how to get things done.”

Contact Emily McConville at emcconv1@nd.edu

Explosion at New Hampshire plant injures 15

Press

Associated

peT erborough, n h. —

a n explosion rocked a smalltown ball bearings plant on monday, shaking walls, shattering windows and sending at least 15 people to the hospital, but a company spokeswoman said none of their injuries appeared to be life-threatening. hazardous-materials teams responded after monday afternoon’s explosion at the new hampshire ball bearings i nc. plant in peterborough, but firefighters said there didn’t appear to be any environmental damage.

a plant machine operator, paul c lark, said he was outside in the parking lot on

monday afternoon when he heard the blast.

“i was in my car backing out when i felt a rumble and heard a bang,” he said. “i looked up, and snow on the building’s roof was flying into the wind.”

The blast blew out windows on the three-story building’s ground floor, peterborough fire department spokesman e ric bowman said. There was heavy explosion damage, and the first arriving firefighters saw a column of smoke, he said.

The cause of the explosion was under investigation, but all indications were that it was an industrial-related incident, bowman said. first responders will try to

determine the extent of the damage to the facility, company spokeswoman k athy g errity said. it was unknown when the facility will be back in operation because it would need to be inspected and deemed safe first, she said.

The plant, in the southwest new hampshire town that was the inspiration for Thornton w ilder’s play “o ur Town,” manufactures high-tech parts for the aerospace industry and employs 700 people. g errity said she wasn’t sure how many people were inside when the explosion happened monday afternoon but there are usually about 450 working around that time.

Obama administration delays health requirements

Associated Press

washing T on — a ngling to avoid political peril, the o bama administration m onday granted employers another delay in a heavily criticized requirement that medium-to-larger firms cover their workers or face fines.

i n one of several concessions in a complex Treasury d epartment regulation of more than 200 pages, the administration said companies with 50 to 99 employees will have an additional year to comply with the coverage requirement, until January 1, 2016.

f or businesses with 100 or more employees the requirement will still take effect in 2015. b ut other newly announced provisions, affecting technical issues such as the calculation of working hours, may help some of those firms.

m ore than 90 percent of companies with 50 or more employees already cover their workers without the government telling them to do so, but the debate has revolved around the potential impact on new and growing firms. m ost small businesses have fewer than 50 workers and are exempt from the mandate. h owever, employer groups were also uneasy with a requirement that defines a full-time worker as someone averaging 30 hours a week.

r epublicans trying to take control of the s enate in the n ovember elections have once again made p resident b arack o bama’s health care law their top issue, casting it as job killer. They want to use the employer mandate to build that case, with anecdotes of bosses reluctant to hire a 50th worker, or slashing the hours of low-wage workers who need to pay household bills. m onday’s moves by the administration seemed calibrated to reduce that risk.

The reaction of business groups was mixed.

“These final regulations secured the gold medal for greatest assistance to retailers, and other businesses, and our employees,” said n eil Trautwein, a vice president of the n ational r etail f ederation.

The u s c hamber of c ommerce was unimpressed, calling it more of a respite than a fundamental change.

“This short-term fix also creates new problems for companies by moving the goalposts of the mandate modestly when what we really need is a time-out,” president Thomas d onohue said in a statement.

The administration still hasn’t issued rules for reporting requirements on business and insurers, the nitty-gritty of how the coverage requirement will be enforced.

a dministration officials and the law’s supporters said the concessions were the sorts of reasonable accommodations that regulators make all the time when implementing major new legislation. The Treasury department said s ecretary Jack l ew was well within his legal authority in making the changes.

“This common sense approach will protect employers already providing quality insurance, while helping to ensure that larger employers are prepared to meet their responsibility to their hard-working employees,” said h ouse m inority l eader n ancy p elosi, d - c alif.

b ut r epublicans said they smelled fear.

“ it is clear d emocrats don’t think they can survive politically if o bamacare is allowed to fully go into effect,” said r ep. d ave c amp, r- m ich., who as chairman of the ways and m eans c ommittee oversees the tax penalties enforcing the mandate.

The law passed in 2010 required employers with more than 50 employees working 30 or more hours a week to offer them suitable health

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coverage or pay a fine. The coverage requirement was originally supposed to have taken effect this year.

b ut last summer the the administration announced a one-year delay, the first sign of potential problems with the rollout of the health care law.

s ince then it’s been a gigantic crisis management drill. The new online signup system at h ealth c are. gov was crippled by technical problems for the better part of two months last fall. s eparately, millions of people who were already buying health insurance individually had those policies cancelled because the plans did not meet the law’s requirements.

w ith the online system mostly fixed, supporters of the law are hoping to turn around public opinion.

w hen it comes to the impact on jobs, “the big concerns that have been raised by opponents of the a ffordable c are a ct amount to very little because large employers already think it is in their best interest to provide coverage to their workers,” said r on p ollack, executive director of f amilies usa , a liberal advocacy group.

i n other provisions announced m onday, the administration said:

c ompanies will not face fines if they offer coverage to 70 percent of their full-time employees in 2015, although they will have to ramp that up to 95 percent by 2016. The law defines “full time” as people working an average of 30 hours a week per month. That concession is expected to help firms who have a lot of workers averaging right around 30 hours.

volunteer firefighters and others who give of their time will not be considered employees for under the law. s ome volunteer fire departments worried they might have to shut down if forced to provide health insurance.

a djunct faculty members at colleges will be deemed to have worked 2 hours and 15 minutes for each hour of classroom time they are assigned to teach. o fficials said that means someone teaching 15 hours a week in the classroom would be considered “full time” and eligible for coverage, but someone teaching 12 hours may be considered part-time.

a one-year delay in a requirement that employers offer coverage to dependents of full-time workers. c ompanies that are working to meet the goal will have until 2016 to comply.

g eorgia faces impending winter storm

Associated Press

aT lan Ta —- Just two weeks ago, atlanta became a national punch line when a few inches of snow crippled the city. comedians said the gridlocked highways looked more like a zombie apocalypse than the south’s bustling business hub.

on monday, officials were quick to act as the winter weather zeroed in, determined not be the butt of jokes like the saturday night l ive parody that referred to the “devil’s dandruff” and “yankee’s slush.” before a single drop of freezing rain or snow fell, g eorgia g ov. nathan deal had declared a state of emergency for nearly a third of the state, schools canceled classes and workers were staying home. still, people were skeptical the state would be better prepared this time.

“i’m not counting on it. i’ve been in g eorgia on and off for 20 years. it’s usually the same scenario, not enough preparations and not enough equipment,” said Terri herod, who bought a large bag of sand and a shovel at a home depot. she said her sister told her to also buy kitty litter in case her car gets stuck on an ice patch.

The memories of the last storm were too fresh for some. l ate last month, students were trapped on buses or at schools and thousands of cars were abandoned along highways as short commutes turned into odysseys. one woman gave birth on a jammed interstate. in the chaos, though, there were stories of southern hospitality - people opening up homes and businesses to help the stranded. officials reported one accident-related death.

This storm could be worse this time. a one-two punch of winter weather was expected for atlanta and northern g eorgia. rain and snow were forecast Tuesday, followed by sleet and freezing rain wednesday. downed power lines and icy roads were a major worry. salt trucks, snow plows were ready to roll and the national guard has 1,400 four-wheeled drive vehicles to help anyone stranded. other parts of the south were expected to get hit as well. a labama, which saw stranded vehicles and had 10,000 students spend the night in schools during the January storm, was likely to get a wintry mix of precipitation. parts of mississippi could see 3 inches of snow, and a blast of snow over a wide section

of kentucky slickened roads and closed several school districts. south carolina, which hasn’t seen a major ice storm in nearly a decade, could get a quarter to three-quarters of an inch of ice.

atlanta has a long and painful history of being illequipped to deal with snowy weather and people were not taking any chances, even though officials promised the response would be different this time.

“we’re not looking back, we’re looking forward,” deal said. “The next three days are going to be challenging. we want to make sure we are as prepared as possible.”

schools announced early that they would close Tuesday, and tractor-trailer drivers were handed fliers about the weather and a law requiring chains on tires. city and state government were to stay open Tuesday, but the governor called for a liberal-leave policy, meaning if workers didn’t want to come in they didn’t have to.

people around atlanta planned to stay off the roads, which couldn’t be treated last time because there were too many cars stuck on them.

“basically, everyone from the office is going to be working from home” on Tuesday, dakota herrera said as he left a downtown car park on his way to the office monday. deal was doing many things differently. he opened an emergency operations center and held two news conferences before the storm. w hen the Jan. 28 storm hit, deal was at an awards luncheon with mayor kasim reed, who was named a magazine’s 2014 “g eorgian of the year.” reed had just tweeted: “atlanta, we are ready for the snow.”

This time, the mayor made no such predictions. instead, he said he was in contact with school leaders and the city had 120 pieces of equipment to spread salt and sand and plow snow.

“we are just going to get out here and, flat out, let our work speak for itself,” reed said. during the last storm, deal and reed didn’t hold their first news conference until hours after highways were jammed. much is at stake for the governor, a republican who is up for re-election, and reed, who is seen as a rising star in the democratic party and has aspirations for higher office. both took heat from residents, forecasters and even comedians during the last storm.

To travel the world

Joseph Monardo a ssociate sports editor

To “travel the world” is a grand sentiment, one common in the stated desires of teenagers, young adults and aimless middle-aged individuals. The statement is an acknowledgement of one’s own limited experience with foreign cities and cultures. from an individual perspective, the world can at times seem infinite.

with the winter olympics bringing international diversity to the forefront and with my hopes mounting for a post-graduation travel period, let’s roll through a list of places i would like to visit. i have done some international travel in the past (notably italy, london, belgium and el salvador), so this list will focus only on as-of-yet unseen countries. most of my motivations are based only tangentially on evidence or experience. highly unscientific, far from comprehensive and probably not that different from what most of my peers would construct, in no particular order:

first, ireland. because i go to notre dame, duh. dublin sounds like a cool city and i think ireland possesses more than enough impressive countryside and dramatic coastlines to satisfy my imagination. corned beef and colcannon would probably be enough to lure me to ireland anyway.

next up is spain. spain seems wrapped up in its own culture more than most countries. To walk the spanish streets would be an assault on the senses. The country holds its cuisine in high regard, and with barcelona and madrid as high points of the visit, i would also like to encounter smaller spanish cities.

Third, croatia. i’ve been sold on the serpentine country to the east of the adriatic since i saw anthony bourdain’s “no reservations” episode set in the croatian coast. The many sea-front cities promise beautiful views, and the country’s culture and cuisine are supposedly intriguing mixes from multiple european sources.

fourth, greece. for all its well-publicized problems, athens still has considerable draw for me, especially remnants of greece’s civilization. The many islands dripping away from the mainland are also plenty attractive. fifth, Japan. mount fuji is there. also, the land of the rising sun has a culture and history quite distinct from many of my other proposed destinations.

sixth, australia. cool terrain, fun people and nice cities. it would be like america. seventh, portugal. again compelled by “no reservations,” i have developed a view of portugal as a highly desirable destination. lisbon is beautiful based on what i have seen.

eighth, south africa. going on a safari would be really enjoyable.

ninth, russia. relax, vladimir putin. you made the list. The sheer size of this year’s olympic host is such that i could hardly to have claimed to travel the world without having touched russian soil at least once.

Contact Joseph Monardo at jmonardo@nd.edu The views expressed in the Inside Column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

a political pipeline for the president

John Sandberg sandman’s musing

w hen you’re the president, an opportunity to combine good policy and good politics is like free beer or a complimentary dessert: you don’t pass it up.

president obama doesn’t have a cold one on the house or some free-ofcharge cheesecake waiting on his desk today, but he does have the keystone X l pipeline project. The question now is whether the president will pass up the best opportunity he has seen in years to not only sign off on a policy that will benefit the country, but a plan that will help him politically as well.

The keystone X l pipeline, the fourth and final proposed stage of the larger keystone pipeline project, would transport crude oil extracted from the oil sands region in western canada and carry it nearly 1,200 miles to southern nebraska, where it would then be transported to refineries along the gulf coast of Texas.

The project has the potential to create thousands of construction jobs. not only does it makes sense in terms of the jobs it could create, but it would lessen a merica’s dependence on foreign oil, a task that every president over the past quarter century has shared, yet none have really been able to execute.

environmentalists, a key base of obama voters in 2008 and 2012, claim this is a make-or-break moment for the president who, just one month into his presidency, stated his commitment to help “save our planet from the ravages of

edItorIaL Cartoon

climate change.”

still, last week’s state department report confirmed that the construction of keystone X l will have little-to-no effect on greenhouse gas emissions. our warming planet is one of the most serious and immediate issues with which our generation is faced. but when it comes to keystone X l, the washington post editorial board put it best: environmentalists have drawn “the wrong line in the wrong sand, far away from any realistic assessment of the merits.”

long story short: keystone X l’s not good for the planet, but it’s not that bad either. it will give the country access to cheaper fuel while doing nothing to hinder the progress we’re making towards cleaner energy production. it will create jobs and allow the united states to obtain oil from somewhere other than the places where people don’t like us very much.

in terms of sound policy, keystone X l passes the test. in terms of smart politics, there’s no question keystone X l does the same.

virtually every day since obama took office, we have searched near and far for an issue, any issue, on which democrats and republicans could find some common ground.

immigration? stalled. a budget deal? not without a government shutdown first. health care? ha, good one.

but an oil pipeline? Just maybe … republicans have long favored the project’s completion. obama’s approval of keystone X l won’t free washington from all its gridlock, but it’s a start. it will

at least send a signal to the right that the president is willing to work with them on issues that they have prioritized. in turn, republicans may be more willing to work with the president who, free from the pressures of reelection, sided with them in the name of good policy and finally put to rest one of the most debated issues of the past few years.

This is to say nothing of the fact that more than half of a mericans are in favor of the pipeline project, as well as many congressional democrats. is that the endangered species of bipartisan agreement poking its head out from the bushes?

if approved, keystone X l will allow president obama to put his name next to a major public works project. at a time when many a mericans are still uneasy over obamacare, nsa surveillance and the state of the economy, obama could use a positive headline or two. keystone X l will create jobs and more energy independence.

keystone X l throws a bone to republicans while also allowing the president to put his name next to a piece of major infrastructure.

approval of keystone X l makes policy sense. it makes political sense. but most of all, it makes too much sense to pass up.

John Sandberg lives in Fisher Hall and is a senior studying political science. He can be reached at jsandbe1@nd.edu

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

is college a waste of time? not in my book

Robert Dilenschneider guest columnist

you can’t pick up a magazine or newspaper or listen to the T v these days without some pundit saying that college is a waste of time. it is their view that getting a college degree is a waste of time that will improve neither your career prospects nor your lifetime earnings.

The Thiel foundation offers select exceptional students $100,000 to forget about going to college and pursue their ambitions on their own. There is even a popular book out there called “c ollege is for s uckers”.

Quite frankly, i’m not buying it. w hile the digital revolution has changed many things, including the shape of the economy, undergraduate, graduate and professional schools are still the engines of the information economy. They help supply the intellectual capital that “finances” the economy.

i n my work, i have the privilege of working with and for some of the finest business minds of this generation. a lmost invariably, conversation turns to our experiences in college. To a man (and woman), they can recall a professor, a classmate or a guest lecturer who had a profound influence on them. w hen i was a graduate student in journalism, my professor and mentor walter s eifert, taught me so many lessons that still resonate today. it may sound self-indulgent, old school or naïve, but education

Letter to tHe edItor

enriches the life of the mind. it introduces you to new concepts, new ways to understand the world, new ways to address problems, new sources of information. it deepens your knowledge, improves your powers of analysis, and stimulates your curiosity.

The more you know, the more you want to know.

a gain, at the risk of sounding trite, education expands your network on a number of levels. c lassmates, especially in graduate school, will later be colleagues and competitors in the business world.

a s i know from personal my experience, professors can become some of the most influential mentors you will ever have. They can influence you intellectually and professionally. They can introduce you to people. a nd they can write glowing letters of recommendation — but only if they know who you are. b e sure to cultivate them.

c olleges and universities also have extensive alumni networking opportunities. i f you think that old school ties don’t matter anymore in the hiring process, you are sadly mistaken. o n a more tangible level, education bolsters the bottom line. o ver a lifetime, people with more education are more employable, make more money, experience a higher level of job satisfaction and enjoy greater job security.

i know people will point to b ill g ates, m ark Zuckerberg and s teve Jobs as men who dropped out of school and did just fine. b ut their talents, vision and drive were beyond

brave the cold

dearest ladies (and gentlemen) of notre dame,

do you love your boys of notre dame in minimal amounts of clothing? yes? good. how about abdominals so welldefined you could find them in a dictionary? yeah? great. a nd most importantly, do you like fighting homelessness? still with us? perfect. if you said yes to all three — and let’s be honest, who didn’t — then do we have an event for you. This wednesday, the young, strapping and in many cases, single, lads of siegfried hall will once again brave the cold to stand in solidarity with our homeless brothers and sisters. wearing at most a T-shirt and shorts, and preferably less, the ramblers of siegfried will be roaming campus, classrooms and dining halls all day seeking donations for the south bend center for the homeless. homelessness is a societal disease that impacts hundreds of thousands of a mericans every year, disproportionately affecting veterans while causing untold damage to the futures of the children it afflicts. as the calendar turns

to winter and the crippling cold settles in, the dangers posed by homelessness become lethal. since its inception, siegfried’s day of man has raised tens of thousands of dollars to support and aid the homeless community in south bend. This year, we once again need your help. we cordially invite you to stand with us this wednesday and support the cause as we freeze for a day in the hopes that the homeless will no longer. every dollar and coin makes a difference. every little bit can help. so please join us, our beach-ready bodies and the hump day camel, and back the effort to fight homelessness. we might even make you a snow angel. yours in siegfried hall.

Thomas ridella

matt

Junior

miklavic

Junior a lex campbell sophomore siegfried hall feb. 11

extraordinary. it may be trendy to say that college doesn’t matter — and maybe it doesn’t for a few select individuals. f or the rest of the world, a college degree is essential.

a s a caveat, though, a college degree in itself can be quite meaningless if the student fails to make the most of their time on campus. it is quite possible to attend a university, even a top-tier school, put in minimal effort, and still emerge with a degree. m aybe college is a good place to get away from mom and dad. m aybe it offers the heady freedom to party and play without anyone looking over your shoulder. f or these students, college is, indeed, a waste of time.

a s we all know, college and graduate education is enormously, even at times prohibitively, expensive. To get the most out of education, students must squeeze everything they can out of this amazing opportunity they’ve been given.

for this reason, students must approach their education as if it is their occupation, for whatever the duration of their post-high school formalized education might be. To make the financial investment pay off, students have to gain control over the educational process.

s tudents shouldn’t fool themselves into believing that by simply going to class every day they are getting an education. They must be proactive about their personal and professional development. c olleges offer numerous opportunities to prepare students for their professional futures.

a ll colleges bring in guest speakers in a wide array to disciplines. it is the wise student that broadens his or her horizons by going to lectures outside of their particular area of study.

Just as importantly, a significant percentage of students attend college somewhere far from their home towns. Taking advantage of new environs and cultures is good both for the soul and for bringing new perspectives to their professional futures.

i understand that the businesslike approach to the college experience i espouse may seem to preclude socializing and having fun, but that’s anything but the case.

Just as many in the professional world have learned the importance of maintaining a healthy balance between their work lives and their personal lives, students can learn to take their responsibilities very seriously and still find the time to socialize, play sports and enjoy the arts.

The opportunity to learn the skills, attitudes and behaviors it takes to balance work and play — in and of itself — makes college anything but a waste of time.

Robert Dilenschneider is the founder and principal of The Dilenschneider Group, a strategic communications consultancy. An author of numerous books, his most recent, “The Critical 14 Years of Your Professional Life,” was just published in January by Kensington Publishing Corp.

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

By WILL NEAL scene writer

There are countless reasons why “The l ego movie” shouldn’t have worked. many of us raised an eyebrow at the concept of revolving an entire movie premise around a toy product (you’d be right to be skeptical). i n the wrong hands, “The l ego movie” could have been disastrous, but under the direction of comedy experts phil l ord and chris miller (directors of “cloudy with a chance of meatballs” and “21 Jump street”) this film becomes something truly outstanding. w ith gorgeous spectacles, constant laughs and surprisingly heartwarming message, you’ll quickly see that, like the product, “The l ego movie” isn’t just for children ages 8 to 14.

The film follows the story of emmitt — an ordinary construction worker who is perfectly content living his life by instruction booklets that guide his every action (“remember to breathe!”). he and the rest of the citizens of bricksburg (g et it? because of the … oh, never mind) spend their days blissfully working, watching quality programming (“w here are my pants?”), paying for overpriced coffee (“That’ll be $37!”) and listening to the hit song, “everything is awesome,” on constant repeat (“i will never get tired of this song!”). They all live under the mighty fist of l ord/president business ( w ill ferrell) who wants nothing more than utter perfection for his world, even if it calls for “deadly” measures. a s for emmitt, he’s a forgettable nobody who doesn’t quite know how to stand out. he’s not special; he never has been. but that all changes when he accidently stumbles across the legendary “piece of resistance,” which is not only the key to saving the l ego universe from president business, but promises that whoever discovers it is the “most important and interesting person in the universe.” now bearing the title, “The

special,” emmitt is joined by the awesomely rebellious w ildstyle ( e lizabeth banks) and the hippy, blind sage v itruvius ( morgan freeman) who train him in becoming a fellow master builder, someone who can build anything from l ego world around them. president business cannot stand the master builders, who continuously keep “messing with his stuff,” so he devises a plan to coat the world with a dangerous substance known as k ragle (you may know it as k razy glue) in order to keep things exactly the way they are. of course, president business keeps the world oblivious to his plans with the promise of free tacos on Taco Tuesday. Teaming up with other master builders, from iconic figures like the ego-centric batman (perfectly voiced by w ill a rnett) to total original l ego creations like the giant robotic pirate, metal beard (nick “swanson” offerman), this team will do whatever it takes to stop p resident business and his doublefaced henchman, bad cop/g ood cop (l iam neeson). Through this crazy and consistently charming adventure in the various realms of the l ego universe, emmitt will discover just what he’s truly capable of and that every one of us has the power within to be special.

Technically, this movie is an animated wonder. Though a majority of the film is created through computer-generated imagery, the production team creates the illusion of live-action, stop motion through some impressively advanced techniques. The voice acting cast hosts an impressive list of celebrities (too many to count). some iconic roles like superman (channing Tatum) find new voices, while shaquille o’neal and several “star wars” roles are the real deal.

w ith an endless number of characters under warner brothers’ studio to use, the movie takes full advantage of this and pokes fun at a number of beloved franchises. chris pratt is the true stand-out among the cast and brings an absolutely charming and hilariously

absent-minded innocence to the voice of e mmitt. you know from listening just how much fun the cast is having with their roles, surprisingly most noticeable with neeson and freeman’s roles. w ill ferrell particularly shines in the film (especially in mispronouncing the names of real-world products) as his role is heightened in the finale in a hilariously surprising manner (think “wedding crashers”).

but the heart of its film is its narrative, which showcases the battle between the relatable mindsets of following instructions and following imagination, with both sides shown to have their benefits. The story is surprisingly layered and multi-dimensional, particularly at the end when the source of the l ego-universe is revealed. it’s a story about embracing the carefree child within and learning the importance of freethinking and fun (no matter your age).

in “The l ego movie,” everyone is redeemable and everyone has the potential for greatness. There’s a very promising future for this franchise, but right now, it’s important not to look towards the future and instead appreciate what was accomplished in this film. in “The l ego movie,” everything is wonderful, hysterical, charming, heartfelt and absolutely awesome.

Contact Will Neal at wneal@nd.edu

“The Lego Movie”

Warner Bros. Pictures

Director: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller

Starring: Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Morgan Freeman, Will Ferrell

If you like: “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs”

By JOHN DARR scene writer

Editor’s Note: This article is part of a recurring series, Alternative Top 40, which brings you new and newsworthy alternative music.

since the inception of spotify, i’ve become more and more informed about what people listen to and when they listen to it. as my spotify account is connected to facebook, i can see what my friends are listening to during the wee homework hours of the night. indie jams, pop tunes, metal screamers and club bangers scroll in the sidebar on the daily. but in addition to modern music, my feed is full of classical music — the homework weapon of choice for many.

most people i talked to listen to such music only when they’re doing homework. The classical genre provides pleasant background noise without distracting vocals or crazy guitar solos, making it perfect for the task.

This week, alternative Top 40 turns to modern music that’s well-suited to the late night study fiend. atmospheric yet engaging, these artists all provide rich music that does well in both the background and the foreground.

sigur rós

sigur rós is an icelandic post-rock band that creates jawdroppingly gorgeous musical soundscapes. vibrant, joyful and often victorious, the music of sigur rós is a wonder to behold. yet the vocals are in a lingual hybrid of icelandic and nonsensical non-words, allowing the soaring vocal melodies to sit nicely in the background. if you want to do your homework in efficient yet epic style, sigur rós is the musical companion for you. check out their breakthrough classic, “aegitus byrjun,” to catch a glimpse of the magic. recommended tracks: “starálfur,” “hoppípolla,” “olsen olsen”

tycho

if it were up to me, Tycho’s sophomore album “dive” would be prescribed to patients suffering from chronic stress. The chilled-out, ocean-evoking atmospheres and steady, calming beats are enough to take any poor soul out of the freak-out danger zone. crisp production and driving crescendos of Tycho’s tracks prevent any sort of sleepiness from happening. it’s quite a miraculous balance — completely relaxing but not in any way sedative. Tycho’s aforementioned record “dive” serves is the perfect introduction

for future Tycho fans. if you stick around, you can also look out for his new album “awake” to be released this year. recommended tracks: “dive,” “coastal brake,” “epigram”

todd terje

This super-chic, bouncin’ dance music makes for a bobyo-head homework sesh. lacking any loud elements or drops of most modern dance music, Todd Terje’s jams roll on toward awesomely groovy infinity. never distracting and yet infectiously catchy, Terje’s music puts the listener in the zone.

The zone, of course, is one of intense focus and the false belief that you could at any moment out-dance michael Jackson.

dancing delusions aside, Terje’s music offers a perfect balance of focus and energy to keep you going during the late hours of the night. check out his excellent “it’s the arps” ep to begin your homework domination. recommended tracks: “inspector norse,” “strandbar (disko),” “spiral”

Contact John Darr at jdarr@nd.edu

Fans must control tempers

Vicky Jacobsen sports writer

you might have heard that o klahoma s tate sophomore m arcus s mart made a big mistake over the weekend. i n fact, he broke the one inviolable rule of sports: n ever, ever lay hands on a fan.

a s one would suspect, the consequences were swift. h e was kicked out of the game and will be suspended for three more. h e had to answer to the media, where he apologized to the Texas Tech “super fan” he shoved. c ollege basketball analysts rushed to their cameras and keyboards to explain just how much this will dent s mart’s already-falling draft stock. it all sounded pretty bad for s mart. b ut then i went to watch the video. a nd while i cannot say that s mart acted admirably or came away looking all that good, i also cannot pretend that many of the rest of us would not have lost our cool in a similar situation. b e honest - if you were knocked to the ground, and you heard a man twoand-a-half times your age taunting you, calling you a “piece of crap,” do you think you would respond calmly? it is easy to say that s mart should have ignored the fan, but can we truly be surprised when a college student finds that hard to do?

The “super fan,” a Texas Tech alum named Jeff o rr, has likewise apologized and said he regrets calling s mart a “piece of crap,” but insists that he did not direct any racial epithets towards the o klahoma s tate star. w hile i suppose it would be an even worse affront if o rr had made an explicitly racist comment, the fact is he still felt the need to tell a teenager that he was somehow less than human. a racist person can make an offensive comment without using the nword, and non-racist people are still entirely capable of saying and doing offensive

things. The bottom-line is that o rr wanted to upset s mart, and he was even more successful than he probably intended to be.

i do not write all of this because i think we should let s mart off the hook. h e does need to be suspended, because we just cannot have incidents like this become routine. s mart’s shove did not do any damage to o rr, but it could have been a very different story if he had thrown a punch instead. a nd there are enough timeouts in college basketball as it is. i do not want to wait around while referees issue technicals for a fight started by a fan.

b ut some fans do not understand that this rule is a necessary measure to protect both athletes and audience members. They seem to think it is a shield that gives them the right to hurl insults and threats with no risk of retribution. They need to get over themselves.

Just as i understand why s mart might have wanted to deck o rr, i also understand why fans want to get rowdy. i have said (okay, shouted) some unkind things in my day. l ike everyone else, i join in chants, some of them mean-spirited, at basketball and football games. b ut i also realize that i am not responsible for the outcome of the game. i am not the “12th man.” g ood fans cheer for their team to show their support after a good play. g ood fans make noise in the hopes that it will distract the other team. g ood fans make funny signs for their own amusement. g ood fans enjoy the game, but realize they are there to watch the game, not interfere in it. g ood fans do not personally harass individuals on the other team. l et’s hope Jeff o rr has learned that lesson.

Contact Vicky Jacobsen at vjacobse@nd.edu

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

No.17 North Carolina defeats No.3 Duke

Associated Press

durham — f reshman d iamond d e s hields scored a season-high 30 points and n o. 17 n orth c arolina upset n o. 3 d uke 89-78 on m onday night.

d e s hields hit 12 of 20 shots while becoming the first player to score 30 against d uke since 2009.

f ellow freshman a llisha g ray added 24 points — including three three-point plays in the final 8 minutes — for the Tar h eels (18-6, 6-4 a tlantic c oast c onference).

Xylina m c d aniel finished with 17 points for n orth c arolina, which never trailed, hit 12 3-pointers, built three separate doublefigure leads in the second half and finally made the third one stand.

The Tar h eels snapped a three-game overall losing streak, a seven-game slide against their fiercest rivals and claimed their first win at c ameron i ndoor s tadium since 2008.

e lizabeth w illiams had a

career-high 28 points on 12of-23 shooting and Tricia l iston added 20 for d uke (22-3, 9-2).

a fter last week’s 88-67 loss to n o. 2 n otre d ame, the b lue d evils have lost consecutive games at c ameron for the first time in two decades.

a lexis Jones had 15 points and 11 assists for the d uke, which twice in the second half trailed by double digits but closed within one possession. l iston pulled the b lue d evils to 63-61 with her free throw with 8:13 left.

d e s hields then swished a 3 from the left corner on the Tar h eels’ next trip downcourt — holding her right hand in the air for a few extra seconds. g ray got behind h aley p eters for a fast-break layup through contact and hit the ensuing free throw to push the lead to 69-61 with 7:42 left.

g ray added another threepoint play about 2 minutes later, and her 3-pointer with just under 5 minutes left put n orth c arolina up 7564 — its third double-figure

lead of the half.

This one stuck: d uke didn’t get closer than seven the rest of the way, and now has its first losing streak at c ameron since it lost to v irginia and c lemson in January 1994.

d e s hields eclipsed her previous high of 28 set against a rizona s tate in n ovember and became the first player to put up 30 on the b lue d evils since James m adison’s d awn e vans (31) on d ec. 18, 2009.

d e s hields and m c d aniel helped the Tar h eels dominate the first half. They led 45-36 at the break after repeatedly pushing their lead to 12.

d e s hields had 15 points and m c d aniel had 12 at halftime against a d uke team that hadn’t allowed more than 44 points in any first half all year.

m c d aniel’s 3-pointer about 15 seconds into the second half made it 48-36, but d uke temporarily made it a game again by reeling off 11 straight points over the next 2½ minutes.

iowa state falls to west v irginia in a rout

Associated Press

morganTown — remi dibo scored a career-high 20 points to lead west virginia to a 102-77 victory over no. 11 iowa state on monday night, the cyclones’ most lopsided loss of the season.

Juwan staten added 19 points and eron harris and Terry henderson each had 16 points for the mountaineers (15-10, 7-5 big 12).

iowa state (18-5, 6-5) had five players in double figures, led by georges niang’s 17 points. but melvin ejim, coming off a big 12-record 48 points and a careerhigh 18 rebounds against Tcu, was held to six points on 1-of-9 shooting.

The cyclones fell behind by double digits midway through the first half and trailed by as many as 32 points late in the game.

west virginia hit a season-high for points and improved to 2-1 amid a stretch of four straight games against ranked opponents heading into a matchup saturday at no. 19 Texas.

west virginia shot 54 percent (35 of 65) from the field, including 13 of 22 from 3-point range.

iowa state’s outside scoring was virtually nonexistent until it was too late. The cyclones were held to 37 percent shooting (26 of 71) in losing their fourth road conference game.

dustin hogue added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the cyclones while deandre kane had 14 points, matt Thomas 13 and monte morris 10.

kane, a pittsburgh native, had more than 50 relatives and friends in attendance. he went 1-2 against the mountaineers while he played at instate rival marshall

and was booed and taunted whenever he touched the ball.

west virginia’s lack of bench scoring had stood out in a double-digit loss to no. 7 kansas on saturday. on monday, the mountaineers’ reserves outscored iowa state’s 27-15.

Trailing 52-33 at halftime, iowa state put together its best stretch and closed the gap to 58-44 5 minutes into the second half before west v irginia again pulled away.

The c yclones went four minutes between field goals after that, and west v irginia got a big boost from its bench to keep the pressure on. freshman nathan adrian made two baskets and two free throws, and kevin noreen doubled his season scoring average with a layup and two free throws.

Pacers trounce Nuggets

Associated Press

indianapolis — d avid

w est scored 25 points and r oy h ibbert added 14 as the i ndiana p acers routed the short-handed d enver n uggets 119-80 on m onday night.

i ndiana snapped a fivegame skid in the series, beating the n uggets for the first time since a 31-point blowout in n ovember 2010. The p acers (40-11) still have the nba’s best record, the league’s best home record (25-2) and now lead two-time defending champion m iami by four games in the e astern c onference.

w ilson c handler scored 17 points and J.J. h ickson added 12 to lead the n uggets (24-26), who have lost three straight and played without several injured players, including a ndre m iller, d anilo g allinari, Jav ale m c g ee, n ate r obinson and Ty l awson.

a fter the first six minutes, this game was never close.

The p acers took control with a 21-5 run that made it 37-20 early in the second quarter. Then, they closed the half on a 14-4 spurt to make it 61-40, and the

n uggets couldn’t get closer than 19 in the second half.

i ndiana, which lost s unday at o rlando, hasn’t lost back-to-back games since mid- d ecember and hasn’t lost three straight all season. The p acers finished this one with a season-high points total and a season-best shooting percentage (57.5).

d enver was nowhere near full strength, though, and it showed.

a gain the n uggets played without m iller, who has been held out since early January; g allinari, who is out for the season with a torn acl in his left knee; m c g ee, who has been out since late January with a stress fracture in his left leg; and on m onday, they were also missing their backup point guard in r obinson (left knee) and their top scorer and point guard l awson (fractured left rib).

c oach b rian s haw’s biggest concern heading into the game was finding a replacement for his only two point guards and defending p aul g eorge, who s haw dubbed the best two-way player in the nba g eorge finished with 12 points, five rebounds and four

paid a dverT isemen T

assists.

b ut the bigger problem came inside.

w est finished 11 of 13 from the field and had 21 points in the first half. h ibbert had 12 rebounds and the p acers won both key battles in the paint — outrebounding d enver 5637 and outscoring them 58-36.

i t was just too much for d enver to overcome.

a fter trailing for the only time in the game, 11-10, i ndiana steadily pulled away. The p acers led 3120 after one quarter, 61-40 at the half and 85-56 after three. i ndiana was so far ahead that coach f rank v ogel rested his starters the entire fourth quarter.

The n uggets finished with a season-low shooting percentage (31.5) and suffered their most lopsided loss of the season — the second time that’s happened in three days. d enver’s previous low marks came in a 117-90 loss f riday at n ew york and a 36.4 percent shooting performance d ec. 21 in l os a ngeles against the c lippers.

r andy f oye had nine points and 10 assists in place of l awson.

mountaineers roll

over iowa state

Associated Press

morgan T own, w va. — r emi d ibo scored a careerhigh 20 points to lead west v irginia to a 102-77 victory over no. 11 iowa s tate on monday night, the c yclones' most lopsided loss of the season.

Juwan s taten added 19 points and e ron h arris and Terry henderson each had 16 points for the mountaineers (15-10, 7-5 b ig 12).

iowa s tate (18-5, 6-5) had five players in double figures, led by g eorges n iang's 17 points. b ut melvin e jim, coming off a b ig 12-record 48 points and a career-high 18 rebounds against T cu, was held to six points on 1-of-9 shooting.

The c yclones fell behind by double digits midway through the first half and trailed by as many as 32 points late in the game.

west v irginia hit a season-high for points and improved to 2-1 amid a stretch of four straight games against ranked opponents heading into a matchup s aturday at no. 19 Texas.

west v irginia shot 54 percent (35 of 65) from the

field, including 13 of 22 from 3-point range.

iowa s tate's outside scoring was virtually nonexistent until it was too late. The c yclones were held to 37 percent shooting (26 of 71) in losing their fourth road conference game. d ustin hogue added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the c yclones while d eandre k ane had 14 points, m att Thomas 13 and monte morris 10. k ane, a p ittsburgh native, had more than 50 relatives and friends in attendance. he went 1-2 against the mountaineers while he played at instate rival m arshall and was booed and taunted whenever he touched the ball. west v irginia's lack of bench scoring had stood out in a double-digit loss to n o. 7 k ansas on s aturday. o n monday, the mountaineers' reserves outscored iowa s tate's 27-15.

Trailing 52-33 at halftime, iowa s tate put together its best stretch and closed the gap to 58-44 five minutes into the second half before west v irginia again pulled away. The only drama for west v irginia came when h arris was ejected for a flagrant foul with 4:25 left.

nba | rapTors 108, pelicans 101

Raptors beat Pelicans at home

Associated Press

Toron To — kyle l owry had 19 points and 12 assists, patrick patterson scored a season-high 22 and the Toronto raptors beat the new orleans pelicans 108-101 on monday night.

demar derozan also had 22 points, Terrence ross added 14 and Tyler hansbrough scored 12 for Toronto, which has won five consecutive meetings and seven of eight against new orleans. The first-place raptors moved three games ahead of brooklyn in the atlantic division by winning for the ninth time in 11 home games.

Tyreke evans had 23 points and 10 assists, and a nthony davis scored 19 for the pelicans, who lost their second straight and have dropped four consecutive games in Toronto. brian roberts had 18 points for new orleans, and e ric g ordon 10.

Toronto’s 27 wins before a llstar break are its most since the 2009-10 season, when it had 29. The raptors host atlanta on wednesday in their final game

before a ll-star weekend. evans returned after sitting out sunday night’s loss at brooklyn. pelicans coach monty w illiams said sunday that e vans, the 2010 nba rookie of the year, did not play against the nets because of an “internal” issue.

Toronto called timeout after a 6-0 pelicans run cut it to 8578 with 9:25 left. l uke b abbitt blocked d erozan’s shot after the stoppage, and a nthony morrow’s jump shot brought new o rleans to 85-80. d erozan stopped the run with a jumper, but l owry fouled davis on a dunk and the pelicans’ a ll-star converted his free throw. o ne possession later, b abbitt hit a 3-pointer, shaving the deficit to 87-86.

l owry and hansbrough each made a pair of free throws to give the r aptors some breathing room before l owry made a jump hook, assisted on a layup by hansbrough and fed ross for a 3 to make it 98-89 with 4:20 remaining.

women’s hockey drops pair to badgers, msu

Men’s hockey falls twice at Michigan; wrestling goes 3-1 at Glass City Duals

Special to The Observer

The i rish played three games over the weekend, traveling to m adison, w is. for four games, two each against the host b adgers and m ichigan s tate.

o n f riday, n otre d ame fell 4-0 after a quick start from the b adgers. w isconsin scored early in the first period to start the game, but sophomore goaltender a llison s tankowicz made 11 saves in the period to keep the deficit at two. s tankowicz continued to play well, making another 12 saves in the second, only allowing one goal at the 6:06 minute mark. The i rish, down 2-0, came out flying in the third period, matching the b adgers in shots on goal. Though the b adgers found the net twice in the period to push the lead to 4-0, the i rish finished the game strong, s tankowicz finished with 30 saves for the i rish.

b arely 12 hours later, the i rish returned to the ice against w isconsin again, this time starting junior goaltender m ary s alvi in net against the b adgers. The i rish came out hard, looking for retribution from the previous day’s game. s ophomore forward

Jackie d unn got n otre d ame on the board for the first time all weekend, shooting a rebound of a shot from junior defenseman l auren g abel into the upper right hand corner of the net. s hortly after, sophomore forward a lex s tern and freshman forward a na g randinetti skated into the offensive zone two-ontwo, and after battling it out in the corner, s tern put a shot on net, which g randinetti was able to put in on the rebound.

The b adgers responded with two goals of their own before the end of the first period and continued the onslaught with two more goals in the second. s alvi played well in net, making numerous saves to keep the i rish close. d espite numerous scoring opportunities, the score remained the same at 4-2 b adgers.

l ater in the day, n otre d ame came out to play m ichigan s tate. a lthough they let in an early s partan goal, the i rish dominated the period. s ophomore goaltender r egina e ngel made eight saves in the period to keep the score at 1-0. The momentum continued into the second, as sophomore forward

White House applauds Sam

Associated Press

washing T on — The w hite h ouse is applauding a u niversity of m issouri football player’s decision to announce that he is gay, with p resident b arack o bama’s spokesman, first lady m ichelle o bama and v ice p resident Joe b iden all portraying him as a courageous and inspirational athlete.

b iden and the first lady took to Twitter on m onday to comment on m ichael s am, the all- a merican college player who declared publicly on s unday that he is gay. m rs. o bama says she “couldn’t be prouder” of s am’s courage, both on and off the field.

The tweet was signed “-mo,” which is how the w hite h ouse marks messages personally sent by the first lady.

“ your courage is an inspiration to all of us,” b iden said. The message was signed “-vp,” which designates that the vice president sent it personally.

m adison r atcyz scored at the 11:52.

The i rish continued to dominate play and drew two penalties. o n the second power play, d unn scored off a loose puck in the offensive zone.

The s partans came back with a goal of their own to start the third period, tying the score at 2-2, but e ngel made a series of saves to keep m ichigan s tate from taking the lead. d espite three power plays in the third, the i rish were unable to find the net, and the s partans snuck a goal past e ngel to take the lead. The i rish received two penalties of their own near the very end of the game, and m ichigan s tate converted on the power play to make the score 4-2.

o n s unday morning, the i rish took on the s partans again in their final game of the weekend, and s tankowicz got the start in net. The game remained scoreless into the second period until an interference penalty by d unn gave the s partans a power play goal with less than two minutes left in the period.

The i rish dominated during the third period, outshooting the s partans 12 to four.

They kept the pressure on the s partan net, but m ichigan s tate held on to their onegoal lead to win the game.

m en’s Hockey

The i rish traveled to a nn a rbor, m ich. on f riday to take on m ichigan in a two-game series. p laying a wolverine squad that was headed to nationals, the i rish fell twice, 5-0 and 2-0. Though n otre d ame threw close to 80 shots on net during the two games, the i rish were unable to find the back of the net. Junior goaltender Justin d ancu and sophomore goaltender n ick s tasack played well in the losses.

Wrestling

n otre d ame continued to build upon its successful inaugural season as the team recorded three wins and only one loss at the g lass c ity d uals in Toledo, o hio on s aturday. Toledo hosted the round robin-style team tournament that featured eight teams. The i rish began the day with a rematch against their most recent opponent, m ichigan. The i rish won handily with a final score of 35-24, after winning 28-23 two weeks earlier at home.

i n its second match, n otre d ame fell to sixth-ranked g rand valley s tate 31-21. The i rish bounced back from their loss to defeat b owling g reen 39-24. w ith this victory, the i rish finished second in their pool and were slated to wrestle p ittsburgh for third place at the event. n otre d ame lost to p ittsburgh 27-21 in s outh b end on Jan. 19, and the i rish wrestlers were eager to avenge that loss. The i rish prevailed 2723, marking a strong finish to a successful day.

f reshman g arrett s chmelling and sophomore b en e vans were key contributors to the team’s achievements, wrestling in the 141-lb. and 197-lb. weight classes respectively. b oth wrestlers finished the day with four wins and no losses. s chmelling’s continued his undefeated season, and his record now stands at 9-0. The team’s season record is now 4-5, 4-1 in its last five matches.

n otre d ame will continue to work to improve as it looks forward to the final event of the year, the g reat l akes c onference Tournament, which will be held m arch 1 at g rand valley.

s am could become the first openly homosexual player in the nfl h e’s scheduled to participate in the league’s weeklong scouting camp, where potential draftees are evaluated, later this month in i ndianapolis. h e is currently projected to be a mid-round draft pick in m ay.

w hite h ouse spokesman Jay c arney said the president “shares the sentiments expressed by the first lady and the vice president and so many others in marveling at his courage and congratulating him on the decisions he’s made, on the support he’s had from his team and wishing him well in the future, including in professional football.”

c arney said s am’s announcement should not affect his standing on the nfl draft and that his abilities should be measured by his performance.

“a nd in this case, his performance has been exceptional,” c arney said.

smC basketbaLL | kalamaZoo 71, smc 66

belles fall to kalamazoo in roller-coaster game

By ANDREW ROBINSON sports writer

a fter holding on to a narrow lead for most of the first half, s aint mary’s traded blows with k alamazoo in the second half and eventually lost the hard-fought contest, 71-66, on s aturday at the a ngela athletic facility.

The belles (6-15, 4-8 miaa) got off to a fast start, with sophomore forward k rista k napke making layups on each of the first two possessions. a fter s aint mary’s went up 8-3, however, the hornets (12-8, 8-4) battled back with a 16-5 run to take a six-point lead.

a gain the tide shifted when s aint mary’s forced four consecutive turnovers, crucial defensive stops which belles coach Jenn henley has stressed throughout the year.

“ we played some very good defense in the first half,” said henley.

six points from senior guard shanlynn bias off those turnovers and a 3-pointer by freshman guard k risten k leist put the belles back in the lead midway through the first half.

w ith offensive contributions from the entire lineup, led by junior forward a riana paul’s 12 first-half points, the belles headed into halftime with a 42-39 advantage.

e arly in the second half, shots stopped falling for the belles while the hornets began to put in easy buckets, going on a 17-4 tear led by senior guard/forward nicole a ntoine. k alamazoo took an eight-point lead with less than 10 minutes remaining.

“ we gave up too many oneon-one layups in the second half,” henley said. “ we had our chances to score, [but] we had too many turnovers.”

however, the belles were not finished, making repeated defensive stops and taking several trips to the free throw line to regain a 61-60 lead with 3:17 left. bias, who scored 12 second-half points and a teamhigh 18 in the game, led the charge.

The hornets found their way back, scoring a couple baskets and getting to the foul line. paul, who contributed 16 points and six rebounds, fouled out near the end of the game.

“a ny time a starter fouls out, it impacts the game,” henley said. “l osing paul with 1:40 to go wasn’t ideal.”

a fter that, a layup by hornets junior guard e mily l indsay and a free throw by senior guard i ndia hoskins put k alamazoo up by four with 17 seconds left.

s ophomore guard maddie

paid a dverT isemen T

kohler responded with a 3-pointer to pull s aint mary’s within one, but time was not on the belles’ side, as the hornets held on with late free throws to win. henley said the loss against

a strong k alamazoo team did not discourage her.

“ we knew it was going to be a battle, and it was,” henley said, “i am very proud of how this team continues to battle throughout the season.”

fencing

con T inued from page 16

a record fan section of 698 peaked mid-afternoon, just in time for the most exciting matchup of the day between the i rish and penn state women. a fter notre d ame fell behind 13-11 overall, a win by junior a shley s everson on the epee strip and another by junior foilist m adison Zeiss tied the score at 13. a ll eyes turned to the final bout between senior foilist a driana c amacho and penn state junior k ane g ladnick.

w ith the teams and the record fan section looking on, the foilists went back and forth in a high-intensity matchup. a touch by c amacho put her up 4-3 with nine seconds remaining, and she defended herself for another touch to win, 5-3.

The i rish fans and teams, previously silent with suspense, erupted to celebrate the electrifying 14-13 victory.

“she had beaten already two of the strongest girls [ penn state junior a lina a ntokhina and sophomore c larisse l uminet],” i rish coach g ia kvaratskhelia said. “i had confidence that a driana would pull this off.

“o ver the last four years, i have seen steady progress in her performance, technically

The belles will travel to hope c ollege on wednesday for a 7:30 game against the f lying d utch.

Contact Andrew Robinson at arobins6@nd.edu

and emotionally. i would bet that 99 out of 100 times, a driana would win that bout.” c amacho was 3-0 against penn state and an impressive 11-1 on the day.

The men did not fare quite as well against the nitanny l ions, losing 18-9, including 7-2 losses for both the epee and sabre squads. kvaratskhelia, however, said he was not wholly disappointed by the performance.

“ we have beaten penn state previously this year, so we knew we were going to get their best shot,” he said. “ we had a couple slops, but it’s before the ncaa s, and now is a good time to correct them and move on.”

The d uals continued sunday in the club teams competition, in which notre d ame overmatched its competition, winning 152 of its 162 bouts in landslide victories against bradley, p urdue and c hicago.

s everal i rish fencers will compete individually in the national Junior o lympics next weekend. meanwhile, kvaratskhelia said, the notre d ame team will continue to build its chemistry and prepare for the ncaa c hampionships in m arch.

Contact Andrew Robinson at arobins6@nd.edu

remained undefeated, winning 57-44. The Tigers were limited to 34.1 percent (14for-41) shooting from the field en route to their thirdlowest scoring output this season. c lemson’s 14 made field goals were the fewest in b rad b rownell’s four years as head coach.

Junior forward k .J.

m c d aniels, who leads c lemson in scoring (16.4 points per game) and rebounding (7.2 boards per game), was the only Tiger in double figures s unday, as he tallied 19 points to go along with 10 rebounds.

b rownell admitted his team was tired after arriving home at 1:30 a.m. m onday following the trip back from s yracuse. Tuesday’s tilt will be c lemson’s fifth road game in its last six games.

“ i can barely remember who it started with,” b rownell said m onday.

“ we’ve had a long three

weeks here, obviously some very difficult games on the road in some challenging venues. i think it’s showed our team when we play well and when we defend, we can play. a nd we can play with some very good teams in the country.”

i n its previous two games,

c lemson slugged its way to wins over f lorida s tate, 5349, and g eorgia Tech, 45-41. c lemson is 8-0 this season — and 27-2 overall during b rownell’s tenure — when holding opponents to 50 points or fewer.

The i rish, meanwhile, dropped to .500 for the first time since 2006 and have five home losses for the first time since the 2005-06 season. The last time n otre d ame lost at least six games at home was the 2003-04 campaign.

n otre d ame tips off in its first-ever matchup against c lemson at p urcell p avilion on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Contact Mike Monaco at jmonaco@nd.edu

m tennis

tough at every position and are a legitimate top-25 team. w e know that we’ll have to battle at every position if we’re going to have a chance to win.”

d espite the loss against the i llini, s achire said that he does not plan to make any changes to his lineup.

“ w hat we’re going to do [against n orthwestern] is pretty much the same as we did against i llinois,” s achire said. “ w e just have to do it a little better. w e’re not that far removed from beating k entucky twice in a row, so it’s just a matter of playing the tennis we’re capable of playing.”

s enior g reg a ndrews continued his recent tough stretch against i llinois, dropping his fourth straight singles match. i n doubles play, however, n otre d ame has won six out of seven points this season, led by a ndrews and sophomore a lex l awson.

f or the i rish to defeat the w ildcats, they need a more complete effort from their entire lineup, s achire said.

“ o ur goal is to play nine great matches — three doubles and six singles,” s achire said. “ w e can’t have any poor performances to give them an easy win. w hen we can do that, we’re a pretty good team and not many other teams can beat us.”

The i rish square off against the w ildcats at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, in e vanston, i ll.

Contact Greg Hadley at ghadley@nd.edu

Happy Birthday: prepare for change. acceptance will help you maneuver your way through any turbulence you face. improvements will begin midyear if you are diligent about making decisions that will help you put an end to old conditions and make way for a bright new future. action will be required to help you take control of your life. your numbers are 2, 10, 21, 23, 28, 36, 42.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): concentrate on yourself and what you can do to be at your very best. it’s important to be introspective and consider the outcome before you make a change to your personal life that will have a lasting effect.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): rise above any controversy you face at work. getting along with your peers will help you bypass slowdowns and interference. learn from the mistakes others make and protect your position. romance is highlighted and will help improve your love life.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): don’t take part in or listen to gossip. put your creativity into work and getting ahead, not bringing someone else down. misinformation will be costly if you invest based on hearsay. stick to what you know, whom you can trust and what you want to achieve.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): follow your intuition and it will lead to new friendships, greater opportunities and mastering your talents. progress will be a direct result of the changes you make. put love high on your list and you will improve your domestic situation.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): participate, have fun and enjoy the company of the people you encounter along the way. embrace change and negotiate in order to get what you want. money will come your way from an unusual source. a creative investment will pay off.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): do something that will make you happy. socialize or treat yourself to a spa day or shopping spree. romance is in the stars and making special plans for two will bring you closer together. a favor will be granted.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): don’t take on more than you can handle. keeping life and relationships with others running smoothly will help you avoid unwanted setbacks or last-minute changes that will disrupt your plans. put more effort into presentation and promotion.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): domestic and personal money matters may not be as they appear. before making an unnecessary purchase, check your budget and make sure it won’t stress your debt load. self-improvements will add to your appeal and bring plenty of attention and compliments.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): little problems will grow if you evade issues or withhold information. someone close to you will question your motives or send mixed signals regarding what’s expected of you. focus on home and making positive alterations conducive to your happiness.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): how you deal with personal and professional relationships will set the stage for how things will turn out for you in the future. Try to include everyone in your plans and you will get the help you need to finish what you start.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): pick up the pace and get things done. you’ll come up with a unique and trendy idea that can turn into a prosperous venture. a change in the way you earn your money is looking good but will need time to build.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): nothing will slow you down once you gain momentum. size up your situation and take a leap of faith when it comes to investments, contracts or other money deals. a celebration should be planned with someone you like to share your accomplishments with.

Birthday Baby: you are fidgety, impatient and unique. you are progressive and innovative.

men’s basketbaLL

Notre Dame takes on Clemson for first time Tigers bring top scoring defense in nation into matchup

By MIKE MONACO sports editor

o n s aturday, the i rish committed 17 turnovers against a stout north c arolina defense.

Two days later, notre d ame (12-12, 3-8) runs into another strong defensive squad when it hosts c lemson on Tuesday night at p urcell p avilion.

n otre d ame’s 17 turnovers were tied for the second-most this season, as the Tar heels and their n o. 16 defense in the nation rolled to a 73-62 victory, scoring 23 points off turnovers.

“[ we] really had some problems handling the basketball [against north c arolina],” i rish head coach m ike b rey said during a teleconference monday. “o ur turnovers have hurt us here really through the acc season. s o we’ve really tried to address that … in practice [ s unday and monday].”

e ntering m onday, the Tigers (15-7, 6-4 acc ) were

first in the nation in scoring defense, allowing an average of 55.1 points per game. f ellow acc foe v irginia, who limited notre d ame to a season-low 53 points and forced a season-high 20 turnovers Jan. 28, is second in the nation, surrendering an average of 55.6 points per game.

“ i think they’re very similar,” b rey said of c lemson and v irginia. “They’re jamming that lane up. They’re really crowding it. it’s tough to get anything in the lane and in the paint. a nd you really have to work to get shots against them. you’re going to have to make shots over the top of them because they’re going to give that up a little bit.”

The Tigers themselves struggled offensively against n o. 1 s yracuse and its 2-3 zone s unday night at the c arrier d ome. c lemson hung around, but the o range

see m bball PaGe 14

ND posts successful weekend at DeCicco Duals

By ANDREW ROBINSON

s ports w riter

The i rish fencing squads captured 15 wins and suffered only one loss as they hosted the d e c icco d uals on s aturday and sunday in the c astellan family fencing c enter.

b oth the men and women, donning “c oach d e c icco” armbands in honor of late notre d ame coach and event namesake m ike d e c icco, found early success in the s aturday morning match against c leveland state, which the men won, 26-1, and the women won, 25-2.

They then turned to northwestern, and again the teams looked strong in their respective 20-7 victories. o n the men’s side, northwestern edged the i rish epeeists, 5-4. The women’s epee team was 9-0 against the w ildcats and 31-5 for the day.

a fter a lunch break, the teams continued their success, beating wayne state 22-5 on the men’s side and 23-4 on the women’s side.

men’s tennIs

i rish look to bounce back

By GREG HADLEY sports writer

a fter their first loss of the season, the n o. 16 i rish will try to get back in the win column against n o. 30 n orthwestern on Tuesday, ahead of the i T a n ational i ndoor c hampionships in h ouston this weekend.

n otre d ame (6-1) suffered its first defeat of the spring season against n o. 22 i llinois on s unday, 5-2. The loss spoiled the squad’s best start since 2005 and came at the beginning of a two-week stretch away from home.

“The i llinois match was a big contrast to how we played early in the season,” i rish coach r yan s achire said. “ e arly on in the year we did a really great job … when our opponents made a run. w e would respond well and make a run of our own. a t i llinois we started out great and when i llinois made that run, we didn’t respond. s o our biggest focus this week in practice has been realizing that n orthwestern is a good

team and there will be a time when they have the momentum, and we need to get back and create our own momentum.”

The road does not get any easier for the i rish as they travel to e vanston, where the w ildcats (7-2) are undefeated at home and have yet to surrender a point this spring season, outscoring their opponents 23-0.

“ w e’re not concerned with our surroundings or travelling,” s achire said. “a ll that matters to us is the quality of the opponent we’re playing.”

The w ildcats do not have any player ranked in the top 100 for singles or top 60 in doubles, but have won two straight at home and upset then n o. 24 Tulsa on the road Jan. 25. The i rish fell to n orthwestern last year at the e ck Tennis p avilion, but had won eight straight matches against the w ildcats before 2012.

“They are a really good team up and down the lineup,” s achire said. “They’re