PDF for Thursday, October 9, 2014

Notre dame passes reaccreditation review

HLC report praises the University’s commitment to undergraduates,

By KAYLA MULLEN news writer

The higher learning commission (hlc) gave notre dame the highest marks in all criteria in its decennial reaccreditation review, according to Fr. John Jenkins, president of the university.

“The report praised the academic distinction of many departments and observed that faculty showed an ‘unusual’ commitment to their undergraduates," Jenkins said in a faculty address. "‘in short,’ they wrote, ‘notre dame [provides a high-quality education across the broad] in a way that is truly exemplary.’ … i thank every

faculty member for making the university a place that merits such high praise.”

dan hubert, accreditation program director, said the university must complete this process every 10 years in order to remain accredited.

“without being an accredited institution, [notre dame] does not qualify for federal financial aid, we don’t qualify for federal research dollars," hubert said.

"your credits, if you transfer somewhere else, may not transfer and as well as accepting credits from another institution coming in, they have to be accredited. There’s a lot that

see hlc PaGe 4

‘Take it one step at a time’

By JACK ROONEY and HALEIGH EHMSEN

a ssociate news e ditor and a ssociate saint mary’s e ditor

Editor’s note: This is the fourth installment in a five-day series discussing mental health at Notre Dame and Saint Mary’sin recognition of Mental Health Awareness Week.

“it’s so easy to look around a high-pressure environment at notre dame and saint mary’s and think, ‘everyone here is a rock star and everyone is so

smart and has incredible internships and jobs.’ i can’t risk saying i need help with this because then i’ll risk falling behind. i can’t risk not keeping up with the rest of my peers,” saint mary’s senior emily haskins said.

“people [need to] realize that asking for help is the best thing you can do.”

as notre dame and saint mary’s celebrate national mental health awareness week with panel discussions, prayer services and Touchdown Jesus bathed in green light — the color

of mental health awareness — the week also offers students with mental illnesses a chance to reflect on their experiences.

'you don't know where to draw the line' haskins was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder (gad) last year after struggling with it throughout high school and college, but had refused to see a doctor. she said it can be difficult to distinguish the stress that naturally goes along with

see sTory PaGe 5

Dance Marathon throws 5k event ‘for

By ALAINA ANDERSON news writer

saint mary’s dance marathon hosted the organization's annual "For the k ids" 5k (FT5k ), wednesday evening in order to raise money for riley hospital for children in indianapolis. The neon-themed run/walk FT5k began at the college's welcome center parking lot and ended with a party on the island in front of haggar parlor.

see FT5k PaGe 4

the kids’

SAM COUGHLIN |

Prism ND hosts ‘Coming out Closets’

By ANDREA VALE news writer

prism nd held its annual "coming out closets" event on wednesday, oct. 8, in support of the lgbTQ community. The event, which took place both in front of debartolo hall and on the Fieldhouse mall, gave students the chance to walk through a doorframe lined with rainbow streamers and "come out of the closet" as whatever they wished, in an attempt to spread a spirit of acceptance of personal identities across campus.

"people will go through the door frames as a metaphor for coming out of the closet, but they're going to come out as any part of their identity," vice president of prism lily crawford said.

"They can come out as a business major or an engineer or a band geek or an artist, or whatever they want to come out as. we want to show everybody that the entirety of their identity is valued and they don't have to keep a part of it hidden if they don't want to."

president of prism bryan ricketts agreed, saying the metaphoric "coming out" is a visible

way to show support for people.

"if they want to come out but are unsure that notre dame is a safe place, we want to show them that it is a safe place to come out," ricketts said.

lgbTQ identity and its place on notre dame's campus has always been something of a shaky subject, according to both crawford and ricketts.

up until "a culture shift within the last five years" the lack of an lgbTQ presence at notre dame was "a much bigger issue," ricketts said.

"There was a silence on campus. Then people started talking about it, and it turned out that most people on campus are very accepting and loving and it just needed a push to get that out in the open," ricketts said.

"There are students who e-mail us before they make a school decision," crawford said, referring to lgbTQ-identifying high school students who fear that because notre dame is notorious for its staunch catholic values, it will not be an accepting campus. "we tell them that yes, for a few people see closeT PaGe 4

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Emily Park freshman welsh Family hall

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Lisa Wuertz junior cavanaugh hall “north carolina.”

Sam Arroyo freshman sigfried hall “g oing home to spend time with family.”

Shannon Kelly freshman badin hall “g oing to boston.”

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4:30

Saint Mary’s launches partnership with Zip car

By RONI DARLING news writer

o n Tuesday, saint mary’s c ollege launched a partnership with Zipcar to offer a car-sharing network on campus.

The convenient transportation option is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week for students, faculty and staff ages 18 and older. s tudents are expected to be the most frequent users, according to a press release sent to s aint m ary's.

“ o nce enrolled as Zipcar members, the s aint m ary’s community may also reserve Zipcars at the u niversity of n otre d ame and, in turn, their community can use s aint m ary’s Zipcars," director of media relations g wen

o ' b rien said.

s aint m ary’s will initially offer two Ford Focus models for communal use. The Zipcars have designated parking spots located in the r egina h all parking lot for

convenient pick-up and return. The cars are available on-demand and can be easily reserved by the hour or by the day, o ’ b rien said.

Faculty and students can join Zipcar for $25, with rates for Zipcar vehicles on campus starting as low as $7.50 per hour and $69 per day, she said. a fter the first year, members will pay an annual membership fee of $35. g as, insurance, and up to 180 miles of driving per day are included in Zipcar rates, and cars can be reserved for as little as an hour or for multiple days, o ' b rien said.

o ne of the unique features of this new accommodation is its members can download the Zipcar mobile application on their smartphone to make reservations, lock and unlock the vehicles and honk the horn to help locate the vehicle, she said. r eservations can also be made over the phone or on Zipcar’s website.

o ' b rien said Zipcars will

benefit a variety of people in the community, especially students by offering the freedom of having a car without the commitment and cost of bringing one to campus.

“This could open up the possibility for some students to apply for off-campus internships or jobs that they might not have considered because they didn’t have a way to get there,” she said.

“ we have a lot of students in majors like nursing, education and social work who serve in the community as part of their coursework. m any students also volunteer at schools and nonprofits around town. Zipcars offer a possible way to get to those locations,” o ’ b rien said.

s he said another great benefit of bringing Zipcars to s aint m ary's is that they are environmentally friendly.

“ r educing the c ollege’s carbon footprint is something the administration is very cognizant of and they’re

excited to bring Zipcars to s aint m ary’s [for that reason]," she said " o ffering Zipcars potentially reduces the number of student cars on campus while offering students the convenience and freedom of a car when they need it."

a ccording to Zipcar's website, “Zipcar reduces congestion and parking demand.

s tudies have shown each Zipcar takes approximately 15 personally owned cars off the road. Zipcar reduces emissions. s tudies have shown Zipcar members reduce their overall mileage by about 40 percent after joining, helping to reduce co 2 emissions.”

v ice president of student affairs k aren Johnson said these statistics play into s aint m ary's strategic plan, titled b oldly Forward, which aims to reduce the c ollege's carbon footprint and raise awareness of the importance of sustainability on campus.

“ o ffering Zipcars here is

an example of an effort to reduce the number of student cars on campus while offering students the convenience and freedom of a car when they need it," Johnson said.

n ursing major and sophomore k athryn g essert said she is excited about Zipcar coming to s aint m ary’s.

“ i don’t go off-campus nearly enough to invest in my own car, and while riding the buses and my bike around the area are extremely low-cost, they require massive amounts of travel time," g essert said. “a s a nursing student, i anticipate commuting to offcampus healthcare locations on a regular basis.

"Zipcar is the perfect solution,” she said.

For more information about Zipcars and to become a Zipcar member visit, www. zipcar.com/saintmarys.

Contact Roni Darling at vdarli01@saintmarys.edu

Panel highlights sexual violence resources

By ALEXA DESANTIS news writer

i n honor of the g ender

r elations c enter’s ( grc )

s exual v iolence awareness

m onth, a discussion panel titled “ k now your i X: r esources for c are and s upport,” presented information about the options available for those who are victims of sexual violence on wednesday in the n otre d ame r oom of l aFortune s tudent c enter.

“The goal of the panel is to show students that after an instance of sexual violence,

they have multiple choices and avenues to pursue support, whether that be physical medical care, emotional care, counseling, or spiritual support in terms of talking to someone from campus ministry,” said r egina g esicki, assistant director of grc . “They can do those things simultaneously or separate[ly], and there’s a lot of resources on campus and in the community that are ready and waiting and available for students to help them heal from instances of violence.”

a mong the panelists were

members of the grc , the u niversity h ealth c enter, s t. Joseph r egional m edical c enter, the o ffice of c ommunity s tandards and ndsp

m elissa l indley, d eputy Title i X c oordinator, said she wants to ensure n otre d ame is foremost a safe community.

" m y number one priority is to make sure that were in compliance with the o ffice of c ivil r ights and really, just to make sure that our campus is a healthy, safe place free from discrimination and harassment," l indley said.

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a lthough students sometimes feel the process of reporting instances of sexual violence is daunting, l indley said, n otre d ame works very hard to make the process a streamlined one so that the complainant does not have to repeat the story many times.

“[The complainants] have a lot of control in the process," l indley said. " i think that is one common misperception. s tudents often feel like the situation is out of their hands … s ometimes they do feel like it is too much [work to complete the process] and after the investigation, they

say that they don’t want to move on, and we do try to respect their wishes. The only time when we would have to maybe go against their wishes would be if there is a major threat to campus safety.” d ave c hapman, the associate director and deputy chief of ndsp, addressed the e-mails that are sent out at times of reports of sexual misconduct.

“ we try to make it as vague as possible because we don’t want the victim to be identified; we just want the community to know that this happened on our campus,” c hapman said.

h eather r yan, assistant director of the o ffice of c ommunity s tandards, said issues of sexual violence are treated very seriously at n otre d ame.

“ i f someone is found responsible for sexual misconduct, specifically non-consensual penetration, they would likely be permanently dismissed," r yan said. " we do take it very seriously, as something that is very important and that we have to protect our community.”

s ophomore and grc event facilitator k atie b enz said it is important for students to know that they are not alone.

“The grc is very open to students for not only advice for themselves but for other students as well," b enz said.

"The grc is very adamant about promoting gender relations on campus so that everyone feels welcome.”

Contact Alexa DeSantis at adesanti@nd.edu

plays into being an accredited institution.”

The reaccreditation process consists of a self-study based on hlc criteria and a followup visit during which an evaluation team verifies and further explores the report, hubert said.

“it was about a two year process for us to thoroughly look at the university," hubert said.

F t5K

dance marathon is a student run organization hosted by hundreds of colleges throughout the nation that raises money for the c hildren’s m iracle network ( cmn ). p resident of s aint mary's dance marathon and senior k risten m illar said all the money from the group's fundraising events throughout the school year will go to r iley hospital for c hildren.

“cmn is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to providing medical treatment for critically or chronically ill children, free of cost,” m illar said.

“cmn gives r iley hospital for c hildren the opportunity to

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con T inued F rom page 1

here, that stigma is kind of correct and there's sort of a lack of understanding and an ignorance, but there are people like that at a lot of different places.

"notre dame is pretty accepting, a lot of people are really nice about it. There might be a few things that they're ignorant about, but they're usually very understanding," she said.

p rism nd began after a 2011 campus visit from senator brian sims, who gave a speech on "how four out of five college students are accepting of lgbTQ individuals, but they only think that one out of three of their peers are," crawford said. p rior to sims' speech, there were lgbTQ student organizations that were denied club status [at notre dame]. but, the "echo" of the Four-to-Five movement, as sims referred to his statistics, was a call for a club.

"in the fall of 2012 Father Jenkins called the division of student affairs to do a review of services for lgbTQ individuals, and it was found in that review that there was not enough service and support for lgbTQ students," crawford said. "The report suggested to have an organization, and that organization is p rism."

"coming out c losets" was "inherited" from preexisting councils at notre dame on gay and lesbian student affairs, and it has occurred before p rism's inception two years ago, crawford said. on

"… we worked with about 120 faculty to gather the information to address these five criteria that the h igher l earning c ommission has for us. we then had to write that up into a report for submission: it was a 245-page report, with links to almost 1,000 other documents.”

The five overarching criteria components that a university must meet are mission; ethical and responsible conduct; teaching and learning: quality, resources and support;

provide medical treatment to all children, regardless of a family’s ability to pay.”

a fter the 5k, the party on the island had food, water, music, glow sticks, a raffle and shirts priced at $2 for participants to buy.

“e ach year we have done a 5k on campus to try to incorporate community involvement with our events,” m illar said.

“The FT5k is also a great way to spread awareness on campus and embodies the marathon's mission of staying on one's feet for those who can't.”

at the end of the 5k, dance marathon announced that the 2015 dance marathon theme will be superheroes.

c o-fundraising chair, maranda pennington, helped

wednesday, crowds of students passed through the rainbow-decorated doorframes in front of debartolo hall and the stonehenge Fountain, and many took the opportunity to come out of their "closet."

"i've done this for the past few years," melanie sajbel, a senior in pasquerilla east, said. "you come out as something that you're proud of, and i'm proud that my brother is gay. i think it's something that he'd be excited to see because we have a pretty conservative campus and he's not catholic."

Josephine Jackson, a l ewis sophomore, went through her closet for different reasons.

"i went through the closet for my mom," Jackson said. "she's bisexual ... a nd my stepmom has been in my life for about five years, so i came out for her because i know that her coming out was very difficult, coming from a very conservative household, it took a lot for her to do that."

r icketts and crawford emphasized the role of "allies" in lgbTQ acceptance on campus throughout the event.

"we have plenty of members who aren't lgbTQ who just come out to support their friends because that's something they believe in," r icketts said.

"a llies are a big part and they help make this a safer spot," crawford added, "having a lot of allies there shows that you don't have to feel so alone." if safety and acceptance were the goals of "coming out c losets," participating

evaluation and improvement; and planning and institutional effectiveness, according to the hlc website. hubert said each criteria component had a team assigned to it.

“ w hen we design the selfstudy team we chose faculty leaders to head up each of the five criteria areas," hubert said.

"They shepherded the process and were well-respected faculty that had also held previous leadership roles on campus … it is one of the thankless things that the faculty and staff do on

organize the 5k, and said she is excited for the superherothemed marathon. she said, her goal is to make 2015 the best year for the club and encourage more students to attend the fundraising events.

“it is something that i have become extremely passionate about after hearing personal testimonies from r iley families that our funds have helped and i can't imagine dedicating my free time to anything else," pennington said.

dance marathon will be hosting numerous events for students to get involved and help a great cause. m illar said she wants to encourage more students to participate as dancers during the marathon and to attend the other

students seemed to feel this was achieved, crawford said. sorin first year Tyrel l ondon said for him, coming out during

campus.” hubert said the h igher l earning c ommission is in the process of adopting a different reaccreditation schedule.

“i nstead of going for a full 10 years and having to do a whole report every 10 years, we are on a new system called pathways, which in four years, we will provide an update to [the hlc ]," hubert said. "Then, three years after that, we will provide another update, and then at the 10-year mark, we will provide another update but it will only

fundraising events.

“Throughout the year, we will host give back nights at local restaurants, such as Five guys and l et's spoon,” m illar said. “ we also normally host a salon rouge night and last year, we hosted a r iley trivia night on campus. i n February, we will have a week dedicated to r iley with various events such as Zumba, crafts and dinner with some of the r iley families.

“students should participate and attend dance marathon in the spring because it is truly an amazing and inspiring event that benefits a wonderful hospital, and without marathons such as the one at s aint mary's, r iley hospital for c hildren would not be able to provide care for all children regardless

be for a three-year period. we will be continually updating our report along the way." hubert said the report was an overall success.

“ we hit everything because across the board, they gave us the highest marks that you could receive, so we really give kudos to the faculty and staff that worked on it to make sure we had everything covered,” hubert said.

Contact Kayla Mullen at kmullen2@nd.edu

of their financial situation," she said.

i n honor of it being dance marathon’s 10th year as a recognized club on campus, m illar said the goal for the year is to raise $90,000 for the children of r iley hospital.

“it is [also] our goal to collaborate with different clubs and organizations on campus, but ultimately, our goal is to raise awareness and to tell the stories of families who have benefitted from the amazing care r iley provides … it is truly amazing to hear the stories of r iley patients lives [we have] been able to touch,” m illar said.

Contact Alaina Anderson at aander02@saintmarys.edu

a public notre dame event had a deep significance. "it means that i don't have to be afraid anymore," l ondon said. Contact Andrea Vale at avale@nd.edu.

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life as a college student from a more serious condition.

“obviously being in college is stressful,” haskins said. “everybody is stressed out, which makes it harder because you don’t know where to draw the line between ‘a m i being a baby about this?' and making too much of a big deal.

“but i could give myself an entire saturday afternoon in the library and just look at my assignment and start to have a panic attack, feeling like i couldn’t breathe and i couldn’t think and my thoughts would start racing. it wasn’t like i procrastinated or needed to feel that way.”

notre dame junior Tracey cheun, who was diagnosed with bipolar i at the end of her freshman year in april, 2013, said the college environment can be both therapeutic and detrimental to mental illness.

“college seems to make the condition worse and better,” cheun said. “worse because it is notre dame, it’s a very esteemed institution, so there’s pressure. but also better because i’ve been lucky enough to have the people around me, and i can’t imagine being where i am today without them, or being this mentally healthy without their encouragement.”

a mber kearse, a notre dame senior, said the pressure to excel in school made coping with her depression and attention

deficit hyperactivity disorder (adhd) more difficult.

“i’ve had depression before, but it wasn’t diagnosed depression,” kearse said. “The depression [i had my] freshman year was kind of related to the adhd i had sort of been the smart person at my school and i always thought daydreaming was a part of my personality. so when i came here and i was struggling, i couldn’t tell anyone at home because i was so used to being at the top of my class and getting straight a’s.

“it was really stressful and really lonely because i didn’t want to tell anybody, but then i couldn’t really do anything because i wasn’t telling anybody. i didn’t really want to go to counseling because i didn’t want to admit anything was wrong, but then i finally went and talked to someone.”

“having problems outside of school just makes worrying about school a lot worse,” kearse said.

'Family dynamic'

cheun, who lives on campus in badin hall, said the resources on campus, ranging from the university counseling center ( ucc ) to resident hall staffs, made living with mental illness more manageable.

“The counseling center is a really great resource,” she said. “i think people really underestimate it or they’re kind of afraid that they’ll be perceived as [weak] or that they have huge issues and there’s something wrong with them. They’re really

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nurturing there.

“i [also] think the family dynamic here is so strong and that helped me get through a lot of it. i know badin is pretty small, but the hall staff and [rector] sr. denise [lyon] would stop by my room a lot and make sure i was okay.”

a fter initially fearing medication, haskins said she came to recognize its potential to assist her after asking g od for help.

“my medication helps,” she said. “i didn’t want to take medicine because there’s such a stigma about it. i didn’t want to be dependent on it.

“[but] medicine isn’t a crutch. doctors have been blessed with far more smarts than i to help people get through it. i f anybody out there has an anxiety disorder and hasn’t done anything about it, you honestly deserve medicine, or help if medicine isn’t your thing.”

a s a Film, Television and Theatre (FTT) major and business economics minor, cheun said her professors have also been remarkably accommodating, which has helped her progress as a student and manage her illness.

“a ll of [my professors] have been incredibly supportive and understanding, whether it’s paper extensions or me not being able to get out of bed because i’m too depressed and i just can’t do it,” she said. “They’re always willing to go out of their way for me and meet me after or outside their office hours. That’s helped a lot, and definitely piqued my interest in my

academic endeavors because i don’t feel so discouraged or judged by them.

“in terms of my everyday life, i take it one step at a time,” cheun said. “i keep mood charts, i exercise, i take my medication everyday, i follow up with my family on a weekly basis.

sometimes i’ll ask my roommates or my boyfriend to let me know if i’m behaving bizarrely and don’t realize it, because that does happen sometimes.”

'Kind of a quiet thing'

in light of notre dame graduate mark gallogly and his wife l ise strickler’s $10 million gift to the university to create the rev. James e mcdonald, c s c., center for student well-being, kearse said the university should focus on peer support for students with mental illness.

“There was no real obvious peer support,” kearse said. “There’s counseling, but it’s better to also have something with other students. once you leave counseling, that’s who you have to deal with and who you compare yourself to. i think it’s better to have a support network that involves the people who you are living with and you go to school with everyday.

“There are a lot of people who experience depression here, but it’s kind of a quiet thing," kearse said. "... if people were used to dealing with other people or noticing the signs, they would probably reach out to their friends more or check in on them and try to get outside help if they think the person needs it.”

cheun said the university could do a better job directing students to off-campus mental health resources, as well as making on-campus support groups more accessible.

“more openness and availability of support groups would help a lot,” she said.

saint mary’s junior Torie otteson spoke at Tuesday night’s student panel in r ice commons about her own journey and struggle as a way to break the silence surrounding mental illnesses.

otteson said students don’t talk about the issue of mental illness because it’s thought to be a private thing.

“people don’t talk about it, but it’s very empowering to share my story of mental illness,” otteson said. “people listen and they understand. we have a wonderful community here and they realize maybe [mental illness] is not such a scary thing.”

otteson said she lost a lot of time to mental illness but now she’s taking her story and turning it into something positive for others and for herself.

“i want to be able to help people realize that you’re not alone and there’s always a light at the end of the tunnel, even if you can’t see it right now," otteson said.

"[mental illness] has made me a stronger person in general. if i can made it through that, i can make it through anything."

haskins said she has never sought help on campus because she feels it carries a stigma, partly because there is not enough information about student mental health resources.

“i’m a senior and i don’t know how much it costs to take advantage of campus resources or how that gets billed to you,” she said. “i think if people were more aware of that, it would be better.”

haskins also said students and faculty alike need to make people aware that "[mental illness] is biological and not just something you make up or is a crutch,” something which she said events like irish state of mind and support a belle, love a belle weeks help to do.

‘ you’re not a diagnosis’

saint mary’s first year student kendall smith also spoke on Tuesday night’s student panel about her experience with mental illness.

smith shared her personal journey of depression, which led to self-harm, an eating disorder and substance abuse.

“w hen something stressful happened, i felt the need to change myself,” smith said. “i dyed my hair, got piercings and finally recognized, 'why did i feel the need to change myself?” smith realized through her struggles with depression that she needed to prepare herself to deal with different outcomes instead of altering herself. depression leads to eating disorders, self-harm and substance abuse, she said, but her story is no longer a sad one to tell.

“depression is a temporary thing if you want it to be,” smith said. “i’ve spoken about [mental illness] before, but it was a sad story.”

now her story is one of learning and growth. smith said she has found passion in telling her story because it’s not another chapter of her life – she’s closing the book on depression.

“it’s a form of closure, to my history of depression and self-harm,” she said. “i’m really proud of myself for living through that and finding myself through it. it’s always been in the back of my mind; i’m hoping that this will be a way for me to say goodbye to that side of myself.”

smith said people should know that mental illness is something that doesn’t need to be kept to in the dark; it’s something to work through with support.

“They were given it, and it’s something they can work through, not something they have to tolerate,” smith said. “mental illness doesn’t mean crazy.

“mental illness isn’t a race issue, not a class issue, not a gender issue – it’s a human issue,” smith said.

“you’re not a diagnosis, you’re a person.”

Contact Jack Rooney at jrooney1@nd.edu and Haleigh Ehmsen at hehmse01@saintmarys.edu

INsIde coLumN

millenials and love

Daniel Barabasi scene writer

The best part about being a millennial is listening to what our futures hold based on the expertise of the pre-iphoners. we’re lazy. we don’t have a work ethic. Time agrees. Fox news agrees. cnn agrees. i guess the bipartisan divide really isn’t as bad as they say it is. at least 25 percent of us will never get married. That’s a new one. i’ll add it to the list of things i can’t do, right under “playing with grandchildren in the snow.” our inability to say “i do” gets attributed to a variety of notions. society expects us to get into the workforce and become productive contributors as soon as possible. parents expect us to pay off student debts. we have to climb the social and professional ladders. a lthough these statements do seem valid, they don’t get to the root of the issue.

The older generations’ finger-wagging is partially right. smart phones and internet access have degraded our attention span. we require more instant gratification to keep us intrigued. Furthermore, we’re constantly rewarded for our spontaneity, at least according to every success narrative. being “out there” and ready to take on any task gets you noticed online, socially and professionally. steve Jobs dropped out of college for a startup. so did mark Zuckerberg. look where they are now. in this context, the idea of settling down sounds preposterous. a white gown leads to a family. Family leads to suburbia. suburbia means a minivan and soccer tryouts and voice lessons and teacher conferences and this and that. you’ll be reliant on the schedules of those you love, but stuck nevertheless.

marriage doesn’t have to be like this; there are married couples who don’t have kids. but still, there’s constant background pressure. in your 20s and 30s, you should be traveling the world! explore a new city, meet new people, write a novel, learn a new language, do something you’ll regret. it’s how you’ll make the memories and connections that best shape you. but why does it have to be the last chance in life? oh right, society wants us to be productive members and fall in love. a nd it’s a bit hard to jump on that discounted plane to Thailand when you’re thinking about how your significant other will react. yet, this might prove to be wrong. perhaps love and marriage are the consistencies we need in our lives as millennials. w hile everything around seems ceaseless in its variability and expectations, we can grab onto love to keep us sane. i certainly hope my cynicism is unfounded. if not, i sincerely wish us the best of luck.

Intergenerational justice

Dan Sehlhorst we’ve l ost o ur Quorum

have you seen “The west w ing?” i believe the show is one of the greatest television series ever created. i n the second season, creator a aron s orkin wrote a flashback to the beginning of the first presidential campaign of p resident Jed bartlet. played by martin sheen, bartlet declares a beautiful sentiment “i f fidelity to freedom of democracy is the code of our civic religion, then surely the code of our humanity is faithful service to that unwritten commandment that says we shall give our children better than we ourselves received.”

i ntergenerational injustice is not a topic that is often discussed in a merican politics, primarily because counteracting such temporal wrongs requires sacrifice in the present, which doesn’t make for rosy campaign promises. a s a result, our leaders are strongly incentivized to operate in the short-term, viewing relatively uncertain, long-term risks as a problem to be tackled at a later date. This selfindulgent mode of operation, however, is not worthy of a great nation, and it violates some of the very principles that make this nation great.

The first threat to the future of a merican ideals is a lack of investment in our children. The united states experiences one of the highest rate of child poverty among developed nations. regrettably, spending on children as a percentage of the federal budget is falling across the board, according to a report from the urban i nstitute. o f the many programs that benefit children, none are more important than education. e ducation is the great equalizer, holding the potential to break poverty cycles and ensure the longterm viability of our nation. The least we can do is ensure that the education system is fully funded, wholeheartedly supported and staffed with the most qualified educators. we must invest in the best practices and make the development of our children’s passions and skills an objective of highest priority.

The second threat to our future is a crushing national debt, which threatens our posterity in many ways. r ising debt can cause rapid inflation if the government chooses to monetize debt or print currency at high rates. Tax burdens and higher interest rates can slow economic growth and even destabilize economies enough to spark financial crises.

For decades, politicians have refused to recognize our fiscal limitations, pulling funding from the pockets of our grandchildren. w hile each sector of government spending has a clear and valid purpose, there will always be goals outside of our immediate fiscal reach.

much government spending can be viewed as investment in our future, whether by stimulating economic growth, building infrastructure, developing health care capacity, improving education or protecting our national security interests, all of which benefit future generations. i n these situations, a case can be made that short-term deficits lead to future growth and prosperity, but this certainly cannot

edItorIaL cartooN

be a sustainable long-term strategy. besides investments in the future, some government spending is simply wasteful or structured to benefit current voters at the expense of tomorrow’s citizens. reducing waste requires strong leadership from members of c ongress but also personal accountability on the part of the a merican people.

mandatory federal spending — primarily s ocial s ecurity, medicare and means-tested entitlement programs — has risen dramatically from five percent of the federal budget in 1947 to over 56 percent in Fiscal year 2012. not designed to support seniors for more than a few years, these programs are approaching bankruptcy. a s a mericans live longer, our social welfare programs must adjust accordingly. o therwise, we are looking at both exorbitant debt and bankrupt programs that cannot serve future generations. a s a final example, to care for future generations, we must develop and commit to sustainable environmental practices. w ith rising global carbon levels, air pollution, water pollution, habitat degradation and changing climates, we must bear the burden of knowing that our choices affect the safety and livability of the world in the future. r ising sea levels, disappearing aquifers, droughts and reduced air quality all pose great risk to our future citizens. we must engage the world on this issue because climate change is not bounded by borders. To the extent that humanity can reduce its negative impact on the environment, we are all partners in a global project for our children’s health and wellness.

c hildren cannot vote in our republic, yet their concerns are of paramount importance. The irony is that political pandering for short-term electoral gain is childishness in its worst form, abandoning the wisdom that our leaders are expected to display. o ur politicians cannot be simpleton ideologues who place the value of a strong, uncompromising dogma above fiscal and social responsibility. o ur elected representatives are not simply pawns in a game to secure a slice of a multi-trillion dollar pie.

i n grand federal buildings and statehouses across the country, elected men and women are not just leaders, but stewards of our future. we cannot leave this responsibility to them alone, however. a s citizens of a nation built on the ideas of freedom, equality, liberty and fair representation, we cannot stand idly by while policy directly threatens each of those ideas for future generations. i n order to secure better opportunities for our grandchildren, i hope my generation will have the political will power to make cuts in the interest of our posterity. martin luther k ing Jr.’s famous maxim could be adjusted to fashion a new battle cry for conscientious policy, as we could say, “i njustice today is a threat to justice forever.”

Dan Sehlhorst is a junior studying economics and political science. Hailing from Troy, Ohio, and a resident of Zahm House, he looks forward to conversation about his columns and can be contacted at dsehlhor@nd.edu

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

Plane and Simple

The obama administration has overseen an eightfold increase in the number of attacks flown by unmanned aerial vehicles or “drones.” These small, pilotless aircraft have become popular with the u s a ir Force for their ability to take on dangerous missions deep inside hostile territory while keeping a merican servicemen out of harm’s way. yet the a merican drone program has also come under harsh scrutiny by human rights groups.

i’m sympathetic to the majority of the issues brought up by drone opponents. a t the very least, i can applaud their calls for greater transparency and oversight of the a ir Force’s drone program as i can for any branch of the armed forces. however, it’s undeniable that drones are subject to an unfair level of scrutiny that does not affect manned aircrafts. For instance, opponents of the us drone war in the m iddle e ast often point to the civilian casualties caused by drone attacks. it’s a hard charge to argue against; bodies strewn amidst the rubble of a destroyed home or the shell of a burned-out car are chilling testaments of man’s inhumanity. but it would be a colossal mistake to associate these deaths with drones rather than with war as an institution.

a s uncomfortable as it is to admit, civilian casualties are a fact of war. v irtually every armed conflict results in civilian casualties out of proportion to combatant deaths. c onsider the 2003 i raq war and subsequent insurgency, which even by the most conservative estimates killed ten times more civilians than enemy soldiers. b efore the widespread

Letter to the edItor

adoption of precision-guided bombs, these figures were even worse. s o-called “collateral damage” was such a prominent feature of the v ietnam war that it inspired a catchy-yet-horrifying military ditty: “napalm sticks to k ids.”

i n fact, by some accounts drone warfare may be one of the few exceptions to this rule. a ssessments by both the new a merica Foundation and the b ureau of i nvestigative Journalism found that drone strikes in p akistan killed roughly three militants for every civilian. (Feel free to take these figures with the massive grain of salt they deserve.) d rone warfare is also much less likely to create refugee crises than would an infantry engagement of the enemy. unmanned aerial vehicles are illsuited to the saturation bombardment needed to level cities; most designs focus on assassination of single targets. d rones carry small laser-guided missiles rather than the literal blockbusters used by their manned counterparts to “soften up” a city for invasion.

national sovereignty is another sticking point for those who want drones grounded. i ncreasingly, the united states is using unmanned planes to strike at targets inside other countries, such as p akistan and yemen, without the permission of said nations’ governments. This gets even more confusing when the countries we launch strikes against are officially our allies in the war on Terror. a fter all, we wouldn’t want britain or i srael bombing our own country.

s adly, war is rarely so kind as to respect national boundaries. we’re seeing this happen right now in s yria as the civil war between the rebels and the anti-a ssad forces spills over into i raq, l ebanon and surrounding territories. The terrorist threat in

countries like p akistan is real, and local forces are often either unwilling or unable to adequately respond. we all remember the most infamous example, when the p akistani army couldn’t find o sama bin l aden when he had hidden less than a mile from their m ilitary a cademy. i recall very little “sturm und d rang” about “sovereignty” as s eal Team six returned in triumph from a bbottabad.

w hy then are drones singled out for such persecution? w hat encourages people to look at these particular engines of war with greater apprehension than their manned counterparts? perhaps the answer lies in human psychology. The casualties from conventional war come in a tidal wave, overwhelming our perception and condensing into a single travesty. d rone strikes, by contrast, are more akin to a c hinese water torture. d rone strikes are little clusters of death stretched over months to years, this feels more reprehensible than the single wave of death as a result of conventional war. i’m reminded of the line oft attributed to Josef stalin: “ w hen one man dies it is a tragedy; when thousands die it’s statistics.”

i’m all for productive discussion of the covert war against terrorism in the m iddle e ast. a s we talk, however, remember to keep the focus on the real problem: an endless war against a nameless foe without concrete objectives. d on’t jump to conclusions just because some of our planes don’t have pilots in them.

Stephen Raab is a junior studying Chemical Engineering. He resides in Alumni Hall and welcomes discourse at sraab@nd.edu

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

a personal invitiation to embrace feminism

i am not a feminist because i hate men. i am not a feminist because i’m e mma watson (or Joseph g ordon-l evitt, or l ena d unham, or even b eyoncé), and i’m certainly not a feminist because i’m an un-ironically #blessed notre dame student. i’m a feminist because i’ve been granted the opportunity to learn about cultures where women face bigger problems than two sympathy points on the “attractiveness” rating scale.

still, notre dame should attack its misogynistic tendencies with all the ferocity we can muster. The commonly heard “forcible fondling” jokes prove that men and women alike have trouble accepting feminism as a serious issue. i n a bubble where we all have the opportunity and encouragement to pursue our dreams, we forget that women still burn in honor of their dead husbands in i ndia. we forget that women are still stolen and sold into sexual slavery at ten years old in c ambodia. we forget that some women are still not even allowed to drive in s audi a rabia.

a t notre dame, y ik yaks make “i have a boyfriend” jokes and i cringe, wondering why girls even have to say “i have a boyfriend” instead of simply

“i’m not interested.” a t notre dame, girls raise eyebrows at the length of other girl’s skirts at the c areer Fair and boys make comments about the number of dance floor make-outs “allowed” before a girl becomes a “slut.” a t notre dame, we are perpetrators of casual misogyny.

b ecause we tolerate these comments and behaviors at o ur l ady’s university, we have excused ourselves from the feminist stage. w hat would it take for us to decide to take care of each other? d o we need a personal invitation from e mma watson to “e mbrace the F-word?” o r is it perhaps that our violations of equality are simply too small to warrant our attention?

i’m no e mma, but here’s a personal invitation to join the cause. a s privileged students, we get to nitpick these “too-small” gender issues – yet the united states is still ranked 23rd on the world e conomic Forum’s g lobal g ender g ap i ndex, behind c uba, l esotho, and burundi. s o there are 23 countries that treat the genders more “equally” than the united states, based on economic participation and opportunity, health and survival, educational attainment and political empowerment. This also means nearly

every other country in the world experiences tremendously less gender equality than we do. Therefore, i reiterate my point: with our privileged position in society, we are all called to be feminists. we’re not all called to hate men, or sign up for 75 ngo s or read nicholas k ristoff’s “half the sky” every night before bed (although it’s an excellent book). we’re not even called to look up to celebrities like b eyoncé (although if you don’t, are you really human?) we are called to fight for opportunities for everyone to pursue their dreams, regardless of color, sexuality, gender and sex. here at notre dame, we can start by adopting the “feminist” label or at least the label of “brothers and sisters” – meaning we watch our Zahm jokes and think twice about our nd c rushes and y ik yaks. it also means taking a step out of our bubble to think globally. still waiting for your personal invitation? here it is.

Kelly McGarry scene writer

“This is the beginning. hello. 1, 2, 3.” The album opens with this spoken line. you may wonder, the beginning of what exactly? if you haven’t heard him before, consider this the beginning of a musical infatuation with the one and only shakey graves. a lejandro rose-garcia, who goes by his campfire indian-guide name, shakey graves, released his second full-length album this Tuesday. The album, “a nd the war came,” marks the first time shakey graves has an album on spotify, which could mean big things for this breakout hero of folk-rock. The previous ep and lp can be found on shakey’s website. according to his 2013 ama on reddit, his music wasn’t on spotify simply because he didn’t know how to set it up. even as his youTube views reached the hundreds of thousands, many people were missing out on shakey graves because he wasn’t on spotify. how grateful we are that he finally figured it out!

rose-garcia had a modest acting career before his venture into music. he appeared in “spy k ids 3” and had a recurring role on “Friday night l ights.” shakey graves is strongly associated with his hometown of austin, Texas, while he also boasts experiences in the new york and l a. music scenes. he incorporates the style of a one-man band, influenced by bob-log iii he does

this through nimble, plucking fingers and the help of a second instrument – a kick-drum. he uses a kick-drum made from an old suitcase into his performance. The instrument is roughly home-made, displaying shakey’s authentic bluesy-hobo vibe.

The new album shares a title with a civil war novel written in 1950, reflecting its old-fashioned feel. shakey graves uses a lo-fi recording style that intentionally uses older and lower-quality equipment to give the music a classic sound.

The single “dearly departed” was released on spotify in July; however, if you’d been following shakey graves on youTube, you had the privilege of hearing this gem back in april.

The music video for the single features shakey with album collaborator esme patterson, who has a huge impact on three of the songs on the album. in “dearly departed,” the two sing together playfully and intimately in a country-simple outdoor setting, accompanied only by an acoustic guitar. The setting is perfect for the simple, light-hearted song. The banter was natural and sweet, the harmonies induced goosebumps. it fully embodied the jaunty ‘50s country sound that we are used to hearing from shakey graves. The recorded version of the song attempts a fuller sound with some jamming electric guitar, stronger vocals and added percussion. in the video for “dearly departed,” shakey jokes about his future trip-hop and jazz-metal careers. For

someone who jokes about musical diversity, his new album deviates quite a bit. “Family and genus” explores a vibey electronic sound, while “The perfect parts” rocks pretty hard. at the very least, tracks like these prove that shakey is at his best when he stays true to his rustic folk style. he sounds most sincere and natural when he’s picking away at an acoustic guitar, making us stomp along with his kick-drum. he has some success in “if not for you” on staying true to his classic sound, while still jamming out on an electric guitar.

“a nd the war came” has the potential to be shakey graves’ breakthrough album. now that it’s conveniently on spotify, there’s no reason not to check it out.

Contact Kelly McGarry at kmcgarry@nd.edu

“And The War Came”

Shakey Graves

Label: Dualtone Records

Tracks: “Dearly Departed,” “Only Son,” “If Not For You”

If you like: Dawes, First Aid Kit, Avett Brothers

isn’t that bad in the scheme of things, but the movie also resonates with the ongoing nd state of mind.

w ith a disappointing summer blockbuster season, it might be hard to renew one’s faith in the film culture. Fortunately, the fall movies are coming along to transition our hyped-up expectations of summer into the winter season of loneliness and romance flicks. with autumn comes a darker, more thought provoking angle to the big screen, sans “dumb and dumber To” and “mockingjay, part i.”

“w hiplash” – oct. 10

society is fascinated by happy success stories of the greats building an empire. in “w hiplash,” director and writer damien chazelle gives us the opposite: the terrors and loneliness one goes through to obtain the skills necessary for the big break. miles Teller plays a ndrew, a drum student interested in becoming “a great.” his terror of a music professor harasses him physically and mentally, pushing him to cut all ties and focus solely on improving. The trailer comes as a great reminder during midterms week that having two back-to-back exams

“dear w hite people” – oct. 17 based on the trailer, i’m not exactly sure if i’m allowed to review this movie. The film critiques the myth of a post-racial a merica, pointing out the stereotypes and derogatory opinions a frican a mericans still face today in the u s set at w inchester university, samantha w hite, played by Tessa Thompson, is described as being like “spike l ee and oprah had some pissed off baby” for her in-your-face efforts to point out racism. good for a few laughs, but will probably leave you depressed at the state of our country.

“st. v incent” – oct. 24

bill murray plays a retired war veteran with every vice in the book who begins to “grow up” when he starts babysitting his new neighbor’s 12-year-old son. honestly, if you don’t want to watch the movie based on that, you probably don’t have a sense of humor. murray takes the kid everywhere from a racetrack, to a bar, even to a strip club. he makes the boy mow his dirt lawn to teach him about life and work ethic, much to the enjoyment

of the child’s single mom and catholic school. Think “gran Torino” with less violence and more uncontrolled impudence.

“nightcrawler” – oct. 31

in his desperate search for a job, lou bloom, played by Jake gyllenhaal, discovers the world of freelance crime journalism. a rmed with a shoddy camera and an “employee” — the gps on his phone — l ou scours the night for segments that sell. a s he becomes more efficient with decoding the police scanner jargon, l ou starts to arrive at crime scenes before the cops, and in a few instances, before they’re over — putting him in moral limbo as both reporter and witness.

The film, dan gilroy’s directorial debut, promises to be a dark crime thriller. k nown previously as a screenwriter for “Two for the money” and the unmade “superman l ives,” gilroy has also been signed to write for marvel comics.

but the answer to your most burning question is: yes, journalism is this cool.

Contact Daniel Barabasi at dbaraba1@nd.edu

John Darr scene writer

i can see them now. crayon-drawn spindly tigers casually perched atop crayon cabooses and think nothing of it. Trains, tigers, ice cream, christmas, grandma — objects of overwhelming childhood joy all met in my mind and spilled sloppily onto paper — and my t-shirt. i would never wear a bib. w hat my small hands and circumstance created was sacred because they were unrestrained. everything was so effortlessly borne that even the sloppiest, ugliest creation glowed in the eyes of my parents and teachers. it’s the exact sort of sentiment that comes to mind when Tigers on Trains’ front man, mason maggio, repeats, “never get bored!” on the group’s newest record, “antarctica in color.” The wish to never be bored is something wholly youthful, both nostalgic and forward thinking. That’s essentially what “antarctica in color”is: a record entrenched in established indie-folk sounds and sentiments, yet incredibly fresh and inventive in execution. exquisite arrangements, melodies and lyrics push the record above its many competitors. Quality alone, not some innovation or gimmick, makes “antarctica in color” an incredibly strong competitor in the race for the best album of 2014.

Though it’s essentially a waste of your time to read the rest of the review — just go listen to this record instead — i guess i’ll go on to inadequately capture some of the greatness that Tigers on Trains has to offer. mr. maggio, the mastermind behind this particular Tiger on Trains record because his partner in crime, christian van deurs, is absent this time

around, is a modern day romantic philosopher.

“broken darts” peers into the soul of a fair-weather personality, content to shine in any category that presents an easy opportunity.

“plumes” illustrates a lover’s desire to commit to find the dream life he’s always imagined, even if it means having a closed mind that won’t change to see a situation for the better. at the last minute, he says, “i don’t want your love just yet,” and we’re left wondering whether he wants to earn that love or if he isn’t ready to follow through on his wishes.

“but it’s hard To” seeks out the source of unease in a relationship, asking, “did you hide or did i hide?” before repeatedly taking and shaking the blame.

“antarctica in color,” like its very name suggests, deftly investigates a slew of everyday contradictions that cause so much of the emotional hardship in our relationships with others.

The complex lyrical ideas presented, work incredibly well in the context of Tigers on Trains’ simultaneously simple and engaging arrangements. There aren’t any surprises on the record as far as song structures or chord progressions go, and riffs are subtle when they are present. Fingerpicked guitar and soft driving beats form lush, warm backdrops for maggio’s effortless vocal melodies. however, the vocal hooks and lovely guitar patterns are more than enough to carry each song. exquisite mixing and production allows each instrument to perfectly inhabit its necessary space, meaning that every instrument shines in every song, no matter how simple its particular part.

Tigers on Trains have created an extremely accessible,

stripped-down indie folk record that makes the most of its few wonderful ingredients with “antarctica in color.” repeated listens reveal increasingly lovely and varied bass and guitar patterns that ensure the thoughtful lyrics and memorable vocal melodies fill an eternal space in your head.

it’s quite amazing that “antarctica in color” was released the same week as Flying lotus’s brilliantly complex “you’re dead,” as the two are both masterpieces with opposing strengths. a truly masterful, emotionally gripping indiefolk record, “antarctica in color” is another must-hear record from a ridiculously underexposed artist. if you’re still reading, you’ve wasted enough time — go listen to the album now. if you give it the number of listens it deserves, you may never be bored again.

Contact John Darr at jdarr@nd.edu

“Antarctica in Color”

Tigers on Trains

Label: Unsigned

Tracks: “Broken Dance,” “Plumes,” “But It’s Hard To”

If you like: Real Estate, The Lonely Forest, Bonnie “Prince” Billy

W EE k END AT A g LANCE

THURSDAY

What: Nd theatre NoW!

When: 7:30 p.m.

Where: dPac how much: $7 for students

FTT’s nd Theatre now program showcases two one-act plays written by students each year. This year’s plays are “out of orbit” by lucas garcia (‘15) and “beneath my skin” by Zachary wendeln (‘15). The plays focus on the struggles, consequences and rewards of coming out of the closet.

FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY

What: Learn to salsa

When: 10 p.m.

Where: LaFun ballroom how much: Free

channel “silver l inings playbook” and learn how to salsa dance. be sure to work up an appetite so you can indulge in local mexican cuisine from monterrey mexican grill. dancing and tacos, what more could you want?

What: Notre dame vs uNc

When: 3:30 p.m.

Where: u Know Where how much: u a lready Paid

Tailgating. sports. Football. notre dame. The Fighting i rish. That’s pretty much all you need to know, right? be sure to be there to support the i rish as they attempt to maintain their undefeated record. g o i rish, beat Tar heels.

What: Julie Fowlis

When: 2 p.m.

Where: dPac how much: $10 for students

Julie Fowlis is known as the singing voice of princess merida, the red-headed heroine of disney pixar’s “brave.” Fowlis will be performing traditional gaelic music from her three highly acclaimed studio albums. it will be a great opportunity to expand your appreciation for irish music beyond “i’m shipping it up To boston.”

Catch America’s best drama

i often spend large amounts of time marveling at the way e uropean and l atin a merican soccer fans support their teams. The passion these fans have for their teams — from e ngland to a rgentina and mexico to Turkey — is nothing short of remarkable. it’s a world where the team you support means more than anything else — and as John o liver pointed out during his now-semifamous rant about F i Fa , it’s a “religion.”

Then, autumn s aturdays come around, and i’m reminded that we have this sort of passion in a merica — only that rather than fermenting itself in large cities like l ondon or r io de Janeiro, it reaches its highest heights in well, not large cities. From Tuscaloosa to s outh b end and e ugene to o xford, college football provides a merica’s most passionate drama.

Take monday’s “call of the day” on the p aul Finebaum s how. i f you have yet to see p hyllis from mulga, a labama rant about the supposed “end” of her beloved c rimson Tide’s dynasty, it’s quite worth the two minutes of your life. i n fact, p hyllis calls the show so often that when she calls, the simulcast of the show on the sec network has a picture of the woman, right there for when she calls in. her end to the call?

“k iss my butt. r oll Tide!” a nd when you think about it, there may be no better five words to describe a merica’s love affair with college football. s uddenly phrases like “ war e agle,” “b oomer s ooner,” “hotty Toddy,” “g eaux Tigers” and, of course, “r oll Tide” become acceptable ways to greet one another.

b ut consider it for a second. This s aturday, more than 80,000 people will take up a seat in notre d ame s tadium to watch a bunch of 18- through 22-year olds play a game. a nd that doesn’t even crack all of it — over 100,000 people will descend on c ollege s tation, Texas on s aturday when Texas a & m plays host to m ississippi. it is — quite honestly — something that boggles the mind. we live and die on the results of these games (alright, we might not die but we sure sometimes cry like someone did) because of what are often silly reasons. most people root for teams because of where they live.

The aforementioned p hyllis is from a labama so it makes sense that she’s a ‘b ama fan. i f someone from o hio says they aren’t an o hio s tate fan, i’m a little surprised (but also really, really happy. Those people instantly become my friends). o thers might root for a school because of their religion (some of you might even go to this school!) while some just go for a school because they’re good or because they have really cool colors. b ut fundamentally, why do we watch college football? e asy. it’s a merica’s best reality show. c ontroversy has followed the past two heisman Trophy winners around. you’re never sure when the next kicker is going to miss what should be an easy, chipshot field goal that would have won the game. a nd, of course, who could have predicted that m ississippi state and o le m iss would be jointthird in this week’s ap p oll?

Then there are those games, those plays that live on in infamy. b oise s tate’s “hook and l ateral” and “ s tatue of l iberty” plays to beat o klahoma in the 2007 Fiesta b owl? a mazing. c hris d avis returning a missed field goal 109 yards to win the i ron b owl last year? o ne of the most remarkable things i’ve ever seen. a nd of course, it’s impossible to talk about great college football plays without mentioning “h ail Flutie” or, of course, shouting the line, “The band is on the field!”

l ast weekend, of course, was a perfect example of why we love college football. e verett g olson’s fourthdown touchdown pass to beat s tanford was hardly the most notable thing of the weekend. a rizona going into e ugene and taking down no. 2 o regon? a bigger story. o le m iss knocking off no. 3 a labama at home? b igger again. m ississippi state having its way with no. 6 Texas a & m ? s till bigger. That doesn’t even get into T cu ’s win over no. 4 o klahoma or no. 8 ucla falling to utah. it’s why nothing beats college football s aturdays. The twists and turns are like no other. The passion is unmatched. a nd the best part? it’s unscripted. s it back, relax and enjoy it.

( i nsert your school’s saying here.)

Contact Alex Carson at acarson1@nd.edu

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

Belles look to bounceback at Eagle Invitational

By SEAN KILMER sports writer

after a weekend off, the belles will be back in action Friday when they travel to the benedictine eagle invitational in lisle, illinois.

benedictine university will host the invitational, which gives saint mary’s an opportunity to bounce back from a tough fifth-placed result at the miaa Jamboree two weeks ago. in that race, the belles finished just four points behind rival alma. belles coach Jacqueline bauters said she is looking to build on a strong past few days of practice.

“since [the jamboree] i think the team has been even more motivated to perform, as they were disappointed with their overall finish,” bauters said. “They have

Nba

put in some high-quality workouts and we are looking for dramatic improvements in times, due to training, change in course, etc.”

at the jamboree, which counts for one-third of the final conference standings, freshman natalie hawkes and sophomore brittany beeler led the belles, finishing 18th and 20th with times of 24:43 and 24:57, respectively. The other runners that made up the belles’ top five all finished amongst the top 30. despite this effort, however, alma edged the belles by four points, even though its fifth runner did not finish among the top40 racers. bauters said she wants her team to be even stronger this weekend.

“i haven’t seen the full list of teams competing yet, or seen

the course, we should have both [Thursday],” bauters said. “however, i would like our ladies to be competitive and mentally tough on Friday.”

with crunch time approaching, bauters said her team is focusing on being in the best position to succeed Friday.

“as all students know, it is getting towards crunch time,” bauters said. “and there is also a lot of sickness going around, so we are trying to stay healthy and rested so we are as prepared as possible for a great race.”

The starting gun at the benedictine eagle invitational will fire Friday at 4:00 p.m. in lisle, illinois.

Contact Sean Kilmer at skilmer@nd.edu

vogel signs multi-year extension with pacers

Associated Press

indianapolis — l arry bird ended the speculation about Frank vogel’s job security before it could even begin. he’s safe.

on wednesday, the pacers’ president of basketball operations announced vogel had signed a multiyear contract extension. Terms were not disclosed and players and coaches were unavailable because they had a scheduled day off. The 41-year-old vogel is expected to take questions Thursday.

The move comes exactly three weeks before i ndiana’s regular-season opener against philadelphia and eliminates a potential distraction since vogel was entering the final year of his deal with the pacers.

“we’re very happy to extend Frank’s contract,” bird said in a statement issued by the team. “i believe he has done a great job and i look forward to continuing our relationship and working together to achieve all of our goals.”

a year ago, winning the city’s first nba title seemed like an achievable feat. bird acknowledged before training camp that the pacers were going “all in” to make a championship run. vogel’s players responded with a 33-8 start that gave vogel his first chance to coach the eastern conference a ll-stars.

l ittle has gone right since

then for the pacers and vogel, who has a 147-82 career record.

The pacers stumbled in the second half of the season, finishing 23-18 amid squabbling teammates and questions about whether i ndiana had the right mix of players -- or even the right coach. That didn’t stop during first- and secondround playoff series against atlanta and washington. indiana wound up advancing to the conference finals and losing again to the m iami heat.

in early June, bird defended his coach and denied there was any consideration of getting rid of vogel.

“The day it (the report) happened, i went down to Frank and all of his assistants and said, ‘i want you back next year,’ and that was the end of it for us,” bird said at a seasonending news conference.

but things got worse during the offseason.

in July, l ance stephenson left for charlotte in free agency, and in early august, two-time a ll-star paul g eorge broke his right leg when he ran into a basketball stanchion during a national team scrimmage in l as vegas. stephenson’s decision and g eorge’s injury, which is likely season-ending, left vogel without his two best scorers.

w hile many outsiders and some players have

acknowledged indiana needs to scale back its goals this season, vogel has insisted the pacers can win.

“The message to my team is that we have to bring a high level of competitiveness every night. we have to bring it every night,” vogel said last week during the pacers’ media day. “we have enough talent here to be competitive and compete with the best.”

vogel got his big break in January 2011, succeeding the fired Jim o’brien as the pacers’ interim coach. he turned around a team that looked like it would miss the playoffs for a fifth consecutive year, finishing 20-18 and leading it into the postseason for the first time since 2006. vogel then got the coaching job full-time. in 2012, vogel led the pacers to their first playoff series win since reggie m iller retired seven years earlier, and then to back-to-back conference finals appearances.

so with the pacers facing perhaps their most daunting challenge in years, bird rewarded vogel by eliminating by one more potential distraction -- his future.

“i’m excited for the opportunity to continue my tenure as pacers’ coach,” vogel said in the statement. “it’s an honor to represent this franchise and lead this team. i look forward to the challenge ahead.”

Belles chase top-four spot, chance at NCAA tourney

By BENJAMIN HORVATH sports writer

The b elles look to secure a top-four slot in the final rounds of the miaa e nd of s eason Jamboree this weekend.

Friday’s and s aturday’s rounds will be played at the m edalist g olf c lub in m arshall, m ichigan and mark the conclusion of the three-weekend, six-round event.

i f the b elles finish within the top four of this tournament, they will qualify for the miaa’s four-team event in the spring. The winner of that event earns a qualification into the ncaa c hampionship.

s aint m ary’s currently ranks third out of nine teams, trailing second-place o livet by just nine strokes and first-place h ope by 57 strokes.

s aint m ary’s coach k imberly m oore said earning a bid to the ncaa c hampionship this upcoming spring would be great for the program, but she remains focused on securing a top-four slot in the conference tournament first.

“ o ur ultimate goal is to win championships, but we have to take it one step at a time,” m oore said.

“ h opefully we can get into that one or two spot of this tournament, and this would be a great way to get us prepared for the ncaa season in the spring.”

The b elles would earn the privilege to host the ncaa qualifying event this upcoming season if they finish in the top-two of the miaa tournament.

m oore said she emphasized the importance of the short game to her players because this is the area that will reduce the most strokes from overall scores.

“ we’re always looking to improve upon our short game and make more putts,”

m oore said. “That’s key for us, if we can get up-anddown on a more consistent basis, then we can definitely lower some scores so that’s been our biggest focus.”

Teams choose five players to participate in each round, and m oore said she picks her top five based on how players have performed during the week.

“ i t all comes down to

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qualifying and who’s playing the best at the time,” m oore said. “That’s how i determine who will participate in the weekend’s event.”

d espite a degree of uncertainty in the five-player rotation, m oore said she suspects a similar group of players to qualify for this weekend’s event.

b elles sophomore c ourtney c arlson and senior Janice h effernan, who has won the miaa conference player of the week twice this year, have led the team during the conference tournament, averaging 85.3 and 81 strokes, respectively.

“The last couple spots are usually up for grabs the majority of the time, but it seems like this weekend would be a consistent five that we’ve had play a lot this year,” m oore said.

s aint m ary’s will tee off on Friday afternoon at 1 p.m., and then s aturday morning at 10 a.m. The event will be hosted by o livet at m edalist g olf c lub in m arshall, m ichigan.

Contact Benjamin Horvath at bhorvat1@nd.edu

i rish open season with stark relays

By HENRY HILLIARD sports writer

n otre d ame will begin its 2014 campaign in traditional fashion, as it hosts the 50th annual d ennis s tark r elays at its home r olfs a quatic c enter this weekend.

The i rish finished third behind first-place m ichigan and second-place a uburn at the meet last year. This time around, the i rish look to begin the season with a win.

“The d ennis s tark r elays has been the opening meet for the n otre d ame men’s swimming team since before any of the current team was born, so it is an honor to be a part of such a great n otre d ame tradition,” senior m att d e b lasio said. “The first meet is always a great opportunity to see where we stand as a team. we like to keep the energy levels high and are looking for some quality times from the team.”

The d ennis s tark r elays will also mark the headcoaching debut of i rish coach m att Tallman, who took over for longtime coach Tim welsh after 13 years as an assistant in the program. i n addition to replacing welsh, this season’s unit must fill the gap of losing a ll- a merican Frank d yer to graduation last spring, who was the team’s top finisher in both the acc championships and the ncaa finals.

Though they retain senior a ll- a mericans Zach s tephens and John w illiamson, as well as nine other seniors including d e b lasio, this i rish team is marked by its youth.

“ o ur biggest challenge is definitely [going to be] in our sprint events, where the majority of our talent is in our younger classes,” d e b lasio

said. “ b ut our strength comes from a large 11-man senior class that brings a lot of leadership and experience to the pool deck.”

w ith eight freshmen joining the n otre d ame squad, the underclassmen will be thrust into contributing roles from the first meet. c ollege s wimming.com ranked the i rish freshman class as the 18th-best recruiting class in the country last spring.

“This meet is always a great opportunity for our freshmen to get up and race fast to show where they stand on the team,” d e b lasio said.

i nexperience, though, is not always a hindrance, as seen by the strong debut performance from now-sophomore diver Joe c uomos. i n his rookie season last year, c uomos was the first i rish diver to qualify for the ncaa championships since 2008.

The relays bear the name of n otre d ame’s first men’s and women’s swim coach, d ennis s tark, who coached from 1964 to 1985. The inaugural meet, originally known as the n otre d ame r elay, was renamed in s tark’s honor in 2003.

a fter this weekend, the team will enjoy two weeks off before hosting p urdue on n ov. 1. The i rish dive team, however, will be back in action next weekend, as it heads south to face s outh c arolina and g eorgia in a thens, g eorgia, on o ct. 17 and then a uburn in a uburn, a labama, on o ct. 18.

n otre d ame will start its season at the d ennis s tark r elays at r olfs a quatic c enter on Friday at 5 p.m.

Contact Henry Hilliard at rhillia1@nd.edu

notre dame travels to oregon to open season

By ZACH KLONSINSKI sports writer

a fter a sixth-place finish in the ncaa championships this spring, n otre d ame looks forward to another shot at a national title this year.

m embers of the team will travel to p ortland, o regon this weekend to participate in the first leg of the n orth a merican c up. The i rish finished a distant sixth during last year’s ncaa tournament but will again field one of the top teams in the country, i rish associate head coach g ia kvaratskhelia said.

“ l ike always, we expect to be fighting for the national championships,” kvaratskhelia said. “ b eing part of n otre d ame fencing, that’s our goal every year. b ut realistically, we’ll probably, with spring factor included, be top-three projecting from the beginning of the year. b ut it’s up to us how to use those resources and talents to hopefully go all the way.”

The men’s portion of the

team graduated eight fencers last year, including two-time ncaa individual champion and two-time u nited s tates o lympian foilist g erek m einhardt. h owever, kvaratskhelia said the coaching staff is excited about the freshman class coming in this year.

“ i t’s hard to replace someone like g erek m einhardt who’s been probably — arguably — the best male fencer to ever attend this university,” kvaratskhelia said. “ b ut down the line, we have strong juniors and sophomores but incredibly strong freshmen class came in who should be giving us the lift for that drive in m arch.”

The women’s team only lost two seniors to graduation in the spring — epeeist m elissa m edina and foilist a driana c amacho. c amacho was a four time a ll- m idwest Fencing c onference team selection, named to the first team after a third-place finish in foil at the m F c championships in 2011 and to the second team after finishing fifth, eighth and sixth

respectively, in the event over the next three years.

w ith so many returning women’s team members this year, kvaratskhelia said the coaches can really focus on shoring up the weak spots in the team’s lineup.

“ o ur probably weaker element was women’s sabre, which we revamped,” kvaratskehelia said. “ we have one of the best athletes for the sabre side in the nation came and became part of us, [freshman] Francesca r usso and we are going to utilize that resource. a s long as our freshman class was big and strong, but we already had a pretty substantial women’s [roster] remaining here. s o hopefully, women will be our strongest suit going to the national championship, like they always are.”

kvaratskhelia also pointed out that this year may be one of the most-balanced teams n otre d ame has fielded in the past few years.

“ years back, we would have a superstar to load up in one weapon, but this year i am

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really having a hard time to distinguish,” kvaratskhelia said. “ we have [junior foilist] l ee k iefer, who is the twotime defending national champion leading the charge with [senior foilist] m adison Zeiss, who was the [national] runner-up [in 2014], but i would be mistaken if i really distinguished any in terms of balance wise of the women’s team.

“The men’s team equally, we have [graduate student] a riel d e s met, who won [at] the national championships in 2011, but we have really tenacious and experienced freshman, so as long as the upperclassmen have to keep fighting for their qualifying spots. s o i feel really confident about our team.”

This weekend’s tournament is individual-based, as no teams will travel there or compete together.

kvaratskhelia said for the most part, the team’s traveling roster would be making the trip. The tournament features preliminary pool-play matches that serve as seeding for a single-elimination tournament.

kvaratskhelia said the tournament this weekend will be a great warm-up for the team as it starts the season.

“ we are kind of kicking off the season and seeing where we are at in the preparation right now,” kvaratskhelia said. “ m ost of our kids are in the top-15, top-20 rankings [in their weapon], some even higher, who will be participating over there, and it will be their experience — in terms of their results, will be — will matter to try and improve their ranking in the national light.

“For us, it’s really good to get extra bouting in as a kind of warm-up for the season, because the more you compete, the better you compare. s o we are going to use that as a stepping stone.”

The n orth a merican c up will take place at the p ortland c onvention c enter in p ortland, o regon, from Friday through m onday.

Contact Zach Klonsinski at zklonsin@nd.edu

Irish aim to stay consistent

By MIKE GINOCCHIO sports writer

after taking an extended period of time off, the irish will look to get back on track as they prepare for this weekend’s rod myers invitational.

The irish will travel to the duke university golf club in durham, north carolina on saturday to compete in their first event since sept. 30, when they competed in the Fighting irish golf classic at warren golf course. The irish finished seventh in their home event.

according to irish head coach James kubinski, the nearly twoweek break was helpful for the team’s psyche.

“our first focus was to take a couple days and be college students,” kubinski said. “we had competed every weekend for a month, whether in tournaments or at home in qualifying, so we used this past weekend to get a fresh start, looking at these next two tournaments as the next portion of our schedule.”

irish senior patrick grahek hits a shot during the notre dame kickoff challenge on aug. 31.kevin song

irish senior patrick grahek hits a shot during the notre dame kickoff challenge on aug. 31.

The irish have played consistently throughout the season, and kubinski said he believes his team is still capable of getting better.

“we’ve posted five scores [of our 11 team rounds] in the 280s so far, very much high level play,” kubinski said. “i believe we’ve averaged 284 in those five rounds, which is six shots per round better than defending

national champion alabama right now. The issue has been the five rounds when we posted a score over 300. our good is very good. our goal now though is to see each of our guys find a way back to comfortable on those days when things, whatever they are, seem uncomfortable. saving shots on those days when we’re a little off is huge for us.”

in addition to a steady level of play, kubinski stressed the importance of receiving good play from everyone in the lineup, not just one player.

“i’m not looking at any one player [to step up] in particular,” kubinski said. “it’s imperative for us to have four or all five players in the mix to help our team score.”

kubinski said he also looks forward to traveling to the duke university golf club, as he has prior experience on the course. he served an assistant coach at duke from 2003 to 2005, and prior to his tenure as assistant, kubinski served as co-head golf professional at the duke university golf club for three years.

“having spent 5 years at duke, the golf course is very familiar to me,” kubinski said. “The key will be to learn the greens, as they’ve installed champion bermuda [greens]. i’m guessing the greens will be quick, so keeping your approach shot in good position will be the difference between good birdie chances and chasing pars.”

The irish resume play Friday at the duke university golf club in durham, north carolina. The tournament starts Friday and continues through saturday.

Contact Mike Ginocchio at mginocch@nd.edu

acc is a good opponent,” r omagnolo said. “ p itt is a strong, physical team. They do a good job defending, and they’re a difficult team to score on. They have a couple players who can score a lot of goals, so we’ll need to watch that and stay strong on defense.”

The quick turnaround between games should not affect the team’s performance too much, r omagnolo said. notre d ame boasts a 4-0-1 road record so far this season.

“ w ith our acc schedule, we get used to having to travel on wednesday to play on Thursday after a s unday game weekend,” r omagnolo said. “a t this point, we’re not working on too much in training during the week, just trying to stay fresh. we’ve been getting creative in utilizing our time.”

The i rish stayed close with the powerhouse c avaliers on s unday right up to the final 21 seconds, when v irginia scored the deciding goal that gave it the 2-1 lead. r omagnolo said the game against p ittsburgh provides an opportunity for the i rish to get back on track.

“ we need to get back to playing our possession style and bringing that tenacity back on defense,” r omagnolo said.

i n order to avoid dramatic losses like those the team has suffered recently against v irginia and north c arolina, the team will emphasize several aspects of its attack in upcoming games, r omagnolo said.

“ we’re focusing on being a good possession team, going up the field and taking chances in the last third of the field,” r omagnolo said.

The i rish have a host of players who are consistent threats to score. s ophomore midfielder m organ a ndrews has four goals, while senior forward l auren b ohaboy and junior defender k atie naughton each have three. a fter them, two players have two goals and four different players have one goal apiece. notre d ame and p ittsburgh square off Thursday at 7 p.m. at a mbrose urbanic Field in p ittsburgh.

Contact Renee Griffin at rgriffi6@nd.edu

the white freshmen jerseys — joined the fray on the fourth day.

“ you stick out like a sore thumb,” m ac a fee laughed.

m ac a fee soon stuck out for another reason. The coaches lined up the linemen and tight ends for a drill called “The n utcracker.” The simple setup had one offensive lineman trying to block a defensive lineman and allow a running back to gain ground.

o k, m ac a fee, you get in there.

m ac a fee went up against behemoth m ike Fanning, an a ll- a merican in 1974 who went on to be a first-round draft pick in the n F l

“ i go, ‘ you gotta be kidding me,’” m ac a fee said when realizing who his opponent would be.

b ut Fanning stood up a little bit out of his stance, and m ac a fee drove his face straight into Fanning’s chest and “buried” him. h e landed on top of him for good measure, m ac a fee said.

The next day, m ac a fee moved up to third on the depth chart at tight end. b y the sixth game of his freshman season, m ac a fee grabbed hold of the starting job.

h e never looked back.

a fter a 10-2 season in 1974 in which the i rish topped a labama in the o range b owl, m ac a fee earned three consecutive a ll- a merican citations over his next three seasons. a s a senior, m ac a fee finished third in the h eisman Trophy voting. i n four seasons, the b rockton, m assachusetts native hauled in 128 receptions for 1,759 yards and 15 touchdowns.

d uring the 1977 season, n otre d ame scored at least 30 points in seven of its 12 games. The i rish piled up 49 points against usc , 69 against g eorgia Tech and 48 against m iami in the regular-season finale, setting the stage for the c otton b owl tilt with Texas.

w ith unbeaten teams dropping around the nation, n otre d ame knew a blowout win could vault it to n o. 1 in the polls and seal the 10th national championship in program history. m ac a fee said the i rish were confident heading into the matchup with the l onghorns, especially with i rish quarterback Joe m ontana playing so well.

“ we just didn’t think we could lose,” m ac a fee said. “a lot of the guys on the team were overconfident, i think, and some of the coaches reminded us that we still had to play the game.”

n otre d ame forced six Texas turnovers, and the i rish rolled to a 38-10 demolition.

“ we just obliterated them,” m ac a fee said.

a fter going 16 seasons

without a national championship before winning in 1966, m ac a fee and the i rish had just added their third in 12 years. Tradition was building elsewhere, too, as m ac a fee followed former i rish tight end d ave c asper — a 1973 a ll- a merican — in laying the foundation of the so-called “Tight e nd u.”

“ it’s kind of cool as far as i ’m concerned,” m ac a fee said. “ i enjoy being mentioned in the group with all the great tight ends. … To be able to be one of the initiators of ‘Tight e nd u,’ so to speak, is flattering.”

The tradition of Tight e nd u, m ac a fee said, is just another hallmark of a school filled with relics. m ac a fee quickly developed an appreciation for his campus, making frequent visits to the g rotto. a nd after three years living in g race h all, m ac a fee moved into a single in s orin c ollege for his senior year, saying he wanted “some real tradition back.” From m ac a fee’s room, he could look out his window every morning and see the b asilica and the g olden d ome.

“ it was always inspirational to me,” m ac a fee said, before adding with a chuckle, “except for the fact that the bells rang every hour. Tough to get sleep.”

Following his days at n otre d ame, m ac a fee didn’t find much time for sleep, either, playing in the n F l from July through January before studying dentistry at the university of p ennsylvania from January through June. m ac a fee juggled both for three years before his n F l career ended.

“Thankfully the dean at p enn was very progressive because he allowed me to play football and go to school at the same time,” m ac a fee said. “ i thank him every day just because he allowed me to do both.”

m ac a fee had been interested in oral and maxillofacial surgery since he was a 16year old working a summer job with former h oly c ross ( m ass.) football captain b ill m oncevicz, who, at the time, was in dental school. a fter eight years on the academia side of dentistry and oral surgery, m ac a fee now has a private practice in waltham, m assachusetts, and works 11hour days.

m ac a fee’s daughter, k eeley, has committed to play lacrosse at h arvard. h is son, d alton, was a one-time n otre d ame lacrosse commit who eventually pledged to play hockey at b oston university.

“ s o he came to me and goes, ‘ d ad i think i ’d rather play hockey at bu,’” m ac a fee said. “‘That’s ok, you have to make your decision.’”

Just as m ac a fee did — despite the “horrible” first impression — 40 years ago.

Contact Mike Monaco at jmonaco@nd.edu

more athletic this year with the addition of our three freshmen, b rianna, m ychal and k athryn,” sophomore guard l indsay a llen said. “ i feel like we’ll be more athletic. i feel like we’ll be able to press a little bit more than we did last year. a nd i feel like our length is really gonna show this year.”

Turner, who never actually attended a game at p urcell p avilion during her recruiting process, said she is eager to lace up for the i rish.

“i remember i watched them last year and in their previous Final Fours before i was really recruited by them, but now actually being here, it’s kind of surreal,” Turner said. “it’s like, ‘ wow, i have an opportunity to go to a Final Four, to win a national championship,’ so it’s really exciting.”

w ith that youth, m c g raw said, might come some early troubles for the i rish. “ we’re young. we’re just so young,” she said. “ we’re inexperienced — that is something that you just can’t teach. s o that’s where we’re going to struggle.

l ast year, we were just so smooth, and everyone knew what to do.”

o ff the court, the i rish lost a key vocal leader

in a chonwa, but mc g raw said a llen and junior guard m ichaela m abrey have taken on her previous role.

“This year, we’re expecting that l indsay a llen is really going to step up her leadership,” mc g raw said. “ l ast year, she didn’t have to tell anybody what to do because everybody knew, and now, she’s playing with a lot of younger players.”

i n the last few seasons, notre d ame’s strength has come in its guard play, producing a ll-a mericans like l oyd and former standout s kylar d iggins. This year, however, mc g raw said the team’s post players have become a strong point for the i rish.

“ we have the best post, the most definite post that we’ve had in a long time,” mc g raw said. “ we can go big and play three, four and five really big, which is something that we’ve

already looked at in practice and having [ i rish associate head coach c arol o wens] working down there with them — it just takes a load off my mind because i know that they’re getting exactly what they need from her.”

s ophomore forward Taya r eimer said the group has worked to replicate a chonwa’s steady presence down low. “ we knew that we were losing a lot in natalie,” r eimer said. “ we all knew that all of us, as a post group, we had to step up this year, so we just put in a lot of hours over the summer working with [ o wens] and just getting stronger in the weight room.”

The i rish have a little less than a month before they tip off their season in an exhibition against Ferris s tate on nov. 5 at p urcell p avilion.

Contact Mary Green at mgreen8@nd.edu

Happy Birthday: Jump into action and don’t stop until you reach your destination. This is a year of accomplishment, both personal and professional. put your energy into your dreams and take advantage of any opportunity to call in favors or reconnect with people you feel can contribute or influence your future positively. l ove is highlighted and a promise can be made. your numbers are 5, 19, 26, 30, 35, 43, 47.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): difficulties will sprout up if you let your emotions run wild. unexpected circumstances will lead to meeting an eccentric individual with something interesting to offer. d on’t judge too quickly; there is an extraordinary lesson and benefit from this encounter. 3 star s

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): keep your private matters a secret. sharing something with someone you work with will eventually hurt your chance to advance. Focus on listening and gathering information that will enable you to secure a good position. d on’t spend, save.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): network with people in powerful positions and you will get the chance to show off what you have to offer. romance is your ticket to a better personal relationship and standard of living. keep an open mind and enjoy the youthful energy.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): protect your home, your possessions and your physical and emotional well-being. g et together with friends who enjoy the same activities that you do. stabilizing your future can be as easy as taking an unusual course. l et your creative imagination lead the way.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Travel and interacting with people who interest you will bring positive opportunities for future prospects. d on’t let negative influences put a damper on your day. keep your eyes, ears and heart open, and an unexpected situation will lead to a new beginning.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): make adjustments at home that will ease financial stress. research coupled with shopping for a bargain will help you cut your costs and maintain a sustainable environment. discuss your plans and you will get the support you need to move forward.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): d on’t give in to demands. protect what you have worked so hard to achieve. express your intentions with color and passion. a change of location will lead to good fortune. call in favors and follow through.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): make unusual alterations to your home or to the way or where you live. a creative idea you have should be developed. you are best to keep your overhead down and stick to basics until you are in a position to spend without concern.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): put more effort into getting ahead personally and professionally. w hat you do for others now will pay off later. c hanges to your love life or a partnership are apparent. a n upbeat approach to whatever you do in unison will bring good results.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): maintain a low profile. keep your ideas and plans a secret until you are fully prepared to present what you have to offer with confidence. expect opposition and interference from friends, family or your peers. proceed with caution.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Focus on legal, financial and medical issues and you will make headway. l ook for positive professional opportunities and you will find a new way to raise your standard of living. romance will improve your personal life.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): accept the inevitable and keep moving forward. revamp your plans and secure your assets. d on’t let an incident lead to a no-win situation. a rguing will not resolve matters. Focus on your gains, not others. Birthday Baby: you are energetic, opportunistic and appealing. you are sincere and altruistic.

WaKING the echoes | ken macaFee

MacAfee becomes part of ‘Tight End U’

By MIKE MONACO

s

enior s ports w riter

a mong the 205 schools that recruited him, amid the 28 visits he planned and the 12 visits he actually made, one weekend in particular stands out for k en m ac a fee.

it wasn’t the somewhat exploitative joy ride he took to visit c olorado, which was really more of a means to visit his sister and spend a day on the ski slopes. n o, the one that m ac a fee recalls involved similar weather, but no skiing.

“ i probably had the worst recruiting trip ever at n otre d ame,” the former i rish tight end recalled recently by phone.

i n mid-January in 1974, n otre d ame was set to welcome roughly 30 football recruits to campus. The first leg of the flight took the players to c hicago, but foggy conditions prevented the next leg of the flight to s outh b end. s o m ac a fee and his fellow prospects hopped onto a bus to

make the trek to campus.

The bus arrived around 1:30 a.m. to a mix of snow and rain falling near m ain c ircle and the waiting i rish coaches, who quickly put the players up in the m orris i nn.

“Just miserable,” m ac a fee recalled.

Things didn’t improve too quickly, either, as “terrible” weather didn’t allow for much fun.

b ut on Friday night, m ac a fee watched the i rish hockey team knock off n o. 1 m ichigan Tech, which would advance to the next three Frozen Fours, 7-1. n otre d ame would surge up the rankings.

o n s aturday night, m ac a fee witnessed arguably the most famous i rish men’s basketball game ever — notre d ame’s 71-70 win over ucla , an upset that snapped the b ruins’ remarkable 88-game winning streak.

o n s unday night — still in town after weather prevented m ac a fee from flying out on his scheduled flight — m ac a fee went to the football

banquet honoring the 1973 national championship team.

a t one point during the basketball game, m ac a fee’s host, former i rish tight end m ike c reaney, turned to m ac a fee.

“ multiply this by 10 and you have a football game,” c reaney said.

“ w here do i sign up?”

m ac a fee asked.

“From a perspective of a high-school student, visualizing all this and certainly athletically as well as academically, there’s no other school in the country that can compare to it,” m ac a fee said. “ n o other school could touch it.”

m ac a fee found himself comparing every school he visited to notre d ame. a few months later, he was on campus preparing for the 1974 season.

a fter three days of freshmen-only, no-pad practices, the upperclassmen — wearing their blue-and-gold practice uniforms, in contrast to

notre dame looks to continue road success

By RENEE GRIFFIN

s ports w riter

no. 14 notre d ame will get a chance to bounce back from s unday’s last-minute loss to no. 4 v irginia when it travels to p ittsburgh to face the p anthers on Thursday.

p ittsburgh (6-6-0, 2-2-0 acc ) is unranked, unlike other teams the i rish (7-4-1, 2-2-0) have recently faced, including v irginia, no. 9 v irginia Tech and no. 7 north c arolina.

however, the p anthers enter the matchup after consecutive conference wins against s yracuse and north c arolina s tate. p ittsburgh faces a swing of games against three top-15 teams in coming weeks, as it will play the Tar heels and no. 2 Florida s tate after facing the i rish.

i rish coach Theresa r omagnolo said the team can never overlook an acc opponent, and p ittsburgh has many qualities that make it a formidable road foe.

“e very opponent in the

Irish set eyes on national title

By MARY GREEN sports e ditor

The i rish have yet to officially lay out their goals for the upcoming season, but after four straight trips to the Final Four, head coach muffet mc g raw said she knows there is one that will definitely be on that list.

“ we’re competing for a national championship,” mc g raw said at the team’s media day wednesday. “That’s our main goal.”

notre d ame has a new look for this season after losing three of its starters to graduation — a ll-a merican guard k ayla mc b ride, a ll-a merican forward natalie a chonwa and forward a riel b raker.

mc g raw said she will look to junior guard Jewell l oyd — who led the i rish in scoring last year with 18.6 points per game — to step up as the go-to player on the court this year.

“it’s hard to imagine [ l oyd] getting better,” m c g raw said with a laugh. “ s he’s been so good. … s he is so ready, just so ready to go. s he has been

working extremely hard. s he’s in the gym all the time, and she just is anxious for the season to get going so that she can really see what she’s going to do.”

l oyd said she is ready to face the attention that will come her way on the court.

“i think it makes it fun for the game,” l oyd said. “That what you look for — you look for one-on-one competitions. you look at how you can beat the other team, and that’s something that i look forward to and i ’m excited for.”

The i rish have also brought in three freshmen to help rebuild a program that has seen consistent success over the last several seasons.

m aking up that group are guard m ychal Johnson and forwards b rianna Turner and k athryn westbeld. Turner won the 2014 g atorade national h igh s chool Female a thlete of the year award, and westbeld joined her as a mc d onald’s h igh s chool a ll-a merican.

“i feel like we’ll be a lot