Print Edition of The Observer for Friday, October 28, 2016
Students march for fossil fuel divestment
Fossil Free ND organizes demonstration protesting current University energy policy, investments
By KATIE GALIOTO news editor
o n Thursday afternoon, sophomore a dam w iechman donned his orange cape and mask. it was time for the c limate Justice l eague to get to work.
w iechman is part of Fossil Free nd, which promotes fossil fuel divestment and other sustainable practices on campus. The student-run organization led a rally Thursday to call for more action against climate change from the university, in light of its most recent sustainability plan.
“g o Jenkins,” the group chanted. “ b eat climate change.” a bout 40 people marched
from o ’ s haughnessy h all to the steps of m ain b uilding, shouting chants and waving signs. They wanted to show university p resident Fr. John Jenkins that he has a chance to be a hero, an example for other institutions around the world, w iechman said.
They called themselves the c limate Justice l eague, he added, to put a fun, positive spin on their mission to separate n otre d ame from the fossil fuel industry.
“This is a university where it matters what we do and what those actions mean for the rest of the world,” he said. “ i know n otre d ame does a lot of good stuff. b ut the problem
Alumnus, former justice speaks to law students
By MEGAN VALLEY
ssociate news editor
a
a lan page, class of 1967, was the first a frican-a merican to hold a major state office in minnesota and in 2015, he retired from his position on the minnesota supreme court.
page is also a college a lla merican and pro Football hall of Fame member who was presented with the monogram club’s moose Krause distinguished service award as part of the club’s 100th a nniversary celebration.
“Football wasn’t something i had planned and thought about,” page said in a conversation at eck
Bookstore caters to increased game-day needs
By COURTNEY BECKER news writer
There are several destination locations on notre dame’s campus during a home football weekend, including notre dame stadium, the grotto and the hammes notre dame bookstore, that are a priority for any visiting home or away fans interested in buying notre dame merchandise. director of the hammes bookstore retail operations david werda said this demand can increase the bookstore’s
productivity by as much as 100 percent.
“during a home football weekend, we are in the neighborhood of 12 to 15,000 transactions per hour,” werda said. “on a nonfootball weekend — let’s just say the saturday of fall break — it could be as few as 500 transactions in the entire day. we move upward of 50,000 units of merchandise on a football saturday alone.”
werda said the bookstore
ND hosts academic conference in Cuba
By RACHEL O’GRADY
a ssociate news editor
o ver fall break, students and professors from the university traveled to cuba to meet with other scholars and theologians to discuss the impact of pope Francis’ visits to the a mericas.
luis r icardo Fraga, co-director of l atin a merican/north a merican c hurch concerns, was one of the professors and said the trip was unique for a number of reasons.
“our i nstitute for l atino studies has traditionally focused on l atinos in the united
states,” Fraga said. “but as one thinks about l atinos in the united states, it becomes very apparent that there are things happening in l atin a merica that have implications for l atinos in the united states that allow us to simultaneously allow us to understand events
in l atin a merica and understand events in the u s. at the same time, because they’re very related.”
The visit of pope Francis to the a mericas and the united states is one of those “remarkable” events, Fraga said.
“w hen [pope Francis] was
in the united states — also in l atin a merica, but mostly in the united states — several times he used the term ‘l as a mericas,’ the a mericas,” he said. “ w hat he was saying was, we need to think more
see booKsTore PaGe 6
FOOtbaLL Friday FeatUre
KATIE GALIOTO | The Observer
Led by sophomore Adam Wiechman, students march from O’Shaughnessy Hall to Main Building on Thursday. Fossil Free ND, a student group that promotes fossil fuel divestment, organized the march.
ROSIE LoVOI | The Observer
Alan Page reflects on how his Notre Dame education prepared him to serve as a justice on the Minnesota Supreme Court.
Have a question you want answered? Email photo@ndsmcobserver.com
Gabe Gaspar junior stanford hall
“cafe de grasta.”
Mason Anderson junior Knott hall
“stepan center.”
Melissa Gutierrez junior Flaherty hall
“The library in mcKenna hall.”
Students, faculty and administrators attend the post-keynote reception for the Irish Impact Social Entrepreneurship Conference. Amon Anderson, the co-director of Acumen American, delivered the keynote on disrupting systems of poverty.
t he next f ive D ays:
Friday
Midnight Drummers’ Circle at the Dome Main Building
11:55 p.m.
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Monday
Lecture:
to the public.
Football
Halloween Festivities Lafortune Student Center
6 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Includes storytelling with an Irish poet.
Tuesday
Lecture: A Maturing African Democracy Hesburgh Center for International Studies
12:30 p.m. - 2 p.m. Open to the public.
Panel: Asia and the U.S. Elections Hesburgh Library
4 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. Sponsored by the Liu Institute.
MICHAEL YU | The Observer
Alumni Association honors Rohr’s bartender
paid a dverT isemen T
By NATALIE WEBER news writer
patrick murphy, the bartender at rohr’s, was recently awarded honorary alumni status by the notre dame alumni association after working at the morris inn for nearly 50 years, according to a press release.
murphy, nicknamed murf, began working at the morris inn when he was 15 years old.
“one of the moms [in our neighborhood] was a waitress and she grabbed us all and before you knew it, the whole neighborhood was working as busboys out there,” he said. “we had a lot of fun. we all knew each other already, so that was a lot of fun.”
murphy was drafted into the military during the vietnam war, but he was eventually stationed in maryland, rather than vietnam.
“we more or less knew that we were going to vietnam,” he said. “we had this colonel stand up and tell us what our odds were. ‘oK, the first three months, x amount of you are going to get killed and then you’re going to be oK because you’ll learn the country, but the last three months you’ll get more careless.’
“i didn’t think much of it, but a bunch of people got scared and went out and tried to commit suicide, and so they canceled all our orders [to go to vietnam]. our company went all in to the united states, but then the following company went 100 percent back to vietnam again. i was very fortunate. god was watching over me.”
murphy continued to work at the morris inn whenever he had a 30day leave from the military. This weekend, he will work his 229th football game; he has worked every football game since 1977. during his tenure, murphy has known multiple generations of notre dame families, serving drinks to students and — years later — to the students’ children, who often also attend notre dame.
“i have known so many people over the years that kids will come in and say, ‘my dad told me i had to
come in and get my first drink with you because he got his first drink with you when he was here,’” he said.
“There’s one family here, the siegfrieds. i knew the grandfather, i knew him well, and then his son came here and he passed in 2005 but now his son came here and he had a daughter that’s a freshman, so i’m on the fourth generation of knowing one family and that’s really not that unusual to get to know these people.”
some of the students murphy gave relationship advice are now soon to be married.
“we had three girls that came in — Katie, margaret and lynn — and they came in at 21, and now some of them are getting married next July,” he said. “we more or less would share our experiences and advised them about boyfriends and it was kind of fun. we looked forward to it every Thursday.”
murphy has met several famous people while working at the morris inn and says the key to making conversation with them is to talk about their personal lives, rather than their careers.
“The thing is, you don’t want to talk about anything that they really do,” he said. “if anne Thompson’s in there, you don’t want to talk about the news or what her job is. you want to talk about, you know, what her family is, where she’s been on her vacation.
“you know, i’ve had a 20-minute conversation with Joe montana about eating potato chips and cholesterol, as opposed to, if i brought up football, he really wouldn’t want that much to do with me.”
murphy said he is grateful for the notre dame community and his job at the morris inn.
“i don’t know what i’ve done to be so blessed,” murphy said. “notre dame paid for my three boys, shaunn, Timm and cory to go to college. i work at a job that i love, and i still look forward to going to work every day. i have so much to be thankful for.”
Contact Natalie Weber at nweber@nd.edu
CHRIS COLLINS | The Observer
Patrick Murphy pours a drink at Rohr’s in the Morris Inn, where he is a familiar figure. Murphy has worked at the Morris Inn since he was 15 years old, and was recently recognized for his work.
CHRIS COLLINS | The Observer
Patrick Murphy serves a drink at Rohr’s, where he forms relationships with customers by sparking discussions about their personal lives.
Focus groups to provide feedback on library cuba
By KATHRYN MARSHALL news writer
s taff members of the c ushwa-l eighton l ibrary are organizing focus groups to hear student voices, Kaitlyn s tankiewicz, a library intern, said.
The goal of the focus groups is to gather feedback from students on what barriers they feel exist between themselves and their use of the c ollege’s library, she said.
“i feel that libraries always want to improve … they like to get feedback from students to make sure that they are doing a good job, that they are serving the current student population as they should be,” s tankiewicz said.
s he said that by providing an informative, interactive atmosphere, the focus groups allow students to share their thoughts and hear about different opportunities, such as interlibrary loans and borrowing from local libraries.
“i think one thing i feel as a recent graduate is sometimes there is a lack of
communication of the resources that are available to students,” s tankiewicz said.
s tankiewicz wants students to realize having g oogle doesn’t mean access to all information.
“The reference librarians here are really awesome, they can find good and correct information, while not everything you find on g oogle is necessarily correct,” she said.
s tankiewicz said as technology changes, so do the needs and wants of students, which is why these focus groups are designed for students to share their thoughts and are not just presentations of current library opportunities.
“They’ve done a focus group before, but it was targeted more at the professors.
a s for students, from my knowledge [library staff] have not done focus groups,” she said. “They’ve done surveys, but from my understanding, this is one of the first focus groups more directed towards students.”
s tankiewicz said she
encouraged all students to sign up, as library staff members are looking to hear a variety of perspectives. s tudents only need to attend one focus group, and if they are unable to attend, they are invited to give feedback on a particular question at a signup table.
d epending on the requested changes — and how they fit with the budget — the library hopes to have improvements in place within a year, she said.
“it’s important for people to sign up and have their voice heard, even if you don’t use the library,” s tankiewicz said. “i f you have an idea that could improve the library, we want to hear your voices.”
The groups will meet for about 90 minutes while enjoying free pizza, pop and candy wednesday at 4 p.m. and nov. 15 at noon. i nterested students can sign up in front of the library from 10 a.m. through 1 p.m. in the student center.
Contact Kathryn Marshall at kmarsh02@saintmarys.edu
deeply about our common destiny and linked fate as catholics, that where our interests and futures may be more interrelated than ever before.”
Fraga said he and his fellow co-director, Timothy matovina, approached theology professor peter casarella about arranging a meeting to discuss this in cuba.
“[casarella] was already teaching a course about catholicism in cuba and he said, ‘well, what if we think of cuba and the normalization of relations there, and the role the vatican played in facilitating that bringing together of the united states and cuba, what if we thought about inviting a set of scholars and theologians from latin america and the us to talk about the impact of pope Francis’ visit?’” Fraga said.
The idea for the colloquium fit perfectly with casarella’s existing course, Fraga said, and they immediately started planning the trip.
“already, we could see how everything was just fitting together,” he said. “and [casarella] said, ‘you know, we can take a group of students down there, we can invite some of my friends who do work on pope Francis,
and work on catholicism in bolivia and brazil and peru and england and the united states and we can all get together in cuba to talk about it.’ and we just thought, ‘perfect.’ i mean, perfect.”
once the arrangements to travel to cuba were made, Fraga said he found the actual travel process to be smoother than expected.
“it’s actually very easy to travel to cuba, and we weren’t sure how easy it was going to be,” Fraga said. “w hat most of us did was fly commercially to miami and then from miami, we then flew to cuba on havana air, which i assume is a cubanowned airline. we were there in about 45 minutes and once we landed, the visa was very simple, it was already arranged for and it was just a half sheet of paper. getting back to the united states was almost the same, if not easier.”
Fraga said traveling in havana was a fascinating experience.
“havana is one of the oldest colonial cities and one could make the argument it was the cradle of catholicism in the western hemisphere,” he said. “so for catholics, like i said one could make an argument that it holds a very special place.”
Contact Rachel O’Grady at rogrady@nd.edu
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divestment
is, no institution is perfect. s ometimes, you need a little guidance, a little help.”
a nd that’s where Fossil Free nd gets involved, senior c ameron h art said.
“ we’re drawing attention to the fact that we think there is a disconnect between what students feel about how sustainability should be acted upon on campus and how the administration is addressing that,” he said.
o n s ept. 20, Jenkins announced a five-year sustainability plan to eliminate coal usage on campus by 2020 and provide at least 25 percent of the u niversity’s energy from renewable resources by 2020.
Fifth-year b ryan r icketts said the plan does not do enough. a crowd at the rally
cheered in accordance.
“ we would love the u niversity to divest from fossil fuels and to set a target of 100 percent renewable energy by 2050 and start to work to meet that,” he said.
The event kicked off with a skit, with h art and w iechman portraying Jenkins and “ d ivestman,” a superhero working for “climate justice.”
“The idea all started with our mission of the march, which is trying to reinforce and support Jenkins in the decision to take action on climate change,” h art said.
s tudents chanted as they made their way to g olden d ome, gathering on the ground below Jenkins’ office. They held up their painted cardboard signs.
o ne read: “ d on’t be a fossil fool.” a nother bore the phrase, “ d ivest like a champion today.”
c urrently, 4 percent of
n otre d ame’s endowment funds are invested in fossil fuel companies — a number that Jenkins has said he does not plan on changing in the near future.
h art argued that it would not take much effort on the u niversity’s part to divest from fossil fuels. a nd a little bit of effort could go a long way, he said.
“ i t’s definitely like n otre d ame making statements that are more in line with the idea that climate change is happening, and it’s happening now,” he said. “ we need to act on it to protect the poor and protect the planet.”
r icketts, the former student body president, said p ope Francis discusses the importance of preserving the environment throughout his most recent encyclical about caring for the planet, “ l audato si’.”
“ h e says the cost of adjusting to climate change should not fall on the most vulnerable,” r icketts said. “a nd it will if we continue to grow our fossil fuels and invest in fossil fuel industries — and then expect impoverished nations and people on the coastlines to adjust.”
“ c limate justice is social justice,” the rally group chanted as they crossed the heart of campus.
w iechman said members of Fossil Free nd are going to meet with u niversity executive vice president John a ffleck- g raves next week to discuss the sustainability plan. They organized the demonstration to show student support for their cause before.
i n the future, the organization has plans to engage and mobilize even more members of the campus community, he added.
“Two weeks from now, we’re going to storm the dorms,” w iechman said. “Two weeks from now, every dorm on campus is going to have every single door in that dorm knocked on by one of us.”
Fossil Free nd has weekly meetings on m ondays at 9 p.m. in the basement of g eddes h all that are open to the public.
There’s a lot that can be accomplished when students advocate for issues they’re passionate about, h art said.
“ i would say that the greatest opportunity that we have as students to create change on this campus is to come together with a unified voice and to call for the same thing,” he said. “ i would encourage students to get out there and support things. The administration will listen. b ut just the more people, the better — the more powerful the message.”
Contact Katie Galioto at kgalioto@nd.edu
KATIE GALIOTO | The Observer
Students march to Main Building with signs displaying messages calling for changes to Notre Dame’s current energy policies.
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measures these statistics starting as early as wednesday of a home football week due to the number of fans who arrive on campus early in the week.
“a football weekend for us is really defined as wednesday through sunday,” he said. “ w hat’s really interesting about notre dame, and notre dame fans and the opponents that notre dame play, is they all travel really well to s outh b end. … it is not unlikely for us to see fans from an opposing team or notre dame fans from an opposing team’s town as early as wednesday.”
dashelle a ngel, a cashier at the bookstore, said the number of people in the bookstore at peak times during a football weekend can make it difficult to help every customer in a timely manner, a priority for the bookstore staff.
“it’s very hectic here,” a ngel said. “[The most challenging part is] trying to get to every customer, and that’s the no. 1 rule here. g et every customer and make them satisfied by just getting their order right.”
p art of getting a customer’s order right involves having every size of clothing and other types of merchandise available at all times, which werda said the bookstore management ensures by carefully planning the flow of merchandise into the bookstore well in advance of the football season.
“ we’re selling a lot of merchandise so the flow of merchandise into the notre dame retail operations … is planned over a year in advance,” he said. werda said factors such as the football schedule itself could affect how much product the bookstore receives during a certain month.
“i f you think about this season, in particular, where we had three home games backto-back-to-back in the month of s eptember, there’s no time in between those games to flow product into the store for a game so that product needs to be landed in advance of those games,” werda said. “The month of a ugust, for example, becomes a very critical month for us as we bring product in from various vendors.”
o ne other important aspect of a football weekend the bookstore management keeps in mind is the movement of crowds in the bookstore, werda said.
“ we spend a great deal of time talking about the flow of people through the building,” he said. “much like going to the grotto, and going to see Touchdown Jesus and going to the stadium itself, the hammes notre dame b ookstore is very much a part of that experience, and so we move a lot of people through the bookstore.”
werda said the bookstore management controls this by specifically placing popular products such as The shirt in areas where they will benefit the flow of traffic rather than impeding movement.
“a nything and everything in the bookstore … can alter the direction of traffic and the flow of people,” he said. “a t this point The shirt has become something where people are coming to get The shirt. it’s part of the game day experience. placement of The shirt … often presents a problem because so many people want The shirt that at times it causes congestion.”
The bookstore’s busier moments during football weekends vary due to factors such as opponent, game time and weather, werda said, but the business consistently sees peak crowds just a few hours before kickoff.
“ w hen there’s a west c oast crowd that comes in, the day tends to shift later because of the fact that they’re a west c oast crowd arriving later in the day and, [because of] the time change, they’re thinking that it’s earlier for them,” werda said. “g enerally speaking the three hours before a game are our peak time. … day games differ greatly from night games and weather impacts everything significantly.”
d espite all the necessary components of stocking merchandise and managing crowds, werda said, the most important aspect of being prepared for a home football game is making sure there are enough staff members to help bookstore customers.
“The people piece of it is probably the biggest one in terms of staffing,” he said. “ we start [hiring for seasonal positions] well in advance … in order for us to execute the 12 to 15,000 transactions per hour on a football weekend.”
a ngel said she and the other hammes bookstore cashiers do everything they can to make a fan’s experience at the bookstore enjoyable.
“ we try to carry on conversations, try to get to learn more about them and have them come back,” she said. “here we are family and we want that to keep going and we don’t want any bad reviews at all. … Just come visit us because we love the atmosphere of people.”
not only does the bookstore staff work hard to ensure fans have a good visit to the bookstore, but a ngel has also discovered these experiences can be just as enjoyable for the bookstore staff as they are for customers.
“Jon b on Jovi’s son went here and i actually met [ b on Jovi],” she said. “i’m a fangirl of Jon b on Jovi. i literally passed out and they woke me up and i said, ‘c an i get an autograph?’”
Contact Courtney Becker at cbecker3@nd.edu
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a lumnus
con T inued From page 1
hall of l aw with associate dean mark mcKenna on Thursday afternoon. “a s a third, fourth, fifth grader, people would ask me what i wanted to do when i grew up and i said i wanted to be a lawyer. i didn’t know what lawyers did. i didn’t know any lawyers; i certainly didn’t know how you became a lawyer.
“growing up in canton, ohio, in the 1950s for a young a frican-a merican kid, if things
went really well, you might find a job in a steel mill.”
having not played football until he was already in high school, page did not draw upon the sport he excelled in as part of his identity.
“i didn’t see football as a career and i didn’t see myself as a football player,” he said. “i didn’t lose that excitement and enthusiasm for the law; in fact, i became involved in the n Fl players a ssociation and that reinforced my desire to become a lawyer.”
i n his second year in the n Fl ,
at the start of the 1968 season, page enrolled in law school.
“i was in over my head,” he said. “it was so bad that i decided to drop out. it was so bad, it took me another two and a half weeks to figure out how to drop out.”
i n 1975, page tried again, enrolling in the university of m innesota l aw school while still playing football professionally. This time, things were different.
“i loved every minute of it,” he said. “it was fascinating. it was hard, it was intimidating,
it was scary; it was everything that [first-year law students] go through, but i learned a tremendous amount, not only about the law, but about myself.”
a fter retiring from football after the 1981 season, page started his career in law, including spending five years in private practice.
“The private practice didn’t agree with me and i didn’t agree with it,” he said. “it was a bad choice in the first instance. u ltimately, private practice is about the law, but it’s about the business, and it wasn’t me.”
unsatisfied with private practice, page decided to run for a position on the m innesota supreme court but was blocked from election by two last-minute appointments, prompting him to take his case to the supreme court, before he was able to get on the ballot.
“i can still hear it, it rings in my ears, the afternoon the decision came down: ‘he’s just a football player, he’s not qualified,’” he said. “The way that was stated, to me, was clearly a code for ‘he’s black and he’s not qualified.’ Fortunately, the people of m innesota didn’t buy into that; they gave me 62 percent of the vote and gave me the opportunity to serve.”
a s a justice, page was adamant every case be considered with great care.
“my approach, ultimately, was every case was important,” he said. “every case deserves 100 percent of my attention, my effort and my energy, because, even in those obscure cases that no one ever hears about or cares about, it involves real people with real problems. it involves people’s rights, people’s liberties; sometimes it involves people’s lives.”
w hile addressing student questions, page commented on police and racial tensions in communities across a merica, including his own community in m inneapolis.
“The reality is, that when it comes to police-community relations, the police have some legitimate concerns and certainly communities of color have concerns,” he said. “we have, for far too long in this country, treated people of color differently when it comes to how the law is applied to them, particularly in the criminal justice system.
“we shouldn’t be surprised that they are dying at disproportionate rates, because we arrest them at disproportionate rates. it follows that bad things are going to happen and they’re going to happen at a higher rate.”
Contact Megan Valley at mvalley@nd.edu
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ROSIE LoVOI | The Observer
Alan Page speaks to Notre Dame law students about his career path. A member of the 1966 Irish national championship team, Page went on to play for the Minnesota Vikings and pursue a career in law.
iNSide cOLUmN
The case of the world series
The c leveland i ndians winning the world s eries would be a letdown, hear me out. n ow both teams seemingly came out of nowhere in the past couple of years and emerged as forces to be reckoned with, however, the buzz this year seems to be totally different for the two teams.
o n the one hand, you have c leveland, who up until June 19 was yearning for a championship, and it got one. i n perhaps one of the most spectacular series in nba history, the c avaliers beat the warriors and brought the championship title back to c leveland. n ow, the city seems to be rolling its excitement from the championship into the baseball season. p erhaps c leveland is hyping its team so much because it sees its chances of a repeat in the nba dwindling with the recent addition of Kevin d urant to the warriors, or it’s simply just excited that they could get two championships in one fell swoop. w hatever the case, it knows good and well that it is at least a decade away from putting any hope into the b rowns. The i ndians had not won the pennant since 1997 and haven’t won the world s eries since 1948. w ith the c avs winning and bringing life to that program, c leveland doesn’t really need to win the world s eries anymore.
Then you have the c inderella story that is the c hicago c ubs. The c ubs have had such a dry and disappointing past that i would’ve forgotten they played in mlb had they not faced the c ardinals a couple times a year. The c ubbies hadn’t won the pennant since 1945 and haven’t won a world s eries since 1908. For reference, the last time the c ubs won the world s eries, lyons h all was still 19 years from being built and the Titanic had not even made its maiden voyage yet. Fun statistics aside, the c ubs have stormed onto the baseball scene as a serious contender over the past couple of years, yearning for a chance to bring a title back to a place that hasn’t seen one in an eternity. Just giving the devil its due, however, being that i am from s t. l ouis that is an apt title for them. The c ubs fans have stayed by their team through thick and thin. i t is only fitting that fans who have been faithful to their team so long see the fruits of the labor come to harvest (peep the seasonal reference).
i am by no means saying that i want the c ubs to win the world s eries, nor will i ever say that in my lifetime. h owever, when the i ndians win the world s eries i can’t help but think that it will be a bit of a letdown; whether that be due to the c ubs’ c inderella story striking midnight finally, or to the fact that c leveland will still be too hungover from its nba championship to truly appreciate what it means to win a world s eries title.
Contact Edward Griesedieck at egriesed@ nd.edu The views expressed in the Inside Column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
Going home
a land, my land, sits quietly across the ocean. its scent, my scent, permeated the air, the air in the c hicago airport, far away from my vast land. i watched planes landing and taking off and felt summer dying and fall growing. i was about to set off for a place where a piece of home exists. d oes one see more when she is up in the air? i remembered that foggy morning 15 years ago when my mom brought me to see the sunrise on m ountain Thai. That was my first time seeing a sea of clouds below my feet, and for a minute, i seriously thought i was dead and that i was in that place they called heaven. a nd i clearly remembered that i told my mom that i sensed g od’s presence. For some reason, i finally saw the possibility that there could be gods above me because there’s space for them. h ow good and peaceful it all was. b eing above others persuaded me of the existence of the supernatural, and at times i wondered if those lofty gods in c hinese legends also realized their existence that way.
w hen our plane finally reached the same level as the moon, i saw her developing a glowing shade of orange. The city was sleeping peacefully below us. w hat a pity, i thought, maybe one day the moon would, as the old c hinese legends went, become a beautiful lady and come down to where we live, to the sleeping neighborhoods and noisy city centers, and lose herself in the sounds of partying pubs. s he could get drunk and maybe even black out among the jobless people, and they would find her one of them. Then, in those c hinese legends, the g od of Two young m en would say, “ m oon, you shall be punished and never return to the sky, for you have voluntarily debased yourself to the lower kind.”
n obody owned a s amsung n otebook 7. The plane landed. The lower kinds were all so safe, g od of Two young m en, do not worry about us. i walked into one of my favorite places in the world — the grand airport arrival hall. it is a strange place full of reunions, with people and with land. i saw college freshmen coming home with their parents holding a “ you made i T” sign, businessmen dressed in suits, eyes fixed on their phones, walking tiredly into airport hotels, pilots talking about the sky, eyes forward, secretly enjoying passengers’ admiring glances. h owever, i think nothing illustrates the definition of reunion better than a couple does. i saw a woman running into the arms
of her boyfriend and he lifted her up in the air, their faces touching and hands clenched. s uch is the true meaning of reunion, i thought. it has weight attached to it, like lifting a woman up, feeling her breathing and imagining all her lonely nights spent without you.
Then i saw a homeless man. h e wore a wool coat. i n the warm waiting room, that wool coat was his label, his sole identity. h e stood out as he was. h e did not smell good either. i watched people getting intentionally close to him to show their empathy. i f the homeless man liked that forced closeness — i was not sure. i could have asked him. b ut i did not. Then i thought to myself, “o h my god i was ugly inside,” and at that moment, i could have gone up and asked him, but again i didn’t. i nstead, i kept reading my book — “a m oveable Feast” by h emingway — while waiting for my friend to pick me up. Then i thought about how poor h emingway and h adley were in p aris, but how they never thought themselves as poor because they simply did not accept it. Then i comforted myself that maybe h emingway was alive in that homeless man and he would be all right, and i changed my name to h ypocrite.
Then i saw him in a black leather jacket, my friend, carrying that small piece of home, running towards me. i could smell the leather in the wind, the wind his running stirred. There was suddenly the echo of a familiar c hinese poem in my head — 远在远方的风比远方更远 i ndeed, the wind in a faraway land was farther than the faraway land itself. Then i hoped that monkey monk in c hinese legends, “ s un w ukong,” whose name meant “finding his heart in emptiness,” was real so that he could make time stop at that moment, that exact moment when our eyes met and joy started burning in his, that exact moment when i could vaguely smell his leather jacket, that exact moment when words were still faraway and the night was still young. i hoped i would never welcome that small piece of home, but learn to long for it and treat such longing as life. Then there were warm greetings, and hugs, and the rest of the evening.
Rebecca Feng is a senior at Notre Dame, double majoring in accounting and English, but traveling and living abroad is her real education. She read Shakespeare and old English poems in Scotland last semester and interned at Forbes Magazine Asia business channel in New York this summer. Email her at yfeng2@nd.edu for story ideas and comments.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
Edward Griesedieck photographer
Rebecca Feng redefining beauty
LetterS tO tHe editOr
our part in the play
a s human beings, it is natural for us to be curious. a t some point in our evolutionary history, we crossed an intellectual r ubicon, forever fating ourselves to perceive more than just what we needed for survival and reproduction. The result was endless confusion about the many mysteries of the world, and equally as many attempts at solving them.
we have a hard time finding absolute answers, however, so we use our gigantic brains and logical thinking to come up with relative ones; and then we use reason to constantly re-evaluate these answers and stick with the one that makes the most sense to us at that time. i t is in this way that we develop the cumulative knowledge which allows us to stand on the shoulders of giants and consistently move closer to the truth.
o f the many answers we wrestle with, one of the most critical is that of our own story: the “where did we come from?” and “how did we get here?” questions. For a very long time, we answered these questions religiously, by qualifying ourselves as the “chosen people” who had received “dominion over” the rest of g od’s earthly creations; and for most of human existence, this has been the most logical, and reasonable, answer available to us.
That’s because, for a very long time, nothing else other than religion could provide a
legitimate answer. we had no n ewton or d arwin to explain an alternative narrative to our existence. b ut now we know more, and science is consistently providing additional information to further our understanding of ourselves. we must try to keep up.
The question to be re-evaluated then becomes “what is our part in the play?” i n the production put on by e arth’s natural laws and the existence of matter at our address in the galaxy, what role were we humans cast into? we are certainly different than every other form of life that has existed on planet e arth, but does that make us any more important?
m aybe we aren’t better, just different. w e are certainly more perceptive to existential questions than many other species. This is why we often cite not seeing any dolphin philosophers or elephant scientists trying to understand what it means to be a dolphin or elephant, respectively, as a reason and explanation of our difference. b ut why does our existential awareness and attempted avoidance of existential dread make us any better?
h uman vision works with three types of photoreceptors. m antis shrimp use twelve to view the world. h umans can hardly go a day without eating. g iant tortoises can go without food and water for at least a year. h umans can fly and dive
after much training and technology, but sea-bird juveniles don’t need any help or equipment to figure it out. s o whose defining of “better” have we been using to evaluate our differences?
The point is that as science teaches us more about other species, we should simultaneously be learning more about ourselves, and where we fit into the big picture. a llowing our view of what it means to be human to change is mandatory if we want the giant shoulders we stand on to continue getting taller. o ur answers to where we came from and how we got here should evolve to explain our existence as a phenomenon equally as exceptional as that of a mantis shrimp or giant tortoise.
we don’t find it difficult to update our understanding of health, education and even biology as we learn more on our way to the truth, but when questions and answers about our own existence come up, we “wish to be created at once by special act,” and find it quite difficult to accept anything else as a meaningful explanation. w hat if there’s more to it than that? i f we are ever going to find out, we need to start asking ourselves, “ w hat is our part in the play?”
Williams junior oct. 26
i t’s a fair question to ask — after all, we live in what many would call a sexually liberated society. we are told not to feel guilty or ashamed about seeking pleasure and fulfilling our desires. s o what could be so bad about pornography that it still remains such a taboo topic? i s it simply the remains of a once puritanical culture? s hould we just get over it and publicly endorse it as just one more instance of sexual expression? a fter all, we might not talk about it openly, but is it not true most people look at porn behind closed doors?
The authors of this letter think that we should indeed talk about pornography, that we should not keep turning our backs to this subject. we also believe that pornography is in fact a very bad thing, not because we believe in sexual repression, but rather because we believe in sexual freedom. we believe that pornography is hurting us all by taking the beauty of human sexuality and distorting it into something that is neither beautiful nor free. o ur sexuality is nothing to frown upon; it is actually one of the greatest aspects of our humanity. it is a beautiful expression of romantic and intimate love; a love that can even
result in new life. p ornography takes this away from us. There is no intimacy, no love, no shared experience. The pleasure one may get from pornography is merely the result of looking at a variety of strangers on a screen, which completely detaches the experience from any kind of love. a nd this is not without greater consequences. p ornography teaches us to be selfish and to desire only our own satisfaction. we become conditioned to expect pleasure without commitment; there is no need to give back or form a bond with another person. i nstead there is just emptiness, a need to satisfy an ever-increasing craving for what is nothing more than a self-induced chemical high. p ornography may not be inhaled or injected, but its effects are as addictive as any other drug. This is not liberating, on the contrary, it is enslaving.
The most dangerous thing about pornography is that we are all so vulnerable to it. i t preys on our most basic desires, desires that are not only natural and beautiful, but also incredibly strong. i t is no wonder that an industry that takes advantage of these passions has managed to spread so
far. That is why we need to talk about it, to name the problem and recognize that pornography affects us all. o nly by getting the issue out in the open will we be able to see as a community that pornography cannot truly satisfy our need for authentic sexual love. we need to create a culture that celebrates and lifts up a view of sexuality in which real love may thrive.
The week of o ct. 31 is the national w hite r ibbon a gainst p ornography week ( wrap week). This year n otre d ame is joining the fight, with events hosted by the group s tudents for c hildo riented p olicy, the g ender r elations c enter and the c enter for e thics and c ulture among others. we encourage you to join us this week, to attend the events and to start the conversation. we are all affected by pornography, and only by working together can we take a stand against it.
Benjamin Swanson senior Luis Erana-Salmeron junior oct. 26
Matthew
By KELLY McGARRY
a ssociate scene editor
w ith the beginning of the third season of “Jane the v irgin,” we’re still wondering when its title will become a misnomer. The season opens with c hapter 46, which addresses the cliffhanger that’s been waiting for months — m ichael has been shot. using a flashback to Jane’s childhood, the narrator leads with the question, “ how does knowing the end effect the journey?” The flashbacks to follow include the twists and turns that began Jane and m ichael’s romance, and the current situation affects out viewing, where we might have otherwise been tempted to root for the cute and bookish neighbor s am, who Jane has been crushing on for 17 months.
The main tension of the episode is the uncertainty of whether m ichael will survive the gunshot. Jane’s flash-forwards of them growing old together send
the message that he can’t possibly survive. p lus, his death would help the show keep its title.
d espite the heaviness of m ichael’s condition, flashbacks preserve the show’s usual tone, along with the telenovela-level subplot — a nezka (who i suspect was named purely for the subtly-dropped pun “a nezkatized”) is posing as her twin sister, who she put in a coma to fulfill a mischievous scheme.
a nother sub-story is more serious, in Jane’s mother Xiomara’s abortion. The lifelike scenario is set in sharp contrast to the soap-opera-level drama going on with the other characters. The process is realistic; she’s certain of her decision, but still has to deal with the conflicting opinions of family members. Though the impact is lessened by m ichael’s condition, the abortion comes into the spotlight in the season’s second episode.
e xecutive producer Jennie s nyder urman told the hollywood r eporter that the depiction of Xiomara’s abortion was intentional. a fter three different
instances of people deciding against abortion (Jane, p etra and teenage Xiomara), Xiomara’s decision removes the implied stance against abortion from the show.
The series itself is evolving, yet balancing its tone as tensions rise and characters develop. o ne thing the show will not be able to maintain indefinitely is its title. s nyder urman already revealed that the title wouldn’t work through the end of the season.
That moment has been built up for two years and holds as much pressure for viewers as it does for Jane herself. Just like many people, the show has to make this the perfect moment. “p erfect” in this case can come in many quirky or shocking forms. however it presents itself, that moment is imminent.
The solution will be a change in the title, and redefinition might be a theme that applies to the characters themselves.
Contact Kelly McGarry at kmcgarry@nd.edu
By CHRISTIAN BUNKER scene writer
i t seems that there is a conspiracy dedicated to the failure of emo rock band a merican Football’s second eponymous album. p uzzlingly, the members of the band themselves seem to be behind this conspiracy. e verything they’ve done up to now seems designed to ensure that their newest release will tank. First, they came out with a beloved album that defined a genre. Then they waited no less than 17 years, allowing it to achieve mythic status and inspire countless imitators. They even broke up during this time, giving the public solid proof that the 1999 “a merican Football” album was impossible to top. Then they reformed and announced a new lp — and as if to guarantee the maximum amount of comparison of the new album with the old, they even gave it the same name. h onestly, i wouldn’t be surprised if m ike Kinsella penned a review emphasizing how the new record couldn’t stand up to the merits of the first and mailed it to p itchfork to save them some time.
e ither way, i ’ll be the first to declare that 2016’s “a merican Football” definitely did not beat the
odds stacked against it. This lp fails to measure up to its namesake in multiple respects. Kinsella’s vocals, which on the first album had contained just enough emotion to justify the band’s emo categorization, have become simply weak. The production also leaves much to be desired. h owever, the worst component by far is the lyrics. s elfserving downer lines like “ i can’t lie, i kind of like the pain” and “ i ’ve damaged goods inside me” may have worked in 1999, but the band and their fans have grown up since, and they need to reflect that. a nd don’t even get me started on the abysmal “ i n eed a d rink (or Two or Three),” a song that makes most country singers sound like s hakespeare. n evertheless, if you’re like me you listen to a merican Football for one reason, and one reason only: the guitars. i didn’t like the lyrics on the first album, so they’re not a dealbreaker now either. These guys do such distinct things with a guitar that their sound is instantly recognizable; several of the band’s songs have been described as postrock on occasion. The bottom line is that a merican Football has an invaluable sound, and it is back on this album, even if the supporting cast isn’t. i was disappointed to see that this album lacked any instrumental tracks or over five-minute-long
songs, since that’s where their guitars had shined most on the first album. h owever, they still managed to find some grooves on this release. i particularly liked “g ive m e the g un,” “ e veryone is d ressed u p,” and the outro to “ b orn to l ose.” There were exciting surprises in “ d esire g ets in the way” as well. o f course, the playing was solid throughout the rest of the album, and for all their missteps, the band made an lp that i enjoyed listening too. p erhaps most importantly, they reminded me why i enjoy a merican Football and why i ’ll continue listening to everything they release, regardless of whether it tops their debut album.
Contact Christian Bunker at cbunker@nd.edu
“American Football”
American Football
Label: Wichita Recordings
Track: “Born to Lose” “Desire Gets in the Way”
If you like: The Sea and Cake, Owen
By ADRIAN MARK LORE scene writer
The young archival record label n umero g roup details a commitment to the history of modern music, collected and transmitted like an oral history through anthologies of obscure or forgotten artists. i t is only sensible, then, that the label would opt to compile the early work of art rock icon b londe r edhead for re-release. The group has been met with limited commercial success yet has gathered an impressive cult following, drawing over the years from the best ideas of noise rock, shoegaze and dream pop to craft their richly textured sound.
The anthology, entitled “ m asculin Féminin,” collects b londe r edhead’s first two records along with many of the band’s previously unreleased demos and singles from the mid-1990s. The music spans a hefty four lp s, and includes a booklet that features a visual history of the band’s formative years. a ltogether, the release represents a detailed and vibrant portrait of the group. yet the anthology possesses more than mere historical value. w hile any good groupie will certainly drool over the release’s collectability, casual listeners will also find much to enjoy in the band’s more hard-boiled hidden gems.
b oth of the records featured in the anthology were originally released in 1995, when the future of the dreamy aesthetic pioneered by shoegaze
music and associated genres was still very much in question. a cts like yo l a Tengo were at the vanguard of this new alternative rock epoch, defining its sound on musically influential records that gained less traction in the mainstream; in this development, b londe r edhead had a significant voice. a s “ m asculin Féminin” illustrates, the characterization of the band as another copycat group is hopelessly flawed. Tracks like “ i d on’t w ant u ” and “ u.F. o .” reveal a group of skilled musicians that is already confident drawing inspiration from the past in shaping its own future. The tracks on this anthology may sound unusually raw at times, yet to an impressive degree they feature many of the elements that would later define the band’s characteristic sound. The melodious cadence of the i talian male vocalist a medeo p ace and the textured wails of the Japanese female vocalist Kazu m akino shared a uniquely uncanny chemistry from the start, as demonstrated on highlight “ b ig s ong.” a dditionally, many of the tracks on the first half of the anthology feature the airtight drumming of s imone p ace as well as circular guitar riffs that sound familiarly soulful, though noisier and rawer than their dreamier counterparts on later releases.
p erhaps most notably, b londe r edhead also reveal on “ m asculin Féminin” their apparently innate talent that years needed not hone: the ability to harness the emotional poles of aggression, urgency, tenderness and vulnerability into a
passionate flurry of tension that drives the music, particularly on what is arguably the record’s most well-executed track, “a stro b oy.” w hile the band would go on to perfect many of these elements in their later songwriting, the music collected in this anthology stands its own ground.
m uch of the sensual, dreamy sensibilities of b londe r edhead’s early sound would undeniably help shape the course of art rock in the following decades; the band’s influence only grew with time. Thus, while many have characterized the group as a junior version of luminaries m y b loody valentine or r ide, this new anthology collected and released by n umero g roup reveals decisively that b londe r edhead are very much a self-contained phenomenon. The band’s earliest recordings demonstrate precocious vision and craft and are as worthy of note as its renowned later releases.
Contact Adrian Mark Lore at asanchez11@nd.edu
“Masculin Féminin”
Blonde Redhead
Label: Numero Group
Track: “Astro Boy”
If you like: Yo La Tengo, Ride, My Bloody Valentine
Happy Birthday: appeal to others for help and support this year. d on’t feel like you have to do everything on your own. There is safety in numbers, and much can be accomplished if you share your thoughts and plans and delegate jobs to those willing to pitch in and help. you will discover a lot about yourself and the people you can count on. your numbers are 4, 16, 24, 28, 31, 38, 45.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): review contracts and legal documents and you’ll come up with a solution to resolve any uncertainties or imperfections that exist. update your look, image or financial plans, and you will feel good about moving forward. l ove is encouraged.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): l isten and take notes, but don’t let your emotions take over. if you overreact, you will take a step back instead of moving closer to your goal. your intuition will be spot on, but diplomacy will still be necessary.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): c heck out a film you want to see or a book you want to read. exercise your right to make the changes that will improve your personal life. make romance a priority or plan to enjoy time spent with those you love.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Too much of anything will set you back. emotions will surface when dealing with relationships and domestic matters. be willing to compromise in order to keep the peace. your insight will help you do what’s best for everyone.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): d o whatever it takes to add to your credentials, appearance or improved health. Take a moment to think before you get into a discussion with someone you live with. have alternatives in mind before you initiate any banter.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): you’ll have additional responsibilities at home due to a partner who is not pulling his or her weight. step up your game, but make it clear that you will also need some downtime to rejuvenate.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): o vereating and overspending are not going to make you feel better. self-improvement projects will not only lift your spirits, they will prompt you to engage in professional events that will help you get ahead in life.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): your involvement in organizations that have similar professional interests will lead to an interesting encounter and a chance to discuss future projects. express your interest and explain the contributions you can offer. a business trip will be worthwhile.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): you’ll move two steps forward and three steps back if you aren’t aware of what’s going on around you. a steady pace and finishing what you start will help smooth over any rough patches you face in your professional partnerships.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): you need to make a change, but not one that will turn into a costly venture. Try something new or rediscover a hobby that you used to enjoy. l ooking back will help you move forward. a job prospect looks promising.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): put love, romance and important partnerships ahead of everything else for now. you can make physical changes that will make you feel good and help you present what you have to offer with confidence.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Take advantage of a moneymaking opportunity. e laborate what you have to offer and what you expect in return. your negotiating skills will help you develop a good working relationship with the people you do business with.
Birthday Baby: you are dedicated, loyal and respected. you are insightful and intense.
JUmbLe | david hoyT and JeFF KnureK
SUdOkU | The mepham group
JUSt add Water | eric carlson & John roddy
Schwarber return bolsters Cubs
a fter being shutout in g ame 1 of the world s eries, the c hicago c ubs evened the Fall c lassic on wednesday night in c leveland with a 5-1 victory over the i ndians.
u ndeterred by a lack of command early on, Jake a rrieta put the c ubs in an exceptional spot, giving up just one run over 5 2/3 innings pitched. o n the offensive side, the c ubs, despite going only 3-for-12 with runners in scoring position, opened up a 5-run lead in the fifth and never looked back, with two of those critical hits with runners in scoring position coming from the bat of the rehabilitated and seemingly divine Kyle s chwarber.
w ithout trying to unnecessarily add to the c ubs buoyancy rhetoric that is (of course) currently rampant, it is imperative that every baseball fan that has not taken note of s chwarber to feel obligated to do so. w hat s chwarber has been able to accomplish over the past week is both unprecedented and perhaps irreplaceable.
For those unfamiliar with s chwarber’s season, it has been one full of frustrating circumstances and perseverance. i n just the third game of the season, s chwarber was injured in an outfield collision that resulted in full tears of both the lcl and ucl in his left knee. i n a season where the first-place c ubs have been fortunate enough to avoid lengthy injuries, s chwarber, already the c ubs postseason leader in home runs after less than a full season of mlb experience, was the one what-if that c ubs fans had to dwell on as the c ubs entered the postseason with a predominantly healthy roster.
w hile s chwarber’s presence was felt in the dugout of c ubs home games and scouting report meetings throughout the season, it
was hard not to feel bad for someone who appeared to work as hard as possible to somehow have a tangible impact on a historic c ubs season.
well, that opportunity for tangible impact finally came on m onday night. a fter being medically cleared to hit just one week before and going 1-for-6 in a pair of a rizona Fall l eague games over the weekend, s chwarber was inserted right in the middle of the c ubs order and responded in impressive fashion.
h e swiftly became the first player to ever record his first hit of the season in a world s eries game by blasting a double that narrowly missed being a home run and later became just the second left handed hitter to work a walk this year against baseball’s undisputed top reliever, a ndrew m iller. a nd s chwarber was far from finished — wednesday night he had two key rbi singles in addition to another walk.
i mportant members of both organizations — from c ubs president Theo e pstein to i ndians manager Terry Francona — have spoken in awe of s chwarber’s ability to return in apparent midseason form after not seeing mlb pitching for over half a year in wake of an injury that left the most pessimistic c ubs fans wondering if he would ever be able to match the excitement he brought to the club in his rookie season. w hether you are a c ubs fan, a bandwagon fan or even someone who hopes that the longest drought in a merican sports remains pervasive, it is obligatory to both credit s chwarber for doing the unthinkable and watch in awe as he makes a unique impact that might never be replicated.
Contact Ryan Klaus at rklaus1@nd.edu
The views expressed in this Sports Authority are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
mariota, Titans buck trend at home to beat Jaguars
Associated Press
nashville , Tenn. — There’s nothing like a visit from the Jacksonville Jaguars to make the Tennessee Titans remember how to protect their home field.
m arcus m ariota threw for 270 yards and two touchdowns to end his home struggles and the Titans had their highest point total of the season in a 36-22 victory over the Jaguars on Thursday night.
since the start of the 2014 season, the Titans are 3-0 at home against the Jaguars and 1-17 against everybody else. The Titans are 3-8 in home games started by m ariota, a second-year pro out of o regon.
“it was important,” m ariota said. “To give our fans an opportunity to see how this team can play, it was huge. hopefully this will build a
Nba | spurs 102, Kings 94
foundation for the rest of the year and give the fans what they really want.”
m ariota was 18 of 22 and had a 148.1 passer rating, the second-highest of his career. d em arco murray ran for 123 yards and a touchdown to help the Titans bounce back four days after squandering a lead in a 34-26 home loss to i ndianapolis.
“i thought it was good to have a short turnaround,” Titans coach m ike mularkey said. “it was a difficult loss we had against i ndy. we had to get focused right on these guys immediately, especially with a prime-time game. we wanted to show what we’re capable of doing, show the country what we’re trying to do here.”
The Titans (4-4) gained a season-high 494 total yards and won for the third time in four games. They scored on six straight possessions
during a stretch that began in the first quarter and stretched into the third period.
Tennessee already led 3-0 before m ariota threw a 36-yard touchdown pass to Kendall wright on the first play of the second quarter. rookie d errick henry capped the Titans’ next drive by scoring his first career touchdown on a 6-yard run. murray added a 14-yard touchdown run 3 1/2 minutes later.
a fter starting out to his right and encountering traffic, murray reversed his field, capitalized on a downfield block from m ariota and dove into the left corner of the end zone for his sixth touchdown run of the season.
Jacksonville (2-5) trailed 24-0 by the time it got its second first down of the game midway through the second quarter. The Titans led 27-0 at halftime.
Leonard leads Spurs in road win at Sacramento
Associated Press
sacramen T o, c alif.
— Kawhi l eonard ripped the ball away from b en m c l emore and drove the other way for a three-point play. Then the next time down the court, l eonard grabbed it away from m c l emore and scored on the other end.
Those two plays turned the momentum s an a ntonio’s way and sent the s purs home with a very successful season-opening trip following a 102-94 victory over the Kings on Thursday night that spoiled the regular season opener at s acramento’s new downtown arena.
“ h e took two away in a row and said, ‘g imme that.’ h e just grabbed it away from whoever it was,” s purs coach g regg p opovich said. “ h e just grabbed it and took it twice in a row. i don’t see
many people doing that.”
Few people are doing what l eonard is early this season. a fter scoring a career-high 35 points to go with five steals in a 129-100 seasonopening win at g olden s tate on Tuesday night, l eonard had 30 points and five steals against the Kings.
l eonard is the first player to put together back-to-back 30-point, five-steal games since e ddie Jones did it for m iami in d ecember 2002.
“ you see players play at an extremely high level on offense, but this guys does it on both ends,” teammate p au g asol said. “ it’s hard to say where he’s more exceptional. h e’s a very special player.”
l eonard helped dampen the excitement for the first regular season game at the new arena on an emotional night as fans remembered how close the franchise was
to moving to s eattle before v ivek r anadive bought the team in 2013 and reached a deal to build the arena. it didn’t end as well despite a strong night from d e m arcus c ousins, who led s acramento with 37 points and 16 rebounds.
“a s much as this city has fought, the fans were more than deserving of this night,” c ousins said. “ i wished we could have sealed the deal with a win.”
The Kings built a ninepoint lead midway through the third period before l eonard and the s purs put it away. s an a ntonio went on a 16-2 run and held s acramento without a basket for the final 7:20 of the period to take a 76-71 lead into the fourth.
The Kings missed nine straight shots and l eonard then had the steals from m c l emore.
Ryan Klaus sports writer
iNterHaLL
Squads set to close out regular season
Stanford v. Siegfried
By BRENNAN BUHR sports writer
stanford and s iegfried are set to clash on s unday in what will be a fierce battle for playoff positioning as the regular season comes to a conclusion.
For the g riffins (2-1), the season began smoothly with two solid wins over d uncan and Knott. however, the g riffins took a step back two weeks ago with a blowout defeat to morrissey. stanford senior captain Kevin Kohler emphasized the sense of urgency his team must feel in order to perform well in the high-pressure game.
“ we are treating the game as a must-win,” Kohler said. “ we are going into this game feeling like if we don’t win, we might not make the playoffs. we are treating it like a playoff game.”
i n particular, Kohler has prepared his defense to be ready for the s iegfried passing game that has made a few key big plays in its first two games.
“ we will definitely be
running some prevent defense this week, as they have had some luck with throwing the long ball,” Kohler said. “ we are definitely going to keep an eye on that and hope we don’t let up anything over the top.”
o n the other side of the ball, the r amblers (2-0) look to build off wins against morrissey and Knott and clinch a top seed with a win on s unday. s enior captain d aniel verzuh has a clear and consistent message for his team as it prepares for the game.
“‘a ny given s unday’ is the model they use in the n F l and it translates even better to interhall football,” verzuh said. “stanford looked like the team to beat, up until their last game when they were trounced by morrissey. s o you never know what to expect week-to-week. a ll we can do is try to play our best football and work on improving ourselves.”
l ike Kohler, verzuh understands the magnitude of this final regular season game on his team’s playoff positioning.
“i f we win this weekend,
we will get the number one seed in the division, but if we lose, we might not make the playoffs at all,” verzuh said. “That’s the folly of a threeor four-game regular season. The difference between going 3-0 and winning the division and going 2-1 and fighting for a wild card spot is very real. e very week is a must-win based on how sensitive the schedule is. we feel like we are already in the third week of the playoffs, and every win is a gift. we need to take care of business.”
The game kicks off at 1 p.m. on s unday at l a b ar p ractice c omplex.
Contact Brennan Buhr at bbuhr@nd.edu
a lumni v. dillon
By DARCY DEHAIS sports writer
undefeated dillon will take on rival a lumni on sunday in the last game of the interhall regular season with both teams eligible for playoff bids. d illon (2-0) enters the game with little experience due to an
opposition forfeit in the first week of the season. big red junior captain John walsh said the team learned from mistakes in its last game and is prepared to win this weekend. “ we didn’t know who should be doing what on our team and what our strengths and weaknesses were,” walsh said. “once we finally played Keough, we sorted a lot of that out. we’ve made a bunch of changes since then, and i think this weekend will come down to just executing the changes
we made. i f we can do that, we will put ourselves in a good position to win.”
a lumni (1-1) goes into the weekend with a 28-0 win over o’neill and a 14-0 loss to Keenan.
“no one on campus has seen a dillon versus a lumni interhall game,” walsh said. “This is the first time we’re going to see them, and i think it will be pretty cool to finally play against our so-called rival. i think we should have a lot of guys out there watching and
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cheering on the big red.”
Following its game against Keough, d illon slightly altered its lineup and game strategy and walsh said he hopes the changes will lead to success for big red.
“ we’re not changing the way we play offense or the way we play defense. it’s more the way we use guys,” walsh said. “a couple kids made position changes, and the idea behind that was to keep guys fresh. There were some guys against Keough that ended up playing too much, and we didn’t necessarily have a backup for them to come off the field. we’re going to try to shuffle guys around and more effectively use the 24 men on our roster.” d illon and a lumni kick off on sunday at 3:30 p.m. at l a bar p ractice c omplex.
Contact Darcy Dehais at ddehais@nd.edu
St. e dward’s v. dunne
By MEAGAN BENS sports writer
w ith the final regular season game on s unday, st. e dward’s and d unne will compete to add another win to their records and increase their chances of moving on to the playoffs.
l eading the dorm’s first team, d unne (1-1) senior captain Joseph s chudt noted the team has already progressed throughout the season.
“s ince we all came from different dorms or are new students here, none of us knew each other at the beginning,” s chudt said. “b y now we definitely know the league, each other and our game. a s a captain i’ve gotten to know all of them and i’ve seen us gradually work together better each game so far.”
d espite the week off, st.
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e dward’s (2-0) senior captain p hineas a ndrews said the team is ready to take on its opponent and hopefully start the playoff season.
“ we had a practice Thursday before break and we have a practice this week, so i think we will be in good shape for s unday,” a ndrews said. “b eing 2-0 and having a good group of talent among our juniors and seniors, hopefully we can step it up from previous seasons and go farther into the playoffs after this game if all goes well.”
w ith a .500 record, s chudt said the upcoming game could possibly be the last game he will play.
“i f we beat st. e dward’s, we might make it to the playoffs, depending on the tie breaker,” s chudt said. “personally, i’m just looking forward to having fun this game and just enjoying playing, since it can be my last game here at notre d ame. hopefully we will play well, get the w and have another shot playing in the playoffs.”
o n s unday, st. e dward’s will face d unne at 2:15 p.m. at l a b ar p ractice c omplex.
Contact Meagan Bens at mbens@nd.edu
O’Neill v. keough
By PATRICK SKRINE sports writer
o’ neill will square off against rival Keough on s unday to close out the regular season.
b oth squads are looking for their first wins of the season, so the rivalry continues be a heated one. s ophomore o’ neill captain c harles p untillo is excited about this contest and knows what it will take for his team to earn bragging rights.
“Keough is our biggest rival, so this is a huge game for us,” p untillo said. “ we need
our offense to help us win the field position battle and our defense to remain solid.”
The a ngry mob (0-3) will look to test Keough on defense by utilizing their running game and maintaining possession of the ball.
Keough (0-2) junior captain d aniel c hilders believes his team will need to execute and play with intensity in order to top the a ngry mob.
“ we are not preparing anything special, we just have to finish games and move the ball more effectively,” c hilders said. “a s long as we come out with a bunch of energy we will be fine.”
The roos have not been able to watch rival o’ neill play this year, but c hilders is confident that they will come out ready to play.
The a ngry mob and the roos will look to conclude their regular seasons on a positive note when they face off at 3:30 p.m. on s unday at l a b ar p ractice c omplex.
Contact Patrick Skrine at pskrine@hcc-nd.edu
duncan v. k nott
By KYLE BARRY sports writer
d uncan and Knott will battle for playoff spots when they match up this s unday.
The h ighlanders (1-1), led by junior captain Thomas staffieri, feels that his team has bounced back well since losing to stanford in week one and knows that this weekend is necessary to bolster the h ighlanders’ playoff chances.
“ we have playoff implications on the line,” staffieri said. “ we need to boost our standing by scoring as [many] points as possible and for our defense to not lose focus.”
a lthough the h ighlanders are missing a few key linemen, staffieri is confident that with
his team’s fast-paced offense, led by junior quarterback m atthew Kase and himself, they will be able to out-run Knott (0-2).
The Juggerknots (0-2) will need to beat the h ighlanders in order to keep their season alive.
s enior Knott captain John Tulloh is looking to use his team’s run-first offense as its strength this s unday.
Tulloh believes that in order to be successful in this game, the Juggerknots will have to slow down the h ighlanders’ up-tempo offense, minimize turnovers and turn their excitement into a victory.
d uncan and Knott will face off at 1 p.m. sunday at l a b ar p ractice c omplex.
Contact Kyle Barry at kbarry@hcc-nd.edu
Fisher v. c arroll
By RYAN LOKHORST sports writer
The vermin and the Fishermen will fight for ownership of the c rooked stick in a traditional rivalry game that has added significance this year due to both teams’ position in the playoff picture.
c arroll (2-1) senior captain a nthony vallera said that there is no need for extra motivation with the rivalry game looming.
“it’s always fun to play Fisher, especially because the winner gets ownership of the c rooked stick for a year,” vallera said.
a s well as the players on the field, the entire halls are getting involved, according to Fisher senior captain shannon m assey.
“[ o ur] rector puts a lot of emphasis on the game,” m assey said. “he has a running bet with the c arroll rector.”
Fisher (1-1) will rely on its speed and athleticism to retain the c rooked stick, but will stick to the same game plan as the rest of the season.
“ we are smaller than last year, but we are faster and more athletic,” m assey said. “ we want to play physical and just have fun and enjoy it.”
vallera said that c arroll will attempt to maintain a proficient aerial attack.
“ we’ve got strong guys on offense and defense,” vallera said. “but [junior quarterback] Tyler Troxell has been throwing the ball really well so we’ll be looking to continue that against Fisher.”
a s for the concern about the small number of players on the team, vallera feels the vermin will need all hands on deck.
“ we all need to be ready to play come game time,” vallera said.
c arroll will take on Fisher at l a b ar p ractice c omplex at 2:15 p.m. sunday afternoon.
Contact Ryan Lokhorst at rlokhors@nd.edu
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Irish set to face Hurricanes, Seminoles
Observer Sports Staff
notre dame looks to continue its three-game win streak this week, with home matchups against miami and no. 11 Florida state.
The irish (18-4, 9-1 acc) defeated the hurricanes (9-13, 3-7) earlier this season away from home in straight sets. The seminoles (16-3, 9-1) are tied in second in the acc alongside the irish with only a single loss in conference play this year. undefeated north carolina sits atop the conference with a 10-0 league mark.
notre dame has won 10 of its last 11 games, with one of those victories being against miami. The 10 wins in conference play marks the most for notre dame since joining the acc. The hurricanes have been less successful this year, winning only three games since last facing the irish. in its last game, notre dame took control early versus virginia Tech and only increased the lead as the match went on, winning 25-20, 25-15 and 25-18. The irish dominated with their striking, converting 42 kills on 108 attempts.
The irish also excelled in their
serving in their last outing against miami, totaling eight aces on the night, much higher than their season average of 5.7 aces per three sets.
leading the miami offense is junior outside hitter olga strantzali, who contributes 4.53 kills per set, nearly two more kills per set than anyone on the irish roster. next up on the schedule is Florida state, the toughest opponent remaining in the regular season for the irish. The no. 11-ranked team in the nation, the seminoles have only one loss in acc play and three losses on the year, with their one conference loss coming against no. 8 north carolina in straight sets. notre dame narrowly lost to the Tar heels at the beginning of fall break in five games.
The seminoles’ biggest strength is their blocking, an area where they rank 10th in the nation with 2.89 blocks per set. Florida state’s defense is anchored by senior middle blocker melanie Keil, who has 1.67 blocks per set. notre dame takes on miami at 7 p.m. Friday at purcell pavilion.
The second game of the weekend will take place sunday at 1 p.m. when the irish face the seminoles at purcell pavilion.
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WEI CAO | The Observer
Irish junior setter Caroline Holt sets up a spike during Notre Dame’s 3-1 win over Duke on Sept. 30 at Purcell Pavilion. Holt has 834 assists so far this season, and she is averaging nearly 11 assists per set.
ND nets positive results over break
By MOLLY MURPHY sports writer
l ast weekend, n otre d ame team took to the road to compete in the i T a m idwest regional championships held at m ichigan s tate.
s ome i rish highlights from the singles competition included senior m onica r obinson making it to the quarterfinals and junior b rooke b roda making it to the round of 16. a llison m iller also had a notable performance on the singles side, losing a close match to the n o. 11 seed, m ichigan sophomore b rienne m inor, in the round of 16.
o n the doubles side, the doubles team of r obinson and b roda made it all the way to the finals of competition, eventually losing to m ichigan duo sophomore Kate Fahey and junior a lex n ajarian.
i rish head coach Jay l ouderback said he felt the team had a strong tournament.
“ we were seeded five to eight,” l ouderback said. “ we actually beat the n o. 4 team in the country in the semifinals. s o we had a really good tournament. i felt really good about the results.
“ i just felt like our results were very good for the middle of the fall. That was a positive for us.”
The nature of the fall season for the i rish is all about preparing for the spring, and the team’s focus right now, according to l ouderback, is about playing well and getting in good matches before competition picks up during the regular season.
“ r ight now, i think the
big thing is just playing,” l ouderback said. “ i think we’ve gotten to play a few matches this fall while preparing for the spring. we’ve got two more weeks left in the fall and just getting to play these tournaments and matches is important. o ur biggest thing is to get our kids matched up to be ready for the spring season.”
The i rish also had athletes competing in another tournament in b loomington, i ndiana, the iu r egional, where the results were equally as pleasing to l ouderback.
“o ne of our freshmen, b ess waldram, had a really good tournament,” l ouderback said. “ s he played doubles with [senior] Jane Fennelly and they won the doubles competition down there. we felt like our results at those tournaments were good.”
Fennelly and waldram defeated the i ndiana team of sophomores c aitlin b ernard and n atalie w halen in the finals by a score of 8-7. l ooking ahead, the i rish now prepare to play at home in the n otre d ame i nvitational on n ov. 4-6 against d enver and Kansas. “ it works out having two teams, d enver and Kansas, that we don’t see very often coming into here,” l ouderback said. “ s o we’re going to be able to play against some of their players that are a little different than the ones in our region.”
w ith the overall goal of the fall season being preparation for the spring, the i rish are trying to take advantage of all the competition they can.
Contact Molly Murphy at mmurph40@nd.edu
CAITLYN JORDAN | The Observer
Irish senior Monica Robinson steps into a forehand during Notre Dame’s 6-1 win over Indiana on Feb. 20 at Eck Tennis Pavilion.
HOckey | uconn 4, nd 2
Nd WOmeN’S SOccer | nd 2, miami (Fla.) 0
UConn tops Notre Dame in first of two-game series nd takes acc regular-season title
By ZACH KLONSINSKI
a ssistant managing editor
The ice tilted in n o. 7 n otre d ame’s favor almost all game, but there just wasn’t enough home-ice luck to be found at c ompton Family i ce a rena on Thursday night.
uc onn freshman goaltender a dam h uska turned away 47 of the 49 n otre d ame shots he faced, and the h uskies (31-3, 1-0-0 h ockey e ast) benefitted from a couple odd bounces to hang on for a 4-2 victory.
“ we were opportunistic tonight,” uc onn head coach m ike c avanaugh said. “ i thought the one power play we had was outstanding. i thought we moved it really well, and we got rewarded for it with a goal.”
“ i t’s not like we didn’t have chances to score,” i rish head coach Jeff Jackson said. “ you gotta give their goaltender credit of course, but we’ve
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YU | The Observer
Irish junior goaltender Cal Petersen settles the puck during Notre Dame’s 3-2 loss in overtime to Penn State on Saturday.
By ALEX BENDER sports writer
no. 12 notre d ame defeated m iami 2-0 on senior night Thursday at a lumni s tadium to claim the acc regular season title.
c oming into the game, the i rish (12-2-4, 7-1-2 acc ) were playing well having won two of their last three matches on the back of three consecutive shutouts, while the hurricanes (10-8-0, 5-5-0) were also coming off back-toback wins.
d uring the first 40 minutes of the game, notre d ame and m iami remained scoreless with the i rish holding a 6-2 advantage in shots. The best scoring opportunity belonged to the hurricanes, however, as i rish senior goaltender Kaela l ittle slipped while coming out to defend a shot in the 17th minute — giving the hurricanes a chance at shot on an empty net — but they were unable to handle the ball cleanly, and notre d ame
Irish prepare to host Tar Heels
By MANNY DE JESUS sports writer
n o. 12 n otre d ame will look to end the regular season on a high note Friday against the visiting acc c oastal champion, n o. 3 n orth c arolina.
The i rish (10-5-1, 3-3-1 acc ) are heading into the final conference matchup of the regular season on a four-game losing streak. Just before the break, n otre
d ame was ranked n o. 2 in the country, but losses to v irginia, n orthwestern, d uke and m ichigan s tate sent the squad out of the top 10. m ost people would be uneasy with where the team is headed going into the postseason, but i rish head coach b obby c lark isn’t the slightest bit concerned about what has happened in the past week and a half.
Ivey named associate head coach
Observer Sports Staff
n iele i vey, who formerly served as an assistant coach, was promoted to i rish associate head coach Thursday.
The promotion is a continuation of a long and illustrious career with the i rish, both as a coach and a student-athlete. Just last season, i vey was the inaugural winner of women’s b asketball c oaches
a ssociation a ssistant c oach of the year award and is now entering her 10th season on the n otre d ame coaching staff. s ince she joined the staff, the i rish have posted a .865 winning percentage, and the team traveled to five consecutive Final Fours from 2011-2015.
“ n otre d ame has opened so many doors and has given me so many amazing opportunities professionally, academically and
athletically as a studentathlete and now associate head coach,” i vey said in a press release Thursday. “ i am living my dream and am so grateful for this promotion. … i can’t thank [ i rish head coach m uffet] m c g raw enough for believing in me and supporting me.” m c g raw, who coached i vey when she played at n otre d ame, noted that much of the team’s success since bringing i vey onto the
coaching staff can be, in part, attributed to her recruiting power and ability to bring out the best in players with whom she works. “ i am so proud of n iele and so thankful for the great work that she continues to do,” m c g raw said in a press release. “ i t has been amazing to witness n iele develop into the top assistant coach in the nation
escaped the situation unscathed. a s the half continued on, the i rish continued to apply pressure and controlled the ball well. it finally paid off with just 90 seconds remaining in the period when senior forward Kaleigh o lmsted scored from outside the box to give notre d ame a lead going into halftime. i rish head coach Theresa r omagnolo said she was pleased to pick up the lead at halftime.
“The goal was unbelievable,” r omagnolo said. “Kaleigh just crushed it. i loved the way she just dribbled up the gut to create it, and the shot she took was unbelievable. w hat can you say, it was just a world-class finish.”
The second half began with an early opportunity for notre d ame when freshman forward and leading goalscorer Jennifer westendorf was awarded a free kick from just outside the box, which
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mcKinley breaks fibula
Observer Sports Staff
notre d ame freshman receiver Javon mcKinley broke his left fibula in practice Thursday and will miss the rest of the season, a university spokesperson confirmed.
mcKinley’s surgery is scheduled for Tuesday.
mcKinley was touted by r ivals.com as a fourstar recruit coming out of c entennial h igh s chool in c orona, c alifornia. mcKinley has yet to catch a pass this year, playing behind senior Torii hunter Jr., sophomores e quanimeous s t. b rown and c .J. s anders and freshman c hase c laypool.
mcKinley did see a few offensive snaps this year in the nevada game and has played primarily on special teams this fall. i n high school, the 6-foot-2, 210-pound wideout tallied 3,596 receiving yards and 44 touchdowns on 174 receptions.
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KATHLEEN DONAHUE | The Observer
Irish senior midfielder Mark Gormley, right, looks to make a pass during Notre Dame’s 1-0 loss to Michigan State on Tuesday. see m soccer PaGe 18
