Print Edition of The Observer for Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Faculty addresses local lead issue

Interdisciplinary team shares research examining elevated levels of lead present in South Bend homes

By SOFIA MADDEN news Writer

A team of notre dame faculty members from various departments came together in order to discuss the detrimental effects of lead in south Bend homes with the local community. The lecture, titled “g etting the Lead Out: Reducing south Bend’s e xposure to Lead,” was part of the Our universe Revealed series and took place in Jordan hall.

notre dame faculty members graham Peaslee, from the department of physics, marya Lieberman, from the department of

chemistry and biochemistry and heidi Beidinger, from the department of biological sciences and eck Institute for global health, spoke about the research they have conducted regarding this issue.

Peaslee said lead exposure is still a problem in the united states, and especially in south Bend, which has six times the amount of Flint levels compared to the rest of the country. Less than ten percent of children are tested for lead levels, he said, which makes it difficult to assess the threat south Bend

Lecture examines depression

By MAEVE FILBIN news Writer

As mental Illness Awareness week approaches with the first seven days of October, Lorraine cuddeback, a post-doctoral scholar in notre dame’s Theology department, used her installation of Theology on Fire, “Responding to depression: Theological Insights and Pastoral Practices,” to address the topic of depression.

“ … What the catholic social Tradition does is offer a really helpful framework for addressing ethical issues such as mental illness and depression,” cuddeback said, “ … Ideally, this would be an ongoing process.”

she said an estimated 10 percent of the world population have suffered from depression, and that over the past ten years, that number has increased by about 15-20 percent in college-aged students.

“depression is not rare; in fact, it’s actually pretty common,” cuddeback said.

These statistics only indicate people who have sought treatment for their diagnosed mental illnesses. Therefore, cuddeback said, the numbers could actually be much higher.

“depression is not just ‘feeling

down,” cuddeback said. “There’s a difference between feeling depressed or feeling upset about something and medical depression.”

mental illnesses like depression operate on a spectrum, which means that though symptoms might be present, clinical diagnosis only follows the crossing of a certain threshold, cuddeback said. To be medically diagnosed, the patient must display at least five of the possible symptoms of depression. Thoughts of self-harm automatically cross this threshold, despite the normal rule of five observed signs, cuddeback said.

“What’s really behind that is not just a number of symptoms, but recognizing that things start really interfering with your everyday life. your ability to take care of yourself: to sleep, to eat, to work,” she said. “depression is not all just in someone’s head. There is a real biological aspect to it.”

cuddeback said there is a false impression that because depression is a mental illness, it can be cured with sheer will power. depression takes on real, physical symptoms that must be taken into consideration, she said, likening

Postgraduate service fair to host over 70 agencies

By KELLI SMITH n ews Writer

The center for social concerns (csc) will host a fair to introduce students to an array of postgraduate service opportunities Wednesday from 5-8 p.m. at the Joyce center concourse.

The fair will feature representatives from over 70 service organizations situated across

the world. According to the event website, the organizations confront topics such as poverty, immigration and refugee resettlement, environmental justice, healthy food, wellness, housing and homelessness, youth development and elder care.

“What’s wonderful is there will be organizations that need people to do all different kinds of work,” Karen manier, postgraduate

service administration lead coordinator at the csc, said. “no matter what your background is or your interests, you can usually find something that would be of interest to you.”

manier said the goal of the fair never differs: It aims to both educate students about postgraduate service — what it is, what it offers

NDVotes outlines plan to promote voter education

By ANDREW BENNIS news Writer

With the 2016 election a thing of the past, ndVotes will shift its focus to encouraging voter education and civic engagement amongst the u niversity’s student body.

c oming off of a presidential election year, ndVotes is looking for new ways to keep students engaged in the political

process, nd Votes co-chair and junior Kylie Ruscheinski said.

“Voter registration is what founded ndVotes, but at its core, it’s also about voter education,” she said.

“Being an educated voter and an active citizen is not a cycle,” she said. “It doesn’t stop.”

This year, ndVotes will continue to focus on its mission of helping students become registered voters, Ruscheinski said. In 2016, from november

Past iterations of the club existed during the 2008 and 2012 elections, Ruscheinski said, but weren’t active in the years in between. This time, the group will be sticking around. nd Votes will aim to keep students consistently engaged in the political world, as opposed to only during major elections, Ruscheinski said.

and how powerful it can be — and facilitate the process for students who want to do postgraduate service.

“if there’s a passion that you have around a particular social issue, [postgraduate service] allows you to not only do good work and help people but also to learn more about things so you can decide to get involved with something in a different way or level,“ manier said.

according to the csc’s website, though postgraduate service is “basically a full-time job in a non-profit organization,” service members typically receive a stipend and benefits in exchange for working with individuals and communities in need.

Though bringing a resume to the event and wearing business casual attire can be helpful, manier said, the service fair is different from a regular job search in that such formalities are not necessary and any question students ask service organizations is “fair game.”

“everyonewantsthesamething, which is to make the world a better place,” manier said. “These are folks who prefer to have lengthier conversations with the people they’re talking to because it allows them to get to know you better.”

about 7 percent of the class of 2016 participated in postgraduate service, totaling to about 150 students, manier said. The

largest portion of those students came from the college of arts and Letters, which saw 17 percent of its graduates commit to service.

“i hope people take advantage of this opportunity, because notre dame students are extremely well-liked by service organizations because they’re so well-prepared,” manier said. “[students] come in with so much service experience already, tend to do service while here and are smart, energetic and good leaders. our students are ideal candidates, so these service organizations really want to meet them.”

manier said she would recommend all students, regardless of grade level, to attend the free event.

“even if [undergraduates] just start with conversations now and get a sense of the landscape, they’ll be in a much better position going into their senior year when they’re trying to make those decisions,” manier said. “it’ll give them a chance to see what’s out there.”

as an alumnus of notre dame and now the director and founder of the ignatiun service corps, a service organization that will be at the fair, Tom King said he has worked with many students who found their gifts and life-long passions through service.

“You can have great, experienced people who have done all kinds of j ustice work for four years, and they’re a perfect match,” King said. “but then you can have someone that was not engaged [in

Paid a dverT isemen T

service] at all, and they can be a perfect match as well. i think that anybody could do it. Just have an open heart.”

King said he considers college graduates to be in a privileged class that is required to help “those on the margins.”

“The programs all want the student to find the program that’s best for him or her,” King said. “That’s the beautiful thing about a fair like that. The programs want you to find the right match, so they may even lead you to another program. i never feel a spirit of competition among the programs.”

Junior spanish and music major Katie Ward, who helped run the service fair last year, said she felt uplifted seeing the positive impact the service organizations have in different communities and the roles that were available to students through them.

“i would highly recommend attending the postgraduate service fair, even if you have not considered doing postgraduate service before,” Ward said. “The postgraduate service fair can help you discern whether you feel called to do postgraduate service and also help you see more specifically what organizations might interest you. it’s a laid-back atmosphere, and everyone just really wants to get to know you and build relationships.”

Contact Kelli Smith at ksmith67@nd.edu

t heology

con T inued from Page 1

mental illness to a case of strep throat,.

“no one says, ‘Just try to not have strep throat,’” cuddeback said.

Though this explanation seems simple enough, cuddeback said today’s society still does not have a complete understanding of the nature of mental illness.

“depression is stigmatized,” she said. “People don’t take it seriously.”

44,193 people died by suicide within the last twelve months, cuddeback said. research projects 41,070 deaths related to breast cancer by the end of this year. While cuddeback said she is a strong advocate for breast cancer research, she said sees a disparity in the disproportional amounts of publicity surrounding both conditions, given that suicide often results in a greater number of deaths.

“We don’t talk about depression and suicide anywhere close to as often as we talk about breast cancer,” she said.

despite the shortage of official documentation addressing a theological viewpoint on depression, cuddeback referenced a passage from “The catechism of the catholic church” and a letter from John Paul ii according to “The catechism,” a person afflicted with “grave psychological disturbances, anguish, or grave fear of hardships, suffering, or torture,” is freed from responsibility, should they take their own

life. The letter from John Paul ii emphasized mercy and the importance of creating structures that support people’s mental health.

as humans, cuddeback said, we are sometimes tempted towards dualism, which forces us to prioritize either the body or the mind as the embodiment of the whole person. cuddeback said we must pay attention to both.

“We are the imago dei, the image of god. and that is an image that involves both spirit and flesh,” cuddeback said. “care for the body is care for the soul, and in fact, caring for the soul is caring for the body.”

When specialized treatment and self-care isn’t enough, cuddeback said she suggests turning to the Psalms.

“god does not want us to suffer, but god is with us in our suffering,” cuddeback said. “god wants an abundant life for us.”

cuddeback said she would urge listeners to advocate for a more visible support system for those suffering, to keep the conversation on theology and mental illness open and to react appropriately to friends or relatives experiencing depression.

“being with someone who is suffering, with mental illness or otherwise, means that we must love and accept that person as she is, not as we hope her to be,” cuddeback said. “We can’t dictate what their journey looks like. We can love them.”

Contact Maeve Filbin at mfilbin01@saintmarys.edu

through January, nearly 3,500 people signed up through the nd Turbovote portal, either to register to vote or to request an absentee ballot.

The group also ran a competition between dorms to register the highest percentage of voters and helped first-year students register to vote during Welcome Weekend. ndvotes will continue to frequently set up a table in the La fortune s tudent c enter in order to provide assistance with the voter registration process, r uscheinski said.

i n addition to voter registration, ndvotes seeks to encourage non-partisan political discussion, education and civic engagement. r uscheinski said possible discussion topics for future events include foreign policy, nuclear policy, voter apathy and the role of religion in politics.

“This past election in particular sparked a new interest [in politics] in our age group,” she said. “ … a lot of key issues that affect 20-year-olds on a regular basis were overlooked.”

These topics could be a

place where the group helps fill the gap, providing a forum for students to discuss and learn about the issues which impact their lives the most, senior and ndvotes cochair a ndrew Pott said.

“a nother focus is getting more variety in speakers,” he said.

The majority of speakers at past ndvotes events have been from the department of political science. b ringing in professors and other faculty speakers from departments in areas such as business, engineering, science and law could attract “totally different audiences,” than the more politically-oriented speakers, Pott said.

a nother plan ndvotes has for this year is to set up spaces in which students can gain experience having conversations about political topics, Pott said. These spaces would give students a stress-free, nonpartisan environment in which they could practice engaging in political discourse.

“There are a lot of people that generally want to know more about politics, but don’t know where to start or how to talk about it,” he said.

Contact Andrew Bennis at abennis@nd.edu

children could face.

he stated that elevated b lood Lead Levels are the most prominent in children, as a result of more open exposure to lead in older homes.

“Legacies from leaded paint and gasoline in home built prior to the 1970’s still possess harmful toxins,” Peaslee said. “Lead passes from the paint in these homes’ walls to the dust in the air, to human bodies, to bones.”

When lead was discovered as an extremely dangerous toxin, bans were placed against its usage in homes and cars. Peaslee said the Lead c ontamination c ontrol a ct in 1988 banned lead in virtually all gasoline, and by 1995 lead in gas was completely banned. Likewise, in 1978 lead paint was prohibited in residential houses.

“Lead blood levels in the United states decreased dramatically as more bans against lead were set in place,” Peaslee said.

however, he added, homes built prior to these prohibitions still pose a threat

to residents’ safety — especially for children.

“i n the production of cars and paint, lead was desirable because of its anti-knock power in cars, and anti-aging supporter in paint,” Peaslee said.

d espite its practical usage in utilities, lead has recently been linked to several neurocognitive disabilities, attention deficits, behavioral problems, lower iQ scores and even lower socioeconomic statuses, Peaslee explained.

“This is a toxin that is not safe for the body in any amount,” Peaslee said.

m arya Lieberman from the department of chemistry and biochemistry went on to describe how exactly lead interacts with the body.

“humans usually come into contact with lead through ingestion and inhalation,” she said.

From this initial exposure, Lieberman said, the toxin travels through the bloodstream, to soft tissue, and even reaches bone.

“Lead spreads everywhere throughout the body,” she said.

The human body finds it difficult to remove and filter out lead’s poisonous effects, Lieberman said.

“its half life in blood is 25 days, in soft tissue 40 days, but once it reaches the bone, lead remains for years,” she said.

Lieberman explained that babies from the ages of 6-8 months old are at the highest risk of being poisoned.

“b abies crawl on the floor and touch the walls around them, exposing themselves more so than adults to paint in households,” she said.

Furthermore, Lieberman explained, children absorb 50 percent of lead into their bodies, compared to only 20 percent for adults.

“c hildren’s high metabolism soaks up the toxins at a much faster rate than their parents,” she said.

Lieberman said the body’s tolerable daily intake of lead is equivalent to less than 1 grain of salt, and most people are exposed to much more than this on a daily basis.

“There are two ways to measure b lood Lead Levels, which consist of the ‘fingerstick test’ and the venous test,” she said.

The “fingerstick test” provides results within minutes, but is much less accurate than the venous test, which takes weeks to give results, Lieberman added.

b eidinger said notre d ame

intervened on this issue last January with a notre d ame Lead i nnovation Team.

“o ur mission is to reach the s outh b end community and create a community effort to halt lead poisoning in this area,” she said.

Five faculty members collaborated with ten graduate and undergraduate researchers this summer to develop a community based approach to s outh b end lead exposure. First, the team analyzed current lead screening tests, b eidinger said.

“Less than ten percent of children in the s t. Joseph c ommunity have been tested for lead poisoning between 2005 and 2015, and we cannot case manage between the ages of five to ten years old, because of budget cuts from the s t. Joseph c ounty health d epartment,” Lieberman said.

b ecause of these fundamental screening issues, Lieberman said, there is no comprehensive understanding of what lead poisoning looks like in st. Joseph c ounty.

“i n addition to this finding, communities of color are disproportionately burdened by this lead exposure in s outh b end,” she said.

Together, the research team concluded a number of findings based on their investigation of six s outh b end homes with lead paint.

“most hazards are hiding in plain sight, such as on coffee table with ceramic tile, on ceramic teapots and kitchen tables,” Lieberman said.

The faculty team has a number of grant proposals ready to initiate and is planning to build more collaborations to foster a stronger push toward improvement.

“We need city, county and state wide lead efforts, and would like to offer a new course at notre d ame called ‘c hemistry in s ervice to c ommunity,’ to study this problem,” Peaslee said.

Their overarching efforts are now focused on connecting notre d ame efforts with the s outh b end community in order to eliminate lead poisoning.

“We would like to create citizen scientists within s outh b end, and advance the technologies we use to study lead poisoning,” Peaslee said. “We hope that these efforts will lead to more b lood Lead Level screening in st. Joseph c ounty.”

Contact Sofia Madden at smadden@nd.edu

Quick trip home

Stephanie Snyder news Writer

I am not a spontaneous person. I like to know what and when I’m going to be doing something and who I’m going to be with. rarely, if ever, do I decide to do things impulsively. so, what made me decide to spontaneously drive home this past weekend on Friday morning when I had decided the previous night that I wasn’t going to? senior year made me. Whoever told me senior year would be the easiest year definitely lied to me. I ended my junior year last semester by scrambling to get my last paper done on the Friday of finals week before 9 p.m. while having had no sleep in the past 48 hours. The only thing that got me through it was thinking that I would be a senior when I was done and I could sleep soon. Looking back, I can’t help but laugh at my sad self. between trying to keep up with all of my other classes, working on my senior comprehensive project, studying for the Gre and applying to grad school, senior year has only come at me with even more work and stress. not to mention the additional time I spend working on other club leadership roles and working a parttime job, all while trying to make time for prayer with God on a regular basis.

I burnt myself out the first month of school. After having absolutely no time for myself, my friends and my family, I have come to the conclusion that giving my all to my school work and extracurricular activities, even though I feel the need to give my all to them, is simply not possible.

Unfortunately, I am not superhuman. I have two hands, two feet, one brain, an aching heart, broken relationships and a neglected self. I don’t need to spend countless hours in the art studio trying to perfect my clay sculptures, I don’t need to study every single day for the Gre, I don’t need to thoroughly read every single page of every book for every class, I don’t need to spend all my free time working and I don’t need to work on my senior comp ... just kidding, I need that to graduate. but I at least don’t need to worry about it being flawless, especially when I’m still in the proposal process.

I do need to let go of trying to be perfect at everything and spend more time with my friends, talking to my family, being present, enjoying my extracurriculars and, most importantly, focus on being the best version of myself.

so, this past Friday, I woke up and said, “screw it, I’m going home,” to see one of my best friends, who lives in Arizona and who I haven’t seen in three years, while she was in town. I wasn’t going to go before because I thought I had too much work to do. I now realize spending all my time on work isn’t worth it when there’s a life to experience.

Contact Stephanie Snyder at ssnyder02@saintmarys.edu.

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

As American as ... English?

Paul Kozhipatt bridging the Gap

Language is one of the most fundamental aspects of a culture. siddhartha Gautama, “The buddha,” famously said, “Words have the power to both destroy and heal.” This statement is exceptionally true; language has been famously cohesive as well as infamously divisive throughout history. many a war has been fought to “unite” speakers of the same language. Language has real impacts on realpolitik. America’s quarter-millennium of history especially highlights the cultural importance of language.

most modern nation-states have centuries, if not millennia, of shared history to conjure together images of a glorious past. These glorious pasts more often than not also include a shared national language. The People’s republic of c hina was formed in 1949, but it assumed a shared culture dating back to the Xia dynasty over four millennia ago. similarly, the Islamic republic of Iran was “born” in 1979, but it is the successor to humanity’s earliest civilizations dating back over 12 millennia. While the current incarnations of c hina and Iran are both less than a century old, they inherited shared languages which developed over millennia. These languages are not simply just a point of pride, but a great unifying factor for these nations. The United states may be one of the world’s older nation-states, but it’s indisputably one of the world’s younger cultures. The oldest european settlement in the 13 colonies was Jamestown, which was founded in 1607 and was only 169 years old at the time of America’s independence from Great britain. America had little time to develop a language of its own, so it was forced to “borrow” languages from abroad.

As the fledgling American republic grew, the desire to establish a shared national identity intensified. d espite the importance of language, the Founding Fathers avoided choosing a single language as America’s de jure national language. however, largely due to the british colonial legacy, the e nglish language became the nation’s de facto language. The e nglish language has never had, and still lacks, legal standing in the United states.

Interestingly, the first American-born president was also the only president to speak e nglish as a second language. martin van buren was born in upstate new York in 1782, five years after America’s independence. All previous presidents were british colonial subjects at birth. van buren grew up speaking d utch on his family’s farm and only learned e nglish as an academic language in school. After all, new York was originally new Amsterdam. van buren’s wife hannah, who grew up in the same new York d utch community, never lost her d utch accent when speaking e nglish. o nly recently was hannah van buren joined by another e nglish-as-asecond-language First Lady, melania Trump. d ue to the sheer size of America, there are many demographic quirks. America is the world’s largest e nglish speaking nation with over 280 million e nglish speakers.

The United states’ e nglish speaking population dwarfs the United Kingdom’s 60 million. Admittedly, this is entirely a numbers game, but makes the fact no less striking. The United states is more “e nglish” than the United Kingdom. d ue to America’s growing h ispanic population, a similar phenomenon is occurring with the spanish language and spain. According to the Londonbased Guardian, the United states is now the world’s second largest spanish speaking nation after mexico when accounting for second-language spanish speakers. The United states is now also more “spanish” than spain. When considering the growth of spanish in America, it is important to remember that many of America’s spanish speakers didn’t migrate to the country, but instead the borders “moved,” and where they lived became part of America. Through the mexican-American War and the spanish-American War, the United states voraciously annexed spanish-speaking territories. It should be no surprise that the majority of America’s spanish speakers live in the four states bordering mexico which were once part of mexico: c alifornia, Arizona, new mexico and Texas. The oldest continuously inhabited european settlement in modern-day America is st. Augustine, Florida, which was founded by the spanish in 1565. Forty-two of America’s 50 states were “discovered” by the spanish. spain has arguably as much, if not more, of a claim to the “discovery” of the United states as e ngland does.

American e nglish has plagiarized from indigenous languages to refer to the flora and fauna unique to north America; squash, opossum and moose are all originally Algonquin words. American e nglish has also borrowed extensively from its immigrant communities. The word “cookie” entered American e nglish from d utch. That is why pieces of sweet, round baked dough in all other e nglish speaking nations is known as “biscuits.” The only exception to this rule is America’s 51st state, c anada, which uses also uses the word “cookie.”

Language is one of the most enduring elements of a cohesive national identity. America’s multiethnic melting pot adopted its lingua franca from abroad, to bridge the hundreds of languages spoken by its people. As time passes, this lingua franca is slowly developing into its own distinct language. s o while today America is more “e nglish” than e ngland and more “spanish” than spain, one day we very well might be speaking American.

Paul Kozhipatt is a senior studying political science and IT management from Long Island, New York. He can be reached at pkozhipa@nd.edu

BridgeND is a bipartisan student political organization that brings together people from all across the ideological spectrum to discuss public policy issues of national importance. They meet Monday nights in the McNeil room of LaFortune from 6-7 p.m. They can be reached at bridgend@ nd.edu or by following them on Twitter @bridge_ND

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

Happy Birthday : This could be a fruitful year if you go about getting what you want in a practical manner. d on’t reveal secrets or let anyone else take care of your personal affairs. staying in control will ward off setbacks. Taking interest in what you do and following through with your plans will be the best way to bring about positive change. your numbers are 7, 13, 22, 28, 33, 42, 46.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Partnerships may need an adjustment. speak from the heart and you’ll come to an agreement and a timeline that works for you. m aking travel plans or discussing pursuits that may come with a bit of a learning curve will bring beneficial results.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Joint financial endeavors are discouraged. It is best not to take someone’s word about an investment that has risk involved. d o your own thing and put your energy into your own advancement, not helping someone else get ahead.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): hold off and listen. It’s important to know the complete set of circumstances before you make a decision that could alter a relationship you have with someone. Trust will be a factor in how you move forward.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): keep your thoughts and your emotions undercover. It is best to wait and see what others have to say before you go out on a limb. focus inward and work on self-improvement instead of trying to change everyone around you.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): network with the people you can learn something from. b e careful not to fall into a trap set by someone with ulterior motives. g ather information and fact-check everything you hear. A change at home will turn out to be beneficial.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Personal problems will prevail. d eal with children and older relatives carefully. use intelligence rather than force to coax others to do things your way. nurture a special relationship with someone you love. romance is encouraged.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): d o your own thing and avoid getting involved in situations that involve institutions. d o your own legwork and summarize what you have to get done in order to be successful. An honest day’s work will pay off.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): d on’t be fooled by what someone is saying. Pitching in and helping is a nice gesture, but not if someone is taking advantage of you. Invest more time into what you want to achieve. A physical improvement will boost your confidence.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): It is best to stick to what’s most familiar. If you venture too far off the beaten path, you will encounter situations that are confusing or emotionally challenging. Problems with siblings or peers are best avoided.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): h idden matters will be divulged. keep your personal information, documents and passwords tucked away. stay focused on what you can do to improve your position. Avoid anyone who appears to be out of control. m ake a promise to someone you love.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): g etting involved in an event that will bring you in contact with other people who work in your industry will lead to unexpected proposals. c onsider what’s being offered and the best way to take advantage of the opportunity.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): you’ll feel limited by someone who depends on you. Try to be patient, but don’t miss out on something because you have agreed to unreasonable demands. b e straightforward about what you will and will not do.

Birthday Baby: you are unpredictable, interesting and playful. you are outgoing and popular.

n Y football teams fail to impress

Ryan Kolakowski sports Writer

r esidents of n ew York c ity are not particularly known for their patience. The city never sleeps, and many people are active at all hours of the night. The energy of the city can be seen in everyday actions, but it is especially noticeable during professional sporting events.

The 7 Line Army supports the n ew York m ets with religious fervor. The b leacher c reatures in the b ronx love their Yankees and verbally attack opposing teams. d espite their devotion to the team, or perhaps even because of it, these fans are quick to turn on underperforming athletes. Loud boos have sent m att h arvey and other struggling pitchers to the dugout in c iti Field.

The Yankees were jeered out of their own stadium during the wild card loss to the Astros in 2015.

n ew York sports fans do not tolerate under-performance. I doubt that they are happy with the state of their professional football teams.

After Week 3, the n ew York Giants are 0-3, residing in the cellar of the n F c e ast. m eanwhile, the n ew York Jets, the other team that calls m etLife s tadium home, are 1-2 and sits alone in last place of the AF c e ast.

Thus far, the Giants have looked incompetent, dropping divisional matchups to the d allas c owboys and Philadelphia e agles. The Jets have struggled as well, dropping their first game to the b ills and getting blown out by the r aiders, but they dominated a struggling d olphins team in Week 3. d espite their recent victory, the Jets are not built for sustained success, and the team is viewed as one of the worst in the n ational Football League. The Jets were expected to struggle this season. The team brought in 38-year-old journeyman quarterback Josh m c c own because young

signal-callers c hristian h ackenberg and b ryce Petty barely belong on an n FL roster. General m anager m ike m accagnan has spent time cleaning house, jettisoning veterans s heldon r ichardson and b randon m arshall among others. There is no way to sugarcoat it: the Jets’ roster lacks talent and depth, putting head coach Todd b owles in a nowin situation.

The Giants however, were supposed to be winners. They have a m anning at quarterback. The wideouts include big names such as o dell b eckham Jr. and former Jet b randon m arshall. The roster is filled with talent, yet the production on the field has struggled. c oming off a playoff appearance, the Giants were supposed to compete with the c owboys for the n F c e ast title. Instead, the team finds itself in a deep hole early in the season.

Fortunately for the Giants, it is still early in the season. Unfortunately for the Giants, nearly every game for the rest of the season is a must-win. The team will have to turn things around in a hurry if they want to sniff the playoffs.

m eanwhile, the Jets should get back to their losing ways if they want to see improvement in future seasons. Yes, I am advocating for Gang Green to tank, and tank hard. There are good pieces on this team, such as rookie safety Jamal Adams and veteran defensive lineman m uhammad Wilkerson, but they must add a franchise quarterback if they want any sustained success in the future.

m y advice to fans in n ew York? s hield your eyes from m etLife s tadium. The home teams are sure to suffer plenty of losses this year.

Contact Ryan Kolakowski at rkolakow@nd.edu

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

mets win on walk-off single despite dickey’s solid outing

Associated Press

ne W Yor K — Travis Taijeron singled home the winning run with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning and the n ew York m ets rallied late to beat the Atlanta b raves 4-3 on Tuesday night.

n ew York was stymied by r .A. d ickey much of the night and trailed 3-0 in the seventh before Kevin Plawecki hit a two-run homer off the 42-year-old knuckleballer. Asdrubal c abrera tied it with a sacrifice fly in the eighth.

A.J. m inter (0-1) allowed a leadoff single in the ninth to Plawecki, who was replaced by pinch-runner Juan Lagares. d ominic s mith walked but m inter struck out Amed r osario, who failed to bunt the runners over.

Taijeron, who struck out his previous two times up, hit a line drive over the head of left fielder Jace Peterson to win it.

Jeurys Familia (2-2) pitched a scoreless inning

mlb | PhILLIes 4, nATIonALs 1

for the win.

d ickey, who won the n L c y Young Award with the mets in 2012, dominated his former team over the first six innings. he retired 13 straight before allowing a single to b randon n immo in the seventh. Plawecki followed with his homer to left field.

n ori Aoki walked with one out in the eighth and a throwing error by third baseman Johan c amargo left runners at second and third. c abrera’s sacrifice fly off reliever s am Freeman was caught in left-center by a diving e nder Inciarte, preventing the go-ahead run from scoring.

Inciarte extended his career-high total to 200 hits when he doubled in the first inning and scored on n ick m arkakis’ double. h e became the first b raves player to reach the milestone since m arquis Grissom in 1996.

Atlanta added two more runs off starter r afael m ontero in the second on an rb I double by Peterson and a two-out single by o zzie Albies.

one more will do it mets rh P noah s yndergaard is expected to pitch once more this weekend before the regular season concludes. The 25-year-old ace started and threw five pitches in a scoreless inning s aturday against Washington, his first appearance since April 30. s yndergaard, who has recovered from a torn right lat muscle, will throw a bullpen Thursday with the chance to pitch at Philadelphia on s aturday or s unday.

trainer’s room mets: rh P A.J. r amos met with doctors monday and was diagnosed with tendinitis in his right biceps. The reliever, who is 0-0 with seven saves and a 5.00 er A in 20 games since being acquired July 28 from m iami, was scheduled to throw before Tuesday night’s game. he is day to day. . L h P Tommy m ilone (left elbow) had an mr I after feeling discomfort. he was not available and will be examined again Thursday.

Phillies prevent 100 losses with win over nationals

Associated Press

Ph ILA deLPh IA — Phillies manager Pete mackanin had said he didn’t care about the difference between 99 losses and 100 for his rebuilding club.

now that Philadelphia can’t get to triple digits, he’s changed his tune.

“I lied,” he said. “I admit it.”

Jake Thompson and four relievers combined to hold the Washington nationals in check as the Phillies spoiled bryce harper’s return with a 4-1 win Tuesday night.

The win ensures that Philadelphia (63-95) will not lose 100 games. The Phillies haven’t lost that many since 1961, when they dropped 107 of 154 games.

With the loss, Washington locked itself into the second seed in the nL playoffs behind the dodgers. The nationals will host the nL central champion — either the cubs or milwaukee — in a division series beginning oct. 6 at nationals Park.

“Their bullpen just shut us down,” nationals manager dusty baker said.

Thompson (3-2) gave up a run over five innings, then edubray ramos, Adam morgan, Luis Garcia and hector neris combined to strike out nine over four perfect innings. neris got his 25th save.

“r ight now, it is just get it to these guys with the lead and let it take over,” Thompson said.

“It seems like they are all firing at the same time. It’s fun to watch.”

harper played for the first time since hyperextending and bruising his left knee on Aug. 12. he was 0 for 2 with a walk before being lifted in the fifth inning. baker hasn’t decided if harper will play Wednesday.

“I feel fine,” harper said after the game. “Just try and get past tonight and see what I feel like tomorrow. If I feel good, then I’ll play. If I don’t, take a day and see what I feel like the next day.”

Tommy Joseph had two hits, including a tying rbI single as

part of a three-run third inning. cameron rupp followed with a line drive that sailed over the head of outfielder michael Taylor in center field, bouncing to the wall to bring home both Aaron Altherr and Joseph. r hys hoskins added a sacrifice fly in the seventh for the Phillies.

howie Kendrick, who was traded from Philadelphia to Washington on July 28, connected on his ninth homer in the second inning for a 1-0 lead. Washington didn’t get a hit after the third inning, though. neris ended the game by striking out the side in the ninth. It was his 19th straight save, the longest streak for the club since Jonathan Papelbon converted 19 straight in 2014-15.

“Like a lot of guys, you have to learn how to relax,” mackanin said. “The ninth inning is different than any other innings. he’s starting to get more comfortable and relaxed.”

Gio Gonzalez (15-8) allowed three runs in five innings.

i think the minus is probably lost a little bit of focus here and there at times, but their technique, their ability to use their hands, play with a much better discipline in terms of how they fit in our front seven is probably an a+, and then just, you know, maintaining that intensity, that endurance — that mental endurance that i talk about.

“ … We’re getting some pretty good edge pressure from our front four. We’re getting batted balls, and we’re getting the kind of integrity that front four needs relative to the run fits. [defensive line coach] m ike e lston has done a terrific job with that group.” on the offensive side, Kelly praised the consistent improvement of the unit, not only from the preseason a ll-a merican duo of graduate student m ike mcGlinchey and senior Quenton nelson, but also with the younger players as well.

“i’m seeing, comprehensively,

each player do some things that is a carryover from what we’re seen in practice,” Kelly said. “[ sophomore] Tommy Kramer and [freshman] robert hainsey, for example, that tandem, is really now almost seamless in terms of how they’re working together. Tommy — look, extremely physical, and that showed itself on film. he’s throwing guys around, literally. hainsey is a beautiful pass setter. he’s about as flawless as a pass setter as there is in college football at his age. i mean, he’s a young player. so that’s showing itself in practice, and it’s translating into games.

“[ senior] a lex bars stays on his feet and plays with great balance and leverage. That wasn’t necessarily the case last year. We’ve already talked about [senior] sam [mustipher] in terms of his endurance. a nd then those other two guys on the left side, stay away from those two. i mean, they just — each and every week, they have a mindset of wanting to dominate, and that’s a pretty good thing.”

m Golf

con T in U ed F rom PaGe 12

Junior Kevin conners had the second-best finish for notre dame, coming in at at tie for 20th with a 2-over-par 218. ostrom finished at 3+ and junior ben a lbin finished close behind with a six-over-par 222. Freshman davis chatfield came in at 8+ for the irish.

Players undertook two full rounds on the first day at shoal creek country club, followed by a final round the following day. on top of the demanding schedule, the course played 7,306 yards this week from the course’s “blazer” tees, a tough test for any collegiate team. The course has played host to two the PGa championship twice and the U.s a mateur championship.

The irish will return home this weekend to host the Fighting irish classic, at Warren Golf course, which will take place oct. 8 and 9.

shaun Crawford

Junior cornerback shaun crawford continued to build on his performances so far this season against m ichigan state (2-1), coming up with a momentum-shifting second quarter strip and recovery of spartan running back LJ scott at the goal line, as well as an onside kick recovery and four tackles to help him earn the game ball. For Kelly, crawford deserves everything he’s received so far and more.

“i knew what we had,” Kelly said on crawford. “ … i recruited him personally because of what i felt were his traits. We weren’t unanimous on the recruiting of shaun crawford. That was a head coach take. a nd i’ll take credit for it 100 percent. a nd i’m not here — and i don’t mean that in any other way — i’m not trying to pat myself on the back. i’ll take credit for it because there’s more to this game than just, you know, looking at the size of one’s stature. i mean, the kid plays the game in

a manner that is so smart and savvy that i hadn’t seen before. he had those traits that overcame two or three inches.”

“ … he just proved that the other night with the punch-out and then staying with it right through the end. i love shaun crawford.”

relationship with the redHawks a lthough the i rish haven’t played the r ed h awks (2-2, 1-0 mac ) in 108 years, there are still several connections between the two programs. c urrent m iami ( oh ) head coach c huck m artin has an extensive relationship with Kelly, as he served as an assistant coach at notre d ame for four seasons.

“You get to know coaches so well that there’s a familiar face that you know and have been around and have probably either played golf with or have chummed around with in the offseason,” Kelly said on his relationship with m artin.

“b ut you know, i think it ends there. This isn’t — c huck and i are not going to be playing the game. i know how he is going to prepare his football team. he knows how i ’ll prepare my football team. i think that’s probably it.”

a dditionally, legendary i rish head coach a ra Parseghian, who passed away in a ugust, graduated as a three-sport athlete from m iami ( oh ) and will be honored s aturday.

“ … i ’m sure that there’s a great deal of pride in both institutions, where he started and where he finished, cradle of coaches, and then arguably the greatest college football tradition, and to be on both ends of that spectrum, i ’m sure it’s satisfying,” Kelly said on Parseghian.

“[ it’s] fulfilling in so many ways that a ra is at the center of that this s aturday.”

Contact Tobias Hoonhout at thoonhou@nd.edu

team.”

c lark said he was disappointed his team gave up the lone goal when it seemed to be elevating its play.

“ i thought we just started to play during that second half,” c lark said. “There was a big crowd there, it was an important game, it was an intrastate rivalry and i thought we settled for knocking balls off the field. i thought although most of our players are very wellseasoned with experience, i wouldn’t expect them to be intimidated by the environment, but i felt they looked that way a little bit in the first half. We looked like our old selves in the second half.

“We played good soccer, we were able to make longer passes, we were able to make sharper passes and overall i thought we played our game very well in the second half. We played with what the game gave us. i n the first half, i thought we just kind of played the one way. i was disappointed with the outcome, especially when we gave up a goal when we were playing very well.”

The i rish will be back in action on Friday night when they take on conference rival v irginia at a lumni s tadium at 7:30 p.m.

c lark said his team will be given time to recharge to prep for Friday’s game.

“These are all very tough games,” c lark said. “You are playing good teams so you just take it one game at a time. e very game is going to be a fight and every game is going to be a challenge. The players will get regenerated and get their legs back and our next match is coming up pretty quickly, so we have got to get ourselves ready for v irginia (6-1-1, 1-1-1 acc ) and another strong team. i t will be a great game and we are looking forward to it. We will be ready.”

Contact Michael Ivey at mivey@hcc-nd.edu