PDF for Tuesday, February 4, 2014

‘To believe amidst the unbelievable’

Theology

professor visits Rwanda to explore a family’s search for God from the 1994 genocide

By TORI ROECK a ssociate news e ditor

Editor’s note: This is the first installment in a three-part series discussing the Rutagengwa family’s search for God from the 1994 Rwandan genocide in light of their trip back to Rwanda in December. To remain true to their experience, this piece contains graphic content.

To mark the 20th anniversary of the 1994 rwandan genocide, in which 1 million people were killed in 100 days, a group including theology professors Fr. dan groody and Fr. v irgil e lizondo and project coordinator for the i nstitute of l atino studies colleen cross accompanied survivors Jean bosco

rutagengwa and c hristine rutagengwa to their home country in december to explore the search for g od during genocide.

groody, who organized the trip, said its goal was to bring together a “community of friends” to address the issue of finding g od in seemingly hopeless situations.

“we wanted more than to just see a pious band-a id over a very painful, difficult reality,” groody said. “we wanted to see how people really helped rebuild their lives after such violence … and how you begin to think about that theologically.” groody, whose primary

Judicial Council hosts election debate

By EMILY McCONVILLE news writer

The candidates for student body president and vice president squared off in a debate monday night ahead of wednesday’s elections. The debate, which took place in the laFortune student center basement, was organized by the Judicial council’s election committee.

after an opening statement, the three tickets — junior olivia lamagna and sophomore rohan andresen, freshmen george mccabe and sean campbell, and

juniors lauren vidal and matt devine — each answered five questions from the election committee.

andresen, who currently serves as siegfried hall’s senator, described several of his and lamagna’s initiatives, including opening classes in certain departments to students who are not majors and instituting a student advocate during student activities office planning. devine, who served as director of the gender issues department last year, described his and vidal’s platform as “personalizing the notre

Candidates for student body president and vice president

Monday in anticipation of Wednesday’s elections.

Observer Staff Report

a fire alarm forced students to evacuate debartolo hall briefly monday morning.

week highlights alumnae memories smoke forces students out of building

By EMILIE KEFALAS news writer

Editor’s note: This is the second installment in a threepart series exploring the unique characteristics of Saint Mary’s alumnae, leaders and places on campus in honor of the College’s annual Heritage Week.

l inda kawecki, member of the class of 1979 and the a lumnae board of directors, said saint mary’s heritage week celebrates the college’s history by highlighting the stories of its alumnae.

kawecki said one of the most important traditions for her during her time at the college was a special gift-exchange between her and her hall mates.

This tradition has persisted for 38 years, she said.

“my favorite memory is from my freshman year ... 1975,” she said. “i was in a quint in holy cross and the five of us (plus a friend who lived down the hall) became quite close our first semester. we wanted to celebrate a special ‘family’ christmas before leaving campus for the holidays.

“The night before we departed, we ate dinner together in the dining hall and then went back to our room where there were 30 gifts around our little twofoot tall christmas tree. we had agreed to buy each other gifts that cost less than one dollar. This was before ‘dollar stores’ or the internet or even decent merchandise in our campus bookstore which literally had books and was in the basement of le mans.”

you had to put a lot of thought into a gift that only cost a dollar, and those gifts were some of the

most creative and thoughtful i’ve ever given or received for christmas. it was such a special time to celebrate our friendships that are still strong 38 years later.”

lynn nelson, a nursing major and a graduate of the class of 1982, said she remembers the connections she made her freshman year while living in regina hall, which was once a first-years only dorm.

“Freshman year was very stressful,” she said. “being away

see heriTage PaGe 4

The alarm went off at 11:10 a.m. and students and faculty were allowed back into the building at 11:23 a.m. after fire fighters signaled the area was clear. classes resumed normally after students returned to the building.

bruce harrison, notre dame Fire department fire chief, said the call was smoke-related, due to smoke in the ventilation system of the building. There was no fire, harrison said.

harrison said maintenance work on the heating and air conditioning system caused the smoke.

students began to smell smoke in their classrooms shortly before the alarm went off.

(574) 631-4542 mthomass@nd.edu

Assistant

(574) 631-4541 mdefrank@nd.edu

(574) 631-5323 obsnews.nd@gmail.com Viewpoint

Sports Desk (574) 631-4543 observersports@gmail.com Scene Desk (574) 631-4540 observer.scene1@gmail.com

Saint Mary’s Desk krabac01@saintmarys.edu

Photo Desk (574) 631-8767 obsphoto@gmail.com

Systems & Web Administrators (574) 631-8839

Policies

Question

Amanda Leung junior lyons

Have a question you want answered?

Jeff

Mark Ambrose senior Zahm

Niall Cochrane senior off campus “swimming 400 im.”

Rex Shannon freshman Zahm house “200-meter dash.”

Kevin Leuck junior dillon hall “luge or bobsled.”

Jared Lee, a freshman in Zahm, logs onto Facebook. The popular social networking website was founded on Feb. 4, 2004, and celebrates its 10th year anniversary today.

Today’s Staff

News Tori roeck

k

henry g ens

Graphics

e

Photo kevin s ong

Corrections

Sports

a aron s ant-m iller

m ichael ginocchio

v ictoria Jacobson

Scene

gabriela l eskur

Viewpoint

austin Taliaferro

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

Tuesday

Human Rights Lecture

Hesburgh Center for International Studies

12:30 p.m.-2 p.m.

With Dr. Christopher McCrudden.

Lecture: Don Drakeman

Innovation Park

5 p.m.-7 p.m.

On new medicines and biotech companies.

Wednesday

Career and Internship Fair

Joyce Center

4 p.m.-8 p.m.

Professional dress recommended.

Play: “As You Like It”

Washington Hall

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

Shakespeare’s famous comedy with London Stage actors.

Thursday

Love Languages Coleman-Morse Center

12 p.m.- 1 p.m.

Which of five love languages fits you?

Concert: Piano DeBartolo Performing Arts Center

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

Bach, Schubert with Daniel Schlosberg.

Friday

Hospitality Lunch

Geddes Hall

11:45 a.m.-1 p.m.

$5 donation benefits

St. Margaret’s House. Lasagna will be served.

Meyo Invitational Loftus Sports Center, Meyo Field

4 p.m.-10:30 p.m.

Track and Field, continues on Saturday.

Saturday

Met Opera: “Rusalka” DeBartolo Performing Arts Center

1 p.m.- 3 p.m.

Dvorak’s opera about mermaids, live in HD.

Film: “The Act of Killing” DeBartolo Performing Arts Center

9:30 p.m.-11:30 p.m. A chilling piece.

saint mary’s students dialogue about propoganda, hate speech in c hicago

By HALEIGH EHMSEN

n ews w riter

l ast weekend, 10 s aint m ary’s students attended the w hat you d o m atters ( wydm ) s ummit at the Field m useum in c hicago. s tudents from c hicago area universities and s aint m ary’s engaged in dialogue about the h olocaust, propaganda and hate speech, while inspiring students to recognize the way contemporary society is still dealing with the aftermath, first-year m olly Franklin said.

Franklin said based on her application for the summit organizers contacted her prior to the conference about speaking on a student panel s aturday, the first day of the conference.

h er youngest brother was diagnosed with autism when he was two years old, and Franklin said she began

her advocacy for the special needs community when she was in middle school.

“ i imagined a situation where someone would say [‘retarded’] to my brother, and he would understand it and be hurt by it,” Franklin said.

w hen Franklin applied for the wydm s ummit she had not expected to be contacted to speak, but it was because of that request she said she learned how important her work for the special needs community is.

“ i never really thought about what i was doing as work,” Franklin said. “ b ut i realize that there are whole communities dealing with hate speech.”

Franklin said she spoke on a panel of three other students who had faced and worked for varying causes on their campuses including lgb TQ issues and

h olocaust denial.

The wydm s ummit covered a variety of issues and propelled students to thinking about what action

“Propaganda is still a huge issue. People are afraid of what they don’t understand and the special needs community needs more understanding.”

Molly Franklin first-year

needs to be taken on their own campuses with a closing session creating action plans, she said.

Franklin said she learned about the issue of contemporary propaganda and how to engage in effective

dialogue. d uring the conference, dialogue was defined as a process of genuine interaction through which human beings listen to each other deeply enough to be changed by what they learn, she said.

“ i t is important that we talk about dialogue because it’s not something that we utilize enough,” Franklin said.

a t the end of the conference Franklin said she took away valuable lessons and hopes to be able to apply them to her experience in the special needs community.

“ p ropaganda is still a huge issue,” Franklin said. “ p eople are afraid of what they don’t understand and the special needs community needs more understanding.”

Contact Haleigh Ehmsen at hehmse01@saintmarys.edu

students celebrate chinese new year with performances, traditional food

By WEI LIN news writer

professors and students showcased their talents during the chinese program’s annual chinese new year celebration on Friday in the laFortune student center, including story telling, performances and games.

visiting assistant professional specialist in the east asian languages and culture department wei wang, who helped to plan the event, said the goal of the celebration was to commemorate the most important chinese festival and cultivate students’ cultural awareness of the holiday, the tradition and the history behind it.

“[The event was] an opportunity for our students to show their talent in chinese, ignite

their peers’ interest, meet and make friends with other chinese students and communicate with

“It’s hard being away from home during Lunar New Year’s. This celebration reminded me somewhat of home and it’s comforting”

Lucy Du sophomore

instructors outside the classroom,” she said.

a nother purpose for the celebration was to allow students from higher-level chinese

paid a dverT isemen T

courses to be role models for the beginners, wang said.

“The overarching theme was to unify the students and instructors, which will further improve cooperation and team spirit for the instructors,” she said.

The opening video was a compilation of professors and students giving their best wishes for the lunar new year, followed by duets, dances and comedic skits. seniors eric brumleve and diana Xu told the story of the lunar new year and the origins of the traditions. Freshman kelia li and sophomore nathan Troscinski sang the mandarin chinese adaptation of the song “let it go” from the disney movie “Frozen.”

Three level-based choruses performed throughout the celebration, consisting of chinese

language students of various levels.

wang said almost all of the students learning chinese actively participated in the event, whether singing in the choruses or participating in the games such as chinese charades and ping-pong relay. ho ping house provided catering services for the entrees and oriental market provided the chinese snacks, wang said.

sophomore lucy du does not take chinese but she said she has a chinese background.

“i’m really happy they planned this,” du said. “it’s hard being away from home during lunar new year’s. This celebration reminded me somewhat of home and it’s comforting.”

Contact Wei Lin at wlin4@nd.edu.

explores faith and law

By MACAILA DeMARIO news writer

Faculty and students gathered for the first lecture in the spirituality monday series, sponsored by the saint mary’s center for spirituality, to hear justice education professor adrienne lyles chockley share insights on the relationship between spirituality and law in the student center.

lyles chockley said she defines her personal spirituality as an “internal life directed by confident faith, passion, transcendence and revelation of god.”

This notion of spirituality influences her legal career, she said.

“spirituality guides power in a very healthy way,” she said.

lyles chockley said she acted as an advocate for rape victims while living in california. sexual assault is an issue that “men and women address together,” she said.

lyles chockley said during her time as a legal advocate for needy clients, she witnessed callings that told her where she needed to be and guided her to help people. some of these callings directed her to attend notre dame over a free alternative institution, to start her own legal practice and to start a social justice initiative in benton harbor, mich., she said.

a lthough her goal was set on obtaining her legal degree, lyles chockley said she strongly supports the idea of being an equal to the people she serves. she also said she believes being a powerful lawyer entails more spiritual ability.

“ex-offenders lack a connection to something greater to themselves,” she said.

“spirituality can make attorneys better practitioners of the law.” lyles chockley said she wants to be more than an attorney.

“w hat can we do as a community to make sure everyone’s fundamental human rights are enforced and not just the rights that you have on paper or the rights you have on agreement with another party,” she said.

The next talk in the series features biology professor Tom Fogle discussing the connections of spirituality to biology, to take place Thursday, Feb. 13, and the final installment features chair of the social work department Frances kominkiewicz discussing the relationship between spirituality and social work monday, Feb. 17.

Contact Macaila DeMario at mdemario01@saintmarys.edu

research area is migration theology, said c hristine rutagengwa reached out to him two years ago after he gave a talk about rwandan refugees. she introduced groody to her husband, Jean bosco rutagengwa, who wanted to write a book about the search for g od from his per-

“As I started hearing people’s stories, I became more and more quiet, and then once you start hearing these things, you’re just speechless. And by the end you’re crying.”

Fr. Dan Groody Theology professor

sonal experience seeking refuge in the hotel m ille collines, also known as the hotel rwanda.

“i said, ‘w here was g od for you during that time?’” groody said. “a nd [Jean bosco] says, ‘well, i remember one instance in particular where they cut off all the water sources and we had started to drink out of the swimming pool. a nd at one point there was no water left, but amidst our desperation that we thought we were going to run dry, it then started to rain. g od for me was in the rain.’”

The rutagengwas, whose daughter Fiona rutagengwa is a freshman at notre dame, spent 40 days in the hotel m ille collines, the inspiration for the movie “hotel rwanda,” where more than a thousand Tutsi refugees sought shelter during the genocide, groody said.

during the trip, the group stayed at the hotel — the rutagengwas’ first visit there since they fled 19 years ago — and visited important memorials for genocide victims, groody said.

“w hen you go out to these memorials, they had all kinds of different models,” he said. “one would [display] the skulls and the bones, and you can just pick them up. They’re right there. a nd then there were others where they would say, ‘here are the vaults,’ and there are 200,000 people in this vault, 200,000 people in that vault. … it wasn’t as graphic as the first model.

“The third, which was really disturbing … [showed] how they died, and then they took this lime and they basically preserved the bones, some of which still had hair on them. The most disturbing one was i think the rape. you’d see this woman who had been raped and kind of thrown into this pit.”

The group also visited c hristine rutagengwa’s childhood parish, the site of a brutal killing spree, groody said.

“it’s a church that is a memorial for the genocide, and in the back it’s just skulls and bones,” he said. “[ c hristine] said, ‘This is where i went to sunday school. This is where they rounded up my mother and my sisters, and they macheted and threw grenades and they macheted 5,000 people in a couple of hours.’

“some French brigade group trained the killers how to kill 1,000 people in 20 minutes.”

groody said churches were popular targets for those carrying out the genocide.

“There were previous genocides in rwanda, but in those previous times, people fled to the churches for refuge, literally for protection,” he said. “but this time, the killers knew they were going to do that, so then they targeted the churches, then rounded them up there and threw grenades in there and hacked them to death or took their kids, their babies, and smashed their heads against the wall. The numbers were just astronomical.”

groody said he held mass at many of the memorials, including the place where Jean bosco rutagengwa’s mother was buried.

a long the way, groody said the group met people who proved that new life had emerged in rwanda, including a nun who had harbored 22 refugees in her house during the genocide. despite her best efforts, the killers found them and murdered them, even burying one person alive, he said.

“This dog they had was a very mean dog, but the dog one day — after they had killed [the refugee] and put him in this grave — the dog kept whimpering and crying, and he kept going back and forth between the grave and the house,” groody said.

“w hat he was trying to say is there’s somebody still alive there. a nd [the nun’s] comment was that in many ways, this dog showed more humanity than the people, which is interesting for my work because when i ask migrants what is the hardest part about being a migrant, one of them said it’s being treated like you’re a dog.

“but in this case, it even takes that further that sometimes a dog can be even more human than people or show more humanity than human beings do.” groody said even though the nun suffered terrible losses, she also said she had a responsibility to cultivate goodness.

“she said, when we asked ‘w hat is the message of rwanda for the world?’ ‘rwanda descended lower than anyone could possibly go. a s a human community, we went lower than anybody could possibly go,’” groody said. “‘neighbor turned against neighbor. people in the same church started killing each other, parents against children. we went so low that you couldn’t get any lower.’

“but it was from that point that she realized that her mission was to be a messenger of light and hope and to put

goodness back on its throne.”

groody said he also met a priest named Fr. Jerome who sought to rebuild his community after the genocide.

“[Fr. Jerome] realized that he had to do more than keep saying mass for people,” groody said. “he started a support group, and they came in and started telling their story. he says the stories were all the same. ‘They killed X, y and Z. w hy did g od let this happen?’ because it’s very hard for people to get beyond their own pain and suffering.

“but he said at one point he asked them, ‘was there anything good that happened at any time during the genocide? did you experience anybody do a good act for you or anything that you feel grateful for?’ a nd he says that kind of opened a door and it just changed the perspective and people began talking about where g od was in the midst of that.”

groody said hearing these survivors’ stories changed the way he approaches finding g od in hopeless places.

“before i left, i had a lot of questions,” he said. “w hen we got there and started talking to people, i began analyzing it. we got further into the questions to try to understand things.

“a s i started hearing people’s stories, i became more and more quiet, and then once you start hearing these things, you’re just speechless. a nd by the end you’re crying. you just don’t have words that even begin to touch this. you really kind of have to shift your theology in a way from just saying, ‘w here was g od?’ to ‘w here were we?’”

Jean bosco rutagengwa wrote a book about his search for g od, framed around life, death and resurrection, to be published later this year, and groody said the group is working to release

“There are living witnesses that bear testimony to a God of life in midst of death”

Fr. Dan Groody Theology professor

a documentary about their trip to be released around the 20th anniversary of the genocide in april.

“The greatest takeaway for me is that there are living witnesses that bear testimony to a g od of life in midst of death, and whose own ability to believe amidst the unbelievable is a compelling narrative of how g od is with us, even amidst the most challenging situations we face,” he said. “it’s one thing if we say this from places like [notre dame], and it’s another thing when you’re with people who say it from places like [rwanda].”

Contact Tori Roeck at vroeck@nd.edu

from home, trying to meet new friends — only one other girl from my high school attended my year and we were only acquaintances — [was difficult]. regina was the ‘freshman dorm,’ so most of us were in singles. This actually worked well since most of us left our doors open to meet others.”1982 saint mary’s alumna mary Jane k lein said she relished her time in the regina singles as a first-year.

“Freshman year was so full of new adventures, some fun-filled and some groan-inducing,” she said. “l iving in a single in regina hall was definitely a fun-filled adventure. you got to know everyone on your floor, because when you were in your room doors were left open to encourage anyone and everyone to stop in and say hello.

“every student had their own phone in their room with a cord long enough to just be able to pull the phone into the hall. without cordless phones, we developed our own version of voice mail. w hen you were out of your room, you left your phone on the floor in the hall so if it rang, any girl within earshot would answer it and write the message on your door’s message board.”

mary lederer, also a member of the class of 1982, said she cherishes the time in which she strengthened her faith in the company of her classmates during weekday massed.

“i remember slipping into the lemans chapel at noon on weekdays for daily mass,” she said. “Fr. murphy would be the celebrant, and i would find a number of my saint mary’s friends already there. i remember how great it was to have the opportunity to take a few minutes during the day to pray and refocus on what was

important. my friends who were there were great inspirations to me as they were women of strong faith and character. i think attending those masses in lemans helped to influence my faith life for many years to come.”

k lein said of the most vivid memories of her years at saint mary’s includes an unforgettable encounter with a notre dame legend.

“my boyfriend and i had finished studying at notre dame’s library late one night and were walking through the middle of campus on our way to the grotto for a quick prayer,” she said. “it was a clear, cold winter evening and there was no one else walking about. a s we strolled toward the administration building, my boyfriend was telling me how it was said that [university president emeritus] Fr. [Theodore] hesburgh (then, president of notre dame) often worked in his office until late at night and if you looked hard, you could see the light on in his office.

“a s we got nearer to the building, we stopped talking abruptly, and looking up to the front steps of the admin building saw a tall figure, all in black, descend. before we knew it, we were face to face with Fr. hesburgh. he stopped to greet us and shook our hands as we recovered from our shock and introduced ourselves. a fter some brief words, he went on his way, leaving wondering how it happened that we were walking that path at the same [time] he should come out of his office.

“The darkness of that night, the lateness of the hour, and the honor of meeting such a notre dame legend without another soul around makes it a saint mary’s memory that will forever stay with me.”

Contact Emilie Kefalas at ekefal01@saintmarys.edu

dame experience,” using existing structures to institute new policies and to continue those that work.

“our platform stems from looking at what the individual student experience is, looking at the clubs and organizations and how student government can facilitate that and expanding it into the world too,” devine said.

lamagna, who is currently the junior class president, said she and andresen would improve student government by working to be accessible and instituting some reforms, including changing the transition procedures for student government positions.

“we want to make sure that kids are poised so that they can succeed from the second they get into office and finish out their term and be able to plan all the way through the semester,” lamagna said.

vidal, who served as student union parliamentarian last year, said she and devine would improve student government through “policy and programming,” including incorporating medical amnesty into du lac. devine said he and vidal also plan to increase transparency within student government.

lamagna said she and andresen would improve student-community relations by increasing awareness of downtown events and businesses and working with other student organizations such as The bridge project.

“There’s an extremely culturally rich community that’s so close to our campus, and by interacting with them in a more regular and normal way, i think that everybody can have a better notre dame experience,” lamagna said.

devine said he and vidal would

Associated

increase interaction with the community by bringing farmer’s markets and other businesses to “quad markets” on campus. vidal said they would also increase service opportunities, including creating a “29 for 29” program in which each dorm would “adopt” a local underprivileged family.

“There are hundreds of families who are both in and out of the center for the homeless specifically who would really love help from students like us, as simple as getting a christmas tree and decorating it, getting donations and presents and making them a meal,” vidal said.

lamagna said she and andresen would continue the current sexual assault prevention initiatives by focusing on prevention, including creating a mid-semester presentation for freshmen and naming male-female co-chairs on the gender issues department.

“gender issues and sexual assault is not a one-way discussion,” lamagna said. “is shouldn’t be weighed by women who think that it’s their issue or men who think that it’s their thing to fight. we need to make sure the conversation is two-sided. we want to make sure that everybody feels like it is theie issue because it’s everyone’s issue.”

devine, citing his experience in the gender issues department and the committee for sexual assault prevention, said he and vidal would continue the current administration’s programs, working with the university and students to raise awareness.

“we really love the grassroots effort that [student body president] alex [coccia] has made with the prayer services, which is an initiative of the student government, but also the bystander training. we think that’s essential when talking

about these things.” also on the ballot were mccabe and campbell, whose platform consisted of making class registration more complicated, creating a study abroad program in Zahm house for saint. mary’s students, asking belmont beverages to accept flex point, and making wrangler Jeans the athletic apparel sponsor. each of their initiatives was met with cheers from Zahm house residents.

“obviously we’re more concerned about our own needs than your needs, so let’s just get that out of the way,” mccabe, who wore an easter bunny costume to the debate, said.

kathryn peruski, the Judicial council’s vice president of elections, said she was pleased with the student turnout.

“There were a lot of people there, which is always nice that people came out. … i was really impressed,” peruski said. “The candidates obviously had great answers for what we were looking for, and i’m hoping that the students who came to listen got a lot of information from them. it was also publicity for the election, which is the ultimate goal, to get people to come vote.”

Freshman olivia Till said the debate showed her next year’s student government would be in good hands.

“i thought that it was pretty obvious which candidates were here to be serious and which were here to be comic relief,” Till said. “i really appreciated the people that took a lot of time on their platform, and i think that we’re really lucky that we have student leaders that have such a clear vision for what they want to do on campus.”

Contact Emily McConville at emcconv1@nd.edu

Syrian regime escalates airstrikes

Associated Press

beiruT — The syrian government extended its intense aerial campaign against rebel-held areas of the northern city of a leppo on monday, conducting a series of airstrikes that killed at least 18 people, including five children, activists said.

president bashar assad’s air force has pounded opposition areas of the divided city since middecember, reducing apartment blocks to rubble and overwhelming already strapped hospitals and medical clinics with the wounded. on sunday, government aircraft also targeted areas of east a leppo under rebel control, killing nearly 40 people.

monday’s air raids hit the districts of hanano, Qadi askar and mouwasalat, the britainbased syrian observatory for human rights said. The group, which monitors the conflict through a network of activists on the ground, said helicopters dropped crude bombs — barrels packed with explosives, fuel and scraps of metal — on the neighborhoods, causing immense damage.

a mateur videos posted online provided a window on the carnage.

in one clip from hanano, residents frantically dig through the shattered blocks of concrete and twisted metal strewn across the street in search of survivors. a man stumbles as he carries a wounded boy wrapped in a blanket, his arm and face covered in

blood. Further down the street, the facades of buildings have been torn off by the bomb. in a second video, two men place the shredded remains of a body onto a carpet. a nother body covered in a blanket lies in a pool of blood on dusty pavement. nearby, two women rock back and forth as they wail over a third body.

The videos appeared genuine and corresponded to other associated press reporting of the events depicted.

The syrian government has not relented in its bombardment of rebel-held areas of a leppo since launching what appeared to be a concerted aerial campaign there late last year. over a two-week stretch in december alone, activists say airstrikes killed more than 500 people.

syria’s opposition has pointed to the air raids as evidence that assad has little interest in peace despite sending a delegation to switzerland last week for u n.sponsored negotiations aimed at ending the nearly three-year uprising. The first round of talks failed to secure any meaningful agreement other than to meet again later this month for more talks.

since it began with largely peaceful protests in march 2011, the syrian conflict has killed more than 130,000 people, forced almost a third of the country’s prewar population of 23 million from their homes, and inflamed sectarian tensions that have jolted the entire middle east.

east coast responds to extreme winter storm

Press

philadelphia — a winter storm dumped several inches of wet, heavy snow on parts of the eastern united states on monday, snarling commutes and super bowl fans’ trips home, closing schools and government offices and cutting power.

Fat flakes fell in philadelphia and new york, creating slushy sidewalks and streets and all but erasing all memory of sunday’s

temperatures in the 50s. The storm began moving out of the region monday afternoon, making way for another system expected to sweep in from the plains with ice and snow late Tuesday and early wednesday.

The national weather service reported about 8 inches of snow near Frostburg, md., while parts of southern ohio and west virginia got about 10 inches. Totals in the philadelphia area ranged from 3 to 9 inches; new york saw as much

paid a dverT isemen T

as 7 inches by 3 p.m. government offices, courts and schools closed in parts of connecticut, delaware, maryland, new Jersey, ohio, pennsylvania and west virginia, and scattered power outages were reported throughout the region. speed limits were reduced on many major highways.

in new Jersey, gov. chris christie declared a state of emergency with travel conditions hazardous. nonessential government employees were dismissed early. by late afternoon, the flighttracking website Flight aware reported more than 4,300 delayed flights and 1,900 canceled flights nationwide in cities including philadelphia, newark, n.J., and new york. inbound flights to those airports were delayed one to three hours because of snow and ice.

russ louderback, of Fishers, ind., and his 11-year-old son mason had gone to new Jersey to see the super bowl but suffered a triple whammy of bad luck: Their beloved denver broncos lost, they got stuck in an hours-long traffic jam leaving the stadium and their monday afternoon flight home

was canceled.

“it was so congested we couldn’t get out of new Jersey, even though we left early because our team lost,” said louderback, a hotel executive.

arizona gov. Jan brewer was among the stranded travelers after her return flight to phoenix was canceled monday, a spokesman said. brewer attended the big game as part of the ceremonial handoff of hosting duties; next year’s super bowl is in glendale, ariz.

Francois emond, of a lma, Quebec, arrived at newark airport at 6 a.m. monday to find his flight home had been canceled. wearing a seattle seahawks championship hat and an ear-toear smile, he said he didn’t care about the cancellation or the weather in light of seattle’s victory. he planned to spend an extra night at his hotel in new york.

“The night will be very short,” emond said. “w hen you win a super bowl for the first time, the night is very, very short.”

in connecticut, architect Frank emery described messy conditions outside as he stopped at a coffee shop in new haven.

“a lot of people must have called in sick after the super bowl,” he said. “it’s not cleaned up as well as usual.”

in philadelphia, the airport experienced weather delays as long as four hours monday morning. but the flight home for seahawks fan george shiley, of snohomish, wash., remained on schedule at midday.

shiley, a seattle season ticket holder, had won a lottery for super bowl tickets. he and his buddy stayed in philadelphia, about 85 miles southwest of the east rutherford, n.J., stadium.

“it’s been a great trip. i joked that ‘it’s a lways sunny in philadelphia’ — and it was, until today,” said shiley, referring to the FX sitcom. at least two deaths and one serious injury were blamed on the storm. in western kentucky, where the snow began falling sunday, a man died that night when his car skidded into a snowplow. on monday, a new york city man was fatally struck by a backhoe that was moving snow. a 10-year-old girl was in serious condition after she was impaled by a metal rod while sledding north of baltimore.

BuzzFeed lessons

Allison D’Ambrosia photographer

i ’m not a fan of b uzzFeed articles — or the mock lists like b uzzFeed. m y least favorite one was the list of the “23 Things To d o i nstead of g etting e ngaged before you’re 23.” h owever, i was recently enthralled by one that “5 other friends have posted” on Facebook called “14 Things i wish i k new b efore c ollege” by h annah Flom.

w hile i enjoyed and agreed (mostly) with the list Flom assembled, there is one thing i wish she had included — someone else is probably thinking the same thing. i f i were to add a 15th item to the list ( i ’m not sure why she didn’t since 15 is a more round number, i ’m the type of person who has the T v volume on intervals of five at all times), i would add: e ven if people don’t express it, they are probably thinking the same thing you are.

i s this really that hard of a concept to grasp? p eople in college seem so put together most of the time. h owever, behind the perfectly curled hair, the Tie Tuesdays and the big group of friends you eat with everyday — if you are not content, not satisfied or feeling lost — chances are someone else is too. o r viceversa. i f you’re really happy, you love your friends and you’ve finally found your niche, then express that and share it.

i was sitting at brunch s unday with people from each class. The freshman was recounting her current problem separating herself from her d omerfest group of friends. The sophomore was wondering how to tell her friends she will be gone all of next year studying abroad. The junior recounted his hardships in switching friend groups in solidarity and comfort for the freshman and the senior described his plans for obtaining a high paying job after graduation in order to buy the dinning hall “knives that actually cut.”

a t the end of fall semester my freshman year, a certain professor told me i needed to get my act together and figure out what i wanted to do with my life. b ut — no! n o i didn’t and no i do not have to figure it all out right now.

w hat i do need to do and what we all need to do more often is to express what we are thinking and feeling. c hances are someone else is thinking the same thing and talking through challenges together helps give you perspective.

i t helps you solve them quicker and perhaps even better than if you tried doing it all on your own.

Contact Allison D’Ambrosia at adambr01@saintmarys.edu

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

support for pregnancy at nd

in “pro-life talk but not a pro-life ethic” (Jan. 29), elizabeth pfenson correctly stresses that a commitment to being prolife encompasses support for those women and men who find themselves facing an unexpected pregnancy. while, as she mentioned in her article, funding for pregnant graduate students may be insufficient, the university offers wonderful resources for undergraduate pregnant and parenting students.

notre dame’s division of student affairs website says “keeping with its mission as a catholic university, notre dame is committed to offering students resources that support the choice of life.” notre dame’s right to life, in striving to promote the dignity of all life, recognizes the need to support students when they find themselves in vulnerable situations.

discussions of pregnancy resources on campus are often enveloped in a sea of myths. students assume that pregnant students will be kicked out of notre dame, lose their athletic scholarships or face penalties for their violation of dulac. recognizing the importance of promoting pregnancy resources, nd right to life founded the parenting resources commission. since its conception, the commission has collaborated with student affairs, life initiatives and other offices on campus that deal with pregnancy resources to increase awareness of the available resources.

in the hopes of debunking these inaccurate notions, last semester, notre dame’s right to life and student government sponsored a pregnancy resource panel to discuss resources that are available for pregnant, fathers-to-be and parenting students on campus. The panel featured karen kennedy and ann whitall from student affairs as well as Judy madden from campus ministry.

all three work closely with students who find themselves pregnant or whose significant other is pregnant, to offer loving

edItorIal Cartoon

support and help them explore their options. during the presentation, student affairs screened a video that features the personal testimonies of past notre dame undergraduates who faced an unexpected pregnancy while attending notre dame. These former students revealed their initial anxiety about the pregnancy and fear of being ostracized, which in some cases led them to contemplate abortion, if only briefly.

once they reached out to the university and their peers, they were surprised by the outpouring of support they received solidifying and affirming their decision to chose life. They were able to successfully raise their child and finish their education; despite the inherent obstacles this situation presents, the support of the university provided them with the necessary resources to overcome the challenges.

The message of the video is clear: notre dame is fully committed to helping students who find themselves facing an unexpected pregnancy and the university is blessed with an abundance of resources for these students. unfortunately, if these resources are not communicated, students, in their vulnerable state, may feel alone and opt for a seemingly “quick solution” by choosing abortion.

in order to saves lives, both of the unborn and their parents, it is important to promote pregnancy resources and clarify some of the myths. notre dame does not kick out or penalize students who find themselves pregnant, but is committed to ensuring that they complete their education and will help arrange the necessary accommodations this entails. From helping students adjust their schedules, providing financial support if that is necessary and ensuring that the student’s spiritual, emotion and physical needs (and that of her/ his baby) are met. students are allowed to remain in their dorms during the pregnancy and, once the baby is born, they have access to graduate student family houses, where they live amidst a supportive community of other parenting students. Free pregnancy tests are available at st. liam’s and the ucc, as well as campus

ministry’s Judy madden and ed mack offer counseling support for expecting students and their significant others.

another valuable resource for students, particularly if they feel more comfortable going off campus for support, is the women’s care center, which offers loving, non-judgmental support and free counseling, free pregnancy tests, free ultrasounds and other pregnancy services and resources. For more information visit www. womenscarecenter.org.

if we call ourselves pro-life, we must be committed to not only speaking about the value of life but also acknowledging it through our actions and support. as a notre dame family, we must be committed to supporting our peers who are pregnant or parenting. staying informed of the resources on campus equips us to help our friends when they feel most vulnerable. we must also resist apathy. our perception that pregnancy does not happen on campus or will not happen to us, does not mean that is the reality. often, this perception perpetuates the isolation that a pregnant student feels. we need to create a community where a student who finds themselves facing an unplanned pregnancy does not feel alienated or ostracized, but knows that people care.

notre dame right to life hopes to continue this discussion with a series of workshops on issues related to pregnancy and post-abortive resources, as well as supporting similar initiatives promulgated by other organizations on-campus. we also seek to expand the ways in which the graduate student population is supported. The resources are available, but often inadequately promoted. student affairs’ website lists the resources available for pregnant students as well as contact information for those seeking support. For more information on pregnancy resources visit pregnancysupport.nd.edu.

Angela Bermudez is a senior. She can be reached at abermud1@nd.edu

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

My Grammy conundrum

Michael Fliotsos v iewpoint c olumnist

o ne of the first things that people understand when they really get to know me is that i am a popular music snob.

d on’t get me wrong — i am fully aware that the pop music scene is a shallow, flashy and contrived vortex of “singing,” twerking and attention-grabbing onstage antics. n evertheless, there’s something about the ridiculousness of it all that i find extraordinarily intriguing and entertaining to watch, satirize and, believe it or not, actually enjoy.

s o it naturally goes without saying that the g rammy awards are one of my most anticipated events of the musical year. b illed as “ m usic’s b iggest n ight,” this show has hosted iconic musical moments from l ady e gg g a hatching onstage, e lton John singing with e minem and many others. i looked forward to this year’s ceremony like i had many others. a fter all the performances, awards and “controversy”, however, i found myself atypically disappointed by the night’s events.

First, the performances. g ranted, i know that most pop musicians have the (earned) reputation of not being able to sing live to save their lives, but usually they up the ante when it comes to performing on the

single most prestigious awards show the industry has to offer. To this end, i was sorely mistaken. w hen l orde — one of the only breaths of fresh air the industry experienced this year — wasn’t standing in place with unusually breathy and strained vocals, she was spastically “dancing” as if she were trying to swat away a swarm of flies. k aty p erry, who for some reason always seems to be unable to perform live on television (something that confounds me after attending a concert where her vocals were on-point for two hours) made this night no exception as she performed in an outfit that looked like it was from s pencer’s or h ot Topic with a supposedly-controversial red led cross emblazoned across her chest and the performance ending with her being burned at the stake ( i think). e ven b eyoncé, Queen b , deliverer of spectacular performances no matter what, struggled to make her performance engaging to the level we are expected to receive from her (thankfully, however, her vocals were spot on).

s econd, the awards. i know that these awards aren’t always about quality (and by “aren’t always” i mean “seldom are”), but you know something’ just wrong when k aty p erry’s innovation-less, cliché-filled “ r oar” is even nominated in the first place. m acklemore and r yan l ewis swept all the rap categories

they were nominated for, beating out k endrick l amar in several categories, leaving the latter g rammyless despite seven nominations (tying the record for most g rammy noms without a win). e ven though i think that the contrived i nstagram post of the text m acklemore sent to k endrick after the show about him being unfairly snubbed of b est r ap a lbum was contrived beyond belief, there was a kernel of truth to it. you know something’s up when the artist himself — the one who invested blood, sweat and tears into making his vision a reality — doesn’t even believe his own award was fairly won. Thankfully, l orde walked away with some awards and k acey m usgraves — the country songstress who shook things up this year with genre-defying lyrics and subject matter — won two.

Third, the m acklemore/ r yan l ewis/ m ary l ambert/ m adonna/ Queen l atifa/Trombone s horty/34 newlywed couples spectacular. you would have to be rather isolated from any sort of news outlet this week if you didn’t hear about the duo’s performance of “ s ame l ove” medley-ed with m adonna’s “ o pen your h eart” and the officiated wedding ceremony of 34 straight, gay, old and young couples by the power invested in Queen l atifah by the s tate of c alifornia.

The fact that m adonna looked and sounded as if she was on the verge

of death the entire time (and was literally holding a cane) wasn’t the part i found objectionable. n either was the fact that the couples were finding happiness in their new companionship. i t’s the fact that, when you re-watched the performance and determined the amount of airtime allocated to the supposed “point” of the event (i.e., the s ame l ove), you’ll find that that actually wasn’t the focus. r ather, the camera was fixed upon the musicians, the band, the backup chorus and the celebrities reacting in the crowd. The performance was over-the-top to a fault — coming off as a self-righteous affirmation of h ollywood’s awesomeness as opposed to a genuine statement of equality.

Fortunately, the whole evening wasn’t a bust for me personally — some of my favorite underdogs won some awards; c hicago brought some melody to the event, m iley wasn’t there to “perform” and Taylor s wift nailed her hair flips and her vocals. h opefully next year will involve less self-righteousness, fewer eyerollable moments and a lot more good singing.

Michael Fliotsos is a sophomore Science-Business major residing in Duncan Hall. Contact Michael at mfliotso@nd.edu

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

a sweet tooth for candy crush

honestly, i have never played candy crush.

i hdn’t even heard of it until a few weeks ago. it’s weird: currently one of the most popular games in the world, and i did not know it existed. it is like not knowing Facebook exists until everyone else has made one. nevertheless, the phenomenon known as candy crush is one thing that poked at my conscience this winter break. my experience with the game, though not through actually playing it, has been entirely coincidental and strange.

i came across an article in Time magazine about it. a nd by the time i finished reading the article, candy crush was one of the most brilliantly cruel business ideas i had ever come across. The creators of candy crush beautifully exploited human psychology in order to engineer a highly addictive product— but one that that will nonetheless go the way of all fads.

The game was actually released two years ago, but it really gained

momentum in 2013. by november, it had been downloaded some 500 million times. candy crush’s maker, k ing, a l ondon-based software company, designed the game almost like a highly addictive drug.

The objective of the game is to line up three candies of the same color, swipe, and repeat. players are initially given five lives to solve each puzzle. a nd once the player runs out of lives, they have to wait 30 minutes before they are given another life.

but here is the killer: for those players who are a bit edgy and do not want to wait the half hour, they can pay $0.99 and buy another life. it is the perfect time and the perfect way to poke at your wallet.

a player is on the edge of success and he/she loses his last life. There is no way they can hit the sleep button without given it one more shot; i mean it is only $0.99 right? a nd it is a never-ending game because the developers add more levels every other week.

These facts explain my experience, and bewilderment, with candy crush. it all began when i was taking the e train into manhattan last month. For

those of you who have not been on the new york city subway during rush hour, you should. every time i take it, i see all kinds of people: the crazy and the bored, the beggars and the millionaires, the kind and the intimidating. a nd people are doing one of four things: staring into space, sleeping, pounding on their phones, or speaking about how they were sent from g od to save mankind. but exactly what are they doing on their phone if there is no internet or phone service? a s i saw it, nine out of 10 times, they were swiping a bunch of w illy wonka nerd-looking things on their screens into the unknown. of course, i knew it was a game, but the most peculiar thing was that the people i saw playing it were not kids or teenagers or 30-year-old men who look like they are still living with their parents.

They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but sometimes your eyes do not deceive. i n fact, they can make you wonder.

i saw professionally dressed, sophisticated adults with briefcases. They flaunted success, education, and urbanity; they looked like people who worked

on wall street or sixth avenue law firms. a nd they played candy crush. my eyes saw, and i wondered. but candy crush is almost like Temple run or the harlem shake or even the Jonas brothers. it is a fad, and it is bound to slump at some point, but that all depends on when the sugar rush ends, when people decide to move on to another craze.

i suppose this is an unfortunate aspect of technology and pop-culture these days; the fast-pace of life makes prominence shorter-lived, even to the point where the trend lasts for merely a month or two. For one thing, more candy crush-like marvels are probably on their way. The question is, will they bewilder and take hold of people’s lives the way candy crush has?

i have yet to download the game. a nd maybe by the time i do, another game will have dethroned it.

The Harvard Crimson is the independent student newspaper serving Harvard University

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

nothing gets me more jazzed up than fashion. oh man, fashion? To me that’s just like a … thing that i know a bunch about. i don’t want to brag, but i pretty much made double-sided belts happen. you don’t need to thank me, a merica, for saving you from ever having to go with the dreaded brown shoes and black belt combo that has felled any number of great men over the years. but you’re welcome anyways.

socks and sandals? i rarely do that more than once a week in public.

a nd guess who bought a new shirt over christmas break for himself all by himself without any help or mom or anything? This guy. it was a dark gray, cotton tee with strokes of blue that spell out “royals” on the front, with “hosmer” and “35” etched onto the back. it’s very swanky, and i’m very proud.

a ll this is suffice to say, i’m basically a fashion aficionado — which is why my gears flipped the switch from “smooth operator” to “grindin’ like paul bunyon’s axe” in a new york second the other day when i saw the designs for two new shirts on campus.

i saw the shirts, one blueish, the other greenish, (i’m also a color-differentiating superstar) with a cute little shamrock on the front and “notre dame” across the back shoulders, with a subtle “est. 1842” slipped underneath to let people know we’re legit.

my first thought was, “i didn’t know we had sororities at notre dame! but they still won’t allow fraternities? This sounds like a job for an observer columnist to discuss gender problems at notre dame!” i immediately donned my superhero cape and mask (they’re both fashion fabulous, i assure you), swished on down to The observer’s secret “lair of most hated opinions” and began typing.

but wait! pow ! bam ! Z ap ! no, i was informed by my oldest and most trusted assistant/butler — some kids i overheard talking in the dining hall while i was eating by myself — these weren’t sorority shirts after all! They were instead the traditional spirit jerseys for the

graduating class of seniors at notre dame, available for purchase any and all seniors.

or, in past years, if you had a crush on the football player whose number correspondents with the graduating year, you could buy a shirt and pretend it’s for your special guy, sort of. sorry, luke massa, no no. 14 t-shirts this year. it’s a real shame, too. Think of all the money you could have made through notre dame licensing your likeness on merchandise for profit!

now, when i heard that notre dame was, in fact, not explicitly endorsing sororities, but instead simply allowing the senior class to celebrate its senior class-ness through clever apparel, i felt excitement bubbling up inside of me. oh, wow, if the spirit jerseys for girls looked like that, i could only imagine what the male version might look like — a sleeveless tee with a witty neon slogan along the lines of “nd 2014 4eva,” perhaps. or maybe it would just be a sponsored chest tattoo that would let us proclaim our school pride forever and ever at pools, job interviews, weddings, you name it. but again, alas, my hopes were dashed. as it turns out, there would be no male version — the sorority shirts would be it. needless to say, i was disappointed. as a fashion expert, i find it hard to get behind a t-shirt design that exploded in popularity thanks to girls in sororities looking for something that made it look like they borrowed a shirt from their boyfriend. This trend, of course, is something of an oxymoron — since girls weren’t actually borrowing these shirts from male friends, it meant that the fashion trend became popular almost exclusively among women, making this an almost exclusively feminine t-shirt design. now, if i’m being honest, this doesn’t bother me pretty much at all (also since i’m being honest — i’m not a fashion expert, and i sincerely apologize for misleading you). more than anything, i probably wasn’t going to buy one of these shirts anyways, because i already bought my one new shirt for the decade (see: royals shirt, mentioned above), so the design of the shirt wasn’t going to draw much water with me no matter what it was.

i was, however, taken aback by the price of the shirts — $45 a pop. now i know that there’s a spectacular deal in place for buying in bulk, with two shirts costing $80,

but that nearly buy-one-get-one-free discount aside, $45 is absurdly high for a t-shirt. so i thought to myself, “kevin, why don’t you make one yourself, just for fun.” i did just that. a nd i wrote a 1,000-plus-word column about it to justify the shamefully long time i spent (upwards of eight minutes) designing a fake t-shirt that would never go into production.

now, i understand there are a number of problems with my design here. it’s not good, for one (quick response to that complaint is that i don’t care and i would wear the heck out of this). it says the words “notre dame,” for another, an expensive trademark that must be protected lest people all over the world begin using two French words together in a way that doesn’t immediately reflect the concept of “mind, body, spirit.” Finally, i don’t know a) how many seniors there are exactly, or b) what each of their sizes is.

well, i guessed there’d be about 2,000 seniors, and i guessed medium and large would be the most popular sizes, but still mock-ordered a good number of small and extra-large to meet that demand as well as a few of the XX l and XXX l shirts to make sure nobody got left out. i don’t want to claim to be a math expert (even sarcastically i don’t deserve to be called a math expert), but with my order, the per-shirt price to order, courtesy of customink.com, was $8.69. Quick comparison — $45 a shirt now, $9 a shirt from me. let’s get wild and try to make a profit and charge $15 a shirt, and that’s still, what, $30 cheaper? i still almost definitely wouldn’t buy that shirt, but even i can see a good deal.

The senior class council has done good work this year, i’m sure — i haven’t been on their email list all year, despite being a senior, but i bear them no ill will for that. i don’t want to heap undue criticism on them when i, in fact, couldn’t name any of them off the top of my head. but if it were up to you, wouldn’t you rather wear a shirt that declares your coolness loudly and proudly instead of a sorority knockoff?

we r nd, we r cool and we want better t-shirts.

Contact Kevin Noonan at knoonan2@nd.edu

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

Who are they: student body presidential candidate lauren vidal brings experience to the table from her time in Fuel as a freshman and her service as student body parliamentarian during her sophomore year. a junior management and consulting major with a minor in public policy, vidal hails from miami.

devine, a cincinnati native, studies pre-medicine and economics with a minor in peace studies. he chaired the department of gender issues in student government last year.

both studied abroad last semester — vidal in washington, d c., and devine in london.

first priority: if elected, their first goal would be to work within the existing structure of student government and seek to foster a close-knit community among members of that group. vidal said they will look for a broad array of passionate people to lead the departments and then work to get each department on board with their goals from the beginning.

she said the restructured platform they composed, structured around the divisions of each

Lauren Vidal - Matt Devine

department, reflects and reinforces the underlying importance of each department in student government.

top priority: The team’s biggest goal is serving their peers and the broader notre dame community as best they can, devine said. he said they will do this by both serving the student body through their leadership and then providing opportunities for them to be of service to the greater south bend area.

“we really have this idea of service, and although we understand that’s a broad term, we really [prioritize] service to our peers and to our community as a whole,” vidal said. “For our peers, we work on specific, tangible projects.”

best idea: devine said the two hope to continue many of the current administration’s agenda items, including a push for medical amnesty for students. he said he contacted members of the office of student affairs to discuss whether “du lac” would be up for revision during the year ahead, and he said he talked extensively with current student body president alex coccia about coccia’s

work toward that goal.

devine clearly did his homework on the matter and gathered the necessary information to make the platform item grounded in real possibility. he said he hopes to change the tone of that conversation to center around keeping students safe and accountable, not enabling them to behave irresponsibly.

Worst idea: vidal said while interning in d c., she worked with a press secretary and hopes to find someone to replicate that role in student government. she said the press secretary would be a channel of communication between the cabinet and the student body and could help coordinate media coverage of initiatives.

w hile increased communication is generally a positive thing for any administration, in this form, it would likely remove vidal and devine from the student body. Face-to-face communication and a visible, personal presence on campus would better serve students’ needs.

Most feasible: Their “29 for 29” initiative would pair each residence hall with an underprivileged

south bend family, linking students to the surrounding area and fostering a deeper understanding of the notre dame family. both vidal and devine said they have worked at the south bend homeless shelter and have the contacts to organize and execute this plan.

Least feasible: The platform contained plans for student nighttime auxiliary patrol (snap) to supplement the existing safewalk system. The patrol would essentially consist of teams of two trained students on call to pick up students in distress on golf carts with the goal of providing other options besides walking and protecting students from inclement weather.

because the service would run only from 8:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m., though, its hours overlap directly with safewalk’s current availability. a better option would be to run the service from 2:30 a.m. to 5 a.m. in order to provide 24-hour options. however, even this is not necessary because an after-hours call to safewalk will connect a student to ndsp, who will provide a ride to their destination.

Notable quote: “one of the main things we’re pushing is continuity. ... a lot of our policy initiatives are extensions of what already exists.” — devine fun fact: vidal comes from a “loud, proud cuban family” and said she loves to cook with her parents and grandparents. devine has a twin sister at ohio state university.

bottom line: vidal and devine both cited extensive, diverse friend groups at the university that they hope to draw upon for ideas and involvement if elected to office. Their plans to maximize efficiency and collaboration within the student government offices will help them to execute the wide array of initiatives outlined in their platform, but they might do so from a skewed vantage point of the student body’s actual needs if they view campus life mostly through the lenses of their friends and co-workers. Their comprehensive platform speaks to their familiarity with many aspects of student life, and their previous experience in student government makes them well-prepared to lead in the year ahead.

Olivia LaMagna - Rohan Andresen

Who are they: presidential candidate olivia lamagna is a junior from Farley hall studying political science and business economics. she hails from carmel, ind., and currently serves as the junior class president. her running mate, rohan andresen, is a sophomore from siegfried hall studying business and political science. The phoenix native, is the senator from siegfried hall and a member of student government’s department of national engagement and outreach.

lamagna and andresen said the overarching theme of their campaign is maximizing each student’s experience at notre dame, focusing on the question “how do you nd?”

“i feel that there’s one story you’re told as a freshman about what your experience at notre dame is going to be, but there’s a huge range of opportunities to explore on this campus,” lamagna said.

first priority: review student government procedures and come up with best practices for organizing a cabinet and a planning timeline for initiatives. lamagna said her experience on Junior class council with andresen’s

background as a hall senator will give each a unique but complementary view on how student government operates and how they can maximize its efficiency.

top priority: Focus on every individual member of the student body and enable each to meet his or her full potential, in whatever way he or she wants. This overarching campaign strategy provides a focal point for their academic, community engagement and programming initiatives.

“we want to get rid of the red tape and barriers that hold students back,” andresen said.

“w hen each student is seen as their own unique person and when that uniqueness is recognized, that’s when you have a diverse campus.”

best idea: lamagna and andresen hope to create a more collaborative relationship between notre dame and south bend, and lamagna said she wants students to understand that south bend is much more than a convenient location in which to do service work.

“There’s not enough respect for what residents of south bend can bring to undergraduates at the university of notre dame,”

lamagna said. “we want to increase accessibility to the city of south bend.”

her experience with planning and executing major events as junior class president has given her insight into how to navigate the “administrative red tape” for project planning and especially approving new vendors and sites, lamagna said.

Worst idea: Their plan to organize a group of undergraduate and graduate students who could teach one-credit specialized classes in areas such as computer programming seems impossible. w hile the goal of helping students broaden their technical skill sets and branch out beyond the classes required for their majors is good, it would be very difficult to get off the ground. perhaps organizing a set of independent workshops or lectures on such topics would be more doable, instead of orchestrating it within the class registration and darT systems.

Most feasible: appoint two students, one male and one female, to serve as co-chairs of the gender relations department of student government.

“we want to start bringing a diversity of perspectives into that

[conversation] because we don’t want it to be … a one-sided discussion,” lamagna said. “we want everyone to feel like gender relations is something that matters to them, because if you’re a person on this campus, it affects you.”

Least feasible: The two hope to break barriers between the different colleges and academic departments by allowing students to register for classes outside of their declared majors.

“right now, students can’t take classes outside of their colleges once they’ve declared,” andresen said. “we want to be able to open up classes for students outside of their major.”

They propose that a time limit be set on the darT system so that first, students who need a particular class for their majors are guaranteed seats. after official darTing has ended, lamagna and andresen hope to open up registration to students outside the college under which the class is listed.

although this plan would offer students more academic freedom, it does not seem feasible given the labyrinth of prerequisite and co-requisite courses often listed. w hile perhaps general elective

courses could be opened up, department chairs would likely resist open enrollment in more advanced, major-specific courses.

Notable quote: “This is probably about 10 percent of all the ideas we’ve come up with. That other 90 percent have just been scrapped because of conversations with people, whether that be students or administrators. … These ideas that we have in the platform have had a lot of thought and a lot of discussion.” — andresen fun fact: lamagna said she is an extremely organized person with “spreadsheets that terrify people,” but her dorm room is incredibly messy. andresen, on the other hand, keeps an impeccable room and “can barely leave without dusting something.”

bottom line: Their platform reflects a comprehensive examination of real student desires, and the two leverage their energy and enthusiasm to come up with new, bold ideas. Their student government experience prepares them for success in future roles, and their focus on programming, as well as on enabling and empowering individual students, suggests they would have a dynamic, visible presence on campus next year.

The Observer endorses LaMagna-Andresen

s aturday afternoon, The o bserver e ditorial b oard interviewed the three tickets campaigning for student body president and vice president, and each pair outlined a different approach they planned to take if they were to be elected. a fter extensive debate, we endorse junior o livia l a m agna and sophomore r ohan a ndresen for student body president and vice president.

b oth front-running tickets, v idal/ d evine and l a m agna/ a ndresen, bring impressive student government experience, but l a m agna and a ndresen’s successful track record of programming both in student government and locally better prepares them to launch successful initiatives during their time in office.

l a m agna and a ndresen provided a simple, concrete explanation for how they plan to best represent all members of n otre d ame’s student body. a ndresen said they hope to find ways “to fulfill every single individual

student’s full potential and break down the barriers that hold them back. … w hen each student is seen as their own unique person and when that uniqueness is recognized, that’s when you have a diverse campus.”

w hile the two may be unable to personally address each student’s needs during their one-year tenure, we were impressed by the prioritization of students as individuals throughout their platform. They incorporated this value into planned academic projects, like opening up course registration eligibility to help students tailor their classwork to their unique personal and professional goals regardless of their declared major. This idea also came out in their event planning, like their desire to facilitating student interest in the greater s outh b end community.

o ne important point of distinction we saw between the l a m agna/a ndresen ticket and their main competitors, l auren v idal and

m att d evine, was the two teams’ different views of the relationship between the u niversity and s outh b end. v idal and d evine discussed their “29 for 29” initiative, which would pair each residence hall with an underprivileged s outh b end

The election will come down to whether students prefer LaMagna and Andresen’s potential dynamic leadership or Vidal and Devine’s promised skillful use of the existing bureaucracy system. When faced with these options, The Observer endorses Olivia LaMagna and Rohan Andresen.

family to extend the network of the n otre d ame family. w hile this is an admirable, exciting plan, l a m agna and a ndresen explicitly said students should not just see s outh b end as “a place to do charity.” Their initiatives

draw on l a m agna’s extensive programming experience as current junior class president and also focus on ways to help students maximize the opportunities for exploring venues, businesses and other under-appreciated aspects of the surrounding area.

e ssentially, we see two distinctly different and viable visions of leadership with these tickets. l a m agna and a ndresen talked mostly about ways to use their authority to serve students’

personal needs. v idal and d evine seemed to focus more on gathering a likeminded executive cabinet and then delegating tasks to department heads to navigate the structure student government.

h owever, we at The o bserver were not satisfied with their plan to install an official press secretary, which would move them one step farther from their constituents and cut down on face-to-face communication between them and the rest of the general student body. o ur decision as a board was somewhat split, though, and we feel each ticket would be able to serve as adequate leaders. The election will come down to whether students prefer l a m agna and a ndresen’s potential dynamic leadership or v idal and d evine’s promised skillful use of the existing bureaucracy system.

w hen faced with these options, The o bserver endorses o livia l a m agna and r ohan a ndresen because of their collaborative, individually focused and experienced leadership strategy.

Sean Campbell - George McCabe

Who are they : This year’s incarnation of the annual Zahm h ouse ticket, freshmen s ean c ampbell and g eorge m c c abe are upfront about their lack of qualifications for the positions but said they still believe they could be adequate leaders for the student body. c ampbell is running for president and m c c abe for vice president.

“ w e have no real experience to speak of,” m c c abe said. “ w e don’t have a lot of skills.”

f irst priority : a fter debating whether to prioritize

a trip to d isneyland or d isney w orld, the two agreed their first act in office would be a nap.

“ w e could probably just nap on the way to d isneyland and then just stay on vacation for the rest of our term,” m c c abe said. t op priority : r eplacing the current alma mater with the “ b atman Theme” song.

“ c oach Kelly is a real fan,” c ampbell said. “ w e know tradition is important and all, but that tune still fits nicely with the standing and swaying thing.”

w hen asked whether

they’d push for students to be allowed to sing the “ b atman Theme” with the players after a home foot

ball loss, m c c abe said they were willing to leave that decision to the coaches.

b est idea : n one

Worst idea : l aunching a study abroad program exclusively for s aint m ary’s students in Zahm h ouse.

m c c abe said it would be open to students of all majors and could enroll students for up to a decade.

Most feasible : n one

Least feasible : c ampbell said he hopes to usher in

another licensing switch from the new u nder a rmour contract to w rangler Jeans.

b ecause of the jeans’ classic, comfortable fit, he said he sees them as better suited for the athletic teams’ needs.

m c c abe said he is not worried about the 10year contract with u nder a rmour because “there are always loopholes in those things, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Notable quote: “The only thing that would set me apart from the other candidates would be my

massive seashell collection.”

— m c c abe f un f act : c ampbell and m c c abe claim to be sponsored by c lub Fever. w hen asked why the s outh b end establishment decided to endorse them, c ampbell reported that the club representative told them, “ yeah, this looks real.”

b ottom line : m c c abe told The o bserver he anticipates the most challenging part of the job will be the “things that are difficult,” including showing up for work and having to complete projects.

Editor’s note: This is the second installment in a series of columns chronicling the journey to the Holy Half Marathon on March 29.

“good luck on your run!” my coworker calls out cheerily as i’m about to leave the office.

i glare at him. “are you mocking me?”

he is, understandably, surprised. “i’m trying to be encouraging…”

at this point in the three-month training process, i might be a little oversensitive to allusions to the holy half. my preparation for the 13.1-mile run hasn’t gone quite as planned so far, and it’s frustrating to feel as if i haven’t been improving as quickly as i should be.

i actually wasn’t planning to write this column for a while. w hen i told my friend i’d write the next installment of this series “when i have something to say that isn’t bitter,” she reminded me that not everything i write or say has to be happy-go-lucky.

she’s right. reality is messy. it doesn’t always go how we plan, and even the most optimistic among us sometimes become disappointed and discouraged. so, let me put this out there: right now, i am, in fact, disappointed and discouraged.

of all the obstacles i knew i would face, i did not expect the whole “polar vortex” thing. i wasn’t anticipating wind chills that made stepping outside, much less running outside, the absolute last thing i felt any desire to do. i didn’t consider how much mental energy it would take to psyche myself up to trek to rolfs and run around in circles on the track for what felt like an eternity.

but, maybe even more importantly, i had very little concept of what it would be like constantly to compare myself to others. i didn’t think about how it would feel to listen to my friends casually mention the nine-mile run they completed that morning or to watch fellow non-serious runners charge through six miles during the second week of training. i wasn’t aware that those things would be difficult, but they are.

every single step of every single run is an immense challenge for me. each time i put one foot in front of the other, i am fighting for it. i have been blessed enough that many things come easily to me; running is not one of them.

That’s the whole reason i’m doing this, though, isn’t it?

To prove to myself that i’m capable of pushing through any obstacle, any challenge, any roadblock? i guess so. but some days, it’s hard to maintain that perspective. only a week and a half into my official 10-week training period, i had already asked aloud, “is it too early to say that i’m not going to be able to do this?”

The answer, delivered unhesitatingly and unequivocally

to me by my roommate, who is the greatest of all toughlove cheerleaders: “yes, it is.”

well, i guess i’m not quitting just yet.

There is a part of harper lee’s “To kill a mockingbird” in which atticus tells his son that courage is “when you know you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.”

as far as this holy half business is concerned, i’m pretty sure i was licked before i began. but i am continuing to convince myself, over and over again, that this unfortunate circumstance is no reason to throw in the towel. in all honesty, some days i only keep going so i won’t have to write a column for this newspaper admitting that i’ve given up. w hatever it takes, though, right?

There are still more than seven weeks until the holy half. That’s seven more weeks of struggling, of sore legs and of trying to remember why i ever thought this was a good idea. but it’s also seven more weeks to develop the ability to run a half marathon, and i guess that’s pretty great.

The mantra of the holy half is “earn your wings.” if i make it through the whole race in march, i definitely will have done so.

Contact Marisa Iati at miati@nd.edu

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

By ALLIE TOLLAKSEN a ssociate scene editor

last Friday and saturday, the debartolo performing a rts center’s (dpac) browning cinema screened the nominees for the best short Film categories in the upcoming academy awards.

The short films from all three categories — a nimated, l ive action and documentary — were shown throughout the weekend in a special theater limited release that gave oscar enthusiasts a look at the contenders.

The five nominees from the a nimated category this Friday gave a diverse snapshot of the world of animation, with a great range in both style and content. From a silly story about a witch based off of the children’s book “room on the broom” to minimalistic animation and heavy themes in “Feral,” about a boy raised in the woods then brought into civilization, the shorts exemplify just how many directions the animated format can move.

The a nimated category’s likely winner is “get a horse,” the disney short seen at the beginning of new film “Frozen,” which combines classic 1920s mickey mouse animation with fun, modern manipulations (much like previously-nominated disney short “day and night”). Though not as interesting or complex as others in the category, the short is fun and happy enough and will unfortunately probably take the oscar.

dpac showed the l ive action nominees Friday. again, the films represented an array of genres, reminding us that a shorter run time doesn’t mean compromised style. on the contrary, standout l ive action short “Just before losing everything” used all of its 29 minutes to

build up suspense in ways a feature film could never do. The French short, about a woman and her two children escaping an abusive husband, keeps the audience on the edge of their seat.

similarly, l ive action shorts “That wasn’t me” and “The voorman problem” both involved some gripping tension, albeit for very different reasons. The former is a spanish film about aid workers who meet a child soldier in an (perhaps reprehensibly) unspecified a frican country. The latter is a star-studded, cerebral comedy starring martin Freeman of “The hobbit” as a prison psychologist and Tom hollander as an inmate who claims he is a god.

The remaining nominees in the category were a bit more lighthearted, with Finnish short “do i have to Take care of everything?” about a mother attempting to get her family ready for a wedding, and the sappy and over-the-top danish “helium,” about a hospital janitor befriending a terminal child.

The films in the final short Film category, documentary, screened saturday and explored a number of profound topics. because the documentaries are usually longer than their animated and live action cousins, the entire screening is more than a little lengthy. running 184 minutes total for the five nominees, watching all of them in one screening is demanding — be warned — but what makes the three hour-long viewing possible is the emotional intensity in each one of the films.

The documentary shorts include “cavedigger,” which follows manic “cave sculptor” ra paulette as he pursues his art of making enormous caves in new mexico. w hile

paulette frantically carves out caves with a wheelbarrow strapped to his back, he is sharply contrasted by Jack hall, the subject of another nominated short, “prison Terminal.” The film follows hall, a terminally ill inmate in the highest security prison in the united states, during his last six months.

“karama has no walls,” about the events surrounding the yemeni revolution in 2011, provides vivid images of yemen and the tent village set up during the revolution three years ago as well as intimate interviews with those involved or impacted by the tragic day when a pro-government group opened fire on a protest.

“Facing Fear” is the unlikely story of a gay man who, by chance, met the neo-nazi skinheads who attacked him 25 years ago. The film is an emotional tale about empathy, fear and forgiveness.

but the standout documentary and probable winner is “The lady in number 6: music changed my l ife,” which examines the life of 109 year old a lice herz sommer, the world’s oldest pianist, as she doles out wisdom, shares the power of music and explains how, during the holocaust, music kept her alive.

The short films may not get much attention at the academy awards, but these nominees were often compelling, heartbreaking and thoroughly entertaining. a nd don’t worry, if you missed the one-time screening of these shorts, all of the nominees will be available on v imeo on demand and on iTunes on Feb. 25. with the diversity of films between the three categories, you’re sure to find something you’ll like.

Contact Allie Tollaksen at atollaks@nd.edu

Nothing ‘Super’ about this Bowl

Matthew DeFranks a ssistant managing e ditor

w hen i got to class monday morning, people were asking each other about the super bowl. i mean, it is the biggest sporting event in america, of course people were talking about it. but most of the questions were some form of “hey, why was an opera singer singing the national anthem?” or “how tall is bruno mars?” or “how cute was that little puppy in the budweiser commercial?” before the seahawks stampeded the broncos 43-8 on sunday in new Jersey, people were asking “will peyton manning retire a champion?” or “w hat action is marshawn lynch ‘bout?” or “w hy does richard sherman have so many beats commercials?” maybe the post-game questions were just as ridiculous as the ones posed before the blowout, but there is a reason they were not about the game — because it was not a game.

For the first time since i learned the difference between an offensive tackle, a defensive tackle and a tackle, i did not watch the second half of the super bowl. it was the worst super bowl of my lifetime.

The broncos were in over their heads, and it showed on the very first snap.

w hile manning was presumably yelling some random midwest city (was there a possibility he said “south bend” at all sunday night?) at his offensive line, center manny ramirez launched the ball from the 14-yard line into the end zone. with the errant snap, denver had given away points, the ball and any chance of winning the championship.

but that was only one of denver’s comedy of errors. manning was responsible for three turnovers and receiver demaryius Thomas fumbled the ball away in the third quarter. w hile the seattle defense should be credited with forcing those mistakes, the broncos game film is as bad as “That’s my boy.” wes

welker was andy samberg to peyton manning’s adam sandler. had the broncos held possession for all 60 minutes, the seahawks would have still won. (yeah, i know fatigue and other stuff would have set in and everything but just bear with me.)

The legion of boom and co. outscored the best offense in nFl history, 9-8.

seattle needed just 39 yards from lynch to win by five touchdowns. The game’s leading rusher was actually a receiver who didn’t play in a full game all season and also returned a kickoff for a touchdown (that’d be percy harvin). seattle was so much better than denver on sunday the seahawks didn’t even need their best weapon on offense to even show up.

you know what else failed to show up? a ll the funny super bowl commercials.

w hile the adorable little lab in the budweiser commercial was the cutest thing in a super bowl since drew brees’ son, the ad made me want to move somewhere warm and run around with a hoard of puppies instead of buying some beer.

w hen people are hailing a lame doritos time machine-themed ad as one of the best commercials of the night, something went wrong somewhere. oh, and did Tim Tebow finally get his revenge on peyton manning with his “no contract” T-mobile commercial? maybe he did, maybe he didn’t. but it sure looked much better than T-mobile’s other ad, which appeared to use magenta from blue’s clues as a backdrop.

speaking of strange colors appearing on television, was i the only one who thought the crowd, with all its lime green and orange, looked more like a music festival than a football game?

maybe they simply thought they were attending a bruno mars concert instead of a football game.

well, they weren’t that far off.

Contact Matthew Defranks at mdefrank@nd.edu

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

a lleged hernandez victim shot outside club, arrested

Associated Press

harTFord — a man who alleges he was shot in the face by former new england patriots tight end aaron hernandez in Florida was shot again, this time outside a connecticut nightclub, where he then opened fire, police said monday.

a lexander bradley was part of a disturbance involving money sunday that spilled outside of the vevo lounge bar & grill in hartford’s south meadows neighborhood, police lt. brian Foley said.

a fter the 31-year-old was shot multiple times in the right thigh, he retrieved a gun from his car and tried to enter the nightclub, Foley said, before he opened fire.

no other injuries were reported. responding police officers stopped a car that sped away from the club, and an injured bradley got out and fell on the street, Foley said. he was taken to a hospital under police guard and his condition wasn’t released, but he’s expected to survive.

bradley was charged with criminal possession of a

olymPICs

firearm, criminal use of a firearm and other crimes. his connecticut lawyer, robert pickering, hung up the phone on a reporter without commenting monday.

detectives recovered 11 shell casings from outside of the club, Foley said, and bradley’s gun was reported stolen from springfield, mass. Foley said the investigation into who shot bradley is ongoing.

bradley, an associate of hernandez, alleges in a Florida lawsuit that he lost his right eye when hernandez shot him in the face as they argued outside a miami club last February.

hernandez is detained on a murder charge in the death of odin l loyd, a semi-professional football player whose body was found June 17 near hernandez’s north attleborough, mass., home. hernandez has pleaded not guilty.

boston police, meanwhile, have linked both hernandez and bradley to a double homicide in July 2012. police believe hernandez and bradley were in an suv when someone inside the vehicle fatally shot daniel Jorge correia de abreu

and safiro Teixeira Furtado in boston’s south end, according to a search warrant filed by bristol, conn., police.

The warrant doesn’t say who investigators believe pulled the trigger in the double killing or suggest a motive. no charges have been filed in the case. The warrant sought recordings of phone calls made by bradley while he was jailed in hartford in october for failing to appear before a massachusetts grand jury investigating the 2012 shooting.

investigators say they found the suv wanted in the boston homicides at the home of hernandez’s uncle in bristol. police say surveillance camera recordings show hernandez and bradley going into a boston nightclub shortly after the shooting victims went into the club. The recordings also show hernandez driving the suv out of a nearby parking garage with bradley as a passenger shortly before the shootings, police said.

boston police called hartford police monday about bradley’s shooting as part of their investigation, Foley said.

un secretary general to attend olympic opening

Associated Press

uni T ed naT ions — s ecretary- g eneral b an k i-moon will take part in Friday’s opening of the w inter olympics in s ochi, russia and deliver a keynote address to the i nternational olympic c ommittee’s general assembly, the first by a u n. secretary-general, officials said monday.

b an’s visit to s ochi comes after several world leaders decided to skip the games, including u s p resident b arack obama, g erman p resident Joachim g auck and French p resident Francois hollande. russia has come under criticism for its human rights record and law against gay “propaganda.”

ioc p resident Thomas b ach said b an will deliver a keynote speech at the ioc assembly, which runs from wednesday to Friday.

u n. spokesman martin nesirky said one reason the

secretary-general wants to go to the s ochi games and speak to the olympic committee’s members is the “growing relationship between the ioc and the united nations,” which he wants to build on.

The two organizations share very similar values, especially on the use of sport to promote peace and development, nesirky said.

b esides delivering the firstever keynote speech to the ioc assembly by a u n. chief, b an will be speaking publicly and holding bilateral meetings with world leaders attending the games, nesirky said.

The secretary-general carried the olympic torch on the final leg of its journey to the opening of the l ondon summer games in 2012.

The u n g eneral a ssembly adopted a resolution in november calling for a global truce during the 2014 w inter olympics which run from Feb. 7-23 and the paralympics

from march 7-16.

The resolution cites ancient greece’s traditional olympic truce period that allowed free passage of athletes and spectators from often-warring city-states to the original games every four years.

The 193-member world body has passed resolutions since 1993 calling for an olympic truce, but countries continue fighting wars whether the olympics are on or not.

s ecretary- g eneral b an issued a statement Friday appealing for a global observance of the olympic truce, especially in s yria, s outh sudan and c entral a frican republic. The first talks between s yria’s government and opposition ended that day without any tangible results.

“The olympic Truce is rooted in the hope that if people and nations can put aside their differences for one day, they can build on that to establish more lasting ceasefires,” b an said.

Casey races toward another chamionship meet

By KATIE HEIT sports writer

a fter competing in the 200yard butterfly in last year’s ncaa meet, junior bridget casey is ready to make it a repeat performance — and she’s well on her way to another championship competition. during the shamrock

invitational on saturday, casey met the ncaa b-cut standard in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:59.30. This year, she’s also looking to add a b-cut time in the 400-yard individual medley (im ), an honor she barely missed out on last year.

“i just missed the b-cut in the 400 im last year,” casey said.

“it would be really awesome to

be able to swim two individual events.”

casey recently had the chance to expand her event schedule when she was thrown into the record-breaking 800-yard freestyle relay against iowa on the morning of the race.

“i focus more on middle distance to distance freestyle and rarely swim a 200 free,” casey

said. “i was nervous going into the relay especially because i was anchoring. i had a pretty good meet before that and i love swimming on relays, so i just put my head down and hoped my split was fast enough to break the record.”

casey, along with senior kelly ryan, junior emma reaney and freshman katie miller broke

paid a dverT isemen T

the pool record with a time of 7:22.65.

casey said her approach to meets has changed since she started swimming for the irish.

“high school swimming was all about training and the idea hard work pays off,” casey said. “since my time at notre dame, i have learned that hard work and a strategy is what it takes to go to the next level in college.”

casey’s dad, uncle and two older sisters all swam for notre dame. coming from a big irish family, casey said the choice to swim for notre dame was a “no brainer.”

“it was the perfect school for me,” casey said. “The team was also a big part of the decision and i liked brian barnes as a coach.”

w ith conference competition coming up, casey has turned her sights to her end of season goals, both individually and with the irish teammates.

“i hope we step up and make a statement at [the acc championship],” casey said.

“This is our first year in the conference and i know how hard we have worked this year. i have so much confidence in this team. i just hope we taper well and our hard work pays off.”

casey said she her individual goals include improving her time in the 200-yard butterfly and the 400-yard im to qualify for the national championship meet.

“i will need to go a few seconds faster to be able to go to the ncaa s again this year,” casey said. “however, that was a really great in-season time and i hope that i can go even faster at conference so i can make ncaa s again this year.”

Contact Katie Heit at kheit@nd.edu

Belles struggle against press but claim victory

By A.J. GODEAUX sports writer

The b elles overcame 27 turnovers to notch their second road conference victory with a 59-50 victory over Trine on s aturday.

“ w e struggled with Trine’s full court pressure,” b elles coach Jenn h enley said. “ n ormally, that’s way too many turnovers to win a game, but we made up for it in other ways.”

The b elles (6-13, 4-6 miaa ) were able to hold the Thunder (4-14, 1-8) to less than 30 percent shooting from the floor in the first half and 35 percent for the game. s aint m ary’s grabbed an early 4-3 lead three minutes into the game and never relinquished it.

“ o ur defense is getting better and better,” h enley said. “ w e still have work to do, but this was a step in the right direction, especially the first half.

“ w e really wanted to get back to … controlling the boards, too, which i thought we did a great job doing.”

The b elles out-rebounded the Thunder 50-32, in part due to junior forward a riana p aul’s 14 rebounds. a lthough the b elles lead stretched to nine in the first half, and ballooned to 12 six minutes into the second, h enley said it never seemed like the Thunder were completely out of the game.

Club sPorts

d own 38-26 with 14:36 remaining, the Thunder went on a 12-4 run to cut the b elles lead to four halfway through the second half.

That was the closest the Thunder would get, though, as the b elles, up 52-46 with 3:00 left, went 7-for-10 from the free throw line in the final three minutes to stymie the Thunder rally.

“Though we struggled with the press, i thought hitting those key free throws down the stretch were one of the ways we held our composure,” h enley said.

Thunder sophomore forward a livia r ecker led all scorers with 14 points, with 12 of those coming in the second half. Junior guard k elsey h enselmeier added 11 for the Thunder.

s enior guard s hanlynn b ias led the b elles with 13 points and eight rebounds and sophomore forward k rista k napke chipped in 10 points. b ias and k napke were two of nine b elles to score.

“ i like having a balanced scoring attack, though that’s not something we’ve stressed,” h enley said. “ i t’ll certainly make us a harder team to defend moving forward.”

The b elles next take to the floor w ednesday at 7:30 p.m. at c alvin in g rand r apids, m ich.

Contact A.J. Godeaux at agodeaux@nd.edu

irish sailing team begins season in galveston

Special to The Observer

l ast weekend the n otre d ame sailing team escaped the freezing cold of s outh

b end by heading down to the warm weather at the h arris k empner m emorial r egatta hosted by Texas a & m university at g alveston. The team flew out Friday night,

reportedly receiving confused glances as they boarded their plane with lifejackets in hand. o n s aturday the weather was sunny and 60 degrees with 15 knots of wind, which allowed the team to gain the lead by the third race. o n s unday the wind speed slowed to 10 knots and was accompanied by unwanted

fog and rain showers. d espite the unfavorable weather conditions the team held the lead throughout the day, and ended the day on top.

n otre d ame’s winning team included sophomore captain Jack s chneider, vice captains sophomore c hristian k oerwer and freshman m ike hull as well as freshman

b enny r ichmond. e ach skipper/crew pair completed twelve races over the course of both days. s chneider and hull raced in the a division, accumulating a total of 38 points and k oerwer and r ichmond raced in the b division, ending the regatta with an impressive total of 26 points. The team’s total score

came out to 64, 21 points lower than the second place finisher.

This is a promising start to the sailing season completed by such a young team. i n two weeks the team is sending four seniors out to the n elson r olsch i ntersectional r egatta at Tulane university in n ew o rleans, l ouisiana.

paid a dverT isemen T

s wimming

con T inued F rom page 16

place. m c k enzie’s mark was his best on the season and met the ncaa b -cut mark.

Freshman Joe p etrone claimed first place in the 1,650-yard individual freestyle event with a time of 15.44:03, 40 seconds faster than his previous best time.

The underclassmen were not the only ones who helped secure i rish victories over the weekend. s enior captain Frank d yer continued his personal success, winning the 200- yard individual freestyle. d yer, a two-time a ll- a merican, swam a 1.37:28 to earn an ncaa b -cut-qualifying time of his own.

“ o ne thing that really distinguishes our team is our depth. w e had many different guys step up and score for us today,” w elsh said. o n the diving boards, freshman Joe c oumos swept the competition in the 1-meter board with a point total of 355.80. h is teammate, junior n ick n emetez, came in second.

b ut the i rish could not match the success of their individual entries in the relay races. The 200-yard medley relay team of sophomore b ogac a yhan, juniors c ameron m iller and Zach s tephens, and d yer finished second with a time of 1.30:26. a dditionally, the 400- yard freestyle relay team of sophomore m ichael h udspith, freshman r eed Fujan, junior p atrick m urphy and freshman n icholas s im came in third with a time of 3.03:46. a fter hosting a record 609 fans at the s hamrock i nvitational, the i rish return to the r olfs a quatic c enter next weekend for their regular season finale against c leveland s tate on s aturday. The meet will be the final home meet for w elsh, who will be retiring after 29 seasons at the helm.

“ w e love swimming at home. b etween the pool and all the support we receive from the school and our families, we always swim well there,” w elsh said. a fter facing c leveland s tate, the i rish will have two weeks before the acc c hampionships in g reensboro, n c

“a s a team, we need lifetime best times from our individual and relay teams so we can get as many people qualified for the ncaa c hampionships. w e need to be the best we’ve ever been that weekend,” w elsh said. The i rish jump back into the pool against c leveland s tate at r olfs a quatic c enter on s aturday. The meet begins at noon.

Contact Henry Hilliard at rhillia1@nd.edu

back to win the set and at least force the tiebreaker.

matches in these tight moments, it’s very key, especially for us to build up our confidence.” said vrabel. “hopefully that can transfer to other matches in the future.”

The irish struggled with another scrappy team in the hoosiers (3-1) on sunday, dropping the doubles point early. only two wins were needed for indiana to earn the point, but notre dame also trailed in the third match when it was called.

“our doubles are usually very good,” said louderback. “we weren’t even in it. … They got on us and won it fast.”

Trailing 1-0, the irish rebounded and tore out of the gates to start the singles matches. closs started the scoring, defeating hoosiers freshman paula gutierrez 6-4, 6-2. her victory was followed by vrabel’s 4-6, 6-0, (10-5) win over junior shannon murdy and kellner’s 6-4, 2-6, (10-7) triumph over junior a lecia kauss, giving the irish a 3-1 lead. however, freshman monica robinson was nipped by indiana senior sophie garre 4-6, 6-3, (10-6) and sanders fell to junior katie klyczek 6-1, 4-6, (10-2.) sanders fell behind 3-0 in the second set, but refused to go down without a fight, coming

“a ll i could think of was staying in as long as i could and help my teammates,” said sanders. “i ended up fighting back. … i gave it all my energy in the second set and just ran out of energy in the tiebreaker.”

sanders’s rally gave the irish a little momentum as the attention shifted once again to gleason. having already played a tiebreaker at the end of the first set, gleason and indiana junior carolyn chupa headed to the final tiebreaker after gleason prevailed in the second set 6-3. chupa stormed out to a 7-1 lead, but gleason turned the momentum, rallying for eight of the next nine points to take a 9-8 lead and have a match point opportunity. a good chupa serve forced gleason into a net shot, but gleason answered with two straight points to win the match.

“she likes being in that position,” said louderback. “she enjoys it, she likes it. … she played an unbelievable comeback in the tiebreaker. Just didn’t give up and kept playing and she used the crowd to her advantage. They were fired up and i think that helped her a lot.”

Contact Zach Klonsinski at zklonsin@nd.edu.

The irish pulled within three points with 8:46 left to play, but syracuse (22-0, 9-0) extended its margin to 10 over the next four minutes. notre dame once again closed the gap to five points after irish junior forward pat connaughton completed a threepoint play with 2:52 remaining.

The teams traded baskets from there, but notre dame never cut the lead to fewer than five points.

syracuse missed the front end of a pair of one-and-one opportunities in the game’s final 40 seconds, but notre dame could not convert on the other end as the orange closed out the victory.

The irish outscored the home team 37-30 in the second period, but it was not enough to overcome the deficit accumulated in the opening frame.

“we really responded in the second half,” brey said. “it was a tough end of the first-half run, came back, i think we got it to one possession a couple of times. i thought our defense was excellent. i thought we made some strides defensively in our manto-man in the second half, even though we didn’t win the game.”

irish senior center garrick sherman scored a team-high 16 points and pulled down eight rebounds, helping notre dame secure a 22-16 advantage on points in the paint. Freshman guard steve vasturia netted a careerhigh 13 points and connaughton chipped in 11 points and eight rebounds. senior guard eric atkins had nine points and led the irish with six assists.

The irish got off to a quick start, scoring the first basket after

an atkins steal and layup. notre dame led at multiple points during opening minutes, but never by more than three points. syracuse relied on the sharp shooting of cooney, who hit five of his seven 3-point attempts in the first half and entered the break with 17 points. on defense, the orange held notre dame scoreless for a seven-and-a-halfminute stretch at one point, capitalizing with a 13-0 run to carry a 10-point lead into the half’s final five minutes. notre dame trailed 31-18 at halftime after reaching a season-low point total in the first half.

sherman led notre dame’s first-half effort with nine points and four rebounds. vasturia contributed five points in the period. still winless on the road in conference play, notre dame will return home for its next two acc games. The irish host north carolina on saturday before welcoming in clemson on Feb. 11. brey said the irish leave syracuse with the positive outlook from the victory over boston college still intact.

“well i think we should have a great mindset,” brey said. “you know, we just got a split. we split, and that may be as good as it gets for our basketball team this year. we want to go back and see if we can win against a really good team and a great program. That would be a great win for our program, to beat the north carolina program. we did it earlier this year against duke. can we do it again? we need a little bit of rest first before we get into our practice mode.”

Contact Joseph Monardo at jmonardo@nd.edu

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

Complete the grid so each row, column and 3-by-3 box (in bold borders) contains every digit, 1 to 9. For strategies on how to solve Sudoku, visit www.sudoku.org.uk

Happy Birthday: level out emotionally and you will be able to look at your situation differently. The options you have may be long-term, but in the end, you will reach your destination. it’s the journey that counts, as well as how you treat the people you meet along the way. Try and you will surpass your expectations. your numbers are 4, 9, 12, 23, 36, 42, 49.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): get into the groove. staying busy and focused on your accomplishments will help you avoid anxiety and fear of not measuring up to what’s expected of you. show how masterful you can be by getting things done. a positive choice will pay off.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): do what you can to help others. offer suggestions and show compassion. The solutions you offer will be impressive and help you drum up interest in something you want to pursue. romance will help improve your love life.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): approach any situation you face with honesty. uncertainty will not go over well when dealing with colleagues, friends or those you are trying to win approval from. avoid impulsive expenditures, lending or borrowing. adaptability will help you excel.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): emotional matters will lead to unexpected changes that may not sit well with you. show your concern and offer suggestions that will help smooth things over. compromise and understanding, along with using your intuitive intelligence, will help ward off personal problems.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): a challenge or taking on a competitive position will help get you moving and motivate you to succeed. Test your skills and master what you enjoy doing most, and you will gain confidence and satisfaction. social activity will pay off.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): expect to face a financial setback if you get involved in a joint investment. being responsible will help you avoid making a mistake. doing something to avoid conflict will not bring good results. practical application will pay off.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): expect to face opposition when dealing with a personal or business partnership. don’t let your emotions cost you. make choices based on what’s best for you financially. an impulsive act will turn into a big fiasco. back away from anyone using emotional manipulation.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): bide your time and take care of the finer details when dealing with work or personal projects. set your own standards and refuse to let anyone coerce you into doing something you don’t want to do. make decisions based on your success and happiness.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): make positive changes at home and to your personal life that will allow you the freedom to do as you please. stick to the truth when asked to do something. don’t take on or make promises that are unrealistic.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): let the dust settle before you make a decision that will influence your environment or surroundings. getting along with people in your community will be necessary if you want things to go your way. set your priorities and proceed.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Take an emotional stance and base your needs on what you see going on around you. picking and choosing the direction that suits you best will set you on a positive path that will help you reach your personal and professional goals.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): honesty will be questioned and secrets revealed. protect your reputation by handling whatever issues arise swiftly and truthfully. you will gain respect and win favors if you show integrity and compassion. hold your head high and move forward with confidence.

Birthday Baby: you are determined, smart and intuitive. you are entertaining and unique.

men’s basketball | syracuse 61, nd 55

Irish can’t cool Cooney

No. 1 Syracuse pushes past Notre Dame on the back of Trevor Cooney’s career-high 33 points

By JOSEPH MONARDO

a ssociate sports e ditor

The irish were looking to piece together a new winning streak to salvage their season, but the momentum from saturday’s overtime victory over acc bottom-feeder boston college was not enough to propel notre dame past the country’s top team.

notre dame (12-11, 3-7 acc) threatened to pull off the road upset, but eventually fell to no. 1 syracuse, 61-55, at the carrier dome on monday evening.

on a night when syracuse senior forward c.J. Fair and freshman guard Tyler ennis managed only six points apiece, redshirt sophomore guard Trevor cooney scored a career-high 33 points on 9-of-12 shooting from 3-point range to pace the orange. cooney tied the program record for made 3-pointers in a contest.

“he made some really tough ones,” irish coach mike brey told pat rogers of watchnd after the game. “i think seven of them were really challenged. he was the one guy we couldn’t get under control. but i thought he made some really tough ones.”

Irish senior guard Eric Atkins looks to distribute the ball from outside the

finished with only nine points against Syracuse during the Irish’s

Irish claim seven first-place finishes

By HENRY HILLIARD sports writer

The i rish cruised to victory over m issouri s tate and n o. 25 i owa in the ninth annual s hamrock i nvitational over the weekend in n otre d ame’s first home competition since n ovember.

n otre d ame (6-5-1) beat the b ears 223-147 and the h awkeyes 224.5-145.5. The i rish were propelled to victory by seven first-place finishes and nine runnerup results. Four of the seven victories were won by underclassmen.

“Top to bottom we were very pleased. w e had several guys win their first ever collegiate event for us over the weekend and we are very excited and grateful for that,” i rish coach Tim w elsh said.

The i rish set the bar high in the first individual race, as sophomore s hane m c k enzie placed first in the 400-yard individual medley, clocking in at 3.55:52. h e was joined four seconds later by his teammate, junior James m c e ldrew, who finished in 3.59:03 and earned second

notre dame sweeps weekend

By ZACH KLONSINSKI sports writer

no. 23 notre dame beat illinois and indiana by identical 4-3 scores on Friday and sunday, respectively, at the eck Tennis pavilion.

irish sophomore Quinn gleason sealed the victory on back-to-back days, winning a tiebreak in the final singles match of each contest.

The irish (5-1) started Friday’s match against illinois (4-1) off strong in the doubles portion, earning the first point after gleason and senior britney sanders beat the top illini team of junior melissa kopinski and freshman alexis casati, 7-5, while the irish duo of senior Julie sabacinski and freshman

mary closs defeated senior misia kedzierski and freshman louise kwong by a score of 6-4.

The teams traded points in the singles matches, with the illini drawing the match even at 1-1 when kedzierski topped closs 6-4, 6-2. The irish drew ahead again as sophomore Julie vrabel defeated illini freshman Jerricka boone 6-4, 6-3; but kwong answered, defeating sabacinski 6-1, 5-7, (10-8). sanders put notre dame up 3-2 as she topped kopinski 6-4, 3-6, (10-6); then casati drew illinois back in with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over irish senior Jennifer kellner, leaving gleason and illini senior allison Falkin in a winner-take-all final match. after splitting the first two sets, gleason surged ahead in the first-to-10 tiebreaker, opening

up 7-0 and 8-1 leads. however, the finish would not come easy, and gleason, who rolled an ankle earlier in the match, began cramping up and visibly limping. Falkin capitalized on the opportunity, drawing within 8-4, but the lead was too much and gleason hung on 10-5, securing both personal and team wins.

“illinois is exactly what we thought they’d be. They’re like that every year,” irish coach Jay louderback said. “They compete really hard, they never give up. For a while it looked like we were in control and then they’re back in it … i think our kids needed to be a little more ready knowing they were going to be like that.”

“i think pulling out these