THE INDEPENDENT
TO UNCOVER
NEWSPAPER SERVING
THE TRUTH
NOTRE DAME, SAINT MARY’S
AND REPORT
AND HOLY CROSS
IT ACCURATELY
VOLUME 59, ISSUE 49 | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2025 | NDSMCOBSERVER.COM
Suit against Irish Rover dismissed Observer Staff Report
A n Indiana Court of Appea ls upheld the dismissa l of Notre Dame professor Tamara Kay’s lawsuit against the Irish Rover Jan. 30. Kay had sued the Rover in May 2023, a lleging the paper had published defamator y and fa lse statements in t wo articles about a llegedly offering assistance to students seek ing abortions. A St. Joseph Count y Superior Court judge threw out the lawsuit in Jan. 2024, arguing the Rover’s comments were not defamator y and their speech was protected under Indiana’s
SMC student-athletes teach youth sports skills
anti-SL APP law which aims to protect freedom of speech. Kay then appea led the lawsuit in Feb. 2024. Judge Paul Mathias authored the majorit y opinion of the appea ls court, w ith judges Elaine Brow n and Dana Kenworthy concurring. Mathias argued Kay did not prov ide enough ev idence “to establish a genuine issue of materia l fact on that question.” “We agree w ith the tria l court that the undisputed facts established that The Irish Rover’s t wo articles were w ritten in good faith and that the a lleged defamator y statements were not fa lse,” Mathias w rote.
Professor lectures on tech, dignity
BERHAN HAGEZOM | The Observer
SMC director of athletics Julie Schroeder-Biek speaks to participants in the National Girls and Women in Sports Day clinic at the end of the event in the Angela Athletic and Wellness Complex. By BERHAN HAGEZOM Staff Writer
By ISA BEL TORRES News Wr iter
On Friday, the Mendoza College of Business hosted the first Dean’s Speaker Series of 2025. The presentation, titled “The Dignit y of Human Life in the Digital Age,” featured Paolo Carozza, a law professor at the Universit y of Notre Dame Law School. The event took place in Stayer Center, Common Room A, and had an audience of about 80 students and facult y. Prov iding an attendance opportunit y for students w ithin the Mendoza College of Business Undergraduate Honors Program, the event’s discussion was centered around the relative dangers of technological advancement if human dignit y is not upheld and honored in the modern day. James Otteson, the director of the Mendoza Honors Program, introduced Carozza. Within the introduction, Otteson recognized
NEWS PAGE 3
Carozza as hav ing worked extensively in government and policy efforts, specifically in the context of social media and online platforms. With an undergraduate degree from Har vard College and a multitude of accomplishments in the context of human rights, Carozza was highlighted as an extremely distinguished member of the academic communit y. Carozza opened the discussion w ith an anecdote detailing a boy who seemingly cut off communication w ith both friends and family in pursuit of an interpersonal relationship w ith a female artificial intelligence chatbot. As their “relationship” grew stronger, the boy felt it necessar y to commit suicide in order to be reunited w ith his “love” after death. Carozza shared the stor y as a prelude to his lecture, emphasizing that technological advancements should not replace human connection. see TECHNOLOGY PAGE 4
VIEWPOINT PAGE 6
On Friday from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Angela Athletic and Wellness Complex, 125 participants aged six to 12 participated in Saint Mary’s National Girls and Women in Sports Day Clinic. Saint Mary’s, it’s an open and free clinic provided for the community. Saint Mary’s offered sessions during the clinic with all nine of varsity sports, including basketball, cross country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, STUNT, tennis and volleyball. Athletics director Julie Schroeder-Biek emphasized how the event is special to Saint Mary’s as an all-women’s college and the effect it has on participants who attend. “It’s so natural for us being in an all-women’s college to want to celebrate little girls in sport,“ Schroeder-Biek said. “It has a big impact on the community and has been a very popular event for us, but it’s our way to give back to the little girls and really try to expose them to sports
SCENE PAGE 7
and fitness.” The event began with a check-in process, where youth received name tags and a list of which four sports clinics they would be directed to attend. Following check-in, parents and children went downstairs to hear an introduction to the event presented by Schroeder-Biek and to be informed about where each sports’ clinics would be held. The clinics for the sports took place on basketball courts and the track and in the fieldhouse, golf room and studio two. At the sports’ clinics, children were able to learn basic-level drills. For soccer, young athletes participated in cone-weaving drills and a red light, green light game. “These are kind of introlevel sports, because we go for about two hours, so they’re getting about 20 to 30 minutes in their sport,” Schroeder-Biek said. Saint Mary’s student-athletes were responsible for much of the event’s execution. They aided youth participants by teaching basic
principles of the sports and accompanying the young girls to their next clinic sessions. Senior Emma Zmudzinski, a student-athlete on the lacrosse team, discussed what youth participants learned and experienced during the session the lacrosse team held. “We did lots of throwing and catching ground balls, just the fundamentals of lacrosse, and then we were able to incorporate games in with the fundamentals, like musical ground balls,” Zmudzinski said. Junior Julia Lizak, a student-athlete on the golf team, noted the benefits of being a mentor for young girls at this event. “I love seeing all the young girls come out and learn the sport that they’re interested in,“ Lizak said. “It just reminds me of when I was younger and how far girls can come. You can see their energy and how much they love being involved in that stuff.”
SPORTS PAGE 8
SPORTS PAGE 12
see CLINIC PAGE 4