Print Edition for The Observer for Friday, October 28, 2022

ND startup disrupts speaker industry

By MAGGIE EASTLAND a ssistant managing e ditor

a c hicago-based speaker startup has raised $7.5 mil lion in funding — and it got its start at a h esburgh l ibrary whiteboard.

n ow headquartered in c hicago, r esonado l abs was founded by p eter m oeckel ‘20, b rian youngil c ho ‘19 and e rikc p erez- p erez ‘19 while they were studying in the m endoza c ollege of b usiness.

s ince then, the company has raised millions from in vestors including c atapult ventures, Queen c ity a ngels

and l ofty ventures. a recent round in 2021 was led by c rush ventures, the vc arm of c rush m usic, a talent man agement firm that manages artists like s ia, l orde and Fall o ut b oy.

r esonado has secured one-time partnerships with big names like h yundai and n otre d ame a thletics. i t also developed rv and ma rine-focused segments of its speaker business that l ippert acquired earlier this year. Today, r esonado is working with k lipsch, a subsidiary of

ND professors research structures in disasters

By EMMA DUFFY news writer

The engineers and social scientists at n otre d ame are coming together to re search the connection be tween building structures and human responses to natural disasters.

Tracy k ijewski- c orrea, professor of engineering and global affairs, focuses her research on structures during natural disasters. r ecently, she appeared on usa Today to discuss her research, which is fund ed by the u s n ational

s cience Foundation.

The engineers k ijewskic orrea works with explore the best technical recom mendations to use in codes and standards to ensure structural resilience. h er partners in the social sci ences, meanwhile, are working to create incen tives to put these recom mendations into practice.

k ijewski- c orrea said funding has improved the quality of her work. g rants take time to acquire, she said, sometimes even a year. b ut natural disasters can occur anywhere and

with very little notice, so additional resources allow k ijewski- c orrea and her team to respond quickly.

“ i f you haven’t had a right to a grant after the disas ter, everything would be cleaned up,” said k ijewskic orrea. “ i t takes about a year to get a grant in place, so they preposition these grants so that we can re spond more agiley when an event occurs.”

k ijewski- c orrea said a reactive response is im portant for civil engineers.

breen-phillips hall set to undergo renovations

Observer Staff Report

breen-phillips hall (bp) resi dents will move to temporary housing in Zahm house as their dorm undergoes renova tions during the 2023-24 school year, according to an email sent to residents Thursday.

director of residential life

breyan Tornifolio wrote in an email to the bp community that the renovations will focus on upgrading the mechanical sys tems and creating more spaces for community building.

a fter Zahm house was closed as a permanent residen tial community in the spring of 2021, it has been used for

temporary housing for dorms receiving significant renova tions. currently, a lumni hall is utilizing the space. sorin college residents lived in Zahm last year.

Tornifolio noted in his email that bp will be the first

Hoosier author speaks at College

By KATELYN WALDSCHMIDT news writer

n ew y ork Times bestselling author a shley Ford visited s aint m ary’s Thursday night for a reading of her memoir “ s omebody’s d aughter,” followed by a Q& a ses sion. i n 2021, Ford pub lished a full-length memoir about her child hood and the struggles she faced due to poverty, racism and assault.

Ford’s visit was the first of this year’s v isiting w riters s eries, sponsored by the e nglish d epartment to bring in published

authors for students to interact with and ask questions.

p rogram d irector r ebecca l ehmann said they chose a shley Ford be cause “she is a great model of how to write a full-length memoir, how to go from writing individual essays to writing a much longer piece.”

Ford was born and raised in Fort w ayne, i ndiana. “ s he is a nice model of somebody from a local area that’s gone on to make a bigger splash,” l ehmann said.

KATELYN WALDSCHMIDT |The Observer

New York Times best-selling author Ashley C. Ford spoke to Saint Mary’s students on campus as a part of the Visiting Writers Series.

Courtesy of Erikc Perez-Perez

Brian Cho (left) and Erikc Perez-Perez (right) stand on stage while pitching Resonado in the 2019 McCloskey Competition. Resonado split the first-place prize that awarded it a sum of $25,000.

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Today’s Staff

Corrections

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Carlo

“Texas

Hall

“Law

Friday

Chorale Concert Leighton Concert Hall 8 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. Fall concert by the flagship vocal ensemble.

English Conversation Table

Coleman-Morse 104 5 p.m. - 6 p.m. Practice speaking English.

“Dave &

Conor Sinclair senior off-campus

Chris Mulligan sophomore Dillon Hall

“Anywhere

Ryan Campbell senior off-campus

the sky.”

state of Ohio.”

Saturday

Cultivate Culinary Student Center Atrium 9 a.m. - noon Prepare and package for food-insecure children.

The Dance of Death DeBartolo Performing Arts Center 7:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. Play on a long-married couple’s toxic battles.

Sunday

Japan Day Jenkins Nanovic Halls Forums

1 p.m. - 3 p.m. Learn Japanese culture and language.

Terra String Quartet LaBar Recital Hall 4 p.m. - 6 p.m. Award-winning ensemble performance.

Monday

Daughters of Our Lady Exhibit 102 Hesburgh Library 9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Celebrate 50 years of a coed campus.

Multi-Language Reading Club Collaboration Hub 4 p.m. - 5 p.m.

Relax, read and make new friends.

Tuesday

Fiat All Saints’ Day Student Center Atrium 11 a.m. - 8 p.m.

Giving out information sheets on saints and their prayer cards.

Magic of Lebanese Culture Bond Hall 334 5 p.m. - 6 p.m. Learn about Lebanese culture and traditions.

SARAH GRISHAM | The Observer

senior

Rhett Greer junior

John Clingen sophomore

a udiovox ( voXX), and with the U. s a ir f orce and special forces to craft tactical audio products using their patented sound technology.

Making (sound) waves

The technology that’s catching the attention of national defense experts is brand new to the indus try. c o-founder and chief of marketing Perez said that as speakers have evolved to be slimmer and thinner, the sound technology inside them has often remained un changed. r esonado strives to be different from the inside-out.

“We’ve built a speaker ar chitecture from the core out that’s tailored for modern products,” Perez said. “The conventional speaker has literally been around for 100 years, and if you break apart any product, you’re still go ing to find that same archi tecture in it, but i think the entire landscape of the au dio world has completely shifted.”

d ubbed r es- c ore, r esonado’s patented f lat c ore s peaker technology uses two parallel bar mag nets, a planar voice coil and a flat, racetrack-like diaph ram. o ther speakers still use a traditional cone shape that is difficult to fit into thin and sleek designs.

“What a lot of these com panies out there have done is they’ve taken that con ventional speaker motor and just applied it to slimmer and thinner speaker types, so they’ve just retrofitted this super old motor on to new factors. That’s just inef ficient,” Perez said. “We’ve completely redesigned the motor to be perfect for these

form factors.

Assembling the team

The idea for to re-engineer the speaker began with c ho and his father, Lee h yun c ho, former head of research and development at L g a fter studying speaker in novation with his father in s outh Korea, c ho began to look for a team in s outh b end. h e met m oeckel at the s ubway formerly in La f ortune s tudent c enter, and the two finance majors hit it off. The pair joined forc es to launch a startup and compete in the idea c enter’s m c c loskey n ew venture c ompetition for a shot at a share of the $350,000 in prize money.

d espite high hopes, m oeckel and c ho didn’t see instant success. Their 2017 business-to-consum er speaker company debut fell flat on crowdfunding platform Kickstarter. Then, m oeckel and c ho met Perez, a junior living in s iegfried h all with an affinity for market ing and design.

a former architecture ma jor, Perez knew he wanted to be involved in the creative marketing process from the beginning stages of a com pany. h e switched his ma jor because of the “freedom that comes with business” and ended up working for a speaker industry disruptor.

“ i knew that i didn’t want to do a conventional track within marketing pretty early on,” Perez said. “The startup world was something that was super enticing to me, having the ability to actually do everything at the ground work from the marketing side.”

When Perez officially climbed aboard, the speak er startup was called f lato. Perez quickly got to work rebranding. h is first move?

c hanging the company’s name from f lato to r esonado. The task was more difficult than Perez first thought.

“ i was just like that seems like an easy thing,” he said. “a nd then it ended up being so much work to find some thing that you can g oogle, that’s going to be the top re sult and that you can get a trademark on.”

Perez next took the lead on product photography and content creation. n otre d ame and the co-founders’ friends became the backdrop for their product promotion. With the new name and pho tos, r esonado met their goal on Kickstarter and started selling speakers on a mazon.

i n 2018, r esonado pitched a business-to-consumer speak er company in the m c c loskey c ompetition. Placing sixth, the team was still hungry.

Soundproofing the pitch

The co-founders dreamed of making r esonado a fulltime job after graduation, but that aspiration wasn’t tan gible until the group lever aged i dea c enter connections to make the trek to s ilicon valley that summer.

“Just working on some thing as a side thing, it’s hard to see what it could be, but i think especially after spend ing time in s ilicon valley and raising money and just get ting that exposure to that world, we were definitely like, ‘o kay, this could be real,’” Perez recalled.

Just as they were embracing their status as the big fish in a little campus pond, r esonado was suddenly reduced to a little startup minnow in an ocean of s ilicon valley tech nology companies.

“ it was a pretty huge cul ture shock. i remember we went out there, and we start ed doing pitch competitions and talking to investors, and

maybe like the first 10, we would just get shredded, to tally, completely shredded by investors,” Perez said. “ it was super eye-opening. We were now just one of a mil lion startups that were vying for these investors’ attention, but it ended up being super healthy. We ended up learn ing so much in such a short period of time.”

d espite the competitive nature of the trip, Perez said there was an energy of in novation about the place that inspired him and his co-founders.

“ it’s awesome just being in an environment where you would go to a cafe and the person next to you is just like, an executive at m icrosoft, and the person to the other side of you was talking about their next startup,” Perez said. “Just so much buzz and such a great atmosphere of building things that you just simply don’t have anywhere else.”

Perez said his favorite part of the startup process was when the tide turned in s ilicon valley, and r esonado started receiving positive feedback in the pitch room.

“That’s when we knew we had something … now comes the exciting thing. We have a direction, and all you have to do is execute, and i think that was kind of the most fun part,” he said.

One last encore back at notre dame for their final year together, resonado had one more shot at the mc c loskey c ompetition in 2019. reorganizing into a business-to-business model, the team walked away tied for first and with a fresh $25,000 in their wallets.

With notre dame as its first investor, c ho and Perez gradu ated that year. d iplomas in hand, the co-founders entered

the post-college world as their own employees.

“We were able to give our selves that first paycheck maybe like a month after we graduated,” Perez said.

m itchell Kokko, an idea c enter student analyst who helped resonado build con nections in its early stages, said the team’s ability to see beyond the college campus al lowed them to turn their stu dent startup into a full-time gig.

“They were what you hope notre dame students will be. They were all very passion ate about the product,” Kokko said. “What was really exciting about resonado was that they were looking so much bigger. That type of vision is really un common while still a student in college.”

Perez decided to attend notre dame for the architec ture program. he left with a marketing job at a startup and the confidence to walk into a room full of multi-millionaire tech investors.

“i think my biggest [advice] would just be, if you’re able to get yourself into a room, you deserve to be there,” he said. “When we were starting out, we would be in rooms and in meetings with 45-year-old ex ecutives who we were trying to land as a client or hire for our law firm … and it’s super easy to get caught up in imposter syndrome.”

he says that would be his ad vice to current students who have a big idea.

“i f you were able to get your self in that position, and you’re going to school at notre dame, you have the intelligence, you clearly have the ambition to not only hold your ground in interactions like that but also get what you want out of it,” Perez said.

Contact Maggie Eastland at meastlan@nd.edu

renovated dorm on north Quad and that the scope of renovations will be similar to that of Walsh and badin halls. The email also said the decision comes from the University’s residential master plan.

“many of the design elements will draw from the University’s residential master plan, devel oped in 2014 after years of out side research, benchmarking and student feedback. in the coming weeks, residential Life leaders will also host a focus group with students from the bP hall community,” Tornifolio wrote.

he concluded the announce ment by writing that cur rent bP residents will have the chance to view the layout of Zahm during an organized open house in the spring, ahead of room picks for next year.

Paid a dverT isemen T

e xhibit presents evolution of coeducation

By CAROLINE COLLINS news Writer

A “ d aughters of o ur Lady: Finding a Place at n otre d ame,” an exhibit that travels through the history of women at n otre d ame, is currently on display at the h esburgh Libraries.

The timeline takes the viewer through s r. m ary Lucretia’s experience as the first woman to receive a degree in 1917 to the re ligious women on campus in the 1950s. Then, it trav els to the s aint m ary’s ex change program that began in 1965 to the first cohort of undergraduate women in 1972 — and culminates in 2022, which marks 50 years of coeducation.

The exhibit was curated by e lizabeth h ogan, s enior Archivist for Photographs and Graphic m aterials. It tells the story of the evolution

of coeducation and features newspaper clippings, cor respondences, articles and other documents from the n otre d ame Archives that record the journey toward coeducation.

h ogan explained that there were women who came before 1972 who were influential in making way for coeducation.

“ m any people don’t know about the origins of coedu cation, or maybe they have a vague sense of what was go ing on before 1972,” h ogan said. “1972 was not the start, it was important but it was not the start.”

1972 marked the first time that women were admitted to n otre d ame as under graduate students. h ogan said that the switch to co education was a result of pressures from the federal government, other institu tions and the establishing of Title IX.

In 1972, there were only 350 female students en rolled at n otre d ame. The year after, there were 735 fe male students. n otre d ame slowly began to add more female students in the years that followed, but they were limited by the resources available.

“ n otre d ame didn’t have the facilities to accom modate all the women and didn’t have the capability to automatically double its size, because that would require more classrooms, more faculty and more ad ministrators,” h ogan said.

h ogan also mentioned that c atholic education has historically been separate by gender.

“It’s not that h oly c ross as a congregation hadn’t edu cated women, they had just been educated in a different space separate from men,” she said. “ c oeducation was a merging of the

two.”

The exhibit features pio neering women who have helped shape n otre d ame over the years, includ ing s r. s uzanne Kelly and Josephine m assyngbaerde Ford, who were the first women on the faculty, and Graciela o livares, the first female law school gradu ate. h ogan explained that determining who completed each “first” was difficult because it wasn’t always documented.

“A lot of the firsts actu ally happened before the first that was recorded,” she said.

h ogan said the goal of the exhibit is to show how women’s experiences have changed and how wom en have influenced n otre d ame.

“I tried to not make the exhibit about too many peo ple because there have been a lot of other publications

celebrating coeducation and marketing communica tions talking about a lot of the firsts,” h ogan said. h ogan emphasized that the exhibit is only a piece of the history of coeduca tion and that there is more information and stories to be told about the his tory of women at n otre d ame.

“This is a very small space and there is a lot more about co-education, so if anyone wants to come and do research they are more than welcome,” h ogan said.

The exhibit is on display in the s pecial c ollections exhibit space in h esburgh Library until d ec. 16. o n n ov. 4 from 3-4 p.m., there will be a curator-led open house — all are welcome to attend.

Contact Caroline Collins at ccolli23@nd.edu

TI n U ed F rom PAGe

They are not able to experiment, she said, the same way chemists can in a lab, because their work is based in the tri al and error of the real world. s imulations cannot provide the engi neers with accurate data.

“We can build small models in a laboratory, but that doesn’t capture what society goes through in a disaster. We can make computer models, but again, without data to vali date them, it’s our best guess,” Kijewski- c orrea said.

s usan o stermann, as sociate professor of global affairs, has also received a grant from the U s n ational s cience Foundation. Working with a structur al engineer, she came to the conclusion there are simple solutions to the structural issues caused by natural disasters — but they weren’t being implemented.

The solutions, o stermann said, lie with the building codes and following the proper pro cedures. s he said those responsible for a building’s construction aren’t always inclined to read the codes and follow up on every instruction they mandate. b ecause of this, o stermann and her colleague will devise new ways to inform citizens about building codes that will encour age them to implement inexpensive changes.

“We kind of want to see if we can mess around with what it would take to convince people that some of these things are worthwhile,” o stermann said.

Their research will be centered on Puerto r ico and Alaska. These territories were selected, o stermann said, because their vast differences allow researchers to nar row in on their similarities and make more general ized conclusions. These similarities include their multi-hazard environ ments, deep-set tradi tions that do not align with building codes and proximity to U. s politics.

“A most different com parison maximizes dif ferences to find what is common,” o stermann said.

Kijewski- c orrea and o stermann both work with undergraduates. Kijewski- c orrea highlight ed their work in h aiti in 2020.

“The work that we did in h aiti, I will highlight, was actually carried out and led by undergradu ates of our university,” she said. “It resulted in the only data set that’s been available to guide the U. n . and the World b ank in recovery after the disaster.”

o stermann has yet not started her research, but she is searching for un dergraduates. s he said she thinks this will be a valuable opportunity for students because the engineers and social sci entists will be working

together complete ly on the project, not just in their separate jobs.

“It is really tremendous to get to work in an in terdisciplinary project, and truly interdisciplin ary, not sort of separated off where you go do your own thing,” o stermann said.

d espite the differ ences in their research, Kijewski- c orrea and o stermann believe they are work to support the mission of n otre d ame to be a force for good in the world.

“I’m not c atholic, but I like c atholic social teach ing,” o stermann said. “That resonates for me, and I think that’s at the core of this, as well. We’re really talking about mi nority populations that already have struggles of their own and have to work with them to improve their live and keep those communities whole.”

Kijewski- c orrea agreed.

“The people who are most affected by di saster tend to be the poorest and most vulnerable in our soci ety,” she said. “ s o any research that can help communities build bet ter before disaster, rath er than being impacted and then struggling to build back better, is always not only going to be a force for good, but it’s going to fight for justice and equity in the world.”

Contact Emma Duffy at eduffy5@nd.edu

The v isiting Writers s eries partnered with other departments on this presentation, as Ford deals with topics that span many disciplines. Lehmann led the efforts to bring Ford to s aint m ary’s with d r. Jamie Wagman, chair of gen der and women’s stud ies, as Ford’s work, especially “ s omebody’s d aughter,” deals with her struggles with womanhood and puberty.

Ford also writes about incarceration, as her fa ther was in prison most of her life. b ecause of this, Lehmann and Wagman asked the department of justice studies to co-sponsor.

Ford started off the night by reading the second chapter of her memoir. s he explained that she picked this part to read because she felt that “it gives the best idea of how the book is going to go.”

The chapter dealt with her early childhood, immediately introduc ing themes of neglect and abuse. Ford told read ers, “If you get through here, you’ll like the rest!”

After the reading, Ford fielded questions from the audience. r anging from the experiences that led to her writing to her writing pro cess itself, Ford answered all questions with a smile, not shy ing away from inquiries

about her traumatic child hood. s he talked largely about her family, as her memoir relives her neglectful and abusive childhood.

“I love my mom, but it is complicated,” Ford said, discussing how an inte gral part of her writing process was realizing she wasn’t a bad per son. Ford admitted that there was never a “real risk of losing any thing” with her mom be cause they were never close.

Ford also said that she had a family reunion a month after “ s omebody’s d aughter” was pub lished and her family was accepting of her memoir. In fact, they were more concerned with wheth er she was friends with o prah.

b ecause of her open ness about her past and willingness to an swer all questions, her presentation was warmly received.

“I loved it,” said se nior Lexi Kilcoin. “I love how she talked through her trauma with us. s he brought the room to a state of reflection.”

Editor’s note: Lexi Kilcoin is former Scene writer for The Observer.

The v isiting Writers s eries continues in the spring with presenta tions from poet s andra s imonds and poet and fiction writer m elissa Ginsburg.

Katelyn Waldschmidt at kwaldschmidt01@saintmarys.edu

You don’t know me!

don’t even know me!

Megumi Tamura v iewpoint c opyeditor

“Know thyself.”

This socratic maxim is carved into the stone of the entrance to the Temple of Apollo, and it represents a philosophical quest that has challenged all of human ity since consciousness. The quest to know thyself — to understand who we are and why we are — is the greatest point in the state of being human which one can achieve. What good is having all the answers, all the money, all the success, if we don’t know who we are? If we don’t have an understanding of our true selves?

I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about this quest because I’ve come to realize lately that I don’t really know myself. of course, I can recite my notre dame in troduction without a thought or my response to the ines capable first question in every interview (“tell me about yourself”). but, when asked something far beyond that, — something that goes deeper than this surface level, label-centric layer of myself — I’ve found that my mind goes blank.

how sad is that?

I think I — and probably a good amount of people — have begun to lose sight of who I am beyond the facets of myself which affect the way others perceive me. by “oth ers,” I might mean my peers, recruiters, professors, in terviewers, strangers, random people on social media, or anyone outside of myself. my perception of who I am, I’ve come to realize, has been shaped for far too long by how I think others see me. Instead of asking myself these be yond-the-surface questions like what makes me happy or what makes me feel most alive or what I’m proud of myself for, I spend so much time berating myself with thoughts like “why don’t I look like that?”, “why am I not smart enough?”, “why am I not good enough?”, “why am I not cool enough?”, “why am I not outgoing enough?”. I don’t totally blame myself for this either. In a campus filled with incredibly talented, intelligent, superbly ambitious students chasing one accomplishment after the next, in a society inundated with platforms solely concerned with outwardly perceptions, in a world where achieve ment is the way to a good life — it’s easy to lose ourselves sometimes.

To realize that I don’t really know myself is scary. but, maybe it’s not horrible. Perhaps to not know myself means that this concept of “self” isn’t static, and it’s not permanent. There’s a certain freedom in this realiza tion. Tomorrow, I can wake up and decide to dye my hair if I wished to, to start listening to a new genre of music, to take a new path from my dorm to class, to introduce myself to someone I don’t know. I’m beginning to realize (finally, two whole decades into life) that how I see myself is more important than this idea of meg that exists in other people’s minds.

maybe I don’t know myself, and maybe I never will. Perhaps nobody really knows themselves. maybe “thy self” is not someone to know but someone whom I should allow to live a full life not completely shackled by fear of how others perceive me. I don’t totally know myself, but I’m beginning to learn to like myself a little more.

Knowing thyself is hard. maybe liking thyself is enough.

Contact Megumi at mtamura@nd.edu

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

Kanye West shows responding to antisemitism requires education, not just condemnation

Blake Ziegler news with Zig

The latest chapter in the ongoing controversies of Kanye West is his antisemitic tirades. o ver the last month, West has spewed nearly every anti semitic trope in the book. on Instagram, he sug gested that the rapper diddy was influenced by Jews, playing on the notion that Jews control the media and other societal institutions. The insinua tion is dangerous because it portrays Jews as pup pet masters of the world and responsible for the world’s ills. After being restricted on Instagram, West shared on Twitter that he’s “going death con 3 on J e WIsh PeoPL e .” he clarified later that he meant “de Fcon 3” in reference to a stage in U.s defense readiness. however, whether he wants to kill Jews or go to war with them, both are clearly antisemitic. he also tweeted that Jews try to “black ball anyone who opposes [their] agenda,” again spreading the antisemitic conspiracy that Jews control the world.

In early october, he was interviewed by Fox news pundit Tucker c arlson and shared several antisemitic comments. Although those weren’t aired in the official interview, the footage was released around the time of his social media epi sode. In it, West claimed that black people are the “real” Jews, arguing that Jews are “who the people known as the race black really are.” While there are certainly black Jews, his characterization plays into an antisemitic trope that non-black Jews are imposters who stole their Jewish identity. In an other part of the interview, the musician stated that he preferred his kids “knew hanukkah than Kwanzaa. At least it will come with some financial engineering.” here, West propagates the notion that Jews are greedy and wealthy. While the ste reotype may seem positive, it’s historically used as justification to oppress Jews and commit violence against Jewish communities.

In mid- october, West appeared on a threehour episode of the podcast “drink c hamps” and blamed nearly all his problems on Jewish people. West talked about sharing “Jewish business se crets,” claiming that “Zionist Jews” control the media, comparing Planned Parenthood to the holocaust ( holocaust comparison, by the way, is antisemitic), and more. The rapper’s antisemitic commentary can go on much longer, but the mes sage is clear that Kanye West’s october was a se ries of antisemitic conspiracies and rhetoric.

West’s celebrity status only amplified the reach and influence of his dangerous antisemitism on society. because he has such a high level of stardom, his hate-filled messages have been mis interpreted by some as legitimate and emboldened others to spread antisemitism. Los Angeles saw a slew of antisemitic demonstrations following West’s comments, including one group that gave nazi salutes over an overpass with a banner read ing “Kanye is right about the Jews.” Antisemitic flyers were distributed in beverly h ills alleging that Jews control the media and are responsible for the cov I d -19 pandemic. beyond Los Angeles, a c ollege republicans group in Wisconsin posted a photo on Instagram with the message “Kanye is right. def-con III,” likely referencing the assault on Jews that West has been advocating for. Although social media is always ripe with antisemitism, West’s comments have only reinvigorated users,

spreading further hate on the Internet.

now, it’s true that West has been routinely con demned. he’s been restricted from Instagram and Twitter indefinitely. organizations and other celebrities have denounced West, including ma jor sponsors like balenciaga and GAP, as well as members of his former in-laws, the Kardashians. however, in some cases, this took too long. Adidas, for instance, waited until this week to cut ties with West, despite weeks of outrage as the company with nazi ties was silent about their partner’s anti semitism. Why should Jews wait for their concern about clearly antisemitic acts to be shared by oth ers? When bigotry happens, there must be solidar ity with the affected community and commitment to counteract hate. o therwise, the dangerous rhet oric manifests into discrimination and violence against marginalized communities.

That’s why condemning antisemitism and cut ting ties with antisemites isn’t enough. o f course, condemning bigotry and disassociating from those who espouse hateful views is often good. however, we cannot simply call something bad, exclude those who practice it from societal insti tutions, and expect the problem to go away. even though Kanye West may not be on Instagram or Twitter, his influence remains abundant. In addi tion to our current efforts, we must also combat the ignorance and misunderstanding that hatred capitalizes on to counter these prejudiced beliefs. This is especially true for antisemitism, a complex form of hatred that pertains to a small porwtion of the global population. We must strive to educate non-Jews about identifying and responding to Jew-hatred.

The first step to combating antisemitism is learning how to identify it. If we can’t recognize antisemitism, then we have no hope to limit its pervasive influence across the world. For this ini tiative, a clear, unified definition is necessary. b y beginning from a similar starting point, we pre clude the chances of obscurity or ambiguity that antisemites often employ to avoid condemnation.

The Working definition of Antisemitism offered by the International holocaust remembrance Alliance fits this description, adopted by countless governments, universities and other organizations throughout the world. I invite readers to utilize the Working definition to gain a better understand ing of antisemitism, as well as resources like the Translate hate Glossary from American Jewish c ommittee to learn about common ways antisem itism manifests in our everyday conversations.

Antisemitism is a difficult topic to understand and navigate, wbut there are steps we can take to build a more inclusive environment for the Jewish members of our community. As a Jewish student myself who works in Jewish advocacy, I’m still seeking clarification on antisemitism as new issues arise. I hope that you’ll join me on this journey.

Blake Ziegler is a senior at Notre Dame studying political science, philosophy and constitutional studies. He enjoys writing about Judaism, the good life, pressing political issues and more. Outside of The Observer, Blake serves as president of the Jewish Club and a teaching assistant for God and the Good Life. He can be reached at @NewsWithZig on Twitter or bziegler@nd.edu.

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

The midterm elections: Voting rights and gerrymandering

impact which issues get attention from the government and which ones get ignored.

With the recent overturn of Roe v. Wade, drastic climate disasters and increasing political polarization among U.s citizens, the midterm elections are essential in determin ing our government’s ability to take on these issues. As Amber Phillips said in her article about the importance of the midterm elections, this election has the power to re shape our country.

For context, the midterm elections determine what rep resentatives will have a seat in congress. senators serve sixyear terms making ⅓ of the 100 seats open for candidates. The way our government functions is entirely dependent on which political party fills the majority of the seats in congress. Usually, Americans vote for congressional representatives based on the popularity of the president. biden’s 53% disapproval rating risks the potential for a loss of majority democratic rule. however, with the recent overturn of roe v. Wade, the popularity of democratic candidates for congress has increased. When looking at the differences between a republican and democratcontrolled congress, it is important to consider the top concerns of the American people and how efficiently a political party’s majority rule would play in creating solu tions to a wide variety of issues.

According to Phillips, some of the key issues — in order of importance — are the economy, abortion, infla tion, education in schools, immigration, climate change and crime. While the overturn of Roe v. Wade is helping democrats stay on the winning side of public opinion, republicans are attempting to shift the focus from this issue to other areas where democrats are lacking efficient policies such as gas, groceries, crime and border crossings. essentially, the majority rule of the senate will significantly

The most critical element of the midterms will be pay ing attention to how gerrymandering will impact the outcomes of the election. every 10 years, states redraw district lines to ensure that districts are equally populated. however, senators, particularly in the south, have been us ing this practice to draw boundaries to influence who gets elected, otherwise known as gerrymandering. essentially, gerrymandering empowers politicians to choose their voters. According to an article written by the brennan center for Justice, this undemocratic practice takes place in two forms: cracking and packing. cracking splits people with similar characteristics apart to divide voting strength and make it more difficult to get their preferred candidate elected. on the other hand, packing crams certain groups of like-minded voters into as few districts as possible to minimize the number of districts and the overall influence of a certain political party. Gerrymandering makes elec tions less competitive and enhances the common feeling embedded in Americans that their vote doesn’t matter. Additionally, gerrymandering targets communities of color to advantage the party that controls district restric tions. The tactic of packing is used to push minorities into one district in order to prevent democratic minorities from voting in other districts. In an article, Kim soffen describes the harm in packing majority-minority districts beyond the threshold for it dilutes the overall representation of the interests of people of color. since minorities are more likely to favor democratic candidates, packing minorities has the same impact as packing democrats: both instances cause the district map to favor republicans. In addition, strategic restrictions on access to poll booths in majorityminority districts take away the fundamental right to vote and silence minorities’ political opinions. This unjust prac tice is both racist and undemocratic; it limits the diversity

of voting in districts, restricts voting access for minorities and undermines the democratic system by separating equality from voting rights.

This november, it is essential that every person who has the ability, option and opportunity to vote does so. voting is a right, but in our present-day democracy, it is a privi lege as many voices are being silenced through legislative restrictions. While existential dread is a common feeling among Americans during times of crisis, we need to exam ine the infrastructure of our society to strengthen it. Unjust policy that favors personal political interests and success over equality is undermining our democracy. by using the power of a true, authentic democratic system, we can begin to make institutional changes that will create room for the critical concerns of American citizens to be heard, acknowledged and addressed. While strategies like gerry mandering restrict voting access for minorities, everyone must continue to draw attention to this issue by speaking out about our government’s failure in upholding equal vot ing rights for all U.s. citizens. Use your vote to make politi cal change and your voice to make social change; both matter and are powerful ways to make an impact.

While the deadline to register to vote has already passed, you can check your registration status, vote by mail (ab sentee ballot) or find a polling place near you.

Grace Sullivan is a first-year at Notre Dame study ing global affairs with a minor in gender studies. In her column I.M.P.A.C.T. (Intersectionality Makes Political Activist Change Transpire), she is passionate about looking at global social justice issues through an inter sectional feminist lens. Outside of The Observer, she enjoys hiking, painting and being a plant mom. She can be reached at @gsulli22@nd.edu.

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

Land of hope and glory?

There is no doubt 2022 has been a very rough year for humanity, as the world struggles to keep up with a wide array of crises, including red hot inflation, surging en ergy costs, increasing levels of food insecurity, and the ever looming prospect of a global recession. The United Kingdom has stood out among the Western world, as it has been more hard hit than other Western countries. The logistical challenges accentuated after the country’s departure from the european Union made british supply chains more vulnerable during the coronavirus pan demic and its aftermath, which in turn contributed to the country dealing with higher levels of inflation than its Western european counterparts. british energy bills have also been among the ones that have risen the most within the continent, and the value of the pound dropped to its lowest level in nearly four decades. In september, financial analysts projected the United Kingdom was already in the throes of a recession, and the outlook as winter approach es threatens to only get bleaker.

Politically, the country has seen no shortage of scandal and instability as well. Three years after procuring the biggest landslide victory for the conservative Party since 1983, and achieving the largest parliamentary major ity since Tony blair’s new Labour, prime minister boris Johnson announced his resignation after the heavy weight of his personal scandals finally caught up to him. controversy surrounding Johnson hosting parties during the covid-19 lockdowns at his official residence eventu ally triggered a mass exodus from cabinet, which led to Johnson’s demise in July. he was succeeded by fellow Tory Liz Truss, who took office a mere two days before the death of her majesty Queen elizabeth II. Truss’s time at the helm was only momentary, as her government failed

to gain traction thanks to a financial meltdown following economic policy announcements and a loss of credibility upon walking them back. After a mere 45 days in office, which made her the shortest serving prime minister in british history, Truss gave way to rishi sunak, who en tered no. 10 downing street on october 25. Albeit being a historic first, sunak now faces the challenge of setting the United Kingdom’s affairs in order, and set the country on the right path after a brutally demoralising 2022.

In turbulent times like these, strong and stable leader ship in the national interest is of the utmost importance. It remains to be seen whether the sunak ministry can rise up to the challenge of the hour, but he enters office with record low levels of popular support. YouGov polling indicated a whopping 82% of british adults disapprove of their government’s record to date. only a dismal 6% said they did. Furthermore, polling found over three-fifths of the country is in favour of holding a general election. evidently, the overwhelming majority of british people have lost confidence in the conservative Party’s ability to deliver for them. What’s the hold up?

constitutionally, the house of commons is not due for another election until early 2025. To grasp the date’s distance, that is still beyond the next U.s. presidential election. It is likely a new president finds themselves in the oval office before the british people have the op portunity to renew their Parliament and change govern ments. Unlike the United states and other countries with presidential systems, the United Kingdom’s parliamen tary democracy allows for elections to be held ahead of schedule at the incumbent prime minister’s discretion. In british political history, it is not uncommon for recently appointed prime ministers to call snap elections in order to strengthen their mandate with voter backing. boris Johnson and Theresa may, two of sunak’s recent predeces sors, both did this in 2019 and 2017, respectively. Former Labour prime minister Gordon brown also considered

doing so upon entering downing street in 2007, but ulti mately decided against doing so. considering prime min ister sunak landed the top job after running unopposed in a leadership election where only conservative Party members of Parliament were going to have a say, clamour ing for one is not out of left field. however, it would be catastrophic for him and the Tories, as they currently poll over thirty points behind the opposition Labour Party. It is therefore only natural for the freshly minted prime min ister to stave off an early election as much as possible, to have time to carry out his plans for the country logistically, and to preserve the Tory’s survival politically. If he wishes to prove himself worthy of the office he inherited, sunak must act, and act quickly. In the months that lie immedi ately ahead, sunak must establish himself as a competent, capable leader.

The conservative Party received the biggest mandate in over twenty years back in late 2019. The circumstances have greatly changed since, and a general election is the fairest chance to provide the british people to decide which way they wish to see their country go. however, considering the incumbent government has a large work ing majority, a hesitancy to get blown out at the polls, and over two years left from their previous mandate, one can only hope they manage to pull the country back from the precipice she finds herself in. As the market stabilises and sunak rolls out his agenda, this “land of hope and glory” ought to clutch any remaining bit of hope to see herself restored to all her glory.

Pablo Lacayo is a senior at Notre Dame, majoring in finance while minoring in Chinese. He enjoys discuss ing current affairs, giving out bowl plates at the dining hall, walking around the lakes and karaoke. You can reach him at placayo@nd.edu.

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

Grace

Pablo Lacayo news with Zig

death and rebirth of (in)tolerance

Carlos Basurto eudaemonic banter

When one takes upon themselves the challenge of imagining the wisest person to have ever lived, attri butes such as empathy, kindness and a willingness to forgive are traits bound to define such an idealized sage. This is due to the fact that the more one engages with the human experience, the more likely one is to compre hend —perhaps even relate — to their fellows. A simple act such as an attempt to see a foreign worldview with a gentle, nonjudgemental gaze could be one of the most human things to do. A silent recognition of the inherent humanity of them all and how, despite it all, they are of the same value once the day comes to a close. nevertheless, the diverse nature of humanity pres ents an unparalleled problem when empathizing. since everyone’s perspectives are birthed from the unique path they have traversed, some will inevitably conflict by nature. Perhaps, some perspectives may not realize the intrinsic import of others. some may even threaten the very core values of humanity. not necessarily out of hatred but an induced ignorance. That is to say, an inhu mane human holds the same value. Their flare shines as bright as any other, yet, should their voice too be equally regarded?

Though an acknowledgement of the equitable worth of every singular human experience is in order, there is — without a doubt — a fundamental difference when discussing an offensive, self-centered perspective, one which does not regard human dignity. It is only logical to seek to listen. one can even sympathize with the argu ments offered by such a person, but when words evolve into actions one cannot stand aside and allow them to have their way. To do so, to permit through inaction the immoral to accomplish their whims and the suffering of others, is where tolerance digs its own grave.

Tolerance is a virtue of the wise, that is not to be mis construed. still, when tolerance is left unchecked and allowed to be absolute, problems will arise from those that refuse to play by its rules. That is because absolute tolerance tolerates intolerance, it breeds and perpetuates intolerance. When tolerance is taken to the extreme, it will attempt to empathize and comprehend viewpoints which simply do not even consider tolerance to be a value worth pursuing, fomenting their existence and transmission.

misguided people who hold inhumane viewpoints may even believe that it is not only necessary but moral to be intolerant. This is due to the fact that, contrary to popular belief, morality can be subjugated to flex ibility in the eyes of the beholder. some people who wield disproportionately cruel points of view may not find themselves to be anything but saviors of the world. one need only glance back at history to see countless examples of this. so many wars have been waged and deaths have been caused through the grand excuses of justice, of defending merely what is right or what one’s faith or culture demands. does the fact that they offer a reasoning and wish to be tolerated suffice as justification for their actions? should one not intervene so long as the one infringing human dignity demands respect?

Then, should the nazi seeking to protect his nation from inferior races be tolerated? After all, he only seeks to do the correct thing from his point of view, no? his personal experiences, be those caused by the self or external, have successfully convinced him of the neces sity to eradicate all that is evil from the world, all that is impure. one can deconstruct his entire life, comprehend every step he took to reach such a conclusion and even recognize that he is the victim of a tragic system and that such disregard for human decency is not part of human nature but the result of his circumstances. besides, since he asks so nicely, we must surely tolerate his opinions, no? Who are we to judge? he was simply from a different

background, from a different context. Are diversity of opinion and freedom of speech not safeguarded values of our nation? We must always listen to both sides, for surely they are both of equal value, no? Two sides to ev ery story, no?

The answer that has become increasingly complicated to explain to the intolerant who wish to exploit the mercy of the tolerant is: no. no, not all points of view must be tolerated. no, not all of them have equal value, even if every individual human being does.

The truth is that absolute tolerance brings forth the death of tolerance and the birth of intolerance. When widespread, it allows for the collapse of democracies and the reign of the intolerant few, for they will be the only ones willing to brutally force their way into power.

We must come to realize that the tolerance we should extend should be one characterized by restraint. We must tolerate the differences that flourish our individu ality, but not at the cost of accepting cruelty. We must not tolerate hatred nor bigotry, no matter how close to home or heart. We must not tolerate heartless acts under the guise of cultural relativism, of humor or of misguided ness. We must not tolerate intolerance.

otherwise, we will bare the consequences of the sui cide of tolerance.

Carlos A. Basurto is a first-year at Notre Dame ready to delve into his philosophy major with the hopes of adding the burden of a computer science major on top of that. When not busy you can find him consuming yet another 3+ hour-long analysis video of a show he has yet to watch or masochistically completing every achievement from a variety of video games. Now with the power to channel his least insane ideas, feel free to talk about them via email at cbasurto@nd.edu (he is, tragically, very fond of speaking further about anything at all).

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

neurodivergence in the classroom

Jack Griffiths neurodivergence

This week, I’m attending a conference in vancouver to represent notre dame’s Writing center alongside some of my fellow tutors. All of us will give short presentations pertaining to a common theme: promoting inclusivity in writing center environments. While my peers will be covering topics such as multilingual writers, discour aged writers and writers who respond to different kinds of sensory-based learning, I will give a presentation discuss ing the specific needs of neurodivergent writers. For me, it is crucial for tutors to make sure these unique students feel valued by the academic communities they’re trying to be come part of. Given that neurodivergent students are often ignored, I believe it’s important for writing center tutors to help these folks develop confidence in their writing. I also believe it’s crucial to help these students recognize them selves as scholars who have contributions to make to their universities.

of course, the responsibility to cultivate inclusivity for the neurodivergent is not exclusive to writing center tutors but is pertinent for all kinds of authority figures in educational en vironments, including teachers, professors, counselors and principals. neurodivergent students face the arduous task of navigating a world that struggles to understand them. rather than exacerbating these challenges, educational figures should try to help their neurodivergent students overcome societal stigmas. Unfortunately, many fall short. Whether it’s due to discriminatory attitudes, ignorance or general misguidedness, educators often make neurodiver gent students feel unwelcome at school.

There are several mistakes educators might make toward their neurodivergent students. For instance, educators might try to force these students to behave “normally” through punitive measures. I remember a specific teacher at my elementary school who responded to my occasional

nervous breakdowns by reporting me to the principal, which obviously only reinforced my anxious thoughts. I also recall certain teachers who resorted to yelling during my emotional struggles.

my experiences aren’t the only examples of this danger ous phenomenon. Autistic students might be reprimanded for stimming, even if this stimming is necessary for manag ing complex emotions. students with Adhd who struggle with hyperactivity might be similarly punished. As a result of these punitive approaches, neurodivergent students might feel like their personalities are simply incompatible with succeeding in academic environments. They might then choose to “mask” their neurodivergent qualities, concealing them from the outside world, even if it means suppressing their concerns and fears. They might also feel like they don’t have anything valuable to contribute to their classrooms, which undermines their enthusiasm for learn ing. If unaddressed, these damaging mindsets can result in internalized struggles that persist well after schooling, complicating neurodivergent folks’ adult lives and the many challenges that await them, from interpersonal relation ships to navigating the job market.

Another mistake educators might make is to be overly passive, leaving neurodivergent students out to dry, even if these students genuinely need help. While perhaps not as egregiously problematic as reckless punishment, this approach can still prove damaging, as neurodivergent stu dents often require teachers and other figures to provide them with the necessary resources for academic success and emotional well-being. Fortunately for me, many of my teachers were willing to accommodate me by allowing me to momentarily leave the classroom to collect myself when ever I felt overwhelmed. some were even willing to have one-on-one discussions with me to help me process my anxieties.

sadly, not everyone has received such support. some edu cators might hold a misguided belief that all students must be treated equally… even if that means neurodivergent

students aren’t treated equitably. other educators might put credence toward positive stereotypes, convincing them that these students don’t need any help. For example, they might falsely believe that the “savant” skills of autistic people make them naturally brilliant, making extra assistance unneces sary. “What do you mean he needs help with math? he’s on the spectrum! he can probably do it all in his head!”

because of all the possible pitfalls educators can fall into, it is even more important to elevate neurodivergent stu dents’ perspectives, to let them explain what they need, to recognize their strengths as well as their weakness, and to give them the resources they need. Fortunately, as neuro diversity has become a greater part of the broader cultural consciousness, many educators have been making prog ress, whether it be by offering extended time programs for test-taking or by simply ensuring that teachers more thor oughly understand the different conditions students might have. of course, there’s still significant work to do to make our classrooms more welcoming and accessible at every level from preschool to college. schools can create more avenues for neurodivergent students to voice their concerns and access necessary mechanisms for managing stress and other obstacles, and they can rely on the expertise of neuro divergent educational leaders to help them formulate ideal policies. In any case, my hope is that students like me are heard by more people in positions of educational authority, making academic success something attainable for all.

Jack Griffiths is a senior at Notre Dame majoring in English with a supplementary major in global affairs. His areas of interest include neurodivergence, migration and the intersections between faith and public policy. When he’s not writing, you can find him singing with the Liturgical Choir, walking around the lakes or playing Super Smash Bros with folks in his dorm. He can be reached at jgriff22@nd.edu.

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

By ASHLEY HEDGE s cene Writer

Taylor s wift has done it once again.

Anticipation over the singer’s 10th album re lease has only built since its announcement at the 2022 vm A Awards. Part of that anticipation is largely due to the lack of a single being released prior to the album drop date. Audiences were un sure what to expect from s wift, especially since her prior two albums, “Folklore” and “ e vermore,” strayed from the typical sound associated with the artist.

b ecause of this, the initial listen to “ m idnights” was rather jarring. h owever, by the second and third time, I was in no small way reminded that s wift is both a pop artist and lyricist, first and foremost. This album delivered both in spades, reminding the world that while she might have taken a break from the pop charts, she is as on top of her game as ever.

In a message from s wift to fans, she described the album as “the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout [her] life.” Frankly, there is no better way to describe it. s wift is widely popular for creating albums representative of a period of time in her life, each one containing a consistent

vibe, creating what fans have dubbed as “eras” for each album. What makes “ m idnights” so incred ible is that it manages to take each of her albums, throw them together and still preserve a cohesive sound throughout the album.

The album features no shortage of lively, brazen songs that are purely modern in their production. s ongs like “Karma” and “ v igilante s h*t” fit right in with the “ r eputation” era, their slow tempos with deep bass chords bringing attention right back to s wift’s long standing drama with rap artist Kanye West and his now ex-wife Kim Kardashian, as well as former manager s cooter b raun.

In addition to the vigorous “ r eputation”-esque tracks, Taylor reveals some insight into her rela tionship with longtime partner Joe Alywn in a way fans have not seen since “Lover.” In “Lavender h aze” s wift comments on how Alwyn handles the lifestyle that comes with dating one of the most popular women in the world. “ s weet n othing” is the only track on the album written solely by s wift and her partner, and it is the quintessential love song of the album.

o ne standout difference in this album is the quiet introspection combated by a busy produc tion that it offers, so different from the vulner ability of “Folklore.” In a message released on

s wift’s social media platforms about track three, “Anti- h ero,” the singer says, “I really don’t think I’ve delved this far into my insecurities in this detail before.” n ot only can it be found in “Antih ero,” with powerful lines such as “I’ll stare di rectly at the sun but never in the mirror,” but in many other tracks as well. In her fifth track, s wift shares the message, “You’re on your own kid, you always have been.” “ m idnight r ain” features heavy synth influences, which pairs perfectly with the message of wanting pain and passion over comfort. In one of my personal fa vorites, “Labyrinth,” s wift discusses being “lost in the labyrinth of my mind” and shares the mes sage “ b reathe in, breathe through, breathe deep, breathe out.”

Personally, I found that the contemplative tracks had a more profound effect, but that in no way takes away from the musical mastery that makes up some of the lighter songs of the album. h owever, regardless of personal favorites, this al bum is a triumph, a sign to the music world that s wift is fully capable of embracing her titles of “singer-songwriter” and “pop star” at the same time without sacrificing either.

By RACHEL HARTMANN s cene Writer

on oct. 7, the third and final season of the hit show “derry Girls” was added to netflix. After months of waiting patiently, international fans were finally able to watch. Premiering in 2018, “derry Girls” follows five working-class friends at a catholic school during the 1990s. It is a show about the mishaps of adolescence as well as the Troubles in northern Ireland. The gang consists of the soulful but misguided erin ( saoirsemonica Jackson), the ditsy orla (Louisa harland), overdramatic c lare ( nicola coughlan), sassy m ichelle (Jamie-Lee o’donnell) and her quiet, english cousin, James ( d ylan Llewellyn). Together the five of them are the “derry Girls” who deal with a range of teen issues, from money, romance, breaking rules, as well as the rules that come with living in northern Ireland in the ‘90s. one example is when m ichelle tries to smuggle a bag of vodka onto a bus, denies ownership of it as she is a minor and the unclaimed bag gets literally blown up by the bomb squad.

season three of “derry Girls” is a season of change. The gang is growing up and soon graduating from high school, which means leaving their childhoods behind. In the same way, derry is also growing as it

contemplates a peace agreement for the first time. As well, it is a season about reality. c lare’s father dies un expectedly, and we see her and the others mourn for his loss. It is the first time that “derry Girls” has touched on death and grief, as if the innocence of their childhoods is slowly being lost with time. similarly, m ichelle and erin get into a fight about m ichelle’s brother who is in jail. With the peace agreement, he will be able to walk free even though he killed someone. The two girls dis cuss what it means to take a life, but also what it means to love someone who has done bad things. This scene reflects the growth the characters have had through out the show and how now they are no longer the kinds from season one.

The last episode really struck a chord with me. Toward the end of the episode, erin asks her Grandpa Joe (Ian mce lhinney), “What if we vote yes and it doesn’t even work?” Grandpa Joe is holding her little sister when he looks at her and responds, “And what if it does? What if no one else has to die? What if this all becomes a ghost story you’ll tell your wains (children) one day? A ghost story they’ll hardly believe.”

That scene was beautifully done as it reflected the old generation passing wisdom down to the younger gen eration to make the world a better place for the future. The last scene is also beautiful. It shows the cast voting

on the 1998 Good Friday Agreement referendum. As they cast their ballots, “dreams” by The cranberries plays. The last second of the scene is Grandpa Joe and the little sister walking hand-in-hand out of the vot ing room. The “derry Girls” are no longer children and are headed out the door toward adulthood. It reminds us all that like our youths, they do not last forever. We too will walk out of the doors of college to adulthood one day. I hope to make an impact during my time as a young adult, although it definitely will not be as big as signing the Good Friday Agreement.

o verall, “derry Girls” was a hilarious, tear-jerking show that left me wanting more. I will miss the gang, but as they say, all good things must come to an end.

Contact Rachel Hartmann at rhartma4@nd.edu

“Derry Girls”

Starring: Nicola Coughlan, Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Louisa Harland

Creator: Lisa McGee

like: “Sex Education,” “The Good Place,” “Kim’s Convenience”

If

Contact Ashley Hedge at ahedge@nd.edu

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Happy Birthday: embrace change and new beginnings. don’t let negativity stand between you and your dreams. Put your energy into planning your next big adventure. use your ingenuity to devise a unique way to handle monetary issues. steer clear of joint ventures, and don’t pay for other people’s mistakes or shortcomings. make personal growth, spirituality and better health your priorities. your numbers are 3, 11, 23, 26, 35, 38, 43.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Join forces with someone who wants the same things as you. discuss your thoughts and intentions and map out how you intend to reach your goal. Avoid pressure tactics when trying to get your way. It’s best to offer incentives, not threats.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Announce your plans, listen to the feedback you receive and discard what you no longer need in your life. staying on top of what’s important to you will stop anyone from trying to interfere with your plans. do what makes you happy and self-sufficient.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): use intelligence and experience to avoid trouble. Put your heart and soul into your responsibilities. look for opportunities to work alongside people who share your interests and concerns. get what you want in writing.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): hang on to what you’ve got and find different ways to use items, information and knowledge to suit your needs. calling on all your resources will make your ideas appealing to superiors and others you want to impress. mix business with pleasure.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Take a deep breath and evaluate what you are up against, then rethink your game plan. don’t feel the need to change something that is working fine. look for ways to save money and eliminate waste. don’t let someone’s uncertainty unnerve you.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): don’t be shy. If change is what you want, make it happen. Put your energy into research and success.

A personal situation will require your attention. listen to complaints and offer solutions and incentives that are difficult to turn down.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Absorb information and apply what you learn. your communication skills will help you enlist others to pitch in and help. Take pride in what you do, and don’t pay for something that isn’t up to your standards. A meeting will lead to success.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Take the initiative to do things before someone puts in a request. efficiency and consistency will help you gain respect and reach your goals. Take notes, verify information and lower your overhead. Tone down situations by distancing yourself from people who exaggerate.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Pitch in and make a difference. The information you gather will give you the lowdown and help you discover the best way to do your part. refuse to let anyone pressure you to take on more than you can handle.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Take a seat, wait and watch; you’ll make the right decision. surprise everyone by applying a unique approach to handling money, earning a living and dealing with manipulative individuals. Positive change and personal gain are apparent.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): don’t let your guard down. Joint ventures or shared expenses will get you in trouble. keep tabs on finances, health and legal matters, or someone will take advantage of you. stick close to home and fix up your surroundings.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): don’t let someone’s debt drag you down. Put things in perspective and be blatant about what you are comfortable doing for others. Invest more time and money in your appearance and finding the best way to save for something you want.

Birthday Baby: you are empathetic, passionate and reserved. you are intense and persistent.

The

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suDOku | The mePhAm grouP

HCC teams prep for season

By TOM ZWILLER sports Writer

The holy cross women’s bas ketball team went 15-15 over all (10-12 in conference play) last season. They were just one win shy of setting a win’s total record in program history. The goal for this season?

“[best season in program history], that is the minimum expectation,” said head coach Tom robbins. “one more win, and we would have had it last year, and we have most of our players back, and the freshmen we are adding, they move us forward.”

robbins will have a smaller than usual team this year, just ten players in total. however, the quality of his squad is what gives robbins his confidence. he does admit that the lack of depth is a potential weakness, though.

“We keeps us [from our goals] is injury… we do not have a huge margin for error, we are going to sustain injuries like anybody does, but if we have any long-term, multiple game injuries out of our players, that is going to be hard for us to overcome.”

Though the squad has just one senior in guard Jayda miller, junior guard Lauren morris and junior forward neva Longhofer have also stepped up and have helped prepare the team dur ing the offseason.

The saints will look to spread the floor with their shoot ers like morris and miller. Then, they will use a two-man game down low, utilizing ath letic guards who can attack the rim, with bigs crashing the boards for rebounds. All in all, robbins would like to shoot from the two more often than from range.

“I like a 2/3 to 1/3 balance be tween twos and threes… that’s a little more conservative than what a lot of the nAIA has been trending toward; a lot more teams are 50-50 these days.”

robbins is incredibly excited about his freshman players. elizabeth edmonds, a startingcaliber player, occupies the center potion that sara White left vacant. Audrey Tallent is an incredibly dynamic freshman guard. And sopho more guard Jordyn smith, who is an incredible passer, should see starter minutes as well.

defensively, the team will look to clog passing lanes in the half-court and trap the opposi tion in a full-court defense. The saints will then try to funnel the opposition into mid-range shots. Ideally, they will force them to shoot off the dribble late into the shot clock.

Instrumental to that will be

Grace Adams, a sophomore for ward whom robbins said can 1-5. robbins thought back to last year when the saints won a game by holding the opposing team to zero points for about six straight minutes in the fourth quarter. Adams was the prima ry reason for their dominance.

“They thought the best thing to do was take guard and go right at her because our match ups, Grace ended up happen ing to guard [their lead player], and they thought that was their advantage, and Grace shut her down every single time.”

In contrast to the women’s team, the holy cross men’s basketball team took a bit of a step back last season. The men’s team went 13-17 overall with an 8-14 conference record. For a team that had made the nAIA national Tournament the last two seasons, last season was disappointing.

nevertheless, head coach mike mcbride is confident his team can return to their win ning ways. For mcbride, that means focusing on the little things.

“To be honest, we talk very little about [outcome-based goals] because [they] are al ways a byproduct of what you are doing day in and day out, so our expectation is that we are growing closer and more unified as a team daily, that our level of intensity and ex ecution rises daily and if we do that then those outcome-based expectations and goals be come a byproduct of our daily improvements.”

helping to improve the team every day are senior leaders

Jalen martin, beau Ludwick and mick sullivan.

A 6’4” forward, martin missed most of the previous season due to injury, playing in only two games. now that he is healthy again, mcbride expects him to be a significant part of the saint’s defense.

“[Jaylen] has great length, so we think he can be a versa tile defender, we think he can guard inside and out, he has really improved skill-wise, we think he has become a muchimproved shooter, so that is a dynamic we really need ob viously with the loss of ryan black,” mcbride said.

The saints will play a tradi tional man-to-man defense, with adjustments as needed. They’ll tend to avoid switching defenders, preferring the pregame matchups. martin’s abil ity to guard one through five brings a unique skill set to the saints, who struggled defen sively last season.

Ludwick, a 6’2” guard, is

2022 World series Preview: Phillies against Astros

Football undoubtedly domi nates the headlines of count less sports sections across north America this time of year. but this year’s major League baseball postseason has been more than worth paying atten tion to. An expanded field has produced plenty of epic games, unbelievable upsets and thrill ing finishes.

most importantly, it has dwindled down a field of 12 down to just two. The final four to seven games this season will decide which of the two teams is remembered forever. both are looking to silence two very dif ferent groups of haters. one is hoping to put some agonizing close calls in recent postseason runs to bed. The other is hoping to make up for a decade devoid of them.

The houston Astros have been a machine. The Philadelphia Phillies have been magical. 42 years after these teams played in one of the most epic series in postseason history, a second comes into the focus with great ness and the commissioner’s Trophy at stake.

philadelphia phillies: 87-75, No. 3 NL East, 3rd NL Wild Card

NL Wild Card Series: Beat STL 2-0, NLDS: Beat ATL 3-1, NLCS: Beat SD 4-1

It has been 116 years since the Fall classic featured as large of a disparity in regular season records between the two par ticipants. maybe it would not feel right if such a massive un derdog role belonged to a team from anywhere else other than Philadelphia, a city that has a history of embracing them. The team was 21-29 through its first 50 games, 22nd in the league. Three days later, they fired their manager and everything’s changed since then.

Almost everyone has thrived under the relaxed, steady hand of rob Thomson. he helped lead the Phillies to snap the national League’s longest active postsea son drought this season. The Phillies have been playing with house money ever since they clinched, and they have hit jack pot after jackpot after jackpot.

The Phillies believed they had built a team uniquely suited for postseason baseball — a few elite pitchers in the rotation and bullpen and a deep lineup built to slug. The results have con firmed just that. Zack Wheeler

and Aaron nola, the team’s top two starters, have a 2.17 erA in seven combined postsea son starts. José Alvarado and seranthony domínguez (raininduced control loss on sunday aside) fire nearly untouchable triple-digit heaters and can bend the ball every which way.

It helps that they’ve received a boost from a relentless Phillies offense that leads the postsea son with 16 home runs and gen erally does not wait to get going. The Phillies have scored in the first three innings of all but one of their nine postseason wins. The high-end talent present on the pitching side is still plenty prevalent here.

There is no one else to start with except bryce harper, who authored one of the franchise’s greatest moments with his nLcs-winning eighth-inning, go-ahead laser of a two-run shot on sunday. The 2021 nL mvP added the nLcs mvP trophy to his hardware cabinet and is sporting an absurd 1.351 oPs in the postseason. The Phillies’ cleanup hitter is at the tail end of one of the most powerful quintets in the sport. nL home run leader Kyle schwarber starts things out. A currently red-hot rhys hoskins, whose five post season long balls are tied for the league lead, is behind him. And five-tool catcher J.T. realmuto is the latest Philly to begin heating up.

but what makes the Phillies’ offense so special is their pen sion for clutch performances from the bottom of their order.

rookie shortstop bryson stott, the team’s youngest player in brandon marsh and highoctane veteran Jean segura have delivered some signature moments in Philadelphia’s cinderella run.

Perhaps the biggest thing on Philadelphia’s side is its resilien cy. Four weeks ago, the Phillies weren’t even sure if they’d make the postseason field. They won Game 1 of the Wild card round despite being down to their final two outs and down 2-0. They bounced back after throwing away a 4-0 lead in Game 2, a 4-0 first-inning deficit in Game 4 and a seventh-inning implosion in Game 5 against the Padres.

It’s also worth noting the Phillies are 5-0 at home this postseason, launching 12 long balls in the process. In doing so, they have reminded everybody of just how raucous an atmo sphere citizens bank Park can provide. If the Phillies can win at least one of the first two games in houston, they’ll gladly take

their chances back at the bank. After all, they started their series against Atlanta and san diego with road splits, and neither team made it out of Philly with their season alive.

houston Astros: 106-56, No. 1 AL West

ALDS: Beat SEA 3-0, ALCS: Beat NYY 4-0

The Phillies punched their postseason ticket with a 3-0 win in houston on oct. 3 against an Astros team that had noth ing to play for. The Astros have played nine games since then, and they have won all of them. no team has the postseason and World series experience that houston possesses. Incredibly, this is their fourth trip to the Fall classic since 2017, although houston has just one champi onship to show for it. simply put, the Astros are a near flawlessly constructed team, capable of matching Philadelphia’s star power and besting its pitching depth. Take out a rocky start from Justin verlander in Game 1 of the ALds and houston’s starting pitch ing has been all but untouch able this postseason. verlander is turning back the clock to his prime detroit form. Lance mccullers Jr. has fantastic ca reer postseason numbers and held the Phillies to one run in six innings in that oct. 3 game. Framber valdez and cristian Javier have deadly curveballs and are great at limiting hard contact.

houston’s pitching prowess extends to its bullpen, as well. ryan Pressly is a perfect 4/4 in save opportunities this postsea son after recording an impres sive 0.89 regular season WhIP. bryan Abreu, Luis García, rafael montero and more, including former Phillie héctor neris and former Irish pitcher brandon bielak, are tough to beat, as well. If there’s one potential weak point in houston’s bullpen, however, it’s a lack of a lefty.

There are virtually no weak nesses in houston’s offense. Yes, Kyle Tucker, Jose Altuve and former notre dame star Trey mancini haven’t been up to their lofty standards recent ly. but both have outstanding pedigrees, and Altuve looks to be turning a corner with three hits in his last two games. Like Philadelphia, houston boasts a hulking lefty slugger at dh in Yordan Alvarez. only Aaron Judge had a better oPs than his astounding 1.019 mark.

Andrew McGuinness Associate sports e ditor

practice] just to know that it’s going to be loud there,” alt said.

“communication is going to be tough, so we want to practice that here.”

The offensive line has evaluat ed film to prepare for the difficult test. syracuse ranks top-15 in the entire country in total defense. alt stressed the importance of the offensive line working together as one unit to shut them down.

“We are going to develop our scheme this week and play the best we can as an offensive line. We are going to see what we are going to see and perform our best,” alt said.

alt stressed the importance of the offensive line playing as a singular unit. That is vital to

giving the quarterback protec tion and having success in the run game.

“as an offensive line, the big gest thing is playing five as one,” alt said. “We need to handle their movements up front in both the pass and the run game. When we get on guys, we need to use our arm strength and move guys as best we can.”

alt hopes his offensive line can facilitate success in the irish run game on saturday.

“The biggest thing for us is building confidence and being able to run the ball,” alt said. “For us, when a team can’t stop the run, it builds so much confidence in the offensive line, and you feel so good about that.”

Contact Nate Moller at nmoller@nd.edu

opportunities to win those games.”

thin, meaning that n otre d ame’s depth at running back will be a significant ad vantage for the i rish.

The success of the run game will likely determine n otre d ame’s fortunes, so head coach m arcus Freeman and offensive coordina tor Tommy r ees would be well advised to keep the ball on the ground and ride the hot hand, whether it’s sophomore Logan d iggs, sophomore a udric e stime or junior c hris Tyree. When the run is established, this also opens up the passing game for Pyne.

with his legs as with his arm.

Leading rusher s ean Tucker got just 10 touches in the loss against c lemson s aturday. a nd while he is likely to see more action against the i rish, s hrader is actually the team’s sec ond-leading rusher. To slow down the o range offense, n otre d ame must limit Tucker and s hrader’s earlydown success on the ground and force them into third and long situations where the i rish defense is best equipped to get a stop.

and wide receiver o ronde g adsden ii , who leads the team with 37 receptions and 593 yards. i f the i rish can make the o range work for every yard, the outcome will likely be positive. b ut al lowing one or two big plays could tip the balance of the game.

Force a turnover (or several)

in their approach against top-tier opposition

“ i think [before this sea son] we hadn’t been able to get over the hump against these top ten teams,” said n orman. “ i think we feel a lot more comfortable, we can control large parts of the game and have great

The i rish will be back in action s unday night when they take on Pittsburgh at a lumni s tadium in the first round of the acc tour nament. The game will be available on the acc n etwork and starts at 6 p.m.

Contact J.J. Post at jpost2@nd.edu

Make Shrader beat you through the air g arrett s hrader is second in the acc in completion percentage, trailing only unc ’s d rake m aye by less than a percent age point. b ut he ranks near the bottom of the confer ence in pass attempts among qualified quarterbacks. h e is certainly a credible threat through the air, but his running ability is equal ly if not more valuable. i n short-yardage situations, he is just as likely to beat you

Paid a dverT isemen T

Limit big plays b ig plays have been an issue all season for n otre d ame. un Lv further ex posed that last weekend. n otre d ame had built up a big early lead, so it didn’t affect the outcome of the game. b ut it is still a concerning trend. un Lv had several big gains that led to scores, including a 74yard run in the first quarter and multiple 20-plus-yard passes.

These mistakes didn’t come back to punish n otre d ame last week. b ut if they make them again against s yracuse, it may be a dif ferent story. s yracuse has several explosive players on offense, including Tucker

n otre d ame currently sits near the bottom of F bs teams with a -6 turnover margin. The i rish have forced just four turnovers and have lost 10, which puts them tied for 117th in the country. The o range are just the opposite, with 13 forced turnovers and seven lost for a plus-six margin.

The i rish offense had a relatively easy job against un Lv last weekend because they routinely started in great field posi tion. Two blocked punts and a fumble recovery made the offense’s life much easier. They’ll need to take care of the football if they want to beat s yracuse. a nd forcing one or two turnovers could flip the game in their favor quickly.

Contact Liam Coolican at lcoolican@nd.edu

expected to be another key de fensive player. his skill set al lows him to draw top perimeter shooting assignments night in and night out.

“he is great one-on-one on the ball, and he has as good a vi sion and instinct off the ball as anybody we have, so we think he can really be outstanding,” mcbride said.

sullivan, the team’s starting center, is once again expected to be a force for the team on of fense. he will feature in the low post, looking to dominate the paint, grab rebounds and find shooters on the outside when he inevitably draws multiple de fenders. mcbride said that hav ing sullivan back and healthy, along with the additions of fresh men forwards Tommy snyder and Joe Kelly, has led to a new strategy for the team offensively.

“We have the guys we think that can make those, but we do want to play with that inside-out mentality. We are really empha sizing playing inside, attacking the paint both with post-play,

with cutting, and with driving, so I think having a much more inside-dominated approach is maybe a little different than what we had last year,” mcbride said.

The seniors are certainly not alone in guiding the team. Last year’s standout freshmen, Justin o’neal and nash hostetler are coming off sensational seasons. And mcbride only expects them to improve.

“We expect a lot out of those two in terms of production and what they do and bring to the game each night… we also think they both of these guys have great leadership potential, and I do not want to wait until they are senior for that to emerge,” mcbride said.

The women’s team will be gin their season on the road in huntington Indiana when they face huntington University. Tipoff is at 1 p.m. Friday. The men will have a home opener to start the season when they play host to east-West University monday at 6 p.m.

Contact Tom Zwiller at tzwiller@nd.edu

Irish finish 3rd in ACC

By J.J. POST sports Writer

notre dame women’s soccer tied duke 2-2 Thursday night in an exciting showdown at Alumni stadium.

It was the blue devils who struck first, with 2021 fresh man All-American forward m ichelle cooper firing a stun ning strike off the inside of the post. but the Irish would counter less than five minutes after halftime. d uke brought down Irish senior midfield er maddie mercado, giving the Irish a PK. sophomore midfielder Korbin Albert stepped up to the penalty spot and converted for the second straight game to knot the score at 1-1.

duke would once again work their way into the lead with twenty minutes remaining. Kat rader found space in the box with some clever dribbling and slotting the ball home. but

notre dame would once more respond quickly, again off the foot of Albert.

The sophomore attacking midfielder found space just outside the box. she ripped an excellent strike past duke goalkeeper ruthie Jones to even the tally. After the game Albert, who played the full 90 minutes in a variety of different roles for the Irish, said her moving around the field doesn’t change her game.

“It doesn’t affect my game at all,” Albert said. “I just make sure I know what my role is. I ask my coach before the game, and I’m just ready to go wherever I’m needed. Any position I play on the field I’m doing the same thing [tactically]. It’s really not that different whether I’m playing forward or defense.”

The draw ensures the Irish will now match up with the Pitt Panthers on sunday. notre dame has not lost a match

since Pitt beat them 3-1 on sept. 25. however, head coach nate norman remarked that positives could still be taken away from the performance, even though a win would have clinched a share of the Acc title.

“I think we needed to have that adversity going into the postseason, where we had to come back in a game,” norman said. “Typically you’re going to have one of those games in the postseason. so I loved the way we did that, and I loved the way we kept responding.”

notre dame ends the sea son with a 2-0-1 mark against their three hardest confer ence opponents. That is a stark contrast from prior years in which notre dame went 0-19-1 against top 10 teams. norman mentioned after the game that the team has developed this both physically and mentally

TI n U ed F rom PAGe

usually after practice or with ex tra film study,” mason said. “We need to try to figure out what’s an indicator for where the ball is going to be snapped, where it’s going to be punted.”

Fall break helped give the spe cial teams crew more time to prepare for an impressive UnLv performance. mason empha sized that their preperation has

been an ongoing effort, with the team catching on over time before creating some massive shifts against UnLv

“It’s not really a whole lot dif ferent than what we’ve done in other games,” mason said.

“We’ve done a really good job in a lot of punt block games. This was the time where we had a better understanding of the what and the why of some kinds of things UnLv was able to do and take advantage of it.” despite the success, mason

Keys to victory against Syracuse

By LIAM COOLICAN Associate sports e ditor

n otre d ame got back on track last weekend with a victory over U n Lv b ut the Irish face a much stiffer test this weekend as they trav el to s yracuse to face the o range at the J m A Wireless d ome. s yracuse started the season 6-0, surging into the top-15 and shocking many observers after they were picked to finish last in the A cc Atlantic in the pre season coaches poll.

Though they lost last week against c lemson, they proved they could play with the best of the best. The Irish have a chance to get a statement victory, but they’ll have to overcome a formida ble s yracuse team in order to do so. h ere are some keys to a n otre d ame victory.

Win the possession battle

In each of n otre d ame’s seven games thus far, the possession battle has dic tated the outcome. In each of the Irish’s four wins, they had the ball more than their opponent and vice versa for their three losses. This may seem like a fairly intuitive statistic, but it points to n otre d ame’s underlying ap proach: the Irish win games by keeping the ball on the ground and their defense off the field. Junior quarterback d rew Pyne has been solid. b ut he also hasn’t been the primary reason for most of the victories so far.

This will be especially im portant against the o range, a team that will also be seek ing to keep the clock moving when they are on offense. s yracuse’s defensive line is

hoped to see more out of two graduate students: punter Jon sot and kicker blake Grupe.

“I think they both have done a great job, but there’s certainly week-to-week things they can improve on,” mason said. “This past game, though, neither one of those guys graded a win ning performance from me. We missed the last field goal, that’s certainly something we need to execute better. sot mis-hit his second punt, and they know those things. We certainly have

World Series

Alex bregman has been his usual elite self, especially as of late. 38-year-old Yuli Gurriel is hitting like he’s 28 so far in october. rookie Jeremy Peña is looking like just as much as a seasoned veteran, leading the team in oPs in his first post season trip. second-year center fielder chas mccormick has been stellar on both sides of the ball, too.

The Astros’ biggest advan tage over the Phillies is their defense. every houston regular in the field except Alvarez in left field and Gurriel at first grades out above average — many by a wide margin — in baseball savant’s outs saved above aver age metric. The metric doesn’t account for catchers, but if it did, martín maldonado would surely earn stellar marks. maldonado is in the 89th per centile for pop time on throws to second base. That bodes well for houston’s chances of limit ing an aggressive base-running team like the Phillies.

The Phillies have some good defenders on their bench, in cluding a domer of their own in matt vierling. but they need the

a really high elite standard that we are trying to pursue to be consistent.”

mason pointed to several components he hopes to im prove on as the back half of the season progresses. striving for consistency, mason empha sizes the importance of a “ high elite standard.”

“As a whole, we need to be more fundamentally sound,” mason said. “Getting return side leverage, making our blocks, timing up everything with the

lead to activate that boost, and earning that — let alone keep ing it — is a tall task.

The Prediction

There’s a reason the Astros won 19 more games than the Phillies in the regular season. Quite a few, actually. While the Phillies have been being re warded for becoming a much more sound organization this season, the Astros have been on this level for quite some time. There is a difference be tween the regular season and the postseason. And there is a difference between the first three rounds of the postsea son and the World series. only three Phillies have played in the Fall classic before. most of houston’s roster has at least once, if not multiple times over. That matters.

This series will likely come down to Philadelphia’s start ing pitching. The longer this series goes, the harder it will be for the Phillies’ pitch ing depth to keep up with houston’s. If Wheeler and nola pitch deep into games, it lessens the burden on the bullpen and sets momentum in motion for the Phillies’ lineup to capitalize on.

The biggest advantage the

back wedge has just been the one area we need to improve on the most.”

special teams will certainly play an important role in the Irish’s on-the-road matchup against the syracuse orange this weekend. There is little room for error, and the Irish cer tainly must execute in all three aspects of the game in order to come out with the win

Contact Madeline Ladd at mladd2@nd.edu

Phillies have is their home-field advantage. I have been to over 70 baseball games in my life, including a pair in the post season. I have never felt any thing at a baseball game like what I experienced on Friday night in Game 3 of the nLcs at citizens bank Park. It felt more like I was in the stu dent section of notre dame stadium. Fans stood for most of the game and every time an opposing hitter had two strikes on them. strangers and siblings embraced in almost identical fashion.

The houston Astros are an unbelievably great baseball team. They are almost cer tainly the better team in this series. but there is a party going on right now in Philadelphia, and it just does not feel like it can be stopped. After a decade of dread, there is a new magic word in the city of brotherly Love: belief.

It might be a good idea to start greasing the poles. Phillies in six.

Contact Andrew McGuinness at amcguinn@nd.edu

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

Joe Alt, offensive line prepare for test against Syracuse defense

By NATE MOLLER senior sports Writer

Last season, left tackle Joe Alt was thrown into action as a fresh man after the Irish offensive line was gashed by injuries. despite his inexperience, Alt played incred ibly well, earning a freshman AllAmerican accolade. This season, the sophomore has continued to build on his freshman year success. he has built off last year’s progress to become one of the most domi nant left tackles in college football.

Alt has found this year’s addi tional experience helpful, notably in late-game situations.

“experience is definitely huge,” Alt said. “There’s confidence as the game goes on knowing that you have been there and trusting your ability.”

Alt also knows the importance of improving his form, both with his feet and hands.

“For me, it’s been about build ing confidence, snap in and snap out. We break down the film every practice and every game. I think for me, my biggest focus has been working on my footwork and mak ing sure that it’s good in everything we do in the pass and run in that

FEATuRE

first second.

“And then also with my hands,” Alt continued, “making sure I am being as efficient as possible and trusting my punch in the pass game and getting the defenders where I need to have them in the run game.”

These improvements will be es pecially crucial against syracuse. The orange defense has shown a lot of movement this season, and Alt understands the importance of keeping his feet beneath him every play.

“In the film, they showed a lot of movement. We need to make sure our feet are beneath us, and we are seeing the alignments and attack ing the proper way,” Alt said.

Alt credits his improvement this season to his improved footwork and ability to win battles in the first second after the snap.

“Looking back to last year, the footwork has been so important to me this year and winning that first second. That’s so crucial to [offen sive line coach harry hiestand’s] coaching for me,” Alt said.

Alt recognized the importance of getting in the right position and finishing out every play.

“I need to get into that position

where I am in between the de fensive end and the quarterback and just use my punch and finish blocks,” Alt said.

In addition to focusing on the rest of the offensive line, Alt has made sure to pick up his fellow teammates. right now, that means supporting sophomore running back Audric estime, who has had some ball control issues as of late.

“We have so much faith in Audric that he is going to run the ball hard, and we know that. It’s just building trust as the offensive line, knowing that he is going to be able to run be hind us,” Alt said. “[Audric] knows he can be confident and run the ball, and we know he’s going to be great.”

Ahead of saturday’s matchup against syracuse at JmA Wireless dome, Alt and the Irish have prepared for the noisy atmosphere.

“It’s going to be a dome, so it’s going to be loud,” Alt said. “I think it’s going to be crucial for us to be ready for all the noise. We have pre pared for it, so we know it’s going to be there, and we just need to per form our best.”

“We pump in some music [in

need to execute to do it’: coach brian mason builds momentum for special teams

By MADELINE LADD Associate sports e ditor

excellent play from special teams helped notre dame cap ture a win against UnLv last weekend and avoid a losing streak. senior defensive linemen Isaiah Foskey was a major con tributor, as his two blocked punts resulted in 10 points for the Irish. Foskey’s feat also made him the first-ever Irish player to block two punts in a single game. This game-altering performance by special teams won praise from head coach marcus Freeman.

“We were able to get two, and those are game changers,” Freeman said post-UnLv. “Those are momentum shifts, to be able to capitalize off them and get points. It’s huge. And last week, we didn’t. That’s part of making sure that we’re able to execute. Those are huge.”

After an extensive search, Freeman tabbed brian mason as special teams coach for notre

dame in January. since his ar rival, mason has had a positive impact on all phases of special teams. Freeman commended his ability to create and execute a game plan.

“coach [mason] has done a great job with all of our phases of special teams,” Freeman said. “every week we’ve been an ag gressive punt block unit, and we’ve gotten two before this game. every week we feel like we can take advantage of a punt team, and coach mason does a great job of executing the game plan.”

execution is the name of the game for mason, who holds his group to a high standard to maxi mize efficiency. mason empha sizes extra time spent at practice and intentional gatherings in the film room as ways of gaining a competitive edge.

“We have to spend extra time with those guys every week,

sam godinez | The observer

Irish sophomore offensive lineman Joe Alt on field during offensive play at Notre Dame’s home game on Oct. 15 against Stanford.

RYan VigiLanTe

Irish junior linebacker Jordan Botelho helps to block a punt during Notre Dame’s 44-21 win over UNLV

home. This vital win offered the Irish a necessary boost heading into the coming game Syracuse.