Print Edition for The Observer for Wednesday, April 20, 2022

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Volume 56, Issue 66 | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2022 | ndsmcobserver.com

Tri-campus gathers for survivors Take Back the Night event featured march, candlelight vigil and prayer service

By LIAM PRICE Associate News Editor

Editor’s note: This article includes discussions of sexual violence. A list of sexual assault reporting options and on-campus resources can be found on the Notre Dame, Saint Mary’s and Holy Cross websites. A longer version of this story can be found online.

Take Back the Night 2022, part of an international movement dating back to 1976 that aims to end sexual violence in all forms, kicked off in Rice Commons at Saint Mary’s College due to rainy weather.

Though the main event would occur later in the Dahnke ballroom in Duncan Student Center at Notre Dame, the event started with a

kick-off that featured students eating food and making posters for the march.

Saint Mary’s sophomore Viviana Antimo made a sign at the kickoff that read, “you are not alone.”

Antimo, a resident advisor (RA) at Saint Mary’s, said her experience talking to survivors inspired her sign.

“Every time I’m talking to someone and they’re going through an experience, it’s very traumatic, or its not going well for them, I always say ‘you’re not alone,’” Antimo said.

“I say it out of the heart.”

Antimo said she hoped the event would inspire other survivors to speak out.

“I think there’s so many voices unheard,” she said.

Saint Mary’s director of student see TBTN PAGE 4

Payne-Miller, Jarmon elected Observer Staff Report

Holy Cross students elected first-years Dion Pay neMiller and Oscar Jarmon as president and v ice president, respectively, of the Holy Cross student government association (SGA) for the 2022-23 term.

Holy Cross director of student activ ities Caroly n Kitz informed students of the election outcome in an email Thursday, thanking them for their participation in the election. see ELECTION PAGE 4

College annouces 2022 speaker Observer Staff Report

Theologian M. Shawn Copeland will deliver the commencement address for the Saint Mary’s class of 2022, the College announced Thursday.

Copeland is professor emerita of systematic theology in the Department of Theology and the program in African and African Diaspora Studies at Boston College.

She was the first African American and first African American woman

NEWS PAGE 5

to serve as president of the Catholic Theological Society of America and has spoken at Saint Mary’s before as the 2007 Madeleva Lecturer.

College President Katie Conboy praised Copeland’s work as remarkable. “​​As a Catholic theologian, she has influenced generations of students, lay people, and clergy across the world,” Conboy said in the release. see SPEAKER PAGE 4

VIEWPOINT PAGE 6

Clark to lead HCC Observer Staff Report

MAX PETROSKY | The Observer

Students and community members march together as a part of Take Back the Night event to raise awareness of sexual assault.

In an email Wednesday to the Holy Cross College communit y, Board of Trustees chair John C. Gschw ind announced that the Board had chosen Marco Clark as its next College President. Clark w ill start his role June 30, when Fr. Dav id Tyson’s term ends.

Gschw ind described Clark as “an experienced and enthusiastic leader who is wellprepared to lead the college.”

Clark, Gschwind said in the email, demonstrated to the see PRESIDENT PAGE 3

Denim Day shows support for sexual assault victims

By BELLA LAUFENBERG Associate News Editor

Editor’s note: This article includes discussions of sexual violence. A list of sexual assault reporting options and oncampus resources can be found on the Notre Dame, Saint Mary’s and Holy Cross websites. A longer version of this story can be viewed online.

In a collaboration bet ween Callisto, the Gender Relations Center (GRC) and student government, Notre Dame’s campus celebrated Denim Day on Tuesday to raise awareness for sexual assault.

2022 marks the 23rd celebration of Denim Day, which is an international campaign.

Denim Day originated from a court case in Italy in 1999. In the case, a judge overruled a rape conv iction based on the assumption that a woman gave consent to a man because

SCENE PAGE 10

her jeans were too tight to take off alone. As a response to that case, Denim Day has been celebrated ever y year since 1999. The movement calls for ever yone to wear jeans

in order to show support to sexual assault v ictims. “[Denim Day] is one of the simplest ways to show see DENIM DAY PAGE 4

BELLA LAUFENBERG | The Observer

Denim Day tables had stickers, pins (pictured) and other information regarding sexual assault awareness and prevention.

W LACROSSE PAGE 16

BASEBALL PAGE 16

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TODAY

The observer | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2022 | ndsmcobserver.com

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sophomore Farley Hall

sophomore Siegfried Hall

“Kerfuffle.”

“Competent.”

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Today’s Staff News

Sports

Bella Laufenberg Gabrielle Beechert Megan Fahrney

Aidan Thomas Mannion McGinley

Graphics

Nia Sylva

Makayla Hernandez

Photo

ANDREW MARCIANO | The Observer

As students returned from Easter break, they were met with ever-changing weather on the campus. Despite this April’s unprecedented snowfall and rain, the trees around campus are beginning to get their leaves back and the flowers are starting to blossom.

The next Five days:

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Scene Viewpoint Hannah Hebda

Andrew Marciano

Corrections The Observer regards itself as a professional publication and strives for the highest standards of journalism at all times. We do, however, recognize that we will make mistakes. If we have made a mistake, please contact us at editor@ndsmcobserver.com so we can correct our error.

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Autism Studies Lecture O’Laughlin Auditorium 7 p.m.

Free but ticketed event.

Artist Lecture and Reception Little Theatre Lobby 4:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.

Jane Carney and Mary Zicafoose will speak.

Lakeside Music Festival Carroll Hall Lawn 4 p.m. - 7 p.m.

Watch student musicians perform.

Earth Day Service Blitz The Grotto 9:30 a.m. - noon Volunteer for an Earth Day event on campus.

Basilica Mass Basilica of the Sacred Heart 10 a.m. & noon All are welcome to attend.

“Once You Know” DeBartolo Performing Arts Center 7:30 p.m.

Free documentary viewing and discussion.

Artful Yoga Snite Museum of Art 5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.

Relax with yoga among the artwork. Mats will be provided.

A Conversation with Anne Applebaum Jordan Auditorium 5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.

Discuss the war in Ukraine and Russia.

Blue-Gold Game Programming Library Lawn 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Enjoy food, music, and inflatables.

Sand Volleyball Tournament Outside Volleyball Courts, SMC 1 p.m. - 4 p.m.

All are welcome.

News

President Continued from page 1

presidential search committee a unique commitment to the education of “both the mind and the heart”, follow ing Holy Cross’s mission.

In the email, Gschw ind recognized Tyson’s legacy as president of the college.

“We are in this advantageous position thanks to the work of many at the College, and I especially want to recognize and thank Father Tyson for his efforts over the past five years,” he said in the email.

Clark is the ideal leader to follow Tyson’s achievements, the email said.

“The Board is conv inced we have found a leader who w ill build on the accomplishments of Father Tyson, and we look for ward to working w ith Dr. Clark to advance the mission of Holy Cross College.”

A press release announced the board’s decision later Wednesday morning, saying the search committee had consisted of a comprehensive group and “undertook an extensive seven-month national search to identif y and

ndsmcobserver.com | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2022 | The Observer Paid Advertisement

recommend Dr. Clark to the board.”

In the press release, Clark said that he was excited to lead Holy Cross.

“As one who was taught by the Brothers and who has spent my career ser v ing in Holy Cross educational ministries, I am humbled and excited about the opportunit y and resposibilit y to continue the transformative mission and charism of a Holy Cross education,” he said in the press release.

The decision is also a historic mark. Clark, the press release noted, w ill be “the first president of the College who is not a Holy Cross brother or priest.”

Tyson said in the press release that he was “delighted” at Clark’s appointment.

“He brings w ith him an impressive credential and superb knowledge of the Holy Cross Congregation’s mission of higher education. He is an excellent communicator and brings a superior record as a leader and administrator. I assure him of my thoughts and prayers as he begins his tenure,” Tyson said.

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NEWS

The observer | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2022 | ndsmcobserver.com

Denim Day Continued from page 1

solidarit y about such an important issue,” sophomore Lane Obringer, student government director of gender relations for Title IX and women’s initiatives, said.

A long w ith calling for all students to wear denim in solidarit y, programming was also held throughout the day.

The GRC and Callisto cosponsored tables w ith information on sexual assault on Fieldhouse Mall and in Fitzpatrick Court yard from noon until 4 p.m. At 5:30 p.m., the GRC hosted a dinner and discussion in the Notre Dame Room in LaFortune Student Center.

Notre Dame student government sponsored the last event of the day,

TBTN Continued from page 1

involvement and advocacy Liz Coulston Baumann said Take Back the Night shows the need for collective action on sexual violence.

“In order to create a culture that does not allow interpersonal violence and expects every single person to be a part of that, it takes all of us to be a part of that solution,” Baumann said.

Baumann said high sexual violence statistics combined with underreporting make supporting survivors a crucial act.

“I think it’s really important as a community to come together to support the survivors on our campus, in our greater community and in our world,” she said.

Sophomore Maggie Sullivan carried a sign that read, “no is a statement, not a question.” She said the sign emphasized that saying

which was held in Midfield Commons in Duncan Student Center. Obringer said she led the event and spoke about the importance of Denim Day. Obringer said students who attend the event had the opportunit y to fill out “Dear Sur v ivor” cards. The cards have “Dear Sur v ivor” w ritten on them and blank space to w rite a note.

Obringer said the cards w ill be collected and displayed at North Dining Hall and online throughout the rest of the week.

“One in four women on this campus have been sexually assaulted,” she said. “We know that they’re among us, but it’s just less likely that you know who they are. So, wherever you are throughout your day, seeing that other students w ithin the student population

support you and are there for you, even though you might not know them, we hope to just bring peace to people.”

Obringer is also Notre Dame’s campus champion for Callisto, a ser v ice available to the tri-campus communit y that aims to prevent sexual assault by utilizing the statistic that most perpetrators are repeat offenders. Obringer said she works w ith Callisto to make its resources more well-know n.

There are many other campus resources in addition to Callisto that sexual v iolence v ictims can use to report their offender, Obringer explained. Students also have the option of reaching out to Notre Dame Police Department (NDPD), Speak Up, Universit y Health Ser v ices (UHS), Universit y Counseling Center (UCC)

and the deput y Title IX office, which are all confidential resources.

Obringer said she hopes Denim Day w ill allow more students to engage in conversation and allyship for sur v ivors of sexual assault.

“I’m asking people to get involved. I want conversations. I want activism. I want change, but I can’t really start unless people acknowledge [sexual assault] on campus,” she said. “So often we forget that we’re in a pandemic right now, and that’s been going on for t wo years, but sexual assault has been going on for our entire life, since colleges have ex isted. It’s an epidemic that swarms us all.”

“no” to sexual acts should never need any further questions.

“The girl says no, that means no. You don’t keep questioning her honor, that was her answer,” she explained.

Sullivan, who said she was sad to have not attended last year’s Take Back the Night, said she was glad to see fellow Saint Mary’s students attending the event.

Participants then walked to Duncan Student Center at Notre Dame. There, they met in the Dahnke Ballroom for the “Speak Out,” where survivors were invited to share their experiences of sexual violence. Organizers of the event set the stage as a safe, confidential space to share stories.

Before the event began, Notre Dame student body president Patrick Lee reminded the audience to be conscientious.

“It is important to remember that what is shared here, stays here,” Lee said.

For nearly two hours, various

students shared experiences of sexual violence, sharing both personal emotions and words of support for fellow survivors.

Saint Mary’s junior Francesca Giuliano said the event was both empowering and sad. She said she felt the women who spoke were inspiring but also that it was saddening to know that there were many more voices that went unheard.

“I’m really proud of seeing their strength, but some part of me is still kind of sad seeing the amount of women that are affected by sexual violence here knowing that there’s some, like me, who weren’t able to speak up,” she said.

Baumann, who formerly served as the Belles Against Violence Office (BAVO) coordinator, said hearing stories of sexual violence is never easy.

“My full time job was listening to these stories, and yet, it is still very difficult for me to listen to them back to back to back,” she said.

Following the “Speak Out,”

Take Back the Night participants marched from the ballroom to the Howard Hall chapel for a candlelight vigil service honoring sexual violence survivors. While marching, students sang chants aiming to combat sexual violence.

“No more fear, no more fright, we are here to take back the night,” one chant said.

Saint Mary’s senior Veronica Terrell, who was marching with a sign in her hands, said attending Take Back the Night was important to her as an ally to victims of sexual violence.

“I know a lot of people very close to me… that have been sexually assaulted. I’m definitely here as an ally to survivors,” she said.

Holy Cross College director of student activities Carolyn Kitz said the event was about solidarity, welcoming people of all faith and backgrounds.

“For those who have been affected by violence of any kind, we honor you for your courage and

Contact Bella Laufenberg at ilaufenb@nd.edu

Speaker Continued from page 1

Copeland will receive an honorary degree from the College alongside class of ‘85 alumna Mary L. Burke, who has been on the Board of Trustees for 16 years.

“Her strong bonds and profound love for this institution and for a Holy Cross education has made Burke one of the College’s strongest advocates and most faithful servants,” the release said.

In addition, Burke has served on the Madeleva Society Steering Committee, Belles Varsity Club and the Mother Pauline Society.

Also at the commencement ceremony, the President’s Medal will be presented to Kathyrn Schneider, the recently retired director of St. Margaret’s House in South Bend. The release noted that Schneider has helped create a decades-long partnership between the College and St. Margaret’s House.

walking the path of healing and wholeness,” Kitz said.

After the service, students concluded the night by walking down to the Grotto to place candles honoring survivors.

Saint Mary’s student body president Elly Hanson said she hopes Take Back the Night will help inspire “more people to come forward with their stories when they feel ready, but also know that they’re supported by everybody.”

“I’ve experienced sexual assault in my life and to see my friends and people that go to my school talk about their experiences is very hard,” Hanson said. “But it also reminds me that we’re all here for each other and that they have that support from the student body. It means a lot to see so many people come out to an event like this.”

Contact Liam Price at lprice3@nd.edu

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Election Continued from page 1

“Thank you to all who participated in yesterday’s election, and to all who ran for these important positions,” Kitz said in the email.

The first SGA president and v ice president election held in March ended inconclusively due to voter fraud, according to an email from dean of student life Andrew Polaenacki.

Pay ne-Miller and Jarmon did not run in the first election but joined the race after Polaenacki informed students that the election rerun would be open to new candidates. In the email, Kitz concluded by congratulating Pay ne-Miller and Jarmon on their v ictor y.

“Finally, congratulations to our newly elected president and v ice president!” she said in the email.

News

ndsmcobserver.com | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2022 | The Observer

5

Notre Dame admissions increases diversity

By MAGGIE EASTLAND and RYAN PETERS Assistant Managing Editor, Notre Dame News Editor

Editor’s Note: The Observer spoke with associate vice president for undergraduate enrollment Don Bishop to gain insight into the increasingly competitive Notre Dame admissions process. This article is the second in a series analyzing different trends and development in admissions.

Between 2004 and 2009, an average of only 78 students in the Notre Dame first-year class were Black. Now, that number is a record 174 Black students in the incoming class of 2026.

This pattern holds true for many minority groups.

Breaking diversity records In the last 18 years, Notre Dame has steadily admitted more students of color — culminating in the most diverse class yet admitted this March.

“From 2014, we had 520 US students of color in the firstyear class. In 2017, we had 651.

That’s real change,” Bishop said.

Part of this shift arrives as the U.S. and the pool of high school students attending college grows more diverse. In 2000, 11.8% of high school graduates were Black and 10.4% were Hispanic. In 2020, those numbers had risen to 12.9% and 22.8% respectively, according to CIRP freshman survey data conducted at UCLA. “America is getting more diverse,” Bishop said. “We want the leaders of all communities to come to Notre Dame and use that Notre Dame training to go back and lead the country but also go back and lead their communities.”

Bishop said that diversity is much more than a checkin-the-box for the admissions department.

“Nobody gets credit for just being something,” he said.

“It’s ‘Do you show a diversity point of view? Do you have something that you’re going to bring with you, rather than just checking the box?’”

Bishop said efforts to recruit a more diverse class of students have strengthened at Notre Dame and peer institutions in the last two decades.

“All the schools felt that they had not worked hard enough to encourage the diversity,” he said. “We want leaders in all the neighborhoods, all the communities in the United States and beyond the United States. It’s just a bigger game than it ever was before, and you’ve got to be ready to play it. I think it’s going to require more resources, more recruitment, more staffing.”

As of 2020, Notre Dame’s percentage of undergraduate students who identify as

solely Black or African American ranks in the bottom quartile of Association of American Universities (AAU) private universities, according to a Board of Trustees’ report on diversity and inclusion. The report said 3.4% of undergraduates self-identified as solely Black or African American. When taking into consideration those who identify as Black in addition to one or more other races, only 6.6% of the undergraduate student body was Black or African American.

Efforts to recruit students from as many backgrounds as possible remain ongoing in admissions departments across the country, Bishop said.

In the future, Bishop said there will be “a challenge to do more Hispanic recruitment” as the Hispanic population in the U.S. rapidly increased over the last decade.

In addition to racially diverse students, the number of international students enrolling in the first-year class has also increased in the past 18 years from 67 to 147, according to Notre Dame’s Common Data Set. Still, Bishop said there are no quotas in the admissions department, other than for gender due to the University’s housing availability.

“We do have to have a certain gender balance because of the housing, so we’re supposed to be 47.5% female and 52.5% male. That’s the only number we have to hit based upon something defined in your application — whether you’re male or female,” he said.

Financial aid trends improve accessibility as costs increase Along with a more racially diverse class, Notre Dame’s financial aid has also increased — resulting in greater access for low income students. While Notre Dame has grown more expensive, the amount of aid offered as a percentage of total costs has increased since 2004.

In 2021, about 57% of Notre Dame students receive some form of University scholarship funding when including funding such as club scholarships, athletic grants in aid, facultystaff tuition benefits and merit awards.

At the same time, even after adjusting for inflation, tuition has increased substantially in the past four decades. In 1980, tuition, fees and room and board amounted to $6,542.

Adjusted for inflation, that total would come to only $23,641 today, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index data.

That compares to an actual 2021 cost of attendance of $75,147.

A decade ago, Notre Dame was averaging 140 first generation students in a first-year

class. By comparison, Bishop said the number will be around 270 for the incoming first-years.

“We’ve almost doubled the number of first generation students in probably a 7 or 8 year period,” Bishop said.

The number of Pell Grant recipients at the University — those who demonstrate substantial financial need and qualify for federal higher education subsidies — has also increased in recent years, jumping from 208 students in 2018 to 300 students last year.

Data Courtesy of Don Bishop The percentage of students receiving need-based aid has generally increased in recent decades. Notre Dame did not report data for 2005-2006.

Bishop said Notre Dame was one of the first 10 members of QuestBridge — a nonprofit that connects low income, first generation college students with competitive universities — and is currently the third largest participant after Princeton University and the University of Chicago.

“We have 86 scholars coming. We had 89 last year, and we’re very proud of that,” Bishop said.

Taken together, first generation, QuestBridge and Pell Grant recipient student increases show an overall increase in students from less privileged backgrounds.

Bishop said he hopes this trend will continue.

“More and more low income students need to be encouraged to apply, and then you need to provide a supportive environment around them,” he said. “We want them to feel that we’re investing in them, not just helping them out.”

To accomplish this goal over the last few years, Bishop said the admissions team traveled more strategically and built partnerships with organizations designed to help low income students navigate the college admissions process, like Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) and the Cristo Rey Network.

Even as tuition has increased, Bishop said financial aid offerings have beat price increases as students qualify for more aid and Notre Dame expands its reach. The University’s per student revenue, on the other hand, has matched or slightly outpaced aid per student.

Bishop said the University’s lucrative endowment fund is an integral part of meeting financial needs and doing more for low income students.

“We’re the seventh largest private University endowment. People expect that we’re going to use that part of that endowment to provide more aid. And they’re right. And we are,” he said. “It would be difficult to explain to America how you could be sitting on that type of money and not try to

do more with it.”

Legacy Balancing access

admissions: loyalty with

With a wide and loyal alumni network, Notre Dame historically has had a high percentage of alumni children attend the University. Bishop estimated that between 19% and 25% of each class consists of alumni children, varying year to year.

He expects about 18% to 19% of the incoming first-year class to be legacy admits.

Compared to other selective private institutions, Notre Dame’s proportion of alumni students outweighs its peers.

Ivy League schools average about 11.5% of alumni children per each class, while the top-20 non-Ivy League private universities average 7.5%, Bishop said.

He attributed the high rate of legacy students at Notre Dame to the family-oriented and Catholic nature of the University.

“We are more likely to be married and we have more children. We’re just more family-oriented, and again, that’s the nature of Notre Dame,” Bishop said.

According to a database created by the Equality of Opportunity Project, 68% of Notre Dame graduates are married by their mid-40s, as opposed to 56% of graduates from the other top 20 private universities. As of 2019, Notre Dame alumni averaged between 3.3 and 3.5 children per household, compared to the national average of 1.9 children per household at the time.

Bishop said the large number of alumni children enrolled is not due to favoritism in the admissions process, but rather because of the large amount applying and their often strong desire to attend the University.

About 75% of legacy children admitted enroll while Bishop estimated about the yield rate of all other admitted students to be around 50%. “[Alumni children] are almost 50% more likely to pick Notre Dame. It’s because they grew up with Notre Dame,” Bishop said. “A lot of alumni children turned down the top 10 schools to come to Notre Dame because in their minds Notre Dame is not eighth or sixth or 13th, Notre Dame is number one.”

As legacy admissions have come under criticism recently — Amherst College ended legacy admission preference in 2021 — Bishop dismissed the notion that the admissions process favors alumni children.

“The average alumni child at Notre Dame has exactly the same median GPA as the entire class. So are the alumni children less qualified to be here? It would appear not,” he said.

The proportion of alumni children who receive the University’s top awards is greater than their overall class proportion, Bishop added.

In a 2014 Notre Dame Magazine article, Bishop said Notre Dame historically aims to maintain a legacy presence of 20 to 25% of legacy students in the student body. However, Bishop said the admissions office does not sacrifice access for other students to the University because of loyalty to alumni.

“Notre Dame will always balance our sensitivity and thoughtfulness of the loyalty of our alumni with a sense of fairness and enthusiasm for providing more access to families that want to start their family tradition at Notre Dame,” he said.

Bishop, a Notre Dame graduate, said denying alumni children admission is difficult for him.

“It’s hard. It’s emotionally very hard for our alumni. It’s the worst part of my job,” he said. “At the same point, I think the majority of Notre Dame alumni support the University in broadening its mission, broadening its outreach. It’s something we need to do.”

Maintaining the Catholic identity while increasing diversity Bishop said Notre Dame remains 80% Catholic and intends to stay that way while increasing diversity.

“If we lose our identity as a Catholic school, then we’re just kind of ranked with everybody else,” Bishop said. “Notre Dame’s sense of balance is that we’re the leading Catholic University of the world and that we have a responsibility to maintain that benefit to all students who come here — Catholic or non Catholic.”

While Bishop said the University intends to maintain its Catholic identity, he said the admissions department places a greater focus on attracting top students who want to work on their faith, sense of self and goodness. Bishop hypothesized that increasing diversity will attract more top Catholic students.

“Notre Dame and Catholicism are supposed to be very open and welcoming,” he said. “If Notre Dame doesn’t have that approach, will the top Catholics want to come here? Even if our goal were to be more narrowly focused on just Catholic enrollment, if we want to maximize the top Catholics coming here, it has to be a more diverse place.”

Contact Maggie Eastland and Ryan Peters at meastlan@nd.edu and rpeters5@nd.edu

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The observer | Wednesday, April 20, 2022 | ndsmcobserver.com

The ceremonial head of state

Inside Column

At the halfway point (a playlist) Pablo Lacayo Anna Falk Scene Copyeditor

At nearly the halfway point of my college career, I’ve seen a lot — and I’ve heard a lot. Music is one of my many passions and for this article I wanted to share some of the moments and songs that have gotten me to where I am (mostly in order.)

“Nights In White Satin” by The Moody Blues This was the first song ever recommended to me by another Notre Dame student. I had put a collaborative playlist into one of the many GroupMe chats from the class of 2024, and while it was left untouched by many in the group, one person added this song. It remains as a song marking the start of my college years.

“My Honest Face” by Inhaler Introduced to me by my sister Lauren, Inhaler has been a staple of my college experience. After listening to them on my infrequent pandemic coffee trips, I showed this song to my friends in a similar capacity. My now-roommate Maddie and I listened to it while we were waiting in the Dunkin Donuts drive-thru line in the pouring rain. I don’t know why this has stood out to me, but I miss the simplicity of it.

“Beyond” by Daft Punk On a random Tuesday afternoon in February of my freshman year, news dropped that Daft Punk had broken up after decades of working together. Daft Punk was a band that helped form my music taste (first introduced to me by my father), and I was heartbroken.

As a dancer of 16 years or so, I often found myself dancing in the tiny common room of my freshman quad in Lyons when my roommates were gone. “Beyond” was one I remember dancing to particularly.

“Ladies” by Fiona Apple After listening to mainly male artists for most of my life, I decided one random day that I had to broaden my range. My friend Linh sent me a playlist titled “Femme Fatale” from Spotify and this song stood out to me. This started my deep dive into the discography of Fiona Apple, and it is a song that comforted me in times of anxiety.

“The Barbarians” by Greta Van Fleet I’ve loved Greta Van Fleet since my senior year of high school.

When “The Battle at Garden’s Gate” was released at the end of my freshman year, I became freakishly obsessed with them. Shortly after the release, came news of a tour and I waited for hours online to buy tickets. This was the first concert of my college career, and this concert was the first time “The Barbarians” (one of my favorite Greta Van Fleet songs) had been played live. It was a memorable night to say the least.

“The Man with the Axe” by Lorde While most of my music taste usually strayed away from much of mainstream pop, something prompted me to listen to Lorde’s “Solar Power” album. It was probably a Spotify daily mix. Most people hated the album when it first came out, but many have come around to it. I started listening in November, and I fell deeply in love. This was the first Lorde album I had listened to, and I feel such an emotional attachment to this song in particular.

“Stuck in the Middle” by Burning Hotels I don’t know why more people don’t know this song. I first came to know Burning Hotels through the 2009 rom-com “Bandslam” which my mother made my sister and I rewatch over winter break. This song is entirely the perfect length but entirely too short. Something about it is indescribably perfect. I’ve listened to this countless times while walking to class, and I make sure to play it for my friends when I can.

“Little Taste of Heaven” by Leach My friend Natalie and I have a radio show on WVFI, and we recently had her friend Dom on the show. He wanted to do an episode on psychedelic rock, and this was one of the songs he played. This song should be classified as an out-of-body experience. In the short time that I’ve known it, “Little Taste of Heaven” has reminded me of the wonderful people I’ve met, the things I’ve gotten to do and the experiences that I wouldn’t trade for the world.

This playlist reflects the growth of my music taste and my growth as a person. It’s a love letter to the good things and a memory book of the times I’ve struggled but managed to make it through.

You can contact Anna at afalk@nd.edu The views expressed in this Inside Column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

My Two Cordobas Worth

This Thursday, Her Majesty The Queen, Elizabeth II will welcome her 96th birthday. This summer, the United Kingdom and her other realms will commemorate her Platinum Jubilee, marking the 70th anniversary of her accession to the British throne.

She has become the longest-reigning monarch in British history, a feat that will probably remain unparalleled for centuries to come. The Queen, one of the world’s most recognized individuals, is a landmark figure in the public imagination, as she has been at the forefront of the British Crown for the overwhelming majority of people’s lives. A survey in the UK found that less than 20% of the country’s population had been born before she succeeded her father to the throne. Throughout the length of her reign, she has consistently retained high levels of popularity, successfully managing to remain above the fray of her family’s eyebrow-raising scandals and squashing out occasional bumps of republican sentiment.

Evidently, Queen Elizabeth II has been a good queen. For over seven decades, she has dutifully fulfilled the duties and responsibilities bestowed upon her by the Crown back in 1952. Throughout her years of devoted public service, she has completed thousands of engagements throughout her multiple realms. She has a deep understanding of the responsibilities she has to carry and has demonstrated her utmost desire to carry them out well. From the moment Queen Elizabeth II took on her coronation oath in the early 1950s she has been the living embodiment of the state, its unity and its legitimacy. As head of state, Queen Elizabeth II is supposed to be the United Kingdom’s national symbol that represents the unbroken continuity of government, responsible for guaranteeing the “united” part of her country’s name. Her role has been extraordinarily successful, having been able to preserve one of the world’s most traditional monarchies through tumultuous decades that wrote off hereditary monarchy as arcane and useless.

What can we learn from a figure as universally respected as Queen Elizabeth II? Beyond the individual, her figure provides good insight into how a nation can essentially craft itself in a way that prevents too much division from being sown. Like most European nations, the United Kingdom has a differentiated head of state and head of government.

Her Majesty The Queen is the UK’s head of state, which carries a large set of ceremonial powers and is meant to embody the spirit of the nation. On the other hand, the Prime Minister serves as the country’s head of government and is the one in charge of running the government and being embroiled in the never-ending shenanigans that come with contemporary politics. This creates an important distinction within the British public imagination, as the court of public opinion with regards to political

affairs revolves squarely around the head of government, while the head of state, meant to be the symbol of national unity, remains virtually unscathed and respected by all sides of the political debate. This provides British citizens with a built-in unifying element within their government, that is able to make all corners of society feel represented.

In the United States, and most countries in the Americas, these roles are held by the same person, almost always a president. The President of the United States’ duties overlap with the duties The Queen and Boris Johnson both have to fulfill across the Atlantic, and the inherent political nature of the presidency in the United States prevents the country from having a similar scheme British counterparts do. This eliminates almost any opportunity for the president to embrace the role of the unifier the way it is easy for the British monarch to do, as every step they take, and every move they take, is scrutinized through political lenses and the object of criticism from those standing in opposition.

Visiting a factory, touring an area hit by a natural disaster, celebrating holidays and related activities fall under a head of state’s portfolio, and should not be considered controversial in the slightest. When a ceremonial head of state conducts them, they are useful engagements that help build the state’s legitimacy and make society feel united under one banner. In the United States, and other countries with similar constitutional makeups, they are conducted by an inherently controversial head of state, which limits the effect these activities may come to have.

Over the past few decades, the United States has given way to an unprecedentedly unhealthy degree of polarization that diminishes the ceremony and dignity of the country’s head of state. The respect and decorum one yields to the holder of the country’s highest office depends on whether or not they agree with whoever is in office’s agenda. Even in times of crisis, the president fails to act as a unifying force, as critiques from the other side pour in no matter the circumstances. This is highly unfortunate, as it destroys the head of state’s status as a symbol of national unity.

The American constitutional order is here to stay, and nothing is strong enough to fundamentally transform the way power is organized in this country. However, looking towards the British way of doing things provides some insight into how having a ceremonial, apolitical figure serve as the country’s head of state guarantees unity in a way the fusion of head of state and government fails to provide.

Pablo Lacayo is a junior majoring in finance with a minor in Chinese. Originally from Nicaragua, he is now a happy resident of Stanford Hall. Reach him at placayo@nd.edu over email.

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

Follow us on Twitter: @ObserverViewpnt

The observer | Wednesday, April 20, 2022 | ndsmcobserver.com

7

Against myself: Saying goodbye to Nietzsche Jim Moster Thus Said Jim

Nausea. Suffocation. Disgust. Have you ever spent time in a room and found yourself dying to leave it? Maybe you were choking on cigarette smoke, sweating in a stale heat or engulfed by a clique of people who drive you mad. Friedrich Nietzsche faced this kind of discomfort nearly everywhere, and for his entire life. As graduation approaches, I find myself struggling with it more and more under the Golden Dome. I am anxious to leave.

Nietzsche’s fundamental project, as stated by himself, is “the revaluation of all values.” If we are honest with ourselves, Nietzsche thinks, everything that Western civilization holds dear is already dead. We are no longer driven or inspired by our values in a way that affirms life, in all of its beauty, chaos and creative potential. In response, Nietzsche aims to raze our dead doctrines once and for all and challenge humanity to create something better.

This “revaluation” is a response to the pessimism and nihilism that Nietzsche saw in modernity. For the most part, we have inherited the sorry world that Nietzsche foresaw: we have neither grand conquests nor silent, solitary moments of peace.

Instead, we live in the world of Nietzsche’s “last man,” a passive soul who seeks comfort and security over growth and self-actualization. We live the opposite of the self-reliant lives that Emerson, young Nietzche’s idol, called upon us to live. (Are you ready to admit that, American readers?)

In order to create new values, we need to believe that society runs on obsolete, degenerate ones. And

so, in my column, I aimed to disrupt Notre Dame’s daily order with provocative questions and tentative answers. For example, does Mendoza College really “grow the good in business”? I suggested that our Catholic values do very little to actually make business good. Is school pride healthy and normal or a dangerous distraction? I interrogated the belief systems that make us venerate elite education, including meritocracy and capitalism. What about academic philosophy? What does it contribute to our education? I posited that current philosophy needs more of the playful Romanticism of thinkers like Nietzsche.

For my last article, I’m shifting gears and turning the critique toward myself. What value does this column hold for me? Did I benefit from writing it?

The question of its outward benefit is less ambiguous for me. Overall I succeeded in provoking others toward thought and debate, which I’ve learned through conversations and digital interactions. So why am I so — nauseous? Why am I itching to end this column? To vacate the room and take a gulp of fresh air? Nietzsche, do I feel how you felt roaming the pristine streets of Basel, Switzerland, yearning to escape into the inscrutable Alps?

At this moment, perhaps I am closer to understanding Nietzsche than ever. I understand him because I need to leave him. In “Thus Spoke Zarathustra,” the titular hero descends from his mountain home to preach to the people. To his disciples, Zarathustra says, “I bid you lose me and find yourselves; and only when you have all denied me will I return to you.” Here, Zarathustra warns against making oneself contingent upon another. Those who find their meaning in others become parasites, incapable of inventing values for themselves.

I am ready to deny Nietzsche. In fact, I have been ready for a long time. To some degree, I believe in egalitarianism, socialism and democracy, a trinity of evils to Nietzsche. He argues that social equality cripples society, leveling the inherent differences that allow free spirits to thrive. Every time I cite Nietzsche’s work, I feel his icy stare on my back, questioning why I use him to uplift this cause. I wonder if I am becoming a parasite.

But the very next moment, I feel the warmth of his approving smile. I have exploited Nietzsche, appropriating his ideas for my agenda. Exploitation, Nietzsche believes, is the essence of life itself. To be alive is to exert your “will to power,” an innate drive to recreate the world and other people in your own image. Yes, I am alive.

It is because I am alive that I must say goodbye to Nietzsche. Other voices beckon me. New destinations await. In fact, I suspect that it cannot be healthy to sit with Nietzsche for too long. During his life, Nietzsche drove away everyone close to him, or he left them himself. To Nietzsche, most people are simply too weak to handle a drink as strong as his. Only the most noble souls can stomach the task Nietzsche sets in front of us.

Maybe I’m not noble. Frankly, I don’t care. The Alps of my future await. Nietzsche, like Zarathustra with his disciples, will return to me when I am ready. I thank him for the nausea.

Jim Moster is a senior from Chicago majoring in the Program of Liberal Studies and political science. He spends his days chasing serotonin and sleeping. For comments and inquiries, he can be reached at jmoster@nd.edu or @jimmoster on Twitter.

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

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

What even is Notre Dame Day? Dearest members of the Notre Dame community, There are four days until our ninth annual celebration of Notre Dame Day. You may have seen the giant countdown display in LaFun or scrolled past a Notre Dame Day Instagram post on your feed.

Like most Notre Dame students, you may have wondered, what even is Notre Dame Day? This one-of-a-kind celebration of all things Notre Dame is an opportunity to recognize the various clubs and organizations that make student life possible.

Notre Dame Day is most known for its 24-hour broadcast filled with special guests and demonstrations of the work of our organizations.

However, at the core of this special day is raising awareness for the initiatives that directly impact our student community. Since 2013, Notre Dame Day has evolved into the ultimate fundraising event. Before establishing Notre Dame Day, campus organizations would individually communicate with the Development Office to reach out to interested parties and potential donors. However, our community has developed so rapidly we now have more than 900 organizations making the prior system unthinkable. Thus, the Development Office created Notre Dame Day as a way to facilitate this process. Despite the difficulties of the pandemic, the Notre Dame community was able to raise four million dollars for 733 causes

throughout the two fundraisers held in the 20202021 academic year.

For this academic year, we seek to do more.

Notre Dame Day will begin on April 24 at 6:42 p.m. EST and wrap up on April 25 at 12:11 a.m.

EST but the actual fundraising starts much earlier! Starting now, our organizations can receive funds and gifts through their own unique Notre Dame Day link that can be shared with anyone.

The funds given to your causes will go directly to your dorms, club sports teams and service groups.

These donations will help fund the amazing work of our student organizations and all the projects and events your club envisions for the next year can be made a reality.

Thanks to our generous donors, we will also have prize money awards totaling $500,000 available to all causes. The prize fund is separate from the individual gifts to each organization and can be accessed through different challenges. The largest prize is the $250,000 Challenge Fund, which will be available to all causes. With each unique donor, the organization earns a share of the fund. The more individual donations an organization receives relative to others, the higher the share of the $250,000 Challenge Fund. The remaining prize money can be attained by accomplishing different challenges such as the We Are Notre Dame Challenge and Notre Dame 100

Challenge. For more information on prize money or Notre Dame Day in general, please visit the official website at notredamday.nd.edu.

Notre Dame Day is the most important opportunity to direct resources and raise awareness for your causes. People can give through each organization’s unique referral link or directly on the Notre Dame Day website. Motivate your peers to share these links and keep in the mind the potential bonus prizes through specific challenges.

For this Notre Dame Day, let us improve student life, continue our march towards excellence and rally behind the causes that make Notre Dame our home.

The Social Media Team,

Interested in Viewpoint? Email us at: viewpoint@ndsmcobserver.com

Gracie Simoncic first year Elysa Ng May May sophomore Shannon Garrity sophomore Jorge Blasini Frontera junior April 14

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The observer | Wednesday, April 20, 2022 | ndsmcobserver.com

Inside Column

Look up Cora Haddad News Writer

I’ve seen six shooting stars since coming to college. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time, and most importantly, looking up at the sky.

As a child my mother would ask me what I saw in the clouds. I would daydream staring at the sky above me watching for creatures and castles to f loat past. I would see faces and features and battles and wars. My imagination resided with them.

On summer nights we would hop in my father’s car and chase the darkness, trying our best to let as many stars as we could break through that blanket of city light that had tricked them into lessening their shine.

The best view was out of the sunroof, rolled down, the cool night air zipping through my hair and chilling my skin. My cheeks were always rosy and my nose raw, but my eyes wide and my heart content.

I never understood why my brother begged for a telescope every year for his birthday, but each year I grow older I see what he saw and what he continues to see.

That there is so much of the world, so much space, so much life, undiscovered, to be seen, to be discovered.

I often stop in the middle of the street, steps behind my friends, to capture pictures of the moon and stars, no matter where I am. I send them off to my friends who live far away, to let them know I still think about them when looking at the moon, like we had together before, Punisher loud on the speakers, and summer warmth surrounding.

I can recall the drive from one parent’s house to another, at the drop off, between hugs and see you laters, I would stare at Orion, whose belt and arrow shone brightly back at me.

I became known as someone who looked at the sky. I had my head in the clouds and heart on my sleeve.

We wrote poetry my senior year of high school. My teacher would let us go outside, absorb our surroundings and find ways we could talk about them, feel about them, write about them. I remember not being able to write much, but just lying f lat on my back and staring at the sun. It would leave me blinded walking back into the school at the end of the period but it was worth the connection I felt I had with the sun. Almost as if I had known its warmth for my whole life.

I admire Sally Ride, the third woman ever to go to space. As a young girl I would sit and wonder what she felt, being that far away from home. If she ever got scared. If she looked down at earth the same way I looked up at the sky. I decided to believe she was braver than I, but that someday I would become as brave as she proved to be.

The sky is what has always connected me. When I look at the moon today, it is the same moon I looked at as a child all those years ago. The same moon my brothers see and my mother and my father and all those who told me and taught me where my mind and heart belonged.

On paper, and most importantly in the sky.

You can contact Cora at chaddad01@saintmarys.edu The views expressed in this Inside Column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Give me the Senior Bar, or give me death OK, while Patrick Henry’s *actual* quote called for liberty and America’s independence before being executed for treason by the British in 1776, my passion surrounding the concept of an on-campus bar matches Henry’s resolve that still transcends 250 years after his death. For those who are unaware, the Notre Dame Alumni Senior Club, unofficially dubbed the “Senior Bar,” was an on-campus watering hole that stood from 1966-2003 in the spot where Legend’s stands today. The Senior Bar stood to be very popular amongst visiting alumni, and of course, was a regular spot for Notre Dame students of legal drinking age. A mecca of social camaraderie located in a central spot-on campus, the Senior Bar, open Wednesdays through Saturdays, operated directly under the Division of Student Affairs. The bar employed dozens of student bartenders and barbacks and stood to the best work environment on campus. In the spring of 2003, the space became renovated into what is now Legends, and for the last twenty years, Notre Dame upperclassmen have had to resort to urban myths to understand what campus life was like with the Senior Bar. My connection to the Senior Bar is a personal one, as I have had the great fortune of interacting with eyewitness accounts who first helped establish the bar. In October, I met ND alum and architectural visionary John Buck ’66 who kindly relayed to me his experience in founding the Senior Bar. In 1965, Buck ran for student body president with a single agenda item on his ticket.

“Elect me to represent You and I will deliver an on campus bar.”

Buck emphasized that over 90% of the voting population cast their ballots for his ticket.

In his first real estate deal, the University first developed the property as on-campus house/ bar, and in 1982, the formal bar venue was constructed. But alas, my story doesn’t stop there. My dad, Steve Viz (Flanner ’89), was asked to be a manager at the Senior Bar in the spring of his junior year. Being a manager of the only on-campus bar had its perks, and I can best describe the experience after I was told about the No. 4 Notre Dame vs. No. 1 Miami game that took place in October of ’88.

After Hurricanes QB Steve Walsh’s pass was batted down in the endzone by Pat Terrell, which sealed the game for the Irish, the good times were on. My dad raced to the bar to prepare himself for the rest of the evening, and around eight hours later, my father was escorted by Notre Dame campus police to the bank at 4 a.m., where he preceded to place over $100,000 in cash into a safety deposit box. Every single student bartender working

that night was tipped out at over $1,000. If that isn’t the proper way to celebrate a victory over the number one team in the country, then I don’t know what is.

So sure, stories of legendary victory celebrations are great to reminisce about, but what are we are really missing out on? Well for starters, let’s talk about the current use of The Legends space, arguably the best piece of real estate of campus. The restaurant and concert venue no longer operates in a standard capacity daily, but to demand that Legends be turned back into an on-campus bar can stand to be backwards thinking. Rather, looking critically to see what space on campus could accommodate such an establishment could play to the best of both worlds. Maybe Legends could have dedicated senior nights on the patio with live entertainment? Maybe the large television in Duncan could opt to hold game watches with alcohol included, reserved specifically for seniors and of age juniors? But what I am trying to say is that many seniors on campus have experienced so much in terms of growing into healthy relationships with alcohol, and these healthy relationships with alcohol should be rewarded.

Rewarded with a place that is conveniently located, employs student workers and offers deals that cannot be missed.

Since the Senior Bar would report directly to the Division of Student Affairs, profits raised from the bar’s operations could be used for student activity funding.

Additionally, some of the most popular bars at American institutions are blissfully located on college campuses, and campus life can thrive because of this. But even location alone doesn’t stand to be the biggest factor to have a such a place on campus. Rather, having an on-campus bar could act to reintroduce Notre Dame seniors back into campus life. Over 80% of seniors move off campus after their junior year, only returning for class and occasional activities. A senior bar could both incentivize seniors to still live on campus, but more importantly give them an atmosphere that they well deserve. Our seniors are a class worth celebrating, and the opportunity for them to do so on campus in a positive manner has been absent since 2003. We should right this wrong and continue to make Notre Dame’s campus a place worth coming back to, for both alumni, and of course, our seniors.

Sincerely, Stephen Viz MSM/MBA ‘23 March 30

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The observer | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2022 | ndsmcobserver.com

By DYLAN O’DONOGHUE Scene Writer

On Apr. 8 Fivio Foreign released his highly anticipated debut album titled “B.I.B.L.E.” Executively produced by Kanye West, Fivio included a plethora of features to accompany him throughout the album. Quavo, Lil Tjay, A$AP Rocky, Polo G and many more made appearances, appealing to fans’ request for Fivio to expand his network.

The Brooklyn native’s rise to prominence was a fairly slow one. Although Fivio started rapping in 2011, he did not fully devote himself to his craft until his mother died in 2018. A year later, he released his breakout single, “Big Drip,” which propelled him into becoming a household name. His unique, powerful voice — coupled with his incessant use of catchy ad libs — quickly caught the attention from rappers across the country. Since then, he has collaborated with some of the powerhouses in the rap game, such as Drake, Lil Baby and Polo G. His song with Kanye West and Playboi Carti, “Off the Grid,” was in contention for song of the year.

Since its release, I have yet to stop listening to “B.I.B.L.E.” Fivio’s maturation as an artist and mastery of his craft are put on full display throughout the entirety of the album.

While he continues to flaunt his lifestyle of drugs, money and women, he takes his music one step further.

By MATHEUS HERNDL Scene Writer

In the many debates over what was the greatest album of the past decade, a record that is often cited along the likes of Kanye West’s “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” or Kendrick Lamar’s “Good Kid, m.A.A.d city” as one of its landmark releases is Death Grips’ sophomore effort, “The Money Store” originally released on April 14. Although the Sacramento based experimental hip-hop group has acquired somewhat of a reputation for their uncompromisingly abrasive musical style, their music is held in high regard by critics and audiences alike, especially on the internet where the Death Grips has a devoted cult following.

But how and why has “The Money Store” become such an important inflection point for music in 2010?

Formed in 2010, the trio consists of Rapper Stefan Burnett (better known as MC Ride), Drummer/producer. Zach Hill and keyboardist/DJ/audio engineer Andy Morin who in 2011 released their debut mixtape “Exmilitary” which was met with widespread acclaim. Critics especially noted Morin’s creative unorthodox use of samples, (such as interview with cult leader Charles Manson used in the opener track “Beware”) and MC Rides aggressive delivery as well as his raw lyrics expressing themes paranoia, rage and anxiety. Almost overnight, Death Grips became the point of conversation and debate in many online spaces, especially in sites such as Reddit and 4Chan where the group gained their status for their left field approach to hip hop as fans eagerly awaited a follow up.

And then came “The Money Store.”

The foundation for his album — which is apparent in its title — is the importance of God in Fivio’s life. He emphasizes just how instrumental religion has been in keeping him committed and consistent in not only his work, but his relationships as well. Fivio is no stranger to tragedy.

In 2020, his friend, fellow New Yorker and rap star, Pop Smoke, was tragically shot and killed in a home invasion.

More recently, Fivio’s best friend, Tahjay Dobson, was fatally shot in Brooklyn just a few months ago. Rather than becoming discouraged, Fivio remained grounded in his work ethic due to his faith in the Man above.

Hinging on this concept of religion, Fivio combines many of his drill beats with a background of choir-esque church music in the album. At face value, this seems like an absurd mixture. However, this juxtaposition elicits a feeling of sublimity in the listener. A prime example of this can be seen in the song “Through the Fire.” (It is not to be confused with Kanye West’s “Through the Wire.”) I would strongly recommend that you give it a listen. It is unlikely that my petition to incorporate this song in the next school-wide mass will come to fruition due to its explicit language and aggressive nature. However, this will not reduce my unwavering admiration for the song and the album in general.

Although Fivio Foreign and I are both from New York, I must admit that my lifestyle is not nearly as

glamorous. I doubt that my upbringing in an affluent, predominantly white neighborhood gives me the ability to speak on similar experiences as Fivio’s. Nor do I believe that my summer job as a party rental company worker under the sweltering sun has been as lucrative and thrilling as Fivio’s rap career. Nevertheless, Fivio Foreign’s debut album just might inspire me to pursue a career in rapping. Hopefully, rapping about my adversity and lack of success with economics problem sets can be as captivating and meaningful as Fivio’s music in “B.I.B.L.E.”

Even as a fan of Death Grips and the many artists that were directly influenced by this album, I find it extremely difficult to compare “The Money Store” to anything that came before or after; it almost exists in a vacuum of musical influence because although being distinctly a hip hop album, it almost serves to deconstruct every single trope in this genre, burning it and using its ashes to build something entirely new while infusing it with elements of noise music, punk and electronica to form a sound that is unique and unmistakably Death Grips’.

“The Money Store” does what seemed impossible and improves on the ideas presented on “Exmilitary” in almost every single way. The production, while still containing the raw primitive qualities from the debut, is much more sophisticated and cleaner than before, the sampling in here is even more interesting and weird than in “Exmilitary,” often mashing several songs and noises in a way that every track sounds like a completely different brand of maniacal than the last.

But of course, the star of the show is undoubtedly MC Ride. If in “Exmilitary” Ride’s delivery is described as merely aggressive, here, his demented screams and howls can only seem the result of someone in some sort of demonic possession. Tracks like “The Fever (Aye Aye)” and “Hustle Bones” show Ride at his most violently paranoid, an effect amplified by his manic surreal lyricism best exemplified in “I’ve Seen Footage” where he morbidly describes his experience of becoming desensitized by watching gory videos on the deep web.

But even amongst all this insanity, “The Money Store” still manages to be a strangely catchy album, with the

songs having memorable hooks and lines guaranteed to stay in the heads of even those who don’t particularly like their music style. The closer and probably best track in the record, “Hacker” is a goldmine of catchy synth riffs and hilariously quotable nonsense and a perfect example of how Death Grips manages to create music that is simultaneous experimental and memorable.

The influence that “The Money Store” had throughout the decade is unmistakable especially in artists such as JPEG Mafia, Denzel Curry and even Kanye West on “Yeezus” who emulated Death Grips’ hyper violent approach to hip hop. But even beyond rap, the record influenced a plethora of artists in other genres such as Bjork, who would later collaborate with Death Grips, and the great David Bowie himself who cited the record as one of his major inspirations for his last album “Blackstar.”

Contact Dylan O’Donoghue at dodonogh@nd.edu

“B.I.B.L.E” Artist: Fivio Foreign Label: RichFIsh/Columbia If you like: “Jesus is King” by Kanye West, Pop Smoke, Drake

Contact Matheus Herndl at mherndl@nd.edu

“The Money Store” Artist: Death Grips Label: Epic Favorite tracks: “I’ve Seen Footage,” “Hacker,” “Double Helix” If you like: JPEG Mafia, Run the Jewels, Rage Against the Machine, Denzel Curry

CLAIRE KIRNER | The Observer | Image sources: BINGED, NPR

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The observer | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2022 | ndsmcobserver.com

By AYDEN KOWALSKI Scene Writer

Singer-songwriter Banks’ work is best when it immerses the listener in her beautiful and aching worlds. Her 2016 album, “The Altar,” set the artist’s magical singing over moody, skeletal soundscapes. Single “F*uck with Myself,” a particularly airy piece from the same album, is both pained and playful, showcasing her standout, ethereal vocals. Her music also can be riveting: hear 2019’s ferocious “Gimme,” a howling expression of strong, assured female sexuality.

“Serpentina,” Banks’ latest album, shows her experimenting with a new sound and different vocal approaches. Even so, she fails to fully capitalize on her top-tier singing or to deliver very many new Banks classics to keep in rotation.

“Serpentina” is an unashamedly synthetic sonic universe. While many songs from Banks’ previous album, “III,” featured distinctly digital instrumentation, this album has a much cleaner presentation— that is, as opposed to the sonic storms that were so evocative on “III.” For the most part, the production here is less memorable than that of her previous work. A noteworthy exception, however, is the choral burst in the chorus of “Holding Back.” Banks’ voice is pitched up like a Golden Age hip-hop sample as drums smash beneath her crying, and the whole thing is practically begging to be sampled.

By JUSTIN GEORGE Scene Writer

“Metal Lords” is a new Netflix original coming-of-age comedy centered around two high school misfits who start a metal band in hopes of winning their school’s battle of the bands. Along the way, they come to learn a lot about themselves, the music world and the joys of playing music. However, as with all great bands, one member is an egomaniac. His selfishness almost tears apart the band when his bandmate gets a girlfriend.

It’s a paint-by-numbers coming-of-age film, so naturally, the friends make up just in time for the battle of the bands and go on to deliver a killer performance.

Unfortunately, they do not win, but they leave with a renewed creative fire. The aforementioned girlfriend even joins the band! Frankly, the whole thing is a bit boring, and I couldn’t care less.

“Metal Lords” is the latest victim of Netflix’s relentless content production machine, which produces paintby-numbers, lowest common denominator dreck that claims to identify with a niche subculture for the sake of marketing. Unfortunately, this is just window dressing to attract metal fans to the film, with hopes of it being worthy of their time. They even managed to rope legends like Kirk Hammett, Rob Halford, Scott Ian and Tom Morello into the film by way of meaningless cameos.

What I mean by all this is that writer D.B Weiss and director Peter Sollett miss the point of their own movie.

Part of what makes producing a film about music, especially about performing music, so difficult is finding a way to make it feel authentic. Some films get it, but

On the whole, the more neutral production approach places Banks’ performance at the center of these songs.

While her musical compositions are seldom lacking, her lyrics, which are often either too esoteric or too blunt, can be distracting. Banks’ vocal performances sometimes manage to overcome her lyrical shortcomings, sweeping the listener away with ease, but her voice sometimes sounds strained as it stretches to new heights. The singer also displays more tonal range here than before, capturing a newfound sassiness in her higher register on the aforementioned “Holding Back” and captivating listeners with percussive breathing and ad-libbing that punctuates the primal beat in “Meteorite.” She even comes close to rapping in the chorus of the latter song, and while this turn only lasts for a moment, it is so fun that one hopes she explores it for a full verse in the future. (She also approaches rapping on “The Fall” from “III” and is an absolute natural there.)

There is one instant highlight on this album: the opening track, “Misunderstood.” Banks has never sounded more confident than while crooning over thundering keys and synths and punctuating her verses with authentic cheekiness. “If I had just one dollar for / Every time somebody didn’t listen, I wouldn’t need these vocals, man,” she sings in the second verse. When she turns from the recurring money motif to the frank and funny boasting of her performance prowess, one can almost feel her smiling in

the studio. “But I still got my mic in hand,” she continues in a tone that makes the weak lyrics irrelevant, her voice alone capturing the feeling of achieving a long-sought freedom. Still, reservations linger. The pain in the composition, especially its aching start with a sputtering synth alone in the stereo, and the piercing refrain of “Please let me be misunderstood,” one of Banks’ best lines, paint a fuller picture. If “Serpentina” is Banks probing her possibilities and testing her skills, “Misunderstood” displays her greatest strength: building sonic worlds by intertwining smart, unorthodox production with a generationally great voice.

some films don’t. “School of Rock,” “Almost Famous,” “Deathgasm” and “This Is Spinal Tap” are all examples of films whose directors just got it. “Metal Lords,” though, halfheartedly attempts to make some kind of grand statement about what metal is early in the film, but it feels disingenuous.

Even the presentation of Metal music in this film feels— for lack of a better term— fake. It’s as if Weiss and Sollett listened to their local radio rock station or a “top ten metal albums of all time” list from Rolling Stone for inspiration. Sure enough, this is the most surface-level presentation of metal that I’ve ever seen. The entire film feels like it’s coming from the perspective of a kid in a black shirt whining about how nobody understands them because they listen to obscure music like Metallica and Black Sabbath. It’s like a curated Spotify playlist of boilerplate popular bands in the genre. Perhaps this is an attempt at name recognition to establish familiarity for the sake of general audiences. Most people have heard of Judas Priest, and perhaps Netflix was worried that they might alienate audiences by namedropping slightly lesserknown yet highly influential bands like Carcass, Death or Acid Bath. Yet, these are exactly the kinds of bands that actual metal musicians listen to and use as inspiration, especially Death Metal musicians like the group the film focuses on.

Even the original song that the band is working on throughout the film feels soulless and manufactured. Sure, it’s a competent song, but it’s boring. Consisting of two riffs, clicky programmed drums, weak vocals and some of the most uninspired lyrics I’ve ever heard, “Machinery of Torment” is one of the most grating original songs I’ve heard in a long time. Don’t even get me started on the chorus. The

band claims to play death metal, yet this song is completely devoid of any sonic elements that even resembles death metal. The song feels like a bunch of studio execs listened to one Judas Priest song and then dumbed it down to sound like high schoolers wrote it. The only redeeming quality of this song is the guitar solo, but even that fails to save it from pathological dullness.

Ultimately, I am left asking myself: who is “Metal Lords” for? It’s certainly not for actual fans of the genre. Fans of coming-of-age films are clearly not the target demographic, as this movie can’t hold a candle to half-baked films like “Paper Towns,” let alone genre giants like “Dead Poets Society” or “The Perks of Being a Wallflower.” “Metal Lords” is a film without an identity, without an audience and without a point. Skip this and go watch “School of Rock” instead.

Singer-songwriter Banks’ work is best when it immerses the listener in her beautiful and aching worlds. Her 20ng sonic worlds by intertwining smart, unorthodox production with a generationally great voice.

Contact Ayden Kowalski at akowals2@nd.edu

“Serpentina” Artist: Banks Label: AWAL Recordings Favorite tracks: “Misunderstood,” “Burn,” “Holding Back” If you like: Electropop

Contact Justin George at jgeorge3@nd.edu

“Metal Lords” Starring: Jaeden Martell, Adrian Greensmith, Isis Hainsworth Director: Peter Sollett If you like: “School of Rock,” “Lords of Chaos,” “Deathgasm”

MAKAYLA HERNANDEZ | The Observer | image sources: AMAZON, NEWSINSTACT

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ndsmcobserver.com | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2022 | The Observer

Crossword | Will Shortz

11

Horoscope | Eugenia Last Happy Birthday: Take the high road, keep the peace and use your intelligence to guide you in the right direction. Look at the big picture, source what you can afford and turn it into something worthwhile.

Patience will lead to opportunity and the chance to use your skills to improve things that help you and those close to you. Keep the peace.

Your numbers are 4, 15, 19, 28, 31, 33, 48.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Keep your money in a safe place. Emotional spending or paying for a mistake will put you in a difficult position. Pinch pennies and save for a rainy day. Time is on your side, and observation will help you make better decisions.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Don’t get angry; get moving. Put your energy where it will do some good. Don’t make waves when what you achieve will have a more significant impact on how you live or how you do things.

Choose peace over chaos.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Emotions will escalate if you or someone else falls short. Promise only what you know you can deliver, and don’t debate with business associates if you want to avoid a feud. Make your intentions clear, and channel your energy into purpose.

CANCER ( June 21-July 22): Keep your eyes on the ball, don’t mix business with pleasure and avoid sensitive topics with argumentative people. If you want to change, go about it secretively. Before you share, put everything in place. Look inward and concentrate on growth and enlightenment.

LEO ( July 23-Aug. 22): Don’t let impulsiveness take over. Rummage through your thoughts, use logic and think twice before making an emotional statement, purchase or risk that can cause damage to you physically, financially or emotionally. Discipline and moderation are your redeeming qualities.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Set your sights on what’s doable, and surround yourself with people who are eager to participate. Discuss the changes you feel are necessary to get to your destination with someone who has a different perspective, and you will gain insight.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Pay attention to health, responsibilities and sticking to a budget. Don’t display discrepancy or inconsistency. Share facts and budget wisely, regardless of the decisions others make. Maintaining balance and equality in all aspects of life will pay off.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Protect what you’ve got, and give no one a reason to doubt you. Take note of what a friend, relative or colleague has to say. Do something creative to ease stress and make you think about what you want to do next.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Problems will mount if you give someone the upper hand. Be careful what you share with a friend, relative or peer.

You’ll be misinterpreted or misled by someone trying to outmaneuver you.

Don’t display your emotions or vulnerabilities.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Avoid getting involved in joint ventures or shared expenses. You won’t see eye to eye when it comes to budgets and what’s necessary. A lifestyle change will be successful if it complements what you do for a living. Self-improvement is featured.

AQUARIUS ( Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Assess your situation, and adjust your tactics.

It’s up to you to build the life that makes you happy. Don’t argue with someone who doesn’t play fair. Decide what you want, then make it happen.

Don’t live in someone’s shadow.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Learn from experience. Before you battle with someone, consider the consequences. Put your emotions aside, pour your energy into following your heart, and invest time, effort and money to reach your objective. Make peace and love priorities.

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The observer | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2022 | ndsmcobserver.com

W Lacrosse Continued from page 16

last three minutes of the quarter. The half saw a 10-5 Irish lead.

The third quarter is where the Irish really secured their lead. The Irish outscored the Panthers 7-1 in the period. Choma scored t w ice, w ith goals apiece from Mote, A hern, Wolak, Howe and sophomore midfielder Mar y Kelly Dohert y.

In the fourth and final quarter, the Irish attack wasn’t as hot, but they certainly did not pull off the pedal. A hern scored the t wo goals this quarter, one unassisted and the other assisted from Choma. With a last-ditch effort, the Panthers scored w ithin the last 14 seconds, but it was already too late and the Irish secured their w in. Notre Dame outshot Pitt 36-18, as well as w inning 19-10 draw controls and 15-7 ground balls. The Irish also saw not one, but four hat tricks w ith Choma (5), A hern (4), Howe (4) and Mote (3). Wolak also had four assists on the night.

Irish thrash Eagles

Golden

Notre Dame saw a similar w in against Marquette on Monday.

A lthough Marquette opened up the scoring, this would be the last time they had control of the game. The Irish would respond w ith 6 goals — t wo from Choma, two from A hern and one from Dohert y and Wolak — of their ow n before another Eagle goal. The Irish would then finish off the quarter w ith three more goals to go up 9-2.

Notre Dame also dominated the second quarter.

The quarter opened w ith five straight Irish goals before the Eagles were able to find the back of the net.

With 40 seconds left, A hern was able to close out the half w ith a 15-3 lead.

W hile Marquette opened up the scoring in the third quarter w ith t wo goals, the Irish responded proportionally. However, one more Eagle goal tightened the lead slightly to 17-6 going into the final quarter.

The Eagles knew this was their last chance to tighten the Irish lead. This last burst of energ y allowed them to score t w ice off the bat, before senior midfielder Hannah Dorney responded w ith a goal. The Eagles would score t w ice more before a final response from junior attack Jane McAvoy w ith one second remaining. This would finalize the score of 19-10.

Again, the Irish saw four girls w ith hat tricks. This time, the leading scorer was A hern (6), followed by Choma (4), Wolak (3) and Dohert y (3). Wolak also had four assists on the night.

Notre Dame won 20-10 of the draw controls, which is something they have struggled to do all season.

If they want to continue on the streak they are currently on, they must continue to w in draw controls and shoot on goal.

Notre Dame plays their last regular-season game against Louisv ille this Saturday. Play w ill start at 1 p.m. and w ill be broadcasted on the ACC Network.

SOFTBALL | 2-3, 4-0, 1-2

Irish drop series to Tigers, rebound over Hoosiers

By J.J POST Sports Writer

Notre Dame softball played four games in the last week. They lost t wo of three to Clemson but won an extra-innings thriller against Indiana.

The pair of losses were both heartbreakers. Both the 3-2 result on Thursday and 2-1 series closing loss came in walk-off fashion.

Worst of all, the Irish held a lead for six of the seven innings on Thursday, but Clemson notched a pair of runs in the final inning to take home the v ictor y. However, Notre Dame did chalk up a 4-0 v ictor y on Saturday. The v ictor y came on the back of a complete-game no-hitter by graduate student pitcher A lex is Holloway. Holloway’s gem on the hill was fortified on offense thanks to a t wohit, t wo-RBI performance by graduate student infielder Abby Sweet.

Irish bounce back, topple Indiana The Irish did bounce back from the series on Tuesday,

however, taking home another close thriller on the road. This time, it was in an out-of-conference battle against Indiana.

Notre Dame’s offense struggled early — notching a pair of runs in the second inning before remaining quiet until pushing across one to tie the score in the sixth and another to take the lead in the seventh.

The lead was short-lived, however. In the bottom half of the inning, the Hoosiers clawed back a run of their ow n to tie the game at 4-4. With runners on second and third and just one out, it looked like the Irish were at risk of a third walk-off loss in four games. But freshman pitcher Shannon Becker entered the game and escaped the danger, forcing a pair of ground balls.

In the added eighth inning, the Irish offense came alive. Follow ing the blow n save, Notre Dame posted four runs to double their total for the game.

After a pair of singles gave the Irish a bright start, t wo quick outs minimized

their prospects. But Sweet prov ided the clutch spark the Irish needed, lining a single up the middle. Indiana pitcher Heather Johnson delivered an errant throw that would bring home a pair of runs. Junior outfielder Leea Hanks then doubled to send Sweet home. Hanks then scored v ia a single from sophomore infielder Karina Gaskins.

The Hoosiers showed signs of threat in the bottom half of the eighth. A lthough a double by Brooke Benson brought Indiana w ithin three, Becker closed out the game. She earned her ninth w in of the season.

Looking ahead, the Irish w ill now return to conference play and the confines of Melissa Cook Stadium, w ith a threegame series against North Carolina next on the docket over the weekend. First pitch against the Tar Heels w ill be 5 p.m.

Friday, and the game w ill be broadcasted on ACC Net work Extra.

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

Contact Olivia Schatz at oschatz@nd.edu

GRACIE LEE | The Observer

Irish junior infielder Joley Mitchell hits the ball during Notre Dame’s 13-12 (9 innings) home win over Georgia Tech on April 2. The Irish won the series 2-1 after falling 9-8 in the first game to the Yellow Jackets.

GRACIE LEE | The Observer

Irish freshman midfielder Grace Weigan tries to get around a defender in Notre Dame’s 24-5 home win over Central Michigan.

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ndsmcobserver.com | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2022 | The Observer

Women’s Golf

MEN’s Tennis

Irish close season at ACC Tournament

By ANDREW McGUINNESS Associate Sports Editor

W hile their fate won‘t officially be sealed until April 27, the Notre Dame‘s women‘s golf season all but certainly came to an end this weekend at the ACC Championships at the Reser ve Golf Club of Pawleys Island in South Carolina.

The Irish finished the weekend shooting 919 (+55), shooting 310-304-305 over the weekend.

The official NCA A tournament field won‘t be announced for about another week. But considering the Irish finished twelfth out of t welve teams at the Reser ve Golf Club last weekend, it‘s all but a formalit y that they won‘t be chosen this year.

The Irish season did have some high points, registering three top-five finishes, including a No. 2 place at the Universit y of Wisconsin inv ite in September.

But the spring semester just didn‘t break their way. The Irish didn‘t finish higher than 10th in any of their four tournaments in 2022.

Granted, it‘s not like things are all doom and gloom for Notre Dame. Sophomore Chloe Schiavone had a ver y strong show ing. She finished tied for 24th indiv idually, shooting 76-74-74 for a 224 on the weekend and a +8 finish. Freshman Montgomer y

13

Ferreira matched Schiavone‘s 76 in the opening round.

And junior Jessica Meyers bounced back from a rough start to the tournament w ith a 75 on day two. That marked the lowest score for the Irish outside of Schiavone‘s t wo 74s.

She also scored for the Irish on the final day w ith a 77. And the Irish did finish the tournament on a ver y strong note. Notre Dame finished 8th on the final day w ith a 305 score. That put them just five strokes back of the No. 3 team that day, North Carolina.

W hile it may not have been the weekend or season the Irish were hoping for, there are still plent y of reasons to be optimistic.

The ACC tournament prov ided a learning experience for a young Irish team that could return all eight of its members if senior Claire A lbrecht uses her extra year of eligibilit y granted because of COV ID. This was the ver y first full year of college for ever yone but A lbrecht due to COV ID as well.

It all bodes well for the chances that coach Susan Holt w ill be able to look back on this disappointing finish w ith a much happier perspective a year from now.

Contact Andrew McGuinness at amcguinn@nd.edu

Irish men’s tennis gears up for ACC Tournament

By MATTHEW CROW Sports Writer

A f ter closing out t he regu la r season w it h consecut ive w ins aga inst Boston College a nd Depau l, Not re Da me men’s tennis w ill t ravel to Rome, Georg ia for t he ACC Tourna ment t his week. The Irish (16-11, 5-7) ea rned t he No. 9 seed in t he tourna ment. They w ill play t heir f irst match aga inst No. 8 Florida State (15-9, 5-7) on Thursday.

Not re Da me enters t he tourna ment a f ter a n upa nd-dow n ACC reg u la rseason slate t hat saw t hem st r uggle at t imes w it h consistency. They got of f to a st rong 4-2 sta r t in conference play t hat included a w in aga inst t hen-No. 25 Mia mi.

Follow ing t he hot sta r t, t he Irish suf fered f ive consecut ive losses during a cha lleng ing st retch of t heir schedu le, w it h each of t hose matches aga inst tea ms in t he top si x of t he ACC sta ndings. Not re Da me turned t hings a round in t heir f ina l conference match, a domina nt 7-0 w in on t he road aga inst Boston College, a nd t hey w ill hope to build on t hat per forma nce as t hey turn t heir attent ion to t he Seminoles.

Not re Da me has ex perience aga inst Florida State.

The Seminoles defeated t he Irish in a t ight 4-2 match in Sout h Bend ea rlier t his season. The Irish w ill be looking for a dif ferent resu lt

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t his t ime a round. A major factor w i l l be Not re Da me’s play in doubles, which has been somewhat of a wea kness for t he tea m t his yea r.

The Irish have won 53% of t heir doubles matches on t he season, a nd just 41% in ACC play. Compa red to 61% a nd 49% w in rates in singles, it’s been a st r ugg le.

Florida State won t he doubles point during t he tea ms’ f irst meet ing by ea rning v ictories on cour ts No. 1 a nd 2, a nd Not re Da me was unable to recover f rom t he ea rly def icit.

Ta k ing t he doubles point on Thursday wou ld g reat ly improve t he Irish’s cha nces of adva ncing to t he nex t round.

In singles, t he ma rquee matchup w i l l come on cour t No. 1, as Not re Da me senior A xel Nef ve, ra n ked No. 63 nat iona l ly, w i l l likely face of f aga inst Florida State junior Loris Pourroy, ra n ked No. 44. Pourrey picked up a ha rd-fought 7-6, 6-4 v ictor y when t he players met ea rlier in t he yea r, a nd Nef ve w i l l be look ing for revenge on t he postseason stage. The matchup is pending Nef ve’s injur y status.

The senior ret ired f rom his match on Ma rch 25 aga inst Du ke, a nd he hasn’t played since. Head coach Rya n Sachire told The Obser ver t hat Nef ve is “work ing towa rds play ing on Thursday.”

Not re Da me has a lso seen st rong play f rom juniors Connor Fu a nd Matt hew Che t hroughout t he course of t he season. Bot h players enter t he tourna ment having won t hree consecut ive matches.

Ever y point w i l l matter as Not re Da me a nd Florida State appea r to be ex t remely even ly matched, a nd Fu a nd Che cont inuing t heir hot st retch of play wou ld be cr ucia l for t he Irish.

Look ing a head, t he pat h to a n ACC cha mpionship w i l l be a dif f icu lt one for Not re Da me, as a w in aga inst Florida State wou ld ea rn t hem a match aga inst No. 1 seed Virg inia in t he qua r ter f ina ls on Friday.

Virg inia ea rned a f irstround bye a f ter f inishing a per fect 12-0 in conference play, a nd t he Cava liers current ly sit at No. 6 in t he nat ion, highest in t he ACC. Virg inia defeated Not re Da me 6-1 in Cha rlottesv i l le when t he tea ms met in ea rly Ma rch, but t he Irish have show n t hemselves to be a n improved squad since t hen.

The ot her top-four seeds in t he tourna ment a re Wa ke Forest, Nor t h Ca rolina, a nd Louisv i l le, a l l tea ms t hat defeated Not re Da me during t he reg u la r season.

The Irish w i l l li kely face some combinat ion of t hese tea ms if t hey adva nce beyond Virg inia.

Not re Da me, ra n ked No. 34 nat iona l ly, has hopes of using a st rong per forma nce in Georg ia t his week to secure a ber t h in t he NC A A Tourna ment.

Last season, t he Irish ra n ked a n ident ica l No. 34 entering t he ACC Tourna ment a nd, despite fa l ling in t heir f irst match, did ea rn a bid to t he NC A As. The Irish w i l l look to ma ke a f ina l boost to t heir resume w it h a deep r un in t he tourna ment t his week.

Not re Da me w i l l ta ke on Florida State at 10 a.m. on Thursday at t he Rome Tennis Center at Berr y College.

If t he Irish adva nce, t he fol low ing rounds w i l l each be at 10 a.m. on Friday t hrough Sunday.

Contact Matthew Crow at mcrow2@nd.edu

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ndsmcobserver.com | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2022 | The Observer

Baseball

ROWING

Irish claim two top-two finishes at Big Ten Invite

By AIDAN THOMAS Sports Editor

The Notre Dame rowing team competed in the Big Ten Inv ite this past weekend.

They continue to gain valuable racing experience w ith a young roster, looking to peak as the postseason approaches.

At the Big Ten Inv ite, the Irish improved throughout the weekend, notching a w in in the second varsit y four on Saturday morning. They also claimed a second-place finish in the first varsit y eight.

“We continue to learn to race. I think we need to learn to race consistently,” Irish head coach Martin Stone said.

“Throughout the weekend, one race would be good, one would be bad.

The 2V4 did a really great job in their final.”

The Irish faced some incredibly stiff competition, w ith 10 of 16 teams ranked in the top 20.

Michigan and Brow n headlined the field and showcased well-rounded and dominant teams.

Those two programs consistently outclassed the field in each race.

However, Notre Dame was able to scratch out a third-place finish in the second varsit y four.

They improved their morning time by nearly 17 seconds and won.

Stone spoke on the valuable experience the team gained from facing an elite set of opponents.

“Michigan, Brow n, Yale are all ver y fast. They‘re all teams we‘ve seen,” Stone commented. “Now it‘s a matter of us tr y ing to develop our speed.”

Irish junior Victoria Gevaudan also discussed Notre Dame‘s need for better consistency.

“I think we can find more speed in the middle of our race,” Gevaudan said.

“We have the power and the fitness, but just need to learn how to apply it consistently throughout the middle.”

Gevaudan rowed w ith the first varsit y eight which ended their weekend on a strong note.

On Friday, Gevaudan and her crew mates finished fourth in both races.

Their times of 6:49.29 and 6:46.311 kept them a few strokes behind their closest competition.

On Saturday, however, the Irish turned it around in multiple races, headlined by the second varsit y four’s w in, and an improved race from the first varsit y eight.

Row ing a time of 6:34.072, the Irish edged out Michigan State and Dartmouth to claim second.

“I think my boat finally started to find our racing st yle this weekend which is really exciting going into the second half

of the season,” Gevaudan commented.

The second varsit y four also highlighted the second day w ith the Irish‘s lone v ictor y of the regatta.

The Irish got off to a solid start and posted a w inning time of 7:26.636.

That was good for just over 20 seconds better than the Irish‘s best time on Friday in the race.

“I thought they raced a really good race,” Stone said. “They got out well, kept plugging away, and were able to w ithstand somewhat of a charge from the crews coming back.”

Ultimately, Stone has been pleased w ith moments from his squad, and he hopes to see the consistency come together as the season w inds dow n.

The Irish travel in t wo weekends to Indiana for the Dale England Cup. They‘ll face Clemson, Michigan State and Indiana at that regatta.

It‘s the final event before the ACC Championships for the Irish.

“We can car ve out some really positive moments in each race, but I‘m not sure any boat has put together all their best segments together just yet.”

Contact Aidan Thomas at athoma28@nd.edu

Continued from page 16

right back in the game. But Duke put it out of reach w ith a seven-run eighth inning, forcing the Irish to burn through three pitchers.

Notre Dame’s pitching held up much better on Friday. Less than t wo weeks removed from being named a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award, graduate student left-handed pitcher John Michael Bertrand scattered nine hits across six innings of work, allow ing t wo runs. Senior outfielder Brooks Coetzee III starred at the plate, giv ing the Irish an early 2-0 lead w ith a secondinning homer, then putting the Irish back ahead 3-2 w ith a sixth-inning RBI groundout.

But a home run by Duke’s nine-hole hitter Luke Storm tied the game in the eighth. Notre Dame could not record a hit in the top of the 10th or 11th innings.

And in the bottom of the 11th, Duke walked it off on an RBI single by RJ Schreck.

The Blue Dev ils’ pitching staff befuddled Notre Dame’s lineup in the series finale on Saturday.

The Irish managed just five hits on the afternoon. Three of them came from their bottom t wo hitters and t wo not until in the ninth inning.

The game was already out of reach by then.

After taking a 1-0 lead in the first, Duke took control w ith a threerun fourth, punctuated by a t wo-run homer by Damon Lu x. The usually sure-handed Irish made

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15

three errors, leading to a pair of costly unearned runs.

W hile the Irish have certainly show n their talent and big-game experience at times this season, this weekend ser ves as a reminder that the Irish are still a work in progress. Link Jarrett shuff led the order of the top of his lineup in each of the three games.

Notre Dame had another starter fail to reach the second inning.

And their knack for the little things proved nearly absent in Durham.

Notre Dame won’t be pushing the panic button after this week’s sweep. But it showed there are still quite a few questions the Irish to answer over the last month of the season.

The Irish were able to somewhat right the ship when they took dow n Valparaiso on Tuesday night, 5-1.

The Irish scored three in the first and after one Valpo run snuck by Irish freshman pitcher Roman Kimball in the top of the seventh, the Irish answered w ith t wo more in the bottom of the seventh.

Irish junior pitcher Jack Brannigan was credited w ith the w in.

Still, it w ill take more consistency from the Irish to hold similar rankings through the end of the season. Their next test comes at the hands of Wake Forest. The Irish have a three game weekend series at home against the Demon Deacons.

The first pitch w ill be throw n 5 p.m. Friday, followed by a 2 p.m. Saturday game and the third game at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

Contact Andrew McGuinness at amcguinn@nd.edu

16

The observer | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2022 | ndsmcobserver.com

women’s LACROSSE | 19-7

Irish women’s lacrosse pounds Panthers, Golden Eagles

By OLIVIA SCHATZ Associate Sports Editor

After a 16-10 loss against No. 3 Boston College, the No. 18 Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team comes back w ith a 19-7 w in against Pittsburgh on senior day, before another big w in against Marquette (19-10).

This season has not been smooth sailing for the Irish as they currently sit w ith a 7-8 record (2-5 ACC) w ith losses against all top teams.

However, the Irish hope to bring this momentum into their final regular season game against Louisv ille this Saturday.

Notre Dame collects ACC win over Pitt Junior attack Madison A hern opened up the scoring w ith an assist from junior attack Jackie Wolak w ithin the first three minutes. Senior midfielder Madison Mote was the second to score w ith an assist from graduate student attack Maddie Howe.

Pitt would respond before two answers from the Irish: the first by sophomore midfielder Keelin Schlageter and the next by junior midfielder Kasey Choma. The Panthers would not allow the Irish to pull away and brought the score to 4-3. This would be answered w ith an unassisted goal from Choma, before another Panther goal.

The Irish were determined to finish the scoring for the quarter, and w ith 2 seconds left Howe found the back of the net. The last three goals of the quarter were all scored w ith a minute left.

The first quarter was the first and only quarter in which Pitt scored multiple times. With a 6-4 lead, Howe opened up the scoring for the second quarter. W hile the Panthers did score once, the Irish found the back of the net three more times before the end of the half w ith goals from Choma, Mote and Howe, all w ithin the see W LACROSSE PAGE 12

GRACIE LEE | The Observer

Irish graduate student attack Maddie Howe tracks a player for her teammate in Notre Dame’s seasonopening win over Central Michigan on Feb. 11. The Irish outscored the Chippewas 24-5 in the matchup.

BASEBALL | 5-15, 3-4 (11), 2-6 | 5-1

Inconsistent Irish swept on the road by Duke, regain their feet hosting Valparaiso

By ANDREW McGUINNESS Associate Sports Editor

RYAN VIGILANTE | The Observer

Irish graduate student leftfielder Ryan Cole slides into second base during Notre Dame’s 5-2 home win over Butler on April 5. Cole scored twice on the day after his leadoff double started the scoring for the Irish.

It’s been a season of peaks and valleys for the No. 4 Notre Dame baseball team (21-8, 8-7 ACC). They had a four-game losing streak just after St. Patrick’s Day where the pitching staff just couldn’t stop the bleeding. The Irish then responded by w inning nine straight, w ith their pitching settling dow n and the offense carr y ing the load.

A three-game series against a Duke team at the bottom of the Coastal div ision (16-20, 6-12 ACC) seemed like a great opportunit y for the Irish to keep the good times rolling.

That’s especially considering they entered the series on the heels of a 15-run outburst on Tuesday against Michigan.

But that couldn’t be farther from what happened.

Instead of shining, the Irish spiraled, suffering a blowout loss in game one against Duke and scoring just five runs over the final t went y innings of the series.

Just when Notre Dame seemed to be at their highest peak, the Blue Dev ils swept them into another valley.

The unorthodox ThursdayFriday-Saturday series began w ith a Duke shellacking. The Blue Dev ils handed Notre Dame a sound 15-5 defeat, easily Notre Dame’s worst defeat of the year. Duke jumped all over Irish starter senior lefthanded pitcher Will Mercer for three runs in the first inning.

The Blue Dev ils added three more across the second and third innings against the Irish bullpen, which was once again called into early action. A four-run fifth inning got the Irish see BASEBALL PAGE 15