Print Edition for The Observer for Monday, September 27, 2021

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Volume 56, Issue 16 | Monday, SEPTEMBER 27, 2021 | ndsmcobserver.com

University eyes carbon neutrality Improvements in renewable energy decrease reliance on fossil fuels on campus

By MAGGIE EASTLAND Associate News Editor

Notre Dame recently announced a goal to become carbon neutral by 2050, but achieving net zero emissions in less than 30 years will take more than just a lofty vision for the future.

Through a combination of investments in solar, hydroelectric, geothermal and new technologies that may arise in the future, Notre Dame plans to transition away from fossil fuel reliance in a similar manner to the way the University ended coal usage in 2019, gradually yet efficiently and realistically.

Paul Kempf, assistant vice president for utilities and maintenance, is an important leader in see CARBON PAGE 3

Observer Staff Report

MAGGIE EASTLAND | The Observer

In an email to students Friday, COVID Response Team co-chairs Mona Bowe and Shari Rodriguez offered the College community an update regarding campus COVID-19 policies, ahead of the Sept. 30 recommendation revision.

The email began by praising the measures taken by students and employees to create a low number of positive cases.

The Notre Dame power plant, found on the north side of campus, currently relies on natural gas, but recent improvements have increased efficiency and decreased usage. The plant stopped using coal in 2019.

see MASKS PAGE 4

DIANE PARK | The Observer

Panty raids and beauty contests: Notre Dame’s past sexist traditions

By UYEN LE, SPENCER KELLY, LILYANN GARDNER AND CHRIS RUSSO From the Archives Researchers

The anonymous messages on Yik Yak targeting Saint Mary’s students showed that fraught gender relations in the tri-campus community are not a thing of the past. Despite institutional and cultural shifts, many women here continue to be subjected to sexist attacks and microaggressions.

This week’s edition of From the Archives seeks to uncover Notre Dame’s history of sexist traditions to remind our community that, though gender relations have improved on Notre Dame’s campus in the past 50 years, we must

NEWS PAGE 3

College keeps masking policies

continue to hold each other accountable to prevent further instances of mistreatment.

Grand theft undies: South Bend

April 20. 1967 | Terry O’Brien | April 27, 1970 | Dave Lammers and Jim Brogan | Researched by Spencer Kelly Recent animosity between Notre Dame men and Saint Mary’s women has manifested virtually. But in the pre-internet era, the battleground was the dorm room dresser.

On April 16, 1967, 1,500 Notre Dame students initiated a panty raid on the students of Saint Mary’s College. Cries of “We want panties” and “Go Irish” erupted as bra bandits

SCENE PAGE 5

ran across Saint Mary’s campus, collecting undergarments thrown from the windows of dorms. During the madness, one Saint Mary’s student asked someone why he wanted her panties. The answer: “Hell, because they’re there.”

South Bend Police responded with force, sending in K-9 units and unleashing tear gas.

However, just eight students were caught, with punishments ranging from “indefinite probation” to “expulsion from campus living quarters.”

Student body president James Fish said the disturbance that night was “75 percent the fault of Saint Mary’s,” citing the behavior of Saint Mary’s students as the raid took place.

VIEWPOINT PAGE 7

Former faculty member dies Observer Staff Report

On April 26, 1970, another raid occurred — and this time, actions were more calamitous. The previous raid saw some Saint Mary’s students throwing panties from their windows, but this time students actually broke into dorms.

Beyond underwear, girls reported missing radios, records and purses. Stolen and damaged property amounted to $2500. One student said sleeping girls were taken

Karen Croake Heisler, a former film, telev ision and theatre (FTT) professional specialist and internship coordinator, died Sunday due to cancer-related complications, according to the South Bend Tribune. She was 67.

Heisler had been part of the FTT program for more than 25 years, teaching classes on sports, media and the business of telev ision, and was named a professional specialist by the department. Follow ing her retirement in 2019, the FTT senior telev ision award, given to a senior w ith exceptional work in telev ision studies, was renamed in her

see ARCHIVES PAGE 4

see HEISLER PAGE 4

“The girls hung out of windows half dressed screeching obscenities which were equal in force, if not worse than those shouted by the Notre Dame students,” Fish said.

M SOCCER PAGE 12

FOOTBALL PAGE 12

2

TODAY

The observer | Monday, SEPTEMBER 27, 2021 | ndsmcobserver.com

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What is your favorite part of fall?

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“Apple picking.”

“Going to the pumpkin patch.”

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senior Opus Hall

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“Anything to do with Halloween.”

“Going HAM on apple cider donuts.”

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ERIN FENNESSY | The Observer

The Notre Dame student section celebrates following a touchdown at the football game against Wisconsin on Saturday. The Irish won the Shamrock Series game at Chicago’s Soldier Field 41-13, making Brian Kelly the winningest head coach in program history.

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Monday

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Thursday

Friday

“Restoration of the ‘Abendland’? Images of Europe in Exile” 128 Decio Hall 5:00 p.m. - 6:15 p.m.

Free public lecture.

The Best of Indian Cities 334 Bond Hall 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Learn about Indian food and travel.

Hispanic Heritage Month Speaker Series 145 Spes Unica Hall 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.

Alumnae presentation.

Fred Hersch Trio DeBartolo Performing Arts Center 7:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.

Jazz trio performance.

Tickets required.

Oktoberfest Library Green 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Pumpkin painting, cider, donuts and free T-shirt giveaway.

Japanese Language Table Hagerty Family Cafe 5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.

Practice your language skills with the CSLC.

Student Diversity Board Fall Meeting Haggar Parlor 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Join for SDB’s first meeting of the year.

Feminist Approaches in Afghanistan and the U.S. virtual 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Panel discussion.

Silent Disco Legends 9:00 p.m. - midnight Grab some headphones and show off your best moves.

Cookies and Canvas Library Lawn 8:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.

Painting and Insomnia Cookies. Online registration required.

News

ndsmcobserver.com | Monday, SEPTEMBER 27, 2021 | The ObserveR

3

Revived ballet club offers space for dancers

By CLAIRE REID News Writer

After dancing ballet for 14 years and practicing for hours each day in high school, senior Liam Hollen hoped to keep dancing at Notre Dame.

“There wasn’t really any option to do ballet on campus,” the history and economics major from Northern Virginia recalled. “First, I started choreographing ballet pieces with Dance Co., but I wanted a more traditional ballet technique class format. So once I got more comfortable on campus, I figured I would start the Ballet Club.”

W hen Hollen began the process of founding the club, he discovered that a Ballet Club had existed at Notre Dame in the past but was no longer active.

“I had to revive the club, which was pretty much the same process [as creating a new club] except for writing the constitution,” he said.

The new Ballet Club began offering hour-long classes at the beginning of last year.

As president of the club, Hollen leads the classes, which take place in Duncan Student Center’s Studio 2 on Mondays from 8 p.m. – 9 p.m. and Thursdays from 9 p.m. – 10 p.m.

Carbon Continued from page 1

helping the University to transition to more sustainable energy sources.

Kempf said many universities and organizations have been committing to carbon neutrality in recent years, and while some may not meet their ambitious goals, he believes Notre Dame will.

Since reducing carbon became a priority of the administration in 2010, the University has become more willing to invest money solely to reduce carbon emissions, Kempf said.

Peter Burns, director of the University’s Center for Sustainable Energy, agreed.

“It’s no longer, ‘Will we save money?’ as the single consideration,” Burns said. “I don’t think we’re willing to spend outrageous amounts of money reducing carbon, but now, reducing carbon has value that offsets financial costs.”

As Burns explained, carbon neutrality is achieved through the process of lessening carbon emissions while investing in offsets elsewhere in the world that counteract the limited carbon emissions Notre Dame releases.

“I don’t think it’s realistic to imagine by 2050 that we could consume zero fossil fuels, so

“They’re just like any other ballet technique class which involves half the time at the barre and the other half in the center doing bigger combinations,” Hollen explained. “Although, it’s a bit condensed because usually ballet classes are an hour and a half.”

W hile the dancers had to wear masks and make adjustments such as using a signup sheet to ensure that no more than 10 people were in the studio at the time, it was easier to hold classes during the pandemic than expected, Hollem said. He is grateful for the sense of normalcy that Ballet Club brought last year.

Still being a relatively new club, he said, this year, his goals for Ballet Club are growth and outreach.

“I had a pretty strong following of ballet dancers who I knew from all the Dance Co. pieces I’d choreographed over two years every semester, so that’s how I started getting dancers to come,” he said. “This year, I appointed someone the social media commissioner, so she started an Instagram and has been doing that kind of outreach stuff.”

The Ballet Club has no tryouts, and Hollen added that anyone is welcome to come.

“It’s just there to do ballet

that’s where neutrality comes in,” Burns said. “We’ve made great progress. We’re going to meet these goals. It’s not just a smoke and mirrors routine.”

Some claim carbon offsets simply augment energy and climate inequity by allowing wealthy organizations to simply pay their way out of a larger emissions problem, but Burns said he would prefer to see Notre Dame spend money on offsets that contribute to the greater good, possibly in low income nations.

More like a climate credit, Notre Dame currently claims a 40% emissions reduction from their partial ownership of a solar farm about seven miles from campus in St. Joseph County.

Energy from the solar farm powers many places connected to the Indiana power grid, but Notre Dame receives about 10% of its power from the solar farm, according to Kempf and Burns.

While solar power is an important part of Notre Dame’s energy portfolio, it has its limitations, Burns said — namely in space and consistency. Solar cells require a lot of space to produce a relatively small amount of energy, which is why simply placing solar cells on top of campus buildings or a similar strategy would not scratch the surface of Notre Dame’s energy needs, Kempf and Burns said. Additionally, solar

CLAIRE REID | The Observer

Beginning last year, senior Liam Hollem restarted Notre Dame’s Ballet Club in hopes of involving all students who were interesting in opportunities to continue dancing during their time at the University.

if you want to do ballet, because there’s really no other option,” he explained. “But that said, the difficulty of the classes is for students who’ve danced ballet throughout high school or usually their whole lives, so it’s pretty self-selecting.”

Like Hollen, Emily Tatum — a first year master’s student in the Kroc Institute’s Global Affairs program — had been

dancing ballet for most of her life. She joined the club three weeks ago.

“I was looking for a way to keep dancing during grad school,” she said. “I grew up dancing and really enjoy going to class.”

Although Tatum tried adult ballet classes while an undergraduate at another school, she said they were often awkward and geared

toward older, more casual dancers.

“This is a great alternative,” she said of Ballet Club.

“I love the barre and getting to try some fun, quirky combinations to challenge my brain and my body. I’m excited to keep dancing on a regular basis!”

cells aren’t always optimally effective, especially in northern Indiana during colder and cloudier months.

“Here in northern Indiana, you cannot run the University of Notre Dame on solar. It’s impossible. There’s no math that will ever get you there,” Burns said.

Adding to Notre Dame’s renewable energy menu, one hydroelectric facility — currently under construction near a preexisting dam in the St. Joseph River — will make up another 7% of the University’s energy needs, Kempf and Burns noted.

With the project expected to be completed by the summer of 2022, Burns and Kempf said adding hydroelectric is not a financially motivated move, but it will help diversify the University’s sources of power without emitting carbon dioxide.

Another system that reduces carbon hides a few hundred feet below students’ feet: geothermal installations on East Quad and an even larger system under the Notre Dame Stadium parking lots. These systems boost energy efficiency for the process of heating and cooling campus buildings.

Geothermal systems use water-filled pipes to bring heat up from the warm ground during colder months and channel excess surface heat into the cooler

ground during warmer months.

These installations reduce the energy needed to adjust indoor temperatures.

The University will continue to optimize energy usage in other ways, according to Kempf and Burns. Another ongoing measure includes installing energy-efficient lighting in buildings that still rely on incandescents as opposed to LEDs. The later stages of the carbon neutrality plan may involve new technologies to help close the energy gap, Kempf said.

“Part of our strategy is to make improvements and let technology advance,” he said.

Up-and-coming technologies, like biofuels or carbon sequestration, could become feasible solutions in the future, he explained.

Kempf and Burns said they are both excited about the possibility of a small-scale modular nuclear power plant on Notre Dame’s campus. While this is not a possibility in the present moment, they noted, nuclear power offers an enticing future solution.

“There’s a real possibility that a campus like Notre Dame could have a small reactor that powered the entire campus fossil free,” Burns said. “But we have to be careful in our planning that we don’t put too much emphasis on something that’s

not available.”

Burns said nuclear energy is fossil free, compact and more consistent than other non-carbon energy sources, making it one of the only current solutions that could meet energy needs.

Some voice safety concerns over nuclear energy, but Burns emphasized that coal and fossil fuel industries contribute far more deaths per unit of energy than nuclear.

Despite fears of a nuclear waste catastrophe, Burns said disposing of nuclear waste is a known and reliable process. In fact, he noted that many United States submarines and aircraft carriers already capitalize on the power of nuclear energy to maintain naval supremacy.

In addition, much of the energy that Notre Dame purchases from Indiana Michigan Power comes from nuclear sources.

“Nuclear is pretty much the safest way to produce energy,” he said.

Nuclear is still more expensive than fossil fuels, which leads Burns to the question defining Notre Dame’s power and energy efforts around the globe.

“How much are you willing to spend to save the planet?”

Burns asked.

Contact Claire Reid at creid6 @nd.edu

Contact Maggie Eastland at meastlan@nd.edu

4

NEWS

The observer | Monday, SEPTEMBER 27, 2021 | ndsmcobserver.com

Masks Continued from page 1

“We are pleased to report that, as of September 23, over 95% of employees are vaccinated and over 91% of our students are vaccinated,” the email said. “In addition, weekly testing of our unvaccinated community members has successfully taken place for several weeks. Consistently we have tracked positive COVID instances to off-campus

Archives Continued from page 1

from their beds and dumped in the hall. Another reported a sexual assault.

In a Letter to the Editor, a Saint Mar y’s student named Kathy wrote that 10 men broke into her room and stole most of her clothes. She condemned the actions of the “mob of juvenile delinquents” that, in her mind, characterized Notre Dame as a whole.

“I hope our after-midnight gentlemen-callers realized the image they were projecting on their University,” Kathy wrote. “Is Notre Dame asking the women of St. Mar y’s to form a community with a bunch of screaming immature thieves? ” A few days after the second raid, Notre Dame held a panel on “Male Supremacy at Notre Dame.” The first demand of the panel was for the University to “open admission for undergraduate women,” and the events of the previous panty raid were set to be a key point of discussion.

And in the fall of 1972, the first women enrolled at Notre Dame. In a twist of fate, the sex ist actions of Notre Dame men might have led to the University’s eventual integration of women.

W hen the first women arrived on Notre Dame’s campus, they faced hostility and harassment from male students. Nonetheless, these trailblazers remained resilient — and one night in 1973, they exacted revenge.

The Obser ver’s Katie Hieatt (‘20) and Annie Moran (‘20) retold a triumphant stor y from the early years of coeducation at Notre Dame.

On Sept. 20, 1973, women celebrated Billie Jean King’s victor y in the “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match by f lipping the panty raid on its head.

“This night,” Hieatt and Moran wrote, “men’s dorms echoed with women’s voices shouting, ‘Jock raid!’”

The women of Notre Dame turned the tables on their male counterparts, giving male students a taste of their own medicine, avenging their Saint Mar y’s sisters and

activities and/or exposure.

This is all good news.”

The message said that due to the success of current policies, current masking procedures will continue to be upheld until Nov. 7, which would the College time to measure campus health after students return from fall break.

“That said, we feel strongly that we have been able to maintain a low number of positive cases by protecting each other, and in particular by following our current masking

protocols,” the message said.

“Therefore, the current masking protocols will remain in effect until November 7.

With fall break ending on October 24, we will maintain the masking protocols and use the two weeks that follow to assess the health of our campus.”

Current masking policies include a requirement for all students — regardless of vaccination status — and for unvaccinated faculty to wear masks in classrooms. Visitors

and guests, regardless of vaccination status, are also asked to continue wearing masks in all buildings.

The email also reminded the community to respond to the Daily Health Survey in the event of new or unusual symptoms and unvaccinated students and employees to continue reporting for screening testing until the end of the semester.

The message directed students to the College’s COVID Frequently Asked Questions

page for more detail on protocols.

Expressing pride in the commitment of students, the email closed with encouragement about continuing to provide a sense of normalcy for life at Saint Mary’s.

“As we attend in-person meetings and events, as we watch hundreds of students go about their day, we can’t help but smile,” the email said. “We are so proud of how this community has rallied together to bring us a few steps closer to

establishing themselves as a force to be reckoned with.

“Such was the character of the early Notre Dame women,” Hieatt and Moran concluded, “boldly invading and reclaiming all-male spaces with fearlessness, humor and a fierce sense of sorority.”

Notre Dame women v iewed their tri-campus sisters as immature and unserious because Saint Mar y’s students actively participated in the sexual nature of the tradition, Tuthill argued.

Tuthill also emphasized that the only way to truly end this outdated practice and to heal relations between the campuses was for Saint Mar y’s women to simply close their windows and say no.

“It does not take K-9 forces to stop the annual panty raid,” she wrote. “It only takes initiative from a few Saint Mar y’s women.”

Ultimately, Tuthill advocated for a common understanding between the women of the two schools.

“Well, if we’re talking under wear collections as trophies then Saint Mar y’s students and Notre Dame females should remember one thing: we’re all women,” she wrote. “I don’t think our under wear should be displayed as ‘trophies’ in men’s rooms or on the front page of The Obser ver.”

Considering Tuthill’s arguments more than 30 years later, it is imperative that we, as members of the tri-campus community, remember to respect one another and to speak out against harmful stereotypes that promote hatred and disconnect. Even to this day, sexist behavior continues to dehumanize the women in this community, so we must continue to work to make our campuses a more equitable place for female students, faculty and staff.

students — and had judges “rate” them by holding up numbered cards.

In one Letter to the Editor, Tom Brogan (‘77) and Drew Danik (‘75) described the event as a “practical joke,” arguing that the event should have been received as such. They pointed out that both men and women were rated, including those participating in the judging, and claimed that “the ratings were arbitrar y and had no relation to ‘beauty.’”

Former dean of students John Machecha caught word of the event due to backlash on campus, placing a ban on any further “rating” contests. Brogan and Danik voiced significant disappointment, stating that they would not apologize for the actions of themselves and fellow residents of Holy Cross Hall.

“We will not apologize for the action of the Holy Cross residents involved, of which we are two, because we do not feel apologies are really needed when no harm is intended,” they wrote.

“However, we invite anyone whose feelings were hurt to contact us and explain their side of the stor y.”

That same day, another group of male students also penned a letter detailing their frustrations with the handling of the matter.

Contrar y to campus backlash, Steve Meiskey (‘78), Ma x Brady and Louis Groden (‘78) describe their objectors as whiny, immature “deadbeats.” They chided some women and administrators on campus for “lack[ing] a sense of humor.”

A lthough the male participants painted the occasion as lighthearted and mostly well-received, they lacked the perspective of the female subjects of the rating game.

Despite their impassioned defense of the rating contest, Brogan and Danik did concede that “some young ladies were perturbed by the incident.”

Marirose Lescher and Rosemar y Gill might have been two of the “young ladies” the letter referred to. The two students published their thoughts in the March 11, 1975 edition of

The Obser ver, both critical of the male students’ rating practices.

Lescher argued that the intention behind a joke w ill not guarantee its reception, especially in instances that involve unw itting bystanders. She completely disagreed w ith Meiskey, Brady and Groden’s v iew that those affected took it “too seriously” — in fact, she suggested that this incident was indicative of a broader campus culture.

“The incident of rating women in the dining hall seems to be a ref lection of the general chauv inistic attitude many Notre Dame men display toward women,” Lescher w rote.

Gill expressed a similar attitude, noting that — despite significant progress in gender equalit y in the preceding years — societal norms impacting women still exist. She went on to thank the Universit y administration for taking action on the issue.

“It is encouraging that the Universit y did take action,” Gill w rote. “The fact that the students did not recognize this insolence is not so reassuring.”

And although Gill was a Saint Mar y’s student, she offered adv ice to women at Notre Dame for dealing w ith issues of gender mistreatment.

“Unless women do stand up … and refuse to be subjected to this treatment,” she w rote, “these practices and the ideals that go w ith them w ill not change.”

Saint Mary’s panty raids: Rethinking tradition, 20 years later

Sept. 25, 1989 | Kelly Tuthill | Researched by Lilyann Gardner Traditions are a means of reliving and preser ving the past — but is this always a good thing?

Kelley Tuthill (‘92), an assistant news editor for the Obser ver, was one of many students that viewed the Saint Mar y’s panty raids as something that should be left in the past.

W hile the pant y raids of the early 1970s were throw n together w ithout much rhy me or reason, time saw the practice turn into an annual and well-organized tradition: In 1989, Tuthill reported, raids functioned as a sort of initiation event for the male freshman class, occurring yearly on the Wednesday before the first home football game.

A lthough the male upperclassmen at the university encouraged this tradition, many female upperclassmen at Notre Dame frowned upon the practice, arguing that the panty raids created a divide between the women of Saint Mar y’s and the women of Notre Dame. “[Panty raids] literally personif[y] the stereotypical sentiments that Notre Dame women wrongfully express towards the women at Saint Mar y’s,” Tuthill wrote.

One such stereotype that was popular on Notre Dame’s campus — and perpetuated by the panty raids, Tuthill argued — was the belief that Saint Mar y’s women were only at school for the purpose of marr ying a Notre Dame man.

“I tr y to stop the spreading of this stereotype, but the panty raid doesn’t help,” Tuthill wrote. “Neither does a front page photo of a freshman holding a pair of Saint Mar y’s student’s under wear.”

Dining hall ‘rating contest’ sparks controversy

March 7, 1975 | Tom Brogan and Drew Danik | March 11, 1975 | Marirose Lescher and Rosemaru Gill | Researched by Chris Russo On March 6 and March 11, 1975, a slew of Letters to the Editor published in The Obser ver offered a wide array of perspectives on a strange event that occurred in South Dining Hall. On Feb. 27, 1975, several residents of the nowdemolished Holy Cross Hall decided to participate in a dining hall “rating contest,” wherein hosts pointed out passersby — mostly female

Contact Uyen Le at hle2@nd.edu, Spencer Kelly at skelly25@nd.edu, Lilyann Gardner at lgardne2@nd.edu and Chris Russo at crusso2@nd.edu

Heisler Continued from page 1

honor.

There w ill be a local v isitation from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday at St. Pius X Catholic Church in Granger, as well as a memorial Mass at 11 a.m.

Tuesday w ith v isitation starting at 10 a.m.

5

The observer | Monday, SEPTEMBER 27, 2021 | ndsmcobserver.com

By RACHEL HARTMANN Scene Writer

Dive into the 1960s and watch a Japanese women’s volleyball team become unlikely heroes with “The Witches of the Orient.” Even as they worked “day jobs” in a factory, these women trained day in and day out under their coach, Hirofumi Daimatsu. The idea was for the team to become like Daruma dolls — that is, dolls that roll around when pushed but never fall over. This team of underdogs won 258 consecutive matches, as well as the 1964 Olympic Gold Medal. Named the “Witches of the Orient” for their seemingly supernatural volleyball abilities, these now 70-year-old women use Julien Faraut’s documentary (named for the team’s nickname) to reflect on their time with the team. “The Witches of the Orient,” which was recently showing at DPAC, mixes present-day footage of the retired players with shots of them from the 60s and scenes from Eiji Okabe's “Attack No.1,” an anime based on the team. Ultimately, the documentary portrays the remarkable talents these women had and takes viewers through the process by which they became heroes for post-WWII Japan.

According to Faraut, these amazing women woke up at 6:30 am, went to work at 8 am, and practiced volleyball from 4:30 into the night (often until 1 am). Training till

By JUSTIN GEORGE Scene Writer

New Netflix limited series “Brand New Cherry Flavor” is a harrowing story following a young filmmaker as she navigates the process of securing a deal for her first Hollywood project. Showrunners Nick Antosca and Lenore Zion combine visceral gore effects, brilliant performances, excellent editing and a gripping plot to create a highly bingeable final product.

The show begins when, following the release of her latest short film, independent filmmaker Lisa Nova (Rosa Salazar) meets with Hollywood producer Lou Burke (Eric Lange) to discuss adapting her piece to make it a featurelength project. Lisa rushes into a contract with Lou; however, after she rebuffs his sexual advances, Lou kicks Lisa off of the project and takes it for himself. Hell-bent on getting her project back — and on burning Lou’s life to the ground — Lisa seeks out Boro (Catherine Keener), a local witch, to put a curse on him. What follows is a gripping trip through the seedy underbelly of Hollywood rife with blood, gore, magic, sex and kittens. It’s a weird show; there’s no way around that. However, despite being marketed as a horror series, the drama takes center stage, with the horror elements accentuating the drama rather than overwhelming it. But be warned: This does not mean that the show is for the squeamish, as it still has some absolutely shudder-inducing body horror and gore effects.

their breaking points, these women persevered — despite the world’s doubts — to compete in (and win) many volleyball competitions. Their success proved everyone wrong and brought pride to their home nation. Fifty years later, their Olympic win is still the most watched sports broadcast in Japanese television history.

The documentary uses elements like archived footage of the team, modern footage of the women and animation to create a story of hard work, power and even magic.

However, director Julien Faraut used so many of these beautiful clips that the essence of the story was lost, leaving the audience puzzled at the apparent lack of a storyline. In my view, the film’s storyline was sacrificed for its aesthetics.

As I was watching the documentary, I found myself wanting to learn more about these women’s lives and their stories. Unfortunately, such details were only haphazardly mentioned between less expository scenes — one clip, for instance, shows a woman throwing herself over and over (for two minutes, actually) to get the volleyball as the screen spins around. While they may have seemed attractive or cool in the moment, scenes like that took away from the core of the documentary.

By the end of the film, I just wanted the film to stop showing the same anime clips and get on with the story. The juxtaposition of the “Attack No.1” anime and the

actual team footage was clever for a while, but it eventually started taking away from the film's overall sense of reality and, therefore, from the incredible (and true) story it hopes to tell. Yes, the team acted in supernatural ways — which were represented in the anime — but the constant clash of reality with animation made the real team seem unreal, as if they really were “witches” and not real women who worked extremely hard to get to where they were.

Despite these criticisms, I enjoyed the documentary, even though it could have been better. Ultimately, the story was inspiring, but it lacked focus. Nevertheless, the film still made me want to put more effort into what I do and to be passionate about my daily life.

What I find most interesting about “Brand New Cherry Flavor” is that, despite the fact the Lou is literally the worst, he is still written sympathetically. As a result, when Lisa’s curse takes hold and his life begins to fall apart, the audience, much like Lisa, begins to feel bad for Lou. Such feelings of sympathy emerge along with the question of whether this (Lou’s demise) is really what we want to happen in the first place. After all, no one in this show is wholly good — even Lisa, the person for whom we are supposed to root, has a level of moral ambiguity to her. The depth of character in this show is truly astounding. What the writers manage to achieve over the course of eight episodes is a marvel to behold. I would place these characters on the level of those from “The Haunting of Hill House” as some of the most compelling that Netflix has produced.

These well-written characters are made all the more compelling by the brilliant performances of Rosa Salazar, Eric Lange and Catherine Keener. All three are firing on all cylinders and help to elevate the series from a less campy “American Horror Story” to an absolute must-watch drama.

I was especially impressed by Eric Lange’s portrayal of Lou. I had only ever seen him as Sikowitz in “Victorious” and was pleasantly surprised to see him absolutely killing it in a serious role.

On to the most important thing in every horror series: Gore. The special effects on display here are fantastic.

There’s something here for everyone. The body horror on display in “Brand New Cherry Flavor” is particularly

noteworthy. Some of the effects were enough to make me squirm, which is, in my estimation, the highest compliment I can pay a special effects artist.

“Brand New Cherry Flavor” provides a perfect example of how to pace a series: it moves at a breakneck pace and never once lets up. This, in conjunction with the masterfully written plot, makes “Brand New Cherry Flavor” nigh impossible to turn off once you start watching. Roll with the weirdness of the plot, and you’ll be rewarded. I’m honestly surprised that there hasn’t been a ton of buzz about this show, given that it has everything necessary for a Netflix phenomenon (except for hype). Hopefully, audiences will take note soon. Don’t be surprised if this show starts to develop a following over the course of the next few months.

Contact Rachel Hartmann at rhartma4@nd.edu

“Witches of the Orient” Director: Julien Faraut Starring: 1964 Japanese Olympic Team If you like: “John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection”

Contact Justin George at jgeorge3@nd.edu

“Brand New Cherry Flavor” Directors: Nick Antosca, Lenore Zion Starring: Rosa Salazar, Eric Lange, Catherine Keener If you like: “The Haunting of Hill House,” “American Horror Story,” “Channel Zero”

DOUGLAS ABELL | The Observer

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The observer | monday, september 27, 2021 | ndsmcobserver.com

Inside Column

Why you should dance more Mackenzie Olsen Twitter Platform Manager

Dancing: a foreign concept to some and a talent of others. I have ver y little skill when it comes to the technicalities of dancing, but you’ll always see me busting a move. W hy? Because I recognize its importance, and you should too.

My grandpa was diagnosed w ith dementia five years ago when I was a freshman in high school. Since then, his mental awareness has gradually diminished, yet he still remembers key aspects of his life like childhood memories. Over last year’s two-month w inter break, I was able to spend a lot of time w ith him. One day, as we drove to the park near my house, I shuff led my playlist and the song “Put Your Head on My Shoulder” began play ing. Immediately, my grandpa began tapping his knee to the beat. I was shocked. He continued to follow the beat and even sang along. I drove around the block a couple extra times and replayed the song over and over as we sang together.

These ten minutes w ill always be my all-time favorite car ride.

I immediately called my grandma when we got to the park to inform her of my ama zing discover y. She told me that she and my grandpa loved to go out and dance on the weekends as young adults.

One of their favorite songs, as you could guess, was Paul Anka’s “Put Your Head on My Shoulder.”

I began to think about why my grandpa could remember the words to songs he danced to decades ago but not the names of people he sees on a regular basis. I realized that those memories — dancing w ith my grandma — were among his most cherished.

I put myself in my grandpa’s shoes, thinking about what moments I’ll remember, even if my memor y is significantly limited. I can tell you what I am not going to remember: failing a quiz, doing poorly on an exam or getting a 3.5 GPA instead of a 3.7 GPA. Yes, school is important. Yes, you should do your best. But school is not ever y thing, not even close. Go out and dance w ith your friends. Have fun. Make the memories you’ll always remember.

You can contact Mackenzie at molsen5@nd.edu The views expressed in this Inside Column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

From food to travel To ever yone on campus, As each cit y has a f lavor of its ow n, and each national cuisine is a mélange of these native or local seasonings, ‘food’ remains one of the most v ibrant cultural aspects that surround a language and its communit y. In this letter, I simply w ish to share some personal musings about the interchangeable aspects of food and travel as they contribute to our cultural impressions, and intend to inv ite you for one such discussion.

From American popular foods to Korean kimchi and Brazilian beans, my food experience at Notre Dame in the past month has been an intricate part of my Fulbright journey so far. With the neighborhood around our campus hosting many diverse cuisine outlets, one can perhaps get a sense of how popular a particular food culture remains.

And though these outlets offer authentic foreign cuisine experience, the local experience might certainly be a miss ! W hile that may remain a personal opinion, eating at Subway in America for me was definitely not my first Subway experience, but it was my first American local food experience ! And this is exactly where we blend food w ith travel to form the cultural experience concoction!

An interesting aspect of food habits and choices ranging from vegan to vegetarian to non-vegetarian are also often culturally rooted. And while differences in food habits and cuisines may form borders, exploring commonalities bet ween one’s food

and a foreign recipe may also ser ve as a ground for intercultural discoveries. And once again, to link the idea of food and travel, most of our food experiences in different parts of the world also ser ve to formulate our personal linkages to the people and the places at large.

As discussions on food, travel, cultures and languages can go beyond personal opinions to public perceptions, I would like to end here by an inv itation to one such opportunit y of discussing the popular notions of ‘food’ and ‘travel’ that surround the Indian cities. On September 28, the Center for the Study of Languages and Cultures (CSLC) heartily inv ites all the universit y students to a Hindi Conversation table on ‘The Best of Indian Cities: From Food to Travel !’

As the Hindi course instructor at CSLC, I assure you that know ing Hindi language is not a requirement for this language table. If you know Hindi or have ever been to India, I certainly request you to join in and share your opinions and perceptions w ith us. But even if you do not know the language or have never v isited the countr y, we request you to come over and v isit us simply for the love of languages and cultures !

Looking for ward to seeing you September 28 at 334 Bond Hall at 4 p.m. for an interactive session where we meet and discuss ‘from food to travel !’

Amrita Sharma Fulbright Language Teaching Assistant Sept. 23

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The observer | monday, september 27, 2021 | ndsmcobserver.com

The fashionable revolution Andrew Sveda Church and State

No one can deny that we are in a time of great social change in America. Just a cursory look at U.S. politics and culture over the past ten to fifteen years makes this abundantly clear. Indeed, what we have seen over this period of time — and particularly over the past five years or so — is so dramatic that it can rightly be called a revolution of sorts. It represents nothing less than a radical restructuring and overhaul of fundamental principles and how we think about ourselves, humanity, society and the world around us. Despite having a Republican president for the past four years, this revolution has been decidedly “woke” and widely successful in such a short amount of time, especially on topics like race, LGBTQ issues and climate change.

The woke revolution has in many ways become the dominant voice in social matters, yet it still brands itself as fundamentally revolutionary and countercultural. Its adherents see themselves as courageous as they take on the powerful, socially conservative, white male leaders of business and government. Yet this is largely misguided. Part of what makes the woke revolution so peculiar is that so many of the nation’s biggest businesses and politicians are wokeism’s most fervent supporters. If you don’t believe me, just remember all the corporations that bent over backward to celebrate Pride Month this summer and the television commercials (and TV shows, including kids’ shows) we constantly see promoting progressive messaging on race and LGBTQ issues. The rainbow flag and a Black Lives Matter banner, too, have both been unfurled in front of U.S. embassies around the world, including, for at least the Pride Flag, places like the U.A.E. Some may suggest that these actions are more or less disingenuous, that these groups don’t really buy into the whole woke mission. This could be disputed, considering how incessantly they promote woke talking points and donate money to woke causes and organizations. Still, even if they are doing it with ulterior motives, they have functionally bought into the woke message so much that they are, in reality,

its greatest supporters and exporters of the woke ideology.

It is here that we discover the frankly strange nature of the woke revolution. It aims to “resist” and “change the system” and the way things are done, yet it is actively supported in almost all areas of the national culture. It claims to be scandalous, yet we seem to be encouraged, day in and day out, to adopt its tenets and beliefs. It labels itself “the resistance,” yet it seems like the woke are given the most time of day, held in the greatest esteem and have the driver’s seat in conversations about our culture. Many of its beliefs are truly radical, yet, in most circles, it would be far more dangerous to actively oppose the woke agenda than to support it. It is a fashionable revolution, a movement that is at the same time radical yet in style and applauded.

Perhaps you have seen this played out in your classes. Your class gets to talking about a contemporary social subject. A progressive position is introduced, and your classmates go over the woke talking points you’ve all heard over the years. Your classmates, however, may feel as if they have hit on something uniquely profound. “Why don’t they” — those in power — “understand this?” your classmates say, slightly stunned. Yet you realize that nothing profound or new has really been said at all. It is the same conversation you’ve heard again and again just rephrased and repackaged. More than that, the other side was not fairly presented or discussed, let alone mentioned. There are probably some in your class (maybe you) who don’t agree with what’s been said. But no counterarguments were brought up. Maybe someone just had a question. But very few, if any, were asked that could make the student seem in opposition to what was being said. In some way, then, being woke is not just fashionable. To openly oppose it can, in some situations, be like breaking an unwritten code of etiquette; it might raise a few eyebrows.

This is not uniformly true across the U.S., of course.

Nor does it mean that many people don’t disagree with much, if not all, of the woke agenda. The popularity of Donald Trump shows that to be false. But what it does mean is that radical progressivism, as

seen in wokeism, is given preferred status in “mixed conversation” (in a political sense). It’s almost like the polite default position and the one who promotes its beliefs is seen as astute and wise and is given praise. All are expected to agree or simply nod along.

Conservative voices are self-filtered to avoid confrontation and potentially ridicule with the scandalous and counter-cultural mainstream that is progressivism and wokeism.

Both sides on the “woke debate” can learn much from what has been said here. For those on the left, one should see that wokeism’s claims of being outside the mainstream and being revolutionary are overblown. You cannot be both the resistance and the dominant and driving voice in American culture.

To oppose wokeism is far more risky and revolutionary than to support it (think about political opinions shared on Instagram stories). Wokeism, to some extent, is more the trendy, fashionable position than a counter-cultural one that requires sacrifice and risk to support it.

This does not mean, however, that those on the right should simply wring their hands and say “woe is me.” They should rightly shed light on the echo chambers so much of our cultural dialogues and classrooms have become. But at the same time, conservatives should not simply remain silent until things change. They must slowly begin to enter the dialogue and respectfully challenge progressive opinions themselves. Study the issues. Look at the evidence. And then consider entering the conversation, despite the looks or raised eyebrows you get. It requires risk. It requires putting oneself out there.

But it is the only way to move forward. That is truly revolutionary.

Andrew Sveda is a junior at Notre Dame from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, majoring in political science with a supplementary major in theology. In his free time, he enjoys writing (obviously), reading and playing the piano. He can be reached at asveda@nd.edu or @SvedaAndrew on Twitter.

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

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

What’s the solution?

To the editors: My perspective on the cyberbullying of Saint Mary’s College might be unique, as I have a presence on both Saint Mary’s and Notre Dame’s campuses. I am in campus ministry at Saint Mary’s and priest-in-residence at ND in Flaherty Hall. In addition, for 11 years, I was a Notre Dame rector.

My initial reaction to the incident — fair or not — was that some ND men, under the influence in the early morning hours, were talking about the ticket situation for the Wisconsin game at Soldier Field. Talk led to resentment. Resentment led to drunken action.

Drunken action led to the incident that caused shock and hurt.

Some might write this off as an example of “boys will be boys,” as they are prone to do whenever college boys misbehave. But that’s too easy and is reflective

of the male toxicity that permeates so many cultures: higher education, politics, religion, business, athletics, etc. Our cultural sense of what it means to be a male is way too limited and entirely too toxic.

Stereotypical traits include power, feistiness, hypersexuality, rough language, being in charge, drinking to excess, homophobia (although not acknowledged as such), bullying, victim-blaming, not being in touch with nor knowing how to deal with feelings and many others. In addition, “real” men tend to see women as weak, objects for sexual release and lesser beings —“the weaker sex.” These men are frozen in adolescence, regardless of their age.

What does this have to do with the YikYak incident, you might ask.

History relentlessly reveals what happens in a malecentric culture. Male superiority is the default setting.

The first national response to offense is violence.

Compassion plays no role in business or political decisions. Strangers are a threat. Lashing out is the right way to react to upsets and grudges. Lashing out at women is easy. “It’s the woman’s fault I didn’t get tickets to the game; the woman made me eat the wapple.” Add alcohol, and male toxicity runs amok.

What’s the solution? It’s always complicated to turn a whole culture in a different direction. It takes time, patience and understanding. There is no value in blaming someone for being who their culture raised them to be. But they must be challenged, especially by their male peers, each time they reveal their toxicity.

Rev. Steve Newton, C.S.C. priest-in-residence, Flaherty Hall Sept. 23

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Sports Authority

Sports Authority

How not to do Shamrock Series David Kramer Sports Writer

Well before Notre Dame’s shocking fourth-quarter performance against the Wisconsin Badgers in Soldier Field — one that already typifies the lingering, opportune, perhaps even fortuitous scoring trends of this 2021 team — thousands of Fighting Irish students barreled down Highways 80 and 90 in overcrowded caravans to bask in the bliss of college football on one of America’s biggest stages. The conclusion of Friday classes brought troves of deep-pocketed football fanatics on the doorstep of Chicago’s coliseum. A primary reason for this mass migration a day early? The 11:00 a.m. CST game start time.

The incentive for students to arrive in the Windy City a day early was so they could enjoy the morning. It was spurred on

by ESPN and Barstool Sports who benefitted immensely from it. With a predominance of the targeted market base settling into the city well before College GameDay and Barstool Sports coverage began, the networks reaped the benefits of campus-wide hype within two of the most devoted football communities in the Midwest — all located in one city.

The early arrival of students benefitted the Chicago economy as well. Fans not based in Chicagoland were pressured to seek a hotel room on Friday night in anticipation of early morning tailgating and activities outside of Soldier Field.

And most definitely, the 11:00 AM start benefitted FOX Sports. With exclusive rights to set its programming schedule, FOX maximized its ratings by wedging the Shamrock Series alongside atrocious matchups across the FBS, conveniently following its Big Noon Kickoff show.

As business entities, all of the aforementioned parties saw the profit potential of the Shamrock Series to the fullest.

Why didn’t Notre Dame?

Before I even begin to criticize my beloved University, I want to commend it for supplying tickets a week before the Shamrock Series. If profithungry students with little affinity for football landed their lottery tickets with more time to spare, penetrating third-party resale markets would have been inevitable.

The small window of opportunity protected the student block against this kind of dissolution. Students don’t want to cheer with strangers. They

want to rip their shirts off alongside friends and classmates, exactly as many of them did this weekend.

But in keeping the best interest of students in mind, why not stay consistent? The University frequently bundles its home football tickets with parking passes and tailgating access, and third-party Shamrock Series bundles with a hotel and transportation sold out almost immediately.

Internally offering a limited number of student ticket packages that included transportation to and from Soldier Field and a nearby hotel reservation should not have been out of the question. At the very least, placing alumni on a waitlist for a discounted hotel room, offering a block of rooms to traveling students as add-ons and supplying alumni with any residual spaces would have protected the University from a net loss.

Countless students overpacked their cars, crammed into single-bed hotel rooms and overfilled their $100 Uber rides this weekend in an effort to “improvise” and cut costs throughout their Chicago experience. Notre Dame is responsible for neither Chicago prices nor simple off-campus safety measures like wearing seatbelts, but it is impossible to dismiss a student ticket package with affordable housing and transportation included — one that works in concert with student safety and comfort — as a risky investment for the University.

Especially considering the 11:00 a.m. start time, wherein the University could guarantee that students would feel inclined to stay one, if not two, nights in the Windy City, a bundled or add-on option feels painfully prudent. This level of excess demand should have been anticipated and lost profit was diverted to Chicago businesses as a result.

It goes without saying that students assumed the financial and personal risks of venturing to Chicago regardless of how involved the University is.

But without any of the alumni options directly provided to students, the question remains: why didn’t the University connect students with Chicago transportation and housing options in the same way that they connect alumni with parking passes and Morris Inn offers on home game weekends?

Contact David Kramer at dkramer2@nd.edu The views expressed in this Sports Authority are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

CFB Playoff predictions Tom Zwiller Sports Writer

My typical complaint about college football is that it is too repetitive, and it typically feels like the order is Alabama, Clemson, Oklahoma and Ohio State.

Alabama boasts the most playoff appearances at six in the College Football era, with the most playoff wins at eight and the most championships at three. Clemson is tied in playoff appearances, with Alabama also sitting at six. The Tigers have appeared in every iteration of the CFP since 2014.

That streak would appear to have ended after last weekend, courtesy of a 21-27 2OT loss to North Carolina State.

Clemson losing a second game of the season and losing to an unranked team for the first time since 2017 was not the only crazy result of the weekend.

Oklahoma needed a gamewinning chip shot field goal to beat West Virginia. Arkansas upset top-10 Texas A&M (not to brag, but I called it). Notre Dame steamrolled Wisconsin in the Shamrock Series 4113, giving ND its best win of the season by far. Iowa State lost on the road to unranked Baylor by two.

There was a lot of chaos this weekend, and you better believe it will have significant College Football Playoff implications. So I’m here to offer my predictions on who makes it to the CFP (and for the ND faithful, I have good news for you).

Alabama Barring an unforeseen bad loss, there is no reason the Crimson Tide will not make the CFP, and realistically, no reason they should not be the first seed. ’Bama already has two top-15 wins, and as they play Ole Miss and Texas A&M, they should be able to add to that total. They then play Mississippi State, Tennesse, LSU and New Mexico State, no worries there.

My only concern as of right now is Arkansas. I think they have a solid defense and a run game that could cause Alabama fits, much like Florida. But as of right now, Alabama is a lock for the CFP and the No. 1 seed.

assuming the number two Bulldogs encounter Alabama, I think Oregon can overtake them.

Oregon won their big game of the year, going on the road and beating Ohio State 35-28, and besides No. 20 UCLA, Oregon is unlikely to play another ranked team.

I think Oregon has a great chance to make it to the CFP in the number two spot as an undefeated PAC-12 champion.

Iowa The Big 10 is complicated.

Ohio State lost early on to Oregon, which could legitimately turn into a good loss.

My only problem with picking the Buckeyes is they have a lesser margin of error. That’s problematic because they play at Rutgers, home to PSU and MSU and then go on the road against the Wolverines. They should drop at least one of those games.

Much like Ohio State, Penn State has a similarly demanding schedule. They play Iowa on the road, then at Ohio St, home to Michigan and then at MSU. The main difference here is that Penn State has two ranked opponent wins and remains undefeated.

However, my pick to win the Big 10 is the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Iowa boasts a win over thenranked IU as well as a win on the road against Iowa State.

Except for Penn State at home, Iowa does not play a ranked opponent for the remainder of the season, and there is no other ranked team in the Big 10 West, so Iowa should have a clear path to the Conference Championship. Assuming Iowa can win the Conference Championship, even as a oneloss team, they should make the CFP.

The Fourth Seed The Fourth Seed is a lot less clear to me. The way I see it, multiple teams have a claim to it: Oklahoma, Georgia, Notre Dame and before last weekend Clemson.

Clemson In the AP poll, Clemson dropped down to No. 25, but I think they should not be ranked. What have they actually done this season? The only reason I am bothering to talk about them is that I believe it is simply spectacular how far they have fallen. The ACC has essentially played itself out of the CFP.

Oregon This one certainly has the feel of a hot take. Oregon may be ranked third right now, but

Oklahoma I am very skeptical of Oklahoma. Oklahoma is 1-3

against the spread and 0-3 against the spread while playing FBS teams. The Sooners seem to have severe problems on offense, and Spencer Rattler does not appear to be as advertised. Last weekend, his performance was so poor against WVU that his student section wanted him pulled from the game.

Based on their No. 6 ranking, I think Oklahoma has the worst odds of making it to the CFP of these three teams.

They MUST go undefeated to make the playoffs and considering they play Kansas St, Texas, Baylor and Iowa St, that no longer feels like a certainty.

I would sooner take Georgia and Notre Dame than the Sooners. (I will see myself out.)

Georgia Bulldogs The Bulldogs, like Alabama, feel like a certainty to make the playoffs, but the question is more where they make it.

If Georgia can win out their regular season and lose a close SEC Championship game, they should make it.

If the Bulldogs make it to the SEC Championship game and win it, they and Alabama would make it in, likely at the one and the two.

My only worry with Georgia is Florida, who was able to keep it close against Alabama.

Arkansas is also a problem, but I think Georgia can shut down their run game and beat them.

Notre Dame I will come out and say it, until last weekend, I had thought ND was overrated.

But their 41-13 win against Wisconsin was the game I was looking for from the Irish.

They have now earned their top-10 ranking.

Looking ahead at the schedule, ND fans should be pretty optimistic about their chances at the CFP. ND plays only one currently ranked opponent, and that is next week against No. 7 Cincinnati.

If ND beats Cincinnati, they are not out of the woods yet, but through the thickest part. They travel on the road against Virginia Tech and then back home to both USC and UNC. If they can win out, there is no reason ND can not make the CFP over Georgia or Oklahoma.

Contact Tom Zwiller at tzwiller@hcc-nd.edu The views expressed in this Sports Authority are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

The Observer accepts classifieds every business day from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Notre Dame office, 024 South Dining Hall. Deadline for next-day classifieds is 3 p.m. All classifieds must be prepaid. The charge is 5 cents per character per day, including all spaces. The Observer reserves the right to edit all classifieds for content without issuing refunds.

DAILY

ndsmcobserver.com | Monday, SEPTEMBER 27, 2021 | The Observer

Crossword | Will Shortz

9

Horoscope | Eugenia Last Happy Birthday: Take the initiative to learn and gain respect among your peers.

Broaden your horizons, and speak up boldly and with conviction. You can achieve what you set out to do if you are diligent and push forward without losing interest or veering off in unnecessary directions. You’ll make a lasting impression if you maintain a steady pace forward. Your numbers are 3, 7, 19, 25, 32, 34, 43.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Lead the way, and don’t look back. If you know what you want, nothing will stand in your way. Strive for perfection, and use your intellect to dazzle those who can help you obtain your objective. A profitable opportunity is within reach.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Be reluctant to share too much too soon. Make sure you have everything under control and are fully prepared to negotiate with anyone who tries to take ownership of something you have done by yourself. Expect someone close to you to overreact.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Present what you have to offer. If you let someone stifle your plans, you will have regrets. Trust and believe in your ability to reach your destination on your own. Expand your mind, and dedicate time to achieve your goal.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Don’t argue a moot point. You’ll gain respect and encourage others to see things your way by taking ownership of your beliefs and following through with your plans, regardless of what others choose to do.

Patience and hard work will pay off.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Gather all the information required to make a good decision. Partner with someone who shares your ideologies, and together you will develop a foolproof plan that helps you both excel. Distance yourself from those who veer off in a different direction.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Keep your emotions tucked away in a safe place.

The less you reveal, the easier it will be to put things in place to overcome any adversity you face. Navigate your way through turmoil by initiating a positive personal change.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Congregate with like-minded people. Organize an event with friends and family. Take the initiative to put plans into motion, and you will reap the rewards from those in positions to help you get ahead. Leave nothing to chance, and embrace life wholeheartedly.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Work quietly behind the scenes to eliminate interference. Offering too much information will give others an advantage that can stifle your plans. Put a unique spin on the changes you want to make at home, and do things your way.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Emotions will surface if you aren’t straight about the way you feel. Don’t get caught in someone’s dilemma. A direct approach to life, love and happiness will serve you well and encourage others to respect your rights and personal choices.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Listen more and pontificate less. Find out how others feel and think before you try to take charge. If you want to change, go about it systematically. Look for incentives that will help seal whatever deal you want to make.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Make home and family priorities. Spend more time and money improving your surroundings and making your place inviting and entertaining. Refuse to let a change or decision someone makes disrupt your plans. Learn from the experience you encounter.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Emotions will surface if you get into a discussion with a friend or relative. Limit how much personal information you share to avoid being put in an awkward position. Concentrate on being your best mentally, physically and emotionally. Romance is encouraged.

Birthday Baby: You are resourceful, thoughtful and appealing. You are diligent and flexible.

Sudoku | The Mepham Group

Jumble | David Hoyt and Jeff knurek

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Wisco Continued from page 12

and avoid a pair of sacks, followed by a pair of firstdow n passes. But it was junior running back Ky ren Williams on the fourth-andt wo who punched it to the Irish 41 to keep the drive alive. Coan then hit Mayer, followed by another Coan keeper and a first dow n.

The drive ended w ith Doerer back on the field to make a 51-yarder to tie the game 3-3.

On third-and-ten a few drives later, Wisconsin quarterback Graham Mertz dropped back to pass, but sophomore cornerback Cam Hart undercut his man to scoop up the interception.

The turnover put the Irish on their ow n 49. After a few traded penalties, Coan hit senior w ide receiver Kev in Austin Jr. for the first touchdow n of the game, putting the Irish up 10-3.

Special teams were able to keep pace as well as the Irish picked up speed. Punter Jay Bramblett nailed a careerlong 72-yard punt to pin the Badgers at their ow n 9-yard line for what ended up being their final drive of the half. Bramblett’s punt was the longest Irish punt since 1998, when Hunter Smith had a 79-yarder against Arizona State.

The Notre Dame defense just kept chugging, starting to look more like the unit fans are used to seeing. Senior defensive lineman Jayson Ademilola had back-to-back stops on Badgers running back Isaac Guerendo short of the first-dow n marker.

After trading punts again, Mertz made his first touchdow n pass of the season, an eight-yard completion to senior receiver Kendric Pr yor, t y ing the game at 10-10 after

a PAT from Larsh.

The only place where the Irish struggled Saturday was on the offensive line, a unit that’s been riddled w ith injuries at left tack le. Coan ultimately paid the price for the porous pass protection.

After the Irish surrendered their fifth sack of the day in the middle of the third quarter, Coan stepped off the field and headed to the locker room w ith an ank le injur y.

“We’ve got clean X-rays,” Kelly said after the game.

“It’s a soft tissue injur y. It doesn’t even respond like a high ank le sprain. So we’re prett y optimistic that we’ll be able to see him back next week.”

On the next Irish possession, sophomore quarterback Drew Py ne took the field for the first time this season. He had t wo completions for 32 yards, but the drive ultimately stalled.

After a delay of game penalt y, Bramblett pinned the Badgers on their ow n sevenyard line.

A Badger three-and-out allowed Py ne and the Irish offense to take the field again.

They weren’t out there for long, though, as Py ne fumbled to return the ball to the Badgers.

From there, Mertz and running back Chez Mellusi led the Badgers to a secondand-goal from the Notre Dame 11-yard line to end the third quarter. To open the fourth quarter, on that same drive, Larsh hit another field goal to bring the score to 13-10.

The Irish weren’t going to let a lead go that easily. Tyree immediately answered with a 96-yard kick-return touchdown, sparking a chorus of “Let’s go Irish” that spread from the student section to the sea of Irish fans. This was

ERIN FENNESSY | The Observer

Irish sophomore running back Kyren Williams receives a handoff from graduate student quarterback Jack Coan and begins to look for a gap down the field during Notre Dame’s 41-13 win over Wisconsin.

the loudest the cheer had been all day as the Irish went up 17-13. Kelly said the coaching staff designed a kick coverage that would allow Tyree more room to run, but returned the credit to his player.

“We went to a field return so we were able to get him mov ing back to the field, and he caught a crease and he used his speed from there,” Kelly said. “We had been going sideline return and just didn’t have enough working room, so [special teams coordinator] Brian [Polian] said we were going to tr y to go to the field for an allor-nothing situation. W hen you go to the field you’re stretching, you’re blocking out longer and that’s where we tend to see a holding or something like that, but we’re able to catch a crease, and obv iously he’s a ver y fast kid.”

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This is where the Irish began to run away w ith the game, although it wasn’t the running backs who did so — the Irish defense took over and kept up the heat.

Kelly attributes this pivotal moment in the game to the Irish sideline reclaiming a Wisconsin tradition as their ow n.

“W hen they played ‘Jump Around,’ it seemed like that we thought that was our fight song,” Kelly said.

On the next Wisconsin drive, Ademilola stripped the ball from Mertz for junior defensive lineman Isaiah Foskey to recover.

After a Notre Dame timeout, Py ne set out to redeem himself. He hit Mayer for a 22-yard first dow n. Then, Py ne found Austin for a 16yard touchdow n to make the score 24-13.

Defense soon shined again

for the Irish, as Hart picked up another interception.

After three run attempts, Doerer stepped up for another field goal to bring the score to 27-10.

It looked like the Irish wouldn’t need that field goal, though, as the defense just kept picking up speed. Sophomore rover Jack Kiser and senior middle linebacker Drew W hite both intercepted passes and returned them for pick-sixes.

Kiser and W hite mark the first time since 2002 the Irish have had two pick-sixes in one game.

Kiser went for 66 yards on his return and W hite picked up 48, bringing the final score to 41-13. W hile there were definitive standouts, Kelly was determined to keep the focus on the team as a whole. Although they had to work for it, Kelly knew the win was coming for the Irish.

“We were able to put enough plays together through a variet y of different things on offense, special teams and then defense, right? It’s a complete game,” Kelly said. “And we were able to w in this game our way, play ing complete football, defensive returns taking the football away, special teams and then doing enough on the offensive side of the ball to secure a really good v ictor y. So just really proud of my guys — they prepared so well for this game. A nd I’m not surprised by the w in. The outcome was a little bit different because of the interceptions late, but I’m not surprised that they won.”

The Irish take the field at home again against another difficult opponent next Saturday when they face Cincinnati at 2:30 p.m.

Contact Mannion McGinley at mmcginl3@nd.edu

Sports

ndsmcobserver.com | Monday, SEPTEMBER 27, 2021 | The Observer

11

FOOTBALL

Cam Hart leads defense in standout performance against Wisconsin

By NATE MOLLER Spor ts Writer

In Saturday’s 41-13 w in over Wisconsin in the Shamrock Series contest at Soldier Field, it was the Notre Dame defense that was the difference in the game, generating five turnovers on the day and sealing the game for the Irish late in the fourth quarter.

Junior cornerback Cam Hart was one of the difference makers for the Irish on defense, recording t wo interceptions on the day.

Hart recorded his first interception by jumping in front of Wisconsin quarterback Graham Mertz’s pass near midfield to set the Irish up w ith good field position. The Irish would ultimately score on the ensuing drive to take a 10-3 lead.

Hart discussed his first interception of the day.

“The play prior, I got there a little early and got a pass interference called on me,” Hart said. “My coaches told me that they were going to come back to that, so I needed to be ready and be alert for a double move. The ver y next play, they came to the ver y same play, and I jumped in front of it.”

Hart discussed the impact of sophomore running back Chris Ty ree’s 96-yard kick off return at the beginning

of the fourth quarter, which seemed to change the momentum of the game and fire up the Irish team.

“I think that was the game changing play honestly coming out in the fourth quarter and hav ing that,” Hart said.

“And then putting the defense back on the field w ith a lot of energ y and intensit y changed the game a lot.”

Hart recorded another interception in the game w ith just over five minutes remaining by jumping in front of Mertz’s pass near midfield and returning it 32 yards to the Wisconsin 23-yard line.

That play ultimately set up a Jonathan Doerer field goal to give the Irish a comfortable 14-point lead w ith three minutes to go.

Follow ing that interception, the defense would got two more interceptions from linebackers Jack Kiser and Drew W hite, returning them both for touchdow ns.

Hart credited these interceptions to the defense’s focus on play ing free.

“Even earlier this week [our coaches] emphasized play ing free and tr y ing not to go out there and think so much. They stressed play ing w ith intensit y, and I feel like we did that and executed well,” Hart said.

Hart has seen this t y pe of energ y out of the defense in practice ever y day, but

Saturday was the first time it was on display in a game.

“The way we played isn’t unexpected or any thing like that,” Hart said. “But to see it come to fruition in a game is cra zy. Not much has changed w ith us. We are just hav ing fun out there and understand the importance of play ing free and not thinking about much.”

Hart credited first year defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman for the turnovers on Saturday.

“Coach Freeman’s attack mindset has allowed us to go out there and make plays.

We can be in whatever coverage and can have five or six defensive backs on the field, and it doesn’t really matter,” Hart said.

Hart also talked about Coach Freeman’s emphasis on turnovers throughout pre-season camp and so far this season.

“Going back to camp, we have this thing called ‘Got Gold,’ and this just emphasizes turnovers and getting our heads up on things. To see us be able to get pick sixes and get after the quarterback in pass breakups is insane, so I love it,” Hart said.

Hart gave credit to his defensive lineman teammates for holding the Badgers to 1-for-14 on third dow n.

“I really give credit to our defensive linemen going out there on third dow n and hav ing that

dog mentalit y to get to the quarterback because that makes it a lot easier in the backfield for us,” Hart said.

Hart talked about how the defense has evolved throughout the season so far.

“The coaches have challenged us week in and week out to be disciplined and be smart and to play to the level that we know we can play,” Hart said.

“Out of pre-season camp, we have been electric, and I knew we could all play better than the way we had been play ing. And ever yone on the team and coaching staff knew that.”

Head coach Brian Kelly discussed the steady development of the defense this season.

“Marcus [Freeman] is getting his players to develop on defense, and we are adding some layers to that defense,” Kelly said.

Hart also believes the defense has started to have more fun on the field, which has improved their play significantly “It’s fun out there. W hen we are out there playing w ith passion and intensit y and hav ing fun w ith our brothers, that’s the biggest part,” Hart said.

“It allows us to play for each other rather than being selfish, so I feel like that’s the biggest thing.”

Hart discussed what this

w in means for the team going for ward.

“As a team, I wouldn’t say the w in was expected, but it’s nothing new to us.

That’s what we do ever y day by going out there and hav ing fun.

I think it’s finally on display to the outside world. I knew that we could do it, and I don’t think anyone in the locker room doubted that we could play to this level. I feel like we just have to keep going,” Hart said.

Hart also touched on what it meant to play in the Shamrock Series game at Soldier Field.

“It was cra zy. This was my first time play ing football in Chicago and play ing in this env ironment is a blessing.

I had a lot of fun out there.

The game was intense and super fun,” Hart said.

The Irish defense w ill face another test next week when they square off w ith an explosive Cincinnati offense that has put up 129 points over three games so far this season.

Despite the tough challenge, if the Irish continue to play w ith the same intensit y and freedom that they brought this past Saturday, and that Cam says they value, they should be more than ready for any challenge they face.

Contact Nate Moller at nmoller2@nd.edu

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The observer | Monday, SEPTEMBER 27, 2021 | ndsmcobserver.com

Football

Defense puts on clinic in win over Badgers

By M ANNION McGINLEY Spor ts Editor

ERIN FENNESSY | The Observer

Irish senior linebacker Drew White (center) celebrates after making an interception and running it back for a touchdown. This was the second pick-six in Notre Dame’s 41-13 win over Wisconsin on Saturday.

The Irish got off to a slow start Saturday, as the the squad stepped out of the tunnel a couple of moments after Leprechaun Pat and the rest of the cheer squad took off w ith the f lag. The momentum progressively picked up, though, as the Irish ran Wisconsin out of Soldier Field in the second half and claimed a statement 41-13 v ictor y.

After the Irish won the toss, Badgers sophomore Jack Van Dyke kicked a line drive to sophomore running back Chris Ty ree who took it 16 yards, but that was the biggest gain of the drive as the Irish went three and out to start the game. Head coach Brian Kelly, who became Notre Dame’s alltime w inningest head coach w ith his 106th v ictor y today, had his team prepared to face the challenge Wisconsin presented.

“We knew what this game was gonna be about and it was going to be close, physical,” Kelly said. “And it was

all of that. We were going to be challenged by their front, which we were. We knew we had to go and throw the football around and tr y to make some plays dow n the field.”

Wisconsin’s first drive started in their ow n half, but they eventually found themselves at the Notre Dame 23-yard line. The Irish bottled up the Badgers in the red zone though, forcing senior kicker Collin Larsh to make a 37-yard field goal, bringing the score to 3-0 Badgers.

After a first and goal from the Badgers’ 10-yard line, followed by t wo dow ns of lost yardage, Irish graduate student kicker Jonathan Doerer set up for a field goal in an attempt to tie the game. But his kick sailed w ide right, leav ing the Irish trailing the Badgers.

After Wisconsin’s offense was stuffed on a fourthand-one attempt, the Irish took over at their ow n 21.

Graduate student quarterback Jack Coan then scrambled to pick up yardage see WISCO PAGE 10

ND Men’s Soccer

Notre Dame falls 2-1 in overtime heartbreaker against Virginia Tech Observer Sports Staff

Notre Dame men’s soccer dropped a heartbreaker on Friday, falling 2-1 in overtime to No. 12 Virginia Tech on the road in Blacksburg.

The testy conference affair saw the Irish play out a strong performance against a nationally-regarded opponent but ultimately fall just short of an upset victory. After a first half without any goals (though it is of note that the visiting Fighting Irish impressively outshot Virginia Tech 7-2), it was the Hokies who would strike first in the second half. Jacob Labovitz fired Tech into the lead in the 53rd minute, but mere seconds after kickoff Notre Dame would earn a prime chance to level the score. Daniel Russo was taken down in the box by a Hokie defender, and the referee awarded the Irish a penalty. From there Philip Quinton did the rest, cooly slotting his spot-kick into the bottom corner for the equalizer.

From there, both teams

struggled to find the winner in normal time without avail. The Irish would see the first big chance of extra time, as Jack Lynn lofted a shot over Virginia Tech goalkeeper Ben Martino, but the Tech defense did well to clear it off the line. And minutes later, just before the start of the second overtime period, Danny Flores found the back of the net for the Hokies to walk off a win in Blacksburg.

The loss was an unfortunate one for Notre Dame, but not one without a silver lining.

While “almost won” isn’t much of a consolation, the Irish kept tight to a top-level team for a full regulation match and then very nearly took it home in extra time.

Experience on the road is invaluable when facing an ACC slate that contains hurdles on every trip, and having to go to Virginia to play the Hokies should benefit the Irish down the line as other nationally ranked opponents appear on the schedule — with a trip to Clemson popping out as a major date to circle in red on the calendar.

Coming up next Notre Dame should have a far easier time getting past Trine University in an in-state clash that figures to be a light match to help the Irish find form before they welcome a dangerous Virginia team to South Bend on October 1st. Trine will enter the game at a 5-3 clip, with Tyler Murphy leading the way for the Thunder so far. Murphy has notched eight goals and an assist thus far this season, giving him an impressive 17 total points on the year. One interesting note in reviewing the Trine stat sheet is their use of goalies — three different goalkeepers have earned minutes in between the pipes for the Thunder this season.

Troy Saylor (four starts) and Luis Rodriguez (three starts) have seen the lion’s share of minutes, but Connor McKenzie has also gotten time as well. Who Trine opts to start in net against the Irish appears to be a mystery with the game just days away.

Catch the Irish taking on the Thunder at Alumni Stadium this Tuesday, at 7 p.m. Eastern Time.

RYAN VIGILANTE | The Observer

Irish junior midfielder Michael Pellegrino chases a ball down inside the 18 during Notre Dame’s home loss to Michigan State on Sept. 14.