PDF for Tuesday, March 5, 2013

‘We won’t tolerate it’

Student leaders find voice on racial discrimination

By NICOLE MICHELS news writer

Editor’s note: This is the first of a three-part series about the Call to Action movement and the experiences of minority students within the Notre Dame campus community.

one year ago today, members of the notre dame community gathered in a town hall meeting to discuss incidents of racial discrimination experienced by the black students a ssociation (bsa) and the a frican students a ssociation (asa) and to develop a plan to move forward.

students learned from a Feb. 24, 2012 email that during the span of one week, fried chicken parts were placed in both organizations’ mailboxes in the laFortune student center. members of the community shared similar stories of racial tension and exclusion at the town hall meeting march

4, 2012, which made it apparent that the harassment directed towards the bsa and asa were symptomatic of a larger problem.

emerald woodberry, current president of the bsa, said the intense emotion shared at the first town hall meeting indicated minority students had kept a lot of their thoughts bottled up.

“The first [town hall meeting] took people by surprise — no one knew what was coming,” woodberry said. “That’s what i’m worried about, the fact that students were living with this emotion, holding onto it and not sharing it with anyone. … i’m worried about that and the implications that has on a student and their experience at notre dame.”

a nother town hall meeting will take place march 26. but woodberry said the steps student leaders have already taken have begun to develop support frameworks and help minority

in Call to Action movement

students navigate life at notre dame.

“i think it’s our responsibility to make sure this doesn’t happen again, that we have platforms

By LESLEY STEVENSON news writer

For many notre dame and saint mary’s students involved in big brothers big sisters, serving the south bend community

is as easy as taking in a movie, shooting baskets or playing video games.

“you don’t feel like you’re doing community service at all,” junior peter cummings, president of notre dame/saint mary’s big

brothers big sisters, said. “but at the same time, you see the transformation before your eyes.” mentors are paired with children ages 6 to 14 after an application and interview process. a fter that, a big brother or sister and

for students to come and talk and express these things and know that something will come

students celebrate pope emeritus

By KAITLYN RABACH news writer

The resignation of pope benedict X vi, now known as the pope emeritus, has dominated world headlines since

his official announcement three weeks ago. For three s aint mary’s students, these

see pope PAGE 4

Club pairs student mentors with local kids registration opens for holy half marathon

By MEG HANDELMAN news w riter

The time for training season has officially begun for people running in the holy h alf m arathon this year. The student union b oard ( sub ) has opened registration for the ninth annual half marathon that will take participants on a scenic route through notre d ame’s campus m arch 23.

“The holy h alf is one of the biggest student-run events on campus and has quickly become a notre d ame tradition,” m aria murphy, a sub

his or her “little” meet at least once every two weeks to spend time together and catch up, cummings said.

“it’s having somebody to look up to, somebody that they can count on for support who’s there for them,” cummings said. “you’re meeting with them on a regular basis and they can count on you as someone to share their stories with.”

representative, said. murphy, who is also a holy h alf programmer this year, said the best part of the holy h alf is that not only do runners train and compete in a 13.1 mile race, but they also get make a difference in the s outh b end community on behalf of the university.

“a ll proceeds from the race go to the women’s c are c enter ( wcc ) and the Family Justice c enter of st. Joseph c ounty,” murphy said. “o ur goal this year is to raise $40,000 for these awesome organizations.”

This year, the holy h alf

see service PAGE 3

will include a new course for runners, murphy said. s he said the event will also feature m ike c ollins, the voice of notre d ame stadium, as the emcee.

“r unners will get a 2013 holy h alf T-shirt and a bunch of other free goodies from our sponsors,” murphy said. “a ll volunteers will get lots of food and our undying thanks.” s ponsors for the 2013 holy h alf include gu e nergy, b listex, Jimmy Johns, d unkin’ d onuts, h arper c ancer

see holy halF PAGE 3

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Corrections

i n the march 3 issue of The observer, the incorrect headshot accompanied the article “huang chosen as dean.” e ngineering professor y ih-Fang huang was pictured instead of mendoza college of business dean roger huang. The observer regrets this error.

Hank Sikorski senior off-campus

“Three midterms, one project and two homeworks.”

Jorge Cortez freshman o’neill hall

“Two midterms and two essays.”

Brian Calcutt sophomore sorin college

“a lot of homework, an exam on wednesday and a lab report.”

Jenna Heidcamp freshman

welsh Family hall

“i plan on doing a lot of sleeping and hanging out.”

John Sontag sophomore morrissey manor

“i nsane. l ots of homework, no tests thankfully.”

Weston Neirmeyer sophomore

duncan hall

“couple of exams, couple of homeworks, couple of labs.”

A chain of 1,000 water bottles collected from around campus lines South Quad. The bottle chain is part of senior graphic design major Megan Malley’s senior thesis on sustainability, which aims to show the waste on Notre Dame’s campus and how the University can improve. The rest of Malley’s thesis project can be viewed at the Snite Museum of Art from Apr. 7 to May 20.

next f ive D ays: How is this week’s workload for you?

Thursday

Want your event included here? Email obsnews.nd@gmail.com

Saturday

4 p.m.-5 p.m.

Presentation by Dr. Fernando A. Montes.

Film: “Even the Rain” DeBartolo Performing Arts Center

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

A Spanish director makes a film in Bolivia.

Hospitality Lunch Geddes Hall

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

Proceeds benefit the Catholic Peace Fellowship.

Zen

Discuss strategies for large writing projects.

Film: “The Master” DeBartolo Performing Arts Center

6:30 p.m.-8:50 p.m.

A Naval veteran returns from war.

Men’s and Women’s Fencing Joyce Center All day NCAA Regional championships.

Women’s Lacross Arlotta Stadium

3 p.m.-5 p.m. Notre Dame takes on the Boston University Terriers.

App enables users to track Transpso buses

By CHRISTIAN MYERS news writer

s tudents, faculty and other members of the campus community will see the wheels on the bus go round in a whole new way, as Transpo now offers an online bus tracking service.

The service allows anyone in the university community to track Transpo buses in real time, giving riders a

“You can

stay inside and track the bus, then step outside just as it arrives.”

better idea when a particular bus will arrive at a given location, student body president b rett r ocheleau said. This information is available online via http:// nd.doublemap.com/map or through the d ouble m ap b us Tracker app for i p hone and a ndroid phones. r ocheleau said the application overlays icons of buses on a map of the Transpo routes to show where

s ervice

Junior yana Jones said her little sister talks with her about issues with school and her home life.

“she tells me different issues that she’s having that she can’t talk about with her family, and i think that’s something that i went into big brothers big sisters hoping i could do,” Jones said.

the buses are at all times.

The service will be valuable for people who want to avoid waiting outdoors for the bus during harsh weather, he said.

“ you can stay inside and track the bus, then step outside just as it arrives,” he said.

The service will be especially useful for students who use the sweep route Friday and s aturday nights and students who rely on Transpo buses to visit or work in s outh b end, r ocheleau said. h e said the service is provided by d ouble m ap, an organization based in b loomington, i nd., that offers gps bustracking applications for personal computers and mobile phones.

r ocheleau said he and other members of student government worked with d ouble m ap representative p eter s er vaas, who brought a similar service to i ndiana university while he was student body president there for the 2009-10 school year.

r ocheleau said he and student body president emeritus p at m c c ormick looked into the possibility of such a program during the 2011-12 school year, but it wasn’t until s er vaas contacted n otre d ame’s student government that the d ouble m ap system was implemented.

“ p at [ m c c ormick] and i looked at this issue a little bit last year, and we worked with Transpo to consider installing this sort of system,” r ocheleau said. “Then p eter [ s er vaas] came to us and was able to set it up at no charge, so it was perfect.”a ccording to the d ouble m ap website, the service is in place at several other universities, including suny c ortland and the university of c incinnati.

“she feels comfortable talking with me.”

cummings noted that the dynamic between bigs and littles can be quite different from that of other mentor-mentee relationships.

“it’s a relationship that goes beyond one thing like school or homework — it’s one thing to meet with a tutor for an hour because you have to,” cummings

paid a dverT isemen T

said. “it goes beyond that; you spend several hours with this kid just doing what you like to do. … it’s a relationship that goes beyond trust.”

Jones said the friendships often live up to the program’s name.

“w hen they tell you that you’re like a real big sister and they wish you were their real big sister, it’s the best feeling in the world,” she said.

The effects of this care have been measured by the big brothers big sisters of st. Joseph county, with which nd/smc big brothers big sisters work very closely. its website notes that mentored children are less likely to skip school, use drugs and drink illegally than children without mentors.

cummings said he witnessed a change in his little brother after they were paired together cummings’ freshman year.

“he was just showing more respect to adults, please and thank you and stuff like that,” he said. “you really build special relationships with these kids and you can tell it’s having an impact on them.”

Jones noticed a similar change

The new service will bs one of the final projects of the outgoing student government administration, r ocheleau said.

Contact Christian Myers at cmyers8@nd.edu

in her little sister.

“she just became a lot friendlier, a lot more open. … i think she’s gained confidence in herself.”

cummings said most of the littles live in single parent households or in families in which one or both parents are unable to spend significant amounts of time with his or her family.

“most of these kids are facing adversity in their lives and they need a role model. … They need someone they can rely on

to provide them with support,” he said.

cummings noted the network is growing and that an upcoming Five guys fundraiser apr. 4 will attract potential big brothers and sisters as well to raise awareness of the program.

interested students can visit the st. Joseph chapter’s website or email peter cummings for more information.

Contact Lesley Stevenson at lsteven1@nd.edu

headlines refer to events right outside their door.

s ophomores nikki c harter, l auren o smanski and Tori w ilbraham are participating in the c ollege’s study abroad semester in rome. The program began in mid-January and finishes in a pril.

“This has been such an exciting time,” w ilbraham, a religious studies major, said. “massive amounts of people are coming to both rome and vatican c ity. The hotel we are staying at is fully booked for the next couple of weeks. people from all over the world are coming to be in this holy c ity at this special time.

“The crowds have been so large the city even had to repaint all the street lines to accommodate all the traffic coming through.”

because this is the first pope to resign in six centuries, dozens of reporters from major networks have come to report the climate of the city.

“a couple of weeks ago l auren [ o smanski] and i were interviewed by nbc ,” c harter, a communications major, said. “a reporter pulled us aside assuming we were a merican and quick asked us a few questions about the pope’s final public mass.”

o smanski, a business major, said it was at his final mass that she realized the significance of his resignation.

“ we went to his last public mass on a sh wednesday. he

was honored with three standing ovations,” o smanski said.

“The most emotional part of the mass for me was when the curtain fell in front of him. people around us were yelling ‘papa, papa’ and right then and there it hit me that he was actually resigning. i thought to myself ‘This is happening.’”

For w ilbraham, that moment came at the pope’s final

“When you are standing amongst a crowd of 125,000 people, that is when you are truly moved by the Holy Spirit, or at least I was.”

Tori Wilbraham sophomore

blessing Feb. 3. This blessing was said in eight languages including e nglish, italian, g erman, mandarin, spanish, polish, portuguese and French.

“ w hen you are standing amongst a crowd of 125,000 people, that is when you are truly moved by the holy spirit, or at least i was,” w ilbraham said. “i realized how special the c atholic community truly is. it goes beyond s aint mary’s and notre dame. it expands worldwide crossing barriers of language, culture and so much more.”

c harter said that the atmosphere of vatican c ity and rome is dreary since the

resignation.

“a s exciting as it is there is actually a dreary aura around the environment of vatican c ity,” c harter said. “it is a very unique experience to be in vatican c ity without a pope. here we feel as though we are essentially fatherless.”

a ll three students attend morning masses at The pontifical north a merican s eminary. They said recent homilies have been centered on praying for both the current and future state of the c hurch.

“sunday’s homily talked about how important of a time this is not only for the pope e meritus, but also for the future of our church,” o smanski said. “i n mass, we were encouraged to acknowledge how exciting this time is, but we still need to pray for the pope e meritus and we need to send our prayers to the conclave.”

o smanski said pope benedict X vi’s stepping down will affect not only his legacy, but she also believes it will affect the future procedure of the c hurch.

“Toward the end of pope John paul ii’s life, pope benedict was essentially his right hand man. he saw the effect his sickness had on the c hurch and the pope,” o smanski said. “i think this experience played a significant role in his decision to resign. i also think that this will become a pattern. The head of our c hurch is essentially our father figure and this man must be fit to travel and undergo the pressures of the position.”

The pope’s last official day was Thursday, and on monday, the cardinals met informally to discuss when the conclave will begin. w ilbraham said normally the conclave cannot start until 15 days after the pope is out of office, but clauses were altered to allow the conclave to begin sooner.

“The gossip in vatican city and rome right now is not about who is going to be the new pope. no one can gauge it,” w ilbraham said. “we can have our opinions on who we would like to see as the new pope, but cardinals are unable to speak to anyone until the conclave is over. until the moment the smoke is in the sky we will not know.”

a ll three students said they hope for this next pope to be non-european.

“The church is not only european,” charter said. “The

catholic church represents the entire world. The talk of the town right now is the conclave is looking at cardinals from the a mericas and a frica. essentially, there is talk about this being the first pope that is not from europe. This then is allowing the public to ask the question of how europeans, specifically italians would react to a non-european pope.”

The students said no matter who is named the next pope, they will be ready to celebrate and honor this next era of the catholic church.

“From here on out it is sneakers only,” w ilbraham said. “w hen we see or hear of the smoke rising we will be ready to run to vatican city with our saint mary’s flags in hand.”

Contact Kaitlyn Rabach at krabac01@saintmarys.edu

r esearch i nstitute, h agerty, Zone perfect and abro i ndustries, murphy said.

For those runners who aren’t prepared to run 13.1 miles, there is also a 10k race option that will take place 15 minutes after the half marathon begins. murphy said there is a capacity for 1,300 runners.

For students who aren’t runners but still want to get involved, there are plenty of spots open for student volunteers to help set up the race, run water stations and cheer on runners.

“b y volunteering, i gained so much respect for people who were able to run that long,” a nn k ebede, a 2012 volunteer for the event, said. “it was especially cool to watch the girls who kept such a fast pace. i also liked seeing people i knew run past while i cheered them on.”

k ebede said volunteering was a great way to get involved in the event because she knew she wouldn’t want to participate as a runner.

“a lot of what i did was cheer people on and give them motivation to keep going,” k ebede said.

The holy h alf is a great way

for notre d ame and the surrounding community to be able to physically participate in the athletic culture of the school, she said.

“it is an athletic event that the whole campus can do, as well as the outside community,” k ebede said.

“s ince athletics is such a big part of notre d ame, this is a great thing that is open to everyone and gives people the opportunity to be active for a day.”

murphy said sub has given the holy h alf a lot of freedom this year. s he added that sub plans to make the race fun for all and, most importantly, raise money for wcc and the Family c enter of s aint Joseph’s c ounty.

“ we are so happy with how the race is coming together and cannot wait for m arch 23,” murphy said.

The deadline for registration is on m arch 14.

Contact Meg Handelman at mhandelm@nd.edu

of [their story],” woodberry said. ‘the voice to make a difference’ students themselves have the power to demand that better support frameworks are created, asa president chinelo onyeador said.

“without the students, nothing would have happened,” onyeador said. “we can do anything we want it we really want it — we really do have the voice to make a difference on campus. i think students have so much power, that’s the bottom line.”

The movement began with one person: former bsa president and 2012 graduate brittany suggs, woodberry said.

“initially when the [items were placed in the bsa and asa mailboxes], both clubs’ officers reported the incidents to notre dame security police (ndsp) and there was an official report filed,” woodberry said. “shortly thereafter [the Feb. 24, 2012] email came out [from then vice president of student affairs Fr. Tom doyle and vice president and associate provost don popedavis] with brittany’s name signed [as well].

“That was huge. it basically said we won’t tolerate it, this

“I’m not sure how things have happened in the past, but I’m not sure there has ever been such a strong coalition between students and administrators where students have led the way.”

Emerald Woodberry senior BSA president

happened but it won’t end here. we’re going to keep pushing and keep fighting. we sat down [and] literally brainstormed what we can do, how we can get students involved and where this is going to go.”

That initial meeting prompted the groups and the other collaborators to arrange the town hall meeting, woodberry said.

“if things like this happened at other times we need to know about [those incidents] — that’s not going to cut it, that’s not going to work for us.”

shaping a movement by collaborating with the administration, student leaders within the bsa and asa united to formally create the call to action movement, onyeador said.

“The bsa and asa were the groups targeted so we became spearheads of the group,”

onyeador said. “now we’ve gotten the diversity council involved, members of other minority groups have participated in the communities, some of the students who teach the contemporary Topics class — it’s a really diverse group of students, that’s definitely diversified a lot more than last year.”

several administrators have been instrumental in the movement, but none more so than iris outlaw, director of multicultural student programs and services, and assistant vice president of student affairs dr. david moss, woodberry said.

“both ms. iris and [moss] really helped us to focus in on all of the things we need to do without being overbearing,” woodberry said. “we took all the things that we got from the town hall meeting, and started to collaborate with student government and different offices on campus to see what we can do. … a s things fell into place, we had committees in place that were planning things, then coming back and reporting to us.”

The efficient collaboration between student and administrative leaders and immediate commitment by the administrators to the students’ goals allowed the movement to successfully pursue its initiatives, woodberry said.

“i’m not sure how things have happened in the past, but i’m not sure there has ever been such a strong coalition between students and administrators where students have led the way,” woodberry said.

a fter beginning their terms as this year’s leaders from the bsa and asa, onyeador said they spent a semester learning the progress suggs had made during the 2011-12 school year.

“There was a lot that brittany did by herself, [so] emerald and i spent the first two [or] three months of figuring out all she did,” onyeador said. “The first months of school were basically transition months, after that we looked at what we had and where we had to go from there.”

student government diversity council liaison ernst cleofe said student government partnered with call to action committee members as the movement set its agenda. he participates on the movement’s steering committee with outlaw, moss, woodberry and onyeador, cleofe said.

“i didn’t want to be the strongest voice in the room, but student government … wanted a role that is step by step in every single process in any capacity they needed,” cleofe said. “we don’t want to be at the forefront because we don’t think that’s our place. The call to action movement is a student-driven organization, and i think the way student government views it is that we’re here to help.”

some of the most significant developments fostered by the movement will affect students from the first moment they step onto notre dame’s campus and begin residence life in the dorms through freshman orientation,

cleofe said.

‘Just the place where I live’ onyeador said minority students often struggle to find a “home under the dome” through on-campus dorm life.

“i think that’s one of the things about dorm life — minority students don’t always feel it’s for them,” onyeador said. “That’s why so many leave campus so soon — many minorities move off-campus after their freshman year — which is quite unusual for the typical notre dame student.

“i’m still on campus but that’s not my choice, that’s been my parent’s choice. overall my dorm

“That’s the worst thought ever that someone, somewhere on our campus doesn’t feel a part of this Notre Dame community — this Notre Dame family that we harp on all the time.”

Emerald Woodberry senior BSA president

experience hasn’t been horrible, but it’s just the place where i live, it doesn’t feel like a community to me.”

This sense of exclusion for minority students often starts during freshman orientation, onyeador said.

“a lot of students — not just minority students, majority students too — have complained about Frosh-o being really awkward and really uncomfortable, not that welcoming,” onyeador said. “i know they try to foster community … but it’s not comfortable for anyone, let alone the one hispanic girl or the one black girl in the dorm.”

onyeador said reworking freshman orientation training allowed this year’s program to run more smoothly.

“we’ve gotten a lot better feedback from the freshmen [than in years past],” onyeador said.

“a lot of the people who were on Frosh-o staffs said they were on

their dorms’ Frosh-o staffs because they had had bad experiences and wanted to make it better for someone else.”

efforts to improve dorm life for minority students affect more than just freshman orientation, onyeador said.

“They are changing resident a ssistants’ (ra) training; that also started this past year,” onyeador said. “last year, i had a really great ra, but i just feel like sometimes ras feel uncomfortable because they don’t know how to interact with someone who is not the typical notre dame student — it’s not like they’re intentionally trying to leave anyone out, they’re just not used to it.”

holding each other accountable

a s the call to action movement continues, ndsp has also developed a more comprehensive reporting system for any type of harassment on campus, woodberry said.

“we’ve also started creating a new website called report@nd, which is going to be launched in march,” onyeador said. “on it you can report any incident of harassment — racial, sexual, sexual orientation, whatever it is. it’s a one-stop shop for reporting.”

creating a venue so that students can more easily report harassment works hard in hand with efforts to strengthen the relationship between ndsp and the rest of the campus community, onyeador said.

“sometimes we forget that they are here to serve us and to help us but the relationships that students have with [the officers] are not always positive,” onyeador said. “ndsp is trying to show us [what their role on campus actually is] — they have a pamphlet that they’re working on that explains our rights as students and their rights as a police department.

“we don’t know what we can do and what we can’t do — we don’t know our rights. This pamphlet is trying to do a better job of explaining that to students,” she said.

ndsp also instituted a new policy per the recommendation of the movement, which will require officers to offer business

cards after every interaction with students, onyeador said.

“a lot of students have had issues with ndsp in the past, whether in questioning whether they are actually students here or accusing them of something, so we’re trying to hold these officers accountable,” onyeador said.

Looking to lasting change it’s been one year since the town hall meeting when the ball began rolling on these initiatives. Though the initiatives have already produced some tangible results, students will be the ones to affect lasting change in their perceptions of diversity, cleofe said.

“it’s an overall change on the part of the student body that is really going to change the way diversity is treated on campus,” cleofe said.

cleofe said he hopes people remember the principles behind the idea of the notre dame “family.”

“personally, it’s something i feel really strongly about — not just [in terms of] racial diversity, but people from all different backgrounds accepting each other and being a family, which is what notre dame is supposed to be all about,” he said.

woodberry said the movement focuses on the needs of individual students by working to reach both majority and minority students and clearly express what constitutes unacceptable, discriminatory treatment. she said she hopes this continual conversation will help the call to action leaders to continue working on initiatives that will improve the ability of the notre dame community to welcome all of its members.

“That’s the worst thought ever that someone, somewhere on our campus doesn’t feel a part of this notre dame community — this notre dame family that we harp on all the time,” woodberry said. “Talking to those marginalized students and taking their opinions seriously is the most important part of all of this. even if it’s just one student that this reaches, that one student is really important.”

Contact Nicole Michels at nmichels@nd.edu

you say tomato...

Nicole McAlee news writer

being a born and bred east coaster makes life at notre dame a pretty interesting change of pace. it’s a wonder to drive around and spot mysteriously named grocery stores (“meijer? how do you pronounce that?”) and a challenge to dress for weather that changes approximately every 10 minutes. but the most interesting thing is the amazing microcosm of the world that i get to mingle with every day. The people i’ve met here have consistently prompted me to think about nearly everything in a different way.

There’s one specific and unique curiosity that i find fascinating: The breadth of accents i encounter on a daily basis. Take my friend a mber from the bronx, who asks for my “oh-pen-yon” instead of my “opinion.” Then there’s my roommate, laura from milwaukee, who says the word “bag” in a way that is impossible to spell phonetically. i did a double take the first time my friend emily from Texas said “y’all” without a hint of irony. a nd then there’s me.

i hail from the suburbs of philadelphia. it’s something i’m quite proud of; after all, philadelphia has contributed much to the world, like a merican freedom, kevin bacon and cheesesteaks.

The place has also contributed a few strange quirks to my speech patterns. my generations-bred philadelphia accent has conditioned me to call h2o, aqua and that stuff that makes up 65 percent of the human body “wooder.” i’m mocked for complaining about the cold wooder in the shower and filling my wooder bottle at the wooder fountain. The wooder/water confusion is, in fact, the hallmark of the philadelphia dialect. The way i say them, the words “mad” and “sad” don’t rhyme. “mary,” “merry” and “marry” have three different vowel sounds and, to complicate things even more, i say the name “murray” and the word merry exactly the same way. unless i make a concerted effort, my pronunciation of “tomato” might sound a bit more like “tomatuh.”

The first 18 years of my life were spent in blissful philadelphian ignorance: everyone i knew shared the same dialectical quirks. it was something admittedly inconsequential that i took for granted. going to notre dame is awesome for a whole host of reasons, but one of them is the way in which i’m constantly reevaluating myself. my view of the world is broader because i’ve met people from all over it (and have carefully assessed their accents).

i hope that chick from philadelphia who calls water “wooder” has broadened someone else’s horizons.

Contact Nicole McAlee at nmcalee@nd.edu

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

d earest d omers,

i’m feeling unusually energetic today, and not just because of my brisk swim through s t. Joseph’s l ake this morning.

no, i’m feeling energetic for a different reason, a special reason. b ut what is it? h mm ... special ... s pecial k ... cereal ... milk ... cow ... mad cow disease ... disease ... mania ... mania? m ania! That’s it! r ecycle m ania!

That’s right, ladies and gentlemen! r ecycle m ania is here! i can’t believe it’s been a year already, but you know what they say: Time flies when you’re a mute, green-skinned humanoid.

w hat is r ecycle m ania, you ask? it’s an eight-week competition among 522 universities in the u s . and c anada to reduce waste and increase recycling efforts. There is an array of categories to compete in, including g rand c hamp (just as the g rand c anyon’s formation was heavily based on the rate of water flowing through the c olorado r iver, this category is based on overall campus

recycling rate), p er c apita c lassic (more classic than s hakespeare, this category is based on the total recycling per person), g orilla (based on the total weight recycled. i f a team of gorillas can’t lift your school’s weekly recyclingyou’re in pretty good shape) as well as several other categories.

l ast year we finished 108th out of 266 in the g rand c hamp category and 63 out of 296 in the g orilla category. w hile these results aren’t terrible, they do leave a bad taste in my mouth. a lmost as bad as s elena g omez’s taste in men!

s imilar to dJ k haled, all i want to do is win, win, win. however, k haled and i differ in that we have different things on our minds. w hile he has money on his, i have a different kind of green on mine (both literally and figuratively): s ustainability. you can help notre d ame win and be more sustainable by ramping up your own efforts to recycle.

Those dead batteries from your calculator? They’re recyclable. That plastic bag your c heesy g ordita c runch came in? That’s recyclable. That paper you just got back? That’s

recyclable. This copy of The o bserver telling you to recycle? o oh you better believe that’s recyclable! c ardboard, plastic, aluminum, styrofoam, glass, you name it! i f it isn’t a food or liquid, chances are it’s recyclable. no matter where you go and what you’re doing, try and remember to recycle. w ith each empty s tarbucks cup in the recycling bin we help our planet and step closer to a notre d ame victory.

w ith so many other universities competing, the task at hand may seem daunting, but as b on Jovi always tells us: d on’t s top b elieving. until next time, g reen m an p s o r was that Journey?

Email your predicaments to The GreenMan at askthegreenman@gmail.com and let him answer you with a sustainable twist. The GreenMan will be here every other week to provide you with insights you never knew you were missing out on until now.

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

“i f

everything

seems under control, you’re not going fast enough.”

Racial entitlements?

o n Feb. 27, the s upreme c ourt heard the case s helby c ounty vs. holder. The county argued before the high court that c ongress exceeded its constitutional authority when, in 2006, it reauthorized section five of the voting r ights a ct of 1965 for another 25 years. The county adamantly claims that reauthorizing section five of the voting r ights a ct exceeded c ongress’ authority under the 14th and 15th a mendment thus violating the 10th a mendment and a rticle iv of the united s tates c onstitution. d uring the midst of the oral argument, united s tates s upreme c ourt Justice a ntonin s calia proclaimed, “e ach time the voting r ights a ct has been reauthorized in the past 50 years more and more senators supported it, even though the problem of racial discrimination at the polls has decreased over that time. now, i don’t think that’s attributable to the fact that it is so much clearer now that we need this. i think it is attributable, very likely attributable, to a phenomenon that is called perpetuation of racial entitlement. w henever a society adopts racial entitlements, it is very difficult to get out of them through the normal political processes.”

hearing s calia declare that the voting r ights a ct of 1965, the cornerstone statute of the black a merican freedom struggle, was a racial entitlement left some of those in the courtroom including Jesse Jackson, a l s harpton, r achael m addow, John l ewis and other civil right dignitaries livid. w hile at first s calia’s comments might be seen as insensitive and incendiary, his comments point to a pervasive problem that both current civil rights

LEttEr to thE EdItor

crusaders and our political process have faced. i f we are truly to live up to the meaning of the black freedom struggle, which was to strive for equality for blacks in a merica, then we must extinguish outdated laws and the s upreme c ourt must strike down this provision of the voting r ights a ct. c urrent civil rights crusaders such as Jackson and s harpton would have people believe that they can wipe out the last vestiges of discrimination. d oing this has cost the country and is impossible without ushering in a police state.

s ome might say that section five of the voting r ights a ct is necessary to prevent injustice in the political process, however, what was once a statute meant to alleviate the burden of overt discrimination has now become a mechanism that impedes the electoral process. s helby c ounty claims, “i mmense progress since 1965 in rooting out official discrimination renders pre-clearance an unwarranted burden on those jurisdictions that must comply, unjustifiably subjecting some states to unequal treatment and violating their constitutional prerogative to regulate elections within their borders.”

Forcing a group of people to deal with an unnecessary burden when simply redrawing an electoral map causes injury and is grounds for terminating this provision. we either have all counties in the united s tates seek pre-clearance when redrawing their electoral maps or we have no counties in the united s tates seek pre-clearance when redrawing their electoral maps.

The issue in s helby c ounty vs. holder is whether c ongress can have a set of rules and procedures for a select few whilst other counties, cities, municipalities and states go untouched by the Justice d epartment. moreover, another issue is whether

the government can justify intervening in state and local voting laws when politicians seek to adjust their voting maps. The voting r ights a ct and its several provisions was meant to prevent things like poll taxes and literacy tests from being enacted that have the effect of suppressing the vote on one segment of society.

i f we are truly an equal nation where we judge one another on the content of character and not the color of one’s skin, then all should be treated as equals in front of the law. i n the words of s upreme c ourt Justice c larence Thomas, “o ur constitution is color blind and no special treatment should be given to a selected group over another.”

The voting r ights a ct of 1965 abolished Jim c row segregation laws and other measures designed to impede or otherwise disenfranchise black voters. it has been renewed four times, most recently in 2006 when it passed c ongress near-unanimously 98-0 in the senate and 390-33 in the house. The s upreme c ourt should do what c ongress has not had the temerity to do and strike down this burdensome provision. c larence Thomas once called section five of the voting r ights a ct “an antiquated provision that can no longer be justified as a constitutional way to enforce the 15th a mendment, the r econstruction a mendment that protects all citizens from racebased voting discrimination.” The pervasive and overt racial discrimination prompting the creation of section five no longer exists, hence the law has outlived its usefulness.

Shaaya Ellis is a sophomore political science major with a classics minor. He can be contacted at sellis2@nd.edu

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

Faith informing politics

m r. r ooney,

Thank you for your thoughtful and interesting piece in Friday’s o bserver (“( p olitical) science and faith,” m ar. 1) it is clear to me that you are indeed being very thoughtful. i do think though that there are a few errors in your logic. First and foremost, i believe that it is very important to keep one thing in mind as c atholics or persons of any faith tradition: we should have faith inform our politics and not try to fit faith into one political scheme. This means not that “in order to be good, conscious c hristians we must be liberal,” but rather as good, conscious c hristians we need to weigh each policy on its own with our faith and vote for the candidate that best matches up with our beliefs. now, that being said, there are certain values

that we hold as paramount. o ne of these is the right to life. a s you and i agree, life begins at conception, thus this life must be protected as it is outside the womb. b eing a fellow man, i agree that i do not know and will never understand the incredibly difficult decisions that expectant mothers go through. This is why it is so important for us as a society to build a community that is welcoming and supportive of all its members, including the unborn. b eing pro-life does not mean trying to impose restrictions on what women do with their bodies, but rather providing the support needed so that every child can be born into a loving community. a s life begins at conception, it has to be protected from conception. The ‘problem’ in unintended pregnancies is not the unborn child, it is

the society that refuses to protect it and support both the mother, father and child. This is the key to building a culture of life, and i welcome anyone who wishes to discuss these issues further to contact me.

Thank you for your thoughtful piece, and remember there are 2,000 years of thought that have gone into the c hurch’s teachings; they are there to guide us in our search for truth.

s incerely, s tephen wandor

By COURTNEY COX s cene e ditor

w hen the weekend rolls around this Friday, we will all be free of academic strife and released into the wild for one week of stress-free existence. w hat’s the best way to celebrate this newfound freedom? dress like it, of course. if you’re heading somewhere warm and tropical it should be easy for you to embrace this call to action.

but first you have to get to your destination. don’t allow the airport to be an excuse for bad fashion. like all true rock stars, you must use the airport as the ultimate runway.

stay comfortable, but look chic while doing it. no sweatpants allowed. Try a pair of black leggings with this loose off the shoulder grey metallic top. add a pair of ankle boots and you’re set to be the toast of the security line.

Then it’s time to hit up the beach in style. use this as an opportunity to try out accessories that would seem out of place in the chill of south bend.

floral print. This version has a smaller floral pattern that isn’t distracting and the interesting bodice makes it original. accessorize it

Try out this floppy straw hat to protect your precious face from the elements. it’s just bohemian enough to be interesting without being off-putting. it’s also the perfect complement to your sea-salt tousled wavy hair.

classic ray bans might be good enough for early fall tailgating, but this spring break it’s time to experiment with something a little more edgy. go for something with a bit of a retro feel like these twotoned oversized cat-eye stunners. it’ll be just the thing you need to protect your eyes from the scorching sun while you’re out soaking up plenty of rays.

instead of your standard shapeless beach cover-up, go for a strapless romper in a fun

snowboarding, your wardrobe may involve considerably more coverage, but you’re still free to experiment with clothes that aren’t your typical outfits for class.

The first thing you’ll need is a classic parka to keep out the chill. instead of going for the traditional, slimming black, go for something bright so that your friends can easily spot you on the mountain. This red down parka is trimmed with luxe fur to keep you even warmer. you’ll look like you came straight from the swiss a lps.

no amount of fashion aptitude can make ski boots look attractive, so you’ll have to make up for it après ski, presumably by a fire in a warm cabin.

with a bold necklace and some platform wedges and your daytime cover-up can double as a playful outfit for a night out.

if you’ve decided to fully embrace the cold and hit the slopes for some skiing and

These Fair isle leggings are the perfect complement to a warm mug of hot chocolate and are a more interesting way to incorporate this interesting pattern than a standard crewneck sweater.

a nother way to spice up your winter wardrobe is to choose a hat with some form of embellishment that marks you as unique. This studded knit beanie is the perfect way to look like you don’t really care about your appearance and you just happen to look this awesome all the time.

it’ll also keep your locks under wraps if you find they aren’t looking stellar after a day of intense skiing.

w herever you plan to go, be it sunny or snowy, don’t let this style opportunity go to waste. Try something new and exciting without the pressure of an entire campus judging your choices. w ho knows — you might just come back all the more bold and ready to incorporate something new into your everyday life.

Contact Courtney Cox at ccox3@nd.edu

i am seven years old, and my older brother Johnno and i are having a very politically incorrect time listening to puff daddy and the Family’s “no way out.” Johnno has somehow convinced my mother to buy us this album. it’s the edited version, but my brother helps me fill in the blanks. i am still at a loss for how my brother was ever introduced to the genre. w hoever this nike-sporting peer was, i wonder if i would be more inclined to kiss him on the forehead or kick him in the groin. For these reasons, i have never sought him out.

“no way out,” the title track, blasts from Johnno’s boombox in the corner of our parents’ bedroom. over its mournful humming, helicopters, police sirens and puff daddy’s unconvincingly dramatic prayer, Johnno and i are running around the room, imagining we are thugs in the ghetto, running away from the police for one reason or another.

a nd, of course, this is all being imagined in the most ignorant sense. a sense which only prepubescent suburban kids can achieve. To us, the ghetto isn’t a symbol of modern a merican poverty. The ghetto isn’t a loaded political issue. To us, the ghetto is just about adventure. about running from the powers that be and trying to realize rags-to-riches dreams in any way possible.

my hip-hop love affair, or some sort of affair whose true signifier i have yet to determine, is beginning. in a way, we can’t be blamed for this simplistic evaluation of urban culture. everything we knew, we were learning from our rap music. we had yet to traverse the lyrical masterpieces of nas and Jay-Z or explore the twisted mentality of the wu-Tang clan. That is, we were hip-hop amateurs. Things hadn’t gotten serious yet. we were listening to the cool rap. The rap that refused to explore the moral no-man’s land between police brutality and complete ethical disregard. in the world of the rap we consumed, everything was black and white. us vs. Them. get r ich or die Tryin’. a nd everything was inexcusably danceable.

“no way out” is puff daddy’s “The chronic,” if he ever made one. w hen i listen to it now, 15 years later, it still manages to be a ton of fun. puff daddy and his hitmen production team steal (excuse me, “sample”) their way into some funky jams. a nd the whole thing wraps up with “i’ll be missing you,” puffy’s ode to his recently killed golden goose, The notorious b i g. The late rapper even makes a few appearances on the album, rendering the whole fiasco something akin to a one-night celebration of the life of biggie smalls. my brothers and i jumped on the rap bandwagon at an interesting time. rap, for one reason or another, decided around 1997 to become (almost exclusively) a good time. bad boy records, who was responsible for four out of 10 of the most successful songs of 1997, was releasing larger-than-life dance jams. rap was sounding less like Queensbridge and more like a day party in the middle of Times square. in other words, rap was becoming what it needed to be in order to take its place as one of a merica’s most influential genres. before the manufactured thug style of 50 cent, etc., rap needed to be as radio-friendly as possible. my brothers and i were the inheritors — or victims, depending on how you look at it — of this hip-hop explosion. a round the turn of the century, we ditched the bad boy dance party and moved onto a crew even more invested in its material acquisitions. Johnno, my other brother pat and i began scooping up every edited cash

money cd that sam goody had in stock. For anyone who was doing anything slightly productive with their life in 1999 and inevitably missed cash money’s minute in the sun, the now-dispersed new orleans crew had one simple ethos: the key to happiness was bling. The rap crew spent most of its time rapping over lush southern productions about their watches, cars, helicopters and, occasionally, illegitimate children. in terms of bad boy records, cash money was mostly a step backward. The rhymes were less intelligent, and the morals were even further divorced from our own. however, it caught our attention nonetheless.

our strange interest in urban culture clues one into the defining reason why hip-hop has been so important. hip-hop was a gateway to another world. a world we otherwise had no connection with, though it was very much a part of a merican culture. hip-hop brought the perversities, horrors and intricacies of urban a merica to suburban a merica’s doorstep. but it wasn’t in a pamphlet asking for money. it wasn’t in the form of a psa warning about gang violence. it was over a breakbeat that made you dance while you thought about it. The first step to change is exposure, and rap music was urban a merica exposing itself, for better or for worse. my brothers and i were ahead of the music curve, as most of our friends busied themselves with l imp bizkit or the backstreet boys for a few years while we were into hip-hop. but by the time high school arrived, everyone was on the rap bandwagon. some parents even joined in, stocking up on sean paul ringtones and accompanying their children to Jay-Z concerts. however, most parents, including my own, were revolted. rap snuck in under their noses during the early part of the 1990s, but by 2000, they had started to sniff it out. To parents who, seven years prior, had seen los a ngeles tear itself apart during the rodney k ing riots, a genre that advocated violence and misogyny was certainly something to abhor. Their frustrations culminated during eminem’s rise to fame at the turn of the century.

eminem’s lyrics were not only blatantly violent and misogynistic, but his rise to fame afforded suburban white parents the opportunity to oppose the genre on race-irrelevant grounds. This wasn’t a racial or socioeconomic issue. it was simple: rap was violent and poison for the entire culture, let alone the a merican youth. as i matured into my teen years, i began to adopt my parents’ concerns. Though i continued to love the genre, i began to feel ethical confusion as to why i loved it. should i give up hip-hop? is it poisoning my mind? a m i simply making excuses for why hip-hop is socially acceptable, when all i really want is the music itself? w hat was it about rap that made me feel so ahead of the game? i was a 12 year old who had the same morally confused feelings toward hip hop that most 60 year olds had towards the atomic bomb. i disobeyed my parent’s orders and bought explicit albums. in fits of guilt i would throw them in the trash, and then recover them several days later before it was too late.

i tried some of the lightweight rappers. i bought will smith’s “willenium” and pretended it was ruff ryders. but it seemed the more morally repugnant the rapper, the more i desired to tune in. eminem, Jay-Z, dm X. Those were my favorites. now that i am older, i realize that this ignoble desire to listen to grittier rap had more to do with the fact that Jay-Z was one of the best rappers in the world while will smith had the artistic faculty of a doorknob. in other words, i didn’t like these artists only because they were more explicit. it was around this time, when my crisis of conscience

was reaching a meltdown, that rap started to do me favors. having been ahead of the game, i began to appear cool to my friends. The popular kids in class wanted to come over and here my dr. dre album. likewise, i, unlike most others, had been watching “rap city” on beT the previous night and could elucidate my opinions about the new snoop dogg video.

w hen rap’s novelty wore off and i could no longer wear my rap knowledge as a badge of ‘cool,’ i still found a personal sense of fulfillment in hip-hop. For one reason or another, rap made me feel cool. There was something inexplicably wonderful about the hip-hop attitude. it was a carefree rejection of vanity. it was a denunciation of the powers that be, and an appraisal of rivalry and achievement through hard work, and yes, selfishness.

i have since realized that there were, no doubt, countless others to whom hip-hop surely meant considerably more. i was never bullied. i was rarely depressed or made to feel worthless. my upbringing was devoid of any major issue. hip-hop simply made me feel better on the rare occasion that i was, so to speak, down in the dumps. how important, then, must this feeling have been to those constantly against the ropes?

i have recently spoken to several younger friends who affirmed their indebtedness to rap. ironically, their favorite always tends to be eminem. despite his objectionable content, eminem’s body of work is largely concerned with his troubled younger life. bullied by both peers and his mother, eminem’s attitude can be read as a concurrently humorous and spiteful response to our mean and selfish culture. w hen one plays “my name is,” eminem’s first major radio single, one can hear the wonderfully careless tone eminem takes in provoking a society that let him down. in a weird way, it’s beautiful. he is making a merica upset for strange and occasionally vane reasons, and subsequently exposing how hypocritical and backwards modern society can be. “hey k ids, do you like violence?” “yeah!” i pity anyone who doesn’t find that lyric hilarious. eminem is being cool in his own way. it’s the anthem of anyone who never fit in. a nyone without a clear way to the top. eminem, the least likely of all heroes, found a way. “my name is” is eminem sticking his tongue out at everyone who told him he’d never make it. no, eminem wasn’t a cultural genius. nor was he a role model. a nd to be fair, he never claimed to be either. in fact, i think most hip-hop artists are idiots. Their words can be as cavalier as they are senseless. if any cultural force has tested the legitimacy of free speech more than the westboro baptist church, it has been hip-hop.

but free speech stands strong, and reminds us that even what criminals and pimps have to say might make a difference. in fact, most of hip-hop’s finest have been at one time or another disregarded or cast aside. Their poetry exposes our own cruelty and neglect. There is clearly something worthwhile in the hip-hop attitude. something very palpable to not only me, but also the millions of listeners the genre has won since its birth. so no, rap has never been easy to love. it has caused headaches, stomachaches, groundings and an unhealthy amount of time and money. but it has very much been worth it. hip-hop continues to fascinate and thrill me, in addition to making me feel the occasional burst of cool.

Contact Mac Hendrickson at mhendri1@nd.edu

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

The Golden Boy still shines

Editor’s note: This is the eighth in a 12-part series discussing the defining sportsman (or woman) of this century. In this installment, Peter Steiner argues for Tom Brady. Join the discussion on Twitter by using #DefiningSportsman.

The transformation of Tom brady is quite remarkable. near the beginning of the century and with most of the nation behind him, this sixth-round draft pick led his team to an improbable super bowl victory by orchestrating a last-minute drive over the 14-point favorites st. l ouis rams.

Two mvps, three super bowl victories and 12 years later, brady is one of the most respected, but largely disliked players in sports. h is ascent to the top of the n Fl and stay there, coupled with his polarizing stature has made him the defining sportsman of the 21st century.

one of the best benchmarks for a defining sportsman is to imagine how the trajectory of a sport would have changed without that athlete. The question then becomes, which athlete’s absence would have changed the landscape of the sport the most?

w hen looking at the history of the n Fl over the past 13 years, the answer is pretty obvious — Tom brady.

w ith the help of bill belichick, brady has established the patriots as the n Fl’s most consistent powerhouse of this century. he has led his team to 10 division championships, a perfect regular season and five super bowl appearances. a nd over the past decade, even casual sports fans knew the patriots were the team to beat.

a long with his team’s success, brady is also arguably the best individual player in the n Fl since the turn of the century. Two regular season and two super bowl mvps, the single season passing touchdown record and eight p ro bowls are the accolades at the top of his list. i n addition, brady has been at the forefront of the evolution of the passing game, mastering

the no huddle offense and the newest offensive schemes that many teams now employ. however, the biggest way brady has shaped the landscape of the n Fl is the role he has played in a merica’s biggest game. Three super bowl rings places brady in elite company, as he is tied with Troy a ikman, and needs one more ring to join Joe montana and Terry bradshaw on top.

i n terms of championships, brady has also defined another n Fl team by playing the antagonist in the story of the new york giants. The giants overcame brady twice in dramatic fashion to win super bowls in 2008 and 2012.

of course, brady and the patriots have not won a super bowl since 2005, which hurts his current legacy in the ‘w hat have you done lately?’ sports world in which we live. but the goal is to identify the century’s defining sportsman and the thinking suddenly changes if you flip brady’s career from back to front and you start his career with the most recent loss in the a Fc c hampionship game. suddenly, he becomes an athlete who overcame a slew of playoff losses to finally win the big game three times in four years. The exercise serves as a reminder of Tom brady’s dominance, not just in the past five years, but also especially during his greatest stretch.

The name Tom brady typically invokes feelings of dislike shared by many sports fans outside of new e ngland. w hile he began as an underdog to cheer for, his success and aura of superiority transformed him into the player to beat in both the eyes of players and fans. but love him or hate him, you have to respect the player that is Tom brady. h is successful career has spanned the entire 21st century and he is one of sports’ most recognizable figures.

Tom brady has shaped a merica’s most popular sport and, as a result, is the defining sportsman of the 21st century.

Contact Peter Steiner at psteiner@nd.edu

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

Zags no. 1 for first time in school history

Associated Press

The to-do list for the gonzaga basketball team got shorter monday: For the first time, the Zags were ranked no. 1 in The associated press Top 25 poll. sweet, but it may get bumpier from there.

next: avoiding the potholes that have stopped every other no. 1 this season, then finding a way to the Final Four.

“it’s an honor that people would think this highly of all of us in the program,” coach mark Few said in a prepared statement monday afternoon. “it’s great for the program, great for the school, great for the city of spokane and the region and the entire northwest.

“we still have a lot more to accomplish starting this weekend in las vegas and moving forward to the ncaa tournament,” said Few, who reportedly went fishing on monday. “we’re looking forward to the rest of the season and making it last as long as we can.”

The fact that Few would skip perhaps the biggest day in program history to go fishing says much about the priorities of the coach who helped build and has sustained gonzaga’s success. Few has repeatedly said he enjoys the balance between work and family time that gonzaga provides, a major reason he has not left for a bigger program.

students celebrated the no. 1 ranking on the downtown campus monday, and the food services department wheeled out a 20-foot cake that said “congratulations Zags.”

staying no. 1 has been tough this season, with gonzaga the fifth school to hold the spot after replacing indiana this week. The others were duke, louisville and michigan.

“we don’t believe there is any jinx,” assistant coach Tommy lloyd said earlier monday.

gonzaga, a small Jesuit school in spokane, is where crooner bing crosby went and where

f or s ale

110 E. Pokagon, Large home near ND. 574-277-3910 ask for Jackie

UNPLANNED PREGNANCY?

Don’t go it alone. Notre Dame has many resources in place to assist you. If you or someone you love needs confidential support or assistance, please call Ann Whitall at 1-0084 or Karen Kennedy at 1-5550. For more information, visit ND’s website at: http://pregnancysupport@nd.edu

John stockton threaded pinpoint passes. it has the best record in division i at 29-2 following weekend wins against byu and portland. The hoosiers, beaten by minnesota last week, dropped to no. 2.

The Zags are the 57th school to be ranked no. 1 since the ap poll began in January 1949. The school is considered a mid-major and reached no. 2 for the first time last week. now it will play for the first time at no. 1 on saturday night in the west coast conference semifinals.

gonzaga’s rise to the top comes 14 years after the school burst onto the national scene with a surprise run to the final eight of the ncaa tournament. since then, Few has guided the Zags to 12 conference titles, 13 trips to the tournament and four trips to the round of 16. along the way, gonzaga has produced a slew of nba players, including dan dickau, adam morrison, ronny Turiaf, austin daye, robert sacre and Jeremy pargo. The team features players from canada, France, germany and poland along with stockton’s son, david.

kelly olynyk, the 7-foot canadian center, leads the team

in scoring at nearly 18 points a game and averages seven rebounds. he calls the no. 1 ranking a “great milestone.”

olynyk never dreamed that he would be playing for the no. 1 team in the nation when he chose gonzaga over other offers.

“it never even crossed my mind,” he said.

at the time of gonzaga’s run to the final eight, the school had fewer than 5,000 students and was struggling with enrollment and budget issues.

Today, enrollment is at 7,800 and new buildings are popping up on campus all the time. The 6,000-seat mccarthey athletic center, which opened in 2004, has been sold out for all but one game. The Zags have rewarded their fans with a 120-8 home record there.

“we’ve had our struggles and battles, but we’ve made the right adjustments and calls,” lloyd said. “we must be doing something right.”

For now, the Zags, newly anointed no. 1, head to the league tournament in las vegas. lloyd knows such honors go only so far.

“i don’t think those teams are going to care where we are ranked,” he said.

“I’ve never lost a game. I just ran out of time.” -Michael Jordan

“I don’t want to shoot my mouth in my foot, but those are games we can win.” -Sherman Douglas

“I owe a lot to my parents ,especially my mother and my father.” -Greg Norman

“I scored a 1600 minus 800 minus 200 on the SAT, so I’m very intelligent when I speak. - Shaquille O’Neal

“I thought lacrosse was what you had in la church.” -Robin Williams

In an average lifetime, a person will walk five times around the equator.

It is believed that Shakespeare was 46 around the time that the King James Version of the Bible was written. In Psalms 46, the 46th word from the first word is shake and the 46th word from the last word is spear.

Lucy and Linus (of Peanuts’ fame) also had a little brother named Rerun.

The international dialing code for Anartctica is 672.

Best known western names in China: Jesus, Richard Nixon, and Elvis

Buckeyes prepare for Big Ten showdown

Ohio State players cheer for teammates during the second half of a game against Northwestern in Evanston, Ill., on Thursday. Ohio State beat the Wildcats, 63-53. The Buckeyes travel to Bloomington, Ind., tonight to take on conference powerhouse No. 2 Indiana.

Associated Press

columbus , o hio — This has been a season of mayhem in the b ig Ten.

n ow o hio s tate would like to scramble it even more.

The n o. 14 b uckeyes travel to play second-ranked i ndiana on Tuesday night as the conference’s wacky regular season winds down to its final week.

i t’ll be a crimson-letter

paid a dverT isemen T

evening for the h oosiers, that’s for sure. They’ve already captured a share of the conference title. To win it outright for the first time since 1993, they need to beat the b uckeyes or win at n o. 7

swingman v ictor o ladipo, who scored a career-high 26 points, center c ody Zeller, who had 24, and distanceshooting c hristian w atford, who added 20, to account for 86 percent of i ndiana’s offense.

That defeat was part of a swoon that saw the b uckeyes drop three out of four b ig Ten games to fall out of the race for first place. a lopsided win over m innesota (which then turned around a few days later and upset i ndiana) and an important 68-60 home win over m ichigan s tate helped o hio s tate climb in the standings while one highly ranked team after another ahead of them was upended.

h eading into the final week of play, i ndiana has a two-game lead — with m ichigan, m ichigan s tate, o hio s tate and w isconsin all hoping that they can win their final two games while the h oosiers are losing twice.

m ichigan on s unday.

a t least half of the b ig Ten will be hoping that doesn’t happen.

“They’re not the only ones playing for something,” o hio s tate point guard a aron c raft said. “ w e’re also playing for something, too.”

o hio s tate, m ichigan, 22nd-ranked w isconsin and n o. 10 m ichigan s tate all still have a shot at getting a piece of the regular season championship — but only if the h oosiers lose their final two games.

That makes for some strange bedfellows.

a year ago, o hio s tate stunned b ig Ten-leading m ichigan s tate on a last-second shot by w illiam b uford on the final day of the regular season to drop the s partans into a three-way tie for the conference title with the b uckeyes and m ichigan.

a week later, before o hio s tate and archrival m ichigan played in the b ig Ten tournament, w olverines coach John b eilein said to b uckeyes coach Thad m atta, “ i ’d never seen a group of m ichigan guys rooting so hard when b uford made that shot.”

The b ig Ten has a series of tiebreakers if two or more teams end up atop the standings. b ut none of those mean much if the h oosiers (25-4, 13-3) have their way with o hio s tate (21-7, 115) like they did in an 81-68 beatdown on Feb. 10 at o hio s tate’s value c ity a rena.

i n that game, the b uckeyes were done in by the thenn o. 1 h oosiers’ three-headed monster of versatile

“This league is so (good), and there’s a lot of upsets,” said o hio s tate’s d eshaun Thomas, the leading scorer in the b ig Ten. “ n ow it comes down to us. w e’re in a great position now.”

There’s a feeling among the b uckeyes that, since they were seemingly out of the league race just a week or two ago, this is a pleasant surprise to have so much riding on the final week.

“a couple of weeks ago we got down and kind of took a step back,” said c raft, who in his two previous years at o hio s tate has won two regular-season b ig Ten titles. “ w e hadn’t really been in that position since i ’ve been in college. w e’ve kind of always controlled our own destiny. b ut as a team we did a good job of really picking ourselves up and understanding there’s still a lot to play for.”

The b uckeyes look back at the big upset they pulled off on the road a year ago and figure why not do it again?

“ w e did that last year at m ichigan s tate, and we feel like we can do that again at iu,” Thomas said.

Few o hio s tate fans thought the b uckeyes, in the wake of their cold spell, would still be playing a meaningful game in the final week of the season. b ut m atta wasn’t so quick to slam the door on a tight finish.

“This is my ninth year; we’ve won (the b ig Ten regular-season title) five times and it’s always come down to the last week,” he said. “ i had a pretty good sense it would come down to something like this.”

Irish look to remain unbeaten against Detroit

By JACK HEFFERON sports writer

n o. 7 n otre d ame started slowly in each of its three games thus far, but battled back from first half deficits in each to remain unbeaten. n ow, the i rish are tasked with continuing that winning streak — and with putting together a consistent performance from start to finish — when they host d etroit this evening.

n otre d ame’s latest come-from-behind win came against d uquesne on s aturday, as the d ukes (2-2) jumped out to a 4-0 lead just three minutes into the game. The i rish (3-0) rallied back, outscoring the competition 7-3 in the second half to secure a 10-8 win.

i n that game, i rish coach c hristine h alfpenny said her team got away from much of what it wanted to do on offense, and that would need to be improved upon to avoid another slow start against the Titans (1-3).

“ w e want to work on our dynamic ability on offense because i thought we lost a little bit of that on s aturday,” she said. “ s o we want to get back to being a bit more dynamic on offense, moving the ball a little bit quicker, attacking a little bit harder and fine tuning some of our transition game as we match up against d etroit.”

That matchup with the Titans will be a new one for h alfpenny and the i rish, who are entering their fifth

Irish junior attack Lindsay Powell attempts to get past an Ohio State defender in the

No. 13 Buckeyes 13-8. The Irish next take on unfamiliar Detroit for the first time tonight

paid a dverT isemen T

will have to deal with fatigue in addition to the Titans. Tonight’s game will be n otre d ame’s third in the course of a week.

“They’re an opponent that we’ve never played before, so it’s going to be a new opponent coming in, another mid-week game during midterms.”

Christine Halfpenny Irish coach

year of varsity competition. The barnstorming Titans have yet to play a game at home, so they should be accustomed to playing in a hostile environment.

h alfpenny, meanwhile, said her staff has thoroughly scouted d etroit. s till, she said she is focused mainly on seeing her players continue to improve from game to game.

“They’re an opponent that we’ve never played before, so it’s going to be a new opponent coming in, another mid-week game during midterms,” she said. “ o ur main goal is going to be to get out there and do better, to be better on Tuesday than we were during this past s aturday.”

i mprovement may be difficult though, as the i rish

b ut h alfpenny said the stretch is a positive for the i rish because her players are excited to play, and need to prepare for the crowded schedule they’ll encounter in postseason play.

“ i think we’re excited about getting that opportunity right now to get comfortable with games that are back-to-back because with the b ig e ast this year, we’ll ultimately be having Fridays aturday matchups and that’s a tournament-like setting,” h alfpenny said. “ you play a game, you wrap it up and then you move forward to the next one.”

That mentality will be tested when the i rish battle the Titans at 6 p.m. this evening. The game will be played at a rlotta s tadium.

Contact Jack Hefferon at wheffero@nd.edu

Notre Dame takes on familiar foe at home

By MEGAN FINNERAN sports writer

The n o. 29 i rish return home tonight, hosting n o. 17 i llinois after a win against n o. 59 w isconsin on s unday afternoon.

n otre d ame (7-5) will face the i llini (6-3) with fresh feet, while i llinois will face i llinois s tate earlier in the day. The i rish have a long history with i llinois, leading the overall series 23-22.

The i rish come off a 5-2 win against w isconsin, a match fueled by five wins in singles play after dropping the doubles point. Junior g reg a ndrews, senior b las m oros, freshman Quentin m onaghan, sophomore w yatt m c c oy and senior m ichael m oore each contributed a point to the i rish victory.

“ i think the match against w isconsin was pretty important,” monaghan said. “ it will give us confidence knowing that, with our backs against the wall after a bad doubles

point, we came up big in singles and produced five solid matches and got the win.”

n otre d ame will continue seeking leadership from its top competitors. a ndrews, m oros and m onaghan have contributed points to wins throughout the season.

“g oing into i llinois, it’s going to be a very tough match and a lot of it will come down to our belief,” monaghan said. “ we can definitely win the match but we’re going to have to battle and compete hard.”

The i rish have struggled in doubles play this season, but continue to focus on areas of improvement. w hile the squad has proven its ability to bounce back after losing the doubles point, it hopes to start on a better foot this weekend.

“ it’s going to be a fun atmosphere and being at home definitely helps,” monaghan said. “ we’re going to have to focus on doubles going in.”

The i llini are on a threematch winning streak, defeating n o. 6 k entucky, iowa and n o. 20 n orthwestern. The w ildcats, i llinois’ most recent opponent, defeated the i rish 4-3 earlier in the season. i llinois’ top competitors are underclassmen. i n singles play, i llinois boasts n o.

38 freshman Jared h iltzik, sophomore Tim k opinski and sophomore r oss g uignon, who all went 2-0 in singles competition last weekend. “o nce the match starts it’s all about who competes the hardest and who is ready to take the match from the opponent,” m onaghan said. d oubles play against i llinois will begin at 6 p.m. tonight in the e ck Tennis p avilion.

Contact Megan Finneran at mfinnera@nd.edu

Cycling A team wins first mass start race

Sophomore Pratt leads cycling; equestrian team medals; ultimate frisbee team wins championship

Special to The Observer

on a frigid saturday afternoon, through the snow glazed fields and around the frozen lakes of greencastle, ind., notre dame’s men’s a team broke through the varsity barrier and scored its first ever mass start victory in school history. raising his arms in triumph at the conclusion of the 73-mile event, sophomore John pratt accomplished what few non-scholarship athletes achieve in a collegiate cycling career, besting professional riders, national champions and olympians alike.

composed of nine circuits around an eight-mile loop, the men’s a race began with a flourish, as athlete after athlete tried to ride out of sight on winding, wooded roads. with an average pace of 27 mph over the first three laps, none succeeded until midway through the fourth when irish senior cyclist Joe magro sprinted clear with two riders from marian university, two from lindenwood university and one from ohio state.

despite achieving nearly a two-minute advantage over the field, magro’s breakaway was undone by the efforts of wisconsin, and the race came back together with three laps remaining. sensing opportunity to be gained from a tired pack, pratt followed a second wave of riders up the road, and they soon left all

chasers behind.

biding his time until the finish, pratt moved to the far side of the street in the closing meters, keeping all rivals in sight. w hen the sprint began, pratt was fast to respond and none could match his turn of speed to the line. back in the field, magro quickly recovered from his early efforts and followed another chase group after the leaders. First dropping two from lindenwood, then a third from indiana, magro found himself alone, over a minute ahead of the peloton, but still well behind pratt. soloing the final 14 miles to the finish, magro held off a charging field at the line, putting an exclamation on a great day in men’s a other notable results from saturday’s road race included seniors pat handy and phil palmon finishing eighth and 11th in men’s c, respectively.

criterium racing sunday was delayed due to icy conditions, but notre dame wasted little time getting on the scoreboard with palmon’s career best seventh place in the second race of the morning, men’s c not to be bested, the Fighting irish “b musketeers” provided an encore performance of their domination at lindsey wilson just one week earlier, controlling the race from start to finish. with junior luke Tilmans and sophomore mike chifala blocking from the rear, sophomore

Jim snitzer rode into the distance and delivered notre dame’s second win of the weekend. cleaning up the leftovers, Tilmans (seventh, and chifala (12th) also scored major points for notre dame.

with the seal finally broken, and hungry for more success, notre dame was active and at the front of the men’s a criterium all afternoon. magro bore the standard for the irish early, chasing after potential breakaways almost constantly for the first 20 minutes of the event.

passing the baton to pratt while resting, magro was not disappointed by the speedy sophomore, who worked his way into the winning move with 30 minutes of the hour-long race gone.

a lthough magro was forced to abandon the race with a flat tire, pratt again rode strongly for the irish, and notched another topfive for the team with his fourthplace effort.

with the double victory and numerous top-10 results, notre dame is firmly in control of the d2 conference and individual races. The irish will take the line again in st. louis the weekend of march 23.

Equestrian

The nd/smc equestrian team competed saturday in the regional competition in culver, ind. Junior katie walsh started the day with a second place

finish in open fences, followed by junior stephanie nearhos also placing second in intermediate fences. walsh then started off the flat portion of the day with a third place finish in open flat. senior w hitney preisser took third place in intermediate flat.

Three riders competed in walk-Trot-canter and all had great finishes. sophomore shannon noonan took third place, ellen moriarty finished fifth and senior catie hrabrick came in sixth. Freshman a nnalis cigarroa finished the day with a great win in walk-Trot, going undefeated in that division this season.

walsh, nearhos and cigarroa move on to Zones for the irish in open fences, intermediate fences and walk-Trot, respectively.

ultimate frisbee: Midwest throwdown

The irish finally began their season last weekend in st. louis at midwest Throwdown. The a-team played exceptionally well in the cold, windy conditions and won the 20-team tournament, while the b-Team, facing exclusively a-teams from other schools, finished 19th.

The no. 3-seeded a-team opened saturday pool play with comfortable wins against wisconsin-milwaukee b, western illinois and drury by scores of 13-1,13-2 and 13-3, respectively. in the last game of the

day against st. louis university, the irish built an 11-7 lead, but a series of mistakes and uncharacteristic turnovers led to a 12-11 loss. despite the defeat, notre dame still finished second in the pool and advanced to the quarterfinals.

The loss meant a tougher road sunday, and led to an opening round matchup against Truman state. notre dame closed the door on Truman winning 1510 to advance to the semifinals against top-seeded washington university.

The game against washington started poorly. Trailing in the second half, 11-7, nd started a furious comeback to take a 1211 lead. The two teams traded points setting up double game point at 13-13. notre dame received the pull, but turned the disc over. a fter washington moved the disc to midfield, senior collin mackett made a pivotal layout block to get the disc back to the irish.

a fter a couple more turns by each team, irish senior dan bolivar found junior conor hanney in the endzone to win the game 14-13.

r iding the high from the semifinal, the team jumped out to an early lead against nebraska and never allowed them to pull within two points after halftime, eventually winning the game 1510 and sealing the tournament championship.

overtime games, but this was the first triple-overtime game in program history.

“i’m absolutely thrilled with the resilience of this group,” i rish coach muffet mc graw said. “They refuse to lose. we were done in regulation, in the first and second overtime. we just kept clawing away.”

notre dame had not hit a 3-point shot all game, but junior guard k ayla mcbride calmly dribbled down the court and hit a game-tying bomb with less than six seconds left in the first overtime.

“i saw they were doubleteaming [ diggins],” mcbride said. “i was taking the ball out so it was basically a one-onone situation. i saw an opening and took it.”

Trailing by five with two minutes left in the second overtime, notre dame mounted another comeback, eventually tying the game to force triple overtime.

mcbride fouled out in overtime with a career-high 26 points. but to say she sat on the bench would be a stretch. mcbride stood, jumped, waved her hands and pleaded with the i rish defense to get stops for the rest of the game.

i n the third overtime, the i rish outscored connecticut 15-6. The huskies were without two of their best players, junior guard bria hartley and junior center stefanie dolson, who both fouled out at the end of regulation.

red storm

notre dame’s 13 turnovers in the loss.

“[one] thing that really hurt us was nine first-half turnovers,” brey said. “Turnovers in the first half gave [marquette] a lead that was just too hard of a hole to dig out of in the second half.”

w hen notre dame faced off with st. John’s on Jan. 15 at madison square garden, cooley was similarly limited. The double-double machine logged just 18 minutes due to foul trouble as the irish fell 67-63 to the red storm. st John’s has won the last three clashes with notre dame. saturday’s loss to marquette jettisoned the irish into a tie for fifth place in the conference with syracuse. The orange (22-7, 10-6), however, own a tiebreaker over notre dame. For the irish to improve their standing in the conference, they would need to win each of their last two games — notre dame concludes the regular season against no. 8 louisville on saturday — and receive help from other teams. a s for handling their own business, the irish, led by their seniors, have been historically stout in their four years in south bend. The group has compiled the most big east victories in

The huskies had several chances to close out the game. i n the first overtime period, leading by six, connecticut missed the front end of a oneand-one on three straight trips to the free throw line.

“we couldn’t finish it off,” connecticut coach g eno auriemma said. “every opportunity we had to put it away, we let it slip away from us.”

notre dame forced 35 turnovers monday, a number that baffled auriemma and the huskies. but mc graw attributed that number to notre dame’s aggressive style of defense.

“o ur help side was pretty good,” mc graw said. “but generally when we ran at the ball and threw some double teams at them, that was most effective.”

notre dame shot just 30 percent from the field in the first half, making none of its six attempts from behind the arc. but diggins and mcbride both managed 11 first half points to keep the i rish close. connecticut led 34-28 heading into the locker room.

connecticut sophomore forward k aleena mosquedal ewis led all scorers with 13 points in the half.

“she’s a tremendous offensive player,” mc graw said. “she has so many things she can do. she was 3-for-4 [from behind the arc] in the first half and i felt like we never found her. she was wide open on all four of her threes in the first half. i thought we did a much better job in the second half guarding her.”

a four-year stretch since notre dame joined the conference in 1995. The crew is also three wins away from becoming the program’s all-time winningest class overall.

Three notre dame seniors have already played their final games in an irish uniform. guard Joey brooks has not played this season, and the 6-foot-6, 223-pounder will suit up at tight end for the notre dame football squad during spring practice. Forward mike broghammer has been hampered by knee injuries throughout his career and was ruled out for the season in the preseason. graduate student forward scott martin, who has been dealing with knee injuries of his own, is out for the season as well.

nonetheless, the irish will be looking for some of marquette’s magic.

“This is the winningest senior class in big east [school] history with 47 big east wins,” brey said. “They’re three away from being the all-time winningest class. “we need to send them out like marquette just sent their seniors out.”

The irish tip off against the red storm on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at purcell pavilion.

Contact Mike Monaco at jmonaco@nd.edu

a fter two early fouls by i rish junior natalie achonwa, notre dame primarily utilized a four-guard lineup. The 6-foot5 dolson managed eight points and five rebounds in the half. she also picked up two early fouls, but auriemma kept her in the game.

i rish junior forward a riel braker finished with a career-high 10 rebounds and achonwa returned to score 17 points in the second half and overtimes.

w ith the win, notre dame captures the big e ast regular season title for the second straight season. its 23-game winning streak is its longest since the 2000-01 season when the i rish won the national championship.

The i rish have now won six of their last seven matchups with connecticut. Their last loss to the huskies came in the big e ast tournament championship game last season.

The big e ast tournament starts Friday in hartford, conn. a s the no. 1 seed, notre dame has a double-bye through the first two rounds. its first game will be sunday at 2 p.m. in the X l center. it is highly likely that notre dame will see the huskies again march 12 in the championship game. but the i rish have a full head of steam right now.

“we’re going to find a way to win,” mc graw said. “we’ve got it rolling right now. w hatever it takes, we’re going to find a way.”

Contact Matthew Robison at mrobison@nd.edu

o vertime

championships since geno auriemma became head coach in 1985. names like Taurasi and moore have worn a connecticut uniform on their way to national player of the year awards and ncaa titles. however, ever since diggins suited up for notre dame in 2009, the balance of power has begun to change. it has not come suddenly, but rather over the course of four years. a s a freshman, diggins led the irish to a 29-6 record, but their games against connecticut showed the stillpresent talent gap. The huskies defeated notre dame twice in the regular season and once in the big east tournament. none of the games were close. notre dame lost twice to connecticut in the regular season the next year as well, but only three points decided the game at home in purcell. notre dame was inching closer. despite another loss to the huskies in the 2011 big east tournament, the irish rolled through the ncaa tournament and met their nemesis again in the Final Four. This time, diggins and company topped maya moore and the huskies to punch their ticket to the national championship game. The irish were on their way. in her junior year, diggins led the irish to a 35-4 record and orchestrated victories over connecticut during both of the schools’ regular-season meetings. a lthough notre dame lost

to the huskies in the 2012 big east tournament, they once again beat connecticut in the Final Four. notre dame had arrived.

This season, diggins and the irish have again completed a regular-season sweep of the huskies. it wasn’t always pretty. notre dame’s best player shot 11-for-31 from the floor, including 0-for-5 from the 3-point line, and turned the ball over eight times. but as anyone who has watched diggins for the last four years can tell you, her game is not about numbers. it’s about winning.

with one minute remaining in the third overtime, diggins tied up huskies senior guard kelly Faris, turning the ball over to the irish and all but sealing the victory. she let out a scream as the crowd roared and jogged to the sideline to high-five former irish center ruth r iley. in a game replete with symbolic moments, this move topped them all. notre dame’s current a ll-a merican connected with its former a lla merican, who led the irish to the program’s only national title in 2001.

on her final night in purcell against her longtime rival, diggins announced loud and clear: This game was about more than one year or one team. it was about the swan song to a legendary collegiate career and the desire to continue winning until it is capped with the ultimate prize.

Contact Cory Bernard at cbernard@nd.edu

hIGhLy PunLIkELy | chrisTopher brucker

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: chaz bono, 44; patricia heaton, 55; mykelti williamson, 56; catherine o hara, 59. Happy Birthday: concentrate on personal finance, medical or legal matters. you can accomplish a lot and improve your overall position, reputation and status if you are diligent in the way you handle these matters. Focusing on relationships with others will help you receive the help or favors you require in order to make your life easier. love is highlighted. your numbers are 3, 10, 14, 22, 27, 30, 41.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): consider what’s available. learning something new will help you get ahead, but staying in the same position of being overworked and underpaid will drag you down. start planning for the future. Take the steps that lead to a better position.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): you can make a difference. stop thinking and start doing. offer suggestions and hands-on help. a little can go a long way. don’t let emotional situations cost you financially. it’s best to have a plan and to stick to it.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): e laborating will be frowned upon if you make someone look bad or if you stretch the truth. Taking on a cause you cannot handle on your own will make you look bad. don’t donate or offer more than what you can handle comfortably.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): step up and follow through. you’ll have great ideas and a captive audience. love is on the rise, and mixing business with pleasure will help you advance. a business trip will result in experience, knowledge and worthwhile connections.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): connecting with people from your past will be costly but informative. a move or change of scenery will bring you more opportunities to explore old goals. don’t take on responsibilities that don’t belong to you. Take care of personal paperwork.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): partnerships will weigh in heavily when it comes to making a decision. you must feel comfortable with the outcome, or back away. don’t overreact, but do speak up regarding what’s acceptable and what’s not. emotional turmoil is likely to develop at home.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Finish whatever job you are given quickly and efficiently. you are likely to face criticism if you fall behind. you will discover valuable information if you sign up for a cultural event. an unexpected change regarding a partnership will end up being beneficial.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): working from home can help you save money. changes to your living arrangements will help you pay off an investment. Follow your heart when it comes to personal and domestic matters. personal enhancement and romance are on the rise.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Tread carefully when dealing with friends, relatives or people in your community. you will be misinterpreted or blamed for something if you are too open or aggressive. Focus on how you can make your home more inviting.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): don’t let a meddler influence a partnership or deal. stick to your game plan regardless of what anyone else decides to do. an old friend or lover will be a reminder of how to handle your current situation.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): reconsider before making changes. you are likely in a better position than you realize. bide your time and focus on how you can make your home or your job more to your liking. present your ideas and the service you can offer.

PISCES (Feb. 19- March 20): uncompromising individuals will lead you astray. don’t let your heart and emotions rule your head. consider the pros and cons and make a decision based on what you will gain in the end. smart moves will ensure future success.

Birthday Baby: you are persuasive. you have poise and a mystical appeal.

sudoku | The mepham group work a rea

JuMbLE | david hoyT and JeFF knurek

nd woMEn’s bAskEtbALL | nd 96, uconn 87

Going out strong

Notre Dame pulls out triple-overtime victory

By MATTHEW ROBISON sports writer

Fueled by 29 points and 11 rebounds from senior captain and guard skylar diggins, no. 2 notre dame mounted a series of late comebacks to defeat no. 3 connecticut 96-87 in triple overtime monday in p urcell pavilion.

diggins made the most of her final game in front of her hometown crowd and remarked this win will be especially memorable, as the victory clinched an outright big e ast championship for notre dame (28-1, 16-0 big e ast) and prevented a share of the title with the huskies (27-3, 14-2).

“it’s bittersweet for me, this being my last game,” diggins said. “but what a way to go out. i think we showed we’re not too good at sharing.” every time notre dame seemed like it was out of the game, it came firing back. The i rish have won their last four

Irish clinch Big East title, solidify dominance

This game was about a lot of things for the no. 2 irish. it was about finishing undefeated in the big east and earning a conference title. it was about further strengthening notre dame’s resume for a no. 1 seed in the ncaa tournament. it was about beating a fellow top-10 opponent in prime time in front of a packed p urcell pavilion and a national television audience. but more than anything else, this game was about the culmination of a steady rise to dominance in south bend. This was senior guard skylar diggins’ final regular-season victory in an irish uniform and it came after three overtimes against rival connecticut. you could not have scripted a better finish. in the past two decades, the huskies have been the undisputed top dog in the big east. They have won seven national

i rish honor seniors in matchup with red storm

By MIKE MONACO sports writer

Though the no. 24 irish fell 72-64 to no. 15 marquette on saturday — senior day for the g olden eagles — notre dame hopes to embody some of the eagles’ mystique during the game as they head into their own senior night matchup tonight with st. John’s.

“well, they had a little senior day magic, didn’t they?” irish coach mike brey said saturday in a postgame interview with und.com. “one thing i said [in the locker room] was ‘i’d like to enjoy a senior night on Tuesday like these guys enjoyed a senior night. so let’s get on back and get to practice.’”

For the final time of their careers, the notre dame seniors will take the familiar floor at p urcell pavilion when the irish (22-7, 10-6 big east) square off with the red storm (16-12, 8-8). irish senior forward Jack cooley will likely return to the notre dame starting lineup after being sidelined for much of saturday’s game due to illness.

cooley played just 15 minutes, took one shot and was held scoreless as the g olden eagles rolled to victory behind the interior play of senior center chris otule and junior forward Jamil w ilson, who combined for 35 points.

irish junior guard eric atkins said notre dame had to change its approach without cooley on the floor.

“That’s our horse inside,” atkins said saturday of his fellow tri-captain. “we can go pass it to him when they’re doing a good job up top, and he can go get a basket for us. but [ saturday] he wasn’t there for us, so it made it a little different. we have to use the ball screen a little more, do a couple different things.”

w ithout their workhorse down low, atkins and fellow junior guard Jerian grant comprised the bulk of the notre dame offense, combining for 37 points and hoisting nearly half of notre dame’s shots. The guards also committed seven of