Doctorate of Nursing Practice, Masters of Science in Data Science, Speech Pathology
By KELLY KONYA and HALEIGH EHMSEN
s aint mary’s e ditor and a ssociate s aint mary’s e ditor
beginning in 2015, saint mary’s will offer three in-demand graduate programs that will elevate students’ professional skills and earning potentials while preparing them to make a difference in the world, as the college has since 1844.
The graduate programs are a doctorate of nursing practice, a master of science in data science and a master of science in speech pathology.
college president carol a nn mooney said saint mary’s consistently works to see a need and meet it, which is why the these
three graduate programs are being introduced.
according to associate director of admission for graduate programs melissa fruscione, the college decided to introduce graduate level programs because there is a growing need locally, regionally and nationally for individuals trained in these professions. within the market for services provided by these professionals and employers is a high demand for well-prepared data scientists, nurse practitioners and speech pathologists. The individual programs fit perfectly with the college’s mission, but these are not the first graduate programs that have been offered by saint mary’s, mooney said.
“we had a graduate program, a school of sacred Theology, in the late 40’s, 50’s and into the early 60’s that gave both master’s and ph.d. degrees,” mooney said.
“The school of sacred Theology was opened because there was no advance study in theology available for women at all. not for religious sisters, not for laywomen — so we opened it and closed it when we thought it was no longer needed because more schools opened their doors to women.”
saint mary’s also offered a master’s degree in special education and elementary education from 1965-1969, director of media relations gwen o’brien
By ANN MARIE JAKUBOWSKI
e ditor-in- c hief
construction crews for the campus crossroads project made progress on initial construction steps and excavations around the stadium after the least snowy december in south bend’s recorded history.
crossroads construction continues smc professor dies
which, of course, began last week,” associate vice president and university architect doug marsh said. “formal construction work has proceeded well in the 50 calendar days since the end of the home football season.”
“The construction team took advantage of this great fortune and worked six to seven days a week in anticipation of the onset of more typical winter weather,
marsh said the winter work involves several “major earthwork activities.” crews are relocating many underground utilities such as sewers, water service, electrical feeders, chilled water and drainage, and they are constructing new utilities tunnels along both
the west and east sides, he said. excavation of the student center basement began, and they installed “an extensive span of permanent earth retention system” on the west and east edges of the existing stadium system to secure the existing foundations, marsh said. They have also installed temporary earth retention walls that will provide a platform for the mobile cranes which will be built later in the winter to erect the structural steel frames for the student center and academic
buildings on the west and east sides.
as the crew works on initial construction of the buildings’ foundation walls and footings, marsh said the design team is still working out the details for the interior portions of the project.
so far, construction is right on schedule and in line with the budget, university spokesman dennis brown said.
“The ebbs and flows of weather
Irish performance impresses fans
By LESLEY STEVENSON news e ditor
notre dame’s narrow, lastsecond defeat of louisiana state university (lsu) in the franklin american mortgage music city bowl capped off the 2014 football season in dramatic fashion, much to the delight of local fans and those venturing to nashville, Tennessee, from nearby midwestern and southeastern states.
“it was great to see my school’s football team playing so close to home,” junior and nashville
By KELLY KONYA s aint mary’s e ditor
professor of business and economics Jerome “Jerry” l mcelroy, who taught at saint mary’s for 32
years, died wednesday, dec. 17, 2014. he was 77 years old. mcelroy was deeply invested in the life of the community at saint mary’s, vice president for college relations shari rodriguez said. w hen asked what he wanted to tell his colleagues and students, mcelroy said, “Tell them i love them.”
rodriguez said students, alumnae and faculty loved mcelroy right back, as expressed by college president carol ann mooney.
“Jerry was the consummate
see mcelroy PaGe 4
EMILY DANAHER | The Observer
KEVIN SONG | The Observer
Notre Dame sophomore quarterback Malik Zaire receives the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl MVP award after Notre Dame defeated LSU 31-28 on Dec. 30.
see crossroads PaGe 4
Jerome McElroy smc professor of business and economics
see nashville PaGe 4
see degrees PaGe 3
photo Desk (574) 631-8767 photo@ndsmcobserver.com
Systems & Web Administrators (574) 631-8839
policies
Question of the Day:
Anne Chan sophomore mcglinn hall
“sleeping for 24 hours.”
Stephen Bourke freshman sorin college
“waking up closer to sunset than sunrise.”
Cassidy McDonald sophomore ryan hall
“i watched an entire season of ‘a lpha house’ in one day.”
Rachel Grinbergs sophomore lyons hall
“i was in my bed and i didn’t want to get up to get my charger, so i let my phone die.”
Bobby Murphy sophomore sorin college
“watching eight hours straight of ‘True detective.’”
Brendan pelkey junior morrissey manor
“i played video games for eight hours straight.”
Irish head coach Brian Kelly leads the football team out of the tunnel at LP Field in Nashville, Tennessee, on Dec. 30. Notre
played Louisiana State University in the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl and won 31-28.
Today’s Staff
News
Corrections
The observer regards itself as a professional publication and strives for the highest standards of journalism at all times. we do, however, recognize that we will make mistakes. i f we have made a mistake, please contact us at (574) 631-4541 so we can correct our error.
Wednesday Workshop: “Getting Started in Research”
4 p.m. - 5 p.m.
Strategies for research endeavors.
Grotto Trip Bond Hall
10 p.m. - 11 p.m. Prayer intentions.
Thursday
Artist Talk: Emmi Whitehorse
Snite Museum of Art
12 p.m. - 12:45 p.m.
Discussion of artist’s prints.
“JOHN” DeBartolo Performing Arts Center
7 p.m. - 9:15 p.m.
Performance depicting poignant life story.
Friday
Graduate Student Mass Basilica of the Sacred Heart
5:15 p.m. - 6:15 p.m. Worship service. Hockey Game Compton Family Ice Arena
7:35 p.m. - 9:35 p.m
The Irish take on Connecticut.
Saturday
Basketball Game Joyce Center
2 p.m. - 4 p.m.
Men’s basketball plays Miami.
Vigil Mass Basilica of the Sacred Heart
5 p.m. - 6 p.m. Worship Service. Sunday
Film: The Tale of the Princess Kaguya DeBartolo Performing Arts Center 3 p.m. - 5 p.m.
2014 film about Japanese folktale.
KEVIN SONG | The Observer
Dame
DpAC flood damages space
By MADISON JAROS news writer
repairs of the debartolo performing a rts center (dpac) are set to continue this week in response to a flood that damaged the lower level of the building on dec. 12.
The flood was caused by a break in a six-inch water line that served dpac’s fire protection system, university spokesperson dennis brown said. The exact cause of the water line break is unknown, he said.
“There are currently several theories as to why [the break] occurred, but we may never know the exact cause,” brown said. “we have taken several measures to reinforce this connection and are evaluating similar connections in other buildings.”
brown said mechanical and electrical equipment in the dpac mechanical room, as well as lower level floors and walls were damaged. The flood also resulted in a 45-minute delay of a football awards ceremony being held in the building, dpac facilities manager a lex scheidler said.
scheidler said there were initially six inches of water in most rooms on the lower level of the building and three feet of water in the mechanical room where the break occurred. a quick response by the university prevented further damage, he said.
“it was amazing because by that night, the first response team stayed all night,” he said. “so they arrived at about 10 p.m. give or take, and they were here until 6 in the morning – and then another crew came and replaced them and they worked through the day saturday.”
film, Television and Theater (fTT) department chair Jim collins said because of this quick response, the flooding did not impact students’ final exams. The impact of the damage will continue to be minimal for both students and faculty, he said.
“since the flooding occurred on the friday night before exam week, the response crews were able to make significant headway over the weekend,” collins said. “The impact on fTT courses was limited to moving final exams to other locations in the dpac on the monday of exam week. The classrooms on the lower level were at least operational for test-taking the rest of the week. we’ve been given the “all-clear” to go back to using the classrooms as we did before but we’ll know more after the first week of the semester.”
however, there is still more to be done in the coming weeks, brown said.
“There are still repairs going on as the baseboard material had to be ordered, some of the floor tiles became loose and needed to be replaced and the carpet in several offices is being replaced,” he said.
scheidler said what’s been accomplished so far is already impressive.
“The response on the university’s part … the fire chief said he’s worked at other places and he said in the real world, this wouldn’t be happening, scheidler said. “… normally, in another building somewhere in town if this had happened, you’d just have caution tape and no one would be going in the space except the people working to clean it up. so it was remarkable to have all the resources and a quick response.”
but the flood still provides an opportunity for improvement, scheidler said.
“i think there’s a great opportunity to improve things, as far as evacuation and things like that,” he said. “There are things we are able to improve — they went well, but it’s an opportunity to see what could be better. That’s the good that comes out of it.”
Contact Madison Jaros at mjaros@nd.edu
knowledge, leadership development and attention to service within the community, f ruscione said.
belle’s closet collects clothes for survivors of sexual assault
By KATIE KULWICKI news writer
The belles of saint mary’s college are working together to ease the emotional burden that survivors of sexual assault experience by collecting clothes for them through the organization belle’s closet.
belle’s closet was created in fall 2014 by brandyn blosser, saint mary’s college social work professor and 2003 alumna, to provide clothes to sexual assault survivors whose clothes were collected as a part of hospital exams. The donations provide the survivor an alternative to clothing from the lost and found or paper scrubs.
“many survivors share they feel ‘dirty’ after a rape and have no desire for additional attention,” blosser said. “wearing paper scrubs will definitely cause people to stare and not knowing if the donated clothing you are putting on is clean can cause even more anguish for a survivor.”
blosser said that the idea for this project came to her when she witnessed a hospital employee offering to buy clothes for a rape survivor.
“my hope is survivors will know they are not alone and our community cares,” blosser said. “a pair of new sweat pants may not seem significant to some. however, when every choice has been taken from you and you have been violated in the worst imaginable sense, new sweatpants and t-shirt are a start to feeling clean again.”
belle’s closet not only meets community members’ needs but creates an opportunity for students in blosser’s course sexuality, intimacy, and relationships (sw341) to engage, the social work professor said. blosser said that the organization requires students to be a part of project development and exposes them to different kinds of relationships, she said.
“They receive an in depth presentation from the special victim’s unit related to rape, sexual assault and domestic violence that will only help assist them to be stronger professionals when in each student’s prospective career,” said blosser.
The students involved in belle’s closet deliver donations of new clothing articles such as sweatpants or sweatshirts to the st. Joseph regional medical center to subsequently be distributed to survivors in need. senior morgan carroll took blosser’s class last fall and said those involved in belle’s closet plan to reach out to larger companies for donations and holding community-wide clothing drives to help re-clothe survivors everywhere.
“providing new clothing to victims of sexual assault signifies a fresh start and gives them hope for the future,” carroll said. “at a time when they may feel helpless and robbed of their dignity, we want to show them that they are still being cared for, that they really do matter.”
saint mary’s senior elizabeth maloney said when blosser presented the idea of belle’s closet
to the class that her classmates were interested in right away and looked forward to getting involved.
“The project means a great deal,” maloney said. “you know, you hear of a sexual assault and you keep parroting on to others that one shouldn’t attack another person, or rape another person, but that doesn’t help the current situation, that may only influence the future. with belle’s closet, my classmates and i are actively helping the current victims.
“i’m glad to be working behind the scenes to end a great social injustice.”
blosser said that she hopes to ignite students into action — especially when it involves a horrible situation such as sexual assault or rape.
“each of us can choose to accept the uncomfortable and gut wrenching realities of the world by saying there is nothing to be done or we can choose to fight for positive change by doing something regardless of how small,” said blosser.
Contact Katie Kulwicki at kkulwi01@saintmarys.edu
said.
b y comparison, the three new programs will be relatively small in size and were inspired mostly by faculty, mooney said.
“ we had faculty that were interested in starting graduate programs and had the ability to do so, and the ones that we wanted to start fit really well with our mission and what we see as the needs of society,” mooney said.
a ligning with the c ollege’s mission, each program will incorporate the best practice, innovation and opportunities for hands-on experience, based on an integration of
for the inaugural year of the programs, fruscione said the c ollege anticipates enrolling small, diverse cohorts of men and women. a lready, applications from all over the country, representing many colleges and universities, have been received by the c ollege.
“since two of the programs are primarily online (data science and nursing), the number of graduate students on campus throughout the academic year will be small. however, both male and female graduate students will have the opportunity to fully participate in the s aint mary’s community
— athletics, dining, student activities and health services,” fruscione said. “additionally, women in the master of s cience in speech pathology program, which is on campus, may apply to live at the c ollege.
“academically, the speech pathology graduate students will work in the Judd l eighton speech and l anguage c linic in madeleva hall with the undergraduate students majoring in communicative sciences and disorders.”
mooney said the need for the master of s cience in speech pathology program is huge because there are not many other sufficient training programs in the country.
additionally, the strength of the well-established
undergraduate nursing program and the need for more primary care providers were two of the deciding factors in creating a program for a doctorate of nursing p ractice, mooney said.
“students in the program will receive a doctoral level degree and have the ability to analyze the situation and figure out ways to improve care,” mooney said.
similarly, in the field of data science, few programs are math intensive while also teaching ways of how to delve into the ethics of data, mooney said.
Therefore the master of science in data science will open doors for students wishing to gain a more complete approach to the field.
fruscione said she anticipates that s aint mary’s undergraduates will likely apply to the graduate programs.
“[ students] may even take a class or two at the graduate level while still earning their bachelor’s degrees,” fruscione said. “This is a great opportunity for belles to explore graduate courses and programs.”
“[graduate programs] we believe, will enhance the education for our undergraduates, but we’re not really seeking to become, what i think of as a university, which is a research-intensive operation,” mooney said.
Contact Kelly Konya at kkonya01@saintmarys.edu and Haleigh Ehmsen at hehmse01@saintmarys.edu
Photo courtesy of Brandyn Blosser
Students in a Saint Mary’s social work class sort through donated clothes as part of the Belle’s Closet project.
Crossroads
are built into construction timelines,” he said. “This year’s pattern has made no significant difference on the time frame or budget for the project, one way or the other.”
The website construction. nd.edu provides updates on parking and pedestrian/vehicle traffic. according to the site, the university’s two free campus shuttles have expanded their hours as of Jan. 5 to run continuously from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays to help people “navigate several major construction projects across campus and related parking adjustments.”
The limited pedestrian walkways on the east and west sides of the stadium remain the same as those set before break. on the east, a temporary walkway allows access to gates 1 and 2 of the Joyce center, and on the west, pedestrians can use the debartolo Quad walkways or walk through the mendoza college of business and debartolo hall.
Contact Ann Marie Jakubowski at ajakubo1@nd.edu
Mce lroy
con T inued from page 1
saint mary’s faculty member. a man of deep faith, this was not a job for Jerry, but a true vocation,” mooney said. “he loved his students and colleagues and often demonstrated that love by sharing his beautiful poems with us. none of us will ever forget his warm smile and the countless contributions he made to generations of saint mary’s women.”
mcelroy began teaching at saint mary’s in the fall of 1982, and continued to teach through the fall 2014 semester. Jerry was honored with two faculty awards recognizing his excellence in teaching, the maria pieta award in 1989 and the spes unica award in 1997, rodriguez said.
mcelroy was also a poet. he hosted annual readings at the college on themes of nature, the supernatural world, childhood on his grandfather’s farm and meditations on themes of grace. most recently, mcelroy offered a reading in october 2014 from his latest published chapbook, “hidden graces,” which was published by finishing line press.
at the reading, professor emeritus of religious studies keith egan introduced mcelroy, stating that in mcelroy’s lifetime, he has published more than 140 poems, published or co-published 17 books and monographs and produced nearly 142 scholarly papers, which resulted from mcelroy’s research into the economies of the islands of the caribbean.
beyond his admirable accomplishments, mcelroy influenced many in the college’s community on a personal level, as shown by the hundreds of letters, notes and e-mails received by his wife of 43 years, birdie maria rossow mcelroy.
nashville
native Jessica Zic said. “also, i was excited to see that the notre dame football team practiced at my high school’s football stadium during the days leading up to the game.”
Junior lauren pate, who hails from memphis, Tennessee, said she jumped at the chance to attend the dec. 30 bowl game because she missed the football season studying abroad in kampala, uganda. she said she made the three-hour trip in the morning with other memphians and had enough time to walk around and enjoy live music in downtown nashville before the game.
“i didn’t really keep track of the 2014 football season because i was abroad, but i had heard about the ending of the northwestern game, so it had me nervous for the ending of the music city bowl,” pate said. “we won though, so i was very happy for that and glad it was the game i got to see for the end of the 2014 season.”
freshman katharine Janes traveled with her family from michigan and said the
“each of those who wrote or called felt he [mcelroy] knew them well, and they him,” birdie mcelroy said. “he was a spirit that transcended mere cursory knowledge: as one former student said, ‘he saw us.’ That is a rare gift and one that flowed naturally from Jerry, from a large heart, sharp mind, all encased in a soft demeanor and humor that delighted.”
birdie mcelroy said although her husband’s five books of published poetry that contain some of her own artwork may not have eclipsed his economic research, his poetry helps distinguish mcelroy as a true “renaissance man.”
“his gift to me as my husband was an abiding love, a kindness that enveloped me, a support for
atmosphere at the game differed noticeably from a typical notre dame football experience.
“The stadium was alive with excited football fans, and it was so much fun to reconnect with friends from school that you didn’t know you would be running into 600 miles away from home,” she said. “… i sat in a few parts of the stadium — ranging from directly off the lsu sideline to the upper bowl on the nd side — but i think that all parts felt incredibly energized.
“it was definitely a different experience than watching a home game from the student section, but it was the best of both worlds to be able to watch part of the game with my family in the stands yet also experience other parts with students from nd.”
pate said she sat in the student section, right next to the band of the fighting irish. she said the section was “very small but nonetheless lively.”
senior russell king, a drum major in the band of the fighting irish, said the band practiced once in nashville before their halftime show which featured versions of ariana grande’s “break free” and europe’s “The final countdown.”
my every endeavor and surely the greatest gift from one human being to another; the gift of knowing me deeply and accepting everything i am,” birdie mcelroy said.
close friend and colleague richard measell, who is the chair of the department of business and economics, said that besides being a true family man, mcelroy was also a professional and reliable professor, who always sought excellence but not perfection, and handled others with grace and understanding.
“saint mary’s has many truly outstanding people who have dedicated their lives to working here, but Jerry is part of the very few who definitely are the ‘best of the best,’” measell said. “Throughout his years here, he demonstrated
“it was cold, but we have fantastic fans who braved the weather to come support us [at practice before the bowl],” king said. “There were about 100 fans who came out that morning. The band had not marched in about a month so it was a well-needed rehearsal to polish the show.”
The band participated in several pre-game events in downtown nashville leading up to the bowl game, including a battle of the bands with lsu’s band, king said.
“The actual game is only a small part of the music city bowl experience,” he said. “a subset of the band played at the acc pep rally, the alumni kick-off at the rock bottom brewery and a nd tailgate at the acme feed & seed.
“however, by far the largest event was the battle of the bands. Thousands of people showed up to support both our band and the lsu marching Tigers. both bands marched side-by-side but in opposite directions on the main street of nashville.
“Then, the bands faced each other and went back and forth with our best songs. in my opinion, the knockout punch came with another stellar singing performance of ‘ooh poo pah doo’
excellence in teaching, scholarship and service.
“he loved his students dearly and always wanted them to learn as much as they could. ... Jerry knew how to relate well to others and his rapport with his students was remarkable — leading many to stay in touch with him after graduation.”
one of these former students, courtney parry, class of 2009, said she grew especially fond of mcelroy, as the two worked together researching, conducting data analyses and writing reviews of several publications.
“we worked well as a pair — he would identify a hypothesis (often in an area of island research, his specialty) and i would run the data to prove or disprove the
paid a dverT isemen T
by sophomore clarinetist michelle mann. however, lsu countered with their best song and the battle was declared a tie.”
sophomore kristen ochs, who came from ohio for the game, said the team’s performance in the last seconds of the game, especially senior kicker kyle brindza’s field goal in the last four seconds that put the irish up 31-28, left her optimistic for the prospects of the 2015 season.
“i think this game allowed for a brighter end to what many might call a disappointing season,” she said. “clearly, things can change quickly since we started out so well with high hopes and didn’t end very well at all.” pate said the team demonstrated more poise than she had expected.
“my biggest takeaway was the true grit of our team and how well they performed under the pressure of the game,” pate said. “i was very impressed. i’m looking forward to seeing how this win will transfer over to next season. i’m hoping it’ll give us a boost of confidence to start and finish the season strong.”
Contact Lesley Stevenson at lsteven1@nd.edu
hypothesis,” parry said. “i would identify the needed datasets, clean the data and run the models.”
The research parry conducted for her senior thesis was used in an article parry and mcelroy copublished her senior year. parry said she also helped mcelroy with a second article after she had graduated.
parry said she will remember mcelroy as a wonderful teacher and mentor along with his family who she grew close with over the years.
“in many ways, they [the mcelroy family] ‘are saint mary’s’ — kind, generous in spirit, faithful and supportive.”
Contact Kelly Konya at kkonya01@saintmarys.edu
‘i don’t know yet’
Isaac Lorton a ssistant managing e ditor
“i don’t know yet” is quickly becoming my life’s motto. o ver break i was asked, “ w hat are your plans after college?” more times, and in more unique ways, than i thought was possible. c onversations went like this:
“hey, how was first semester senior year? w hat are your plans after college?”
“how’s living off campus? w hat are your plans after college?”
“The c owboys paid off the refs. oh, and what are your plans after college?”
“pass the butter, will you? a nd what exactly are your plans after college?” my answer was almost always, “i don’t know exactly yet.”
The problem with my answer is that people expect a plan. e specially here at notre dame, where we are expected to have multiple internships, seven service trips and a firm grasp of c atholic dogma by the time we leave, most people assume that i know exactly what i will be doing after college. i simply don’t, and it is quite the anxiety causer for myself and others.
it is frightening to know that in four months and four days i will not have a college to return to (unless i try to get into grad school or law school — i don’t know about those yet either).
c ollege is a safety net. it’s not so much that i will miss college after i graduate, but i will miss having a place to be and things to do that appear to be a part of my master plan. graduate high school, check. g et into college, check. graduate college, most likely check. g et a job, i don’t yet. g et a lifelong, fulfilling, well-paid career, hold up.
obviously i am going to end up somewhere and i will be doing something. hopefully it will be someplace with four distinct seasons and no taxes and my job will be extremely highpaying and ridiculously easy.
it’s not like i haven’t been putting myself out there. i sent my resume to all future presidential candidates requesting that i be considered for the vice president position. They all sent it back saying i was too qualified because i had watched too many episodes of The west w ing and house of c ards. for all of those who are in a similar position, embrace “i don’t know yet” as your motto. Though it may be fearinducing to know that you don’t have anything sorted out after college, allow yourself to enjoy your final semester. a llow yourself to accept that as a 22-year-old, you don’t have the rest of your life planned out. it’s okay not to know yet.
Contact Isaac Lorton at ilorton@nd.edu
The views expressed in the Inside Column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
welcome to election season
Tim Scanlan pardon the p rose
f reshmen, welcome to n otre d ame’s s tudent g overnment election season, where the policies are made up and the votes don’t matter. n ow that’s not true, but it definitely got a few people on the second floor of l a f ortune very upset for a moment there. f or those of you who don’t know what’s coming, campuswide student government elections are around the corner. i n full disclosure, i am the survivor of two campus-wide elections, one for s ophomore c lass c ouncil ( i won!) and one for s tudent b ody vp ( i did not …). i loved both experiences and the people i met during them, but also gained an appreciation for the absurd circumstances you are often put in while engaging in campus elections.
o ver the next month or so, ambitious freshmen, sophomores and juniors will craft campaigns and platforms about the events they hope to run and their fresh, new ideas about how student government can positively impact your life at n otre d ame. i n honor of this annual tradition, here is a look at the inside of some of those campaigns, and a few fun quirks to look out for while your classmates are more stressed out than they thought possible.
p art of the fun during election season is looking at all the posters that pop up in the dorms. p oster design and distribution is an oddly refined art. n ever before have you debated the merits of a vertical orientation versus a horizontal one for 20 minutes, before deciding that the color scheme you’re going to use works best horizontally anyway. Taking into account the budget constraints (more on that in a moment), you might decide to outsource your poster-making to a small printing company out of town to cut down on direct material costs in order to enhance the quality of the paper you plan on plastering to every available space on campus. r emember when i said absurd? Think about that the next time you glance in the general direction of a campaign poster.
s omething to look out for over the next few weeks is the sound of someone knocking on your door. w hile last semester you could guarantee that it was a neighbor looking for an essential item he inexplicably forgot at home ( i was once asked for stick deodorant…), now it
edItorIal Cartoon
very well might be a stranger campaigning. awareness of this possibility is crucial, because although you may shout, “c ome in!” when someone knocks on your door, what you really meant was, “ i ’m in my underwear and need a minute!” i t’s a subtle difference, but could save everyone involved from an uncomfortable situation. The more you know.
l astly, you may be in the unfortunate position of being friends with one of those brave souls running for campus positions. i n that case, there are a few buzzwords that you’re going to want to be familiar with. f irst and foremost, the budget for campaigns is very tight (right around $100) and is a constant source of concern for campaign tickets. m aybe not even their own budgets, but definitely that of their competition. h ow did they get those posters? h ow much did they pay for social media ads? c an we spend flex points on strangers? a ll questions i ’ve heard (or asked myself) at some point. i f you hear the word “allegations” being thrown around, prepare to have your friend on the edge of a panic attack for the entirety of the process. a n allegation means someone, somewhere, has accused a campaign ticket of breaking the rules, and could have repercussions ranging from getting money taken away to having votes not counted. f riends don’t let friends deal with allegations alone. e ven if it seems silly to you, your friend has taken few things quite so seriously. i n the end, campus elections do serve an important purpose. f or class councils, you pick the people who will design class apparel and plan your official class activities (tailgates, service trips, bonfires, etc.). s tudent body elections are like picking the head of a union, representing your interest to the parent company (the u niversity of n otre d ame). a s students from across campus post on social media, plaster your hallway corkboard and knock on your door, remember that they most likely believe in what they’re doing and actually do want what’s best for the student body. g ive them a little of your time, cut them some slack and don’t forget to vote.
Tim Scanlan is a senior finance major with a minor in public policy. He is a former resident of Morrissey Manor. He encourages debate on his columns and can be reached with any comments or questions at tscanlan@nd.edu
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
practically pro-life
i f one were to judge c hristianity by its influence on mainstream politics in the united states, they might be struck by the religion’s obsessive focus on abortion, homosexuality and pre-marital sex. Those fighting against these things nearly always drape their arguments in c hristianity, while those fighting against poverty and hunger most often make secular arguments. under the mountain of sexual moralizing, one might never know that Jesus of nazareth said a great deal about the poor and dispossessed.
i n truth, abortion is the religious right’s greatest friend. it’s a terrific political distraction. The preachers tell their congregations that abortion is the most important issue of our time, and suddenly everything else takes a back seat. how many working class people have thrown their own interests to the wind because they put so much weight on this single issue?
it’s not that social issues are unimportant. They can be terribly important. but the more politicians of either persuasion get to talk about abortion, the fewer hard questions about their role in an intensely unequal society they have to endure. The term “pro-life” evokes battles over abortion, not over poverty, hunger, exploitation, insufficient wages, wars, imprisonment or lack of medical care — the biggest threats to human life and dignity. bishops deny communion to pro-choice politicians but not to the rich, despite Jesus explicitly condemning the latter and not the former. i suppose it’s better to keep the donations rolling in.
The abortion debate will not go away if we ignore it, but those who are pro-life must realize that their
politicians can do little to ban a constitutionally-recognized right to abortion, while they gleefully feed off the distractions and fervor surrounding the issue. so instead, look for reasonable action. w hile the country is polarized on the legality of abortion, all can agree on reducing the number of abortions. we can all become practically pro-life. This means examining the reasons why people seek abortions and addressing the underlying causes. even the most hard-core abortion opponents must recognize that banning abortion without reducing demand would lead to an underground black market of illegal, unsafe abortions.
a s it stands, i believe that no one wants to have an abortion — it is an option of last resort. i n 2004, researchers at the guttmacher i nstitute surveyed women seeking abortions. most cited multiple reasons for their decision, but when it came to primary reasons, 63 percent of women fell into categories broadly defined by simply not wanting a child, 23 percent could not afford to have a child and seven percent were motivated by their own health or the health of the fetus.
The 63 percent of abortions that derive primarily from unwanted pregnancies could be directly targeted if so many of the people fighting against abortion would stop fighting just as hard against responsible sex education, sexual liberation and freely available contraception. so many of the churches that will be marching in washington next week are the same forces pushing discredited theories of abstinenceonly education into our schools. Teenagers are going to have sex — a majority do before leaving high school. Those not taught about safe sex in school often carry on unsafe sexual practices for life. i f contraception is restricted, if it’s not discussed, if it’s shamed, then these people will be the first ones in line at the
abortion clinic.
The 23 percent of abortions that derive primarily from poor economic situations can only be addressed through reducing poverty, ensuring living wages, increasing workers’ rights and fighting systemic inequality. no one should be thrust into poverty by an unexpected pregnancy, and no one should have to choose between having the child they want and having something to eat. i f c hristians want to reduce these abortions, they have to actually listen to Jesus and stand with the poor — not through charity, but through real structural changes to the fundamentals of our economy. no system can be “pro-life” that does not ensure the essentials of human life and dignity for all.
The seven percent who abort for medical reasons will never totally go away, but the number can be greatly reduced in a society with full, comprehensive health care for all. nobody who fights against universal medical care can call themselves “pro-life” with any shred of honesty, yet there’s a blood fight over any perceived threat to the profits of insurance companies. so, those who want to reduce or eliminate abortion have a decision before them — will you march and shout and change little, or will you be pro-life in a practical sense and examine the structural problems that cause desperate people to seek out abortions? i f you’re not willing to do the latter, then you might want to examine your own motivations.
Billy McMahon is a senior studying Latin American history and is active in the labor movement. He welcomes all comments at wmcmahon@nd.edu
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
Alternative wiring, or living with Aspergers
w hile visiting my parents last year and looking for some late-night reading material, i flipped through my mom’s worn-out copy of one of Temple grandin’s memoirs. i got only about 50 pages in, i confess, but in the opening chapters, grandin described the way she perceived the world as a person with a sperger’s syndrome: how, for instance, she could vividly picture objects and places in her mind then manipulate them, mentally viewing them from angles she’d never seen with her own eyes.
The next morning, i mentioned grandin’s thought process — this way of “seeing” things — to my parents over breakfast. my mother’s reaction was immediate: she thought it was fascinating. but for my autistic father and me, grandin had managed to put something intangible into words; many of the ideas and mental processes she described were startlingly familiar, even if we’d never thought of them as anything but business as usual.
most people, i think, would be incensed if you inaccurately called them “autistic.” but when, over the last two years, i’ve mentioned to someone that i have a sperger’s, that admission is often met with laughter or incredulity. a nd while i’m certainly not offended — usually all they’re trying to do is tell me that they don’t find me somehow deficient or don’t picture me however they picture an “autistic” person — it puts me in an odd place. how can i be proud or ashamed of the way i’m wired when i’ve never known anything else? a s a species, humans don’t think much about the way we think. so long as i seem to make the mental jumps from point a to c , nobody really notices or cares if i ever get to b. That’s how i like to think of the way i experience a sperger’s, or so-called “highfunctioning” autism (an outdated label). on a good
day, i deal with adult life’s problems approximately as well as anyone else does, without special help, even if i solve those problems using vastly different logics. a nd because the way i navigate the world is evidently similar enough to a nonautistic — or “neurotypical” — person, i often pass as quirky, not functionally different.
i’ll give you an example using something i find very difficult: reading facial expressions. i gather that most people can intuitively “know” people’s feelings by looking at their face. but i have to break expressions down into parts — eyes, mouth, brow and so on — and consider each facial structure individually. Then, i compare that combination of features to what i know certain expressions are composed of: most people frown when sad or grumpy, for instance, but some also frown while deep in thought. That’s how i “read” them. it’s a multistep process, but it works. of course, human faces aren’t so easily quantified, and sometimes i just get it flat wrong. ( w hen my mother cried at my high school graduation, i had to frequently stop myself from asking what upset her.) a nd there are some people i find inscrutable, no matter how hard i try. but by and large, i’ve become very good at it, and i’ve had 20 years to practice. nonautistic people have misunderstandings all the time; i’m not special in that regard. so why does it matter if i’m “wired” differently, if i’m not so obviously affected by my autism that people can’t help but notice? until i came to uc berkeley, that was more or less my way of thinking. autism, at least in the competitive public schools i attended, was a liability; to avoid both ridicule and the bureaucratic nightmare of opting out of learning disability programs, my parents and i spent an enormous amount of time and energy training me not to do a sperger’s-y things. a nother example: one of my most visible, classically autistic behaviors has always been my difficulty looking people in the eye. it’s often physically
uncomfortable for me, like staring into the headlights of an oncoming car. but my father conditioned a 6-year-old me to do it anyway, even going so far as inventing a “look at me” hand gesture he’d use when he spied my gaze inappropriately slipping. a nd maybe you’ve spoken to me and noticed it yourself — though i’ve yet to master the delicate rhythm of making and breaking eye contact so crucial to polite conversation, i can usually fake it well enough to get by.
but as an adult with a sperger’s — an adult entering a world in which one in 68 children is diagnosed with an autism-spectrum disorder — i no longer try so desperately to hide. i’m less afraid these days to avert my eyes or ask for clarification when i can’t tell from someone’s face if they’re being sarcastic. i f, statistically, everyone has met or will meet someone whose brain is wired like mine, my behavior won’t exist in a vacuum. perhaps a day will come when a sperger’s won’t be this nebulous thing i have to compensate for or rationalize away but merely a different way of functioning, like someone writing with their left hand instead of their right. a nd in the meantime, the least i can do is help those around me understand how i think, just as i’m always growing better at understanding them.
my mother later met Temple grandin by chance on a flight to philadelphia. she told grandin she had an autistic child in college and asked if she had any words of wisdom. grandin’s sage advice to me? “g et a job.” a nti-climactic? maybe. but the idea that a sperger’s isn’t so strange anymore so as to leave me unemployably, alienatingly weird? That sentiment is damn uplifting.
The Daily Californian is an independent, student-run newspaper coverimg both the University of California, Berkeley and the city of Berkeley.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
Billy McMahon blue c ollar blues
G. Haley Massara
The daily c alifornian
uWIre
By ALLIE TOLLAKSEN
s cene e ditor
george clooney is known as a prankster, the sexiest man a live and, of course, an award-winning actor, but he’s also notorious in hollywood for growing into his role as an activist. from speaking out for gender equality in the documentary “half the sky” to getting arrested for protesting in sudan, clooney has certainly established himself as a socially conscious celebrity. it was fitting, then, that the 53-year-old actor was given the cecil b demille award for lifetime achievement at the 2015 golden globes, as the awards as a whole seemed to take a more socially conscious turn this year.
hosted by a my poehler and Tina fey for their third and final year, the 72nd golden globes kicked off this sunday with a jaw-dropping bang. The hilarious co-hosts and best friends started the night by calling the a-list crowd a “bunch of despicable, spoiled, minimally-talented brats.”
The comment set the stage for what seemed like the most self- and socially-aware award shows in recent history. much of the program continued along this vein, with r icky gervais, a three-time former host of the awards himself, echoing poehler and fey’s opening lines by mocking celebrity's privilege, insisting that the famous live “above the law” and telling the crowd: “no one wants to see me insult any of you rich, beautiful, over-privileged celebrities.”
Turning a critical eye on hollywood, fey and poehler also didn’t back away from commenting on the bill cosby scandal, finishing their opening monologue (dialogue?)
with a bold bit about cosby’s rape allegations. Though the joke’s tastefulness has been debated, there’s no question of whether the co-hosts shied away from not just controversial, but important issues in the film and television world.
fey and poehler continued to get laughs and hit hard with smart jokes about being women in hollywood and pointing out the accomplishments of george clooney’s remarkable lawyer and activist wife, a mal a lamuddin, while “her husband is getting the lifetime achievement award.”
fey, who delivered the a mal joke, was met with applause as she laughed and said to poehler, “so stupid.” poehler replied only with the word “hollywood.”
but while the show’s hosts and presenters cleverly took jabs at the vapidity of hollywood, this year’s golden globe winners managed to shine a little light on the industry’s good side.
several larger social issues were passionately spoken about at this year’s awards, one of which was the recent charlie hebdo attack. w hen accepting his lifetime achievement award, george clooney called the marches after the attack “extraordinary.” clooney ended his speech with a comment of solidarity, saying, “[They] didn’t march in protest; they marched in support of the idea that we will not walk in fear. we won’t do it. so, Je suis charlie.”
other celebrities wore “Je suis charlie” pins on the red carpet, and nearly all in attendance stood to applaud Theo k ingma, president of the hollywood foreign press a ssn., after his speech honoring the victims.
a s more awards were announced, golden globe
winners brought awareness of other issues to the stage, as actor Jeffrey Tambor did while accepting the award for best actor in a comedy for his role as a trans woman in a mazon’s series “Transparent” and dedicated his award to the trans community.
a fter winning best song for “glory” in the film “selma,” common, alongside fellow winner John legend, used his acceptance speech to discuss the connections between the film and civil rights issues and police brutality occurring today.
w hen “downton abbey” star Joanna frogatt accepted her award for best actress in a series, miniseries or T v movie, she spoke out for victims of rape after portraying a victim of rape on the pbs series.
matt bomer won best actor in a in a series, miniseries or T v movie for his role in “The normal heart,” a film about the aids epidemic in the 1980s. w hen accepting his award, bomer closed his speech by acknowledging victims of hiv/aids
“To the generation that we lost, and the people we continue to lose to this disease, i just want to say, we love you. a nd we remember you,” bomer said.
There were several other speeches and nominations that added to the air of social consciousness for the night, perhaps suggesting an improvement hollywood’s portrayal of social issues and marginalized groups. a nd while the golden globe attendees and viewers got to laugh at the expense of celebrities in the room, it was refreshing to see those stars get on stage and give others a share of the spotlight.
Contact Allie Tollaksen at atollaks@nd.edu
By CAELIN MILTKO
s cene writer
The bbc series “sherlock” is, without a doubt, one of the best television shows i’ve watched. each episode is a work of art and leaves me wanting more. between that and my short-lived obsession with the less impressive cbs series “elementary,” i was inspired to read "The complete collection of sherlock holmes” by sir a rthur conan doyle last winter break.
i didn’t. i meant to, but i started “a study in scarlet” and found myself in the same spot i’d been stuck in the entire time my sophomore english class read “The hound of the baskervilles.” i was bored. for whatever reason, despite his literary acclaim, i can never quite get into conan doyle’s prose (even though i find it quite spectacular when brought to life on screen).
still, over this break, when i went to pick up a new release to write about for the beginning of the semester, i picked a sherlock holmes book, though not one written by conan doyle himself. rather, it is the fourth book to be sanctioned by the conan doyle estate (though many other holmes-related books have been published) and the second by author a nthony horowitz. of course, i
picked up “moriarty” because i’ve always been fascinated by the literary villain whose last name i (almost) share.
“moriarty” picks up at the reichenbach falls and follows pinkerton agent frederick chase and scotland yard inspector athelney Jones (introduced in conan doyle’s “The sign of four”) as they use moriarty’s apparent death to track down an a merican criminal who seems posed to take over the london underworld in the dearth left by the eponymous character.
i will admit, i wasn’t impressed with the novel until the last few chapters. at one point, i wondered how the conan doyle estate could sanction a novel that was such a blatant rip off the originals. chase plays the poor man’s dr. watson to inspector Jones’ less brilliant holmes. horowitz’s writing was good, and by the time i’d read enough to fully understand the parallel, i was rather invested in the task the pair had set for themselves. i needed to read them through capturing devereaux, and i desperately needed to resolve the fairly obvious inconsistencies in each of the crimes they encountered.
it was this last bit that really kept me going. The mysterious moriarty had made only brief appearances in the novel (and really, only as a dead man), so i wanted to
know how in the world he could be important enough to lend his name to the title of the book. additionally, even i could see that certain things never quite matched up the way Jones proposed they did, and i wanted to know how horowitz resolved it.
it is, of course, the resolution that makes “moriarty” a fun novel to read. i, at least, never quite guessed where the story was headed; when all was finally revealed, i just about jumped in my seat. instantly, i forgave horowitz for any bits that seemed like they came straight from conan doyle’s original stories. looking back on it, the revelation seems fairly obvious. it is the only possible solution. i think, perhaps, this is the way any great sherlock holmes novel should make us feel — excited by the resolution, confused as to how we missed the obvious signs and perhaps a little disgruntled that we didn’t quite find it ourselves.
a ll in all, “moriarty” was everything i could ask for in a holmes or mystery novel. perhaps horowitz will inspire me to try conan doyle again sometime, but for now, his newest novel was a perfect break with the character who has always been my favorite literary villain.
Contact Caelin Miltko at cmoriari@nd.edu
A harmonious ending
Notre Dame bests LSU, 31-28, on last-second field goal in Music City Bowl
Music City Bowl should set blueprint for 2015
Brian
Hartnett managing e ditor
as I stood on the grass at LP Field after my final game as a college student, a 31-28 Notre Dame victory over LSU in tuesday’s Franklin american mortgage music city bowl, I saw an Irish team that appeared happier than it had been in a long time. and it was for good reason.
Notre Dame had been in danger of entering the off-season with five straight losses.
the Irish had been considered major underdogs against a team from the Sec a depleted Irish defense had been manhandled over the second half of the season — the 28 points the defense allowed against LSU tuesday marked the lowest point total it had given up in a game since the 17-14 victory over Stanford on oct. 4. but fears were erased and the past forgotten, at least for a while, with Notre Dame’s strong performance against an LSU team that featured one of the top five scoring defenses in the nation.
Now, I’m not a big believer that bowl results carry over to a team’s next game. In between those two games, there are enough graduation losses, coaching changes, recruiting flips and defections, suspensions and starting rotation adjustments to stall any semblance of momentum a team might have acquired.
but, with that being said, Notre Dame’s performance on tuesday provided a solid blueprint for the future and credence to the notion that 2015 can and should be “the year” for the Irish.
Sophomore quarterback malik Zaire presented a solid case for why he should be the starter next season, running fearlessly against a physical tigers defense and racking up 96 yards through the air. While the Notre Dame roster lists Zaire as being the same height as and only 10 pounds heavier than senior quarterback everett Golson, Zaire held up well on his runs, often pushing for extra yards, and even threw a block on a touchdown run by sophomore running back tarean Folston.
By BRIAN HARTNETT managing editor
NaSHv ILLe, tenn. —
receiving the ball on its own 15yard line with 5:41 on the clock in the fourth quarter and the score tied at 28 in the Franklin american mortgage music city bowl at LP Field on tuesday, Notre Dame found itself in a situation it had been in before.
the team had seen three of its last four games — arizona State, Northwestern and Louisville — come down to the final minutes and in one case, even overtime.
tuesday’s game followed much the same script. In this case, however, the result was different — the Irish (8-5) came out on the winning end, topping No. 23 LSU, 31-28, on a
last-second 32-yard field goal by senior kicker Kyle brindza to end their season on a high note.
“anytime you get a victory in the manner that we got it because it was an important component that we were not finishing off … when you work so hard at something, you need to start to see the benefits of that,” Irish head coach brian Kelly said. “and [the players] were working hard, they were preparing hard, but they weren’t seeing the benefits of that. and that was, they weren’t seeing the wins.”
the benefits of tuesday’s game extended beyond the victory, Notre Dame’s first over an Sec opponent since 2005. the Irish utilized a two-quarterback system, powerful rushing attack
and timely stops from a depleted defense to best the tigers (8-5, 4-4 Sec).
Notre Dame gained 263 rushing yards on 51 attempts against an LSU defense that had allowed the fourth-fewest points nationally entering the game. of those yards, 96 came from sophomore quarterback malik Zaire, making his first career start, and 73 came from sophomore running back tarean Folston, as the two combined for 45 carries. Zaire added 96 passing yards, while senior quarterback everett Golson threw for 90 yards.
“our approach was control the clock,” Folston said. “I feel like that’s what we did. … I feel like we did a great job of ball
“We dictated the outcome by controlling
Split-QB gameplan leads to Irish victory
By MARY GREEN Sports e ditor
NaSH v ILLe, tenn. — Notre Dame’s final drive of the Franklin a merican mortgage music city bowl was unlike anything the Irish had done this season — and it won them the game tuesday. Sophomore malik Zaire started and ended the last series at quarterback, but head coach brian Kelly switched his signal caller four different times on that drive, alternating between Zaire and senior everett Golson. Zaire took three snaps. Golson took three snaps. Zaire took two. Golson took four. Zaire took the final two, then held senior kicker Kyle brindza’s game-winning field goal.
For all the quarterback controversy before the game over who would lead the Irish (8-5), it seems the best option for Kelly might have been to split time instead of give one all the snaps.
“there were plays that, just being familiar with both of them, that I felt they could execute and help us move the ball down the field,” Kelly said. “So [I] went back to just a feeling of what I believe that they could execute in a very crucial situation of the game, and that’s kind of how I called the game in that last series, really tried to fit it to what I believed that those players felt comfortable with.”
Zaire impressed in his first career start, throwing for 96 yards and one touchdown and completing 12 of his 15 attempts. He also picked up 96 yards and a score on the ground en route to earning the game’s mv P award.
Perhaps most importantly for Notre Dame’s chances to beat the tigers (8-5, 4-4 Sec), he did not turn the ball over, either.
“Part of the making the decision to start him was to find out how we were going to move forward and effectively craft and put together a game plan for both of them,” Kelly said. “… I couldn’t have done it without starting him and playing him and getting a feel for the game.”
Golson came in on the third Irish drive, at the beginning of the second quarter. He totaled 90 passing yards, including a
Irish head coach brian Kelly on Notre Dame’s gameplan against LSU in the music city bowl.
KEVIN SONG | The Observer
Notre Dame sophomore quarterback Malik Zaire tries to evade tackles by LSU junior linebacker Lamar Louis, right, and senior safety Ronald Martin during Notre Dame’s 31-28 victory over the Tigers on Dec. 30.
rEPOr T Card
QUarTE rbaCks
In his first start, malik Zaire executed the gameplan to near perfection, completing 10 of his 12 passes and adding 96 yards on the ground. everett Golson helped the Irish move the ball deep down field, particularly on their last series of the game.
rU nning baCks
tarean Folston capped off a solid season with another decent performance, rushing for 73 yards on 21 carries and one touchdown. cam mcDaniel and Greg bryant didn’t see the field too often, but the running game was bolstered by Zaire and sweeps to c.J. Prosise.
rECEiv E rs
None of the Notre Dame receivers had a breakout game, and the unit had a few drops, but the Irish were still able to get separation against one of the top secondaries in the nation. Prosise lifted Notre Dame out of its only deficit in the game with a strong 50-yard touchdown run.
OffE nsiv E lin E
the offensive line imposed its will all game against one of the Sec’s top defenses. the offensive line opened holes and allowed the Irish to rush for 263 yards and control the ball for 37 minutes, two factors that were key to its successful gameplan.
dE fE nsiv E li n E
the defensive line did not have the easiest day against LSU’s rushing attack, allowing 7.5 yards per carry. the line, however, did make two big stops, stuffing an LSU fake fieldgoal attempt in the second quarter and blocking an LSU field-goal try in the fourth quarter.
lin E baCkE rs
Notre Dame’s linebackers struggled to contain LSU’s running backs in the second level and defend underneath passing routes. the unit did continue to get valuable experience, as Nyles morgan and James onwualu notched four tackles apiece.
dE fE nsivE baCks
Notre Dame’s secondary mostly contained LSU, though the tigers are hardly known for their passing attack. max redfield recorded 14 tackles, but was also out of position several times. the unit surrendered a 75-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter.
sPECial TEams
Kyle brindza ended his career on a high note, drilling a 32-yard field goal just as time expired. but the team’s kickoff unit completely broke down on Fournette’s 100-yard kickoff return touchdown. to brindza’s credit, he kept the ball out of Fournette’s hands after that.
COaChing
Irish head coach brian Kelly used his extra bowl game prep practices successfully, designing a gameplan that would keep pressure off Notre Dame’s depleted defense and allow the Irish to control the clock against a talented LSU squad. LSU had no answer for Zaire, particularly on the ground, and Kelly aided Notre Dame’s final drive by putting in Golson to try some deeper passes.
Ov E rall g Pa: 3.11 (b)
Notre Dame gave its fans a strong glimpse of what soon could be with a solid performance against a talented Sec opponent. the offensive gameplan played to Zaire’s strengths and incorporated new looks for which LSU had no answer. this gameplan suited the defense by keeping it off the field, but the Irish defense also stepped up when it was needed most.
O f Th E gam E
security, keeping the ball out of their hands.
“… We knew the game plan was going to be run-heavy. We knew that it wasn’t going to be just straight big plays. We had to take the three- and four-yard carries and keep that clock moving.”
the Irish set the tone with their first and last drives, which produced 10 points, 29 plays and 137 yards in 13:37 of game time. Notre Dame held the ball for a total of 37 minutes in the contest.
“they were the best drives we had this season in terms of exerting our will on our opposition against a very good football team in LSU, controlling the clock,” Kelly said. “We dictated the outcome by controlling the football.”
Notre Dame’s first drive, which featured Zaire exclusively behind center, ended with a 12-yard touchdown pass from Zaire to sophomore receiver Will Fuller, who tied a program single-season record with his 15th touchdown catch.
the final drive for the Irish featured four quarterback changes before brindza’s successful attempt. Golson took over at Notre Dame’s 42-yard line and completed passes of 14, 16 and eight yards before Zaire came in for the game’s final three plays.
Kelly said the team relished the opportunity to prove itself in the final stretches of the game.
“they played hard, they played for four quarters and really, the mantra for us was, ‘Get this in the fourth quarter and find a way to win,’” he said.
the Irish matched LSU score
for score, responding with a seven-yard touchdown run by Zaire in the early second quarter after the tigers had knotted the game at seven, a six-yard touchdown run by Folston after LSU had tied it at 14 in the second quarter and a 50-yard run off a sweep by junior receiver c.J. Prosise when LSU had taken its first lead of the game in the third quarter.
Prosise said it was imperative for the team to stick to Kelly’s game plan, even after going down one score.
“When [Kelly] said trust him, that’s what everybody did,” he said. “[We wanted to] get to the fourth quarter, and then we gotta make plays as a team, and I think that’s what we did.”
Defensively, a Notre Dame unit that had allowed a combined 178 points in its last four games, all losses, surrendered several big plays.
the Irish allowed three touchdown drives that took up a combined 38 seconds. two of these touchdown drives came courtesy of tigers freshman running back Leonard Fournette, who returned brindza’s kickoff 100 yards in the second quarter and had an 89-yard touchdown run in the middle of the third quarter. another quick strike came on a 75-yard touchdown pass from LSU sophomore quarterback anthony Jennings to sophomore tight end DeSean Smith at the start of the third quarter.
the Irish, however, kept LSU at bay with several key stops. Notre Dame’s defense held the tigers on the goal line with seven seconds to go in the first half after LSU attempted a fake field goal with junior holder brad Kragthorpe and
blocked a 40-yard field goal attempt with 11:56 left in the game.
LSU head coach Les miles said all indications pointed toward the fake field goal attempt being a touchdown. the initial ruling that the football did not cross the goal line stood after review.
“Just before the half, they tell me that with all the review I could get from the field, that the ball crosses the goal line,” miles said. “and in fact, if that’s the case, then we need a better way to communicate that to us. We need to see it better on the field.”
With the defense’s recent struggles, the return of contributors like junior defensive lineman Sheldon Day and graduate student cornerback cody riggs on tuesday provided much-needed support, Kelly said.
“We were beat up and tired in the wake of the season,” he said. “So getting the [returning players] there really rejuvenated our football team, particularly our defense, and quite frankly we kept our defense off the field.”
Kelly was quick to emphasize the win had more implications for the 2014 season than it did for the 2015 season, but the victory establishes the Irish as a team that could compete nationally, Folston said.
“It just shows that we can compete with the best, and we can beat the best, as long as we execute and stick to the gameplan,” he said.
Notre Dame will return to game action when the Irish host texas at Notre Dame Stadium on Sept. 5, 2015.
Contact Brian Hartnett at bhartnet@nd.edu
Irish improve bowl record
By MARY GREEN Sports e ditor
N a SH v ILL e , tenn. —
kyl E b rindza’s 32-yard g am E-winning f i E ld gO al
after over 59 minutes of action, the game once again came down to an area in which Notre Dame struggled over the second half of the season — special teams. brindza, however, ended his up-and-down season and career with a make from 32 yards out to give the Irish the season-ending win.
Notre Dame brought its alltime bowl record to 17-17 with tuesday’s win. It was the second straight Irish bowl victory after last year’s win against r utgers in the New e ra Pinstripe b owl. t he Irish are 6-5 all time
against LSU, a record that includes three bowl games (1-2). t hey are also 6-5 in postseason play against current S ec teams.
Notre Dame became the first non-S ec team to hand a loss to a team in the S ec -West division in 2014. Its 31 points were the third-most allowed by the t igers this season.
s pecial teams shine Senior kicker Kyle b rindza’s game-winning, 32-yard field goal marked the seventh time in program history that the Irish have won a game on a field goal as time expired. D.J. Fitzpatrick was the last Notre Dame kicker to accomplish that feat, with a 40-yard
see NoteS PAGe 3
KEVIN SONG | The Observer
Irish senior kicker Kyle Brindza kicks a 32-yard field goal with no time left to give Notre Dame a 31-28 victory over LSU in the Music City Bowl on Dec. 30.
with 14 tackles. 1
2
29-yard connection with junior receiver chris brown, and was successful on six of his 11 attempts.
Kelly pointed to a particular play on the final drive, an incompletion to sophomore receiver Will Fuller, in which Golson took a hard hit that briefly sent him to the locker room to get a shot in his ribs.
“First time he’s ever done that since he’s been here at Notre Dame, to come back out and play, I was really proud of him,” Kelly said.
though Golson was replaced by Zaire for the bowl game after
Blueprint
a lthough Zaire made his way to the forefront of the quarterback conversation, it would shortsighted not to mention Golson’s contribution. the senior had multiple clutch passes during Notre Dame’s gamewinning drive.
While there is substantial incentive for Golson to look elsewhere if Zaire is named next season’s starter early, Notre Dame certainly can benefit from his veteran presence — after all, we’re talking about a player who, however briefly, was in the Heisman trophy conversation this season.
Handling of the quarterback position will once again come down to head coach brian Kelly, who deserves credit for a welldeveloped game plan against the tigers. Kelly didn’t ask Zaire to do too much, keeping most of Zaire’s passes short and reads
starting all 12 regular season games, Kelly said next season’s quarterback competition is far from settled.
“this really was just about this game, playing both of them,” Kelly said. “my focus was about winning this game, and we’ll figure out the quarterback situation in January, so this was just about utilizing both of their skills to get a win today.”
Fuller said he did not think there was any love lost between the two quarterbacks after Zaire was named the starter.
“I think I brought it up to malik that everett’s been starting this whole season, and now a year in, he’s not in right now, and he’s still giving him tips,”
basic. more importantly, he kept the ball in Notre Dame’s hands for 37 minutes, which kept the Irish defense fresh and took away opportunities from LSU’s offense.
With five losses in his fifth year, Kelly’s season was not an unqualified success, but in the season’s final game, Kelly established a formula that could be quite successful next year: keep opposing defenses on their toes with the running threat of Zaire under center, feed the ball to Folston and utilize an offensive line that could be quite dominant, get the ball to playmaking receivers, such as sophomore Will Fuller, in open space and win the time of possession battle.
a nd fortunately for the Irish, there is a very low probability that their defense will be ravaged by injury as much as it was this season. that factor, plus the likely possibility that all major defensive contributors minus
Fuller said. “that just shows the love we have for one another, and it’s just great.”
Zaire tipped his cap to his fellow quarterback and said that knowing they would split time helped them to work together tuesday.
“I know we’re still competitive, we’re still getting after it, but still, we had that mindset that we’ve got to do this for the team, and we’re going to push each other to be great,” he said. “… I’m glad we got the chance to do that, and it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out next year, and I’m looking forward.”
Contact Mary Green at mgreen8@nd.edu
graduate student cornerback cody riggs will return next season, should lessen the pressure on Notre Dame’s offense to outscore all opponents.
these factors make it possible for me to see a bright future in early January. the decisions made by both players and coaches over the next few months will dictate Notre Dame’s short- and long-term future.
but the lessons learned and plays made in a win over a good Sec opponent in Nashville on tuesday should not be forgotten. If they’re continued and developed over the course of the next few months, 2015 may very well be a happier year for Notre Dame and its fans.
Contact Brian Hartnett at bhartnet@nd.edu
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
3
nOTr E d am E 7, ls U 0
Will Fuller 12-yard pass from Zaire (brindza kick) 7:04 remaining
nOTr E d am E 7, ls U 7
winner against Navy in 2003. Sophomore defensive lineman Isaac r ochell’s blocked field goal in the fourth quarter was Notre Dame’s sixth blocked kick of the season. t he last time the team reached that number was in 2006.
Fuller continues impressive season
Sophomore receiver Will Fuller grabbed his 15th touchdown reception of the season in the first quarter. t he score ties him with Jeff Samardzija (2005), r hema mcKnight (2006) and Golden tate (2009) for the most in a single season.
Fuller added 57 receiving yards tuesday to up his season total to 1,094, a new record for Irish sophomore receivers.
List of starters grows
Sophomore quarterback m alik Zaire, freshman tight end tyler Luatua, sophomore offensive lineman m ike mcGlinchey and freshman defensive lineman a ndrew trumbetti all made their first career starts for Notre Dame. Including trumbetti, 20 different players have started on defense for the Irish this season. o nly three of those players started all 13 games.
Contact Mary Green at mgreen8@nd.edu
4
Passing
Leonard Fournette eight-yard run (Domingue kick)
0:05
remaining
Drive: Eight plays, 76 yards, 2:36 elapsed
nOTr E d am E 14, ls U 7
malik Zaire seven-yard run (brindza kick)
11:04
remaining
Drive: 11 plays, 75 yards, 4:01 elapsed
nOTr E d am E 14, ls U 14
Fournette 100-yard kickoff return (Domingue kick)
10:52
remaining
Drive: One play, 100 yards, 0:12 elapsed
nOTr E d am E 21, ls U 14
tarean Folston six-yard run (brindza kick)
6:12
remaining
Drive: 10 plays, 59 yards, 4:32 elapsed
nOTr E d am E 21, ls U 21
John Diarse 75-yard pass from Jennings (Domingue kick) 14:46 remaining
Drive: One play, 75 yards, 0:14 elapsed ls U 28, nOTr E dam E 21
Fournette 89-yard run (Domingue kick)
6:14 remaining
Drive: One play, 89 yards, 0:12 elapsed
ls U 28, nOTr E d am E 28
c.J. Prosise 50-yard run (brindza kick)
4:15 remaining
Drive: Four plays, 67 yards, 1:51 elapsed
nOTr E d am E 31, ls U 28
Kyle brindza 32-yard field goal
0:00 remaining
Drive: 14 plays, 71 yards, 5:41 elapsed
Drive: 15 plays, 66 yards, 7:56 elapsed s TaT is T iCs
Irish sophomore safety Max Redfield, right, tackles LSU sophomore quarterback Anthony Jennings in Notre Dame’s 31-28 win over the Tigers in the Music City Bowl. Redfield led the Irish
After losing four straight games to end the regular season, Notre Dame closed the book on 2014 with a 31-28 victory over LSU in the Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tennessee. Behind sophomore quarterback Malik Zaire, making his first career start, Notre Dame rushed for 263 yards and threw for 186 more. With the victory, the Irish closed the season at 8-5 and finished 26th in the final AP Poll.
KEVIN SONG | The Observer
LSU junior quarterback and holder Brad Kragthorpe dives for the end zone on a fake field-goal attempt in Notre Dame’s 31-28 victory over the Tigers in the Music City Bowl on Dec. 30. Kragthorpe was ruled short of the end zone, and LSU turned the ball over on downs with just secondss to go before halftime.
KEVIN SONG | The Observer
Irish sophomore running back Tarean Folston cradles the ball in Notre Dame’s 31-28 win over LSU in the Music City Bowl on Dec. 30. Folston rushed for 73 yards and one touchdown in the victory.
KEVIN SONG | The Observer
Irish sophomore receiver Will Fuller runs in for the touchdown to put Notre Dame up 7-0 against LSU.
KEVIN SONG | The Observer
Irish junior receiver C.J. Prosise dives at the end of his 50-yard touchdown run against LSU.
KEVIN SONG | The Observer
Irish sophomore receiver Will Fuller snags a pass during Notre Dame’s 31-28 victory. Fuller caught his 15th touchdown pass of the season in the game.
By MIKO MALABUTE
leading up to its release, it was quite impossible to not hear about the movie “The interview.” The parody movie centered on stars James franco and seth rogan dealing with the task of assassinating k im Jong-un, the supreme leader of the democratic people’s republic of korea, colloquially known as north korea. with the well-publicized hacks of sony pictures entertainment’s headquarters allegedly by the hacker group “guardians of peace,” more and more media outlets circled around the seemingly average movie, now surrounded by above-average controversy. with each leak of sony officials' personal information and email conversations, and with each alleged threat from faceless cyber terrorists released to sony to pull the movie from theaters, the hype surrounding “The interview” continued to swell more and more. a nd as pressure continued to mount from both allegedly north korean groups as well as people stateside for sony to shut down the release
of “The interview,” the hype finally swelled so much that it reached a breaking point, a point where the once easily forgettable movie now became a must-see. Tweets from hollywood stars rob lowe, michael moore and ben stiller — and even from former gop presidential candidate mitt romney — urged sony pictures to not “cave,” and continue with its plans to release the film.
a nd just like that, people rushed to see the film any way that they could. people who had been undoubtedly up to their lungs in “The interview” coverage went to select theaters and purchased on demand copies to see what the fuss was all about. president obama even took the time to commend sony pictures for releasing the film, and sentiments of “freedom of speech” seemed to deck the halls all throughout the holiday season.
Then people watched the movie, and it seemed, at best, about as average as it was initially thought to be. a bit above mediocre, but for someone like myself who focused on not working out over break, this movie was not funny enough to build up washboard abs from laughing. yet, even as the reviews seemed to come pouring in
on various media outlets, people could not stop going to watch the film. a nd it became clear this movie wasn’t about the movie. it was about a bit more.
The act of seeing the film was more than about getting a cheap laugh in. as surely one of the bigger headlines in the latter half of 2014, people had to be a part of entertainment history. a nd as a result, the movie industry seemingly took another step forward, with the major film’s release a success from both movie theater screenings and video on demand sales. however, even more than that, it was a loud, resounding message that as a democratic society, we can and will be able to do what we desire, that threats of retaliation were not enough to dictate our actions and censorship. a s a society, people had to stand for something, or fall for the pressure from cyber terrorism. a nd the overwhelming decision was to take a stand, by plopping down, taking a seat to get a couple of chuckles and cheap laughs by watching yet another franco and rogan slightly-above-average film.
Contact Miko Malabute at mmalabut@nd.edu
By ADAM RAMOS s cene writer
last semester, i unfortunately didn’t get the chance to watch much T v with my extremely busy college schedule, sitting down and enjoying some of my favorite T v shows went right out the window. Thankfully, this upcoming week is syllabus week, and i am more than determined to not squander this once-in-a-semester opportunity of having such a light workload to finally catch up on my favorites. luckily for me, and you, comedy central is rolling out a week saturated with season and show premieres, sure to put the “silly” in syllabus week (it will be funnier than my pun i promise).
last night began comedy central’s premier week with the start of the third and final season of nick k roll’s hilarious self-titled show. Though sketch shows may be becoming more and more popular, its k roll’s all-star cast that sets it apart. comics like Jon mulaney, Jenny slate and chelsea peretti help k roll make each character and sketch dynamic and funny. k roll’s satirical depiction of pop culture is a great combination of smarts and silliness, and his eccentric set of characters like “bobby bottleservice,” “ref Jeff” and “c-czar” is always
entertaining. catch the k roll show Tuesdays at 10:30 p.m.
The comedic duo abbi Jackson and l lana glazer are back for their second season on Jan. 14, with all the raw indecency we came to love last season. produced by the comedy goddess, a my poehler, “broad city” captures an uncomfortably in-depth look into the lives of two young new york socialites struggling in more ways then one. yet, it’s the tremendously strong comedic chemistry between the two leading starlets that makes the show so great. with a little help from comedian hannibal buress, the girls look to continue their powerful force in a mostly male-dominated area of comedy. if the ridiculous “workaholics” teaser has any indication of what’s to come, the fifth season is going to be just as fun as the its predecessors. a n odd cross between “scar face” and “The walking dead,”and ending with the reassurance that none of the absurd michael bay-ish stunts will actually be in the season, the teaser is certainly worth a watch if nothing else. The hard partying trio of a nders holm, blake a nderson and adam devine will be back again Jan. 14 at 10:30 p.m. Tonight the stoner triumvirate will return with a trip back to college, which will promise some hilarious pitfalls, i am sure.
with stephen colbert's move to "The late show” and the ending of the comedy central staple, “colbert report,” the network will be ushering a new satirical news show on Jan. 19 at 11:30 p.m., appropriately named “The nightly show.” The new late night will star the emmy award winning larry wilmore and will offer a broad perspective on current pop culture and politics. certainly experienced, wilmore has acted, produced and written for comedies such as “The daily show,” “The office” and “The bernie mac show,” yet the question will be if he has the talent to capture what made the “The colbert report” so special. comedy central’s other daily show, Jon stewart’s long time running program, also boasts an impressive lineup this week with former u s president Jimmy carter on monday, senator marco rubio on Tuesday andthe lovely Julianne moore on wednesday.
regardless of your comedic tastes, comedy central will have you covered this week, and i would definitely recommend going out of your comfort zone for some of the newer programs. with all the new talent oozing from comedy central, i would certainly not wish to miss what is to come.
Contact Adam Ramos at aramos6@nd.edu
s cene writer
CFP provides exciting finish
Samantha Zuba a ssistant managing e ditor
we made it. The first c ollege football p layoff ( cfp ) happened. a nd now we can talk about it.
The new ranking system and postseason format unfolded with a fanfare of doubts, questions and debate. now, finally, those discussions can shift from speculation to reflection.
The image doesn’t look half bad.
The most obvious positive: the freshly minted champions would not have made the championship game under the old system. a fter the last week of the regular season, the b uckeyes were ranked no. 4 in the cfp and usa Today rankings and no. 5 in the ap poll. e ven in the new playoff system, o hio s tate “sneaked” into the playoffs as the lowest seed. vaunted no. 1 a labama couldn’t get it done. neither could the undefeated no. 3 s eminoles. e ventually, no. 2 o regon’s high-octane offense fell too.
The last team standing was an o hio s tate squad led essentially by its third-string quarterback. That’s a remarkable storyline for a team and quarterback who “had no business being there.”
yet they were, and that’s thanks in largest part, of course, to the b uckeyes’ talent, preparation and execution on monday. b ut the cfp deserves a healthy serving of praise as well. The new arrangement set up the opportunity, and o hio s tate capitalized.
o hio s tate is far from universally loved. g iven college football’s intense loyalties, it’s practically impossible for any school to be. The b uckeyes, though, just finished writing a story most college football fans can appreciate, no matter what they think of the b uckeyes.
i grew up in w heeling, i llinois, with a modest affection for the university of i llinois, family ties to the university of iowa, my grandfather’s alma mater, and suspicion about the rest of the b ig Ten. o hio s tate does not occupy a warm place in most hearts i know. o utside of o hio, there had been a lot of
quacking around the m idwest since the title game matchup was announced, and there were some bitter reactions to monday’s result.
That’s fine, as long as college football fans, even the b uckeyes’ biggest rivals, realize that o hio s tate’s championship is a good thing in the broader picture. s tand far enough away and squint one eye, and you can forget it was the b uckeyes hoisting that national championship trophy.
The school that won doesn’t matter — only how they did it. The first year of the cfp provided evidence that more teams have a legitimate shot at the title. T cu might not be ready to acknowledge or accept that right now, but in the long run, teams like T cu have better chances now to win a title than they ever did before.
The top ranked team didn’t even make it to the title game, demonstrating the power of head-to-head competition over ranking systems, whether they’re generated by people or computers. There’s just no substitute to meeting on the field to determine who’s better.
now, losing once in the regular season doesn’t end playoff hopes. not losing in the regular season doesn’t guarantee a title game appearance either.
That’s a system that’s both interesting and a little more fair. bickering about strength of schedule between a oneloss and a no-loss team? s ort it out head-to-head in the playoffs. a s much fun as it was to debate about whether f lorida state or o regon should have been no. 2, it was way more entertaining to watch the two teams duke it out and firmly settle the question.
That’s how the playoff was predicted to work. o hio s tate’s championship proved that it actually could work that way, to the benefit of schools and fans everywhere. you don’t have to rejoice that o hio s tate won, but you should rejoice that your team could be o hio s tate.
Contact Samantha Zuba at szuba@nd.edu
The views expressed in this Sports Authority are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
Solo’s domestic violence charges dismissed
Associated p ress
kirkland, wash. — u s goalkeeper hope solo had domestic violence assault charges against her dismissed Tuesday, ending what she called “one of the most difficult and emotionally draining times of my life.”
now, she can turn her attention fully to world cup preparations.
The u.s. soccer federation had resisted pressure from some to suspend solo after she was charged with two misdemeanor counts of fourthdegree assault stemming from an altercation with her halfsister and 17-year-old nephew at a party in June. The case had been set for trial in a week in suburban seattle.
“Today’s decision brings closure to what has been one of the most difficult and emotionally draining times of my life,” solo said in a statement, which she posted on facebook and received 275 primarily supportive comments in the first 55 minutes.
“i always had faith that once the facts of the case were presented, i would be cleared of all charges and i am so happy
and relieved to finally have it all behind me.”
solo, who also plays for the seattle reign, did not appear at Tuesday’s hearing when k irkland municipal court Judge m ichael l ambo dismissed the charges.
solo’s lawyer, Todd maybrown, sought to have the charges dismissed on the grounds that the alleged victims refused to be interviewed about the case.
“we are gratified that, after considering all of the facts and circumstances of this case, the judge has dismissed all charges against hope stevens (solo),” maybrown said in a statement. “from the beginning, i’ve stated that hope was the victim of an assault in this case. w ith a careful review of the facts surrounding these matters, it is clear that hope never should have faced charges in the first place.”
“hope is very happy and relieved that she can now put this matter behind her. she looks forward to focusing her energies on the game she loves.”
at a hearing last week, the judge renewed an order for a deposition after solo’s nephew
and half-sister failed to appear for interviews. p rosecutors had said the pair didn’t appear because they weren’t served with subpoenas and there wasn’t adequate time to notify them, given the new year’s day holiday.
in court documents, solo said she was defending herself against her nephew, who is 6-foot-9 and weighs 280 pounds. she claims she was hit over the head with a broom handle.
solo’s relatives claimed she attacked first. messages left with prosecutors and a lawyer representing solo’s half-sister were not immediately returned Tuesday.
The 33-year-old solo has won two olympic gold medals with the u s. women’s national team. in her last appearance with the a mericans, solo started and had a save in a scoreless draw with host brazil on dec. 21 in the championship of the 2014 international Tournament of brasilia.
The u s. women’s national team is in the tough group d for the expanded 24-team women’s world cup from June 6-July 5 in canada.
Mountaineers narrowly
Associated p ress
defeat Sooners
morgan T own, w va. — Jevon c arter scored 18 points and no. 16 west v irginia got its strongest performance of the season from its bench to beat no. 18 o klahoma 86-65 Tuesday night.
d evin w illiams added 14 points and 11 rebounds while nathan a drian scored a season-high 11 for the mountaineers (15-2, 3-1 b ig 12).
b uddy h ield scored 21 and i saiah c ousins added 14 for o klahoma (11-5, 2-2), which has lost back-to-back games for the first time this season.
west v irginia’s full-court press contributed to a season-high 22 turnovers for the s ooners. it marked the most points allowed by o klahoma this season. The previous high was 69 on two occasions, also losses.
west v irginia’s bench, which had been outscored the two previous games, amassed 55 points, led by c arter and a drian. The mountaineers’ previous high from its bench this season was 35.
e leven different players scored for the mountaineers.
west v irginia’s starting guard tandem of Juwan s taten and g ary b rowne combined for seven points.
s taten, the b ig 12’s fourthleading scorer and conference preseason player of the year, didn’t score until there was 6:37 left in the game. he finished with four points, nearly 13 under his average.
o n this rare occasion, at least, west v irginia didn’t need them.
The mountaineers never trailed. it jumped ahead by 13 at halftime and by as many as 24 late in the game.
a drian provided the early spark and c arter came on strong late. a drian, who went scoreless in his two previous games, hit his first 3-pointer since d ec. 4, a span of nine games.
The mountaineers finished the first half with a 10-0 run to lead 45-32.
d espite picking up four quick fouls early in the second half, west v irginia stayed aggressive on defense, getting several steals that led to baskets. e lijah m acon’s layup off an a drian miss gave the mountaineers a 60-40 lead with 12:53 remaining.
o klahoma, which earlier had trimmed the deficit to 12, then went nearly eight minutes between field goals.
c arter had 14 points in the second half, including 3-pointers 21 seconds apart for an 84-61 lead with 3:31 remaining.
nCaa BasketBall | wesT virginia 86, oklahoma 85
21 at Compton Family Ice Arena.
ND spends break in San Juan
By RYAN KLAUS sports writer
coming off a secondplace finish in the hawkeye invitational before winter break, notre dame took advantage of its time off by spending a majority of it training in san Juan, p uerto r ico.
“it’s always just great to get away from here,” irish head coach matt Tallman said. “The weather is almost guaranteed to be nice [in san Juan]. The guys have a good feeling of being down there for training versus being up here and there were good spirits, good energy and hard work.”
w hile in san Juan, the irish also took advantage of a schedule that was not limited by classes or ncaa rules that cap practice time during the school year.
able to perform in the classroom. we just have to make sure they’re getting run-down in the pool.”
w ith more free time for the irish swimmers and divers, training not only went up in hours, but also in quality.
“it’s pretty intense,” Tallman said. “we did quite a bit of racing and quite a bit of aerobic training and all of it hopefully pays off at the end of the season.”
a fter getting back from san Juan, the irish finally returned to action in a nn a rbor, michigan, last saturday in a meet that featured northwestern and host michigan. The irish fell to both schools, though Tallman indicated that fatigue and the training schedule might have, for the timing being, put his team at a disadvantage.
a lthough the irish fell to both northwestern and w isconsin, Tallman still found several positives in his team’s performance at michigan, particularly praising senior Zachary stephens, who finished second in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:02.02), third in the 200-yard individual medley (1:52.90) and seventh in the 50-yard freestyle (20.95).
“Zach’s an ncaa scorer, so he’s one of the faster guys in the country,” Tallman said. “he steps up and just knows how to race. he likes to compete and we have big plans for him at the end of the season.”
senior nick nemetz led the irish divers, claiming the top spot in the 1-meter dive (314.35) and second in the 3-meter dive (316.60).
later, l akers junior defenseman eric drapluk beat irish freshman goaltender cal petersen to give his team the tournament crown.
l ooking to bounce back, notre dame headed north for a homeand-home rivalry series with western michigan (9-9-2), opening in kalamazoo, michigan, on friday night before returning to the compton family ice a rena on saturday.
a fter goals from junior winger mario lucia and freshman defenseman Jordan gross on either side of the first intermission, the irish held a 2-1 lead 22 minutes into the game. however, late in the second period, the host broncos tied the game up before winning it with a pair of scores in the third period.
back at home saturday night, the series finale started off better for the irish, as notre dame jumped out to an early lead on a power-play goal just 6:13 into the game.
The irish entered saturday with just a six percent conversion rate on the power play — last in the nation — but got the lead when junior center Thomas di pauli buried a goal from the slot off an assist by lucia.
“we gotta hope that we can get one [power play goal] a game,” Jackson said. “it would’ve been nice to get a second one later in the game but again, that’s consistency too. i think there was a little progress made but i’m not gonna be convinced until we can score a power-play goal every game or every other game.”
notre dame’s lead grew to 2-0 when sophomore center v ince hinostroza scored a four-onfour goal 15:04 into the first period, but the irish advantage was short-lived.
broncos senior forward Justin
kovacs cut the irish lead in half just 12 seconds later and at the 16:57 mark, the game was tied when broncos senior forward w ill kessel beat irish sophomore goaltender chad katunar on a power-play goal.
The irish retook the lead, however, just 2:05 into the second period when lucia notched his 13th goal of the 2014-2015 campaign, taking his team ahead 3-2 and extending his team lead.
This time, it would take eight minutes for the broncos to draw level again, when junior forward nolan l aporte tallied on the power play.
w ith just 66 seconds remaining, western michigan secured the sweep when junior forward colton hargrove scored an unassisted goal to win the game.
Jackson was critical of both his goaltenders after both allowed four goals in their start to western michigan and called on them to up their performances.
“[katunar] had a better week of practice last week so i gave him a start on saturday and i don’t think he was really sharp there,” Jackson said. “but we also need petersen to show that he’s capable of stepping up into that role. both of them had been pretty solid at the start of the year but in the last couple of games, it was their turn to show that lack of consistency.”
a fter seeing limited action in the first half of the season, freshman defenseman nathan billitier left the program to join the ontario hockey l eague’s k ingston frontenacs.
notre dame returns to hockey east action this weekend when they play a home-and-home series with connecticut. The irish will host the huskies on friday night at 7:35 p.m. before traveling to bridgeport, connecticut, for a noon matinee sunday.
Contact Alex Carson at acarson1@nd.edu
“we practice more frequently than we get to at school,” Tallman said. “There’s no hour limitation or classes where we have to make sure that they’re not getting too run-down to be
“we were tired,” Tallman said. “it was definitely a different situation for us than it was for the other two schools that had been back at school for a week and back to their usual training regimens.”
notre dame will head to madison, w isconsin, on Thursday for a dual meet against the badgers that will take place friday and saturday.
Contact Ryan Klaus at rklaus1@nd.edu
i rish swept in m ichigan
By DANIEL O’BOYLE sports writer
notre dame returned to the pool for the first time in over a month for their first meet of 2015, but suffered defeats to both michigan and northwestern in a nn a rbor, michigan on saturday.
The irish (4-7) won five events, including three wins by senior emma reaney on her first meet since competing for the united states at the fina short course world championships in doha, Qatar. however, the team was unable to beat either opponent, losing 182-118 to the wolverines and 154-146 to the wildcats.
reaney achieved ncaa ‘b’ cut times in her wins in both the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke, while she also won the 200-yard individual medley. notre dame’s other wins were recorded by junior catherine galletti in the 100-yard butterfly and senior a llison casareto in the 3-meter dive.
irish coach Tim welsh said that the effort that the team put in deserved praise and singled out galletti and reaney’s performances as being particularly impressive.
“i thought we competed well. i thought we had some really gritty performances in the pool. i thought in the notre damenorthwestern meet, catherine galetti’s wins were really gutsy wins, emma reaney was challenged by the best that they had — she’s a very tough competitor, and our divers were excellent.”
galetti and casareto also recorded second-place finishes in the 100-meter backstroke and 1-meter board respectively, with runner-up honors also going to senior bridget casey in the 200yard butterfly and the 200-yard medley relay team of sophomore catherine mulquin, reaney, senior courtney w hyte and galletti. The irish also recorded third and fourth-place finishes to go along with their wins in the 200-yard breaststroke and 3-meter dive.
welsh said that the timing of the meet after winter break was difficult for the team and was pleased with how they performed given the circumstances.
“Just on the calendar alone, the location of that competition with michigan and northwestern, it’s in probably the most fatigued point in our season,” said welsh. “we left
on dec. 29th, the meet was Jan. 10th, we had been training every day in the middle.
“i thought it was a strong meet back from training and here we go into the second semester.”
welsh said that he believes that as the new year begins, the next part of the schedule will be hugely important for the irish.
“it’s a real critical point in the season for us,” welsh said. “we’re five, five-and-a-half weeks away from the conference championships, we’ve been doing the hard work, and now it’s time for us to collect it all and have the great performance at the end.”
The irish will next be in the pool in madison, wisconsin, at 6 p.m. friday and continuing at 11 a.m. saturday, as they face wisconsin and indiana.
Contact Daniel O’Boyle at doboyle1@nd.edu
MICHAEL YU | The Observer
Irish freshman center Jake Evans scans the ice during Notre Dame’s 2-2 tie with UMass-Lowell on Nov.
WoMen’s
“i’ve got the utmost confidence in the leadership of this group,” i rish coach m ike brey said following the v irginia loss. “o ur leadership will not let this linger. we’ll move on quick and be ready to play.” g eorgia Tech gave notre d ame all it could handle the first time around. The yellow Jackets led by as many as 11 in the first half, but the i rish drew even late in regulation before taking an early lead in the first overtime period. s enior guard and captain p at c onnaughton had a chance to seal the game late but missed a pair of free throws that left the door open for a yellow Jacket comeback and a second overtime. c onnaughton responded by netting five quick points early in the second extra frame that proved too much for g eorgia Tech to overcome.
“The one thing about p at: he was so mad about the free throws, he’s so competitive that he’s the kind of guy that’s going to answer back and try and win the game,” brey said after the game.
f ree throws again nearly doomed notre d ame against the Tar heels. a fter the i rish started the game 15-of-15 from the stripe, c onnaughton and sophomore guard steve vasturia both missed a pair of free throws in the final minutes that would have put the
game out of reach. i nstead, a desperation 3-point shot by preseason a ll-a merican junior guard m arcus p aige bounced off the back of the rim to finally decide the outcome.
“i’m proud of our group,” brey said after the game.
“ we held off a lot of runs and did what we needed to do to escape, but [it was] a tough situation. i thought we were really poised. e very time they made a run, we came out and executed and gave us a little bit of a cushion, and we needed all that cushion down the stretch.”
The one-point victory over the Tar heels (12-4, 2-1 acc ) pushed the i rish to 3-0 in conference play for the first time in program history, including their stint in the big e ast. The i rish were unable to build on that start, however, against the c avaliers (15-0, 3-0 acc ), despite winning the rebound and turnover categories. notre d ame even doubled v irginia’s offensive boards, 16-8.
“a lot of good it did us,” brey said jokingly after the game.
“i’d much rather give up 20 boards and win the game by two or in triple overtime.
“ we emphasize [rebounding]. i think we’ll get better at it. i think we’ll learn how to calm that stat down a bit.”
v irginia appeared poised to bury notre d ame early, jumping out to a 10-point lead in the opening minutes of the first half. The i rish were able
paid a dverT isemen T
to pull back into the game thanks to the play of guard v.J. b eachem, who made his return after missing a stretch of games in d ecember due to a foot injury. The sophomore knocked down three 3-pointers on his way to 12 first-half points to pull his team even and eventually ahead of the c avaliers going into halftime.
“g uys were finding me and i was sliding into open slots giving me a clean look at the basket,” b eachem said.
i n the end the i rish were unable to make shots late, which c onnaughton said was credit to a tough v irginia defense that held the nation’s top field-goal shooting team over 20 percentage points below its season average.
“i think it was just a matter of they’re a great defensive team,” c onnaughton said. “i think we can learn from what they did on those winning plays that will help us down the stretch.”
The i rish also earned victories over p urdue ( d ec. 20 in i ndianapolis, 94-63), northern i llinois (at home, d ec. 22, 91-66) and h artford (at home, d ec. 30, 87-60) to wrap up non-conference play with a 12-1 record.
The i rish and yellow Jackets are scheduled to tip off for the second time this season tonight at 7 p.m. at the mc c amish p avilion in a tlanta.
Contact Zach Klonsinski at zklonsin@nd.edu
WBball
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snapped notre dame’s 30-game road winning streak, which was the longest in the country at the time.
reimer did not make the trip to miami for “personal reasons.” she had started each of the team’s previous 15 games, and she averaged 9.9 points and 6.1 rebounds in those contests. returning home for the final game of the break, the irish collected a bounce-back 104-58 win against boston college in a soldout purcell pavilion. six players were in double-figures for notre dame, including all three freshmen — Turner with 21 points, forward kathryn westbeld with 15 and guard mychal Johnson with 13.
“it’s been a long time since we really relied on freshmen,” irish coach muffet mcgraw said sunday. “we’ve had a lot of really good freshmen coming in, but there’s always been the burden on the upperclassmen. i think we’re asking these two [Turner and westbeld] to do a lot. i think they’re doing really well, but it’s a lot to ask a freshman because it is complex.”
mcgraw said it was important for the irish to pick up a big victory after the loss to miami.
“we were really, really just shattered after that last game,” she said. “There were so many things that we didn’t do well, so it was really great to come out and be firing on all cylinders.”
mcgraw also discussed reimer’s absence for the second straight game. she said the sophomore decided she would remain with the team for the rest of the semester after the two met earlier in the week, though she did not say when reimer would return to the court.
“we just talked about a few things,” mcgraw said sunday. “she was not happy with the way things were going on the court, so we talked about some things we could fix, we could work on. she was concerned. she wants to play well. she’s a really good player, and she has a lot of talent, and so we had a really good conversation about how we’re going to get there.”
before the games against miami and boston college, the
irish collected two non-conference victories against st. Joseph’s on dec. 21 (64-50) and ucla on dec. 28 (82-67).
notre dame got a big boost at home against the hawks (5-10, 1-2 a-10), as Turner returned to the court after missing three games with a shoulder injury. her 19 points led the team, and she missed just one of her eight field-goal attempts.
“i was really excited to have brianna back,” mc graw said dec. 21. “definitely changes the game for us — five blocks, 19 points, and we’ve really missed that over the past few games.”
at pauley pavilion against the bruins (7-9, 3-2 pac-12), sophomore guard l indsay a llen scored a career-high 22 points to pace the i rish.
They then opened up the new year and their acc schedule with a home matchup against no. 20 f lorida state on Jan. 2. backed by another strong effort from a llen, this time with 18 points and eight assists, and l oyd’s 20 points, notre dame left with a 74-68 win over the s eminoles (15-2, 2-1).
however, the i rish struggled late in the game and found themselves down by nine points five minutes into the second half. a llen had to score 11 of her 18 points from there on out to help the team earn the win.
“i thought l indsay a llen was spectacular,” mc graw said Jan. 2. “she was just amazing and saved us a number of times, kind of bailed us out with some great ballhandling and was able to get through the defense and get some shots when we really needed to score — just so confident in her with the ball in her hands late in the game.” notre dame traveled east to take on no. 25 syracuse in the c arrier d ome two days later. l oyd put up 25 points, six assists and four steals, and the i rish grabbed an 85-74 victory. Turner added 20 points and 13 rebounds for her second career double-double.
The i rish return to action Thursday in an acc matchup against no. 12 north c arolina in c hapel h ill, north c arolina.
Contact Mary Green at mgreen8@nd.edu
KAT ROBINSON | The Observer Irish junior guard Jewell Loyd looks to drive past a Michigan defender during Notre Dame’s 70-50 win Dec. 13 at Purcell Pavilion.
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m ortgage m usic c ity b owl on d ec. 30 against lsu, in which he recovered a Tigers fumble and collected two tackles.
The i ndianapolis native picked up 40 tackles, one sack, nine quarterback hits and two recovered fumbles in his 11 games during the 2014 campaign, helping him earn the team’s m oose k rause l ineman of the year award.
s tanley, who has two seasons of eligibility remaining, started at left tackle for the i rish in 2014 after manning right tackle in 2013.
The 6-foot-5.5, 315-pounder earned n otre d ame’s offensive lineman of the year award in d ecember. s tanley allowed just one sack this season, the fewest of any i rish offensive lineman.
“ r onnie has developed into a premier offensive lineman,” i rish head coach b rian k elly said in a press release. “ w ith another year at the position, and gaining more knowledge under the outstanding coaching of [offensive line coach] h arry h iestand, r onnie could be the best tackle in all of college football.”
“ i know this decision wasn’t an easy one for him, but, as his coach, i ’m proud of the manner in which he handled it. h e’s matured so much since he first arrived on campus, and this is just another example. r onnie now has a chance to leave n otre d ame as both a graduate and first-round nfl pick.”
d ay enrolled early in the u niversity in January 2012, along with former i rish quarterback g unner k iel. The defensive lineman, majoring in information technology management, is on track to graduate from the m endoza c ollege of b usiness in m ay 2015, according to the release.
s tanley, d ay and all underclassmen had until Thursday to declare for the nfl d raft. b oth players, along with senior quarterback e verett g olson and senior offensive lineman n ick m artin, requested an evaluation from the nfl d raft a dvisory b oard.
m artin had previously said he would return for the 2015 season. n ow, with d ay’s and s tanley’s decisions, the i rish are scheduled to return 20 of their 22 starters from the m usic c ity b owl against lsu
n otre d ame’s spring semester began Tuesday with the first day of classes. s pring practice is scheduled to start m arch 2.
Contact Mary Green at mgreen8@nd.edu and Mike Monaco at jmonaco@nd.edu
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KEVIN SONG | The Observer
Irish junior offensive lineman Ronnie Stanley celebrates with the trophy after Notre Dame’s victory in the Music City Bowl on Dec. 30.
KEVIN SONG | The Observer
Irish junior defensive lineman Sheldon Day, right, said Saturday that he would return for his senior year and not declare for the NFL draft.
Happy Birthday: keep an open mind and learn from what you see, hear and experience. The results you get will be based on how astute you are, coupled with accuracy, determination and the ability to recognize and implement innovative ideas. much can be gained if you are receptive, inquisitive and eager to learn. put personal safety first. your numbers are 2, 13, 17, 24, 31, 38, 47.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): get off your duff and make things happen. participate in community or industry events that can help you advance. partnerships are in your best interest and can be negotiated fairly and with good results. romance is highlighted.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): relax, and don’t fight the inevitable. you can accomplish far more if you keep your life simple and refrain from butting heads with those around you. keeping busy or doing something physical will help you avoid overindulgence and overreacting.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): make plans early, or you will fall short when it comes to getting what you want. delays are likely if you leave details up to someone else. Take charge of things and you will be able to manipulate what unfolds.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): do things a tad differently and you will be noticed for your ingenuity and thoughtful input. a moneymaker is within reach if you are willing to make a contribution to an unusual project. don’t be afraid to make a move.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): put travel plans into motion. Take a day trip for business, visit a friend or attend a conference. in your search for information, you will make important connections that can add a positive influence to your life.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): stop worrying about what everyone else is thinking or doing. get fit, healthy and ready to conquer the world. you can’t let negativity take over or stagnate your progress. a positive attitude will enable you to have a greater impact on others.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): not everyone will be on the same page as you, but if you pursue your beliefs, ideas and plans, you will soon get others to pay attention. romance is highlighted, and improving your relationships will bring beneficial results.
SCORpIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): shake things up a bit. you can’t make a difference if you don’t stand up for your rights and beliefs. Take an approach that will surprise your opposition, and you will make headway. you will have to give a little in order to receive.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): you may be anxious to make a move, but before you start, consider what it will take to be successful. don’t hold back. give everything you have, and don’t stop until you exhaust your resources.
CApRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): someone is likely to be in a bad mood. patience will be necessary if you want to accomplish anything. consider hiding out where you can avoid drama and attend to your responsibilities without interruption.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): don’t get down in the dumps if something doesn’t go your way. pick yourself up and look for a new way to satisfy your needs and implement your ideas and plans. love is on the rise.
pISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): look around you and decipher what everyone else is doing before you make promises to pitch in. effective contributions with the least amount of work will be your best bet. be true to your beliefs and feelings.
Birthday Baby: you are clever, inventive and good-hearted. you are a leader.
JuMBle | david hoyT and Jeff knurek
sudoku | The mepham group
hIGhly PunlIkely | chrisTopher brucker
doMe nuts | alexandria wellman
Day, Stanley will return next year
By MARY GREEN and MIKE MONACO sports e ditor and s enior sports writer
i rish left tackle r onnie s tanley will return to n otre d ame and bypass an early exit and the nfl d raft, n otre d ame announced Tuesday afternoon.
“ i ’m coming back,” s tanley tweeted. “1 year. 1 reason # n atty # nd .” w ith this decision, s tanley joins fellow junior defensive lineman s heldon d ay, who announced he would also be returning this s aturday.
“This was a difficult decision,” s tanley said in a press release. “ m y dream isn’t just to play in the n ational f ootball l eague. i want to win a national championship. i ’ve waited to this point so i could watch the actual game and see if i felt any emotion, and i felt a great deal. i am a competitor. i want to play on the top stage so i ’ve decided that i ’m returning to n otre d ame for my senior year.”
“ w e’ve got a chance to
nd WoMen’s BasketBall
have a special season next year. m any of my teammates are returning and i ’ve made strong bonds with lots of them. i f all of them weren’t coming back this year it would’ve made it an easier decision to leave. a ll this, the opportunity to graduate, and much more, led to my decision to stay.”
d ay echoed s tanley’s sentiments in his own press release.
“ i believe we’ve got an opportunity to have a special season in 2015, and i wanted to be a part of that success,”
d ay said. “ i was blessed to play in the national championship game as a freshman in 2012, and i want to do everything in my power to reach that stage again with my guys.”
d ay, the lone junior captain for the 2014 squad, started 10 games before spraining his mcl during the n ov. 15 loss to n orthwestern. h e returned for the f ranklin a merican
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Men’s BasketBall
Irish win pair of aCC games, fall to Cavaliers
By ZACH KLONSINSKI sports writer
despite a 62-56 setback saturday night against no. 2 virginia at purcell pavilion, no. 12 notre dame was full of cheer over its winter break.
The irish (15-2, 3-1 acc) posted a 5-1 record between semesters, a stint that included a pair of tough acc victories. notre dame prevailed in double overtime against conference foe georgia Tech at home Jan. 3, and then hung on for a 71-70 win on the road against no. 15 north carolina less than 48 hours later. syllabus week will provide anything but a break for the irish, however, as they travel south for a rematch with georgia Tech (9-6, 0-3 acc) again tonight. it will be the first time notre dame has had to respond to a loss since falling to providence, 75-74, on nov. 23, and the second time the irish have played the yellow Jackets in the last 11 days.
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Miami snaps Notre Dame’s road win streak
By MARY GREEN sports e ditor
no. 7 notre dame started its winter break schedule off calmly enough, picking up four wins, but the tail end of that stretch turned chaotic, with an upset loss to miami last Thursday and the absence of sophomore forward Taya reimer from the team’s last two games.
a fter earning victories against st. Joseph’s, ucla, no. 20 florida state and no. 25 syracuse, the hot start came to an abrupt halt with a 78-63 road loss to unranked miami. The irish (15-2, 3-1 acc) made just six field goals in the first half and shot 35.9 percent for the entire game, while the hurricanes (13-3, 3-0) made 52.7 percent of their shots.
Junior guard Jewell loyd (27 points) and freshman forward brianna Turner (17 points, 10 rebounds) posted impressive numbers again, but it was not enough this time. The defeat
ND plagued by inconsistency
By ALEX CARSON sports writer
a fter a few weeks off, notre dame headed into the second half of its season with a .500 record. Then, a 3-2 overtime win against then-no. 6 miami (ohio) in the opening round of the florida college hockey classic on dec. 28 gave the irish an opportunity to head into the new year with momentum.
instead, the irish (9-11-2, 4-22 hockey east) suffered three consecutive losses; a 2-1 defeat to l ake superior state in the classic’s title game on dec. 29 and a pair of setbacks — 4-2 and 4-3 — in a home-and-home series friday and saturday nights with western michigan.
irish coach Jeff Jackson said the winter-break stretch put his team’s lack of consistency on full display.
“we were hoping that going into the second half we could get away from playing a good game and a bad game,” Jackson said.
“it’s not like we’re not working
hard, but we’re not competing in certain areas of the ice and we need to be more consistent competing there. we’ll have to identify where the inconsistencies come from and then try to resolve them.”
The irish trailed 2-0 with fewer than seven minutes to go in their lone win — the triumph over the now-no. 9 redhawks (14-8-0) — but a pair of goals and an assist from freshman right winger Jake evans lifted the irish to the overtime victory.
notre dame then met a team in the final it had already beaten twice this season — l ake superior state (4-19-1) — but the irish struggled to get a third win against the school that Jackson won two national titles with in the 1990s.
The l akers took an early 1-0 lead before irish senior right winger austin wuthrich tied it up with just over five minutes to play. The deadlock did not last long, however, as just 58 seconds
CAITLYN JORDAN | The Observer Irish senior guard Pat Connaughton drives the lane against a Florida State defender in Notre Dame’s 83-63 win Dec. 13 at Purcell Pavilion.
KAT ROBINSON | The Observer
Irish sophomore guard Lindsay Allen calls out a play during Notre Dame’s 70-50 win over Michigan on Dec. 13 at Purcell Pavilion.
