Print Edition for The Observer for Friday, Sept. 23, 2022

McGreevy discusses his ascent to provost

By ISA SHEIKH a ssociate news e ditor

John T. mc g reevy began his work as the sixth provost for the university of notre d ame at the beginning of July.

mc g reevy, a history profes sor who has served on the fac ulty since 1997 and previously served as chair of the history department and the dean of c ollege of a rts and l etters, was announced as the c harles and Jill Fischer provost in a pril, four months after m arie lynn m iranda stepped down from the position. m iranda’s year and a half as provost was largely defined by the university’s response to the covid -19 pandemic.

identified by a search com mittee of faculty, students and university president Fr. John Jenkins, mc g reevy is cogni zant of the fact that many do not understand the job he’s been appointed to.

“no one knows what the provost does,” mc g reevy said. “The formal title is chief academic officer… and you’re supposed to guide the aca demic core; everything from hiring to how do we elevate the reputation of our depart ments? how do we do crosscollege programs? how do we do better with undergraduate education? how do we devel op stronger graduate and pro fessional school programs, all that in a general way falls to

the provost.” notre d ame established the provost position in 1970 under Fr. hesburgh’s leader ship, and the provost is tasked with the overall operation of the academic enterprise, in cluding the faculty, colleges, schools, institutes, centers, li braries and student advising. mc g reevy said that his po sition allows him to direct notre d ame’s academic work across programs and colleges, from a twenty-thousand-foot level.“iwon’t get involved in in dividual ‘we should offer this course this semester’ kind of decisions,” he said. r ather,

smc votes uses ‘rock the vote’ to inform students nd becomesstadiumcashless

By SAM GODINEZ news writer

notre d ame s tadium is in its second year of going cashless, and its effects have prompted the entire campus to switch to accepting cards only. w hile this is notre d ame campus’s first year going cashless, this is notre d ame s tadium’s second year operating as such. a ll athletic

facilities went cashless last year as well.

The move was promptly made after the c oronavirus pandemic, to limit the move ment of physical cash.

a nother reason involved se curity implications regarding cashiers’ handling of money. “ we had a lot of people in our food area sitting there

By CHANCELOR GORDON news writer

Editor’s Note: Crystal Ramirez is a former Associate News Editor for The Observer.

smc votes hosted ‘rock the vote’, wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in belle’s backyard. The event featured voting resources, treats and live entertainment. bellacapella and the pearl performed while attendees requested region specific voting information and voted for the most popular dog on campus.

rock the vote was an event created “to increase voter engagement and celebrate democracy,” smc votes co-coordinator l ibbey detcher said. The live music, furry friends, and numerous resources fostered a welcoming environment for people to come and get information on voter registration and requesting absentee ballots.

“[ rock the vote is] a positive way to bring people together. i feel like a lot of people in our generation are passive, but if you want change you’re going

to have to actively work for it and voting is one way you can do that,” sophomore mcKenzie mcdaniel said.

smc votes is an initiative under the o ffice for the c ommon g ood. “[ smc votes helps students with] registering to vote, requesting absentee ballots or making some kind of voting plan,” detcher

Foundedexplained.in2018, smc votes has worked diligently to improve the civic engagement of the student

NDPD announces use of bodycams

By ISA SHEIKH a ssociate news e ditor

The notre dame police department (ndpd) an nounced this month that its sworn officers are now wear ing body cameras. The depart ment also released the nd safe app with multiple resources, including one-touch calls to notre dame police, st. Joseph county’s 911 center and nonemergency assistance, as well as

resources to share location with ndpd or one’s friends.

ndpd chief Keri Kei shibata says that the decision to start using body cameras has been a long time coming. “we had been thinking about it for a number of years. in fact, we had officers who had been wanting to wear body cameras previous to [the decision],” shibata said.

shibata said that the

John McGreevy reflects on his role in community as he begins his term as provost

Courtesty of Notre Dame

John McGreevy of the history department, has been in the Notre Dame community since 1997. Over the summer, he became the sixth provost.

CHANCELOR GORDAN I The Observer

The students of Saint Marys College take the time to sit back and relax, enjoying each other’s company as they attend SMC Votes “Rock the Vote” event in Belle’s Backyard that took place Wednesday Sept. 21.

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Service Saturday Student Center Atrium 11:00 a.m. - 7 p.m. Community service to set up for South Bend’s Rebel Art Fest.

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his role has a larger role in faculty promotion and tenure, developing and strengthen ing programs and institution ally promoting notre d ame’s commitment to “really excel lent teaching.”

mcGreevy said that he is still developing his priorities as provost but he is guided by two overarching goals.

First is a common plan for the academic core, forged from various plans for each of the programs and schools un der notre d ame’s umbrella. he said the goal is to “make notre d ame better in terms of teaching and learning, in terms of its research pro grams, all those things.”

s econd, mcGreevy said he is focused on building strong teams among the leaders that report to him.

“We have a really great group of deans, great group of provosts, and just to get them really working together and helping me, because i need the help. i can’t do it on my own. a nd there’s so much wis dom in those rooms,” he said.

mcGreevy says that chal lenges he’s identified mov ing forward include that the University is “a little bit be hind on strategic plans.”

more broadly, mcGreevy sees a larger tension at the core of notre d ame’s path for ward, a vision that he says is shared by Fr. Jenkins, and has served as the administration’s project since the 1960s.

“The big challenge for notre d ame is can it be seri ously c atholic and be great,” mcGreevy said. “c an we be one of the best private re search universities in the world with just absolutely ter rific programs at all levels? a nd can we be distinctly and seriously c atholic? a nd that’s the big picture mission.”

he says that question comes to the forefront when estab lishing notre d ame’s cred ibility in research, as well as deciding which programs to invest in.

“ s o we started, a few years ago, a master’s in sacred mu sic and then a doctorate in sacred music, and we’re re ally good at that. a nd that’s an example of a program that aligns with our mission, but we become really good at,” he said. “We need more things that everyone unequivocally says ‘okay, yeah, that’s a great program.’”mcGreevy also pub lished a book this month — “c atholicism: a Global h istory from the French r evolution to Pope Francis”

is a 528-page volume out with W.W. norton. a review in The new York Times says that mcGreevy has done “a remarkable job of explaining how the epic struggle between reformists and traditionalists has led us to the present mo ment in the r oman c atholic c hurch.”mcGreevy has long studied c atholicism and has pub lished three previous books on various elements of the church’s history. This book drew less from primary re search, and was written pri marily during the covid -19 pandemic.“it’sreally based on trying to distill the secondary lit erature into a readable format and tell the big picture story. s o not much research, but a lot of time spent on the 10th and 11th and 12th floor of the library sitting there looking at things and with my laptop writing,” he said.

mcGreevy says the book is an attempt to explore the global dimensions of the church, “recognizing that c atholicism is the most mul ticultural and multilingual institution in the world. a nd we need histories that reflect that diversity.”

s ince the near-death experi ence of the French r evolution, the church has evolved and

changed in many ways over the past 230 years, according to“WemcGreevy.tendto think especially the church is sort of unchang ing. a nd one thing i want to convey in the book is that a lot of things did change, not ev erything,” mcGreevy said.

b eginning with the French r evolution, mcGreevy ex plained that the event was transformative for the institution.“Whatireally want to con vey to people is how devastat ing the French r evolution was for an older, more aristocratic c atholic model, where the nation state and the church were very tightly allied,” he said. “That didn’t go away. b ut what came in the 19th cen tury was a much more popu list, devotional c atholicism, maybe even more a church of the poor. a nd a church very tightly tied to the papacy.”

The dramatic shift of the French r evolution is followed in history by another dramat ic shift, vatican ii , mcGreevy said.“That form of the church, i argue, really lasts until the 1960s in the s econd vatican c ouncil and we’re still trying to sort out what era we’re in now,” he said. “[Pope] Francis says that we’re in a change of era, not an era of change. it

seems throughout politics, culture, religion, that some things are fundamentally changing right now. a nd i hope the book provides a sav vy history so c atholics and non- c atholics can better un derstand how we got to where weaare.”sahistorian focused on c atholicism for much of his career, mcGreevy says that work shapes his approach as provost.“There’s a parallel that i think about a lot, that if we’re going to be a c atholic uni versity, we are going to be come more diverse at notre d ame. That means diverse in a merican categories… but also diverse in international students too. a nd that will be the only way we sustain our selves as a c atholic universi ty,” he said.

he added that the day-today work of a history professor has also prepared him well.

“b eing a historian is good training, you read a lot, and you read a lot as provost. a nd you do think about change over time and how institu tions change. a nd i find my self thinking about that all the time: how notre d ame should change,” mcGreevy said.

Contact Isa Sheikh at isheikh@nd.edu

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Tri-campus honors Latinx heritage

By ANGELA MATHEW Talent and Inclusion manager

h ispanic h eritage m onth is observed from s ept. 15 to o ct. 15 to celebrate the cul tures of Americans whose ancestors hail from m exico, the c aribbean, s pain and c entral and s outh America.

In 1968, the country ob served h ispanic h eritage Week and by 1988, the week was expanded to a 30-day pe riod. The independence days of c osta r ica, e l s alvador, Guatemala, h onduras, n icaragua, m exico and c hile all fall in the first week of h ispanic h eritage month.

The Institute for Latino s tudies at n otre d ame is hosting nine events to mark the month. s ome of these events are more academic while others focus on high lighting influential Latinx alumni from the University.

First-year student Angela o lvera attended professor Luis Fraga’s “Latinos and the r eshaping of American Politics” lecture last Thursday.“I’mfrom Texas, and Texas has the worst cases of voter suppression in the country and racial gerrymander ing. h earing about how the Latino population is close to 40% of the country, and yet only like 15% of us vote was interesting,” o lvera said. “It just goes to show how it’s an invisible demographic … the way professor Fraga talks so passionately about it makes me want to get out there and register everyone to vote.”

o lvera also attended the transformative Latina lead ership lecture this past m onday with d orene c d ominguez, a n otre d ame alumna who is the ceo of vanir, a construction man agement and real estate company.“shetalked a lot about im postor syndrome … because she was a first-generation student like I am … and I think it’s really important to just hear success stories about people who share your background and ethnicity,”

Cashless

counting money.” Wendy mott, c ash m anager for the University in the o ffice of Treasury s ervices, said.

“hundreds of thousands of dollars go through in cash, and they were spending their whole time counting it. s ometimes we would have up to three people count the sameThisdeposit.”process also caused problems due to a shortage of employees. “ r ight now we have a lot of difficulty in

o lvera said. “I love that they interviewed her … because there’s still so much machis mo and sexism that goes on in the Latino community.”

The Institute for Latino s tudies is also co-sponsoring events organized by other ac ademic departments for ex ample, the talk by c alifornia s tate senator m onique Limón last week and a lecture by n athan h enne, an expert in m ayan culture, scheduled o ct. 10, which is Indigenous Peoples d ay.

o ne of these events is a discussion of the book “c rossing Waters” by m arisel m oreno, r ev. John A. o ’ b rien associate professor. The book talks about the dynam ics of undocumented migra tion between the d ominican r epublic, h aiti and Puerto r ico.moreno, who teaches Latinx literature and cul ture in the department of r omance Languages and Literatures, says that the term “ h ispanic h eritage m onth” is problematic. “The label h ispanic was originally imposed by the U. s . govern ment on a very heterogeneous population to refer to all people of Latin American backgrounds,” m oreno said. “ h ispanic is derived from h ispania, which was a r oman region that coincides with what today is s pain. s o [the term] h ispanic privileg es e uropean ancestry … and the s panish language.”

m oreno emphasized the linguistic diversity of the Latinx community where people in h aiti speak French, b razilians speak Portuguese and several other Latinx people speak indigenous languages.“Icallit Latinx h eritage m onth and even that label is problematic. This is inspired by the hashtag ‘Latinidad is c ancelled’ that comes from Afro and indigenous people who would be labeled Latinx but don’t see themselves rep resented in the … label, be cause it erases b lackness,” m oreno said.

n icholas c rookston, a

hiring people, as everybody does, and especially in those food service areas,” mott said.

“Instead of counting cash, [employees] are able to be de ployed to do other important things in the job as necessary, as [the University has] diffi culty hiring her people.”

With a cashless process comes many benefits for the audience. These include sav ing time for the audience by ensuring faster lines when re ceiving food. “They don’t have to wait as long,” mott said. “I think it’s a time saver.” This process was implemented in 2018 by Grubhub, where the

senior who is co-president of the Latinx s tudent Alliance (L s A) will be moderating “Latinx Identidades” next Thursday, a panel to shed more light on the diversity within the community.

“ s tudents and faculty are going to share their stories and knowledge on the com plexity … of what we mean by Latino, Latina [and] Latinx,” c rookston said. “We hope to discuss the nuances of all experiences within our community including Afro Latinos, LG b TQ+ Latinos and first generation Latinos.”

“The panel is important because it’ll build cultural proficiency and people’s ease and understanding using the term, so they don’t feel weird about it,” Paloma GarciaLopez, associate director of the Institute for Latino s tudies said. “We spent a lot of time in the media talking about the undocumented or recent immigrants, which really make up 15% of all Latinos in the U s , so 85% are U. s .

Theborn.”panel is designed for audiences who might not have a lot of experience in Latinx

“We’recommunities.tryingtohelp in crease the understanding of Latino communities in the U. s . for everybody at n otre d ame … and share some basics about U s history that aren’t taught in high school,” Garcia-Lopez said.

The Institute for Latino s tudies also collaborates with the h ispanic Alumni of n otre d ame ( h A nd ) for an event each year.

s tudents who view the alumni presentations can make appointments for one on one mentorship with them.“This is a way of exposing them to people who have done pretty creative things with their degrees … there’s boards to serve, community organizations to support and philanthropic efforts,” Garcia-Lopez said.

At s aint m ary’s, Latinx h eritage month celebra tions have largely been

client can order food and be in line without his physical presence in attendance.

While she gave praise to its benefits, she also acknowl edged the difficulties many international students face due to a lack of resources when coming to the United s tates. They usually come without a bank account, she said, but instead with physi cal cash. Thus, the treasury department worked to place handheld devices which trade physical currency to a card.

“ s omething we did differ ent this year,” mott said, “was that we rolled out kiosks,

spearheaded by students. Jackie Junco, a senior who serves as president of La Fuerza, the c ollege’s club for Latinx students, said that the club held a photoop event where students could celebrate the diversity of the Latinx community by taking photos with differ ent flags of Latin American and c aribbean countries. La Fuerza also hosted a karaoke night in honor of the month along with their regular vol unteering in the west side of s outh b end.

“La Fuerza and our diver sity clubs are … the main sources that help support students of color [at s aint m ary’s],” Junco said. “I think implementing some more in stitutional support and club funding is necessary.”

In light of hurricane Fiona in Puerto r ico, senior Ashlley c astillo, co-president of L s A at n otre d ame also talked about the need for more in stitutional support.

“We know that there are other instances where the University has stepped up for other communities, and I feel like they’re not as re sponsive for the Latino com munity. Perhaps they can have a prayer service … at least or offer resources at the Ucc to students from Puerto r ico who have had this trau matic experience before with hurricane m aria a few years prior,” c astillo said.

m oreno and Garcia-Lopez both cited hiring more Latinx faculty members as a first-step to building a com munity that is more support ive of Latinx students.

c rookston hopes that Latinx h eritage m onth events on campus will help build more unity between students of all backgrounds.

“L s A events have always been open for all to attend,” he said. “We want this to be an invitation for the wid er community to celebrate with us this month, and year round.”

Contact Angela Mathew at amathew3@nd.edu

c ampus card kiosks, that are located one in d uncan and one in LaFortune.” In addition, students can use their d omer d ollars from their Irish1card, which can be used in stadium venues.

“hopefully,” mott said, “80 plus percent of the students shouldn’t even be impacted by going cashless.”

For the football game vs. s tanford on o ct. 15th, Levy, a third party concession stand vendor, will roll out a new credit card system, which will make transac tions faster. As Lee s icinski, Associate v ice President of

BeltranhonorsNDcoach

Observer Staff Report

Assistant coach for n otre d ame’s track and field team Adam b eltran passed away at 46 years old Wednesday after a battle with cancer, a University press release said.“While b eltran’s coach ing accolades and fin gerprints are all over the pages of the n otre d ame record books, it was his personality and strik ing humor that will be remembered most,” the press release said. “ h e was a beloved figure among student-athletes, coach es and anyone who spent time around the Irish program.”According to the press release, b eltran coached 11 nc AA qualifiers during his time at n otre d ame and mentored three A cc cham pion throwers throughout his“[career.beltran] also had a knack for developing walkon athletes into elite coach contributors. A majority of his school record holders and nc AA qualifiers were walk-ons,” n otre d ame track and field and cross country director m att s parks said in the press release.butb eltran was even more well known for his humor and “gentle giant” personality, the press re lease said.

m ass at the b asilica will be held Friday, s ept. 23 at 3:30 p.m. in honor of Adam.

“The b eltran family wel comes any staff, students, friends, alumni and family to be with them during this time,” the press release said.

University e vents, said via email, “We will be replac ing our point of sale system with a product from s hift4. moving to this new system should modernize the pur chasing experience, allow for faster transactions, and provide a wider variety of cashless payment methods (tap-&-go, Apple Pay, Android Pay, etc). We expect this tech nology to ultimately enhance the experience for all fans, and get them back to their seat faster.”

Contact Sam Godinez at sgodinez@nd.edu

body. “smc votes started in 2018 after we realized our voter registration and voter participation rates were really below national averages,” d irector of the o ffice for the c ommon Good rebekah Go recounted.

With an issue at hand, Go and the o ffice of the c ommon Good immediately took action under the new initiative. “We started making concerted efforts to get students engaged in the process [by] helping them register and figure out how to vote, which is complicated because absentee ballot wielding is not streamlined at all,” Go said.

since 2018, smc votes has made “significant strides” in increasing voter registration and participation with around a “30% increase” according to Go. The ultimate goal is to reach 100% of eligible voter participation at the “We’recollege.trying to get students excited about the electoral process and this fall’s midterm elections,” Go said as she reminded students that “their voice matters”. The two clubs featured at the event, the s aint m ary’s c ollege d emocrats and the s aint m ary’s c ollege

Political s cience c lub, provide students with a way to get involved with the field of politics in addition to exercising their right to vote.

“We are an official chapter of the statewide c ollege d emocrats of Indiana and we are here to represent and get more engagement. [As] a brand new club here at s aint m ary’s [we are] looking to build community and are excited for the semester,” President of the s aint m ary’s c ollege d emocrats c rystal r amirez detailed.

smc votes plans to host numerous events throughout the year including mobile voting, constitution day and educational events in the spring. “We are planning on hosting debate watches for district two on o ct. 4, and it’s just for students to come if they want to watch the debate, do their homework, de-stress, chill out, or whatever they want,” smc votes co-coordinator Jeanett o choa said.

students should contact the o ffice for the c ommon Good at ocg@saintmarys. edu or stop by the student c enter for more information on voting and getting registered to vote.

“e verybody just wants their voice to be heard and I think voting is one way that everyone can come together for some kind of common cause,” d etcher said.

Contact Chancelor Gordon

Senate discusses ND Safe and gyms

By KATIE MUCHNICK news Writer

notre on senate discusses nd safe app, dorm gyms

The notre dame student sen ate passed resolutions regarding first-year class council elections and received nominations for Judicial council’s committee on the constitution in its meeting Wednesday evening.

ND Safe app

Keri Kei shibata, chief of the notre dame Police department (ndPd), began the meeting by introducing the ndPd’s new app nd safe. The app is designed for notre dame students, faculty and staff to easily access mul tiple safety resources, including one-button calls to the ndPd, nd fire department, st. Joseph county 911 and a non-emergen cy dispatch center.

The ndPd launched the app to address a common concern about expanding the blue-light emergency call boxes around campus.“[The blue-light phones] very rarely get used,” shibata said.

“We thought it would be a more effective use of resources to put a mobile blue light in each of your hands.”Inaddition to the mobile blue light feature, which allows users to quickly contact emergency services and share their location, the nd safe app includes a friend

Walk program. friend Walk con tacts a designated friend or par ent and shares the user’s location so that the contact can monitor their walk home.

nd safe also offers a “social escape” feature, in which the app will call the user’s phone within a designated amount of time. This allows the user to flee uncomfortable situations under the pretense of a friend or family member’s emergency.

The app has links to emer gency contacts and resources related to Title IX, the university counseling center (ucc), university health services, a sui cide lifeline and bike and scooter registration.shibataencouraged all stu dents to download nd safe and enable push notifications and location sharing to access all of the safety features. As of Wednesday evening, ndPd has recorded 350 downloads, shibata said.

Dorm gyms

After the presentation from shibata, sophomore Anna dray, the director of university pol icy for the student union, up dated the senate on her work to make dorm gyms more equi table. dray has been reviewing surveys filled out by senators that reflect the state of dorm gyms.“There is a notable dispar ity between women’s and men’s

gyms that we’re looking into,” dray said.

she is continuing her research to better understand this dispar ity and to find out what funds dorms could use to improve their gyms.The goal, though, is not to im prove dorm gyms that already have high quality equipment, dray emphasized. rather, she is focusing on equity.

“We’re just going to try to give the dorms the same equipment, so everyone has the same access to the same things,” dray said.

Additional resolutions student body vice president sofie stitt then previewed sev eral upcoming events, includ ing a coffee and bagels giveaway with residential Life on sept. 23 and a suicide healing and memo rial prayer service sept. 27, before moving on to general orders.

The senate passed resolution ss2223-08, which suspends the elections for first-year class coun cil representatives who are run ning unopposed.

senior madison nemeth, Judicial council president, and senior Jared schlachet, student union parliamentarian, read out the nominations for Judicial council’s peer advocates and committee on the constitution members. After a unanimous vote of approval, the senate congratulated the new Peer Advocates and committee mem bers on their positions.

After the nominations, sena tors shared updates on resolu tions they are currently writing.

sophomore derick Williams, who is sponsoring resolution ss2223-09 to lower the barriers that limit access to campus rec reational programs, recently met with mark Williams, the director of recsports, christine conway, the director of the ucc, and consuela Wilson, the director of the office of student enrichment.

“All three parties are in agree ment that it sounds like a great idea,” Williams said. “It sounds like they’ll be able to utilize the systems and structures that they already have to implement this program.”finally,stitt introduced a new section of the senate meeting to allow senators to discuss new ideas and collaborations dur ing the meeting. many sena tors voiced ideas based on their constituents’ concerns. notably, senators are looking to address the shortage of bike racks out side classroom buildings given the new rule that scooters must be left outdoors. senators also discussed gluten free options in the dining halls and petition ing the provost to grant band and roTc members early class registration.Afterclosing announcements, the meeting was adjourned.

Contact Katie Muchnick at kmuchnic@nd.edu

department had held off due to existing safety technology that ndPd already employed.

“We have a number of ccT v cameras on campus, so usually when there’s something that happens, and there’s a question about whether something hap pened a certain way or not, we can investigate that way. but there’s no audio there. The of ficers have had in-car cameras with body mics for a very long time,” she said.

They ultimately decided to purchase the technology — de veloped by Axon enterprise, a firm that develops technology for law enforcement, the mili tary and general public — for a number of reasons.

“They’re becoming more standard for police agencies. We know that the federal agen cies are soon going to be re quired to wear them. And so it’s just becoming a best practice in law enforcement,” shibata said.

shibata also referred to na tional conversations around police reform. ndPd has en gaged in that conversation fol lowing the death of George floyd, releasing an extensive “equity in Policing” report that outlines a commitment to soli darity and details training and policies for officers.

“We know that at times law enforcement in the united

states has played a role in dehu manization, oppression and the infringement of the basic civil and human rights of people in our country. Instances of police brutality are tragic reminders of the systemic racism that exists in the united states,” the state ment reads. “We recognize that ndPd is part of the larger crimi nal justice system that needs to improve in many ways.”

“These truths are uncomfort able, they stain our history and tarnish the reputation of good people doing good work. but, they are truths that are nonethe less acknowledged by the notre dame Police department.”

shibata said the bodycams “allow us to be more transpar ent and accountable. It helps us to quickly investigate any complaints. It helps collect evi dence in cases if that’s needed. It can also help with training, so officers can review their inter actions and supervisors can re view with officers and say, ‘how could we have handled this a little bit differently?’ And then if there are disputes about what happened, it can clarify that.”

she said that current policy dictates officers must turn on their body cams any time they are on a call for service or law enforcement interaction, from someone locking their keys in an office to a more serious threat.

“The spirit of the policy that will always be the case is any kind of law enforcement and

action will be recorded,” she said.officers must tell citizens who ask if they’re being recorded that they are, and they can turn off the cameras if they are re quested or for privacy reasons, such as offering care to a person potentially in a state of undress. They would document the cause in any case this occurred. In case the situation escalates, they would turn the camera backndon.Pd exists because of a state law allowing colleges to appoint a police force. notre dame’s board decided to do so, giving ndPd jurisdiction throughout st. Joseph county, but primarily on campus, shibata said.

“In an active violence or other serious public safety emergency ndPd officers know the cam pus inside and out and can get there quickly and take the right action or give the right instruc tion to the community and other responding agencies,” she wrote in an email. “In addition, in everyday situations we know the campus resources available to students, faculty, and staff so we often have the ability to connect them with those re sources rather than taking law enforcement action if appropri ate where other police agencies wouldn’t know the resources in that detail or the people to con nect them with.”

With the release of the nd safe application, the work to ensure

safety on campus continues.

“We’re very excited about [the app],” shibata said. “We had been thinking about a safety app for quite a while. student government had asked if that was something that we could do, and it was another thing that just fell together and it seemed like the right time to do it.”

Within the app, users can ac tivate features like the v irtual Walkhome feature, which al lows a police dispatcher to monitor their walk to or from a residence hall or other location on or off campus.

nd safe has other features in cluding friendWalk, essentially a safety escort service without a person, designed to share a user’s location with friends or family. There’s also mobile blue Light, which shares the user’s location with ndPd. The app also has a feature called social escape, a self-scheduled call to the user’s mobile phone as a means to leave an uncomfort able or potentially threatening situation.“It’sagreat resource. I like it that people can choose either to have our staff involved or not, depending on what they feel they need. And then most of the options also enable people to re ally quickly contact 911 or our police department depending on where they are,” shibata said.

Contact Isa Sheikh at isheikh@nd.edu

spooky season for cinephiles

Olivia Schatz Associate sports e ditor

Today is the first day of fall and spooky season is upon us! What better way to get into the mood than to put on a good halloween movie. From hocus Pocus to Texas chainsaw massacre, halloween classics range a variety of genres. And while these classics are men tioned on every list, I thought I would create my own. This time, of the more forgotten spooky season films.

1.Practical Magic

This movie is the most slept on halloween movie out there. sandra bullock and nicole Kidman as witch sisters? What could get better than that? don’t be turned off from the 23% on rotten tomatoes, critics don’t know anything; the audience score for this movie is 73%! I watched this movie for the first time years ago, and I can not listen to crickets the same way again. The movie follows two estranged sisters as they navigate the world of romance with magical powers.

While there are definitely some dark themes (i.e. abusive boyfriends and necromancy), the overall movie is not scary, although I would not recommend it for a super young audi ence.

Spookiness Scale 6/10, Fall Vibes 9/10

2. Over the Garden Wall

I know, this is not technically a movie. but, this limited series is the perfect thing to watch to get into the halloween spirit. This animated show follows two brothers as they go on a journey through a mysterious forest. The brothers (voiced by elijah Wood and collin dean) find a plethora of funky creatures along the way. While it is not as spooky as some of the other films on this list, this series is the definition of Autumn vibes. If you are the type of person who likes more lighthearted films, but still want a hint of spookiness, I would most definitely recommend this.

Spookiness Scale 2/10, Fall Vibes 10/10

3. The Invisible Man (2020)

If I’m being honest, I am not the biggest fan of elisabeth moss. however, she killed it in this role. The Invisible man is based off of the h.G. Wells novel of the same name, however, there is a more modern twist to it. If you enjoy thrillers, this would be my top pick for you. I was on the edge of my seat for the entirety of this movie. While The Invisible man does not have as many fall vibes as the other ones on this list, the spookiness scale definitely is highly. This movie is not for the faint of heart, there is domestic abuse and violence sprin kled throughout, but overall this movie is definitely worth the watch.

Spookiness Scale 8/10, Fall Vibes 1/10

4. Murder Party

I have never heard anyone else talk about this film. originally, I put it on as a back ground to doing work, but quickly I could not stop watching. The premise is just genius. A man with no friends picks up an invitation to a “murder party” on the side of the road. believing it to just be a quirky halloween invite, the man attends, only to find out that the party is in fact to murder their guest list. I know, it sounds grim. however, Jeremy saulnier somehow finds the perfect combination of seriousness and comedy to make this film work.

Spookiness Scale 11/10, Fall Vibes 8/10

5. Spirited Away

The entire studio Ghibli collection deserves a spot on this list. spirited Away was my favorite film growing up. It follows a young girl, chihiro ogino, as she travels through the spirit world to save her parents. For a grown adult, this movie is not scary. but, as a young girl I had to cover my eyes for a good portion of this film. With ghosts, witches and drag ons, this movie is two hours of fantasticism.

It is animated, but don’t let that turn you away! studio Ghibli puts out some of the best movies of all time, and spirited Away deserves a spot on that list.

Spookiness Scale 8/10, Fall Vibes 7/10

6. Hereditary

There are hundreds of true horror movies I could have included on my list. The conjuring and Insidious are go-tos, The shining is just a classic or maybe I should have chosen the cabin in The Woods, which I think has one of the best premises of all horror movies. but no, I decided on hereditary. Yes, hereditary is a well known horror movie, but I love this film so much that I can’t help but hype it up even more. While in the theaters, I saw this movie 6 times. since then, I have watched it ten more times. And each time, I notice a new detail Ari Aster included.

There are so many iconic scenes in this film, and the last 15 minutes will have you screaming the entire time. I don’t even think I can tell you too much about the premise without spoiling the mastery of this movie, but it follows a family after the death of their grandmother. There are classic jump scares, a ton of gore and ghosts and witches to top it off.

Spookiness scale 9/10,Fall Vibes 2/10 so, as the season begins to shift, bundle up with a pumpkin spice candle and a bag of popcorn and turn on whatever flick best fits your vibe!

Contact Olivia at oschatz@nd.edu

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

business is not a game

Krista Lourdes Akiki The Lifestyle nomad

“In recent years, we have grown ac customed to the use of games as models for understanding institutional behav ior,” observes Peter French, director of the Lincoln center for Applied ethics at Arizona state University. The business as a game metaphor has undeniably become ubiquitous in the language and culture of business. even though this linguistic device can be useful in clarifying multiple business concepts like competition, hier archical structures and goal achievement, the business as a game metaphor is not always morally neutral and can be quite ethically problematic. In fact, I largely believe that this metaphor also sets up a flagrant fallacy.

The business as a game metaphor over looks a critical difference between the tenor and vehicle of the metaphor. While games are quite self-contained, business cannot be a self-contained activity as it connects deeply to the rest of society. A game is quite simply an isolated bubble that people can voluntarily choose to enter knowing what rules apply there, and more often than not people take part in games for personal enjoyment. more importantly, if one doesn’t like or doesn’t agree with the rules of the game, he or she has the power to just sit the game out. but opting out of the economic system is not as easy. business and commerce are un deniable parts of everyone’s life. There is not as much voluntarism associated with it because opting out means completely isolating oneself and opting for a radical disconnect from modern corporate prac tices.Another important consideration is how using the business as a game metaphor dramatically trivializes what’s really at stake. In any game, from poker to football, almost always, the only stakeholders that will be heavily affected by the outcome of the game are the players themselves who chose to be there and understood the cost and risks of the game. In busi ness, however, the narrative is much more complex. With the business as a game metaphor, it is easy to forget that, in the process of seeking victory or outmaneu vering an opponent, business actually has much greater stakes than most people’s conception of games. These higher stakes can heavily impact the health, safety and quality of life of numerous constituencies. Take, for instance, the bhopal disaster. A couple of misguided decisions by a single corporation’s officials resulted in 40 tons of toxic gas being spewed from the factory and scorching the lives of thousands of people outside these walls. Thirty-seven years after the incident, the 70-acre site in bhopal has remained mostly unchanged and still contains hundreds of tons of con taminated waste that continue to put the health of nearby villagers in grave danger. businesses are “fully situated in the realm of humanity” and affect a much broader spectrum of real, complex human lives than a game ever could. Another concern is that the business as a game metaphor falsely paints the nature of business as

temporary. Games cannot be never-end ing; they have clear beginnings, middles and ends. business practices, however, can not be so clearly delineated. Professionals in a corporate community may focus on short-term wins, but the success of a positive quarterly return may have been achieved at the expense of other social or ethical interests. Game-like, short-term thinking that’s rewarded in the market place is not always in the best interest of the larger community or even the corpora tion’s own long-term interests. business activity has no clear end, yet the game metaphor artificially implies that a conclu sion exists.

moving forward, a critical downfall of the business as a game metaphor is that it attempts to separate moral spheres by implying that there exists a different set of ethics for business than the set of ethics practiced in everyday social life. by making the morality of business selfreferential, like the rules of a game, corpo rations become less morally accountable to sources of normative ethics in society. once business is nominally understood as an institution made up of a separate class of “business professionals” who are less morally accountable than everyone else, the overlay of a strong metaphoric under standing that business is a game actually solidifies the differentiation and the com partmentalization of moral spheres.

All in all, this deep dive into the struc tural differences between business and games has revealed that the business as a game metaphor can be ethically problem atic if not completely inadequate. Games are fun, have intelligible rules, and hold out the promise of glorious victory. but as businesses attempt to communicate their identity through visions and mission statements, ethically aligned practices will demand more than what normally constitutes game playing. As the French philosopher roger caillois comments in his work, “man, Plan, and Games,” “The true problem starts here. For it must not be forgotten that adults themselves continue to play complicated, varied, and some times dangerous games, which are still viewed as games. Although fate and life may involve one in comparable activities, nevertheless play differs from these even when the player takes life less seriously than the game to which he is addicted. For the game remains separate, closed off, and in principle, without any important reper cussions on the stability and continuity of collective and institutional existence.”

Krista Akiki is a senior majoring in business analytics and minoring in computing and digital technolo gies. She grew up in Beirut, Lebanon and moved back to the U.S. to pursue her undergraduate degree. She loves learning new languages, traveling and of course trying new foods. She craves adventure and new experi ences and hopes to share these with readers through her writing. She can be reached at kakiki@nd.edu or @ kristalourdesakiki via Twitter.

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

Religion is for Democrats too, not just Republicans

You wouldn’t be alone in associating religion with the r epublican Party and secularism with the d emocratic Party. o ver the last several decades, the rise of the r eligious r ight has cemented the fact that the r epublican Party is dominated by white evangelicals inserting religious views into the party platform. Today, that sentiment is only reinforced as r epublican candidates infuse c hristianity into their cam paign strategy. At r epublican rallies this year, we’ve witnessed praise music, prayer, and other practices typically associated with religious worship. These religious practices at campaign events aren’t superfluous either, as r epublican candidates call to end the separation between church and state and declare the United s tates a c hristian nation. The d emocratic Party, on the other hand, has struggled with religion due to the diverse religious and non-religious portions of its membership. In an effort to not alienate voters, d emocrats have avoided reli gious rhetoric, often joined by criticism that they aren’t doing enough outreach to religious voters.however, that appears to be changing.

d uring the 2020 election, a significant number of d emocrats engaged in religious outreach.

d uring the primary campaign, then- m ayor Pete b uttigieg routinely referenced his faith to dem onstrate that d emocrats can be religious too. In one debate, b uttigieg employed a religious offensive against the r epublican Party for hy pocrisy between its platform and profession of c hristianity. o ther presidential hopefuls like s enators c ory b ooker and e lizabeth Warren and then- s enator Kamala h arris also utilized reli gious rhetoric, speaking about their connection to G-d and specifically c hristianity. President Joe b iden worked onextensive outreach to white c atholic and white evangelical voters, reducing former President d onald Trump’s performance among those groups enough to help solidify his victory.religion also made an appearance with both d emocratic candidates for the two seats in the 2020-2021 U. s s enate elections in Georgia.

s enators Warnock and o ssoff’s election was a pivotal moment for the d emocratic Party, se curing a majority in the s enate. The infusion of his progressive views and background as pastor of e benezer b aptist c hurch, where d r. m artin Luther King preached, was a key factor in s enator r aphael Warnock’s victory. Although more hesitant to mention religion during the campaign, s enator Jon o ssoff referenced the Jewish values that informed his political views and became the first Jewish candidate to win statewide office in the s outh since 1974.

Additionally, we’re witnessing candidates in the 2022 midterm elections build off the reli gious momentum over the last several years. Warnock has made religion a central message of his reelection campaign, emphasizing the joint nature of devotion to faith and commitment to social justice. h is messaging routinely refer ences his religious work and how it informs his political views. Just like it delivered him for his initial election, Warnock is hoping Georgia vot ers will be drawn to his religious fervor

Also in Georgia, the d emocratic candidate for governor, s tacey Abrams, uses religion, but in a different way. As abortion becomes a press ing issue in all elections after the overturning of r oe v. Wade, Abrams has discussed the role her faith has played in shaping her views on the subject. s he’s openly discussed how her up bringing by m ethodist preachers informed her initial stance against abortion, but she’s since changed her beliefs after viewing it as a health issue, not a moral one. h er approach to abor tion opens a new vantage point for d emocrats to reach voters who may be personally op posed to abortion, but are hesitant to attempts throughout the country to reduce access to it.

In Pennsylvania, Attorney General Josh s hapiro is running for governor openly as a Jew and refusing to cede religious voters to his opponent, d oug m astriano, a state senator. s hapiro has used his devout faith to reach out to religious voters, especially b lack Protestants in the state by attending worship services and speaking from the pulpit. h e’s routinely ref erenced his faith during campaign events, hoping that some voters who typically vote r epublican on religious grounds consider switching. Among other d emocratic candidates

who employ religious rhetoric, he’s especially notable for attacking c hristian nationalism as an assault on religious liberty, especially for religiousAlthoughminorities.religionmay appear to be a new winning strategy for d emocrats, it isn’t riskfree. In the last two decades, d emocrats them selves have become less religious in their membership. This isn’t to say that non-religious d emocrats would vote r epublican, but it does risk alienation and low voter turnout. These candidates are wagering that religious rhetoric will either deliver more voters or drive voters away from r epublicans, but the threat of alien ation will always be present for a party as reli giously diverse as the d emocratic Party. This isn’t to argue that d emocrats who reference religion will lose (we’ve seen that’s not always the case), but to point out there’s a reason why d emocrats have been cautious about religious rhetoric in the past. e ven if elected, the division in the d emocratic Party between the religious and non-religious suggests that while religious rhetoric may contribute to electoral victory, it doesn’t necessarily translate to religious influ ence in policymaking.

This column is not an endorsement of re ligion as a political tool for d emocrats or r epublicans. The question of religion’s role in politics is separate from my observations of the trends in the d emocratic Party. The last few years are a demonstration that d emocrats can successfully utilize religion as an outreach method on the campaign trail. Although reli gion may still be tied heavily to the r epublican Party, we’re beginning to see pushback from the d emocratic Party and a potential shift in the way that religion operates in the political sphere.

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

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

Blake Ziegler

observer editorial: Let’s create a safer campus

being back on campus means getting back into the swing of things. Whether that means getting used to school work routines, friend groups or even drinking and going out, it’s not always easy. In addition to a list of resources from our rolodex last week, we want to not forget general reminders that can go a long way in keep ing you and your friends safe.

Have each others’ backs

Going out to a bar, a party or even dinner can be fun. Unfortunately, what can start as a great night can take a turn for the worse if we aren’t there for each other. When you go out, make sure you go with friends you trust. Watch out for over-consumption, and respect each other when someone says they’ve had enough to drink, or simply don’t want to. And, help enforce that answer if someone else won’t respect it.

If a friend finds themselves in a dangerous situation, call the authorities for help — even if people in the group have been drinking underage. Indiana’s Lifeline Law provides immunity for anyone seeking help from law enforcement for a friend who needs medical at tention due to alcohol. don’t let the fear of getting in trouble keep you from protecting — or saving — your Iffriends.yousee someone outside of your friend group who might need help, reach out to them. make sure they are okay and invite them to come home with your group if they seem alone or in an uncomfortable situation. You may not be comfortable with this yet, and that’s okay. one great way to become more comfortable with help ing others is to complete Greendot training. bystander intervention is an important resource — the more peo ple who know how to use it, the safer our community can be.

Watch out for yourself, too. no one knows your limits better than you do. If you haven’t drank before, pace yourself. If you have, still pace yourself and listen to your body. It’s not the same

every time, and other factors can have an effect on how your night goes. be careful not to put your drink down, leave it with anyone else or place it out of your sight for too long. If you think you see someone else’s drink tam pered with, tell them.

Don’t walk alone at night

When you’re in unfamiliar places, travel in packs. Walking home with friends can be convenient, but it’s also important to make sure you’re careful. even if you Uber to different dorms a few feet from each other, make sure you have a system to let friends know you’re home. send a quick text saying “made it!” or even some thing as simple as “home.” If you have to be alone, call someone. You don’t have to talk. They can just continue whatever they are doing while you stay alert for what’s going on around you. If that doesn’t work for you, set up some kind of system that will. Another option to help you make it home safely is the new nd safe App. There you can find several resources including safety options like a virtual walk home.

For students heading to saint mary’s, blinkie is always a safe and reliable option. blinkie runs sunday through Thursday 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. and Friday and saturday 9 p.m. to 4 a. m. Times will be adjusted as it becomes darker out earlier. For saint mary’s students heading back to campus after blinkie’s hours smcurity (saint mary’s campus safety) can always be called. They are able to pick students up from the Grotto bus stop and drive them back to saint mary’s. These preventative measures are especially important this time of year. The start of fall semester through Thanksgiving break has been dubbed “the red Zone” by the movement. more than 50% of sexual assault instances on college campuses occur in that window, and it is especially unsafe for women — even those who know their campus well. Walking home with a group and having friends you trust to check-in with are two ways to make your evenings feel a little safer and a bit more manageable.

You don’t have to drink alcohol

The social pressure to drink, while more monitored in some ways than other college cultures, is still present.

Whether at dissos, a house party or a pregame, drink ing is often a big part of people’s evening plans. but it doesn’t have to be. If you want to go out, meet new people and hit different events throughout the year, try Flipside, a notre dame club that provides activity al ternatives without the social pressures of drinking. You can also go out to dinner, bowl or see a movie. or even if you’re at one of those dissos or weekend parties with friends, you still don’t have to drink. bring a water bottle and have fun with your friends anyways. drinking is not a requirement at these events, and if anyone makes it seem like it is, that’s a good time to leave. on the other hand, a night in can be one of your most memorable and fun nights on campus. order a pizza, decompress, do a face mask, paint your nails — anything that isn’t homework — and just relax for the evening. It’s a great way to spend time with friends, catch up about your week and take a moment to take care of yourself.

Look out for your mental and physical wellness

Getting a reasonable amount of sleep is a gamechanger. studies show that sleep deprivation has pro found effects on human health in many different facets of life. It may seem like a pipe dream to get seven hours of sleep every night, but repeated sleep loss can lead to increased risk of depression, anxiety, hypertension and diabetes. It may even take longer for you to recover from your case of the freshman plague.

Anxiety and depression mixed with sleep deprivation can create a positive feedback loop of worsening men tal health. When you are feeling anxious or depressed, you may get less sleep, and less sleep will worsen your symptoms.Whenwe

start to neglect little acts of self-care like getting enough sleep, taking care of friends, drinking water and spending time with loved ones, our over all wellness is impacted. checking in on each other shouldn’t stop at the edge of your social circles. If you see someone struggling, whether it be on a night out or just because of a bad day, offer a hand. now that we are a third of the way through the semes ter, classes are in full swing and football season fatigue is kicking in. Keep taking care of yourself and others. small acts make a difference.

“do not fear, for I am with you, be not afraid, for I am your God.” (Isaiah 41:10)w

These words echo in the hearts of many of us in the notre dame family. The past few years have been strenu ous, to say the least, both for our school and our country. We students have never before experienced such unrest, turmoil and division. In the challenges and hardships of our everyday lives, it is so easy to forget that our Lord God is with us in all things.

We as a nation overturned an immense court decision that will have an effect on the lives of our families, our friends and our peers. In a world filled with death, we have truly taken the first step toward building a culture of life. For those unaware of the existent networks of sup port, protection, dependence, radical hospitality and abundant love for women in crisis, this decision under standably evokes a lot of fear

In a post-roe world, our society must remember the re sponsibility we have to each other: to support and protect the dignity and value of every human life, mother and child. We as human beings are intrinsically dependent on one another. We must rely on others for support and care, providing them the same in return.

We must learn to be not afraid. We must embrace the understanding that we are not alone. We must embrace the call to abundantly love and serve one another. In the words of the Gospel, “there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear” (John 4:18).

We see the division on our campus, and in our nation, on the issue of abortion. We understand the fear and anx iety of those who are uncertain of what the future holds.

It is with all this in mind that we call each and every one of you to join us in reflecting upon our role in creating a society with respect and support for all human life.

As stated by Professor o carter snead, director of the notre dame de nicola center for ethics and culture, in a post-roe America, it has never been more important to ensure the “intrinsic equal dignity and value of every hu man life and to create a society where every child (born and unborn), mother and family is welcomed into a net work of support and protection and loved uncondition ally, from conception throughout the human lifespan.”

In accordance with the mission of the University and the catholic church, we embrace the fact that “appropri ate and effective programs of support for new life must be implemented, with special closeness to mothers who, even without the help of the father, are not afraid to bring their child into the world” (John Paul II, encyclical Letter, evangelium vitae)

by supporting local and national organizations and initiatives, maternity leave policies, childcare benefits, adoption and foster care, education, housing, employ ment and health care, we are prepared to show women that they need not be afraid and that they will never be alone. We reflect this sentiment in our theme for this year’s respect Life Week programming: be not Afraid: You Are not Alone.

This respect Life Week will feature prayer, service and educational initiatives as we remind one another to trust in God, remain peaceful in uncertainty and support one another in our needs both big and small. supporting each person’s unique and intrinsic dignity begins with

recognizing the gift that your life is to others. God is with you in all things, he has a plan for you and he will never leave you alone.

We invite you to join us in welcoming robin sertell, author of miracles happen in the Wilderness and known for her story of surviving three separate abortion at tempts while in her mother’s womb. her keynote address, Abortion Isn’t Final: exposing the secrets that the abor tion industry doesn’t want you to know, will be held in the LaFortune ballroom on september 29th at 7 pm.

Gather with us after 10 am basilica mass on sunday, september 25th for brunch and fellowship in the LaFortune ballroom. Partner with us in supporting mothers in a post-roe world as we hold a week-long ma ternity clothing drive for the Family resource center and volunteer at the Women’s care center. Pray with us for the lives lost to abortion as we hold a memorial for the unborn on Wednesday, september 28th. A full schedule of the week’s events can be found here.

We invite you to join us on our mission this year, to abundantly and joyfully love and support others and to discover in return the fruits of a society that understands the nature of the human condition: we are dependent on one another, we support one another and no one, truly, is alone .

In life and love,

Merlot Fogarty notre dame right to not

By CLAIRE LYONS scene Writer

rina sawayama is ambitious. she’s a cambridge gradu ate. she’s a musician. she wants to raise awareness about the struggles of being Asian American and a member of the LGbTQ+ community, all while embracing her inner child. she’s trying to out-do her critically-acclaimed debut album with her newest release “hold the Girl.”

Following up “sAWAYAmA” would be a daunting task for any artist. sawayama’s hit single off the album, “Xs” is a musical masterpiece. The song satirizes excessive modernday consumerism at the expense of the climate, all while accomplishing one of the most interesting feats of produc tion I’ve come across in the past couple of years. she marries modern day pop with trap beats and heavy metal riffs, com pletely blowing away listeners within the first 20 seconds. (Trust me, just listen to it.) other fan favorites like “sTFU!” and “comme des Garcons (Like the boys)” have a similarly stunning production quality. sawayama simultaneously carved out a niche for herself musically and garnered a loyal fanbase. basically, she was a huge success. her new release, “hold the Girl,” does a lot of things well, but it doesn’t meet the bar sawayama set with “sAWAYAmA.” Generally, it’s been pretty successful with singles “This hell” and “hold the Girl” generating nearly 16 million streams on spotify. The album’s songs address everything from anti-Asian hate, sawayama’s complicated

relationship with her mother, perfectionism, healing her inner child and accepting herself. In short, this album is all over the place. It lacks a lot of the cohesion and creativity that made “sAWAYAmA” stand out in 2020.

The most popular song of the album, “This hell,” is a queer anthem that released just in time for Pride month. It’s the song off “hold the Girl” that sounds most like “sAWAYAm A.” With gnarly guitar riffs galore and sawayama’s rockin’ vocals, she grapples with feeling un accepted by the church as a LGbTQ+ person. she sings a lot about this religious tension throughout the album, but it ultimately feels like a passing thought in the chaotic blur of themes sawayama addresses. “This hell” feels like it’s pandering to sawayama’s loyal LGbTQ+ audience.

on the other hand, you have “send my Love To John,” a heartfelt stripped-back guitar ballad that tells the story of an immigrant mother apologizing to her queer son for not accepting him. It’s not like “sAWAYAm A” at all. It isn’t angry and there’s no killer heavy metal riffs, but it’s sincere. It’s the only song on the album that made me feel anything.“Thishell” rightfully spits in the face of bigots, but “send my Love To John” also shows that hateful people have the capacity to change. sawayama’s introspectiveness isn’t apparent in her pop ballads, but her personal growth shines more when she isn’t focused on creating stadium anthems. she sings in “Phantom” about her tendency to people-please, crooning “once upon a time / There was

a girl pleasing the world / dying to be liked.” clearly, this problem still exists.

“hold the Girl” reaches for inspiration in places other than sawayama’s journal, though. “minor Feelings” is named after a book by Korean-American poet cathy Park hong. “This hell” tips its five-gallon hat with a classic shania Twain “Let’s go girls!” ad-lib. she pays homage to the pop-punk ballads of Avril Lavinge in “hurricane.”

sawayama spends so much time trying to please her au dience and emulate other artists, she ultimately loses what makes her music so special — herself. As a queer, intelligent, Asian-American woman, sawayama has a lot of valuable things to bring to the table. I was blown away by the creative production on “sAWAYAmA,” but that doesn’t mean that she needs to rely on gimmicks to be successful. I just want rina sawayama to “Gimme just a little bit (more!).” here.

Contact Claire Lyons at clyons3@nd.edu

“Hold the Girl”

Artist: Rina Sawayama

Label: Dirty Hit

Favorite tracks: “Send My Love to John”

If you like: Charli XCX, Grimes, M.I.A.

By J.P. SPOONMORE scene

GenndyWriter

Tartakovsky’s “Primal” is a masterpiece like no other. Through blood and prehistoric rage, the silence of a show without dialogue is drowned under the terrifying screams of beasts fighting their very extinction. b ut this is more than just a show about a caveman and a T-rex fighting duo. sprayed across this show’s violent tapestry is a hunt for meaning.nowthat the show’s second and final season has ended, I think it works best looking at the series in its entirety. In the aftermath of losing both their families, a caveman, spear and T-rex, Fang, team up to survive and overcome their mourning.Without dialogue, and without characters able to understand each other, the nature of the human individual is fully dissected at its most vulnerable state. s pear cannot express the deep emotions he ex periences. Why he decides to keep fighting is never about overcoming doubt, it’s out of necessity. no matter how much of his life disappears, the only way to keep it alive is for him to keep moving. e volution is not kind to the lone survivor; the hard er they fight it, the more they will be left behind. Throughout the show, cultures are turned to rubble, and entire species are reduced to ash, yet

episode by episode, s pear and Fang escape the hur ricane intact. It’s only after the fights end that they realize the world is moving on without them. They are destined to be alone, agents of eras long bur ied, and the only way to not be swept away in the avalanche of time is to cling to each other. It puts our modern place in the food chain into question by examining our very understanding of evolution.

This show wouldn’t exist without the legend ary Genndy Tartakovsky, who was probably a sta ple of your childhood entertainment. The mind behind “ d exter’s Lab,” “ s amurai Jack,” “hotel Transylvania” and my personal favorite, “ s ymb ionic Titan,” this guy knows how to craft dynam ic stories with great action and unforgettable art styles. In a T v market booming with 3d animation, Tartakovsky’s drawings add texture through rough brush strokes and sharp character designs. The very outlines of s pear and Fang can puncture flesh. The physicality of their characters is visible in their silhouette, each shape and angle built to feel coldblooded. The show contrasts this antagonism with vibrant colors, blending venomous greens with car toonish volumes of bloodied reds.

e ven the sound design feels like it’s calling from the stone age with low horns and deep drums. nothing blends into each other; it all stacks into a mountain of iconic symbols and vivid memories.

Tartakovsky has mastered his craft, emphasizing texture and style over a clean image.

I do want to specify the evolution of this show af ter its second season. The first five episodes of the show are a social experiment: could they success fully create an engaging story through teeth, blood and screams? The answer was a resounding yes. b ut with that foundation proving successful, there had to be a next step. An evolution.

s eason two’s job was to put a spine to the muscle. The episodic adventures grow more serialized, more characters are introduced and themes drive the sto ry rather than survival. I want to mention this be cause season one is a great way to pass the time, but season two is when it truly hones the story. spear is no longer a simple caveman by the end of the show, he signifies something elemental about our species. That something is that this show promises to revive, hoping we never let it slip into the past again.

Contact J.P. Spoonmore at jpspoonmo@nd.edu

“Primal”

Director: Genndy Tartakovsky

By WILLOUGHBY THOM scene e ditor

music has become disposable. one day, you hear a new hit song, and then, a month later, it has vanished off the face of the earth. While this is not an entirely new phenomenon, the world of music has shifted greatly over the last decade. Instead of relying on record sales, downloads or touring to gain popularity, musicians are relying even more on the power of social media.

now, before you criticize me for “putting my dad hat on,” or you accuse me of “shout[ing] into the void [about] how no one has good taste anymore” (like one kind online-commenter said to me two years ago), please hear me out. Trust me, I’m tired of writing about the evil relationship between music and social media, but someone has to say this. These ram blings are not intended to complain about my favorite indie bands getting popular online in attempt to “gatekeep.” This is simply to educate the world about the industry of massmusic-production. While I might miss seeing my favorite underground bands play in intimate venues, I want them to play in front of thousands one day. I want them to achieve the recognition they deserve and if that needs to happen via Instagram or TikTok, by all means, have at it! but, if reaching this goal requires an adherence to mainstream ideals, also known as the loss of originality, then they might as well be called

Platforms“sell-outs.”likeInstagram and TikTok are tools with an an gel and a devil on each shoulder; a place where personal and professional promotion reign supreme. If you are unaware,

“The Algorithm” (which we shall denote as its own entity) is a bully. The system is like regina George from “mean Girls,” if you don’t like [blank] then “you can’t sit with us.” This is true with any online platform, but TikTok and spotify are the mostTikTokbrutal.has become one of the most influential platforms for shaping music taste. consider the story of the band vunadbar. Almost a decade after their first album “Gawk” (2015) was released, their song “Alien blues” suddenly expe rienced a rise in streams; a snippet of their song had gone viral. While brandon hagen (their lead vocalist and guitar ist) expressed how strange it was to be known for a song he wrote when he was 18, they embraced their new-found popularity with a new music video and a re-recording of “Alien blues” on their most recent album “devil for the Fire” (2022).While this is a positive story of embracing the power of TikTok, there is a downside. These “sounds” on TikTok are only a few seconds long, so you’re only getting a little taste of the greater picture. It was strange to see them live and see the crowd get the most animated for only two lines — what about the rest of the song? What about all the incredible mu sic they have released since 2013? This is true for almost all TikTok sounds, creating a big dilemma: the disappearance of theIfbridge.youare not familiar with song construction, a bridge usually occurs after the second chorus, standing as its own musical element. A great example of a bridge is in Gwen stafani’s “hollaback Girl”: “This s**t is bananas, b-A-n-A-n A-s.” because of TikTok’s format, despite the bridge being

one of the catchiest parts of any given song, most clips feature either a few lines in the beginning or simply the chorus — it’s all about grabbing users’ attention. This strategy is also found to be true on spotify, and it’s often called “The spotify effect.” There are two elements that go into the spotify effect. Firstly, if a song is skipped before it ends, The Algorithm considers it to be less desired, recommending it less to other users. secondly, spotify won’t count a song as officially streamed unless it has been played for at least 30 seconds, so if it gets skipped in the beginning, artists won’t get paid. As a result, the combination of the two elements have forced produc ers and musicians to “get to the point” of the song, so they are less at risk of getting skipped. Today, music is made for consumption.now,youmight echo my hate-commentor’s sentiments when they said, “duh, it’s an economic game, what did you think would happen after streaming took away all of the art ists’ revenue,” but none of this overproduced music is going to last. many artists strive toward conformity because that is what is going to make them popular and get them paid, but no one is going to remember who they were in 30 years be cause they will have sounded like everyone else.

I am not trying to tell you who or what to listen to; you should listen to the music that makes you happy. I simply want to educate you about the powerful relationship be tween music and the Internet. There are many cool things the Internet has done for music, but let’s make sure it doesn’t take too much control.

By ANDY OTTONE scene Writer

“breaking b ad.” “star Wars.” “h igh s chool musical.” What do these have in common? They are all sprawling franchises with films and television se ries, which all tell one cohesive story. (If one of these looks out of place, I don’t blame you. I also did not know breaking b ad released a movie.) Jokes aside, it’s time to “get’cha head in the game,” because I am about to break down the expansive h igh s chool musical franchise.

The easiest place to start is the films: “h igh s chool musical”, “hsm 2” and “hsm 3: s enior Year.” The first two films were released on d isney c hannel in 2006 and 2007 respectively, with the third receiving a theatrical release in 2008. A fourth film, “ sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure,” debuted in 2011, returning to the straight-to-television model. There was also a pilot for a T v spin-off, but it was never shown to the public. This takes us through the American in stallments of the franchise–with the emphasis on “American.”In2008,the franchise found itself “breaking free” of the United states, with the release of two separate movies released in Argentina and mexico with both

films titled “e l d esafío.” A third adaptation, for the brazilian market, was released two years later, with a slightly different title: “o d esafio.” All three shared the same plotline. A fourth spin-off, “h igh s chool musical: c hina - c ollege d reams” also released in 2010.The franchise is still running, jumping from d isney c hannel to d isney+. “h igh s chool musical: The musical: The s eries” makes the movies a fic tional series (in the universe of the show) that the students perform as their school play, and the up coming fourth season focuses on the fictional film “h igh s chool musical 4: reunion.” This segways well into the next piece of the h igh s chool musical ma chine: real world domination. In 2006, d isney held a touring concert series to promote the film. Theater companies can license the rights to perform a stage adaptation of the first and second film. Additionally, there have been multiple reality shows to help d isney cast minor roles in the third film (“Get in the Picture”) and the foreign market films (“A s eleção”).

now here is where things get weird. In the sec ond film, during the final musical number, one new character shows up: m iley stewart, from “h annah montana,” played by m iley c yrus. This blows the door wide open. “h annah montana” already exists

in a connected universe of d isney T v shows, span ning as far back as “b oy meets World” to recent shows such as 2015’s “b est Friends Whenever.” b ut, this is just d isney. We can take this so much further.

Time for the lightning round!

h annah montana appeared in an episode of “suite Life of Zack and c ody.” “suite Life” character m r. moseby guest starred in an episode of “Jessie”, whose cast of characters featured in an episode of “Ultimate spider-m an.” spider-m an teamed-up with the Avengers, who have met the s impsons. homer simpsons went to “c heers.” “c heers” intro duced “Frasier.” n iles from Frasier was on “c aroline in the c ity,” whose titular character met Joey and c handler from “F r I ends .” Phoebe from “F r I ends” is the sister of Ursula, the waitress in “m ad About You.” Kramer, from “s einfeld,” made an appearance in “m ad About You.” And thus, the “h igh s chool musical” to “s einfeld” pipeline is complete, clearly the intention d isney c hannel had all along.

d ear readers, this is just the tip of the iceberg, but we are out of time. next time you watch “h igh s chool musical,” think about what you now know. It might change how you view the film. I know it has for me.

Contact Andy Ottone at aottone@nd.edu

Contact Willoughby Thom at wthom@nd.edu

Happy Birthday: Take your time, mull over options and check to see what others do or say. Try something that raises your enthusiasm or that you can negotiate into a pastime you enjoy. Use your talents, and be open to trying something you’ve never done. Embrace life and choose the most comfortable path. Self-improvement projects will fetch compliments and Yourrespect.numbers are 4, 17, 22, 29, 31, 35, 46.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): You’ll have plenty of great ideas. Press forward physically and mentally, and you’ll reach your goal and impress someone who can help improve your life or position. Sign up for something that makes you feel good and helps a cause.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Take control of your happiness and put your energy into something that pleases you. Personal improvements to how you look or do your job will make you feel good. Celebrate with someone you GEMINIlove.(May 21-June 20): Stop worrying about others and concentrate on your pursuits. Think big, but when paying for things, look for a bargain. Someone you think you can trust will not offer sound advice or the truth. Verify information before you make a move.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Put your wallet someplace safe. Impulse purchases will not pan out. Focus on saving, not spending, and you’ll be much happier at the end of the day. Use your time to improve your appearance or your home environment. Do more and say less.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Don’t feel you have to make a snap decision. When in doubt, take a moment or remove yourself from the situation that is making you feel uncomfortable. Do what feels right, and don’t count on others if you want things done your way.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Live in the moment, and choose to do things that put a smile on your face. Engage in a creative process that entails physical improvements through diet, exercise and hanging out with people who bring out the best in you. Romance is favored.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): An impulsive action will be costly. Don’t make promises or purchases that compromise your position. Be direct about what you will contribute or donate, and don’t budge, regardless of the pressure you encounter. Speak up, and you’ll get what you want.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): A systematic approach to sensitive situations will prevent unwanted changes and disruptions. Using your intuition when delegating odd jobs to others will eliminate making a mistake. Keep the conversation playful but productive. An unusual attraction will develop.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Follow through with your thoughts until you get a clear picture of what’s to come. Planning and developing what you want to see will help you bring your ideas to fruition. Stick to your budget, and do the work yourself whenever possible.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): A financial change is heading your way. Take good care of your health, and don’t overreact to what others do or say. Concentrate on what’s important to you, and do whatever it takes to lower stress and avoid unsavory situations or talks.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Do what appeals to you, and stop worrying about what others do or think. Protect your interests, and be honest about how you feel. A positive change in a close relationship will develop if you communicate. Put your energy where it counts.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Show your independence. Step up and talk about your intentions, and you’ll get feedback to help you adjust and move forward with your plans. Be careful while traveling, and don’t take a risk with your health or personal documents.

Jumble

Observer Staff predicts Notre Dame-UNC

Observer Sports Staff

After picking up his first career win as head coach in Week 3, can m arcus Freeman make it two straight this weekend in n orth c arolina? The o bserver staff is split on the pick.

Aidan Thomas, Sports Editor

I’ve tossed and turned about this pick all week. n ot literally, but I truly have no idea what to expect. To put it slightly dramatically, the very moveable object (U nc ’s defense) meets a nearly non-startable force ( n otre d ame’s offense) in this matchup.

h ere’s what makes the dif ference for me. Going back to the opener, n otre d ame shut down a vaunted o hio s tate attack. They’ve given up 21, 19 and 17 points in three weeks. m ore notably, nobody has really beaten the Irish through the air, which is where U nc wants to operate. Their ground game is efficient, but it’s not their bread and butter. The biggest thing for the Irish is containing d rake m aye, who is a solid dual-threat quarterback. n otre d ame linebacker must be better, but that unit is operating without senior linebacker J. d b ertrand for the first half which makes this task even more difficult. I think n otre d ame trails at the half — again — but starts figur ing out how to target the Tar h eels in the second half. They’ll pull off the mild up set over the Tar h eels.

Notre Dame 31, North Carolina 27

Nate Moller, Senior Sports Writer

The Irish defense will have to be on top of their game this weekend against a bal anced U nc offense that has thrown for 930 yards through the air and 712 yards on the ground. The Tar h eels have plenty of options through the air, as they have six players with over 100 re ceiving yards this season. The Irish, by comparison, have just two players with over 100 receiving yards this season. The Irish have still yet to force a turnover this season, and winning that battle this weekend might be a key to victory. d espite U nc ’s subpar defense, the Irish offense will have a dif ficult time keeping up with U nc quarterback d rake m aye’s offensive produc tion. Unless junior quar terback d rew Pyne can up

his level of play this week end significantly, a loss to a highly productive U nc of fense seems inevitable.

North Carolina 38, Notre Dame 27

l iam Coolican, wAssoci ate Sports Editor

If there’s an opportuni ty for Pyne and the n otre d ame offense to get rolling, it’s this weekend in c hapel h ill. o nly one power-five team ( c olorado) ranks lower than U nc in terms of scor ing defense. The Tar h eels are allowing opponents to score nearly 38 points per game. c onversely, they are 6th in the nation in scoring offense, averag ing more than 51 points per game. It’s a testament to the strength of this of fense that the Tar h eels are 3-0. The Irish will have to w ork hard to slow down m aye and his impressive cadre of receivers.Alotof this game will de pend on the n otre d ame defense, because no mat ter how ineffective the U nc defense is, I am not willing (yet) to put my faith in Pyne in a shootout. o ne major concern is the inconsistency of Al Golden’s unit. They’ve played well this year, but have had stretches of poor play. In order to win this contest, they’ll have to be at their best for all four quar ters, and that’s not some thing I’ve seen from them so far this year.

North Carolina 31, Notre Dame

Mannion28

McGinley, Assistant Managing Editor

s o Irish fans saw two al most takeaways this week end against c al. That was good. That was new this sea son. d id they end up count ing? n o, but we found other defensive success on both plays. s hould that mean an interception or a strip is on the way? o ne would hope. Will I predict that the Irish get one this weekend? n o. n o, I will not. The last time I did that, the Irish lost (despite my predicting a 35-point win).

d o the Irish need to force a turnover to win this week end? Yes, that much is clear. Pyne will be able to lead the offense just well enough to beat the U nc defense and keep pace with the U nc of fense in terms of productive drives. Until he proves he can do more, he has proven that we can expect at least that much from him, and I believe in it.

It’s the defense that ends up controlling this game though. The defensive line especially needs to be able to get to m aye the way they’ve gotten to Plummer. I expect to see both Ademilola broth ers bursting through that line, and I want to see the 2021 version of senior defen sive lineman Isaiah Foskey right beside them. The new guys are still getting caught up, but even they are hold ing their own. The returners need to show them how it’s done to push n otre d ame over the top this weekend.

There needs to be an even cleaner fourth-quarter in this game than the bounc ing h ail m ary from the c al game. Another tight one for sure.

Notre Dame 31, North Carolina 28

Madeline l add, Associate Sports Editor

After a nail-biter of a win last week against c al, the Irish need to capture a sol id victory against the Tar h eels this weekend. Though they infamously struggle to run the ball, n otre d ame’s passing game was more ac curate last week with Pyne. h e grew more comfortable in the second half and has the ability to connect with receivers. There’s too much talent up front for the of fense not to be better. Tyree and e stime will certainly be able to pound the awful U nc defense, as they are ranked 123rd in the nation. n evertheless, Tar h eel freshman quarterback d rake m aye has the poten tial to challenge the sec ondary and will most likely connect with returning wide out star Josh d owns. This will prove a fight, but final ly the nd defense will get turnovers and hold off their opponent. Turnovers are the name of the game here, and if the Irish can do that they can continue their 10+ year win streak against the Tar h eels. I see it happening.

Notre Dame 37, North Carolina 28

Emily DeFazio, Associate Sports Editor

This is the make-or-break game for the 2022 Irish sea son. n otre d ame won the c al game, but that does not mean it is smooth sailing the rest of the way. In the final five minutes, there were at least three in stances where that game was nearly tied. And one of those moments came on

Ranking Notre Dame’s remaining schedule

By NATE MOLLER senior sports Writer

before the season started, the observer sports staff ranked the toughest games on the Irish schedule. It is apparent now that marshall was severe ly underrated in those rank ings. nevertheless, after three games, the remaining schedule ranks fairly similar to what the preseason rankings were. Let’s take a look at the remaining nine opponents the Irish will face this season.

1. USC (Record: 3-0, AP Rank: 7)

The Trojans have arguably been the biggest surprise in college football this season. many, including myself, as sumed that the Trojans would need time to adjust to Lincoln r iley’s air-raid attack style of offense, but that transition has been nothing but smooth so far. The Trojans have plenty of talent at the skill positions. They are led by three player s from the transfer portal: quarterback caleb Williams, wide receiver Jordan Addison and running back Travis d ye. Addison has been a beast for the Trojans. he posted five touchdowns and nearly 300 receiving yards in Usc’s first three games. The Trojans have only played r ice, stanford and Fresno state this season, but with an easy PAc-12 sched ule, it would be shocking if the Trojans have more than one loss when they play the Irish at the end of the season.

Key to Irish victory:

The Irish need to win this one in the trenches. The Trojans have what the Irish don’t: a prolific offense that revolves around a top-tier quarterback and a plethora of wide receiving talent. The Irish defensive line has to improve as the season

goes. They must find a way to put pressure on caleb Wiliams. on the offensive side of the ball, the Irish need to hope the offensive line continues to im prove and they need to estab lish the run game. similarly to the strategy against ohio state, the Irish will need to do their best to keep the ball out of caleb Williams’ hands as long as possible.

2. Clemson (Record: 3-0.

AP Rank: 5)

There has been surprisingly very little talk surrounding the Tigers so far this season. Although they only have wins against Georgia Tech, Furman and Louisiana Tech, the Tigers have won all of those games fair ly handily. The key to the Tigers’ success has been running back Will shipley, who has six touch downs on the season and is averaging 7.8 yards per carry. Quarterback d.J. Uiagelelei look s to be much improved as well, having completed 64.8% of his passes for 662 yards and five touchdowns. The Tigers are anchored by a solid defensive corps as well that has already forced seven turnovers this season. despite the lack of na tional attention, this c lemson squad feels similar to their na tional title teams from a couple of seasons ago.

Key to Irish victory:

This game is below the Usc game because of the home atmosphere. Although the Irish fell at home to marshall a couple of weeks ago, notre dame stadium is going to be fired up for a game against c lemson. The Irish need to stop Uiagelelei’s production in this game. When Uiagelelei played in notre dame stadium in place of Trevor Lawrence in 2020, he tore apart the Irish de fense and nearly gave the Tigers the victory. The Irish defense

can survive some long runs by shipley, but they will have to limit the Tigers’ quarterback production if the notre dame offense is going to keep up with c lemson.

3. BYU (Record: 2-1, AP Rank: 19)

bYU was riding high after their double-overtime victory over baylor two weeks ago, but last week’s 41-20 loss to oregon brought the cougars back down to earth. Quarterback Jaren hall has been the cen terpiece of a balanced bYU offense that has averaged 4.9 yards per carry on the ground and averaged nearly 300 pass ing yards a game. on the defen sive side of the ball, the cougars must regroup after last week’s disaster against oregon. In that game, the big play destroyed the cougars, as they allowed 227 passing yards off of just 14 completions. bYU has two very winnable games ahead of their matchup against notre dame, so it is likely bYU comes into the shamrock series game as a top-15 team.

Key to Irish victory:

bYU’s defensive weakness ap pears to be the big play, which doesn’t bode well for an Irish offense that has failed to pro duce many big plays all season. In order to win the game, the Irish need to contain hall’s pro duction and limit wide receiver chase roberts, who has 223 re ceiving yards on the season.

4. UNC (Record: 3-0, AP Rank: RV)

The Tar heels have a 3-0 re cord, but it has been anything but pretty. After squeaking out a victory against Appalachian state in their second game, they beat Georgia state by only one touchdown the following week. The Tar heels have a prolific of fense that is led by freshman

drake maye. Their defense will need to improve going forward though if they are going to com pete in the Acc

Key to Irish victory:

The Irish have to keep pace with Unc’s offense. They will need to get into an offensive rhythm against a subpar Unc defense. redshirt sophomore quarterback drew Pyne will need to step up and make some plays downfield.

5. Syracuse (Record 3-0, AP Rank: RV)

The orange are a some what surprising 3-0 af ter dismantling Louisville 31-7 in week one. In week two, they beat Purdue on a lastminute play last weekend.

Quarterback Garrett shrader has completed 66.2% of his passes with eight touchdowns and he has yet to throw an interception.

Key to Irish victory:

The Irish secondary will have to step up against syracuse’s passing attack. Graduate stu dent safety brandon Joseph will have to lead the way, but others must step up as well if the Irish are to get a win in the carrier dome.

6. Boston College (Record 1-2, AP Rank: NR)

The eagles were stunned by rutgers in the opening game of the season, and they also suffered a 17-point loss to v irginia Tech in week two. The eagles have struggled to gen erate much of any offense this season.

Key to Irish victory: notre dame transfer

Phil Jurkovec will be out to prove himself on senior day. The Irish will have to keep him in check if they are go ing to avoid a senior day disaster.

7. Stanford (Record 1-1, AP Rank: NR)

The cardinal destroyed colgate in the first game of the season but fell flat in a 4128 loss to Usc . Quarterback Tanner mcKee has as many in terceptions as touchdowns and he will have to improve going forward if the cardinal are go ing to compete in the PAc-12 this season.

Key to Irish victory:

This is a classic rivalry game and if the Irish get fired up to play under the lights at notre dame stadium, this one shouldn’t be a problem.

8. UNlV (Record 2-1, AP Rank: NR)

U n Lv has wins over Idaho state and north Texas with their sole loss being to cal. Quarterback doug brumfield has been spectacular this sea son, completing 70.6% of his passes for seven touchdowns.

Key to Irish victory:

The Irish beat themselves in their stunning loss to marshall. If they play even somewhat de cently and limit their mistakes, they should have no problem against U n Lv

9. Navy (Record 0-2, AP Rank: NR)

The m idshipmen have been atrocious this season, having scored just 20 points in their first two games. They are aver aging just 3.3 yards per carry, which is not nearly enough in a triple offense attack.

Key to Irish victory:

The triple offense attack has been far from successful for the m idshipmen this season. The Irish will have to keep it that way and prevent navy from having long, time-consuming drives.

Contact Nate Moller at nmoller2@nd.edu@nd.edu

RYAN VIGILANTE | The Observer

The Leprechaun leads the Notre Dame cheerleading squad and band out on to the field as the football team prepares take on California on Sept. 17, 2022. The Irish went on to defeat the Golden Bears 24-17. The victory marked Marcus Freeman’s first win as Notre Dame head football coach since being promoted from defensive coordinator last December.

Irish keys to victory over Tar Heels

By AIDAN THOMAS sports e

Afterditorearning

their first victory of the year, n otre d ame heads to n orth c arolina, eyeing a return to a .500 record. They face a tall task, entering the game as slight underdogs to the unbeaten Tar h eels. The story of this game is two programs with completely opposite strengths. n otre d ame ranks 115th out of 131 in scoring offense, but their defense has been solid, al lowing seven total touch downs in three games. That included a battle with the vaunted o hio s tate of fense. U nc is averaging over 51 points a game, but they’re giving up over 37 perTheycontest.haven’t faced a Power-5 program yet, so the offense will face their most difficult test of the young 2022 season. n otre d ame’s offense is certain ly struggling, but U nc ’s defense is truly an eye sore through three weeks.

To truly measure the stark difference: the Irish offense has scored seven touch downs this season…the U nc defense gave up six touchdowns in the fourth quarter of their season opener. s o there is a path to victory for n otre d ame, but what are the keys to obtain ing the slight upset win?

Key 1: Minimize Drake Maye as a runner

d rake m aye is going to be solid. h e’s a really strong quarterback and will make some plays. b ut n otre d ame let c al stick around last week via Jack Plummer es caping a collapsed pocket and ripping off a bevy of first-down runs. Against a far better runner, that can not happen with the Tar h eels.This responsibility large ly falls to the Irish line backers, who struggled against the Golden b ears. They need a quarter back spy on m aye to make him uncomfortable outside the pocket. This will be dif ficult without senior cap tain J. d b ertrand playing the first half (the tail-end of his targeting punish ment from last week), but the Irish have the depth to fill his role for 30 minutes. Additionally, the Irish defensive line must finish their job. While they terrorized Plummer with six sacks and 27 quarterback pressures last week, n otre d ame whiffed on several sacks, allowing the c al signalcaller to escape. That can’t happen this week.

Key 2: Beat the unC sec ondary at the line of scrimmage

This is huge for n otre

d ame, and it corresponds to a general strength for the Irish. U nc generally fea tures a heavy dose of press coverage, and that makes beating your man at the line of scrimmage absolute ly pivotal. The Irish have a tight end in junior m ichael m ayer who can beat anyone at the line of scrimmage. s ophomore wide receiv er Lorenzo s tyles showed against m arshall and at times against c al, he can beat his defender off the line and get open quickly.

If they can win quickly against the cornerbacks, the Irish may be able to open up the vertical com ponent of their offense that has been so sorely lacking. This is a big test for these Irish receivers. They have struggled so far this year, and their offense has moved lethargically at times. This is a unit they can ex pose, and if they can’t, it speaks to far bigger issues for this Irish offense mov ing into the middle third of the season.

Key 3: Contain Josh Downs

The key word here is ‘con tain’. n otre d ame, in all likelihood, will not stop U nc ’s dynamic receiver. Injuries have limited d owns to one game this year. b ut he was a difference-maker in that contest, notching nine catches for 87 yards and two touchdowns. The Irish would likely be ok with more yards from d owns but less scoring impact. Last year, d owns caught 10 passes for 142 yards against n otre d ame; but he didn’t score. For n otre d ame, that’s successful contain ment. They made the Tar h eels find secondary meth ods of scoring, and that’ll be key again on s aturday.

Ultimately, this is going to be a major test for the Irish. The defense faces a loaded offensive unit. o n offense, n otre d ame was at full panic mode through the first half of the c al game. After scoring 17 points in a three-drive span in the second half against a solid c al defense, that panic subsided a little bit. n ow, against a weaker defen sive unit, the goal should be 30+ for the Irish, a num ber they’ll likely need to hit in order to win this road battle, and for head coach m arcus Freeman to snag win n o. 2 of his career.

Contact Aidan Thomas at athoma28@nd.edu

Coolican: Find joy in this season

Liam Coolican Associate sports e ditor

The mood in the locker room after n otre d ame’s vic tory over c al last weekend was jubilant. It was m arcus Freeman’s first career win as a head coach, and it was the first win of the season for the players and coaches who worked so hard in the offsea son for this moment.

c ompare that to the mood of Irish fans as the game came to an end. r ather than joy, it was more a collective sigh of relief that was heard across s outh b end as c al’s last-sec ond h ail m ary attempt finally fell harmlessly to the ground. e veryone in the stands seemed relieved that notre d ame didn’t lose, rather than feeling happy that they won.

It is a challenge to find hope and joy in what some con sider to be a lost season after just three weeks. This season hasn’t gone exactly to plan; dropping from fifth in the na tion to unranked in the span of two weeks hurts, and it hurtsPerhapsbadly.this is because of how high the expectations were for n otre d ame prior to the season. d espite losing their starting quarterback, a back-to-back 1,000-yard rusher, and one of the best defensive players in college football, n otre d ame was ranked fifth in the country before even playing a down. not only that, but the ex pectations the fans had for m arcus Freeman were astro nomical. That’s a lot to put on the shoulders of a first-year headIrishcoach.fans everywhere, in cluding myself, bought into this undeserved hype. And now, it seems, we are pay ing the price. Losses hurt the most when expectations are highest. c onversely, there is very little joy in winning the games your team expects to win.In all honesty, expectations for a first-year head coach shouldn’t have been this high. Yes, this is notre d ame foot ball. And like it or not, there will always be an extremely high level of scrutiny. It is un doubtedly part of the job de scription. however, it seemed that the expectations placed on Freeman were higher be fore this season than they ever were in 12 seasons under b rianThisKelly.may have been be cause of the immense success Freeman had in recruiting over the offseason. o r the fact that his players clearly love playing for him. m aybe even

the lingering resentment over Kelly’s abrupt depar ture. Whatever the reason, the fanbase’s expectations of Freeman set them up for dis appointment this year.

s till, we all owe it to our selves to find joy in this sea son. This isn’t one of those “your team is terrible, here’s how to enjoy watching them anyway,” columns. n otre d ame is still a very good team that could challenge for an other new Year’s s ix b owl this year. d espite the slow start, the season is far from over.

It is all too easy to fall into negativity when junior quar terback d rew Pyne throws the ball at the feet of a wideopen target. o r when the sec ondary allows a receiver to run free. n otre d ame fans aren’t used to seeing these kinds of mistakes. Fans have grown used to the Irish beat ing teams they are expected to beat, and often falling flat in the rare instances when they are the underdog. This year has changed that nar rative completely. n orth c arolina, an unranked oppo nent, is currently a 1.5-point favorite ahead of s aturday’s matchup.IftheIrish manage to beat the Tar h eels this weekend on the road, celebrate like it’s the upset victory that it is. n ot merely another win against a team they should beat. Winning a game on the road against a quality oppo nent would be a big step for Freeman and the team. And it should be treated as such.

For all of n otre d ame’s struggles this year, they are still a good team with talent ed players. e njoy watching junior running back c hris Tyree break tackles in the open field. And junior tight end m ichael m ayer bowling over defenders as he makes another first-down catch. And senior defensive line man Isaiah Foskey’s thirddown sacks.

b ut most of all, enjoy the wins. h ere’s my advice for this weekend’s game against U nc , which is expected to be a close one. As are most of the seasons of the ones in n otre d ame’s season. d on’t sit on pins and needles waiting for disaster to strike. Instead, wait for the team to make a big play, and celebrate.

If fans are too busy wait ing for failure, we may miss celebrating the unexpectedly great moments.

Contact Liam Coolican at lcoolica@nd.eduTheviewsexpressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

RYAN VIGILANTE | The Observer

Junior tight end Michael Mayer scores a touchdown in the fourth quarter against California. Mayer has 15 receptions on the season.

i rish s ports d aily. “ n ot the start we hoped for as a team. s pecial teamswise [though], we’ve done a good job. [ b ut special teams] coach [ b rian] m ason tells us being good isn’t good enough. We want to be the best of the best. We want to be elite. There’s improve ments to be made all around special teams.”

For himself, s ot says he could be more consistent than he has been thus far, something he wouldn’t have been able to see in himself earlier in his career.

“When i was young as a freshman, i wasn’t able to find my deficien cies,” s ot said. “ n ow th at i ’ve been in college for quite a while, i ’m able, when i hit a bad punt, to figure out what i ’m doing wrong and that’s been the most helpful thing for me.”

m aking those adjustments required s ot to rely mostly on his confidence and put ting the work in, he said.

“ b eing a fifth-year guy, i ’ve played college football. i t might not have been on the same stage but i ’ve been out there and i ’ve prepared for different teams … i ’m

confident in what i do,” s ot

said.before he joined the

i rish, s ot found success at h arvard too, albeit on a smaller stage. The 5-foot-10, 198-pound n ew Jersey native matched this year’s longest punt in his freshman year and punted farther than that in his sophomore year. h is average hovered around 40 yards at h arvard. n ow three games in with the i rish, that average is up 5 yards.

b ut he has seen the most im provements over the years with his placements. s ot went from no placements in side the 20 to 10 in just three games. Those 10 punts tie him second in the nation.

s ot’s numbers have im proved from his h arvard days in spite of a more in tense stage, going from a crowd of about 20,000 people per game to close to 100,000.

“When i was a kid, it was the moment you dream of, just being able to run out there but you’ve got to be able to settle that down and go do your job. That’s been the biggest change for me, just the at mosphere and seriousness of this level of football.”

m aking that adjustment required s ot to dial in and rely on both the players around him and his coach,

m“ason.i’m fortunate enough to have great blocking and a great special teams co ordinator that trusts me,” s ot said. “ i ’m especially thankful for [long snapper] m ichael v inson, he’s made my job so easy.”

o ff the field, n otre d ame is also where s ot wanted to be, he said. The graduate stu dent will complete a master of science in management program at the end of th e year. h e said he’s about to declare a finance concentra tion and is looking forward to finishing that second degree.“For me, aside from the football, another reason i was attracted to here was be ing able to pair h arvard and n otre d ame with my two degrees. That’s really some thing i ’m proud of,” he said.

s ot takes pride in his work both on and off the field. h e says his well-placed punts are just as exciting as the game chang ing“Puttingplays. them inside the 10, for me, is like throwing a touchdown or getting an interception because that’s what i do, so i take pride in that,” s ot said.

Contact Mannion McGinley at mmcgin13@nd.edu

in their acc opener. “We asked the team be fore the game to value cer tain things … i just felt like our energy levels and pas sion today was such a stark contrast from Thursday to now,” said n orman. “ i ’m just so proud of how [the team] fought and compet ed. We needed a game like that to prove to ourselves that we could compete with anyone and tonight was a really good night for us to do Lookingthat.”ahead, n otre d ame’s acc slate seems much more manageable with a win over v irginia under their belt. Tests against Florida s tate and d uke still loom. b ut

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instances where that game was nearly tied. a nd one of those moments came on the final play of the game. Pyne needs to have got ten his sea legs and move forward with a solid foun dation and settle into his role as Q b1. The i rish

n orman expressed excite ment that Thursday’s win could be something of a statement of intent to op posing teams.

“We have a really sim ple goal,” n orman said. We want to win a national championship. a nd hope fully a win like this puts us in the conversation, puts us in the group that can do that. We just have to con tinue on and have some consistency.”notredame will look to build off their major win with another home clash against Pittsburgh loom ing s unday. The game will kick off at 1 p.m. at a lumni s tadium. i t will be broad casted on the acc n etwork.

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

cannot afford turnovers and over-throwing receiv ers in c hapel h ill. The i rish defense will need to remain on-point this week to allow the offense some growing pains. b ut i ex pect a fourth-quarter so lidifying of a narrow i rish win.

Notre Dame 31, North Carolina 27

Crimson red to Irish green: Sot shines for Notre DameByMANNION

McGINLEY

Assistant managing e ditor

The 2022 off-season saw definitive upheaval for Irish football in every sense of the word. A new head coach, new coaching staff, a new start ing quarterback, and then another one two games into the season.

h arvard graduate trans fer punter Jon s ot became a major player in this up heaval. n o one expected the Irish to start the season 1-2 and need a new quarterback after two games. b ut now, that that is the reality Irish fans live in, they’re look ing for reliability. s ot has been able to fill that need for consistency.sothastaken 19 punts on the season, more than half of those placed within the 20, including all four punts he took against m arshall. In the season opener at o hio s tate, the former Ivy League punter unleashed a 75-yard

Late goal leads Irish to crucial victory over no. 2 v irginia

By J.J. POST sports Wrtier

n otre d ame took home a landmark win Thursday night, dispatching n o. 2 v irginia 1-0 in s outh b end.

The win cements the Irish as one of the favorites in a competitive race for an Acc title. It comes against a c avaliers team that had just defeated previous confer ence top dog n orth c arolina.

The victory was n ate n o rman’s first victory over a top-ten team in twenty one tries as n otre d ame’s head coach.The pregame rankings couldn’t have been less in dicative of how the game played out. n otre d ame as serted themselves early, showing complete comfort in their preferred 3-5-2 for mation that struggled the game prior in c lemson. A couple of early chances fell to forward o livia Wingate. b ut the graduate student was unable to convert and the teams entered the half

tied.In the second half, the Irish ramped up their pres sure and got a goal to show for it. o utshooting the c avaliers 11-5, n otre d ame seemed emboldened by their strong first half and continually threatened c ayla White in net.

And while White held her ground for 75 minutes, the Irish eventually broke through on a set piece scramble in front of the goal. A corner kick by soph omore midfielder Korbin Albert found the head of ju nior midfielder e va Gaetino, whose deflected header fell perfectly for senior forward m addie m ercado. m ercado acted quickly, swiping the ball past White and into the back of the net with her first touch.The final 15 minutes pro duced plenty of stressful moments for n otre d ame.

h ead coach n ate n orman made a slew of changes to add defensive stability and fresh legs to the field. b ut

ultimately, the Irish held strong to close out the win. In a mark of an excellent defensive showing, gradu ate student goalkeeper m ackenzie Wood was only forced to make one save all game, notching her first ca reer Acc clean sheet.

d espite being the lone goal scorer on the night, m ercado was quick to spread the praise for the teams overall performance.“Thisteam deserves all the recognition,” m ercado said. “ o ne thing we said in the locker room was we wanted to go out like we were possessed, and I think we did that and more. I was there to finish but our team got us there, got us the cor ner, Gaetino got the header, and I turned and finished. s o just a great team win.”

c oach n orman also gave credit to the team’s mental ity, as the Irish rallied to the win within a week of a dis appointing loss to c lemson

bomb, and he averages about 45 yards per punt.

Initially, s ot said he was nervous to come into the Irish locker room. h owever, he found that this game is life to everyone at n otre d ame, and they’re welcom ing because of that.

“It’s been awesome,” s ot said during camp. “Footballwise, it’s been great. The fa cilities here are awesome. The coaches are the best around. The guys on the team are so dedicated to this, you know, they love this. This is their life. b eing able to come in here and be a part of that is incred ible. I feel like I belong here, they’ve made me feel that way. I can’t wait to see what this team does.”

d espite how the season opened, that energy and that excitement haven’t faltered. s ot said he’s seen where the good has come through.

“I love it here,” s ot told

MAX PETROSKY | The Observer

Irish graduate student punter Jon Sot punts in Notre Dame’s season-opening 21-10 loss to Ohio State at the Horseshoe. The Harvard transfer has averaged over 45 yards yards per punt in 19 attemtps this season.

NoTRE DAME WoMEN’S SoccER

MAX PETROSKY | The Observer

Irish senior defender Maddie Mercado celebrates after scoring the lone goal of Thurday night’s 1-0 home victory against the Cavaliers.