Print Edition of The Observer for Monday, March 26, 2018

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Volume 52, Issue 102 | Monday, march 26, 2018 | ndsmcobserver.com

Notre Dame remembers Konieczny Community reflects on legacy of associate professor of sociology Mary Ellen Konieczny, who died Feb. 24

As someone who researched cultural divisions for many years, Mary Ellen Konieczny had a way of bringing together those of differing opinions.

“She was really interested in cultural conflict and, in particular, cultural conflict in religion and polarization in the U.S. Catholic church,” Linda Kawentel, a former Notre Dame doctoral student, said.

“And so, one of her interests was actually getting people to talk to each other — not only about theology, but even just to get people to know each other.”

Professor Konieczny, the Henkels Family Associate Professor of Sociology, died Feb. 24 at the age of 58 due to complications from cancer.

She was known as a prominent

connection, and I think that recurs again and again in her life, in how she lives as a person, how she wanted to always connect people and also what she wanted to study,” Ann Mische, associate professor of sociology and peace studies, said.

Professor Konieczny and Mische formed a book-writing group with sociology professor Erin

Associate Professor of Sociology

News Editor

sociologist and researcher in her field, Fr. Paul Kollman, an associate professor of theology and her former classmate and colleague, said.

“I just appreciated having a friend on the faculty like her who knew enough about my field to be conversant and also was a good sociologist,” he said. “[She] helped me understand her field and study of religion from the perspective of her discipline. She was a very generous, acute, thoughtful person.”

Professor Konieczny, who also went by “MEK,” was in the process of studying the role of religion at the U.S. Air Force Academy. She was also researching Our Lady of Kibeho — a Marian apparition in Rwanda — and its role in healing divisions in the country after genocide.

“Everything she worked to study was somehow focusing on this question of polarization and

Mary Ellen Konieczny

By NATALIE WEBER

McDonnell to hold each other accountable during the writing process. Mische said these meetings formed some of her favorite memories with Professor Konieczny.

“I really loved meeting with her every week, talking through our projects, seeing her figure something out,” Mische said. “She was struggling and struggling with something about her book, and as we would talk, seeing her excitement as she figured out the way that she was going to solve this problem in the writing of her book, that was really fun.”

McDonnell said she came to know Professor Konieczny as someone who always pushed others to achieve their highest potential through this process.

“I came to realize that Mary Ellen was someone who had very high standards and aspirations, but had that rare ability to be honest and vulnerable about her own uncertainties,” McDonnell said in an email. “At the same time, she was a stalwart cheerleader for her students and colleagues, always

willing to be the mirror that reflected back our best selves when we were uncertain.”

Professor Konieczny was a particularly objective instructor, junior Jeffrey Murphy said.

“One of the four founding fathers of sociology, Max Weber, used to say that it is a great attribute of professors to be politically impartial,” Murphy said. “He basically said that students should walk away from your class and have no idea where you stand on the political spectrum. That’s how good you should be at not letting your political beliefs influence the way in which you present information, and to this day, I have no clue where she fell on the political spectrum.”

Kawentel, who earned her Ph.D. under Professor Konieczny’s guidance, recalled their long see KONIECZNY PAGE 4

Saint Mary’s dedicates new athletic facility

By JORDAN COCKRUM

By COLLEEN ZEWE

Saint Mary’s Editor

News Writer

Saint Mary’s formally dedicated the newly-renovated Angela Athletic and Wellness Complex on Friday.

Alumna Susan Fitzgerald Rice, ‘61, and senior Carmela LaGambina-Lockwitz, student trustee, spoke at the ceremony.

“We knew from the beginning that Saint Mary’s must have modern health and fitness and athletic facilities,” Rice said.

The creation of the Complex, Rice said, exemplifies the extraordinary

Saint Mary’s dedication ceremony for the new Angela Athletic and Wellness Complex continued Saturday with a variety of workout classes, concurrent sessions, speeches and panels revolving around health and wellness.

Director of athletics Julie Schroeder-Biek, who helped plan the ceremony, said she feels proud of the new building.

“This facility is such an inviting place,” she said. “Here on this campus, I feel that the impact is in

see DEDICATION PAGE 4

ANN CURTIS | The Observer

The newly-renovated Anglela Athletic Facility was completed in January 2018. The dedication ceremony for the new facility took place March 23 and included blessings, speeches and wellness panels.

see FACILITY PAGE 4

Students march to advocate for gun control Across all 50 states, young leaders and activists helped to organize the first “March for our Lives,” aimed at enacting gun control reforms in the wake of the Valentine’s Day shooting in Parkland, Fla.

One of these marches was held Saturday afternoon in downtown South Bend, where students from Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s marched in time with millions across the country advocating for a change to America’s gun laws.

The students flocked to Morris Performing Arts Center where they carried signs and shouted chants into the cold March air.

Among those carrying signs was Saint Mary’s junior Teresa Brickey.

“I’ve been to a lot of protests and a lot of organizations, but what made this one special was that it was organized by people who can’t even vote yet, but have this intense love for our country,” Brickey said. “It’s very much about our future as a country and who’s going to be in positions of power

and who’s going to be heard.”

The most influential factor for Brickey to attend the march involved the prevalence of gun violence, she said.

“It’s absolutely ridiculous that as a developed country, this is happening,” she said. “It just keeps happening, and every once in a while it happens to the scale where it’s on the news everywhere. But it

happens every day.”

Attending the march constituted a civil mode of taking action, Brickey said.

“I think it’s really important to participate in forms of democracy that we’re called to and that we’re given these rights to do,” Brickey said. “It’s not necessarily that we

scene PAGE 5

viewpoint PAGE 6

viewpoint PAGE 7

hockey PAGE 12

fencing PAGE 12

By MARTHA REILLY and TOM NAATZ Senior News Writer, Associate News Editor

see MARCH PAGE 4

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TODAY

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Women’s basketball head coach Muffet McGraw celebrates with her staff Saturday following her top-seeded team’s 90-84 victory over No. 4 seed Texas A&M. The Irish advanced to their seventh Elite Eight in eight years and will face No. 2 seed Oregon on Monday.

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The next Five days:

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Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Social Concerns Seminars McNeill Library 4 p.m. - 5 p.m.

Information for student leaders.

“Prospects for Peace, the Poor and the Planet” McKenna Hall Auditorium 4 p.m. - 9 p.m.

Organ and Violin Concert Basilica 12:15 p.m. - 12:35 p.m.

Free and open to the public.

Lecture: “Religion and Politics” 1030 Jenkins Nanovic Halls 12:30 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.

Lunch will be served.

Exhibit: “In a Civilized Nation” Hesburgh Library 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Explores the print revolution in Peru.

Workshop: “Writing a Strong Grant Proposal” 110 Brownson Hall 7 p.m. - 8 p.m.

Introduction to grants.

Information Session: Social Concerns Seminars Leadership 2018-19 McNeill Library 4 p.m. - 5 pm

Lecture: “St. Joseph in South India” 140 Debartolo Hall 5 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.

Presented by Rev. Francis X. Clooney, S.J.

Digital Humanities Lab Hesburgh Library 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Part of a biweekly event.

Stations of the Cross Basilica 7:15 p.m.

Other Good Friday celebrations listed on Campus Ministry site.

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NEWS

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Dedication Continued from page 1

leadership and vision of those involved.

Rice is one of three chairs of the College’s “Faith Always, Action Now” campaign, which was involved in the organization of the renovations.

Students recognize the hard work put into the newly renovated building, LaGambina-Lockwitz said.

“The newly completed Angela

March Continued from page 1

can get rid of gun violence as a whole, but we can have ways that diminish it or decrease the rates. I just believe that there are ways we can change it.”

Notre Dame sophomore Kelsey Allen, who grew up twenty miles from the site of the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut and attended the march, expressed frustration at the prevalence of gun violence.

“I had to hide under a desk for several hours when the Newtown shooting happened,” Allen said.

“Several people in my school lost family members, we lost a couple members of our community and I can’t believe it’s not over.”

In explaining her decision to take part in the march, Notre Dame sophomore Sheila Gregory also mentioned the scale of gun violence in the U.S. “I’m marching because in the years since Columbine we’ve had more deaths from gun violence than basically all wars,” Gregory said. ”It’s disproportionately affecting students, and we‘re afraid to go to school. We need to get out there and show our representatives that enough is enough and this is going to be what breaks the camel’s back.

We will vote you out of office.”

Saint Mary’s senior Caroline Koenig said the Parkland shooting — in which 17 students were killed and another 17 were wounded — sparked a desire to seek active outlets for her frustration.

“It’s such a uniquely American issue,” she said. “There has to be a reason for that and a way we can fix that.”

The freedom to express her opinions, Koenig said, cannot be neglected.

“It’s important for me, if I believe in something, to participate in protests such as these,” she said.

“If I want to say that I believe in it, I should go out and act.”

Notre Dame senior Carolyn Yvellez said in an email she was marching to stand with victims.

“I participated in the event to march in solidarity with the survivors of Parkland, Sandy Hook, Columbine and the African American community who have been advocating for an end to gun violence in their communities before the media and the American public gave this issue proper attention,” Yvellez said. “As a young person, I feel particularly motivated to join Parkland students in demanding grown adults and our legislators do their job in protecting

Athletic & Wellness Complex provides the optimal setting for this kind of Holy Cross education to continue,” LaGambina-Lockwitz said.

When beginning the project, those involved went over-budget, Rice said, which caused a realization that more fundraising had to be done.

Though the $8 million fundraising goal originally set was no longer sufficient, Rice said, the College managed to raise over $26 million funds to complete the building.

students and children who do not have a voice, and continue to be victims of gun violence.”

The march also saw participation from international students.

Notre Dame junior Camille Taltas, a native of France, said marching gave her a chance to express her views on gun safety.

“I can‘t vote in this country, so this is the only way for me to protest,” Taltas said.

Direct political participation sparks productive discourse and societal change, Saint Mary’s sophomore Olivia Sencion said.

“You can say anything you want, but taking the action and physically doing something about it and making your voice heard … is the most critical part,” she said.

A shift has occurred in concerns she had when young and fears children endure today, Sencion said.

One poster at the march, she said, captured this sentiment by stating: “I don’t want to have to worry about going to school with my book-bag and coming out in a body bag.”

“That hit me most because these are children being scared for their lives and whether or not they’re going to survive their school day,” Sencion said.

Saint Mary’s junior Melissa Palencia said taking steps toward reform is as necessary as prayers.

“Especially for me personally — I’m trying to be an educator, so seeing [violence] firsthand and having so many people in this community be affected … there needs to be so much change in the community, in society, in everything,” she said.

Gregory said she felt the policies of certain lawmakers on the issue of gun violence were at odds with their stances on other questions.

“Another reason why I‘m marching is because 33,000 [people], on average, are killed every year from guns, but Republicans in Congress don’t make it a pro-life issue and it is obviously a pro-life issue,” she said. “If you’re going to call yourself [pro-life], you should support legislation that restricts the sale of assault weapons and increases background checks.”

Koenig said she feels compelled to defend students’ rights.

“This is something that I don’t really want to have to protest for — for children to be in their school environment,” Koenig said. “The innocence of children is impactful and powerful in the eyes of, hopefully, legislators who can empathize with mothers and fathers.”

Contact Martha Reilly at mreilly01@saintmarys.edu and Tom Naatz at tnaatz@nd.edu

Rice said this facility serves an important purpose in allowing for the education of the whole woman.

“When I was a student … we were taught about the importance of education of the whole woman,” Rice said. “Looking back, however, it’s clear athletics wasn’t a high priority.”

From then to now, Rice said the College has reflected an increased awareness of the importance of health and fitness.

“Today, the concept of the whole woman recognizes that

Facility Continued from page 1

how it will build community. We have students, faculty and staff and alumnae working out here, meeting here, eating here, cheering on the Belles here. [It’s] just a great blend of people using this space.”

Throughout the weekend, the College held a myriad of workshops and other events about fitness for the community.

The closing keynote, titled “Striking the Right Balance — Keys for Powerful Living,” featured three College alumnae and was described as a “TED-style talk” by College President Jan Cervelli.

“No one arrives to this college or the real world fully formed,” Cervelli said. “Today’s event will address stretching, growing and being comfortable with setbacks to enable a growth mindset and find balance in our lives.”

One of the three speakers of the keynote, Kimberlyn Martin Troy, a ’00 alumna and fitness instructor at the College, spoke about wellness of the body and how her mom said she seemed more confident when she first went home for break during her time at Saint Mary’s.

“As students, we have a voice here,” Troy said. “It wasn’t Saint Mary’s teaching me to [be]

Konieczny Continued from page 1

discussions and ability to connect over a number of subjects.

“We could easily jump from topic to topic and it would be an engaging conversation,” Kawentel said. “Anything from teaching to personal life to sociology and research to faith and feminism. She was just fun to talk to and whether that was like our meetings in her office or over a glass of wine at her house, she was a very lively conversationalist.”

Through these conversations, Professor Konieczny also created a space for marginalized students to discuss their experiences, senior Salonee Seecharan said.

“I’m a brown, first-generation immigrant woman, and that can be difficult at Notre Dame sometimes,” Seecharan said. “And I’m Hindu, I’m brown, I’m a woman — she understands some of those things, and some of those things she doesn’t. She’s Catholic, so there’s a big difference, but there was something very safe about

good health stimulates a good intellectual, spiritual life that is demonstrated at Saint Mary’s College,” Rice said. “ … Today, we are blessed to live in a country that ensures athletic opportunities are equal in high schools and higher education.”

LaGambina-Lockwitz said the renovated Complex gives a place for the community to spend time.

“While Angela Athletic and Wellness Complex provides a wonderful space to go for a run on one of the brand new treadmills or take

a yoga class in one of the three new multipurpose workout rooms, it is so much more than just a fitness facility,” LaGambina-Lockwitz said.

College President Jan Cervelli closed the dedication ceremony with a message of gratitude.

“Thanks to all of you for joining us to celebrate what is both a historic event, but also one that shows an investment in the future of Saint Mary’s,” Cervelli said.

Contact Jordan Cockrum at jcockrum01@saintmarys.edu

powerful. I was realizing the power I already had.”

Alumna Elizabeth Palmer, ’13, spoke about wellness of the spirit by reflecting on her time doing mission work in a Kenyan burn unit.

“A wise man once told me, ‘the best book you’ll ever read are human stories [and] the best libraries are hospitals,’” Palmer said.

A patient at the hospital named Dorcas could not see Palmer, but Palmer said they would share love by holding hands.

Encountering patients and her Saint Mary’s education was a transformative experience, Palmer said, since those experiences gave her the confidence to endure the hardship in the burn ward.

A grade school teacher and Saint Mary’s alumna who acted as a mentor during her parents’ divorce inspired her to attend the College, Palmer said. The influence strong women had on her life made the decision to attend Saint Mary’s natural, she said.

“I have been shaped by strong, independent women all along,” she said. “An integral part of my development has been to know God’s love. At Saint Mary’s, I constantly see the face of Christ of others.”

As a licensed clinical social worker,M.J. Murray Vachon, ’82, spoke at the keynote address

about ‘Inner Challenge,’ her life skills and character development program. She said her clients and students often understand what mental illness is, but do not know how to define mental wellness.

“Mental wellness needs to be understood and cultivated,” she said. “One in six of us each year will suffer from symptoms of mental illness. Just like healthy eating prevents, manages and sometimes cures diabetes, mental wellness life skills prevents, manages and sometimes cures mental health issues.”

Murray Vachon said grounding one’s feet on the floor, taking deep breaths and noticing one particular thing in front of you can help one feel more connected to their body and surroundings.

“This exercise cultivates beauty,” she said. “Notice cultivates beauty. Notice cultivates gratitude.”

Mental wellness is key to becoming an authentic individual who can find their identity and balance within, Murray Vachon said.

“The whole [Angela] facility was built to consider our bodies, minds, and spirits,” she said. “We can show up, we can live and we can have lives that are balanced and rooted in power that is rooted in the spirit, not the ego.”

walking into her office.”

Seecharan said Professor Konieczny was also known for her sense of fashion.

“She just wore things that were really flattering and very, very stylish. … [she wore] lots of bright colors,” Seecharan said. “It really reflected her person: very welcoming and very bright — very sunshiney, even in the winter.”

Professor Konieczny went out of her way to help others, Seecharan said, even writing recommendations while she was ill.

“She was one of my application [recommenders], and that was when she was sick,” Seecharan said. “I didn’t know at the time, because she didn’t tell us — it was kind of a surprise for the students, we knew she wasn’t doing well — but I was applying in November, December and she wasn’t feeling well at the time, and she still did it. She could have told me she just couldn’t, but she did it.”

Abigail Jorgensen, a doctoral student, also noted Professor Konieczny’s influence on her life.

She first met Professor Konieczny as an undergraduate student and

when she decided to pursue a Ph.D. in sociology, Professor Konieczny became her advisor.

“She just really took what I wanted to do and made it into something that I could see as a reality which was really cool, especially for a job like being a professor where less than 1 percent of the population has a Ph.D. so it doesn’t seem all that attainable especially if you’re from somewhere in Minnesota that has one stoplight,” Jorgensen said. “But it was really cool for her to take that and make it into a visual reality that I could see and work toward.”

Taking a holistic approach to education, Professor Konieczny was interested in all aspects of her students’ lives, Jorgensen said.

“Just as an advisor she really cared not just about what I wrote that day or what I had written the week before [or] what conferences I had applied to,” Jorgensen said. “ … She really cared about the whole person, not just the work you produced.”

Contact Colleen Zewe at czewe01@saintmarys.edu

Contact Natalie Weber at nweber@nd.edu

The observer | Monday, march 26, 2018 | ndsmcobserver.com

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JOSEPH HAN | The Observer

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The observer | Monday, march 26, 2018 | ndsmcobserver.com

Recovering humility

Inside Column

A love letter to the Midwest Gina Twardosz News Writer

The Midwest is not idyllic.

Life in the Midwest is not enviable — especially in the winter, especially when it’s March and still thirty degrees outside. The Midwest is a rather shapeless entity, not too far south or north or west or east. Just smack in the middle of nowhere, amidst corn fields and signs for dusty churches that read: “CH_RCH W hat’s Missing? U.” It’s distinctly American, but not as symbolically American as New York City or as traditionally American as the South.

I was born and raised in the Midwest and have always had to describe my hometown of Valparaiso, Indiana, through its proximity to Chicago. “If you’re not from Chicago, Detroit or Indianapolis, does that mean you were you raised on a farm? ” Okay, so I haven’t been asked that, but it’s implied under the high scrutiny of what it means to be a Midwesterner.

The Internet understands the Midwest like so: everyone from the region lives next to a cornfield, says ‘ope’ to get past something or someone even when they are not even close to running into it (guilty) and is disturbingly fond of ranch dressing (not guilty).

The Midwest is f lat and uneventful, a graveyard of dying industries, a land of missed opportunity — this is what it seems like to many.

But, we shouldn’t eulogize the Midwest just yet.

The Midwest is coming back, it’s no longer a silent victim of the Rust Belt. Tech corporations are starting to take notice of Midwestern towns, according to the New York Times article “Silicon Valley is Over, Says Silicon Valley.” The manufacturing industries are already here, they just need revamping. And all those hipsters whom you hate to love and begrudgingly order your fair trade coffee from?

They’re the ones fighting for the Midwest the most by bolstering its economy with small business. And the Midwest has some of the best universities in the country (I may be biased on this one but U.S. News backs me up with their National University Rankings).

Yet, the Midwest still maintains its generational quality, its sentimental nature, and this is why I love it so. I think back to years ago when all I wanted to do was get as far away from the place where I grew up as physically possible, a place that I thought was stagnant and encumbering. I was too young to appreciate the Midwest then, too naive to understand it. Now, I’ve grown nostalgic for the Midwest — I find it comforting. I’ve grown to appreciate its subtle nuances, emerging opportunities and surprising wealth of diversity.

Someday, I’ll move from the Midwest, but the region will never not be meaningful to me.

W hile I don’t expect you all to feel the same way, I do hope you won’t count out the Midwest just yet.

Contact Gina Twardosz at gtwardosz01@saintmarys.edu The views expressed in the Inside Column are those of the author and not necessarily of The Observer.

Soren Hansen Au Contraire

Ah humility, the forgotten virtue.

Over spring break I stumbled across the Litany of Humility and was immediately put in my place.

Though I’ll admit there is a great irony in my pontifications on this virtue — pretending to have authority we rarely possess is the op-ed columnist’s bread and butter — I hope to encourage my fellow Domers to reconsider humility, especially as we enter Holy Week.

Penned by Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val (18651930), the Secretary of State for Pope Saint Pius X, the Litany of Humility is a beautiful breath of fresh air in a world that encourages us to be selfcentered at every moment. College especially is a time that tempts us to be ignorant of everything outside our personal bubbles. Education is clearly a wonderful thing, and we shouldn’t all drop out because we’re encouraged to look after our own interests here. Yet the situation remains; college life can easily slip into my classes, my internship applications, my social calendar, my homework, my next meal, my sleep schedule, my grades, my resume — the list goes on and on.

The call to be humble is a call to see things in their proper perspective, a call to focus on what is good and right and true and not on ourselves.

The last petition of the litany, which reads, “That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it,” powerfully suggests what this entails — loving God and neighbor above ourselves. To do this, we must ref lect on what we have in the way of opportunities, and to turn those things outward and fulfill the duties and responsibilities we have in conjunction with our blessings.

In his recent piece, “The Ignoble Lie,” Prof.

Patrick Deneen calls on students at elite universities to push back against individualism and false pride fostered in university cultures and to reconsider the bonds that connect all of humanity.

Herein lies the difficulty of humility — we must properly evaluate our own talents and situations (which correspond to our duties and responsibilities to those less fortunate), while refraining from pride and the pursuit of the wrong things.

We are surrounded by voices that ask us to reject humility, sometimes unwittingly. Many of the elements of the litany seem extreme in the modern university context. We’ve created (and participate in) a culture which glorifies praise, approval and positions of power, but despises being wrong or unpopular. This is not to say that leadership and recognition are evils in themselves; instead, this

litany encourages us to not seek these things for their own sake. Notre Dame students are smart people going places, but we would do well to remember that the job titles, salaries and social media profiles we seek shouldn’t be our ultimate ends.

As someone who, on occasion, likes the sound of her own voice, I’m not saying that humility is fun or easy. It is, in fact, quite difficult. It will look a little different on everyone. Yet we are called to step off our pedestals, put the world in perspective and pursue the good for its own sake. After all, there’s someone out there in sweatpants who understands Aristotle way better than I do.

Litany of Humility: O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.

From the desire of being esteemed, Deliver me, Jesus. (repeat after each line) From the desire of being loved, From the desire of being extolled, From the desire of being honored, From the desire of being praised, From the desire of being preferred to others, From the desire of being consulted, From the desire of being approved, From the fear of being humiliated, From the fear of being despised, From the fear of suffering rebukes, From the fear of being calumniated, From the fear of being forgotten, From the fear of being ridiculed, From the fear of being wronged, From the fear of being suspected, That others may be loved more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. (repeat after each line) That others may be esteemed more than I, That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease, That others may be chosen and I set aside, That others may be praised and I unnoticed, That others may be preferred to me in everything, That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val (1865-1930), Secretary of State for Pope Saint Pius X Soren Hansen (junior) is a proud member of the Program of Liberal Studies and spends her free time lamenting the lack of intellectual culture on campus and playing the upright bass. Send your contrarian opinions and snide comments to mhansen3@nd.edu The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

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The observer | Monday, march 26, 2018 | ndsmcobserver.com

LETTERs TO THE EDITOR

The shiny objects arms race After I read the suspiciously positive reviews of the Duncan Student Center that have appeared in this publication, I was somewhat frustrated.

The primary reason I am frustrated is not that the Duncan Center was not built particularly well — though they did build a g ym two stories above rooms that are largely made of glass, which is now causing obviously predictable problems. No, the main cause of my frustration was essentially none of the articles made any mention of the $400 million price tag for a building that has very little to do with academics.

To put it bluntly, for Notre Dame to build a $400 million student center while the cost of tuition goes up by 3.8 percent in the same year is a problem. This is not a Notre Dame problem, but a problem that exists across the country.

The Notre Dame website states, the “Duncan Student Center will help to fulfill the student center needs and add to the University’s thriving, decentralized student center model.” This buzzword-filled explanation is nonsense — the University realistically has more space than it knows what to do with. The real justification for building the student center is that they are trying to participate in the same shiny objects arms race occurring across the country that is currently driving up tuition costs at rates much higher than the rate of inf lation. According to Forbes, “The overall consumer price index has risen 115 percent while the college education inf lation rate has risen nearly 500 percent.” The justification for many of the universities, most likely including Notre Dame, is that it is a smart business

decision. As one University of Michigan study stated, “many high income students are willing to pay for these amenities.” There is a major gap in logic here: not for profit schools are not businesses. They are schools, where the primary purpose should be education and advancing human knowledge, not becoming as large and wealthy as possible. A school should not increase the cost of education just to attract a few more amenities-obsessed students. It is also worth it to note that, according to the same University of Michigan study, students attracted by such amenities tended to be lower academically performing students.

There will no doubt be some rebuttals from the ND administration if posed with some of these questions.

First among these rebuttals will be that a lot of increased spending has gone to financial aid and amply covers the increased cost of tuition for those who need assistance. This point is absolute nonsense. Tell almost any middle-class student that needs-based financial aid truly covers need and they will laugh in your face. There is also data that unambiguously defeats the argument that need-based aid works. Clearly, the increase in tuition across the country does not significantly get offset by financial aid. A second rebuttal put forward by schools is that the money for the Duncan Center came from donations, not tuition, and so the two are unrelated. This is at least partially true, but there is an easy solution to this problem — start asking people for money specifically for making the school function and to lower tuition cost rather than to build shiny new toys. Even

though the total amount of money donated may go down slightly as a consequence, Notre Dame is still a fundraising megalith. I am sure that if the primary fundraising goal overwhelmingly shifts from paying for new shiny objects to decreasing cost of tuition, said tuition will go down.

We are now at a point in this country where a recent Pew poll clocked the percent of Americans that think college is worth the cost is at a record low at fifty percent. It is therefore shameful for Notre Dame to continue to raise costs and in turn heap student loan debt on the middle class. It is clearly not sustainable to continue to spend so haphazardly on non-essential items. There is a fairly clear alternative: schools from essentially every other nation in the world. For instance, St. Andrews, a fairly high caliber school in Scotland, costs around 1800 euro a year for EU residents, 9000 euro for those from England and around 20,000 euro a year for those from other countries, including those from the US. For those doing the math at home, this comes out to less than a third of the cost for in-state residents. Yes, this school does benefit from state funding, but it also does not spend extravagant amounts of money on shiny new toys every year. Notre Dame needs to step away from the vanity-driven rat race of competing with elite colleges with their amenities and start focusing their energ y on lowering tuition, the primary problem with higher education today.

Emmet Flynn freshman Feb. 2

Don’t be chicken One month ago, I donned Lewis Halls’ beloved shag-chicken suit and spent the better part of an afternoon hooking passersby into conversation with promises of free coffee, bad puns and a general understanding of how our federal government spends money on an annual basis. With my poultr y attire as the attention grabber, I utilized the precious seconds to explain to strangers why they should care about government deficits, ta x revenues and gross domestic product.

I am a member of UPtoND, a student-led campaign whose aims are to educate young people on fiscal responsibility and the national debt and encourage bipartisan collaboration towards finding solutions to fiscal problems.

Ever ybody who resides in the United States enjoys the benefits of government spending through three types of expenses. The first is mandator y spending, which includes obligator y expenses written into law — entitlement programs, such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. The second expense categor y is discretionar y spending, which refers to optional government expenses via appropriations bills.

This includes defense spending as well as a variety of programs and policies that touch ever ything from education to the environment. The last categor y is interest payments, which enables the government to continue spending money by

fulfilling interest on debt.

W hen the government spends more money than it raises through ta xes in a given year, it is said to run a “deficit,” which it sustains by borrowing money from both public and private entities. In the same way that people take out auto-loans to pay for a car, mortgage loans to finance a house, or take out student loans for college tuition, Uncle Sam issues treasur y bonds (financial IOU’s that require the government to pay back the principal plus a small amount of interest at a specified future date) to mostly domestic financial actors and institutions.

Over time, these yearly deficits accumulate into a pile of debt. W hen this debt pile becomes larger, and the grow th of debt outpaces the grow th of gross domestic product (and consequently, the government’s ability to pay for debt), interest payments soak up more of the government budget. W hile interest payments only account for about six percent of the current budget, they are projected to consume a larger portion — around 12 percent — within the next ten years.

Under these alarming projections, the government may be forced to spend relatively a smaller slice of the budgetar y pie on precious programs and ser vices that promote well-being. The “smaller slice” notion squeezes important discretionar y spending programs which are already

facing funding issues — from Pell Grants to the Environmental Protection Agency. Furthermore, the growing federal debt may also reduce the average family’s long-run income, and crowd out investment opportunities sought by American businesses because there is less commercial bank money to be loaned out to the public.

As young adults in 2018, we will be the ones inherit the fiscal challenge created by our current government.

So what can the average student do to help alleviate this future problem?

Vote in all elections, and seek which representatives support your ideal policies.

Proactively reach out to our representatives in Congress and let them know that the fiscal challenge is important to you, so it should be important to them as well.

Converse with friends, family and peers about why the national debt is a real problem that we ought to solve now.

No individual can solve the crisis alone, but together, we can keep the economy healthy and government spending effective. It’s up to us, Notre Dame.

@ObserverViewpnt

Adam Kulam junior March 16

8

Daily

The observer | Monday, march 26, 2018 | ndsmcobserver.com

Crossword | Will Shortz

Horoscope | Eugenia Last Happy Birthday: Happy Birthday: Move forward with compassion, understanding and the intent to make things better. Being in denial or refusing to deal with each issue as it surfaces will only make matters worse. Look at the big picture and prepare to do whatever it takes to make a difference and to protect what’s important to you. Love outweighs negativity and confrontation. Your numbers are 8, 14, 23, 28, 32, 43, 45.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Emotions will be difficult to control. Think before you say something you’ll regret. It won’t be as easy to fix a regretted mistake as in the past. Listen to complaints and criticism, and make an effort to bring about positive change.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): (April 20-May 20): You’ll face opposition if you are too open about your plans. Work out any problems before you share or try to put your plans into motion. Problems with siblings, friends or neighbors can be expected. Live by the rules.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): How you earn your living is about to change.

Trying to hold on to something that no longer belongs to you will stand in the way of new beginnings and marking out your territory in an area that offers greater success.

CANCER ( June 21-July 22): The sweetest revenge is your own success.

Don’t waste your time arguing a moot point when it’s what you accomplish that will make the difference. Outsmart any adversary you encounter by being a doer and an advocate for those who can’t.

LEO ( July 23-Aug. 22): Someone may be hiding something from you. Be patient but observant and you will discover what’s shaking the foundation of a relationship that means a lot to you. Kindness and honesty will be required. Personal growth is encouraged.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): You’ll have to be on your toes when dealing with people who use emotional tactics in order to take advantage of you. You can outsmart anyone looking for a handout if you are prepared to offer suggestions rather than cash.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Don’t make a move or say anything until you have time to consider every angle of a situation that is unfolding. Someone may disappoint you, but the reason isn’t likely to be as daunting as you think.

Show compassion and understanding.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Alter your life because you want to, not because someone else is choosing to do so. A problem with a relative, child or close friend will leave you feeling at odds about how to handle his or her actions or affairs.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): There will be a tug-of-war when it comes to possessions or assets and how you handle personal financial, legal and medical matters. A problem regarding a parent or child is best handled with care and compassion.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Listen, be pleasant, but don’t get involved in a deal that is impractical because family or a close friend is begging you to take part. Share your concerns and opt out regardless of what others do or say.

AQUARIUS ( Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Pick and choose who you spend your time with. Engaging in activities with people who are demanding, challenging or aggressively competitive will not ease your stress. Catching up on your reading or kicking back with someone you love is preferable.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Take part in events that will benefit a cause you believe in or someone you care about. Offering support, positive reinforcement and a nonjudgmental attitude will give you insight into what’s at the root of a problem.

Birthday Baby: You are emotional, contentious and defensive. You are protective and assertive.

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Jumble | David Hoyt and Jeff knurek

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DAILY sports

ndsmcobserver.com | Monday, march 26, 2018 | The Observer

W Bball

Sports Authority

Leave Sister Jean alone, please Marek Mazurek Senior Sports Writer

My email address is mmazurek@nd.edu It’s listed at the bottom of this stor y, but I figured I’d put it at the beginning of the article to make it easier for you should you want to send me hate mail.

W hy?

Because I’m about to say something bad about Sister Jean.

Well, not Sister Jean herself exactly. I don’t know her personally and hadn’t heard of her before this March, but she seems ever y bit the sweet, 98-year-old nun and chaplain to LoyolaChicago’s men’s basketball team the media have made her out to be.

But that’s the problem.

I feel like I know so much about Sister Jean, because I literally — yes, I’m using literally correctly — cannot avoid seeing a stor y about her.

Ever y sports w riter and his or her brother who attended a Loyola-Chicago game in the past month has w ritten at least three features about Sister Jean and her role on the team. Ever y run the Ramblers make is attributed to her; ever y lastsecond shot goes in because of her; ever y tweet from the game mentions her; and she gets a T V inter v iew after ever y game.

And it’s understandable, to a certain extent. Sister Jean is certainly a great stor y. She’s 98 years old, she’s good at camera and has a good sense of humor. And on top of ever y thing else, Loyola-Chicago’s run to the Final Four has been nothing short of amazing, given it’s a mid-major school and a No. 11 seed.

But can we please cool it w ith Sister Jean? Nothing, not even Trump, has monopolized my Tw itter feed as much as that one woman.

Do we really, truly need another 10-20 features rehashing the same stor yline? She’s a fun nun who’s the chaplain of a great Cinderella team. We get it.

And I’m not the only one.

A radio host in Tennessee t weeted “F--- Sister Jean.”

W hen inter v iewed, the man said he meant it as a joke but was tired of the attention Sister Jean was getting from the T V broadcasts.

I, of course, do not condone swearing at a man or woman of the cloth (save

9

the profanit y for the referees, I say), but if you were a fan of Miami, Tennessee, Nevada or Kansas State, I ver y much sy mpathize w ith how little time was devoted to your teams in comparison w ith Sister Jean.

And w ith the Ramblers making the Final Four, the media frenzy around Sister Jean w ill be bigger than ever, which is too bad.

Sister Jean is a great stor y, but nothing new has been added since that stor y was first told in the opening days of the tournament.

It’s even gotten to the point where her new found fame is diminishing the accomplishments of the team itself.

Sister Jean herself has said she doesn’t want that.

How about we, collectively as sportsw riters, leave Sister Jean alone.

Instead, how about w riting a stor y on senior guard Ben Richardson, who averages just seven points a game and hadn’t scored more than 10 points in a tournament game until the Elite Eight, where he went off for 23 on 6-of-7 shooting from 3-point range? If you want to make a stor y beyond the court, Richardson and junior guard Clay ton Custer are both from Kansas and roommates. You could w rite a fine stor y about their journey at Loyola-Chicago and how beating Kansas State to reach the Final Four made them feel.

Or what about Porter Moser, the head coach who’s now 4-0 in his first ever NCA A tournament, w ith a team whose last appearance in the Big Dance was 1985?

Better yet, a feature comparing this upcoming Final Four matchup w ith the Wolverines to LoyolaChicago’s last meeting w ith Michigan in the NCA A tournament — a Sweet 16 game in 1964 — could work quite nicely.

The point is that Sister Jean’s stor y has been beaten to death. Nothing new or interesting has or w ill be added. Let her watch the games in peace. Just leave her alone.

How about the w riters covering the game give their readers a new angle on Loyola-Chicago?

Contact Marek Mazurek at mmazurek@nd.edu The views expressed in this Sports Authority are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

Continued from page 12

McGraw said her team was too preoccupied w ith Carter and was unprepared for the rest of the Aggies.

Though a Mabrey 3 ended the run, Carter added four more points to give the Aggies their largest lead of the game at 13 points 3 1/2 minutes into the second quarter.

Then, it started.

First, Mabrey hit another 3. Next, freshman for ward Danielle Patterson added a lay up. Then Ogunbowale, who started the game shooting 1-for-6, added five points and cut the Aggies’ lead to just one score. A lay up and a free throw from Carter kept the Aggies ahead at halftime, however.

But the Irish weren’t done. After a first half w ithout a single free-throw attempt, the Irish got to the line to start the quarter v ia sophomore guard Jackie Young. Young made only one of t wo foul shots, missing an opportunit y to tie the game, but it wasn’t long before McGraw’s squad finished climbing out of the double-digit hole. Senior for ward Kathr y n Westbeld, play ing in the game despite not practicing during the week after injuring her ank le against Cal State Northridge three minutes into the tournament opener, took a charge from Aggies senior guard Jasmine Lumpkin, grabbed a long offensive rebound after Arike Ogunbowale, missed a jumper, passed to Mabrey and then set a screen to allow the junior to tie the game at 49-49 w ith another 3. McGraw said Westbeld was far from fully-healthy, but her impact on the game is too great to be left out.

“I thought she made a huge impact in the game,” McGraw said. “She hasn’t recovered yet. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to practice this week. She was in the boot. It’s probably not going to get a lot better by Monday’s game.

“But she shows tremendous toughness. We need her in the game because she does so many things for us that don’t show up on the stat sheet. She’s a great

MICHELLE MEHELAS | The Observer

Irish senior forward Kathryn Westbeld looks to pass the ball during Notre Dame’s 90-84 win over Texas A&M on Saturday.

facilitator for us w ith the ball on the high post.”

Ogunbowale helped the Irish extend their lead to seven points, but Carter, who scored seven of her team’s 16 points during the period, kept the Aggies well w ithin reach at 68-63 w ith a quarter remaining. But w ith the remainder of the team struggling to score, Blair said his team lost the game during the third period.

“The game was probably lost in the third quarter when we came out, I thought, f lat,” Blair said.

“We were tr y ing for the perfect play, whatever. They showed the aggression we didn’t show, that we were show ing in the first and second quarter.”

Carter cut the Irish lead dow n to just one point early in the fourth quarter, but Ogunbowale ensured they would not get any closer.

After scoring off a pass from Mabrey, she drove dow n the court again after an outlet pass from Shepard, ignoring Mabrey’s calls for the ball as she drove straight through the Aggies defense to the rim for the lay up.

Ninet y seconds later, she knocked dow n a 3 to give the Irish a seven-point lead.

Then, in the final five minutes of play, Young was the Irish player who stepped

up and finished the game off. After three fouls limited her first-half minutes, Young scored six points, the first t wo off an offensive rebound she had grabbed, and added an assist.

“Jackie took over the game, I thought, for a stretch late in the fourth quarter,” McGraw said.

After Carter made one of t wo free throws to put the game back w ithin one score’s reach, Westbeld scored a jumper from the free-throw line to give the Irish a five-point lead again w ith a little over a minute left.

“That was the game w inner,” McGraw said.

With 43 seconds left, the Aggies still had a chance of coming back w ithout fouling, but after Howard missed a three, they were forced to send Ogunbowale to the line. Howard missed another attempt before scoring a lay up in the closing seconds, but it was too late, as the Irish won 9084 and w ill advance to the Regional Final.

That matchup w ill feature top-seeded Notre Dame against second-seeded Oregon. They w ill square off Monday at 9 p.m.

Contact Daniel O’Boyle at doboyle1@nd.edu

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10

Sports

The observer | Monday, march 26, 2018 | ndsmcobserver.com

Hockey Continued from page 12

Tech knotted the score just 56 seconds into the third with a goal by sophomore forward Gavin Gould. A cross-checking penalty

by Michigan Tech at the 5:16 mark gave Notre Dame a power play opportunity that it didn’t waste.

A slapshot by senior defenseman Jordan Gross from the point found the back of the net and gave the Irish a 3-2 lead with 13:41 left in the third.

With under two minutes left in regulation, the Huskies pulled their goaltender for the extra-attacker. With just 1:06 on the clock, a shot by junior Huskies forward Jake Jackson snuck its way past Notre Dame sophomore goaltender Cale Morris to tie the game and stun the crowd.

Going into overtime, Notre Dame needed a goal to avoid the upset and keep its season alive.

A heart-pounding extra period ensued, featuring back-and-forth action and close scoring chances on both sides of the ice.

Sixteen minutes into overtime, a Michigan Tech rush led to the puck trickling past Morris, but junior forward Jack Jenkins was able to poke the puck away before it could cross the goal line. After the puck made its way to the point, a Michigan Tech player attempted to blast it into the Notre Dame net, but his stick broke during the shot attempt which allowed the puck to glide into the neutral zone.

Sophomore forward Cam Morrison made the effort to turn the play into a breakaway attempt, but his shot was denied

by Munson. Staying in the zone, the puck eventually found Gross at the point. Gross’ slapshot went into the Michigan Tech goal for the game-winner, sending Notre Dame through to the next round.

After the game, Notre Dame head coach Jeff Jackson reflected on the incredible effort by both teams and talked about the opportunity to advance to the Frozen Four.

“We are pleased to have the opportunity to continue our season,” Jackson said. “It was a tough, hard fought game. A lot of credit goes to Michigan Tech. The game

could have gone either way. We got good goaltending and found a way to score timely goals. That’s exactly what happened tonight.”

In the Regional Final against Providence (24-14-4, 13-7-4 Hockey East) on Saturday, Notre Dame found itself trailing early when sophomore forward Kasper Bjorkqvist knocked the puck past Morris to give Providence a 1-0 lead just 2:02 into the game. The rest of the first and most of the second period passed by before Notre Dame could provide an answer, but the Irish were finally able to when junior forward Andrew Oglevie fired the puck past junior Friar goaltender Hayden Hawkey on the power play to even the score 1-1 with only 1:51 left in the second frame.

Both teams entered the third period determined to get the goahead goal that could send them to the Frozen Four. After a hardfought, tense 19 minutes, Notre Dame had the puck in the offensive zone when Oglevie dumped the puck to sophomore forward Cal Burke behind the Providence goal. Burke made the quick feed to Malmquist in front of the goal, who shot it past Hawkey to give Notre Dame a 2-1 lead with 27 seconds left in regulation. The Irish were able to kill off the final seconds to punch their ticket to Minneapolis.

Now moving on to the program’s fourth Final Four, Jackson said last year’s loss to Denver in the Frozen Four could be beneficial to his team for this year’s appearance.

“I don’t know if it’s unfinished business,” Jackson said. “I think the biggest thing is that we were mesmerized by the moment last year. That group of kids had never been there before. We played a team in Denver that had played the year before in (the Frozen Four). That experience is hopefully going to help us as we move forward.”

Notre Dame will play in the national semifinal on April 5 against Michigan for a spot in the national championship game on April 7 at the Xcel Energy Center in Minneapolis.

Contact Michael Ivey at mivey@hcc-nd.edu

ANN CURTIS | The Observer

Irish junior forward Andrew Oglevie carries the puck up the ice along the boards during Notre Dame’s 5-1 loss to Ohio State on Feb. 10.

Fencing Continued from page 12

to earn All-American honors four times.

“I was able to leave a mark in any way possible,” Russo said.

“Obviously making the finals was definitely the goal … every year I’m hungry. This year was I was focused on winning my bouts for the team.”

Although the women entered the championship ranked No. 1, the men were ranked No. 4, which Russo said contributed to their perception as underdogs.

However, the men appeared every bit as dominant as their teammates in the first two days of competition.

Freshman Nick Itkin and junior Axel Kiefer began Saturday’s pool play finishing in the top four, with Itkin leading the meet with a 12-3 record.

The biggest surprises of the weekend came in the men’s epee. Senior Nicholas Hanahan and sophomore Ariel Simmons blazed their way through the field. Hanahan, in his first NCAA appearance since his freshman year, finished the day in second while his teammate held onto sixth place with a record of 10-5.

Saturday drew to a close with senior sabreur Jonah Shainberg recording a 12-3 record, having only dropped one bout against Ohio State and Columbia.

Shainberg began Sunday’s competition in third place, while senior Jonathan Fitzgerald was in 14th place at the end of day one in his third-consecutive NCAA

championships appearance.

After besting teammate Kiefer in the semifinals, Itkin’s shining moment came Sunday when he faced off against sophomore Sam Moelis from Columbia, who he had lost to the day prior in roundrobin play. The rookie was unfazed and proceeded to clinch the title with relative ease by a score of 15-8.

“From the very beginning, he’s established himself as a tough competitor on the field … [but] we never expected this,” Kvaratskhelia said. “We knew he was good, but even great recruits don’t get to do that well their first year.”

Kvaratskhelia said the national championships are tough even for seasoned competitors, much less freshmen. It’s mind boggling, he added of Itkin’s accomplishment, considering the Los Angeles native won the first individual foil title for the Irish since 2014.

Simmons built on the team’s position from Itkin’s victory by moving into the top epeeist seed to face No. 4 Marc-Antoine Blais of Ohio State. The bout was back and forth until Blais got the last touch to narrowly win 15-14.

Hanahan also clinched his first All-American honors with his second-place finish in his final season.

History was made once again in the men’s sabre as Shainberg joined Russo as the 26th four-time All-American in program history.

“My first two years I got 12th, and the last two years I got fifth,” he said. “I think It parallels the team’s success.”

Shainberg credited sabre coach Paid Advertisement

Aleks Ochocki for his development as a fencer and inspiring the team.

“I remember my first two years … we knew we had what it took to win but couldn’t manage to pull it together,” he said. “It eventually happened and as awful as that experience was, it really allowed us to learn from our mistakes.”

This victory marks the first back-to-back victories in program history since the championships have become a combined team result.

Kvaratskhelia said his team cemented its status as one of the top schools and is in the conversation for one of the best teams in Notre Dame history.

He credited the shift in program dynamic largely to the seniors.

“When we recruited Francesca, Jonathan, Jonah and Nicholas we called it a turnaround class,” he said. “They [Russo, Fitzgerald, and Shainberg] were the top recruits in the country in saber, and more importantly, at the time when we were short in sabre. We felt it would serve as a gauge for how the program would go forward. … They delivered to the maximum capacity.”

Shainberg said his classmates have tried to change the culture of the team, and he considers himself lucky to be a part of this dynasty.

The championship is Notre Dame’s 10th in program history, and the first back-to-back title in over 40 years.

Contact Charlotte Edmonds at cedmond3@nd.edu

Sports

ndsmcobserver.com | Monday, march 26, 2018 | The Observer

11

Football

Notre Dame continues work on offensive end

By ELIZABETH GREASON Assistant Managing Editor

The onset of another spring season has brought the return of a number of familiar faces, as well as some who are expected to play a much greater role for the Irish — and, of course, a healthy dose of competition.

Notre Dame held an open practice Saturday, after which Irish head coach Brian Kelly discussed the impact of one of these familiar faces — senior linebacker Te’von Coney, who decided to remain with the team for his senior year.

“There’s a couple layers here.

The first one is moving to the Mike linebacker position, which we think is a natural position for the next level for him, secondly, is, and certainly not one versus two, the academic piece in terms of getting his degree,” Kelly said. “… He was missing in action last spring. We didn’t know where he was. He did not have a very good spring. And consequently it put him behind in going into August and he didn’t come out as a starter until Week 5, so what we wanted to do was show how important it was to have a great spring. So, he is somebody who is unmistakable now on the field. Last year, at this time, I didn’t even know he was out there.”

Quarterback competition All eyes Saturday were on the competition between senior — and last season’s starter — Brandon

Wimbush and junior Ian Book, who carried the Irish to victory over LSU in the Citrus Bowl.

Wimbush said he is looking for the future starter to separate himself through his fundamentals and by bringing an element of consistency to the game that was not present last season.

“I just think consistency and performance. Obviously, there was such inconsistent performance at that position, we were up and down week to week, we didn’t establish a consistent play day in and day out, so that’s going to be the separator,” he said. “That person that can continue to show every single day that these are the base fundamentals of the position that I’m going to bring with me and build that consistency, I think that’s the key.”

While Kelly said neither candidate is separating himself just yet, he noted Wimbush’s growth in confidence has been noticeable since the end of the season.

“There is definitely a difference in the way [Wimbush] is performing at that position compared to last year,” Kelly said. “So, if that continues to trend, that puts us in a really good position for quarterback.”

Book said the competition between Wimbush and himself has been exciting and pushed himself to improve his own game. “[The competition is] fun. It’s really fun,” Book said. “I think Brandon would say the same thing.

I push him, he pushes me. We’re both getting better from it. … I take Paid Advertisement

it practice by practice, but I don’t want to focus too much on just this competition. I just got to every day just keep doing what I can do and better myself. At the end, they will pick a starter, but I’m not going to worry about that day by day.”

Wimbush echoed Book’s sentiments.

“Healthy competition is good competition, wherever you’re at, and whatever position it may be,” Wimbush said. “It pushes Ian Book and I every day and the rest of the guys at quarterback to grow to be better on a daily basis and to focus on the things that the coaches want us to focus on.”

Miles Boykin One name who has risen above the rest on the offense so far in spring ball is senior wide receiver Miles Boykin. “[Boykin is] not in the same category [as junior receiver Chase Claypool and sophomore receiver Michael Young]. He’s a guy who can defeat one-on-one coverage.

He can get you out of a loaded box by just throwing fades. Those guys don’t have that and we’re not asking them — we didn’t recruit them for that purpose,” Kelly said. “We recruited Miles for that and he’s giving it to us, so if you drop an eighth hat and you’re going to leave him one-on-one into the boundary, you’re going to have to deal with neither one of you getting the football. He can take it away from anybody.”

Boykin has quickly developed into one of Wimbush’s favorite targets.

“If I throw that ball anywhere in his radius, I know he’s going to go get it and catch it for me,” Wimbush said. “Obviously, we’ve all seen that, whether it be with one or two hands, so it’s good to have him and the rest of the guys out there.”

Receiving corps Along with Boykin, senior Chris Finke and Young were among the receivers getting the majority of the first-team reps during practice, whereas junior Javon McKinley, sophomore Jafar Armstrong and freshman Micah Jones took second-team reps. Senior running back Dexter Williams played alongside the emerging top receivers.

“I consider myself a leader of this corps, me and Finke,” Boykin said of the receiving corps. “We’ve been here since day one, we came here together and we’re going to lead together. This isn’t something I can do by myself. I’m leaning on him just as much as he’s leaning on me.

I think we can lead this corps to do great things.”

Kelly has also been impressed by the performance of sophomore tight end Cole Kmet, who saw significant action during practice. He feels the dual-sport athlete provides a needed element of competition for senior tight end Alize Mack, who was suspended for the bowl game.

“Other than the physical tools that we all see, he catches, the ball, soft hands, he’s physical at the point of attack and when he catches the ball he runs through tacklers, which in itself is pretty impressive,” he said. “He handles

two sports here and is never on a list, never is a guy that we have to worry about going to class, in terms of representing Notre Dame in the fashion that he needs to. Pretty extraordinary young man in terms of the whole picture of everything that he does.”

Offensive line After losing two All-Americans from the 2017 Joe Moore Awardwinning offensive line to the NFL Draft in Quenton Nelson and Mike McGlinchey, the line is looking to rebuild and solidify which players will make up the starting five.

“I would say that [senior offensive lineman Trevor Ruhland] is definitely in the mix to see playing time, but I think we’re going to play a number of guys,” Kelly said.

“We’re going to see [sophomore] Josh Lugg play there and then we still think we’re going to get [junior Tommy] Kraemer and [junior Liam] Eichenberg and [sophomore Robert] Hainsey on the field as well, so there’s five guys right there on the field that are going to be playing in some fashion, but I would be hesitant to think that [Ruhland has] secured anything at this point.”

Injuries Claypool and sophomore tight end Brock Wright sported red jerseys during contact drills, while senior defensive lineman Jerry Tillery was in the fourth day of concussion protocol after leading with his helmet Tuesday. Kelly said if he progresses as expected, he should return to practice Tuesday.

Contact Elizabeth Greason at egreason@nd.edu

Swimming & Diving | NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS

ND tops last year’s NCAA finish Observer Sports Staff

The No. 19 ranked men’s swimming and diving team finished 23rd at the NCAA championships this past weekend at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center in Minneapolis.

The 23rd-place finish marks the best ever result for the Irish at the national championship meet.

The Irish compiled a fourday total of 29 points, which is their most points scored at the NCAA championship in program history.

Freshman Zachary Yeadon, now the Irish’s record holder in the 1650 and 500 freestyles, propelled the Irish by capping off his first season as Notre Dame’s lone All-American this season in the NCAA. Yeadon placed fourth in the 1650-yard freestyle and 10th in the 500-yard freestyle.

In the 1-meter diving event on the first day of competition, senior Joe Coumos finished in 14th

place.

Irish upperclassmen also led the way in the 200-yard medley relay team, which finished in 15th place with a time of 1:25.21. The relay team was made up of seniors Rob Whitacre and Justin Plaschka and Steven Shek and Daniel Speers. Though the team did not place, Whitacre also broke his own school record for his backstroke leg of the event. Whitacre finished his leg in 46.39 seconds.

Coumos, Whitacre, Plaschka, Shek and Speers earned AllAmerican honorable mentions, with Yeadon earning first-team honors.

Notre Dame finished tied for 23rd place with Cornell, Missouri and LSU. Texas won the meet with 449 points.

The championship ends Notre Dame’s season for both the men’s and women’s squads. The Irish women finished 41st in the women’s NCAA championships from March 14-17.

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The observer | Monday, march 26, 2018 | ndsmcobserver.com

BACK-TO-BACK

Notre Dame captures second-consecutive national championship, 10th in fencing program’s history

By CHARLOTTE EDMONDS Associate Sports Editor

When asked about the key to the success of the fencing team, athletes and coaches repeatedly cited one quality — grit. This determination proved key in the team’s quest to repeat as national champions this past Sunday in State College, Pennsylvania.

Irish head coach Gia Kvaratskhelia said there was never a doubt in the team’s mind that it would win.

Their resilience was evident over the four-day competition as they maintained a consistent performance.

Notre Dame fell only one point short of their record-setting team score of 186 last season. This dominant team performance was not without its individual stars, most notably freshman Nick Itkin, who clinched his first individual national championship in foil.

The competition kicked off Thursday with the women’s pool play. Junior foilists Elyssa Kleiner and Sabrina Massialas made it through two of three rounds having only dropped two bouts each. Kleiner finished the day leading all athletes in first with a 12-3 record. Massialas ended the first day in seventh place.

In epee, junior Amanda Sirico turned in a strong 13-2 record, including an undefeated finish in four bouts against top opponents from Columbia and Ohio State. Freshman Dasha Yefremenko also had a strong showing in her debut NCAA championships

appearance, contributing three team points.

The day closed with senior Francesca Russo earning a fourth-place seeding in sabre with an 11-4 mark.

The defending national champion joined teammate Sirico in going 4-0 against competitors from Columbia and Ohio State. Junior sabreur Tara Hassett rounded out the day in 15th place, having only dropped one bout against the top two teams.

The Irish tied Columbia at the end of three rounds of women’s dueling with a score of 56 points.

The women extended their lead Friday, starting off with a semifinals showdown between teammates Kleiner and Massialas as the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds in foil, respectively. Despite having lost to Kleiner in the round-robin poolplay round, Massialas put up a strong fight. Coming in with a nearly identical record, Massialas led 8-7 at the end of the first round. She extended her lead to 15-9 in the second round to punch her ticket to the championship.

Kleiner tied for third, earning bronze and her first All-American nod.

Massialas advanced to the finals to face top-seeded Columbia junior Iman Blow.

After three periods of close competition, Blow overcame Massialas to win 15-12. The runner-up finish for Massialas marked the junior’s highest place at the NCAA championships after finishing third her freshman year and fifth her sophomore year.

The team’s strong performance carried into epee, where Sirico easily qualified for the semifinals with a

Mabrey, Irish top Aggies in women’s basketball to advance to Elite Eight for second-straight season

By DANIEL O’BOYLE Sports Writer

A victory after trailing by 13 points in the second quarter to a fourthseeded Texas A&M team that features the best freshman in the nation, all with only seven available scholarship players, one of whom hasn’t practiced all week, is a pretty improbable comeback.

Right?

“We’ve been down in other games,” Irish head coach Muffet McGraw said. “We feel like we are poised and can come back.”

Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair was a little more direct about it.

“We knew Notre Dame would come back,” he said.

It did.

And now, the Irish (32-3, 15-1 ACC) will play in their seventh Elite Eight in eight years after defeating Texas A&M (26-10, 11-5 SEC), 90-84.

The Irish started the game on top after a layup from junior forward Jessica

Shepard and a 3-pointer from junior guard Marina Mabrey off an inbounds pass and screen from junior guard Arike Ogunbowale. But it wouldn’t be long before they found themselves behind by double-digits.

A&M tied the game with a 3 from national freshman of the year Chennedy Carter, and the two teams teams traded scores until the Aggies began to take over in the final minutes of the first period. For a little over 4 1/2 minutes, the Irish were dominated in every aspect of the game, as an 18-2 run powered Texas A&M to a 12-point lead.

“I thought we showed a lack of discipline in the first quarter,” McGraw said. “Our shot selection was bad. We didn’t get any rebounds. I think we had one offensive rebound at halftime. We weren’t getting the ball to Jessica Shepard, which was a big part of our game plan, then we couldn’t get any stops. We did a lot of things wrong in the first quarter.”

However, Carter was not the main force behind the run, as Aggies junior forward Anriel Howard scored 13 points in the opening 13 minutes of the game. see W BBALL PAGE 9

20-3 record in pool play. In the first round of bracket play, she dominated Veronika Ziukova of St. John’s early with a 12-7 lead. Ziukova, however, posted a strong finish, winning five-straight points and forcing overtime, where she defeated Sirico 13-12.

This was her second-straight thirdplace finish.

Russo, the defending national champion, was charged with closing the women’s play in sabre alongside Hassett. After ending the first day in fourth place, Russo slowly climbed her way into the second seed at the start of bracket play. She faced off against Maia Chamberlain of Princeton in the semifinals, where she had a similarly strong start as Sirico, only to be met with an equally strong counterattack where she found herself down 13-8. Despite three quick points scored by Russo, she fell short in the semifinals.

“Once I got to the semifinals, my performance level wasn’t quite as intense or smart as the past year, but I’m still really happy and was able to keep it cool,” Russo said.

Hassett also carried the team’s momentum in the second day, going undefeated and climbing from 15th place to seventh.

As the women’s competition winded down, Notre Dame led Penn State by six with a team score of 95.

Four athletes — Massialas, Kleiner, Sirico and Russo — earned first-team All-American honors, as well as Hassett being named as a second-team All-American.

Russo joined an elite group of 25 Notre Dame fencers see FENCING PAGE 10

Malmquist’s game-winning goal for ND gives hockey second Frozen Four berth in two years

By MICHAEL IVEY Sports Writer

This weekend at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut, No. 1 seed Notre Dame won the East Regional of the NCAA tournament with two thrilling victories over fourth-seeded Michigan Tech and second-seeded Providence to clinch a spot in the Frozen Four for the second consecutive season and the fourth time in program history.

“I’m extremely proud of our guys,” Jackson said. “They’ve been resilient all year long. They call them the cardiac kids for a reason. Hopefully it’s not my cardiac, but they find a way to win.

Regardless of the situation, they find a way to win.”

The Irish (27-9-2, 17-6-1 Big Ten) faced

off against WCHA champion Michigan Tech in the first round. After a scoreless first period, the Huskies (22-17-5, 1211-5 WCHA) got on the board first after a goal by senior forward Joel L’Esperance just 1:13 into the second frame to go up 1-0.

Notre Dame had a quick answer, however, when junior forward Dylan Malmquist snuck the puck past unsuspecting junior Huskies goaltender Patrick Munson just 2:27 later to tie the score 1-1.

The Irish took the lead less than four minutes later when a pass from freshman forward Colin Theisen found junior forward Joe Wegwerth in front of the net, who buried the puck behind Munson to give Notre Dame a 2-1 lead with 12:56 left in the second period.

The Irish carried the one-goal lead into the third period, but Michigan see HOCKEY PAGE 10