PDF for Wednesday, February 20, 2013

n o T re d ame and s ain T m ary’s

Candidates propose ideas for next year

Senior, junior and sophomore class council tickets campaign for students’ votes in today’s election

Observer Staff Report

s ophomore Class Council

Jake Grefenstette, Michael

d e s antis, Jane Goodson and Megan s chilling

The grefenstette ticket said it hopes to leverage its experience within student government to improve campus programming and expand community ties to campus.

w ith grefenstette, g oodson and s chilling serving as freshman c lass c ouncil vice president, treasurer and

secretary, respectively, the trio is confident it can follow through with its goals.

“o ur goals include creation of a student-run [ d ebartolo] coffee cart, puppies during exam weeks, increase of communication between the university and s outh b end and a cookout and carnival on s outh q uad,” grefenstette said.

additionally, the ticket intends to coordinate dances, a bonfire and a c hicago trip for

Professor receives public policy fellowship

By ANN MARIE JAKUBOWSKI news writer

The stanford woods institute for the environment has honored biology professor Jennifer Tank as one of this year’s leopold leadership fellows, a group of 20 academics selected to undergo intensive training intended to empower them to impact public policy.

Tank will begin the fellowship with a training session this summer, joining the group from

university in california. Tank said she applied for the fellowship to improve her communication skills, which would

better equip her to discuss her work and its implications with the general public and leaders who make environmental policy.

“The fellowship was developed a number of years ago because they were finding problems with scientists who were doing great work yet were unable to translate that science for the public,” Tank said. “it’s really a mechanism to link

pemco. to premiere ‘how to succeed in business’

By LESLEY STEVENSON news writer

The opening of “how to succeed in business without really Trying” this weekend will mark the culmination of nearly one year’s worth of preparation for the pasquerilla east musical company (pemco.).

“This season started with ‘next to normal’ back in october, but really the whole process of this started in the beginning of march

campus m inistry answers call for

‘year of faith’

By CATHERINE OWERS news writer

p ope b enedict X vi declared this liturgical year a “ year of faith,” a time of faith renewal for c atholics worldwide.

b uilding off this theme, the o ffice of c ampus m inistry at n otre d ame has sponsored a number of projects and events to encourage students to reexamine and deepen their relationships with g od.

Kate b arrett, assistant director of undergraduate ministry, said recent activities include the “Think you know m oreau?” scavenger hunt and “ r etreat on the r un,” a program that will continue through f ebruary that helps students incorporate prayer into their busy lives. b arrett said the scavenger hunt was a success with almost 200 participants.

“ we challenged participants to travel the campus as quickly as possible, finding clues and along the way learning more about b lessed b asil m oreau, … the founder of the c ongregation of h oly c ross, as well as other remarkable h oly c ross priests

such as f r. e dward s orin … and s t. a ndre b essette,” she said.

a nnus f idei, a liturgical music series incorporating all the b asilica of the s acred h eart choirs, began f eb.10. “a nnus f idei” means “ year of faith” in l atin.

“[ a nnus f idei] combined readings and songs to highlight some of the themes p ope b enedict outlined at the beginning of the year,” b arrett said.

i n the second half of the semester, b arrett said c ampus m inistry will focus on programming to assist students in keeping their prayer lives active during the summer months away from campus.

“That will be called ‘ p ortable p rayer’ and will have very practical tips and suggestions for students,” she said.

b arrett said she believes the year of faith calls for both personal and communal renewal, and c ampus m inistry is offering activities that will assist in both.

“a personal call will end

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Policies The observer

Question of the Day:

Teri Dye

freshman pasquerilla west hall

“every single day.”

Donald Dye freshman Knott hall

“a ll day, every day.”

Glory Kim freshman walsh hall

“u h, every day. it’s a terrible thing.”

Have a question you want answered?

Michael Dinh freshman carroll hall

“only when the temperature reaches above 45 degrees.”

Caroline Park freshman lewis hall

“l ike every day. i love it!”

Mariah Sasson sophomore pasquerilla west hall

“a bout three times a week.”

The construction of the Ralph C. Stayer Center for Executive Education is almost complete. The Stayer Center, scheduled to open later this month, will become the home of the Executive Education department in the Mendoza College of Business.

Today’s Staff

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

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.

Thursday

Sewing Circle

10 a.m.-7:30 p.m.

Artist Marie Watt hosts a day-long sewing circle.

“Band of Sisters” DeBartolo

The

Saint Mary’s candidates run unopposed

By BRIDGET FEENEY

a

ssociate s aint mary’s e ditor

Juniors Kat sullivan and maddy martin will run unopposed for 2013-14 saint mary’s student body president and vice president.

The ticket’s candidacy was announced Tuesday, one day after submitting its platform.

sullivan and martin bring extensive experience on student government association (sga) and on other campus boards. sullivan, has been a member of the student activities board since her first year at the college. This year, she holds an executive position on sga as the vice president of external affairs. martin also holds a position on sga as the vice president of finance.

sullivan, a communication studies major with business administration and film studies minors from melrose, mass., said she wants to be student body president to give students a louder voice in policy and programming at saint mary’s.

“[i want to] make sure my fellow belles know that they can come to [sga] with any questions or concerns. … i care about the needs of the saint mary’s belles,” she said. “i realize how vital it is that the voices of the students are

heard.”

sullivan said she wants to follow in her mother’s footsteps as student body president. Joan mcdermott sullivan served as saint mary’s student body president as a senior during the 197576 school year.

“my mom has always held a special place in her heart for the school and her memories here,” she said. “it would mean a great deal to me to be able to share this with her.”

martin, a biology and spanish double major from grand rapids, mich., said she saw room to improve the student government’s approachability.

“i would love to focus on better communication between sga and the student body,” she said. “i feel like there is still some disconnect and i would love to try to eliminate that. i want students to be able to know who we are and that they can come to us for anything.”

in their platform, sullivan and martin said they plan for students, clubs, administrations and sga to “work together as a community.” sullivan said assembling the right team would be essential to reaching this goal.

“i want to make sure that we really hit the ground running for

kind of thing, it’s really fun.”

last year,” senior pemco. producer nathan williams said.

“how to succeed” is the second show in pemco’s 2012-13 lineup and williams said he is pleased with the group’s progress as Thursday’s opening night nears.

“it’s really come together in a fun way i think,” williams said. “i’d seen it before and i didn’t like it; i thought it was dated and sexist, but then watching this whole vibe of the ‘60s and this whole nostalgic

sophomore director shannon Kirk explained that the show’s seemingly-sexist humor is satirical.

“it’s similar to ‘mad men’ in that when you’re watching it, obviously the characters aren’t self-aware that it’s sexist,” Kirk said. “it’s just from our perspective of watching it and how the actors portray it now. you have the retrospective awareness, and it adds so many more layers to [the show] from when it originally premiered.”

Kirk noted that the recent popularity of ‘60s-era television shows

the 2013-14 academic year,” she said. “it will be really important to have a well-established structure and continue with what previous sga leaders have already accomplished. That being said, choosing girls who want to have a positive impact at saint mary’s will be key.”

in addition to better communication and effective leadership, martin said the team intends to introduce initiatives and plan events to instill more unity on campus.

“i would really like to increase the school spirit around campus,” she said. “i am so proud to be a saint mary’s belle and i believe all girls should feel this way.”

sullivan echoed martin’s goal for an increased sense of school spirit and inclusion.

“i’d love to focus on sisterhood and community,” she said. “saint mary’s girls have a lot of pride in who we are and what this school stands for. i want to make sure that every girl on this campus, both current and future belles feel welcome and comfortable.”

sullivan said she wants to improve the quality and attendance of campus programming.

“my personal goals include increasing attendance at events through a better understanding

like “mad men” influenced the choice of “how to succeed” after the group was unable to secure rights to the original selection, “my fair lady.”

“with this we were trying to think of things that people would want to audition for and people would want to come see,” Kirk said.

w hile the show wasn’t the troupe’s first choice, Kirk said she is pleased with the outcome.

“i’m actually really glad we got to do this,” she said. “‘my fair lady’ is probably a better show overall if it’s done perfectly, but this is definitely a more fun show to do in terms of

of [online information platform] orgsync and building on the strong bonds that saint mary’s women have,” she said. “i want to raise awareness on issues that are prevalent on campus such as bullying, depression, anxiety and eating disorders, just to name a few.

“by making these issues more known we will better able to help saint mary’s women who struggle with these issues and bring the community together.”

Though only one ticket is running, sullivan and martin must receive a majority vote on feb.

ensemble involvement, and this is more of a comedy.”

williams said while keeping the cast focused and motivated could be challenging, ultimately the entertaining rehearsals and valuable friendships formed made the long process worthwhile.

“i think part of the challenge is just maintaining it over such a long process,” he said. “we started with auditions in late october and rehearsals right after that … and then there’s a month off in the middle.”

despite the demands of a lengthy schedule, Kirk praised her

28 in order to assume their new positions upon the april 1 sga turnover.

“i’m happy about [being the only ticket] but i hope that people feel confident in our abilities as leaders,” sullivan said. “i want people to trust us to voice their concerns. i think that campaigning will still be important because people should still know who we are so they know who to ask when they need something done at saint mary’s.”

Contact Bridget Feeney at bfeene01@saintmarys.edu

cast’s commitment to the show.

“energy hasn’t been much of a problem actually,” she said. “i think people just really enjoy the show and they kind of feed off each other’s energy and the energy the music is bringing.”

Kirk whittled the cast down from 100 hopefuls who turned up at the first auditions to the final cast of around 25 people, williams said.

during callbacks, Kirk said she was able to customize the somewhat-flexible characters to fit the potential actors.

“[The main character] finch could be very cute and ambitious, or he could be very conniving, and i like the cute, ambitious one better because then by the end of the show you’re not sick of him,” Kirk said.

as a nonacademic organization, pemco. offers an opportunity for a diverse array of students — across both majors and class years — to collaborate together. in his pemco. debut, freshman Joel ostdiek portrays rising business star J. pierrepont finch.

“Joel’s doing great,” williams said before Tuesday night’s dress rehearsal.

senior claire lis, who plays rosemary pilkington, agreed.

“he came in at the first rehearsal and was thanking everyone and talking about how honored he was to be there,” she said.

“how to succeed in business without really Trying” opens at washington hall Thursday at 7:30 pm. Tickets can be purchased in the lafortune box office.

Contact Lesley Stevenson at lsteven1@nd.edu.

Nurse discusses assault treatment program

By SARAH SWIDERSKI news writer

s aint m ary’s students gained insight Tuesday into the workings of s exual a ssault nurse e xaminers ( sane s) during a talk with f rancine henley, sane program coordinator at s t. Joseph r egional medical c enter.

henley said the sane position developed approximately 30 years ago in response to the needs of sex-crime victims who were receiving insufficient treatment.

“d ifferent groups were doing research. … The biggest point that [victims] made was that they felt like they were being re-assaulted,” henley said. “[The victims] received no compassion.”

The response came in the

form of “pioneer nurses” who sought training to offer better care and to become better ex-

“A SANE often serves as a calming presence when someone seeks medical attention and walks with them throughout the examination.”

Connie Adams Belles Against Violence Office director

pert witnesses in the proceedings after an assault, henley said. sane s are employees of the u s d epartment of Justice.

“it was a bad situation to be in, but the sane nurse made

it better,” henley said. b elles a gainst v iolence o ffice director c onnie a dams said sane s contribute significantly to handling cases of sexual assault.

“ sane programs are incredibly valuable assets to communities,” a dams said. “ sane s deeply impact the lives of survivors of violence and their loved ones. a sane often serves as a calming presence when someone seeks medical attention and walks with them throughout the examination.”

sane s receive special training to learn how to properly perform a sexual assault exam and assist in the legal proceedings that often follow, henley said. a fter 40 hours of training, sane s fulfill follow-up requirements, such as

performing a certain amount of sexual assault exams, auditing a court case, riding

“Violence and abuse are a part of college communities across the country and they impact Saint Mary’s as well.”

Connie Adams Belles Against Violence Office director

along with law enforcement and visiting a crime lab.

“They train you in everything,” henley said, “They train you how to testify [and] what to wear in addition to [how to perform] the

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up enlivening all of our communities of faith,” b arrett said. “ w hen any of us feel renewed, recommitted, reenergized in our faith, and then we come together for m ass or to engage in service to the poor or to welcome the lonely, then the c hurch as a whole — and in each and every parish, or hall chapel — is renewed and re-energized.”

b arrett said the response to c ampus m inistry’s year of faith activities has been positive.

“ we’ve had good responses from residence halls who are following our themes when they plan events in the halls,” she said. “ f or example, back in n ovember when our theme was ‘ s acred p laces,’ several halls started g rotto walks in which groups of students walk over to the g rotto together to pray.”

d espite the successful programming across campus, b arrett said the year of faith is meant to focus on longterm faith development.

“ h owever, our hope was always for the year of faith to be quietly durable rather than splashy,” b arrett said. “ we hope that people take away from the year good habits of faith that remain with them for a long time.”

i nformation about past and upcoming activities for the year of faith can be found at campusministry.nd.edu.

Contact Catherine Owers at cowers@nd.edu

examination.”

i n addition to informing audience members about the nature of the work of sane s, a dams said the event intended to enable victims and friends of victims to act in an informed way in response to an assault.

“ v iolence and abuse are a part of college communities across the country and they impact s aint m ary’s as well,” a dams said. “p roviding education to women provides options. w hile attendees may not personally need the information, it can be invaluable to share with a friend or family member. women have the right to know what to expect and how to seek support.”

Contact Sarah Swiderski at sswide01@saintmarys.edu

next year’s sophomore class, according to the ticket’s website. its community outreach efforts will center on working with the robinson c ommunity l earning c enter and the s outh b end c enter for the homeless.

Andrew s toker, Cody Mason, Mary Grace Gallagher and d arby Mountford

The key to a ndrew stoker’s s ophomore c lass c ouncil ticket is communication, he said.

“o ne big goal for class council next year is to make sure everyone is informed about what we’re doing,” stoker said.

“i’d like to make a website listing all of our upcoming events as well as where to buy class apparel and how to contact c ouncil members.”

The group plans to organize recreational programming to promote class unity, such as an attempt to break a world record as a class. stoker said the success of this and other potential events will be driven by the ticket’s focus on making information easily accessible to members of its class.

“awareness for events is really important because the more people that go to an event, the more fun it is,” he said.

i f elected, the team would expand on class apparel, coordinate a class trip and plan class dances, stoker said. The group would use office hours

to garner other ideas from student feedback, according to the ticket’s website.

Margaret Mannix, Kellie Tomin, Peter noell and Theodore Cogan mannix’s ticket said it hopes to emphasize communication and inclusion by focusing on promoting community and academics and planning fun activities.

“o ur job is for our class to make a mark at this university and it starts with the students,” mannix said. “ we want to definitely increase discussion between classmates and the student government in order to hear their thoughts and wants so we can eventually implement policies that will benefit everyone.”

The group plans to solicit student feedback through surveys and bi-monthly meetings with residence halls, clubs and student s enate, mannix said. she said installing a redbox in the l a fortune student c enter would be one of the ticket’s first priorities.

e ach member of m annix’s ticket held executive positions in various activities in high school, have performed a collective 1,000 hours of community service and are involved in a number of extracurriculars at notre d ame, m annix said.

Tomin participates in notre dame mock Trial, c ogan is in g lee c lub, noell is in a rmy ro Tc and mannix participates

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in student i nternational business c ouncil and with the holy c ross c onvent at s aint mary’s, mannix said.

brandon faresch, Alex r izk, Mary Kate Vicenzi and Gloria Maciorowski brandon faresch’s ticket said it plans to focus on strengthening class spirit and unity if elected to be next year’s s ophomore c lass c ouncil leadership.

v ice presidential candidate a lex r izk said the ticket’s diverse interests position it well to serve the diverse class.

“Though we are a close knit group of friends, each of us has a personal passion we wish to execute if elected,” r izk said.

potential programming includes a c lass of 2016 c arnival on s outh q uad and a “p uppy pause” event, which would allow students to reduce stress by playing with local puppies once a month. They also intend to bring a “vast enhancement” to class apparel, r izk said. r izk said the team would be inspired to work hard in its leadership positions by the efforts of the class it would represent.

“ we promise that, if elected, we would put forth our best efforts in order to make the class and, most importantly, notre d ame a better place than when we found it,” r izk said. “o ur classmates work too hard for us not to match, or exceed, their enthusiasm

and passion in order to best serve them.”

Junior Class Council

e dward f lood, Alexander Kroeger, Allyson Kirst and s tephanie s cherer

e dward f lood said his Junior c lass c ouncil ticket is excited to bring new blood and new ideas into the c ouncil leadership.

w hile f lood and s cherer lack student government experience, Kroeger and Kirst have experience with hall councils. f lood said his own outgoing nature will be an important asset as a class leader.

“my strength is that i’m outgoing, and i know a decent amount of people on campus, so i’ll be in the know,” he said.

The ticket plans to host a class prom to bring the positive aspects of residence hall formals to a single event for all juniors, f lood said. The group also wants to expand the current c lass c ouncil study break events beyond finals weeks to help students deal with busy schedules throughout the semester.

They hope to set up bus shuttles to the i ndiana dunes s aturdays in the spring, f lood said, and they would hold an event similar to the national c olor run.

“ we want to have a charity 5K that’s actually a paint run, so students can have fun throwing paint at each other before working out for a great cause,” f lood said.

Olivia LaMagna, Caitlin s mith, briggs Hoyt and Martin Walsh

The l a magna ticket said it plans to improve the experience of next year’s junior class by making information about class and campus programming more accessible to students.

“ we want to make a more dominant online presence and plan bigger, better events,” walsh said.

w hile the ticket has preliminary ideas about potential programming, they hope to use student feedback to prioritize and allocate funds, walsh said.

“ we’re thinking a barn dance, a beach or ski trip and career-oriented speakers,” walsh said. “i nsert any dream events of the c lass of 2015 and we can make magic happen next year.”

walsh said his ticket has the skills and experience to serve next year’s junior class well.

“ we want to make sure your junior year is the best one yet,” walsh said. “o ur ‘dream team’ has the experience, the looks and the know-how to plan events that you’ll never want to miss.”

s enior Class Council

Carolina Wilson, Patrick Touhy, e lizabeth Gibbons and Michael nichols

The w ilson ticket hopes to provide a “fun, resourceful and meaningful” year for their senior class, w ilson said. The team would focus on fostering enjoyable and memorable semesters , as well as practical programming.

“ we hope to grow together as a class, ready to take on the world after graduation while never forgetting our home here at notre dame,” she said.

i f elected, w ilson said the group plans to expand free activities programming and on-campus resources for post-graduation preparation, including employment recruiters, c areer c enter connections and cooking classes.

a bove all, w ilson said her team hopes to “help seniors take their next step” in preparing for the transition from notre dame to the real world by providing opportunities for students to interact with the notre dame, s outh b end and national communities.

“ we want to give seniors a year that makes them feel excited to be a senior, ready for what lies ahead and humbled to be an active member of the notre dame community who is giving back at … a national level and in our local home,” she said.

Editor’s Note: Carolina Wilson is a news writer for The Observer.

Caroline Thompson, Carter Perrin, Peter diamond and Caroline Mungenast

The Thompson ticket said it hopes to enliven its class’s senior year experience with more class outings and a senior service project.

o ne of the major themes of the officers’ term would be making the last of their class’s college years a memorable experience, Thompson said.

“s ome of our ideas include a monthly bowling night or other events at s outh b end venues,” Thompson said. “o r, before a pep rally we could do a senior pep rally with a beer garden or some kind of tailgate — those kind of things.”

l eaving a legacy of service is equally important to the ticket’s platform, Thompson said.

“ we hope to collaborate with the b + foundation, which is an organization that raises money for patients and families dealing with childhood cancer,” Thompson said.

Thompson said her team’s past experience in student government and other extracurricular activities leaves it capable of serving next year’s senior class. Thompson has served on two c lass c ouncils and as vice president of r yan hall for two semesters, perrin served on s ophomore c lass c ouncil and on a student s enate committee, d iamond is the president of the e nvironmental c lub and mungenast was on freshman and s ophomore c lass c ouncils.

Rubio challenges Obama on immigration

Associated Press

washingTon — The w hite house on Tuesday sought to keep delicate immigration negotiations on track, as a key republican senator distanced himself further from a draft bill president barack obama’s aides are readying in case congressional talks crumble.

florida republican sen. marco rubio’s office said obama’s plan “injected additional partisanship into an already difficult process.”

The w hite house, following the weekend leak of its draft legislation, insisted the president wants the bipartisan senate group rubio is a member of to put forward its own bill instead.

obama spoke with rubio on Tuesday to reiterate his commitment to the senate process and to make clear that he had his own legislation ready, the w hite house said. The president also called republicans sens. lindsey graham of south carolina and John mccain of a rizona, two other gop lawmakers involved in the immigration negotiations.

“it is, by far, the president’s preference that the senate process move forward, that the bipartisan group of eight have success, and that they produce

a bill that wins the support of democrats and republicans in senate,” w hite house spokesman Jay carney said.

senate aides said privately Tuesday that bipartisan negotiations are in a good place and they did not feel as though the disclosure of details in obama’s draft bill would disrupt their process. in fact, obama’s backup bill could end up spurring gop lawmakers to rally behind a congressional plan with many similarities rather than support legislation attached to the president.

w hile they differ on some key details, both sides are contemplating legislation that would provide a pathway to citizenship for most of the 11 million illegal immigrants already in the u s., tighten border security, crack down on businesses that employ illegal workers and strengthen the legal immigration system.

rubio, a rising republican star and favorite of his party’s conservative wing, has particular incentive to publicly disavow obama’s proposals.

a s one of his party’s leading voices on immigration, rubio will be called on to sell other conservatives on any deal and he knows that doing so will be

harder if that deal has the president’s stamp on it. he’ll also have to convince republicans that a bipartisan senate agreement would be more conservative than what obama would propose on his own.

rubio’s office, trying to further distance itself from the w hite house, insisted Tuesday that the senator’s team had not been in talks with the administration on immigration. but rubio spokesman a lex conant later said that a representative from the senator’s office participated in five meetings with administration officials.

administration officials said they were willing to take hits from the florida lawmaker if doing so gave him the cover to work with senate democrats to reach a deal.

“as long as sen. rubio and the rest of the gang are making real progress on immigration reform, we are happy to be on the sidelines and even serve as a punching bag every once in a while,” dan pfeiffer, obama’s senior adviser, said.

The w hite house insisted it did not intentionally leak details of its immigration plan, which circulated widely at key government agencies. Top obama aides

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tried to clear up the mess over the weekend, sending apologetic emails to the offices of the eight senators, including rubio, at the center of the capitol hill negotiations.

obama officials say the documents represent draft proposals, not a final bill. The president and his aides have repeatedly said publicly that the w hite house was readying legislation and would submit it to congress if the senate process stalls.

The draft w hite house

proposal and the principles outlined by the senate group overlap in many areas, though there are some key differences.

The administration’s draft proposal would create a visa for those in the country illegally and allow them to become legal permanent residents within about eight years as part of a broader pathway to citizenship. The senate group is looking at a 10-year timeline before people already in the u s. illegally could get green cards.

m icrosoft set to unveil new outlook service

Asociated Press

san francisco — microsoft is so confident it has the internet’s best email service that it is about to spend at least $30 million to send its message across the u s

The barrage began Tuesday when microsoft’s twist on email, outlook.com, escalated an assault on rival services from google inc., yahoo inc., aol inc. and a long list of internet service providers.

as part of the process, all users of microsoft’s hotmail and other email services operating under different domains such as msn.com will be automatically converted to outlook.com by the summer, if they don’t voluntarily switch before then. a ll the old messages, contacts and settings in the old inboxes will be exported to outlook.com. users will also be able to keep their old addresses.

email remains a key battleground, even at a time when more people are texting each other on phones.

people still regularly check their inboxes, albeit increasingly on their smartphones. The recurring email habit provides internet companies a way to keep people coming back to websites. it gives people a reason to log in during their visits so it’s easier for email providers to track their activities. frequent visits and personal identification are two of the keys to selling ads, the main way most websites make money.

That’s why microsoft, google and yahoo have been retooling

their email services in recent months.

after keeping outlook.com in a “preview” phase since July 31, microsoft corp. is ready to accept all comers.

To welcome new users, microsoft is financing what it believes to be the biggest marketing blitz in the history of email. outlook.com will be featured in ads running on prime-time T v, radio stations, websites, billboards and buses. microsoft expects to spend somewhere between $30 million to $90 million on the outlook campaign, which will run for at least three months.

The outlook ads will overlap with an anti-gmail marketing campaign that microsoft launched earlier this month. The “scroogled” attacks depict gmail as a snoopy service that scans the contents of messages to deliver ads related to topics being discussed.

The gmail ads are meant to be educational while the outlook campaign is motivational, said dharmesh mehta, outlook.com’s senior director.

“we are trying to push people who have gotten lazy and comfortable with an email service that may not be all that great and help show them what email can really do for them,” mehta said. by microsoft’s own admission, hotmail had lost the competitive edge that once made it the world’s largest email service. The lack of innovation left an opening for google to exploit when it unveiled

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gmail nearly nine years ago. gmail is now the industry leader, although estimates on its popularity vary.

google says gmail has more than 425 million accountholders, including those that visit only on smartphones and other mobile devices. The latest data from research firm comscore, which doesn’t include mobile traffic, shows gmail with 306 million worldwide users through december, up 21 percent from the previous year. yahoo’s email ranked second with 293 million users, a 2 percent decrease from the previous year, followed by hotmail at 267 million users, a 16 percent decline. microsoft, which is based in redmond, wash., is counting on outlook.com to catapult the company back to the top of the email

heap. during the preview period, outlook attracted 60 million accountholders, including about 20 million that defected from gmail, according to microsoft. comscore listed outlook with 38 million users through december.

The new features being introduced in outlook include: the ability to send massive files, including hundreds of photos at a time, in a single email; address books that automatically update new contact information that connections post on facebook, Twitter and linkedin; and about 60 percent fewer ads than hotmail.

none of these features are revolutionary. google already has been giving its users the option to switch to a new version of gmail that also allows for larger files to be sent in a single email. and address books in gmail already

fetch new contact information posted on google plus, although it doesn’t yet mine facebook, Twitter and linkedin. g oogle declined to comment on outlook.com. The company, which is based in mountain v iew, calif., plans to convert all of its gmail users to its redesigned format within the next few months. yahoo, which is based in sunnyvale, calif. revamped its email service late last year in an effort to provide a more consistent experience on personal computers and mobile devices. o utlook.com is the latest in a series of major product leases from m icrosoft, which has been struggling to regain the cachet that once made it the world’s most valuable technology company.

environment and considers issues like fertilizer runoff and irrigation, she said.

today’s great, cutting-edge science with better communication skills.”

Tank described the program as a sort of “nursery school in communication skills” for scientists, named after prominent environmentalist a ldo leopold. she said the extensive application process included a series of essays meant to show a serious commitment to sharing research with the public.

“They want to keep the group very small because the program actually lasts for two years, starting with 10 days at a retreat center this summer,” Tank said.

“w hen you go back for the second year, you’ve had the chance to practice, so you can focus on honing those skills you learned in the first year.”

she said her specialty within ecology pertains directly to public policy as it relates to agriculture.

“i’m a freshwater ecologist, so i work on streams and rivers, mainly on nutrient cycling,” Tank said. “The work i’ve been doing recently has to do with how land use, like intensive agriculture, influences freshwater resources.”

Tank’s work focuses on finding a proper balance between the economic needs of farmers and the health of the

“you can’t protect the environment at the cost of the people who are supported by it, but you also can’t protect farmers at the expense of the environment,” she said.

Tank will learn communication skills through the fellowship that will help her better convey the product of her research with policymakers who can take action to approach this balance, she said.

“They really challenge you [through the fellowship] to see if you can relate the value of your research to the people who need to hear it, to see if you can give them a take-home message in a nutshell,” she said. “They’ll train you about print communication as well as various types of digital media, including the effective use of social network options like facebook and Twitter.”

Tank said she hopes to apply what she learns about communicating with the public to her work in the classroom.

“a ll the things that go into being a good teacher also go into the process of being a good communicator,” she said. “i’m excited about it, and i hope i can do notre dame proud.”

Contact Ann Marie Jakubowski at ajakubo1@nd.edu

Military leader resigns for personal reasons

Associated Press

washingTon — president barack obama is looking for a new candidate to lead american and allied forces in europe after his first choice, marine gen. John a llen, bowed out Tuesday and announced his intention to retire for what he called personal reasons.

The move further clouds the picture for obama as he repositions key figures on his national security team and in key military leadership roles. The w hite house is fighting for senate confirmation of chuck hagel as defense secretary; a confirmation vote was stalled last week by republicans but is expected to happen next week.

obama also is switching commanders at central command, which is responsible for u s. military operations throughout the greater middle east, and africa command.

after meeting with a llen at the w hite house, the president issued a brief statement praising a llen’s service. he called the 57-year-old a llen “one of america’s finest military leaders, a true patriot, and a man i have come to respect greatly.”

a llen appeared to be a shooin as the next top commander of allied forces in europe. obama nominated him last oct. 10, but in november, defense secretary leon panetta stunned many by announcing that a llen was being investigated for potentially inappropriate email exchanges with a florida socialite, Jill Kelley. panetta put a llen’s nomination on hold.

last month, shortly before a llen completed a 19-month tour as the top u s. commander in afghanistan, the pentagon announced that a llen had been cleared of any wrongdoing and the w hite house said it was prepared to re-nominate him for the europe job.

even so, it was not clear that a llen would choose to go ahead with a senate confirmation hearing, given the nature of the email probe.

a llen is held in high regard by democrats and republicans on the senate armed services committee, which would have voted on his appointment, and he was expected to win full senate confirmation. it came as no surprise to many on capitol hill when a llen was cleared of wrongdoing in the email probe, which several lawmakers had indicated was not as troublesome as some had initially suggested. The actual emails between a llen and Kelley were never made public.

one of hagel’s biggest detractors, sen. lindsey graham, r-s c., showered a llen with praise Tuesday, saying the nation owes him a great debt and “his leadership in the future will be

missed.”

a n iraq war veteran with a reputation as an astute strategist, a llen took over in Kabul in July 2011, succeeding gen. david petraeus, who quit to become cia director. a llen relinquished command feb. 10 to a fellow marine general, Joseph dunford.

a llen said retiring from the military was “the only choice i could make.” a lthough he did not explain his reasons in detail, he said “my primary concern is for the health of my wife, who had sacrificed so much for so long.” he served 38 years in the marine corps.

in retiring, a llen passed up obama’s offer to promote him to the europe job, which is one of the more prestigious jobs in the military. it carries the dual responsibilities of commanding naTo troops from allied headquarters in belgium and heading the u s european command, a separate organization based in germany.

The u s. has about 80,000 troops based in europe. it’s unclear who obama will nominate for that job. The current commander, navy adm. James stavridis, had planned to leave last year, but was asked to stay on until a llen could take over. he is expected to remain until a successor is confirmed.

army gen. carter ham might have been a logical choice, in part because he previously served as commander of all u s army forces in europe. but he is scheduled to retire this year. he currently serves as commander of u s africa command.

in a written statement Tuesday, a llen he wants to focus on helping his wife, Kathy, cope with health issues. he was not specific about her ailments, but The washington post quoted a llen on monday as saying that his wife suffers from a combination of chronic health issues that include an autoimmune disorder.

firm traces hacks to c hinese army

Associated Press

washing T on — a s public evidence mounts that the c hinese military is responsible for stealing massive amounts of u. s . government data and corporate trade secrets, the o bama administration is eyeing fines and other trade actions it may take against b eijing or any other country guilty of cyberespionage.

a ccording to officials familiar with the plans, the w hite house will lay out a new report wednesday that suggests initial, more-aggressive steps the u s . would take in response to what top authorities say has been an unrelenting campaign of cyberstealing linked to the c hinese government. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the threatened action.

The w hite house plans come after a v irginia-based cybersecurity firm released a torrent of details monday that tied a secret c hinese military unit in s hanghai to years of cyberattacks against u s companies. a fter analyzing breaches that compromised more than 140 companies, m andiant has concluded that they can be linked to the p eople’s l iberation a rmy’s unit 61398.

m ilitary experts believe the unit is part of the p eople’s l iberation a rmy’s cybercommand, which is under the direct authority of the g eneral s taff d epartment, c hina’s version of the Joint c hiefs of s taff. a s such, its activities would be likely to be

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authorized at the highest levels of c hina’s military.

The release of m andiant’s report, complete with details on three of the alleged hackers and photographs of one of the military unit’s buildings in s hanghai, makes public what u s . authorities have said less publicly for years. b ut it also increases the pressure on the u s . to take more forceful action against the c hinese for what experts say has been years of systematic espionage.

“i f the c hinese government flew planes into our airspace, our planes would escort them away. i f it happened two, three or four times, the president would be on the phone and there would be threats of retaliation,” said former fbi executive assistant director s hawn henry. “This is happening thousands of times a day. There needs to be some definition of where the red line is and what the repercussions would be.”

henry, now president of the security firm c rowd s trike, said that rather than tell companies to increase their cybersecurity the government needs to focus more on how to deter the hackers and the nations that are backing them.

James l ewis, a cybersecurity expert at the c enter for s trategic and i nternational s tudies, said that in the past year the w hite house has been taking a serious look at responding to c hina, adding that “this will be the year they will put more pressure on, even while realizing it will be hard for the c hinese to change. There’s not an on-off switch.”

China passes United States as world’s biggest trader, denies title

Associated Press

beiJ ing — c hina has a new status its government doesn’t want — world’s biggest trader.

official c hinese and a merican trade data indicate c hina passed the united states last year in total imports and exports by a margin of $3.866 trillion to $3.822 trillion. That is about $44 billion, or just over 1 percent of c hina’s total.

The commerce m inistry has taken the unusual step of publicly denying c hina is the new no. 1. it says c hina still trailed the u s. by $15.6 billion last year — or a razor-thin 0.3 percent — under world Trade organization standards for valuing goods.

beijing wants to be a global leader but insists it still is a poor country. it is wary of any change that might erode that status and fuel demands for action to stimulate the global economy or concessions on trade and climate change.

“i think there is some concern from the m inistry of commerce that this might be used as evidence by western countries that c hina is not doing its part to rebalance the global economy,” said Xianfang ren, c hina analyst for ihs global i nsight.

c hina’s explosive trade growth has abruptly altered global business. it created new opportunities for some but prompted complaints by the united states and others over its multibillion-dollar trade surpluses, market barriers and currency controls.

i n just five years, china has surpassed the united states as

a trading partner for much of the world, including a merican allies such as south Korea and australia, according to an a ssociated p ress analysis of trade data.

a s recently as 2006, the u s was the larger trading partner for 127 countries, versus just 70 for c hina. by 2011 the two had clearly traded places: 124 countries for c hina, 76 for the u s

Trade is especially sensitive amid anxiety over a possible global slowdown. beijing’s trading partners accused it of hampering a recovery from the 2008 crisis by obstructing access to its market.

for 2012, beijing reported a $231 billion global trade surplus on exports of $2.049 trillion and imports of $1.818

trillion. The united states reported $1.547 trillion in exports and $2.335 trillion in imports, for a deficit of $788 billion.

The commerce m inistry’s statement last week said a w To global trade report due out this month or in early march would recalculate those figures and should show c hina still no. 2. a lso, some commentators have questioned whether c hina’s trade data can be trusted because many companies are believed to misreport imports and exports to avoid taxes or get trade-related payments.

“of course, it is only a matter of time before c hina becomes no. 1,” said ren. behind the headline numbers, c hina and the united states are drastically different traders.

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c hina is the world’s low-cost factory, assembling most of its mobile phones, home appliances and other goods. but its factories need imported technology and components. much of the value of its exports flows to u s. and european technology suppliers and to producers of components in Japan, Taiwan, south Korea and southeast a sia.

That has meant surpluses a sian countries used to run with the united states were shifted to c hina’s column in u s. national accounts.

b y contrast, the united states uses its own technology and adds more value to goods such as jetliners and factory machinery. s o it keeps a bigger share of the value of its exports.

stock price jumps

Associated Press

san francisco — google’s stock price topped $800 for the first time Tuesday amid renewed confidence in the company’s ability to reap higher profits from its dominance of internet search and prominence in the growing mobile market.

The milestone comes more than five years after google’s shares initially hit $700. not long after breaking that barrier in october 2007, the economy collapsed into the worst recession since world war ii and google’s stock tumbled into a prolonged malaise that eventually led to a change in leadership. besides enriching google’s employees and other shareholders, the company’s resurgent stock is an implicit endorsement of co-founder larry page. he replaced his managerial mentor, eric schmidt, as ceo in april 2011. google’s stock has risen by 36 percent since page took over. by contrast, the benchmark standard & poor’s 500 index has climbed by 15 percent over the same stretch. most of google’s gains have occurred in the past seven months — a period that has overlapped with a sharp downturn in the stock price of rival apple inc. The iphone maker’s market value has plunged by about $230 billion, or 35 percent, since late september.

“all that apple money had to go somewhere,” said bgc financial analyst colin gillis.

standard & poor’s capital iq analyst scott Kessler concurred, reasoning that many investors who have abandoned apple are gravitating to one of its biggest rivals.

google makes and distributes its free android software to samsung electronics co., hTc corp. and other mobile device makers looking to compete with apple’s iphone and ipad. since its 2008 introduction, android has established itself as the most popular mobile operating system, partly because the free software makes it easier for device makers to undercut apple’s prices for iphones and ipads.

android is set up to feature google’s search engine and other services, giving the company a chance to sell more ads.

“if you are looking at apple’s peers in its space and see who seems to be really doing well right now, it makes a lot of sense to invest in google now,” Kessler said. despite its diminished luster, apple remains the most valuable u s. company with a market value of $432 billion. google now ranks third with a market value of $266 billion, with exxon mobil corp. holding the spot in between at $402 billion.

my pet peeves

recently in an interview, they asked me what my pet peeves were and why they bothered me. i figured i’d share my responses with you, since you may feel the same way about them and because i was on a deadline to get this inside column written.

The first one was simple: slow walkers. it gets pretty frustrating when you are walking down south quad and the people in front of you are walking at the pace of a snail. let it be known that i do appreciate those who take in their surroundings and take some time to breathe in the cold, crisp winter air, but when you are dragging your feet and taking up the entire sidewalk with your group of friends, it can really bog a girl down. either way, this was only the foundation. The real pet peeve was the icing on the cake. Texting during meals. man, do i sound old, but take a second to hear me out. if i am going with someone to a meal, why do they have to be connected with selected members of their social network on their phone? i can understand if you are awaiting an important email, call or snapchat (level of importance debatable), but if we are sitting together, why can’t we have a conversation without frequent texting interruptions?

more recently, my friends and i have realized that our phones were keeping us from some great conversation. we attempted to remedy this by stacking all of our phones in a pile in the middle of the table. Therefore, when someone’s phone would buzz we wouldn’t know whose it was. we could talk about the interesting music selection in south dining hall or why the squirrels here are so domesticated. This tactic actually started to really impact our daily conversations. a s tempting as it was to reach for our phones, we soon became more immersed in discussion of past embarrassing stories or what our current favorite harlem shake video is. our conversations became present and progressive, rather than being blocked by the constant iphone email checks, status updates and group texts.

some of you will hate the idea of getting off your phone. some may try it. it gets fun if you take this into a bar setting and challenge each other not to check your phones the entire time there. you could wager a drink and see who loses. either way, i encourage you to chat it up a bit more. with the semester coming close to spring break, we will realize too late that our time here is limited. we don’t have much time physically together but we will always be connected through social networking later, so lay the phone down and get chatting.

Contact Steph Wulz at swulz@nd.edu

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

Faith, pope and love

i awoke feb. 11 with several exams and tests later that week. i shared the same sense of shock many of us felt in hearing pope benedict X vi had announced his resignation from the papacy. The first thought that came to my mind was that this must have been some kind of joke. i then checked several other news sites confirming the information that i had just read. a fter receiving validation from multiple sites, my second thought was, “he can’t resign. That has to be illegal.”

a fter stepping back and realizing the ability of a pope to resign is not a matter of legality, i was still troubled by the pope’s announcement. i can’t help but think of the causations and implications of such a move. w hile i do not have all the questions answered in my own head of the pope’s resignation, i hope to shed some light on his humbling and difficult decision to step down from his role.

from my brief research on the resignation, it is evident that pope benedict’s announcement hinted that he has had some kind of health complications. This is the prevalent belief of most observers of the recent announcement, and seems to be a plausible and likely cause considering his mid-80s age. many people i have talked to believe that the pope stepping down due to poor health is a wise and humbling decision for the pope to make. These peers of mine reason that since pope benedict X vi

has prayerfully discerned he will not be able to lead the c hurch as it needs to be led, then his resignation is admirable. my question is why no other popes have done this. i n recent history, all of our popes have died serving g od as leader of the c hurch. These popes were not young, healthy men at the time of their deaths, but instead suffered from failing health leading up to their deaths. w hile i know the pope must be undergoing immense suffering, i am concerned that his decision might be confusing to many of us. There are many people throughout the world that suffer amid the jobs, roles and vocations g od has placed them in. a re we all at times of hurt, pain, suffering, declining health, or times where we lose the vigor and ability we once had supposed to step down, to give up?

i think not. i think we are supposed to have the faith, the hope and the love for our benevolent and merciful g od to turn to his son Jesus c hrist, to his suffering and his teachings, and to ask the holy spirit for guidance in our lives. we should use our pain and suffering, whether it be emotional pain, physical pain, the loss of a loved one or a perpetual ailment, to draw us closer to g od and the suffering Jesus went through on the road to c alvary. w hile easier said than done, this is what i wanted my pope to have announced feb. 11.

i wanted him to tell the world that he knows his health is dwindling, that he knows he has lost the strength he once has and that his abilities have been weakened.

i wanted him to tell the world that

he has the immense faith to turn to the father, the s on and the holy spirit to ask for their support, knowing that his inabilities, that his weaknesses, that his declining health will be transformed into ability, strength and a renewed vigor to serve as the leader of the roman catholic c hurch for the rest of the time he has left here on earth.

yet, i also realize that i cannot make that judgement or second guess our most humble pope benedict, who undoubtedly has been in deep prayer and discernment regarding this decision. i know that pope benedict, as hard as it is for me to understand, did pray to our heavenly father, who is guiding him during this perplexing time not only for our pope but for our c atholic c hurch. a s others have pointed out to me in my struggle with his decision, g od may bring in the next pope just at the right time. g od may have a plan far beyond the eyes of what we can see, and i strongly believe that he does. i do pray for our pope, for our c hurch leaders and the catholic c hurch through this transitional period, that we will remain rooted and united in our faith as we move forward as the body of c hrist. may this humbling act of faith from pope benedict be a catalyst for all of us to becoming stronger in our faith, steadfast in our love and unwavering in our hope.

Carter Boyd is a freshman studying science-business. He can be reached at cboyd1@nd.edu

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

LeTTer TO THe ediTOr

A standard for celebrities

m r. schietinger, i agree with the main argument presented in your article “i nnocent until proven guilty?” ( feb. 19). however, i absolutely do not believe that the case of the murder of reeva steenkamp is an example of such attacks. you and i may be reading different newspapers, but almost all of the coverage i’ve read — including articles in The guardian, The new york Times, and The washington post — have not “rushed to judge and attack” oscar p istorius.

on the contrary, following the event i have read descriptions of p istorius as a hero and an inspiration. a new

york Times article attempts to explain his actions as resulting from being an “adrenaline freak” and “not as cautious as he always should be,” while also saying that this event was a tragedy for p istorius.

This might be disturbing in itself. Though p istorius has not been convicted of any crime, he has a documented history of domestic abuse against steenkamp and other women. describing p istorius in such a way is extremely representative of our culture’s perception of domestic violence, as are the descriptions of Jovan belcher as a “family man” following his murder of

his girlfriend Kasandra perkins. w hat is even more disturbing than the media lauding p istorius is their treatment of reeva steenkamp. i n a washington post article, the first sentences that talk about her at all call her a “leggy blonde” known for her “bikiniclad, vamping photo spreads.” reeva steenkamp is a murder victim and does not deserve to have her actions shamed and criticized. many articles barely mention steenkamp, focusing instead on p istorius’ “fall from grace.” i would like to point out that your article did not mention her name once. because these celebrities, as you

argue, are not morally different from regular people, i say we should hold them to the same standard as anyone else. a nd for anyone else, shooting and killing someone would not be excused by a person’s affinity for adrenaline. domestic violence and the way it is addressed in popular discourse is a huge problem in our society. This case is a prime example of that.

Obama’s manufacturing solution

for the past four years, a mericans have been waiting for the solution to the economy they thought would have come sooner. four years ago, in his first state of the union address, p resident b arack obama said that a mericans had to “answer history’s call” in the light of a potential “second depression.” This time, as he entered the house chamber and looked in the television cameras for a fifth time, he focused on the idea that creating middle class jobs must be the “north star that guides our (economic) efforts.” w hile there are many important issues that face this country, i was pleased that the president brought up manufacturing. he said that washington must “guarantee that the next revolution in manufacturing is made in a merica.” w ith the republicans reeling and looking to find support, obama must strike a bipartisan agreement on the fiscal issues facing this country. now is the time for c ongress to finally make a merica a “magnet for jobs and manufacturing.”

Though there have been signs of erosion, the a merican manufacturing industry is still one of the largest in the world. a January 2012 c ongressional research s ervice report found that a merica’s share of global manufacturing activity has decreased in recent years. c hina’s manufacturing sector is almost as large as in the united states, valued at $1.814 trillion and $1.756 trillion respectively. i n d ecember 2012, the manufacturing sector made modest gains

in manufacturing activity and factory hiring. o ne of the common arguments related to manufacturing thrown around recently is that a merican companies are outsourcing jobs to other countries because their labor laws allow manufacturing operations to be more profitable. however, this is not as big of an issue as most a mericans think it is. a s the bureau of l abor statistics has found, the effect of outsourcing has been minimal. i n the third quarter of 2012, when more than 100,000 workers were laid off, firms told bls that less than 1 percent of these workers had their jobs moved to another country. a n article from The a tlantic reported that a merican companies are seeing the economic benefits of keeping jobs in a merica and have, in fact, started to “insource” jobs. c hina’s foxconn, the c hinese manufacturing giant, is actually planning on increasing their operations in the united states. a merican companies are realizing the benefits of keeping jobs in the united states, which will limit the effect that outsourcing will have on the economy. o n the other hand, what’s preventing companies from producing in the united states is the attractiveness of production in other countries. part of the issue is that the value of the dollar made producing goods in the united states less attractive than other countries with cheaper labor and production costs and lower marginal tax rates. i f a merica wants to become more competitive in this regard, the federal government must be willing to create a plan that provides subsidies and “lowers tax rates for businesses and manufactures that (will) create jobs right here in a merica.” This would help reduce the costs

of production in the u s ., which would make companies more willing to attract new jobs without having to reduce workers’ salaries.

o ne point that p resident obama has been stressing is that increasing our focus on alternative energy will make a merica a stronger manufacturing country. according the d epartment of e nergy, in august 2012 the wind sector was employing “75,000 a merican workers, including workers at manufacturing facilities up and down the supply chain, as well as engineers and construction workers who build and operate the wind farms.” people are now feeling the benefits of alternative energy manufacturing. o n top of providing jobs, it will help a mericans save money on energy consumption. This is the direction the manufacturing sector is going. i f we fail to recognize the importance of alternative energy, a merica will fall behind.

manufacturing is what has driven a merica over the past century. i f we plan to give up on manufacturing, we are throwing the future of this country away. but words can only go so far. This plan will not completely revive the a merican car industry or the steel industry. w hile it’s not complete, p resident obama’s plan will make a merican manufacturing industry more competitive that it is today so that we can be authors of the next great chapter in our a merican story.

This column originally ran in the Feb. 13 edition of Michigan Daily, serving the University of Michigan.

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

“Young Man in America” — Anais Mitchell i gushed in a previous article about my love of anais mitchell (my review of her 2010 album “hadestown,” to which i gave five out of five shamrocks). her 2012 album “young man in america” does not disappoint either. The narrative lyrics are influenced by the recession and uncertainty in modern america, mitchell says, and her unique girlish voice brilliantly expressed these words and interweaves the songs’ beautiful harmonies.

“barton Hollow” — The Civil Wars

This song starts on a memorable note, keeping a strong foot-stomping beat throughout. The harmonies between John paul white and Joy williams are impeccable, filled with emotion, heart and just the right amount of twang. (no wonder adele has said they are the best live group she has seen in concert.)

“Please read the Letter” — robert Plant and Alison Krauss rock god robert plant and bluegrass/folk queen alison Krauss? who ever thought that would be a good pairing? i know that’s what you’re thinking, but believe me, it works. oh so well. Just look at the all of the grammys their album “raising sand” and its single “gone, gone, gone (done moved on)” won. six. That’s right. siX.

“Talking empty bed blues”— Jay farrar, Will Johnson, Anders Parker and Yim Yames

i came across the “new multitudes,” an album consisting solely of woody guthrie covers, just by happenstance. but i am so glad i did. The album honors the 100th anniversary of the birth of folk god woody guthrie, putting new spins on his legendary songs in a variety of genres.

“for the roses” — Joni Mitchell

i think Joni mitchell has one of the most beautiful voices. it’s pure, honest and unabashed. and it’s backed by a unique playing style on the guitar and deeply introspective lyrics. This song professed her ensuing period of absence from the music business and the demands of fame.

“everything is Moving so fast” — Great Lake swimmers

The great lake swimmers have a way of evoking an atmosphere of openness and peacefulness in their music with echoing vocals and acoustic instruments. you can’t help

but feel enticed to go for an afternoon walk in the woods and breathe in the great outdoors.

“dearest forsaken” — iron and Wine

This song has an old-style feel about it, from the twangy intonation of the acoustic guitar to the rough vocals. it’s featured on iron and wine’s compilation album of b-sides and rarities that make you feel like you were dropped down in the middle of a scene from “o’ brother, where art Thou?”

“star Witness” — neko Case neko case has one of those voices you’ll never forget, which makes the poignant and melancholy lyrics of “star witness” all the more effective. There are so many layers to this track — acoustic and electric guitars, harmonies from neko, gentle and steady drums, cello and much more. and if you’ve got the time, check out the youTube cover by canadian students Kate macdonald and Janelle blanchard.

“Just a boy” — Angus & Julia stone

This song from the brother and sister duo from australia has a beautiful simplicity about it. no flashiness or special effects — just pure and plain melodies, relatable lyrics, piano and some harmonica thrown into the mix that make for a charming tune.

“if i Had a boat” — James Vincent McMorrow

i just have to start out by saying that i love this song. The track begins with haunting a capella vocals before gliding into the ethereal and enticing body of the song, filled with piano, banjo, beautiful backing vocals and expressive guitar. James vincent mcmorrow’s voice has a slight roughness that brings out a depth of emotion that pulls you right in from the get go.

“Place to be” — nick drake

Though nick drake tragically passed away at an early age, the brief time that he spent making music has left a lasting legacy. he almost never performed live, which led to his lack of fame during his lifetime. it’s a shame that more people didn’t experience his genius in a live setting. his songs feature intricate, nonstandard rhythms and alternative tunings that practically set his music in a category of its own. This, along with lyrics inspired by british writers and symbols from nature, make for a mystical musical pairing.

“ship Out On the sea” — The be Good Tanyas

i just had to round off the playlist with a track from this canadian all-girls group. Their old-fashioned bluegrass style is sure to satisfy your folk cravings.

Contact Lizzy Schroff at eschro01@saintmarys.edu

By CLAIRE STEPHENS scene writer

Keough Hall rector Fr. Pete McCormick has talents that can be applied in many places: in the Church, in the dorm, in Campus Ministry — and on the dance floor. McCormick juggles the roles of priest, rector and collar poppin’ disc jockey. Born and raised in Grand Rapids, Mich., he earned his Master’s of Divinity at Notre Dame, spent some time as an assistant rector in Dillon Hall and is currently rector of Keough Hall and Associate Director of Vocations. But to those who love to hit the late-night dancing scene, he’s DJ McSwish.

Claire Stephens: Why DJ McSwish?

fr. pete mccormick: The name comes from one of my favorite basketballs, called mccormick swish. w hen i was a kid growing up, my dad would always write mccormick on our basketballs so we’d know whose basketball it was. one day i needed positive energy and wrote swish under it. my friend l enny del orenzo, [director] at notre dame v ision, saw it and said “mcswish,” which was coined as a result. he and i dJed at l egends together last semester: he’s dJ mad hatter.

CS: When did you first start to DJ?

fpm : it started when i was growing up. my family would play “name that Tune” a lot, and i would lead because i had the biggest music library. it started as a joke when a cousin said “you should dJ my wedding.” so the rest is history. i was always waiting for my first

chance because i love to do it. i love to know what’s new and current, just to see how music progresses over the years. i’ve always loved it. i’ve dJed probably five weddings in my time as a priest, and i’m open to future possibilities as well. i think it’s really an opportunity to anticipate people’s needs and give people a chance to just have fun. it gives me an opportunity to help others as well.

CS: What events have you done at Notre Dame? What were they like?

fpm : l enny del orenzo and i dJed together at the end of notre dame v ision. There’s a celebration at the end, and we would dJ that as a way to cap off the summer. so when i received a phone call from the programming coordinator at legends asking if i wanted to dJ, i needed a co-dJ and l enny was totally on board with it. w hen you dJ, it’s like “how am going to play music for four hours?” it’s one thing to listen versus being intentional. you have to do it three minutes at a time. it’s a little daunting at first. you have to figure out what’s the group dynamic, what are they going to respond to and am i going to have enough of that music

CS: What is the most common reaction you get to your hobby?

fpm : people just don’t believe it. This coming fall — and i’ve done this in the past — i’ve done the wedding then dJed it later that night. There’s a [notre dame] couple i knew while they were here that i’m going to marry in october, and they called up and asked if i’d dJ their wedding. it gives me something to do at the

reception. There’s not much to do as a priest, and it allows me to be actively engaged in some level, and i very much enjoy it. i love it.

CS: What kind of music do you play?

fpm : That morning i dJed, i was asking folks what music people like, and they gave me some ideas. i went online and mined songs from the past two years, some “hot 100” stuff that i thought would work. l enny and i were collaborating on this: what’s the mood of the group, what song do we think is going to work, what do we try to shift into, then we play the song and see what happens. it’s always a bit of a nerve-wracking thing. a re people going to react or walk off the dance floor? you keep people engaged by playing a mixture of songs to keep every person engaged in some level. you can’t play all new stuff. you have to throw some old school stuff people enjoy too. i think of it as a big puzzle, and that’s why i enjoy dJing so much.

CS: What is your favorite kind of music?

fpm : country. i love country music, but i grew up listening to a lot of 90s rap. i have an appreciation for hip hop and top 40 stuff, but my greatest admiration is for country music, by and large. being aware of music and what people are listening to is a way into their lives. people get passionate about certain things and, if music is one of them, you can enter into conversation into other things going on in their lives. it’s one way of staying current and aware and to have that level of connection with people.

Contact Claire Stephens at cstephe4@nd.edu

By COURTNEY COX scene editor

last friday, i visited -chicago’s bank of america Theatre for a performance of “The book of mormon,” but i admittedly knew very little going into it. i knew it would be about mormons and that “south park” creators Trey parker and matt stone wrote the musical — but that’s about it. when the performance began, it became immediately evident that the show would maintain the borderline offensive style of social criticism characteristic of “south park.”

The opening number is a play on the traditional door-todoor method of conversion with several young mormon men wearing the now-recognizable uniform of a shortsleeved button down and tie. The men are completing their training at the church of latter day saints (lds) training center in utah before they begin their two-year missions abroad.

elder price, the show’s handsome second coming of mormon prophet Joseph smith, has been praying to god for years that he may be sent to the happiest place on earth to fulfill his mission — orlando.

instead, elder price is sent to the beautiful paradise of uganda. and to make matters worse, his mission partner is the most maladjusted of all other elders within the group, elder cunningham.

price, despite this disappointment, believes he is meant for great things and certainly will make great strides with the lds mission in africa. he comes to realize, however, that the ugandan people are much less receptive to the Third Testament than he had thought.

price begins to doubt himself and the possibility of making a change, so he confides in the other mormons in uganda with him. They understand where he’s coming from but sing a hilariously depressing song about “turning off” these negative feelings.

They find conversion much more difficult than they initially expected because of the more impending problems that the ugandans face like aids, a violent warlord threatening the village and abject poverty.

success comes for the mormons only when elder cunningham begins to make his own adjustments to the traditional teachings of the church. This causes elder price to become increasingly jealous and what ensues is nothing short of inspired.

The major strength of the play is its ability to combine an apt criticism of organized religion with the lyrically rich songs created by parker, stone and their partner robert lopez, co-writer of “avenue q.” despite some inappropriate themes and language, the show never offends unnecessarily. Typically, off-shoot productions have a cast marginally less talented than the original broadway show, and

admittedly i didn’t see the show on broadway, but i can’t imagine the cast being much better than what i saw in chicago.

ben platt, who plays the lovable elder cunningham, may be recognizable to audiences from his role as the equally awkward but charming benji in this fall’s “pitch perfect.” The ensemble who worked together as ugandan villagers were beyond incredible at delivering the most humorous moments of the play through song. The performance is definitely worth a trip to the windy city — hop on the south shore to enjoy the show soon, which will be in chicago until september. “The book of mormon” is sure to intrigue and entertain a notre dame audience.

Contact Courtney Cox at ccox3@nd.edu

“The Book of Mormon”

Theatre: Bank of America Theatre, Chicago

Dates: Through Sept. 8, 2013

Tickets: $45-$115

There’s nothing like baseball

baseball is synonymous with the seasons.

it is not summer — it is the regular season. it is not fall — it is m r. o ctober and m r. november. it is not winter — it is the offseason. it is not spring because p unxsutawney phil says it is — it is spring because pitchers and catchers reported.

yes, the best time in sports is here again, and everyone should be excited that baseball is back because baseball is more a merican than g eorge washington eating apple pie on the back of an eagle.

The nfl can have the title of a merica’s favorite sport because baseball is, and always will be, a merica’s pastime. but what does it mean to be a pastime?

i f you g oogle “pastime,” you get the following definition: “a n activity that someone

5:17 p.m. every night game, took exactly 150 ground balls during warm-ups and wrote the hebrew word “chai,” which means life, in the batter’s box before every at-bat. it’s hard to argue with two g old g loves and a .328 career batting average. There are strict routines to be followed, there are celebrations that must be observed and there are, of course, slump busters. mark grace and Jason giambi can attest to that. The compulsive tendencies in everyone feel at home when watching baseball.

baseball is an extraordinary, average person’s sport. w here else do you get to see an athlete with incredible physique, like pablo “Kung f u panda” s andoval, compete at the highest level of his or her respective sport? a thletes come in all shapes and sizes, from fun-sized d ustin pedroia to bean stalk r andy Johnson. The diversity of the athletes

Everyone should be excited that baseball is back because baseball is more American than George Washington eating apple pie on the back of an eagle.

does regularly for enjoyment rather than work.”

many things fit into this classification, including g oogling, finger painting, stamp collecting, model building or even watching football or basketball, but describing baseball as a pastime implies more than that.

baseball encompasses a culture unlike that of any other sport.

no other sport can match the quirks and traditions of baseball. every fan is a statistician. stats are thrown around like a ping-pong ball on the weekends. There are, of course, the traditional stats and the eye test to judge players, but whip s, dips , lips and even vorps are also used to judge players performances ( walks+ h its/i nnings p itched, d efense i ndependent p itching stats, l ate-i nning p ressure situations, value o ver replacement player).

i n no other sport are fans so caught up in the statistics of the game. b aseball is just engaging in that way.

a nd if you are not a stats fan, then maybe you are a superstitious fan. superstitious tendencies in baseball, which make voodoo look tame, are commonplace. wade b oggs, for example, ate the same meal before every game, took batting practice at precisely

Kentucky struggles to find way without Noel

Associated Press

humiliated Kentucky seeks redemption in its second postnerlens noel outing.

Kentucky is entering a stretch of nearly must-win games and can’t afford another embarrassing performance like the w ildcats had against Tennessee. in the w ildcats’ first contest after losing their freshman center for the season with a knee injury, the volunteers thumped Kentucky 88-58.

The w ildcats (17-8, 8-4 southeastern conference) will host vanderbilt (10-14, 4-8) wednesday looking to show they can win without noel — sidelined after tearing his left anterior cruciate ligament a week ago.

coach John calipari said Tuesday without the nation’s leading shot-blocker, the w ildcats will have to change their defensive strategy to prevent opponents from getting to the basket. he is also hoping the loss leads to the commitment and cohesion Kentucky needs to make a tournament run.

said. “you have to change a little bit of how you’re defending, which we are.”

had just two assists in the two games before Tennessee.

appeals to people everywhere. not all baseball players are elite physical specimens; they are p rince fielder and ichiro suzuki and yadier molina. a ll future hall of famers, but not all the same blueprint. There is a baseball player (or at least a closer) out there for every person. There are oddballs like brian w ilson. There are intense guys like Jose valverde. There are class acts like mariano r ivera. a nd there are guys everyone loves to hate like b yung-hyun Kim (maybe that’s just me). baseball is a sport we can all relate to. but then again, maybe the tradition holds your attention. baseball is a storyteller. from baseball’s first official rules in 1846 made by the Knickerbockers to the poststeroid era, there are countless stories on and off the field of why baseball is steadfastly in the fiber of the a merican flag. baseball is incredible because it offers a little bit of everything for everybody.

s o dust off your hat, grab yourself a dog and a drink, sit back and relax — baseball is

Contact Isaac Lorton at ilorton@nd.edu

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

“maybe we were a little shocked,” Kentucky guard Jarrod polson said of their initial game without noel. “i mean, we didn’t realize how much he affected things on the defensive end.

“but we’re trying to get over it, see what kind of defense we can do now without him. i think we’re going to have a good scheme.”

w hile calipari didn’t expect 7-foot freshman w illie cauley-stein to seal off the rim as well as the 6-10 noel, the coach didn’t think the change would result in Tennessee outscoring Kentucky 40-22 in the paint and outrebounding the w ildcats 39-21.

calipari wants cauley-stein to become more forceful inside, but he’s also urging players to sacrifice themselves more and take more charges in an attempt to slow opponents’ hopes of exploiting the w ildcats inside.

“it’s a big change,” calipari

Personal

UNPLANNED PREGNANCY?

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w hile vanderbilt expects less resistance inside without noel, the commodores are still wary of cauley-stein. his four blocks and eight rebounds in the w ildcats’ 60-58 win in nashville on Jan. 10 were each one better than the highly touted noel, who had 13 points including the decisive basket.

The two big men started and played extensive minutes together in that first game against vanderbilt. This time, if a lex poythress or even a rchie g oodwin improve their defensive play and provide some support for cauley-stein, he could be more of a presence on wednesday.

“cauley-stein’s still a great player and he’s obviously long, he’s athletic and definitely makes up for some of that loss,” vanderbilt junior forward rod odum said. “i think they’re going to look a little different than last time. i’m not sure what way, but i think it’ll be a little bit different.”

one of the major changes Kentucky needs to be successful has to come at the point guard position, which has been an issue all season. sophomore ryan harrow seemed to be getting a grip on the position when league play started but

That led to polson making his first collegiate start in harrow’s place against the volunteers and the junior finished with a career-high 11 points. but the distribution void continued, with harrow and polson combining for no assists and two turnovers.

calipari stressed that that’s where more aggressiveness is needed. he didn’t have to tell polson, who knows he must improve.

“we didn’t play well at all,” said polson, projected to make his second straight start. “we’re just trying to get better and trying to push the ball more.”

calipari’s main hope is that saturday’s loss finally drives home his points about consistent energy, execution and communicating. none of that happened against the vols and the coach suggested afterward that part of the problem was a couple of “uncoachable” players hindering the process — though he didn’t mention names.

he backtracked Tuesday, saying “uncoachable” was used in the context of what’s said on the bench during games. maybe, but it succeeded in getting the w ildcats’ attention as they enter an important stretch run.

William Howard Taft was not only the heaviest U.S. president, but also the last to sport facial hair.

In 2009, researchers at Newcastle University’s Centre for Life said eating a bacon sandwich can help cure a hangover.

Southern sea otters have flaps of skin under their forelegs that act as pockets. When diving, they use

these pouches to store rocks and prey.

Naperville Central High School near Chicago, is the only high school in America with an Egyptian mummy.

Beanie Babies were such a craze in the 1990s that even struggling MLB teams used them to sell out home games.

Oladipo powers No. 1 Indiana against Spartans

Associated Press

eas T lansing , m ich. —

v ictor o ladipo shook off a sprained left ankle with a spectacular performance to lift top-ranked i ndiana to a 72-68 win over no. 4 m ichigan state on Tuesday night.

o ladipo’s go-ahead putback, dunk and free throws in the final minute gave him 19 points to go along with nine rebounds, five steals and a block. not bad for a guy who didn’t play after halftime of his previous game, just three days earlier, because of the injury.

hoosiers coach Tom c rean insisted that the junior shooting guard “wasn’t even close” to 100-percent healthy.

“There’s no doubt his foot hurt,” c rean said. “That mind was right, and that was the biggest thing.”

i ndiana (24-3, 12-2 big Ten) broke a first-place tie in the conference — with four games left in the regular season — and moved a step closer toward earning top seeding next month in the ncaa tournament.

“it was a huge win for us,” o ladipo said. “ we’ve come a long way.”

The hoosiers had lost 17 straight — since 1991 — on the road against the spartans.

“most of those guys weren’t

alive,” c rean said. “it didn’t affect them.”

m ichigan state (22-5, 11-3) blew opportunities at the line.

Trailing by three with 3.7 seconds left, h arris was fouled

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on a 3-point attempt. he missed the first one — setting off sighs in the sold-out arena — and after making the second, he deliberately missed the third.

i ndiana got the rebound — o ladipo grabbed it, of course — and he hit two free throws to seal the win.

“ we were right there,” g ary h arris said somberly. “a nd, we could’ve won.”

Keith a ppling had missed the front end of a one and one with a little more than a minute left.

“i’d say i was more upset than surprised,” he said.

c ody Zeller had 17 points — nearly doubling what he had in the previous matchup against m ichigan state — while Jordan hulls and c hristian watford scored 12 each for the hoosiers.

o ladipo and Zeller went over the 1,000-point mark of their careers in the game, joining hulls and watford in the club, to give the storied program four players with that many points on the same team for the first time.

“They’ve got a lot of weapons,” i zzo said. “They’ve got a lot of experience.”

h arris, i ndiana’s m r. b asketball last year, missed a layup in a crowded lane with 16 seconds left and finished with 19 points. a dreian p ayne scored 17 and the rest of their teammates struggled offensively.

a ppling, m ichigan state’s leading scorer, was held to six points on 1-of-8 shooting.

“my quarterback struggled a little bit,” i zzo said.

branden dawson had eight points and d errick nix scored eight and some of his contributions offensively late in the game looked like they were going to help the school win

its second game in the regular season against a no. 1 team. nix made a go-ahead shot — after grabbing rebounds off two of his misses — to put m ichigan state ahead 64-63 lead with 3:08 left and scored again in the post on its next possession.

h arris made one of two free throws with 1:38 remaining to give the spartans a gamehigh, four-point lead.

watford responded with a three-point play on the ensuing possession to pull i ndiana within a point and oladipo did the rest.

m ichigan state had won five straight and 11 of 12 with its only loss during the stretch at i ndiana. i n last month’s fivepoint loss at i ndiana, oladipo had 21 points, seven rebounds, six steals and three blocks.

The rematch marked the first time two top-five teams have met at the breslin c enter. it was the third matchup of top-four teams in college basketball this season — the second for i ndiana, which beat then top-ranked m ichigan — and was just the fourth with a pair of big Ten teams since 1997.

“nothing rattles us too much,” Zeller said.

The highly anticipated and hyped game lived up to the billing with end-to-end action, scrambles for loose balls, 3-point shots, blocks in the lane and plenty of physical play.

a nd, a banged-up o ladipo was the star of the showdown.

“o ladipo is just a refuse-tolose guy,” i zzo said. “ w inning time, he made the plays.”

Players don’t trust Goodell, Foxworth says

Associated Press

new yorK — union leader domonique foxworth says nfl players don’t trust commissioner roger goodell because of the saints bounty case, in particular.

The nflpa president added he wouldn’t be able to persuade players to have faith in the league even if he wanted to.

speaking on a conference call Tuesday, days before union representatives meet with nfl officials at the scouting combine in indianapolis, foxworth returned to a theme he stressed at the nflpa’s pre-super bowl news conference.

“it’s pretty obvious that there’s a gap in what would be a reasonable amount of trust ...” foxworth said. “There’ve been a number of events to lead players to believe they cannot trust the league.

“There was a bridge beginning to be built and then there were some recent events that kind of broke that bridge again.”

foxworth said the players are seeking checks and balances such as a neutral arbitrator to improve relations between the union and league. he cited the bounties and how former

commissioner paul Tagliabue was not “unbiased.”

yet Tagliabue made the final decision that tossed out the suspensions of four players.

“w hen things like that happen,” the former defensive back said of Tagliabue’s appointment by goodell, “it’s hard for our players to believe that the league has their best interests in mind. a nd that makes it harder for me to do my job, and for the pa to do our jobs and for the league to do their jobs. because we really need to agree upon things, moving forward.”

nfl spokesman greg a iello insisted that the union has not looked ahead since a new collective bargaining agreement with the league was reached a year and a half ago.

“since 2011 the union has spent most of its time backing away from its commitments,”

a iello said in an email to The associated press. “w hether on old litigation, hgh, or commissioner discipline, the nflpa has consistently looked backwards.

“Trust is a two-way street. if the union wants to work together to build a better, safer and even more popular game, we extend

our hand in partnership and respect. if the union wants to stir up old grievances and create mistrust, we will simply have to do the best we can to serve the interests on the fans, players and the game.”

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Key issues foxworth and other union officials will discuss with the nfl’s competition committee in indianapolis involve player safety, including the league’s plan to make hip and thigh pads mandatory next season.

many players have spoken out against such a requirement, saying using the pads should be optional. The nfl believes the pads will substantially reduce injuries or wear and tear on players.

Wallace makes history on NASCAR speedway

Associated Press

day Tona beach, fla. — with his canon 60d in hand, darrell wallace Jr. is a fixture at the track, eagerly snapping photos with an insider’s view of auto racing. his instagram account is littered with day-in-the-life snapshots of cars and crews, all carrying the tag, “my crazy life captured in pictures.”

wallace, though, isn’t a typical 19-year-old nascar prospect trying to climb the ladder, and he’s less interested in a budding photography career. he is a pioneer of sorts as only the fourth black driver with a full-time ride in a nascar series.

w hen wallace takes the wheel for the Truck series race friday at daytona international speedway, he’ll become a slice of nascar history in a race that ignites his goal of serving as a role model for a generation of potential future black drivers.

“it’s kind of up to me,” wallace said. “it’s kind of a huge weight.” busting down racial barriers in a sport long reserved for whites is pretty heavy stuff for a teenager and all eyes are on him. yet wallace, the son of a white father and black mother, openly talks of becoming the Tiger woods of nascar — the great black star who can transcend the sport and prove people of all colors can race.

“you don’t have a role model. That’s why you don’t see anybody in it,” wallace said. “They can’t look up and be like, ‘i want to be like him because he’s the same color as me.’ There’s no one there to do that. i’m the top one right now and i’m only 19.”

wallace joins wendell scott, willy T. r ibbs and bill lester as the only full-time black drivers in the 65-year history of

nascar scott is the only black driver to win a race, way back in 1964.

wallace is signed with Joe gibbs racing and will drive the no. 54 Toyota for Kyle busch motorsports on friday. gibbs knows as well as anyone what it’s like to work with black athletes under the microscope. he coached the washington redskins when doug williams became the first black quarterback to win a super bowl in 1988. gibbs said wallace has the talent and the mental toughness to break through in nascar

“i think he’s the right kid,” gibbs said.

wallace, raised in concord, n c., has the full support of the black drivers before him. lester has sent him encouraging tweets. wallace met some of scott’s children at a race in virginia.

“They’re just happy to see someone following in their dad’s footsteps,” he said. “i’m hoping that i can carry that torch a little farther.”

he’s in a better position to succeed than many other minorities over the years. he has sponsorship, a top-flight team in Jgr and is a graduate of nascar’s diversity program. even in nascar, the climate has changed where drivers of all sexes and colors are openly accepted, in the garage, and hopefully in the stands.

wallace, who goes by bubba, spent the last three seasons driving in a low-level nascar developmental series and said racism in all forms was nonexistent. at lower levels of racing, though, wallace would hear racial insults or encounter ignorant views.

“we used to take it from fans,” his father, darrell, said. “we’ve had it from other drivers. we’ve

had it from officials. we’ve had it from promoters. we’ve had it from track owners. we’ve pretty much had it from everybody.”

wallace said the heckles and hurtful words from his formative years in the sport have been left on the side of the road and he can continue to focus on racing — just this time on his biggest stage so far.

“i’d show up the next week and wear ‘em out again,” he said, smiling. “i really didn’t understand it. my dad got more fired up than anything.”

his father sparked a love of the sport when he was 9, putting him in go-karts, and always scouting out the next series.

darrell wallace even bought a legends car from mark martin. he attends every race and will be in the stands friday night. his mother, desiree, ran track

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at Tennessee and stays home to watch on T v (“she likes hearing what they say about me.”).

mom did offer a piece of advice that has stuck with wallace. avoid confrontations with other drivers who used slurs. Just go win.

wallace’s love and talent for the sport will mean nothing if he can’t find the right sponsor willing to fund his career. sponsorship cash is the lifeblood of the sport.

his father has owned an industrial cleaning business since 1999 and pumped at least $1 million into his son’s fledgling career. he spent as much $250,000 in 2008. The elder wallace paid bills late and borrowed money to keep his son’s career alive.

“he tried to do everything he could to keep me racing,” wallace said.

it’s a path he expects to land him in the sprint cup series.

“i’m not ready for it next year. i’m not ready for it in two years,” he said. “it’s all about the timing. it’s all about how well i do this year.”

nascar has initiated several pushes toward boosting the number of minorities in the sport. There’s a drive for diversity program that may pay some dividends with wallace and Kyle larson after struggling to find racers for the top series. The program is 10 years old and was designed to attract minorities and women to the sport in all fields, from the track to the front office. wallace participated in a short-lived reality show in 2010 called “changing lanes,” that featured 10 young female and minority racers competing for a spot on a developmental team. not even showbiz helped wallace land the big-bucks sponsor needed to race in the second-tier series. wallace ideally would have run in the nationwide series this season, but was unable to land enough sponsorship. he had three top10 finishes and a pole in four nationwide races in 2012.

gibbs said wallace is still slated for some nationwide races.

“we’ve had a lot of other a frican-a merican drivers get in the sport, but they got in late,” gibbs said. “it’s hard to get in late. you’ve got to start when you’re young and race your way up. i think darrell’s got it.”

wallace was busy balancing daytona duties with media requests this week and was set to hold a press conference with gibbs on wednesday at the track.

“darrell’s equipped to handle the attention,” said marcus Jadotte, nascar’s vice president for public affairs and multicultural development. “most importantly, he’s equipped to handle the competition on the race track.”

Oakland’s Colon set to return from suspension

Associated Press

phoeni X — bartolo colon knew he had failed a drug test for about six weeks before he got hit with a 50-game suspension last season. he made several starts for the oakland athletics while knowing he probably wouldn’t participate in the pennant race.

“i continued to pitch, but my mind wasn’t good,” he said. now that colon is back in the clubhouse at spring training with the teammates he let down, the 39-year-old right-hander knows he can only earn peace of mind and forgiveness by getting back in top form on the mound.

colon finally spoke Tuesday about his season-ending suspension for a positive testosterone test. Through a translator, the former cy young award winner with 171 career victories expressed regret for his past mistakes and hope for his future.

“The only thing i can say about last year is i apologize to everybody, even the fans, the team, the front office about what happened,” he said.

The a’s organization already has forgiven the veteran starter whose first season with oakland ended prematurely. not only did the unlikely al west champions re-sign colon, they gave him a raise with a $3 million, one-year contract.

“i feel loved, because oakland gave me the opportunity to come back and be part of it again,” he said.

The dominican veteran doesn’t intend to call a team meeting to apologize to everybody. he said he’ll speak to the a’s individually about his past mistake and their future.

“i talked to him beforehand, and i thought that was the proper way to go about it,” oakland manager bob melvin said. “he’s not a guy that wants to call a team meeting. That’s not his personality, but it’s his personality to deal with guys individually, and he’s done that to this point. i think he’s handled everything so far to this point very well.”

colon still must serve the last five games this season, costing him a turn in the rotation. colon is expected to be a calming veteran presence in one of the majors’ youngest starting rotations, but oakland has plenty of starting depth with brett a nderson, Jarrod parker, Tommy milone, a.J. griffin and dan straily.

colon went 10-9 with a 3.43 era in 24 starts last season, his 15th in the majors. he pitched fairly well after learning of his positive test, going 4-2 after July 1 while presumably not using banned substances.

The a’s were frustrated after losing colon in mid-august, yet they stuck with him. colon never claimed he had been the victim of a flawed test, accepting responsibility for getting caught

with the banned substance.

“we also know a little bit, based on what we’ve seen through last year, of the quality of the person,” melvin said.

“he was really a great resource here, never a problem, always doing what you need him to do, and there for younger guys when they ask questions. not the most vocal guy in the world, but leads by example and really was very good for us last year.”

The a’s re-signed colon after watching him throw in the offseason, with general manager billy beane believing colon hadn’t lost anything without his artificial enhancements. colon said he didn’t speak to any other teams, staying with oakland after getting the contract offer in november.

Sveum prepares to lead Cubs in second season

Associated Press

mesa , a riz. — dale sveum doesn’t plan on wearing the bright orange hunting vest with the large bull’s-eye on the back anytime soon.

at least not until after his second season as cubs manager. a bout halfway through his opening speech at spring training, sveum noticed c hicago’s players peeling off their jackets and jerseys to reveal orange

hunting tops. soon, many of the cubs were also sporting matching orange caps in a playful dig at their manager, who was accidentally shot by hall of famer robin young, his close friend, while hunting quail during the offseason.

sveum enjoyed the joke.

“it’s nice that maybe they’re saying they don’t want to lose me in a hunting accident,” he said with a loud laugh on Tuesday.

hey, least the guy didn’t lose his sense of humor, too, after a 101-loss season.

but beyond being a wellplanned, well-executed prank, the cubs’ trick on sveum was a sign of respect for the 49-year-old, who guided a young c hicago team through a rough year on the field, but one that was much smoother for the club off it than in previous seasons.

“most 101-loss teams or even most last-place teams have a lot of controversies and a lot of brush fires and we had none last year,” cubs general manager Jed hoyer said. “i think some of that credit belongs to our players, but a lot of it should go to dale and his staff. They kept a positive atmosphere.

“we weren’t talented enough, that’s why we lost all those games. but we were prepared, our guys had a good attitude and that will help us a lot down the road.”

w ith his straight-talking, confident approach and an ease in his manner, sveum has endeared himself to c hicago’s front office and players. The cubs enjoy playing for sveum, who was a journeyman shortstop for seven teams in 12 major league seasons.

ninth, they trailed 5-3. still, they remained within striking distance. it is important that notre d ame responded quickly, even if it was only one run, because getting far down early could have easily shut down the i rish mental game. e specially early in the season, it is good to see the i rish battle back from a deficit. it is even better to see the notre d ame’s marquee players come through when most needed.

i n the bottom of the ninth, senior outfielder and cocaptain c harlie m arkson hit a one-out single to center field that brought junior third baseman and a ll-a merican candidate e ric Jagielo to the plate as the tying run. Jagielo lived up to his reputation by hitting a monster 400-foot two-run homer to deep center to tie the game and take the contest to extra innings. i n the bottom of the 10th, after freshman James nevant led off with a key walk, freshman l ane r ichards laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt that advanced freshman pinch runner Kyle r ichardson into scoring position. s enior second baseman and co-captain f rank d e sico was next to step into the batter’s box. d e sico was 0-for-4 on the day, but when his team was

in a position to win he seized the opportunity with his first walk-off career single to right field to complete notre d ame’s comeback win 6-5. it may be early on, but the determination the i rish displayed is a good sign. notre d ame played small ball as a team, scratching and clawing to get back in the game, and then was able to rely upon its leader to seal the deal.

The i rish carried this momentum to f riday’s second game, where they routed o hio state 13-3. s enior pitcher a dam norton tossed seven innings, gave up three earned runs, collected four strikeouts and gave up zero walks. The offense did not disappoint in the game with the b uckeyes, either. d e sico went 4-for-5 with two rbi s and four runs, leading the i rish to a total of 16 hits during the game. Jagielo followed suit and went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and five rbi s to go with a three-run home run. s ophomore designated hitter r yan b ull contributed three hits as well. d e sico, Jagielo and b ull went 16-for-28 at the dish where they racked up 10 rbi s, eight runs and three home runs during f riday’s doubleheader. it was the first time notre d ame has swept an opening day doubleheader since 1992. i f notre d ame can have solid outings like this weekend’s series all year, it will have the offense to

compete in every game. The i rish seem capable of great things this season.

b ut then the championship game against mercer happened s aturday.

m aybe it was the hangover from the extra-inning win and the huge win over o hio, or maybe it was fatigue, but the i rish underwhelmed against mercer.

The i rish are going to have to remain consistent in order to win this year. b efore the season i rish coach m ik a oki stressed that the team needs to win the games they are supposed to win in order to succeed — and this game was one of them.

The i rish got to an early one-run lead in the first, but trailed the rest of the game after mercer made the score 3-1. notre d ame had to come back from a 5-2 deficit going into the seventh, but was unable to make another comeback and lost the championship 5-4.

m aybe i am looking too much into the final loss, because the i rish still won the weekend’s series. w inning every three-game series will put the i rish right where they need to be — the big e ast playoffs.

Contact Isaac Lorton at ilorton@nd.edu.

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

Mets face uncertainties as workouts begin

Associated Press

por T s T. lucie , f la. — a sked about his outfield at the general managers’ meetings last november, new york mets general manager s andy a lderson quipped: “ w hat outfield?”

w ith s cott h airston, Jason b ay and a ndres Torres departing, and c ollin c owgill, m arlon b yrd, a ndrew brown and Jamie hoffman coming in, the outfield remains as unsettled as it was three months ago.

“This is about opportunity and you never know how someone’s going to take advantage of opportunity,” a lderson said.

a s the mets held their second full-squad workout Tuesday, the seven outfielders on the 40-man roster totaled 434 games of major league experience in the outfield.

l ucas d uda has 175 of those and is slotted into left field following a demotion to the minor leagues for a month last summer. he had surgery in november after he broke his right wrist while moving furniture.

Kirk nieuwenhuis and c owgill, acquired in a d ecember trade with o akland, could platoon in center.

r ight field could be manned by b yrd. o r it could be a combination of m ike b axter, b yrd brown and hoffman — with the three newcomers all at spring training with minor league deals.

c reating even more options, infielders Zach l utz and Justin Turner also are working out in the outfield.

“it’s definitely an opportunity for young guys and anyone else,” d uda said. “ we’ve got a few veterans and young guys in the mix. we are pretty inexperienced as a whole, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we aren’t going to play hard or play well.”

Though d uda is the only player manager Terry c ollins has labeled as an everyday outfielder, the 27-year-old still has to show he belongs there. he batted .239 last year with 15 homers and 57 rbi s in 459 plate appearances this year after hitting .292 with 10 homers

and 50 rbi s in 347 plate appearances in 2011.

c ollins said he expects a better year for d uda offensively and defensively — where he is switching from right field to left.

“i think if he’s comfortable he’ll show us the offense we know he is capable of having,” c ollins said. “he will improve his defense, and at the same time his offense will improve to where he’s a positive player for us. i have a lot of hope for l ucas, and we’re relying on him.”

c ollins mentioned b axter

as a possible leadoff hitter last week. he’s also praising b yrd, an a ll-star in 2010 when he batted .293 for the c hicago c ubs.

b yrd hit .210 in 47 games for the c ubs and the b oston red s ox last year, was released June 12 and then suspended June 25 for 50 games following a positive test for Tamoxifen, which can reduce side effects of steroid use and increase testosterone.

“This guy was one of the best players in the national l eague not too long ago,” c ollins said.

“i f he’s the same player he was

paid a dverT isemen T

in c hicago a couple of years ago, we might have found ourselves a right fielder. i know he’s that kind of talent.” b axter’s season was interrupted when he crashed into the left-field wall to preserve Johan s antana’s no-hitter against st. l ouis on June 1. b axter displaced the joint between his right collarbone and sternum and tore rib cartilage on his right side, and he didn’t return until July 30. w hile he hit .323 in 65 at-bats before the injury, he batted .228 in 114 atbats after his return. That left him at .263 overall.

“i think we’ve got a good group that’s definitely excited about the opportunities to prove what they can do, and we’re excited about that,” b axter said. “a nytime a team is going to give you a chance to show what you can do and give you a chance to win a starting job on the team, that’s a great opportunity — one you should take advantage of and make the most of.”

The 76 games of big league outfield experience for the 28-year-old b axter make him a relative veteran on the mets. c owgill, 26, hit .269 in 38 games with o akland last year and has played 61 games in a big league outfield.

nieuwenhuis, 25, made his major league debut last year and hit .252 in 91 games, 83 of them in the outfield.

“a s a group we know what we can do,” c owgill said. “ we don’t have to prove anyone right or wrong. we just have to go out and play hard and win games. That’s our goal, and i feel like this team is going to do that, and the outfield is going to have a lot to do with that.” AP

minute of the tournament, not just showing up for your fight,” u lrich said. “ we’re an anomaly in the world of boxing because it’s a team tournament.”

Two matchups to watch in the quarterfinals will be junior m ike f alvey versus law student and former l eprechaun d an c ollins in the 138-pound division and freshman e amon m c o sker versus senior m att e nzweiler in the 194-pound division. o ther boxers to watch throughout the tournament include mma -trained law student g age o ’c onnell, junior returning heavyweight champion and captain d an y i, undefeated law student b rian s alvi and senior threetime champion and captain Jack l ally. l ally is seeking his 4th title and varsity

monogram status.

u lrich hopes that they and all the other boxers will leave everything they have in the ring. To make the training worth it, they will have to fight their hardest. a nd some may need to lean on a teammate.

“ w hen it comes down to actual boxing, you know the pain of doing 100 burpees, sprints across s tepan f ield, 1,000 pushups,” u lrich said. “ b ut it’s nothing compared to an actual boxing match. a ll the matches, the guys hug after the match. p art of it is working with the guy for so long, and part of it is ‘ m an, i can’t stand up. i left it all in the ring,’ and needing to hold on to the other guy.”

q uarterfinals begin at 6 p.m. wednesday in the Joyce c enter f ieldhouse.

Contact Samantha Zuba at szuba@nd.edu

in his freshman and sophomore seasons, respectively. i t wasn’t until last year that n orton really came into his own, this time on the pitching mound.

n orton threw 98.0 innings for the i rish in 2012, going 5-5 with a 4.32 era m ost impressive was n orton’s control — the right-hander walked just seven batters the entire 2012 season. n orton credits i rish pitching coach c huck r istano for his command-centered mentality.

“ o ne of the things he says is, ‘ work fast, throw strikes,’” n orton said. “Just looking at the stats, the hitters are going to get themselves out more times than they’re going to get a hit. [ b ut] if you walk them, they’re going to be on base 100 percent of the time. e very pitching coach i

paid a dverT isemen T

had growing up always said it’s not about how hard you throw, it’s where you throw

it. i ’ve always been more of a command guy than throwing it all over the place as hard as i can.”

The i rish will rely heavily on n orton this year as one of their weekend starters. i n his first start of the season against o hio s tate on s aturday, n orton was outstanding, going 7.0 innings and allowing three runs against the b uckeyes.

True to form, n orton did not allow a walk against o hio s tate.

a lthough he grew up just over an hour away from s outh b end in h ighland, i nd., n orton said he only began to seriously think about playing for n otre d ame once the team started showing interest in him.

“ b eing from the north, everyone playing baseball kind of has the dream of going south and playing in the nice weather and being able to play year round,” n orton said. “[ n otre d ame] showed a lot of interest in me to come here and play. … Then once you come and visit the campus it’s a pretty tough place to turn down.”

n orton said he’s not fixated on any specific numbers as his goals this season. b ut he did echo the sentiment of several other n otre d ame coaches and players in saying he believes this team has a real opportunity to achieve memorable things in 2013.

“ f rom where we’re at right now i ’d say this is definitely the most talented team that i ’ve been a part of in the last four years here,” n orton said. “ i think that if we continue to improve throughout the year and play our game as opposed to trying to do too much, i think we can do some things here that haven’t been done in a while.”

There’s no doubt the i rish will lean on n orton in order for them to do just that.

Contact John Sandberg at jsandbe1@nd.edu

Buntin’s bat leads steady Irish squad

By LAURA COLETTI

s ports w riter

s enior captain a my b untin is now a force for the i rish both with her bat and with her glove, but it hasn’t always been this way.

“f rom my freshman year to my senior year, my confidence has grown tremendously, both in the batter’s box and behind the plate,” the i rish catcher said. “i attribute this to game experience over the years and becoming comfortable in any situation on the field.”

i n true notre d ame form, the brentwood, Tenn., native chose the school for its excellence in both academics and athletics.

“The tradition surrounding this campus and the notre d ame family [is] unlike any other university,” she said.

b untin joined the i rish roster in 2009 as a utility player, but gradually developed into a full-time catcher. a fter two versatile seasons playing at a number of positions for notre d ame, b untin burst onto the scene during her junior season and led notre d ame with

a .360 batting average, 62 hits, 60 rbi s and 45 runs scored. s he started every game for the i rish and was just the 21st player in school history to be named an a ll-a merican for her efforts.

This season, b untin is looking to continue her on-field prowess while leading the i rish to new heights.

“The goals i have for this team is to go further than notre d ame softball has ever gone before,” she said. “This is a special team and i think we have what it takes to push the program to the next level.”

The i rish are 4-5 on the season, but have dropped some tough games to competitive opposition. l ast weekend, they took no. 1 o klahoma to extra innings before succumbing to the s ooners in a close 7-5 loss. b untin blasted a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to bring notre d ame to within two runs of the s ooners before the remainder of the side was retired. b untin and junior outfielder l auren stuhr lead the i rish in rbi s this season with four apiece.

Senior catcher and Irish captain Amy Buntin throws the ball during Notre Dame’s 3-2 extra-innings loss to Syracuse on April 15, 2012. Buntin led the Irish in batting average, hits, RBIs and runs scored in 2012.

True to her performance so far, b untin said as co-captain she has tried to lead the team by her example.

“i’m not the player to deliver a huge pump-up speech before the game,” she said. “i try to lead with my composure on

the field and being the player that everyone wants in the batter’s box in the pressure situations.”

b untin will continue to try to stay calm and collected as she and the rest of the i rish travel to g reenville, n c ., to play in the p irate i nvitational this weekend. notre d ame will face l iberty to begin the i nvitational on s aturday at 1 p.m.

Contact Laura Coletti at lcoletti@nd.edu

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Trevor bayne, 22; benicio del Toro, 46; Jeff daniels, 58; smokey robinson, 73 Happy Birthday: emotional issues will surface. don’t let anything derail your plans. focus on what you want and don’t take detours. love is apparent, and adjustments at home must be made. The aim is to stabilize your position, direction and your lifestyle in order to reach your goals. your numbers are 6, 13, 21, 27, 32, 45, 47.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): don’t share personal secrets. offer an alternative if someone doesn’t like the way your work turns out. being adaptable and versatile will help you find a way to please everyone without going over budget. romance is highlighted.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): don’t rely on someone making impossible promises. a practical outlook will allow you to save time and bypass the inconvenience that will result if you allow someone else to take care of your responsibilities. Take control.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): put greater emphasis on what you can offer and how you can use your skills, talents and knowledge to your best ability. someone is likely to withhold information or try to mislead you regarding a job. don’t be pressured into making an unnecessary donation.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): speak up and share your thoughts and ideas, and you will get a warm response from friends, family and peers. a social or work-related event will bring you in contact with someone who is impressed with what you can do or have to say.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):Take care of your domestic responsibilities. what you do for those who count on you may not reward you, but in the end your kindness and generosity will pay off. invest in something that will improve your assets and add to your comfort.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): get down to business and focus on whatever task needs to be done. avoid interference from anyone by being discreet and secretive. an emotional matter will spin out of control. do your best to stay calm and focused. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Take a short trip if it will lead to knowledge, experience or the chance to make new friends or meet potential collaborative partners. love and romance are in the stars.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): stick close to home and take the time to make your surroundings more comfortable and adaptable to your lifestyle. you don’t have to overspend and shouldn’t let anyone pressure you into something you don’t need or want.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): prepare to answer questions and back up your reasons for doing things your way. a problem with a friend, relative or neighbor will escalate if you aren’t prepared to compromise. prepare to make necessary changes.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): familiar people and places will put you at ease and guide you in a positive direction. back away from anyone showing signs of instability, excess or unpredictability. professional gains can be made with the use of a little ingenuity.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18):put more time and effort into self- and home-improvement projects. Keep the changes you make within budget. your ability to make something ordinary trendy will be appreciated. consider turning one of your ideas into a profitable service or product.

PISCES (Feb. 19- March 20): don’t exaggerate. you have to stick to the truth and be prepared to define what your motives are. Try to keep your conversations simple and your plans moderate. you can make headway, but dedication and thriftiness will be required.

Birthday Baby: you are charming, progressive and sensitive. you are adaptable and insightful.

benGAL bOuTs

Ring the bell

Bengal Bouts move into quarterfinal round; tournament maintains focus on charity

By SAMANTHA ZUBA

s ports w riter

They practice for four grueling months to earn just a few minutes in the ring. The boxers who will fight wednesday in the b engal b outs quarterfinals have one chance to win and stay in the tournament. w inning is thrilling, but losing after all that work can be a terrible disappointment. b engal b outs’ service mission and close teamwork during training helps lessen the blow.

The service element drives b engal b outs. Team activities revolve around understanding the meaning of fighting in b engal b outs and include a screening of a documentary detailing the impact of the money raised for h oly c ross missions in b angladesh. s enior captain Jeff u lrich emphasized that the boxers must remember this at every stage in the tournament.

“This is a huge part of what n otre d ame stands for in two

Senior pitcher finds niche on the mound

By JOHN SANDBERG

ports w riter

s

b aseball fans that want to know what the game looks like from all angles should chat with n otre d ame senior a dam n orton.

n orton primarily played shortstop for a ndrean h igh s chool in m errillville, i nd., before starting 26 games at third base his freshman year at n otre d ame. w hen i rish coach m ik a oki was introduced as the new coach the fall of n orton’s sophomore year, the new coaching staff decided to test n orton’s skills in the outfield in addition to having him pitch more. w hen playing the outfield didn’t work out as n orton and the i rish coaching staff had planned, n orton spent time as n otre d ame’s designated hitter in addition to accumulating some innings as a weekday starter.

n orton batted .261 and .254

specific ways,” u lrich said. “ o ne, because of how longstanding a tradition b engal b outs is. i t has been close to 100 years of boxing at n otre d ame and 83 of b engal b outs. Thousands and thousands of n otre d ame students have participated and watched over the years. s econd, because of the worldwide family and service aspect.”

The money the event raises goes a long way. b etween $2 and $4 could buy a family in b angladesh a chicken. a pproximately $4 buys a nice shirt, while $9 gets a good pair of dress shoes. a nd $15 pays for one month at a hostel so a student can attend a mission school. The captains make sure that the boxers remember this while they train.

“ i t’s a huge focus throughout the season,” u lrich said. “ o nce a week we have an event and someone comes in to talk about b angladesh. we have four boxers going there this summer.”

b engal b outs is also unique in that it is a team tournament. a ll the boxers train together, and many will exchange hugs as teammates after fighting a bout

as opponents. e njoying the tournament and appreciating the work of fellow boxers matters more than a win or loss, u lrich said, and he expects to see these qualities in

Irish settle into new season

each quarterfinal fight. “ f or me, it’s about enjoyment, really being there for every hour and every

Notre Dame will contend if they remain consistent

The i rish got off to a great start to the season and will be a big e ast title contender — if they remain consistent for every game.

l ast weekend, the i rish traveled to s arasota, f la., to compete in the s nowbird c lassic, where they took on f lorida g ulf c oast, o hio state and mercer.

i n f riday’s first matchup against the e agles, notre d ame was down early, trailing 4-0 by the middle of the third inning. b ut notre d ame responded, slowly chipping away at f lorida g ulf c oast’s lead. following the third, the score was 4-1, and after the fourth the i rish had pulled within one to make the game 4-3. The i rish allowed a run in the fifth and going into the bottom of the