Print Edition of The Observer for Friday, August 14, 2020

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Volume 55, Issue 3 | Friday august 14, 2020 | ndsmcobserver.com

ND reports COVID cases University revises Off-campus students face new protocols for quarantining admissions policy Observer Staff Report

Notre Dame recorded its first positive COVID-19 cases after beginning classes Monday, an email to the University community said Thursday.

The majority of cases have been traced to a single gathering off-campus, and students involved provided the University necessary information for contact tracing.

“The students involved were forthcoming in sharing information with contact tracers,” the email said.

“They shared who they interacted with, when and for how long. They also indicated

individuals at the gathering were both outside and inside, together for some time, not wearing masks, in a crowded space and drinking.”

According to the Notre Dame COVID-19 Dashboard, seven individuals tested positive for COVID-19 as of Wednesday. An additional four individuals tested positive Tuesday.

In light of these initial cases, the University announced a few new updates. While offcampus undergraduate students who test positive were previously expected to isolate in their own apartments or homes, the University will now require the off-campus

undergraduate students who test positive and who live with other students to isolate in the University’s units.

“Regardless of location, students must follow the University’s guidelines for quarantine and isolation,” the email said. “Students who fail to comply face emergency involuntary withdrawal from the University, and may also be referred to the University conduct process.”

Students who test positive must provide details with contact tracers, and the information shared will not be used for disciplinary reasons. see COVID PAGE 5

Education students adjust to fieldwork guidelines

By GENEVIEVE COLEMAN Associate News Editor

Students and teachers across the country have been in the throes of new safety and learning regulations regarding safely returning to school during the coronavirus pandemic. Education students hoping to enter the profession at Saint Mary’s face the same challenges because of the required fieldwork in order to become

licensed educators.

Education department coordinator and director of student teaching and field work Steven Mast explained how local school policies this year have changed the number of education students who will be completing field work in person.

“This fall, the local school districts are only allowing our senior student teachers in for field placements.

We have 19 students doing

student teaching in a total of 19 placements,” Mast said.

Senior and elementary education student teacher Emma Cassidy spoke to how she is responding to the new guidelines set by her school site.

“Currently Beiger Elementary where I’m supposed to do my placement is online for the first few weeks of the semester, so I

By TRINITY REILLY News Writer

As students navigate their first days back on campus, HERE ambassadors strive to guide the Notre Dame community in protocols designed to help stop the spread of COVID-19.

Torence Witherspoon, a HERE ambassador, said the

News PAGE 3

VIEWPOINT PAGE 6

Notre Dame News Editor

In June, Notre Dame announced admissions will not require standardized test scores for the 2020-2021 application period. Although COVID-19 concerns catalyzed this change, associate vice president of undergraduate enrollment Don Bishop said this decision has been years in the making.

For the past 10 years, Bishop said admissions has considered test scores less and less in applications in favor of a holistic approach. In fact, in the 2019-2020 application

cycle, less than half of the students who applied with an ACT score between 35-36 and an SAT score higher than 5050 gained admission.

Instead, admissions reviews extracurriculars, letters of recommendation and essays to determine an applicant’s motivation for success, which the admissions team rates highly in choosing students.

Bishop expects the admitted class of 2025 to display the same academic prowess as students in previous years despite the University’s decision to be test optional. see POLICY PAGE 4

Senate passes COVID testing resolution

see EDUCATION PAGE 4

HERE ambassadors encourage compliance program was created this summer to be a positive force that addresses the needs of students, faculty and staff as they return to campus and adjust to following the many new policies necessary to keep the University open.

Karen Sunshine, director of game day hospitality, played an integral role in creating the HERE ambassador program.

By SERENA ZACHARIAS

To fill the ambassador roles, the University pulled approximately 45 employees from different departments — including Special Events and the Morris Inn — whose previous jobs would have been hard to sustain in the era of COVID-19, Sunshine said. These employees then see HERE PAGE 4

SCENE PAGE 10

ALYSA GUFFEY | The Observer

Student senate met Thursday to discuss topics such as new Title IX regulations and the need for surveillance testing on campus.

By ALYSA GUFFEY Associate News Editor

Student body president and senior Rachel Ingal opened the first student senate meeting of the academic year Wednesday night with a call to action and responsibility for student leaders in the midst of the pandemic.

“We would really like if you guys could join us on this journey of this interesting semester,

ND W LacRosse PAGE 16

… and that includes setting the example,” Ingal said. “Our University has [spent] tireless hours this summer working to make reopening possible, and I think they’ve done a great job, … and we are making it possible to remain here and improve your life every semester.”

Ingal also noted student government is working toward see SENATE PAGE 5

ND M BAsketball PAGE 16

2

TODAY

The observer | Friday, august 14, 2020 | ndsmcobserver.com

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“Just Mercy.”

“13.”

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“The Tree of Life.”

“Pride and Prejudice (2005).”

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“Knives Out.”

“Shawshank Redemption.”

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HANNAH HUELSKAMP | The Observer

Masked first-year students study in the Coleman-Morse Center on Thursday evening. Monday marked the first day of classes for the fall 2020 semester, with the tri-campus community starting two weeks earlier than originally planned due to the pandemic.

The next Five days:

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Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Fridays by the Fountain Jon Hunt Plaza 11:45 a.m. - 1:15 p.m.

Afternoon of free music outside.

Black Student First Year Retreat Stepan Center all day Open to all Black firstyear students.

Basilica Mass Basilica of the Sacred Heart 10 a.m.

Open to all for Sunday worship.

AAHD Gallery 214 Riley Hall of Art 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

An exhibition of paintings by Katie Neece, MFA ‘20.

‘What Is Title IX?’ Panel Virtual 6 p.m.

BAVO hosts discussion on new policies.

SAO Vision Board Party North Quad Tent 8 p.m. - 10 p.m.

Fun activities to set goals for the semester.

Music Trivia Night Legends of Notre Dame 9 p.m. - 11 p.m.

Prizes will be awarded to top 3 winners.

Outdoor Adventure Student Center Atrium 12:30 p.m. - 3 p.m.

Presented by OCSE, enjoy local parks in South Bend.

Orr Fellowship Info Session Virtual 7 p.m.

Learn more about the Orr Fellowship.

Presentation and Conversation Virtual 7 p.m.

Presentation of Notre Dame’s Energy future.

News

ndsmcobserver.com | Friday, august 14, 2020 | The Observer

3

University instructors opt to teach virtually

By CATE VON DOHLEN News Writer

Notre Dame professors w ill teach in three formats this semester: fully-virtual, hybrid or in-person w ith a v irtual component for students in quarantine or choosing to take class online this semester. The majority of professors teaching in a full-virtual format have underlying medical conditions or they have a family member who does.

Professor Dav id Hutchison in the Mendoza College of Business opted to teach fully-v irtually this semester due to family health concerns.

“My w ife suffers from lupus rheumatoid arthritis, chronic lung issues w ith pneumonia,” he said. “She’s an asthmatic, and she’s got probably a half a dozen or so other autoimmune conditions. So, all of that leaves her at ver y high risk, should

she contract the v irus.”

Hutchison said he also has a daughter who does not currently live at home, but is likely to for a meaningful period of time during the term, has a condition called POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome) and another condition called mast cell disorder and mast cell disorder, which puts her in a ver y high-risk position relative to the coronav irus.

Hutchison primarily teaches real estate classes in the finance department of Mendoza. His classes w ill take place synchronously as opposed to asynchronously.

“Part of what makes Notre Dame the unusual and special place that it is is that it emphasizes communit y,” he said. “My job has historically been to be a part of your students’ communit y, as an instructor and as an adv isor and, basically, mentor; I’ve worked my duration here at Notre Dame w ith that in

mind. … I bet you would hear from them — the vast majorit y of [professors] — that we have no real interest in doing things this way.”

Ty pically, Hutchison offers his help to students undergoing career discernment and inter v iew preparation for internships and full-time positions. He emphasized the importance of adding extra time throughout his day to communicate w ith students via phone, text message, email and Zoom.

“It makes a whole lot of sense for me to tr y to accommodate what you folks are comfortable w ith because there’s one of me and a whole lot of you,” he said.

Professor Tatiana Botero in the College of Arts and Letters is also teaching v irtually this semester.

Botero said she has underlying conditions that make her susceptible to the coronav irus. She also said this allows her to stay home w ith

her 13-year-old son during the day, who would have other w ise been home alone.

“It would have been ver y challenging to oversee his school day at home — elearning — while I was at the Universit y,” she said.

Botero is teaching two Spanish language classes this semester both w ith two sections of students.

She plans to teach synchronously most weeks w ith an occasional Friday asynchronously for project-work.

She said she preferred to teach her language classes v irtually because it allows for facial expressions and better enunciation than when wearing masks and social distancing in-person.

This, in turn, helps foster communit y among her students, she said.

“In class discussion, it’s just not feasible to have pairwork, collaborative work, when you have to be 6 feet apart in the classroom. And

then also wearing masks, myself included, the students can’t really see how I’m speaking,” Botero said.

She said pair-sharing — when each student has the opportunit y to think and share their thoughts in the language — is a core component of her classes.

“I’m really happy we are [using] Zoom because we can still have the pair-work in breakout rooms, then we can come back to the class in galler y v iew to see all the students and they can see me,” Botero said.

Using Zoom allows her to check-in on the pairs working together in breakout rooms as the host.

Both Hutchison and Botero emphasized the importance of fostering communit y and collaboration in and out of class through the use of technolog y during this semester.

Contact Cate Von Dohlen at cvondohl@nd.edu

Student leaders maintain campaign values

By ISABELLA VOLMERT Associate News Editor

Editor’s Note: A version of this story was published online Aug. 13.

W hen the senior executives of student government took office last spring, president Rachel Ingal, v ice president Sarah Galbenski and chief of staff Aaron Benav ides received some general adv ice to respond to the needs of the times.

“But wow, I did not think it would turn out the way it did,” Ingal said.

A lthough the administration is working w ith new challenges posed by local, national and global developments since last spring, the three said they are still determined to uphold their original campaign values.

“It’s definitely a balance,” Ingal said.

In an email sent to student leaders Sunday, the executives encouraged elected and selected officials to reevaluate their roles.

“Now that we are back together, we really need to take the time to ref lect on our platforms and refocus on what the present needs are of our student body and Universit y,” Benav ides said.

The student leaders are beginning to see how the pandemic and its effects intersect w ith diversit y and inclusion, health and wellbeing and Universit y policy, Ingal added.

Over the summer, the student government released four statements. Two

addressed the government’s commitment to anti-racism in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, one offered a commitment to the LGBTQ+ communit y during Pride Month and the final was a call to action against ICE policy affecting International students.

“Diversit y and inclusion was a hallmark of our campaign,” Benav ides said.

As part of this commitment, the Department of Gender Relations made and prov ided book lets for Welcome Weekend captains this year, in an effort to promote inclusive language.

Galbenski said the government is looking to send a comprehensive resource email to first-years soon, which w ill prov ide information about cultural and identit y groups/clubs on campus.

Another original goal of the administration was to encourage national engagement, originally centered around the first presidential debate. Ingal said the student government recently worked w ith many political clubs on campus to incorporate voter registration into Moreau modules. These groups are hoping to work together to foster healthy political dialogue as Election Day approaches.

Student government is especially focusing on the first-years, in order to ensure they still experience the Notre Dame communit y during these times when many social traditions are in f lu x.

Over Welcome Weekend, student government hosted t wo events for this reason.

The annual Flick on the Field show ing of “Rudy” Friday drew an estimated 2,000 attendees who sat socially distanced.

Additionally, around 1,000 participants watched the Saturday Night Live Stream in the stadium.

“We’re hoping to have events of similar spirit going for ward,” Galbenski said.

The government still plans on hosting the annual 9/11 Memorial Prayer Ser v ice and Race Relations Week in October.

In an email sent Monday, the administration

encouraged students to consider their personal responsibilit y to others and the Notre Dame communit y when engaging w ith the new health and safet y protocols.

Ingal said student government has also been in discussion w ith those involved w ith the HERE campaign to include mental health considerations in their communications.

Additional student government initiatives include working w ith Campus Life Council to prov ide more diversit y and inclusion education and work towards the creation of a Native Studies minor. They are also looking

to give away 500 sets of reusable utensil sets to students to use in place of the disposable ones currently available in the dining halls.

Ingal and Galbenski said they are looking to start sending monthly newsletters to the student body regarding updates on actions taken, efforts under way and policy goals they hold looking ahead.

“That regularit y of communication is important to us,” Ingal said. “We are just tr y ing to lead w ith an energetic and optimistic spirit.”

Contact Isabella Volmert at ivolmert@nd.edu

NOLA WALLACE | The Observer

Seniors Sarah Galbenski, Rachel Ingal and Aaron Benavides, student body vice president, president and chief of staff, respectively, remain committed to their campaign promises despite the unusual semester.

4

NEWS

The observer | Friday, august 14, 2020 | ndsmcobserver.com

Policy Continued from page 1

“Being test optional is not going to mean we’re less selective,” he said. “What it means is that your class performance is going to be really important for us to evaluate.”

Director of admissions Christy Pratt said her office first evaluates an applicant’s academic preparation, then moves on to the rest of the application.

“We open up with the transcript and the high school profile, what was offered to that student in their high school, what have they taken, have they continued to challenge themselves, each and every year throughout high school and obviously the grades

HERE Continued from page 1

underwent a three-day training program to prepare them to work as ambassadors.“We learned to remind people about new safety measures and direct them to resources — on the website they have some great maps of outdoor spaces, and they have a dashboard that just went up this week of the latest testing data,” said Callee Stirn, a HERE ambassador. “A big part of our job is just being in physical presence to remind people to follow protocol.”

Now that students are back on campus and ambassadors are starting to put their training in action, it is becoming evident that the program may adjust, Sunshine said. While she said she believes students are doing a good job wearing masks, there are some instances that need to be better addressed by the ambassador program.

Whether this means providing a laundry service to assist students in adequate washing of their masks or helping remind students to sit further apart when eating on the quad.

“Our job here is to is to further the goal of staying on campus, not just with the scientific portion of this plan, but also with a PR team in tune with the actual campus climate to make a cultural shift on campus so that we’re all engaging in the right protocols to stay here,” she said.

As an ambassador, Witherspoon also understands that life with coronavirus is hard to get used to and requires genuine effort to change normal habits.

“We understand that not wearing a mask is not about any disrespect or not wanting to follow the rules,” he said. “It’s simply that you guys are 18 to 22 year olds, and this is not a normal environment for you guys to be in. We understand that,

achieved on it,” Pratt said.

“And we’re hoping that they’re maximizing what’s available to them.”

In addition to academics, Pratt said admissions looks for students who are passionate about their activities and will utilize the resources Notre Dame has to offer.“It’s not the quantity of [checking] off every single box,” Pratt said. “It’s more of what are you involved in and what are you passionate about and what that’s sharing with us. … We’re not looking for someone who’s president of 15 clubs. Well, if you’re president of 15 clubs, then how are you able to give so much of yourself?”

Pratt sees the University’s decision to go test optional as “one less hurdle for students to jump over.”

but we also want to succeed in our goal of staying here all semester because we understand the importance of the Notre Dame experience that comes along with the educational experience here.

So we’re physical reminders of the HERE policies to help that goal be successful.”

As far as the current success, Sunshine, Stirn and Witherspoon all agreed that students, faculty and staff have exceeded expectations for following policies, especially mask wearing.

“I think we’re doing a good job,” Witherspoon said, “but that doesn’t mean take your foot off the pedal. With a pandemic, when we’re talking about transmission, 3 to 5% of non-compliance can be an issue. I do think that largely students are doing their best and really want to engage in these protocols so that we can stay here all semester.”

In essence, Sunshine said, the ambassador program aims to be the human side of the HERE campaign on campus. Touched by a recent conversation with a student, Sunshine said the program is especially important because it may be what helps campus stay open. Ultimately, students, faculty and staff should have one takeaway about the ambassador program, she said — ambassadors are open, approachable and just trying to make this semester more positive for campus.

“When you’re coming in contact with your ambassadors, and they’re encouraging you to put on your mask or to physically distance, it really is because we want to be able to be here and stay here and enjoy this campus for what it is,” Witherspoon said. “We just really believe in what the end goal is here — to stay on campus. As a community, we all have to commit to that.”

Contact Trinity Reilly at treilly5@nd.edu

Admissions has been attempting to remove barriers for students in the last few years, and becoming test optional will further this goal, she said.

As a part of this progression, admissions began to allow students to self report test scores on their application portal two years ago. The student is only required to provide an official testing report if they decide to enroll at Notre Dame.

“It’s one less thing that a student has to pay for to send to however many schools that they did so that was kind of that first step of let’s take away this barrier,” Pratt said.

Because of the holistic admissions process, Bishop said students who elect to not send a score will not be at a disadvantage to comparable students who choose to send in

a score. For many reasons, he has grown to be more skeptical of standardized test scores in identifying students to admit.

“In the last few years, I have never seen so many applicants with high test scores that the rest of their application does not align with,” Bishop said.

“I’m concerned whether they got help on their essays beyond their own abilities. I’m concerned whether their test score was over practiced, and it’s not indicative of their talent.”

For students concerned about comparing their test scores to that of previous classes, Bishop said admissions will take the country’s current circumstances into consideration. He expects the national distribution of test scores to decrease because of a lack of access to taking the test

multiple times and to practice with personal counselors.

“We’re only going to compare you with the pool that applies with you that is laboring under the same circumstances that you,” he said. “We’re really looking at the proportional success.”

Admissions plans on piloting this program for one year, and at the end, they will determine whether they want to continue test optional in future admissions.

“I am really excited along with the entire team that we’re putting that power back in the hands of our applicants to decide if they want to include a test score within their application,” Pratt said.

Education

in the education department are completing their fieldwork requirements through collaboration with their Saint Mary’s professors on campus.

“The juniors who would normally have a weekly field placement are working with our department faculty to do focused observations of teaching videos — where they will watch the videos, and zero in on and respond to and comment about classroom management strategies, questioning strategies, student engagement and a host of other things related to the SMC education department standards,” he said.

Mast acknowledged that while fulfilling these fieldwork standards on campus is a non-traditional approach, it is an appropriate substitute during the coronavirus pandemic.

“While we know faceto-face experiences in schools with students is invaluable for the formation of quality educators, we feel this is a viable alternative when field students are not allowed in local schools,” he said.

Education professors Jeff Greiner and Terri Suico released a joint statement over email regarding how students will complete the department’s introductory course EDUC 201 without the in-person field experience.

“The Education Department has been able to purchase access to a repository of education video,” Greiner and Suico said. “Since our students cannot be in the field this semester, we will have them watch videos from this repository where they will be able to

watch classroom teachers teach entire lessons. They will then be able to do similar ref lections based on watching those videos that students did previously.”

Students will then ref lect on existing department standards about student diversity, the classroom and the professional atmosphere in schools.

“Since the students won’t be working with teachers the way they would during typical fieldwork, we are having them ref lect on the three standards addressed in EDUC 201: Student Development and Diversity, The Learning Environment and The Professional Environment and explain, in their own words, what these standards mean and why these standards are important to teaching and learning. While this doesn’t perfectly take the place of talking with teachers and interacting with them as professionals, this gives them the chance to really think about the standards,” Greiner and Suico said.

Mast emphasized that the education department is doing everything it can for students, as well as local teachers and students, while still remaining within state accreditation standards.

“While we cannot relax too many of our requirements due to [accreditation] requirements, we are operating on the platform of being f lexible to meet the needs of clinical educators, our education students and the students in the local classrooms.”

Continued from page 1

can’t physically be in person. I learned that through the news actually,” she said.

“It wasn’t directly communicated to me. I have been in frequent communication with my teacher at my placement which has been super helpful.”

These student teachers will be engaging on a more limited basis with community educators while South Bend students are learning virtually, Mast said.

“Most all of the classroom teachers working with our students will be teaching from inside their classrooms during the virtual learning time, so most of our students will be in the room with their clinical educators one day a week,” he said. “We have asked the student teachers to limit their time in the building to just one day, so as to minimize traffic to and from campus and in and out of school building.”

Mast recognized local teachers might have difficulty balancing their responsibilities with their student-teachers and their students, so the department has decided to decrease the number of required fieldwork hours for student-teachers.

“Due to COVID-19, we have relaxed our usually rigid weekly hour requirements, realizing that while local teachers are still hosting our student teachers, they are faced with a myriad of stress and tasks to deliver quality online instruction,” he said.

According to Mast, juniors

Contact Serena Zacharias at szachari@nd.edu

Contact Genevieve Coleman at gcoleman01@saintmarys.edu

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5

SMC service club assists local community

By GENEVIEVE COLEMAN Associate News Editor

Editor’s Note: A version of this story was published online Aug. 13.

A core value of a Saint Mar y’s education is justice through ser v ice and compassion towards others. This year, a group of Belles have chosen to live out this part of the College’s mission by creating Sisterhood of Ser v ice, a new club designed for those who want to participate in serv ice opportunities.

Saint Mar y’s junior and resident of the club Megan Anderson explained her motivation for creating the serv ice organization.

“I started the club over the summer w ith a group of girls from Saint Mar y’s who

COVID Continued from page 1

“The amount of time you spent w ith someone, when and under what conditions determines whether you w ill be considered a close contact and need to be tested,” the email said. “Casual exposure, especially if you are wearing a mask and practicing physical distancing, means you probably do not need a test and w ill not need to quarantine.”

The Universit y w ill prov ide PCR and antigen tests for patients who need to be tested. W hile diagnostic PCR tests result w ithin 48 hours, antigen tests result in less than 30 minutes. Antigen tests though “cannot definitively determine if a patient is negative for COVID-19,” the email said. The tests are effective for identif y ing positive cases.

Universit y Health Ser v ice (UHS) medical prov iders w ill rev iew the daily health checks to determine whether an indiv idual needs a diagnostic test.

I thought shared my interest in developing a club that focused on volunteer and serv ice projects w ithin South Bend and tri-campus communities,” she said in an email.

Anderson described the objectives of the club, citing the group’s desire to help the surrounding communit y and empower students to positively use their talents. “[Sisterhood of Ser v ice] aims to prov ide assistance to the surrounding South Bend communit y while focusing on ways to ser ve the tri-campus communit y,” she said. “It was created to encourage women to use the skills and talents they were given to help others in creative and exciting ways.”

Saint Mar y’s senior and social media chair Molly Cutter said she welcomes

“Our prov iders order tests based on either primar y sy mptoms or two or more days of secondar y sy mptoms of COVID-19,” the email said. “W hen the clinical circumstances warrant it, UHS prov iders err on the side of ordering a test.”

The Universit y w ill also expand a testing protocol which w ill decrease quarantine time from 14 to as few as 7 days, the email said.

“This protocol only applies to asy mptomatic patients and involves a combination of PCR and antigen tests,” the email said.

Vice president for student affairs Erin Hoffmann Harding and v ice president for campus safet y and Universit y operations Mike Seamon urged the communit y to continue follow ing the guidelines to ensure the safet y and health of students, facult y and staff.

“Together, through both encouragement and holding one another accountable, we can avoid another incident that places our communit y at risk,” the email said.

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any students who want to join the club to participate in ser v ice opportunities.

“We wanted anyone at Saint Mar y’s to have an opportunit y to join us in ser v ing the local communit y in our free time,” she said.

Cutter said she hopes that members of Sisterhood of Ser v ice w ill be united by their common interest to ser ve others.

“We are hoping to gain membership through exciting activ ities and volunteer opportunities,” she added.

“We hope to prov ide underclassmen who may be seeking out opportunities to ser ve and gain fellowship [by being] a part of an exciting club.”

Anderson and the club’s leadership board are planning a variet y of on-campus

Senate Continued from page 1

determining how the new Title IX regulations will be implemented on Notre Dame’s campus.

To fill a vacancy on the campus life council, Sarah Galbenski, senior and student body vice president, asked for nominations, and three senators ended up on the ballot. Senior and Dillon Hall senator Mike Dugan won the vote with the majority vote. (Editor’s Note: Dugan is a former Observer news writer and Systems Administrator.)

The election of a committee on the constitution members, whose role will be to overview the student government constitution, was formed during the meeting after speeches from four nominees. Three students — sophomore Dunne Hall senator Michael Murakami, sophomore Johnson Family Hall senator Madison Nemeth and senior Club Coordination Council president Ricardo Pozas Garza — will serve on the committee.

Dugan presented a resolution calling for the University to commit to surveillance testing of COVID-19 that is both regular and random in order to protect the health

events for students to participate in.

“We are planning on having events w ith the Sisters of the Holy Cross, making tie blankets, creating health kits, hosting school supply drives and contacting outside organizations to see how we can prov ide assistance to them during this time,” Anderson said.

Cutter said the club’s events w ill remain socially distanced for the time being due to COVID-19 restrictions.

“We w ill have to start the year off ser v ing while follow ing social distancing guidelines,” Cutter said.

“This means that we w ill be engaging in activ ities on campus such as prov iding members w ith tie blanket materials that they can bring back to their rooms and then

and safety of the community.

Dugan drafted the resolution Sunday before the University announced its plan for surveillance testing on Tuesday.

As a result, Dugan inserted an amendment to make a “friendly suggestion” for the COVID-19 Response Unit to have a swifter approach and not wait three to four weeks to begin surveillance testing.

Senators raised questions concerning the effects on everyday life for students who would be waiting on test results and the logistics of testing the entire student body.

Dugan said Notre Dame has the financial resources to expand surveillance testing similar to other large American universities, such as Princeton — which stated it would test its students twice a week.

“Nineteen people are [confirmed] infected — with the vast majority that’s from one party — but we saw those infections came out over a period of time. [Notre Dame] said they want to wait and see and be non-committal on even doing something as wide as testing the whole student body … which is recommended by every public health authority on cases of substantial community transition,” Dugan said.

In addition, Dugan said

send back to us to be delivered to a hospice center or a hospital.”

Anderson said she is optimistic about the club’s impact in the communit y, despite the continuing pandemic.

“Our plans have changed due to the coronav irus, but that w ill not prevent us from helping those in the communit y,” she said. “We are focusing on doing ser v ice projects that we can drop off at local organizations until the coronav irus restrictions are lifted. Once they are lifted, we look forward to venturing out into the communit y, partnering w ith organizations and creating personal relations w ith others.”

Contact Genevieve Coleman at gcoleman01@saintmarys.edu

he envisioned large groups of students getting tested instead of the small groups the University has suggested it will require to undergo testing.

When the f loor was opened up for debate, Pozas Garza noted that the motion is not demanding an explicit plan for the University to take, but is rather telling the University that students want more testing to prevent a greater outbreak. The resolution subsequently passed.

The student senate then voted on a resolution to affirm and express its support for the addition of Pete Buttigieg to the Notre Dame faculty. Sophomore Keenan senator Henry Jackson drafted the resolution after some faculty members spoke against Buttigieg’s appointment. This opposition is speculated to be homophobic, according to the resolution.

Chair of the Diversity Council and graduate student Esteban Alfaro Salas argued in support of the resolution that faculty with ideals opposite of the University need to be present in the academic world of the University. The resolution passed.

Contact Alysa Guffey at aguffey@nd.edu

Write News.

Email news@ndsmcobserver.com

6

The observer | FRIDAY, august 14, 2020 | ndsmcobserver.com

On anonymity and identification

Inside Column

Justice for Eric Logan

Theresa Azemar Show Some Skin

Nola Wallace Talent ﹠ Inclusion Manager

This summer, our timelines flooded with COVID data, press briefings and George Floyd. His story, the camera footage and the public’s outcry rocked the world. Not only did it spark a modern-day civil rights movement, but it also jumpstarted an important discussion on the injustices of the modern day criminal justice system. As much as we all would like to move back to campus and bury our heads in our books, there is still unrest in the air, and especially in South Bend. This is not the first time the community has been racked by loss and unrest over police brutality. As many locals gathered over the summer to show their support for the Black Lives Matter movement, another chant rang out from South Bend demanding to be heard: “Justice for Eric Logan.”

On June 16, 2019, Logan was shot by Sgt. Ryan O’Neill while investigating a string of vehicle thefts.

The officer claimed to have caught Logan after receiving reports of a suspicious person. When confronted, the officer claimed that Logan approached him with a knife, disobeyed orders and was consequently shot — after which, O’Neill spoke over the radio: “Guy threw a knife at me.”

Logan’s family has actively voiced opposition to this narrative, stating that he would never attack an officer and had no history of theft. Sadly, the family and the community are left without answers due to a lack of body camera footage. Although all South Bend officers are required to have an active body camera, O’Neill’s was not active during this event, prompting some to believe there is more to the story.

In the end, O’Neill was backed by special prosecutor Ric Hertel who said this shooting was “justified.” Shortly after, O’Neill was charged with two felonies and a misdemeanor for a separate infraction of soliciting prostitution while on duty. This event occurred one month before the shooting of Logan. O’Neill resigned shortly after. Logan’s family has since filed a lawsuit against the city of South Bend and O’Neill, in which they cite prior allegations against O’Neill for making racist comments to fellow officers.

Logan’s story is just one in a sea of thousands.

For the South Bend community, it is yet another reminder that we are far from where we must be. As a student of color, it is another reminder of what we may face when we leave the safety of college. As we continue the fight for justice and equality, we must remember we still have work to do — as a campus, as a city and as a nation. As always, the first step is being informed, but the next steps are up to you.

You can contact Nola at nwallace01@saintmarys.edu The views expressed in this Inside Column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

Those of you who know me know that I have been closely involved w ith Notre Dame’s Show Some Skin since my freshman year. It is, in my humble opinion, one of the most welcoming, genuine and radically empathetic initiatives on campus. This school year, I’m so blessed to say I w ill be ser v ing as Executive Director for our 10-year anniversar y performance.

For anyone here who is unfamiliar w ith Show Some Skin or its mission, it is an on-campus student-led initiative geared toward elevating narratives of identit y and difference w ithin our Notre Dame communit y and greater South Bend communit y. In the fall, our team puts out a call for stories for anyone in our communit y to anony mously share their experiences, stories, secrets, confessions... their truths w ith us. We read and discuss each and ever y narrative, compiling as many of them as we can into a production that actors w ill perform in the spring, not know ing whether the person who w rote their monologue is a complete stranger or a close friend, only know ing a truth they hold closest to their heart. This experience has been described as “radical empathy bootcamp” for Notre Dame Students.

Now, I am not talking about Show Some Skin to tr y to get anyone here to join (although the time for that w ill certainly come). I’m talking about it because at this moment where more members of the Notre Dame communit y than I ever anticipated are thinking and openly talking about identit y and difference, specifically in regard to race, whiteness and Blackness... we must not forget that most of the time conversations like these are left for the underground.

I know this because I have watched as Show Some Skin’s promise of anony mit y has empowered so many to speak out against injustice and advocate for change.

I’ve read pieces that condemn the perpetuation of white supremacy, pieces that question the popular imagination of Blackness in academia, in the workplace, in the media and in private. I’ve read pieces that recount experiences that have left othering scars on our ow n peers, professors, facult y and staff. A ll honorably honest and all, naturally, anony mous.

But outside of Show Some Skin, I haven’t read ver y many names. Perhaps we at Notre Dame have fostered a communit y where people feel safest w ithout their names attached to these socially aware, specifically antiracist, narratives and ideas. Perhaps we have fostered a communit y where it is easiest to sit in the Show Some Skin audience and watch these conversations unfold like v ignettes from a

dystopian world.

Don’t get me w rong, I am incredibly thankful for Show Some Skin’s mission to address the need for more organic and empathetic conversations on campus. But we must ask ourselves: why is it easiest in certain spaces for us to remove our names, our bodies and our affiliations before entering these conversations? W hy does safet y look like namelessness? I w ish I knew.

I w ill say, through my work w ith Show Some Skin, I’ve noticed that in sharing our experiences anony mously, some of us who have rarely felt “normative” are, for once, able to put on this guise of normativ it y. We can make ourselves easy to digest. I myself have submitted stories to Show Some Skin on the topic of mental health, know ing that anony mit y was on my side.

Know ing that if I don’t mention all of the specific ways that my identities and experiences intersect, people might assume that I am a straight, white, rich, able-bodied man. And then they might be much more inclined to believe what I have to say about my ow n personal experiences.

Anony mit y has been on my side because when people don’t know my presentation and the skin that I embody... they can’t use my body as a rhetorical dev ice. And as we’ve seen in American Histor y, the Black body constantly has been used as a sy mbol of sacrifice for our ow n personal journeys toward understanding and change. Anony mit y has been my key to evading that fate.

We are not rhetorical. We are real. And I’d like to think that as “normative” human beings, each of us, we are entitled to those meanings.

But unfortunately at Notre Dame and in our world, many of us feel most objective when no one knows our names, our bodies, our skin, our hair, etc.

For students like me at Notre Dame, our identities are the secrets we keep. Maybe that is why anony mit y is safet y for so many of us. And that is proven to us year after year after year when stories we never thought we’d hear, and discussions we never thought we’d have, are shared w ith us for the first time, anony mously.

Each year, we are left to only imagine the bodies behind them.

Theresa Azemar is a senior member and Executive Director of Show Some Skin, a student-run initiative committed to giving voice to unspoken narratives about identity and difference. Using the art of storytelling as a catalyst for positive social change across campus, we seek to make Notre Dame a more open and welcoming place for all. If you are interested in breaking the silence and getting involved with Show Some Skin, email s.someskin@gmail.com.

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

Submit a Letter to the Editor: viewpoint@ndsmcobserver.com

The observer | friday, august 14, 2020 | ndsmcobserver.com

7

A service we can’t see Edward Brunicardi There’s More

I won’t be the first to say it. College life, kinda sucks.

Or at least now it does. Friends can’t go in our rooms, classes have gone back to 2nd grade assigned seating and weekend parties (technically) aren’t allowed. What was supposed to be our once in a lifetime chance to experience a new world of independence and self-discovery has instead turned into a world where much of both must occur within the confines of a 130-square-foot dorm room. No matter how catchy of a slogan our school tries to market it under, HERE we find countless disappointments.

But I also won’t be the first to say we are not alone in these changing times.

I think about those we’ve seen on social media recently who have told their stories. Mario Martinez is a hospitality worker in the South Bend hotel industry, who despite years of struggle to finally feel comfortable, saw all of that security ripped away over a weekend. As cases rose, hotel attendees fell, and now he faces the decision of cutting his hours or waiting to be unemployed. Mr. Martinez is just one heartbreaking example of what many people living right next to us are going through.

Retelling a story like this is not meant to diminish the hardships our community faces right now. Many of us have been affected greatly by this pandemic, with our loved ones getting sick and our families being forced to take off work in an economy where it is seemingly needed most. Rather, I tell this to remind each of us that a whole other community, only blocks out of sight, is hurting too.

As I’ve been seeing friends again for the first time in months, the idea of service seems far from any one’s plans or thoughts. And when it is discussed, it’s almost always with a lens of pessimism. The general atmosphere seems to hint that most of us, being so preoccupied with our own issues, are forgetting those of the community around us. I spoke with David Lassen, the Director of the Center for Social Concern’s Community-Engaged Learning Program, on the phone, and he voiced similar concerns. He predicts that if ‘students are not aware of existing opportunities,’ there could be a decline in local volunteering. (Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this column misstated David Lassen’s thoughts on student service during the pandemic, and has since been updated. The Observer regrets this error.)

However, these services aren’t just faced with dwindling volunteers, but also a community that needs them now more than ever. With the pandemic sweeping across the Midwest, South Bend is just one of the countless cities that has seen its non-profit spending slashed across the board, forcing services to get cut and staffers to get furloughed. Meanwhile, funding for much-needed repairs are having to be halted across the city, and development projects in key high-risk areas are being swept under the rug.

For a place whose general population still struggles with thwe 5th worst vacancy problem in the country, and higher poverty rates than the national average, such a pandemic cannot be dealt with alone.

Because for many people beyond Notre Dame Avenue, this pandemic is much more than a string of missed opportunities. It is a blockade to a decent life.

Thankfully, even from behind masks and six feet apart, there are a number of ways to keep South Bend at heart. Though many volunteering sites have had to

slow down and change the ways they approach service, there are also many new distanced or completely virtual ways to continue serving our community.

I have tried my best to start the list of resources we can explore, and included a brief description of each below. However, these by no means exhaustive.

At Notre Dame, we pride ourselves on being one of the leading universities in the world for outreach.

We’ve received several “most engaged” accolades from places like U.S. News & World Report, and with a history rooted in Catholic Social Tradition, the title seems to fit. However, none of that matters if when people need us most, we can’t be there because of a change in circumstance. If Notre Dame really is the school of service we pride ourselves to be, then this unprecedented time of take-out dinners and COVID-19 tests shouldn’t reveal the limitations to the good we can do. If anything, this period is a test for all of us — to be there for people when it counts.

For a list of virtual opportunities, you can use the website www.volunteermatch.org, or check out over 100 community partners compiled by Notre Dame’s Center for Social Concerns here. More opportunities to volunteer can be found on the South Bend Government’s website, under the heading “COVID-19 Resources & Support.”

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

Edward Brunicardi is a sophomore at Notre Dame pursuing a major in Political Science and a minor with the Hesburgh Program of Public Service. Though he may have had all the creativity sucked out of him in high school, writing serves as Edward’s best chance at getting something back. He can be reached at ebrunica@nd.edu or @EdwardBrunicar1 on Twitter.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Should I stay or should I go? Give students the chance to stay home and study online After seeing Crystal Cipriani-Hoch — the mother of junior Miguel Hoch and senior Elizabeth Hoch — break down in tears on NBC Nightly News over the fact that her Notre Dame students have been forced to take leaves of absence during the ongoing pandemic, I am moved to make a public plea on behalf of this family and college students nationwide. First, Notre Dame should reverse its decision to deny Miguel and Elizabeth Hoch medical accommodations to study at home and online this fall. Secondly, all colleges and universities in the United States should give their students the choice to study online, without penalty, until a proven vaccine for the novel coronavirus is widely available in our country.

Miguel and Elizabeth Hoch bravely voiced in national news media their serious, long-term concerns about the lives and health of their family if they were forced to return to campus rather than maintain quarantine within their epidemiologically high-risk family and community in Texas. “What if they brought the virus with them to campus?” they rightly worried. “And what if they brought it back from campus with them in November?” they reasonably asked. What, then, if they unwittingly infected family members who have special vulnerabilities to the virus and its worst effects? Like most Americans, they have no place to quarantine or self-isolate but in their own home. This puts the whole household at risk for contracting a potentially lethal disease if the family’s quarantine must be broken, as we have tragically seen over and over again, with over 160,000 Americans dead from the disease of COVID-19 this year.

In Daniel Defoe’s 1722 classic of epidemic

literature, “A Journal of the Plague Year,” the narrator — based on Defoe’s uncle who survived the last great visitation of the bubonic plague to London in 1665 — faces the stark dilemma: “Should I stay or should I go?” The narrator courageously chooses to remain in the city of London despite the chance to leave for the country in the north of England to live with his sister in seemingly greater safety from the “Sickenesse.” Writing in the wake of the resurgence of the plague in France in 1720, Defoe’s most important ethical and political insight — which the Hoch family wisely shares — is that it is always the right decision to stay where you are and maintain quarantine if a virulent and lethal epidemic is raging around you.

Otherwise, you risk contracting and transmitting the pathogen wherever you go.

Unfortunately, Miguel and Elizabeth Hoch were both forced to take leaves of absence this fall, which means they might not graduate with their classes on schedule.

Crystal Cipriani-Hoch has expressed valid concerns about the well-being and academic progress of all students, like her college-aged children, who have been forced to take academic leaves rather than allowed to study online this fall. What happens if Notre Dame and other campuses go online in a few weeks, just like they did in March? Will these students, denied the chance to study online now, be given the chance to study online then?

How can they “catch up” with their peers, however, if they are officially denied access to online courses during the first critical weeks of the academic year?

I call upon academic leaders at Notre Dame and

other American institutions of higher education to reverse two policy decisions, as a matter of social justice and public health during the pandemic year that has beset everyone with hard choices and real dangers. Think of it as a debt jubilee of sorts, whereby we relieve young people of unfair burdens that they should not or cannot bear: 1. All college students previously denied accommodations to study online should be granted them and enabled to take a full schedule of online courses to make academic progress toward their degrees as members in good standing within the University community. Ideally, they should receive some discount on tuition to compensate for the trouble they have already endured, as well as free access to technology (such as iPads or WiFi connections) to support their online studies.

2. All college students who have been compelled to take leaves of absence during the pandemic should be given the option to re-enroll and study online instead, so that, if they prefer, they can continue to make academic progress toward their degrees and timely graduations.

It’s high time for colleges and universities, beginning with Notre Dame, to do better for those vulnerable to the coronavirus during our pandemic year of 2020. Students should not be penalized for making the choice to stay at home to protect the health and lives of themselves, their families and their wider communities during the international public health crisis of COVID-19.

Eileen Hunt Botting Professor of political science Aug. 11

8

The observer | FRIDAY, august 14, 2020 | ndsmcobserver.com

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

We need Pete The strikingly green signs are everywhere; we are most definitely “HERE,” on campus, in the midst of the greatest public health crisis the U.S. has ever faced.

The decision to return was certainly controversial, making headlines both in the U.S. and around the world. Only time will tell whether it was the right choice to make; yet, it is hard to deny the courage that it took for the University leadership to call Notre Dame back to its home.

Fr. Jenkins and his team have made clear their belief that Notre Dame’s academic discourse is too important, too significant to delay or move fully online.Today’s students will be tomorrow’s leaders, so they must continue to participate in their on-campus studies, despite the significant health risks. We need to keep learning for ‘a world greatly in need.’

In keeping with this endeavor, Notre Dame has made the applaudable decision of hiring former South Bend mayor and presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg to the Institute for Advanced Study.

Despite the fact that this appointment is consistent with the University’s pursuit of a broad, balanced and enlightened education for all its students, the news has resulted in notable opposition within our community.

One article in particular, written by Rev. Wilson D. Miscamble of the History Department, was noticed by and partially reproduced in the popular socially conservative magazine, the National Review.

“Mayor Pete at Notre Dame” (initially published in the religious journal First Things) criticizes Mayor Pete’s appointment under the guise that his

pro-choice political opinions are antithetical to the Catholicism at Notre Dame’s heart.

This position is as misguided as it is dangerous.

While it is certainly true that abortion is prohibited in Catholic teachings, the discussion and debate of the issue is absolutely not. Engaging with and encouraging the expression of varying points of view has been a hallmark of the Catholic faith in modern times. One only has to look at the evolution of the Church’s position on numerous issues, from homosexuality to scientific research, to see how academic disputes are a crucial part of the Catholic experience.

Academic discourse with those we disagree with is a critical part of a fair and, more importantly, useful education. Notre Dame, as a leading academic institution, aims to embody these ideals.

As a result, opposing Pete Buttigieg’s appointment to the faculty based on his political opinions not only makes little sense, but serves to counter the University’s core intentions. Hiring Pete Buttigieg is not paramount to a University sanctioned endorsement of his opinions, but it does keep Notre Dame true to its mission to educate.

Whilst I full-heartedly disagree with opposition to Mayor Pete’s appointment based on his political opinions, I do understand it. What I cannot wrap my head around, and have been disappointed to encounter, is the homophobia and bigotry that often lies beneath criticisms of his hiring.

In Rev. Miscamble’s article, Pete Buttigieg’s sexuality and marital status are mentioned no less than five times. This has the thinly veiled intention of

suggesting that Mayor Pete’s personal life will affect his ability to teach at and contribute to our University. This sexuality-baiting lays bare the anti-gay sentiments behind some of the opposition to Mayor Pete’s appointment. An individual’s ability to perform their job is entirely independent of their private lives. Both Mayor Pete and Rev. Miscamble are perfectly capable of teaching, irrespective of their personal affairs. Thus, to oppose someone’s appointment based on their sexuality, which many who oppose Pete’s appointment do, is not only archaic but also wrong.

I strongly believe that Notre Dame is an inclusive and kind place, an institution where ideas and minds can prosper. That being said, some of the opposition to Mayor Pete’s hiring demonstrates that, on some key issues, we still have a long way to go. No one should feel that who they are and whom they love impacts their ability to perform at this University. I am dismayed that criticism of Buttigieg’s appointment is perpetuating that feeling.

Notre Dame has reached new academic heights by engaging with an increasingly wide array of voices. Including those we disagree with does not diminish our values, it strengthens them. We need Mayor Pete “HERE” to be that which we are: a force for good in the world. I look forward to learning from and, yes, challenging his ideas this year.

Henry Jackson sophomore Aug. 12

American violence is a racist cycle Vincent Mallett Independent Idealist

What’s the worst thing you’ve ever wanted to do?

Lots of us have gotten in physical fights, so those people have at least made the decision to hit someone.

Have you ever been so angry, sad or frustrated, that the thought crossed your mind of destroying something, or hurting someone? Think of the most emotionally distraught situation you’ve been in, and for good measure, imagine you were under the influence of drugs or alcohol when you were in that situation (if you weren’t already). What’s the worst decision you could see yourself making?

The chances are, if we’re being honest, we’ve all been in situations where we could make violent, destructive decisions. So when we talk about violence in the public sphere, it surprises me sometimes how unsympathetic we can be. Do we really think that the world is like an FBI procedural television show, where cold-blooded serial killers are around every corner waiting to maliciously attack innocents? Some such corny shows even focus on the rationalization behind violence. ​“Criminal Minds​,” for all of its faults, usually pointed out the traumatic backstories, mental health issues and self-justification of its criminals. Violent action, in real life, is not carried out by comic-book villains, ruthless murderers or demonic terrorists. It’s carried out by real people, like you and me, who believe it is their best option.

I’ve recently been thinking about violence, not as a recurring, deplorable action, but as a cycle. Those who are victims of violence find it easiest to subsequently justify committing violence, whether it be in selfdefense, revenge or simple frustrated anger. Violence is self-perpetuating, similar to its shadow, disrespect.

Those who are victims are prone to becoming perpetrators, and their victims may do the same, and so on, and so forth. (It’s also important to recognize this isn’t only true on the individual level — how many ethnic conflicts around the world have histories of

horrific violence on all sides?) This way of thinking about violence largely came to me from a book called ​ “Just Mercy” ​by public interest criminal lawyer Bryan Stevenson. The book describes Stevenson’s experiences with defending inmates on death row in Alabama from the 1980s to the present. It’s a profound, disturbing account of the way deadly violence carries itself out through human actions. It also taught me about the way in which our national conversations about violence are shaped by our ideas about race.

Race systemically affects the portions of violence’s cycle which we, as a society, deem appropriate, or at least sympathetic. We defend violent police officers, the war on drugs and overseas aggression because we’ve decided that we’re comfortable with white people killing non-white people. This is reflected most clearly in our nation’s criminal justice system. Black people make up ​13.4%​of the United States population and 3 ​ 4%​of people executed since the death penalty was r​ einstated​by the Supreme Court in 1976. Black male criminal offenders receive sentences which are 19.2% longer than their similarly situated white counterparts, according to the United States Sentencing Commission. ​It’s also reflected in our popular culture.

Consider five well-known and well-acclaimed movies and television shows — “The Godfather,” “The Sopranos,” “Ozark,” “Goodfellas” and “Narcos.” All five are about organized crime, and portray at least some criminals sympathetically.

In a country where “gang violence” is considered a threat to public safety and t​ he president touts his record against MS-13​, why do we sometimes consider organized crime to be an entertaining and exciting phenomenon? We can’t ignore how race plays into this disparity. Four of the five aforementioned movies and shows are about white people, and the only two where the criminal organization is depicted villainously are also the only two where the criminal organization is run by non-white people. The distinction between “organized crime” and “gang crime” itself is nothing more than a difference in the perceived race of the criminal,

and therefore in the sympathy given to the offense.

I believe there are two measures America needs to take to effectively address its relationship to violence and race. First, we need to reframe the national conversation to humanize perpetrators of violence, especially in those racial and ethnic groups that have had their human dignity denied. Obviously, violence is a moral evil, and some acts of violence are more justified than others. By talking about violence broadly, we can run the risk of equating relatively insignificant acts of individual violence and horrific acts of collective violence on a global scale. While recognizing violence for what it is, we must also recognize that all violence is committed by human persons, who have reason, conscience, judgement and that basic dignity which demands respect. Sympathy can no longer be only extended to white people — it must be extended to all. Second, we must take whatever action we can to stop the cycle of violence. We need to abolish the death penalty, restructure policing and prisons and reconsider our military’s role in making peace. I, as an individual, cannot stop another individual from committing an act of violence against me. I c​ an​decide not to respond with violence, even if it’s reasonable and expected that I do so — that’s what mercy demands. I can — and must — also work to change the social structures and systems that sustain the cycle of violence.

P.S. I recommend reading “Just Mercy​,” though I do strongly warn there are disturbing accounts of domestic abuse, sexual assault, racial terrorism and murder, and that it takes an emotional toll on the reader. For accounts of systemic racism in general, I also recommend the work of Ta-Nehisi Coates.

Vince Mallett is a senior majoring in Philosophy, with a minor in Constitutional Studies. He currently lives off-campus, though he calls both New Jersey and Carroll Hall home. He can be reached at vmallett@nd.edu or @vince_mallett on Twitter.

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

9

The observer | Friday, august 14, 2020 | ndsmcobserver.com

By SARAH KIKEL Scene Writer

As college students who were used to daily freedom and spontaneity, suddenly being forced to return home due to COVID-19 was a difficult adjustment for us. Feeling disheartened by the unexpected changes, I turned to Anne Frank’s “Diary of a Young Girl,” hoping to be comforted by her ability to embrace life in hiding, during which she spent over two years in a tiny annex, unable to interact with the outside world, and facing threat of capture and execution daily — a much more difficult feat than the one we faced. Even though most of the Notre Dame community has now returned to South Bend, the campus feels foreign, and a great portion of Anne’s words still apply to our lives here today.

Between July 1942 and August 1944, Anne Frank lived with her parents, sister and four family friends in the annex behind her father’s former business building in the Netherlands as they hid from German occupying forces during World War II. Her diary, which she wrote between the ages of 13 and 15, is an incredible testament to the perseverance of life in dire circumstances.

“I want to go on living even after my death!” Anne wrote. Today, more than ever, her voice rings out as a companion and guide for us during these difficult times.

Today we must wear masks, stay six feet apart and reduce our in-person interactions. But as Anne writes, “One must be prepared to make some sacrifices for a good cause, so I shall make my little offering with a good will. ‘If we can save someone, then everything else is of secondary importance,’ says Daddy, and he’s absolutely right.”

So let us, too, make our little offerings with good will

By NICOLE BILYAK Scene Writer

The Muppets are a huge staple in family entertainment and puppetry. Created by Jim and Jane Henson in 1955, the Muppets are known for their absurdist, burlesque and self-referential style of variety-sketch comedy and have brought laughter and joy to families all over the world. When Disney took control of the Muppets in February 2004, the company began to produce films and television shows to garner the characters more public exposure than they had seen in years. The most recent of these is the Disney+ web series “Muppets Now.” “Muppets Now,” released this summer and directed by Kirk Thatcher, is a series consisting of multiple segments bridged by Scooter (David Rudman), the Muppets’ backstage manager. The segments include a game show ran by Scooter and Pepe the King Prawn (Bill Barretta), a cooking show starring the Swedish Chef (Barretta) and a lifestyle show hosted by Miss Piggy (Eric Jacobson).

The Muppets have been known for celebrity cameos ever since their mid-50s heyday, and “Muppets Now” is no exception. The first two episodes star Broadway

today.

But Anne does not claim this is easy. After moving into the annex, Anne quickly grows bored and irritated at being cramped up with her family without escape. Early on, she writes, “There is nothing we can do but wait as calmly as we can till the misery comes to an end.”

As she spends months and months in hiding, she finds it increasingly more difficult to wait calmly.

She yearns for “cycling, dancing, whistling, looking out into the world, feeling young, to know that I’m free ... I am simply a young girl badly in need of some rollicking fun.”

This makes her all the more real to us today. Her experiences, which once seemed so foreign to our generation, are now much more relatable. She has become a guide, descended down from her historical realm to live among us who deeply miss the “rollicking fun” we loved.

COVID-19 has taken from us so much of what we cherished: our loved ones, jobs and opportunities, time with friends, the freedom to experience the full college lifestyle. Many of us wrestled with feeling guilty for grieving our losses, after realizing the changes to college life were minimal compared to what many people worldwide are facing. When Elli, one of Mr. Frank’s employees, expressed her struggles to Mrs. Frank, Anne’s mother says, “Try to think of all the other people who are in trouble!”

Anne is appalled, writing, “What is the good of thinking of misery when one is already miserable oneself?”

Reading this is consoling. Anne isn’t encouraging us to think only of ourselves, but to recognize our own emotions. Only after we have acknowledged and mourned our own losses can we improve our outlook and work to make the most of the circumstances.

Throughout her entries, Anne writes about frustration, embarrassment, sadness, joy, longing, love, envy and

gratitude. Her triumph over the conditions to find teenage love, to reconcile her relationship with her mother and sister and to create a true literary masterpiece is an inspiration for us to make the most of every opportunity the circumstances allow.

Now that so many of us have returned to Notre Dame, we are able to take advantage of the resources that remain, especially outside on our beautiful campus. Anne Frank wrote about observing the blue sky, shining sun and breeze from her window, writing, “My advice is: ‘Go outside ... enjoy nature and the sunshine, go out and try to recapture happiness in yourself and in God. Think of all the beauty that’s still left in and around you and be happy!’”

From COVID-19, to the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, to the presidential election, this year has brought, and will continue to bring, an upending of the world as we knew it. During a time in which our shared experience could have brought us closer together, it often feels as if our society is deepening the divide. But I will leave you with one last piece of advice from Anne, wise beyond her years, and encourage you to stay hopeful and to do all with love.

Anne Frank writes, “In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can’t build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery, and death. I see the world gradually being turned into a wilderness, I hear the ever approaching thunder, which will destroy us too, I can feel the sufferings of millions and yet, if I look up into the heavens, I think that it will all come right, that this cruelty too will end, and that peace and tranquility will return again.”

actor and singer Taye Diggs (“Rent” and “Hedwig and the Angry Inch”), actress Linda Cardellini (“Avengers: Age of Ultron” and “Avengers: Endgame”), drag queen RuPaul (“RuPaul’s Drag Race”), food expert Carlina Will and actor Danny Trejo (“Sons of Anarchy,” “Con-Air,” and “Breaking Bad”).

The first episode, “Due Date,” has a running plot about Scooter uploading each segment of the web show on the due date of the show, only for each host to protest that they are not ready for uploading. This episode is a perfect example of pilot and did manage to get a few laughs. Miss Piggy’s lifestyle segment is surprisingly very relatable for those who want to embrace their personal style. The cooking show that starred the Swedish Chef is the funniest, thanks to the Chef’s gibberish-adjacent dialect and absurd clothing.

The second episode, “Fever Pitch,” involves Fozzie Bear (Jacobson) constantly bombarding Scooter with pitches for shows that we saw just the week before — like Pepe’s game show and Chef’s cooking show. The episode introduces a “Mythbusters”-style show that stars Dr. Bunsen Honeydew (Dave Goelz) and his assistant Beaker (Rudman). This installment struggles to be as funny as

the first, especially when it focuses on Fozzie constantly annoying Scooter — and the audience — with pitch after pitch in between segments. Fozzie Bear is supposedly known for his jokes, but the ones he starts cracking over the closing credits are more bland than anything else.

If you are cooped up during the COVID-19 pandemic, “Muppets Now” offers a good source of entertainment.

The show offers the humor and creativity for the whole family that the Muppets brand has long been known for.

Contact Sarah Kikel at skikel@nd.edu

Contact Nicole Bilyak at nbilyak01@saintmarys.edu

“Muppets Now” Starring: Danny Trejo, RuPaul, Taye Diggs, Linda Cardellini Favorite episode: “Due Date” If you like: “Saturday Night Live,” “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” Where to watch: Disney+

DIANE PARK | The Observer

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The observer | Friday, august 14, 2020 | ndsmcobserver.com

JACKIE JUNCO | The Observer

Classifieds

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Crossword | Will Shortz

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Horoscope | Eugenia Last Happy Birthday: Your associations will make or break you this year. Choose your allies carefully, and know enough to walk away from users and unreliable people. Set rules and stipulations when working with others. Focus on what’s important to you, and do your best to grow intellectually, emotionally and spiritually. Do for yourself, and you will achieve what you set out to do. Your numbers are 7, 10, 16, 25, 33, 41, 44.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Pick up the slack, and do your best to finish what you start. Don’t let what other people do interfere with your plans or lead to emotional turmoil. Do whatever will bring you joy or help you advance.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Pay attention to the way you look and feel. Don’t worry about what others think or say. You are responsible for your happiness, so don’t wait for someone to do things for you. Make opportunities; build a stable future.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Keep a tally of what you do for others, and when the time comes, don’t hesitate to call in favors. An idea you have to improve your surroundings will pay off. Do the work yourself, and you’ll save yourself a bundle.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Sharing information concerning pending financial, medical or legal matters will work against you. Someone will use what you reveal to make you look bad. Focus on personal improvement and spending quality time with loved ones. A creative outlet is favored.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Spend more time with people you look up to or who inspire you to do your very best. A show of enthusiasm will encourage others to pitch in and help you get things done to improve the way you live.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Focus on what you can do to make your life better, not on the things you cannot change. Personal victory comes with loving who you are and believing in what you do. A passionate approach to whatever you pursue will pay off.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Be open to suggestions, observe what’s going on around you and take better care of yourself mentally, physically and emotionally.

Address whatever is causing anxiety and stress, and implement positive lifestyle changes.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Pay attention to the way you look and represent yourself. Refuse to let possessiveness and jealousy take over. Put faith in what you want to pursue and how you go about your business. It’s up to you which path you choose.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Take care of personal business. Make positive changes at home that will bring you closer to loved ones and make your surroundings more suitable for whatever you want to accomplish. Don’t let your emotions undermine you.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): What you do today will make a difference in how others feel about you. Wise decisions, positive changes and a demonstration of kindness and consideration will encourage others to see things your way and support the changes you want to enforce.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Make meaningful partnerships a priority in order to avoid getting caught in a no-win situation. Being upfront about how you feel will help alleviate any uncertainty regarding what you want to do and the changes you want to make.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Keep your secrets and emotions to yourself, and you’ll avoid being the topic of conversation. Concentrate on what you can do to help others, and it will take your mind off emotional situations you cannot change.

Romance is on the rise.

Birthday Baby: You are fun-loving, enthusiastic and humorous. You are assertive and persistent.

Sudoku | The Mepham Group

Jumble | David Hoyt and Jeff knurek

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Email Hayden at hadams3@nd.edu

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Sports Authority

Sports Authority

The return of baseball

By NATE MOLLER Sports Writer

The return of Major League Baseball a few weeks ago was truly a blessing to me. It was the first time in months that I was able to sit on my couch in the evening and watch a sport that I truly love. W hile boxing, golf and a few other sports had been televised, there is definitely something special about watching a ball game on a hot summer evening.

W hen I sat on my couch July 24 and watched the opening preview for the Twins-W hite Sox game, chills and tears came to my eyes.

After months of no sports, hope was finally on the horizon. I sat on my couch and watched every pitch of that game, which ultimately ended up being a 10-5 win for the Twins. Although it was clear that both teams had pitchers who were a bit off their game, that didn’t make the game any less fun.

Watching that entire game reminded me of what it’s like to watch a sports game.

I nearly forgot the highs and lows that go along with being a loyal fan.

The first pitch of the game instantly reminded me of the jubilation sports can bring when Twins’ right fielder Max Kepler launched a fastball off Lucas Giolito into the right field bleachers. I jumped off my couch the second the ball was hit, and I felt an adrenaline rushing through my body that I hadn’t felt since college basketball in March.

The Twins put up a four spot in the first, and I was ecstatic about it.

This happiness quickly diminished, however, and I was reminded of the lows that can occur during the course of a game. Twins starting pitcher Jose Berrios struggled mightily in the second inning and gave up a three-run homer to W hite Sox second baseman Yoan Moncada, resulting in a 5-5 tie. Seeing that ball f ly into the right field bleachers made my stomach drop, and

I could feel the anger and an x iet y building in my body.

Ultimately, the Tw ins went on to w in the game 10-5 behind a couple of clutch hits w ith two outs. Watching that game showed me how out of touch I had become w ith watching sports. A lthough I had spent much of my quarantine watching old games and reminiscing about the past, nothing can live up to the stress, joy and despair that can come out of watching a live game.

Additionally, I forgot about the little intricacies of baseball that I love to see.

Watching the catchers tr y to frame pitches, seeing the pitchers adjust their deliver y for runners on base and watching hitters’ routines when they came up to bat were just a few of these intricacies that I missed.

W hile a 60-game season w ith over half of the teams making the playoffs figures to be w ild, none of that matters to me. Hav ing something to watch and being able to cheer on my Minnesota Tw ins is all I can ask for.

After watching that game, I was the happiest that I had been in months. W hile I have always know n how much watching sports has meant to me, this whole pandemic has made me have a different appreciation and perspective on watching sports. From now on, I know I need to be thankful for all the nights I can crash on my couch and watch sports because that is no longer a guarantee.

Throughout histor y, baseball has show n that it can be a beacon of hope during a time of darkness. Now baseball is show ing us that there is hope that this pandemic w ill end, and that is all we can ask for.

Contact Nate Moller at nmoller2@nd.edu The views expressed in this Sports Authority are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

Follow us on Twitter. @ObserverSports

Sports require a bubble format in order to proceed

By LIAM COOLICAN Sports Writer

It pains me to write this column. It really does. As much as I have enjoyed settling into my usual summer routine of listening to baseball on the radio every night — and as much as I hope to see football this fall, sports in the United States simply can’t exist right now without a bubble environment.

The NBA and NHL, on one hand, have both enjoyed incredibly successful returns to play within a bubble system. We can laugh all we want about Richaun Holmes being forced to quarantine for 10 days after simply picking up a Postmates delivery, or Lou Williams being restricted after going outside the bubble for hot wings, but it is the right thing to do, and it’s why the NBA hasn’t had a positive test in nearly a month. Compare that with the MLB, where nearly three weeks into the season, the Cardinals have played just 12 games — with off days already at a premium — and the Marlins had more than half their roster test positive.

We can blame the players for not following the guidelines to the letter, or the owners and managers for not enforcing them effectively enough, but the blame has to be on the league for a system that was destined to fail from the onset. The MLB had to have known there would be positive cases. With players traveling and staying at different hotels every week and — seemingly — no way to prevent players from going out on their days off, it was inevitable.

Unsurprisingly, their plan already seems to be falling apart.

There is almost no way the Cardinals will be able to make up the 13 games they have missed.

Even if they play 7-inning double headers multiple times per week during the month of September, it is impossible to make up all their games because of the conflicting schedules of the teams they need to play. Not to mention, it would decimate their roster and increase risk of injury, particularly for pitchers.

The MLB has a few options here, assuming things don’t get worse. They could extend the regular season by one or two weeks, although that would probably mean no expanded playoffs, and some teams would be idle for a very long time before the playoffs. They could also accept less than 60 games for some teams, and determine the standings by winning percentage. This seems unfair in a close playoff race, but this is probably the best option.

Finally, the MLB could simply cancel the Cardinals’ season, which no one wants to do, but a few more postponements and it may be the only feasible option.

College football seems unlikely to happen this year for a myriad of ethical and logistical reasons.

Two Power Five conferences have already cancelled fall sports, and as much as Clemson coach Dabo Swinney can talk about how the national championship will still be just as meaningful, we all know that’s not true. Ohio State coach Ryan Day has suggested a spring season could start early in January, which may be feasible while still allowing players plenty of time to prepare for the fall season or NFL draft, but if some teams play in the fall, it will create major disparities. Some players would have a full offseason, while others would have less than two months before fall practices — and NFL camps — usually start.

Ethically speaking, even at universities that have fully reopened, can the schools really expect regular students to follow strict social distancing protocols while allowing student athletes to play a high-contact sport against athletes from across the country, all while traveling every other week? These same athletes will be in classes the next day, putting students all over the university at risk.

Even more skepticism is posed for universities that are either not reopening or have most of their classes online, yet are still planning to go ahead with fall sports.

They believe it is too unsafe for students to attend classes, yet they are putting student athletes at risk by allowing them to practice, play games and travel simply because the universities need the money that football makes.

The NFL doesn’t face the same ethical dilemmas college football does, as players are free to opt out, though for less established players may not have the financial means to skip the season, and it could potentially put their roster spot in jeopardy. The NFL administration has often proven itself inept at managing issues much less complicated than a global pandemic, so there is little hope that they will come up with an effective plan to manage the season. It is unlikely that a bubble environment — or even multiple bubbles — would work with football because the fields and practice facilities are simply too large, and the roster sizes are much larger than basketball or hockey.

Additionally, players don’t want to live in a bubble for up to six months. They all have family,

friends and other responsibilities they can’t just walk away from.

Three months — the amount of time a team that makes it to the NBA finals will have been in the bubble — is likely the limit.

Some players were even hesitant about that. Many MLB players vehemently rejected the idea of playing in a bubble —something that was suggested at the beginning of the season. Recently, in what has been seen by some as an admission of the failure, the MLB has been discussing playing the playoffs in a bubble — something most players seem to be amenable to.

The NBA has opened discussions to hold the entire 2020-21 season in four different bubbles due to the success of this year’s endeavor, but it is unlikely that the players would agree to a whole season in that environment. The bubble concept has even caught on in college athletics. The Big East conference — among others — has even considered playing the college basketball season in a bubble.

This seems even more unrealistic than the NBA playing an entire season inside bubbles. If the athletes were forced to miss classes or attend them online, it would completely sever the already-thin ties that connect “student” and “athlete.”

An option could be to complete the whole conference season over the course of a school break, as some schools are considering breaks of up to two months in between semesters in order to prepare for a potential second wave of the virus.

However, with most universities planning to begin in-person instruction in mid to late January, this would involve a drastically shortened regular season, especially if conference tournaments are played in the bubble.

Obviously, these decisions are being made by people much smarter and more informed than I am, so let’s hope — for every sports fan’s sake — that I am totally wrong. Let’s hope we see Notre Dame take the field this fall, a full NFL season and the rest of the MLB’s 60-game season proceed without issues. This may well happen, but it would require a significant change in the trajectory of COVID-19 in this country. As it stands today, the chances of that seem very low.

Contact Liam Coolican at lcoolica@nd.edu The views expressed in this Sports Authority are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

The Observer accepts classifieds every business day from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Notre Dame office, 024 South Dining Hall. Deadline for next-day classifieds is 3 p.m. All classifieds must be prepaid. The charge is 5 cents per character per day, including all spaces. The Observer reserves the right to edit all classifieds for content without issuing refunds.

sports

QBs Continued from page 15

to Tanner Morgan being as high as he is seeing the way he played in big games last season, especially the first half against Penn State.

I think that showtime moment probably means he deserves to beat out Ian Book, but Kyle Trask is grossly overhyped here. He was King’s backup in high school and last season started his first football game period since his freshman year of high school. He’s good, don’t get me wrong, but his passes float and the rest of Florida’s team helped carry that team to last year’s success.

As for Book, we can go on all day about the Irish signal caller.

Looking at the potential options, I have to say that I think he’s better than everyone in the “also receiving votes” except for King, but I can see King still needing to prove it. Similarly J.T. Daniels probably should be ahead of Book, but again, we haven’t seen much from him except a 5-7 freshman campaign and the start of his first game last year before a seasonending injury.

Brock Purdy is probably more talented slinging the ball than Book is, but I think it’s a toss up between the two, given Book’s better scrambling ability and the fact that Purdy’s stats are inflated throwing against Big 12 defenses.

I also think Rattler is unproven, so I’d give Book a top-10 spot, but he needs to solidify himself there because it is by no means secure.

As for those “also receiving votes,” Newman and Daniels are fringe top-10 QBs in my mind and with a little more coaching and talent around them (specifically in Newman’s case with his recent move to Athens, Ga.) you could see what those guys are really capable of. I don’t think there’s a way of viewing Jack Coan as a top-10 quarterback, and I could listen to an argument for Kellen Mond, but he’s been mediocre at best in all his years at Texas A&M. Brady White, like King, just doesn’t seem to have faced stiff enough competition in the AAC to validate a top10 spot yet. And Layne Hatcher is just Aiden getting frisky with his picks.

Liam Coolican Much like everyone else, I wholeheartedly agree with Lawrence and Fields at the top. They are just so dynamic in ways we haven’t seen in a long time. However, they are far from the only talented signal callers, and if there’s no college football this year, we’ll have lost what could have been the most entertaining Heisman race in years.

Sam Howell is the real deal, and only figures to get better, as Mack Brown is a quarterbacks coach.

Thirty-eight touchdowns against just seven interceptions as a true freshman? Sheesh. If he becomes a slightly more accurate passer he’ll certainly be a top three pick in two years. Kedon Slovis was another true freshman who looked outstanding last year, completing over 70% of his passes, and he wasn’t merely a cautious passer, either –– he averaged nearly nine

ndsmcobserver.com | Friday, august 14, 2020 | The Observer

yards per attempt.

Sam Ehlinger clearly has a lot of talent, but he didn’t improve as much as analysts thought he would, likely a key reason why he returned to Texas for his senior year. I left him out of my top five, as he is a lot like the Longhorn program as a whole. A lot of devoted fans claim he is a Heisman contender every year, and he fails to meet those lofty expectations.

He’s clearly a top-10 quarterback, but it’s a stretch to put him in the top five.

Tanner Morgan had a standout year last year as a redshirt sophomore, leading the Golden Gophers to a surprising 11-2 record. His stats were outstanding last year, but he played in the relatively weak Big Ten West. I would like to see another season of solid numbers before I anoint him in my top five. It is just tough to put a lot of stock into someone who has bloomed relatively late, but then again, look at Joe Burrow.

Kyle Trask is in a similar boat, as he didn’t have quite as many attempts as other quarterbacks on the list after being thrust into the role last year. He was exceptional at times, leading Florida to close finishes against big-time opponents. Another good year from him and it will certainly earn him as a top draft pick.

It is tough for me to rank Spencer Rattler in the top 10 with 11 career attempts when there are so many other fantastic signal callers who were left outside the list. Among others, it is absolutely criminal that Kellon Mond is not in the top 10. He has steadily improved over his time at Texas A&M, despite playing one of the toughest schedules in the country in the SEC West, and he looks poised to take the jump to elite this year.

D’Eriq King is another player who I had in my top 10, as he just has so much raw talent as a dual-threat quarterback.

While Irish fans were thrilled when Ian Book announced his return, he needs to improve this year, and that may be difficult with the loss of a number of key weapons. He didn’t exactly regress in his second full year as a starter, but he didn’t improve as much as many around Notre Dame had hoped. Brock Purdy looked very good at times last year, and against good opponents, too, but his numbers were clearly inflated by playing in the Big 12. It was a tough decision, but I left him outside my top 10 to make room for Mond and King.

While he has shown moments of greatness in his career so far, the inconsistencies have plagued his reputation. Against TCU and Iowa State last year, Ehlinger hovered around completing only 50% of his passes. His poor performance ultimately led to a Longhorns loss in both of these games. Ehlinger has a great arm but when you have games with four interceptions and only 22 out of 48 completed passes (against TCU last year), you don’t deserve to be a top-five college quarterback.

I agreed with the most part for the fourth through the seventh slots. Sam Howell is definitely primed for a breakout season at North Carolina this year. In his freshman season, Howell proved that he can be consistent and limit mistakes. I think this poise will result in a stellar sophomore season for him. As far as Kedon Slovis goes, I think he can be the best player in the game in two years. His stellar, consistent performance all year showed me that the Trojans are going to have a solid player at the helm in the upcoming years, which is scary as an Irish fan.

I’ll talk about Morgan and Trask together, but I think both of them proved last year that they are worthy of being top-10 quarterbacks.

Morgan led the Gophers to arguably their best season since the 1960s, and his performance in the Outback Bowl against Auburn showed why he is one of the best in the sport right now. Trask also played well in the Orange Bowl to lead the Gators to victory. Even more impressive was Trask’s performance against a solid Georgia defense earlier in the year, even though the Gators did lose.

I completely agree with Ian Book in the eighth spot too.

Despite all the heat he has to take from Irish fans, Book has been a very consistent option at quarterback for the Irish. If he wants to prove his top ten ranking in 2020, though, he has to perform better in big games. His performances against Michigan this past year and Clemson in the playoff two years ago were less than stellar.

I also agree with the placement of Spencer Rattler. He’s an Oklahoma quarterback, so he has to be in the top 10, right? While Oklahoma always has plenty of talent at quarterback, I firmly believe that Lincoln Riley is one of the reasons for the success of these quarterbacks. The offense he runs is just so explosive and he is able to get the most out of his players.

Nate Moller I don’t think anyone can argue that Lawrence and Fields are not the top two quarterbacks in the game right now. Both of them are proven winners and have performed on the highest stage. I agree with Lawrence being at the number one spot because I think he is a better passer overall than Fields and he does have a national championship to his name. I think Fields might be the better player when he is at his absolute best, but Lawrence will be more consistent throughout the season.

One player who I think is too high on the list is Sam Ehlinger.

Patrick Gallagher With the Big Ten and Pac-12 sitting out in the fall, we will unfortunately not be able to see some of the nation’s most exciting quarterbacks. Justin Fields may have been gearing up for a Heisman-winning season, as he likely would have improved upon his hyper-efficient 41:3 passing touchdown to interception ratio from 2019. Kedon Slovis might be an even more exciting NFL prospect than former Trojan Sam Darnold, and a duel between him and Ian Book in the Colosseum would have been one of the most

memorable moments in a year without COVID. During his injury-riddled freshman season, Slovis still managed to accumulate the ninth-highest single season passing yards in USC history while his 515 yard game against UCLA broke the school’s singlegame passing record. An easier Pac-12 schedule would also have bolstered his stats, and I would not have been surprised if Slovis challenged Lawrence and Fields for the Heisman.

Focusing on the talents who could still play this fall, Trevor Lawrence is clearly the best quarterback of the bunch. While he was already considered one of the best passers in the game, Lawrence truly became a dual threat in 2019 as he accumulated 563 yards on the ground with nine rushing touchdowns. I think he will be eager to avenge his poor performance against LSU in the national title game and should easily torch most of the mediocre ACC defenses on the schedule.

In the next tier, I agree with the placement of Sam Ehlinger and Sam Howell at the third and fourth ranking. Howell arguably had a better season than Ehlinger in 2019; however, Ehlinger proved that he can perform well against the best defenses in football during the LSU game. He threw for over 400 yards and racked up four touchdowns while almost defeating the eventual national champions, and I believe that he has the ability to tap back into this greatness in 2020. Howell may have looked impressive against top teams like Clemson but never was quite as electrifying as Ehlinger.

In addition, the overall talent level of the Longhorns is also greater than UNC, which should favor Ehlinger’s numbers.

My only other qualm with the list is Spencer Rattler’s inclusion above Brock Purdy. I was initially pretty high on Rattler due to Oklahoma’s knack for developing Heisman winners. However, I have not seen enough of him to warrant such a high placement.

On the other hand, Purdy has become one of the greatest quarterbacks in Cyclone history as he ranked fifth among all NCAA signal-callers with 3982 passing yards in 2019. Rattler will need more time to develop while Purdy is already comfortable leading Iowa State and should display another solid performance this year.

I will finish with a bold prediction. If there is fall football, D’Eriq King will be considered the second-best ACC quarterback by the end of the season. King was a dominant presence for Houston in 2018 as he boasted a stat line of 36 passing touchdowns along with 14 rushing touchdowns, which made him one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks that year. His new situation in Miami might not be the easiest environment for success, but, if King can stay healthy, his explosiveness could catapult the Hurricanes into contention for a berth in the ACC title game.

David Kramer To adopt the “we are living in a simulation” conspiracy theory

13

for a few moments, imagine a world with Big 10 conference football for the 2020 season. Within weeks of opening kickoff, Justin Fields would establish himself as the most overpowering quarterback in the country, slicing his way through the most competitive conference in the NCAA. Say what you will about the raw athleticism and “freak” intensity of Lawrence, Fields deserves recognition for an already storied tenure in Columbus. Well-groomed ­­— much like the locks of Lawrence — and seasoned for NFL play, the 1-2 slots in our staff rankings have skyrocketed far beyond the rest.

Speaking of the frustratingly prudent Big Ten, Tanner Morgan enters our list at sixth. With a healthy and fully committed Rashod Bateman to compliment him at wideout, I would anticipate a top-three quarterback performance from the Golden Gophers captain. Coach P.J. Fleck’s creative, dynamic play mix fooled celebrated Big 10 defenses on a weekly basis last season, and most of that success revolved around Morgan’s deceptive execution of the option.

Without Bateman, of course, the receiving core certainly invites a lot of questions surrounding his status among the elite … but I digress. My hometown guy deserves better.

Now, on to my near-daily roast of Texas football. Sam Ehlinger, while talented, refuses to keep pace in the quarterback development pipeline of the Power Five.

Is Texas football “back”? Is Vince Young available for another year of eligibility? Does Ehlinger have the discipline and command to generate a Heisman-caliber season with abysmal depth behind him? Absolutely not. Elite quarterbacks salvage ways to win, and simply “good” quarterbacks stumble into new ways to lose. In light of his performances against low-grade Big 12 offenses last season (enter TCU), my intuition compels me to reserve a top-10 spot for his efforts, but not much more.

Now, a word to Ian Book. Ian, thank you for staying with us. That “80 yards and a dream” stunt that you pulled in the last few minutes against Virginia Tech really left me impressed. As you leave this place, your accolades and legacy as a fearless Notre Dame leader depends on your ability to control the pace of big games. Granted, racking up ACC wins tends to look like light work for you, but the Tigers are coming, and they’re hungry. I’ll save you a six-spot in my rankings, but I look forward to you proving me wrong this season.

Also, did I mention that I’m not a Texas fan?

Contact Hayden Adams at hadams3@nd.edu, Liam Coolican at lcoolica@nd.edu, Patrick Gallagher at pgallag4@nd.edu, David Kramer at dkramer2@nd.edu, Nate Moller at nmoller2@ nd.edu and Aidan Thomas at athoma28@nd.edu The views expressed in this column are those of the authors and not necessarily those of The Observer.

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The observer | Friday, august 14, 2020 | ndsmcobserver.com

Faith Continued from page 16

the single largest comeback in program histor y in the second round of the ACC Tournament against Virginia Tech, but the Irish nearly pulled off the improbable.

And even though the No. 1 overall seed in the NIT didn’t make for a great consolation prize, it was something. And Colson rebreaking his foot was an understandable excuse for an early postseason exit in the second round.

But excuses, even unpredictable and unavoidable ones like injur y, get old real quick.

The following year the Irish learned the meaning of growing pains. Five new freshmen, even though four were top-100 players, just weren’t ready for high-level ACC basketball. Throw in a torn Achilles to another senior captain, a torn labrum to one of those promising freshmen, ankle issues to a newly eligible transfer big man and the f lu to the team’s second-leading scorer, and what do you get?

A hot mess that managed three wins in conference play and wound up 14-19 overall, with the only bright spot being the play of a former three-star for ward who turned out to be the second coming of Luke Harangody.

But it didn’t stop there.

The same promising player who tore his labrum a year prior blew out his ACL the following season in garbage time of an embarrassing loss at No. 3 Mar yland. That was followed promptly by the program’s first loss since 2005 to ACC bottom feeder Boston College, and the first loss at home to the Eagles since 1997. It was a new low, even for a team that had already hit rock bottom in the ACC the year before.

They couldn’t even beat “Backup College.”

But something f lipped.

They went on a roll, and despite some tough losses, they were picking up the pieces of the shambles the program had fallen into. The team that kept losing heart-breakers was still losing them — with a one-point loss at No. 5 Florida State being particularly crushing, and pricey

Football Continued from page 16

no longer be able to play due to an injury to the shoulder and neck area. He has tried to play through the injury since last September, but it has continued to return time and again. Many expected Mabry to push for a rotation spot during the 2020 season and possibly even battle for a starting role in 2021.

The last couple of weeks have

for head coach Mike Brey after his post-game outburst — but they were losing fewer. And, they were beating the teams they legitimately should have.

Even if it wasn’t pretty — four points at Clemson, one point vs. North Carolina on a go-ahead three, one point vs. BC on a go-ahead f loater with 0.1 seconds left — a win was a win (the second one being a weight off their shoulders, and that last one tasting particularly sweet as it counteracted a potential game-winning f loater the possession prior).

But it was all for naught.

Or, maybe it wasn’t.

There was little chance that the Irish, who went 1010 in conference, were going to receive an at-large bid to the NCA A Tournament with no marquee wins on their resume and in an unusually weak ACC (because that preseason top-10 UNC team actually went 14-19 like the Irish did the previous season). It was an ACC Championship or bust if Brey wanted to break his Big Dance drought.

They didn’t get that championship and accompanying automatic bid, but not because they lost. In fact, they looked really good in their third game of the season with Boston College, drubbing the Eagles 80-58 in the second round of the conference tournament. They were set for a rematch with Virginia, who scraped out a 50-49 overtime win at home over the Irish in the regular season, when COV ID-19 struck in full force.

The ACC Tournament and, subsequently, the NCA A Tournament were cancelled.

The Irish — who at the ver y least would likely have gotten another NIT bid — missed out on a postseason for the second straight year, albeit because of circumstances outside of their control.

And yet, despite it all, I have hope. I’ll go even further and say that I have faith in this team, this program and — more than anything — this coach.

Sure, they may have just lost two 1000-point scorers in John Mooney and T.J. Gibbs, the former of whom is the aforementioned second coming of Luke Harangody

(and, from a statistical standpoint, the collegiate reincarnation of both Blake Griffin and Tim Duncan as well). Even so, I like what this team has got, because it checks all the boxes to some degree.

Prentiss Hubb is your f loor general and has started taking on a leadership role with the team. He’s streaky, but when he gets going, it’s tough to cool him down.

Juwan Durham struggled to get playing time behind Mooney, and he absolutely needs to get more aggressive.

But when he’s on the court, he makes things happen around the rim on both the offensive and defensive end.

Big men have taken leaps in their third year under Brey (uh, John Mooney, anyone?) and this is Durham’s third year in South Bend. And speaking of third years…

Nate Laszewski has struggled to find his stroke in his first couple of years, but he’s knocked down some bigtime shots. You gotta think that another season means a greater sense of comfort in who he is and what he can bring to this team.

Dane Goodwin is your spark plug off the bench. If he can just figure out how to produce on the road like he does at home, he can be the ACC Sixth Man of the Year, and he’s not a bad starter in an injur y pinch.

Cormac Ryan showed the kind of energ y and leadership he can bring to this team last season, and the entire time he was on the bench in street clothes. Looking at some of his highlights from his freshman season at Stanford, he can bring a lot to the table as a combo guard, and I am excited to see how he and Hubb feed off one another in the backcourt.

Robby Carmody, brings defensive intensity. He’s a lot like Rex Pf lueger, both in terms of the little things he can do and his injur y issues, but he has the potential to provide offensive production that Pf lueger never could.

He might be the X-factor for this team. It’s not a stretch to think this team was a healthy Robby Carmody away from getting over the hump in a few of those tight losses last season.

Nikola Djogo could

actually be a contributing player in his fifth year. There doesn’t seem to be anything fundamentally wrong with his stroke (and it looks good as a lefty), so you have to think it’s all mental. If he could just get a little mean on the court, maybe develop a bit of a chip on his shoulder and figure out his jumper, then he could legitimately emulate former Irish for ward Scott Martin. Do that for one season, which, again, is realistic in my mind given he’s got four years of experience, and that would provide a whole new dimension to the Irish offense. He’s an enigma, but the kind of enigma that would be so sweet to see blossom.

And as for the new crop of players — freshmen for wards Matt Zona, Elijah Taylor and Tony Sanders and Santa Clara transfer guard Trey Wertz — people aren’t going to be wowed by their ranking, but they all bring something to the table. Zona’s gotta a smooth stroke, Taylor’s physically ready to take on ACC big men, Sanders is a f luid athlete that the Irish rarely get (a la Jerian Grant) and Wertz can do a lot of good things with the ball in his hands (once he gets eligible after this season).

Now, I have to temper my expectations a little bit. We’re dealing with the coronavirus (it hurts just to say its name), and it’s unclear just what effect it will have on the college basketball season. That said, even it can’t put too much of a damper on my hopes for this team, and I think a lot of that has to do with the man running the show.

That’s right, Mike Brey, “The Loosest Coach in America.” The man who partied with his shirt off and a lei around his neck after winning the Maui Invitational nearly three years ago. The winningest coach in Notre Dame histor y. The man who, with his rant after Florida State confirmed how much ACC refs want to stick it to ND for its football independence, and also confirmed our suspicions just how much the pressure was getting to him.

Mike Brey. The coach who I watched on a Zoom call for the media at the start of this summer, and who looked a

hell of a lot better than he had the previous two seasons. You heard that right: Mike Brey has his swagger back.

That’s a sentence that strikes fear into the hearts of coaches around the countr y.

He’s rested and he’s antsy to get back to work. He’s ready to start lifting this program out of the rut it’s been in.

Maybe I’m crazy to say this, but I think losing Mooney, Gibbs and Pf lueger can be a positive in a way. Those guys were crucial to the team, but they were also so closely intertwined with the struggles of these last three seasons.

Sometimes it’s good to hit refresh, to start anew with a relatively clean slate.

It’s no longer the GibbsMooney-Pf lueger show. Now is the time for Brey’s most highly touted recruiting class of his time in South Bend.

It’s time for Hubb, Goodwin, Laszewski and (health willing) Carmody to take command of this program and live up to their hype.

They’ve been through the growing pains, the gutwrenching losses and tearjerking injuries. They know what it means to compete and win in the ACC. They know what it takes to be a successful program. But most importantly, they’ve got a coach unlike any other orchestrating them.

Last season I wrote a column on how Mike Brey’s program was at a pivot point, and it concluded with the words “your move, Mike.”

Now, as I say that again, I’m filled with a new sense of faith in what he can do in (hopefully) a few months once we actually get college basketball back from its prolonged hiatus.

The Irish have had rotten luck, but the pendulum has to swing back at some point.

The other shoe has to drop.

And, hopefully, Brey’s shirt has to come off in the locker room after remaining on his body uninterrupted for far too long.

Your move, Mike. Now go make me a prophet.

been very interesting in the college football world due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and there are lots of questions about what the future holds for 2020 Notre Dame football.

A couple of weeks ago, the Irish officially joined the ACC for the 2020 season as more and more conferences decided to play limited to no non-conference games in 2020. As an FBS Independent, it would have made it very difficult for the Irish to find opponents without being part of a

conference.

For a while, it appeared that everything would be alright for the 2020 season. The Irish were planning on playing ten ACC games along with one non-conference game against Western Michigan.

The plans for the season began to unravel, however, when the Mid-American Conference (MAC), which Western Michigan is a part of, decided to cancel the 2020 Fall football season this past weekend.

This decision by the MAC

prompted the Big Ten and the PAC-12 to cancel their 2020 football seasons as well, leading many people to believe that college football would cease to happen at all in 2020.

At the moment, the Irish and the ACC appear to be set on playing the 2020 season as planned with a ten-game conference schedule plus one non-conference opponent.

If that plan does not change, the Irish will need to find a nonconference opponent to replace

the Western Michigan game.

Many believe that the Irish will try to find another independent team such as BYU to play.

With only three major football conferences still planning on having a fall football season, the next couple of weeks will be vital in preparing for the 2020 season. The Irish are slated to open up their season at home against Duke on Sept. 12.

Contact Hayden Adams at hadams3@nd.edu The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

Contact Nate Moller at nmoller2@nd.edu

sports

W Lax Continued from page 16

a senior.

Fellow four-star attack Abigail Maichin racked up 70 points to lead Huntington High School in Huntington, New York, as a junior. The fourtime New York State ScholarAthelete award earner was named to the Inside Lacrosse Young Gun Senior Watchlist last year.

Midfielders Alexandra McHugh and Kristen Shanahan round out the fourstars in the class. McHugh was named to the 2020 Inside Lacrosse Senior Watchlist after helping Episcopal Academy (Newtown Square, Pennsylvania) to consecutive Inter-Academic League championships in 2018 and 2019.

Much like Kirby, Maseker and Doherty, McHugh is well-accomplished in other sports, breaking her school’s record in the 4×800-meter relay in track and playing four years of varsity soccer. Her soccer squad won a state championship in 2019.

Shanahan was a junior captain on her Sachem High School East team in Holbrook, New York, and recorded 57 goals and 12 assists that season. She was named a U.S. Lacrosse Third Team

ndsmcobserver.com | Friday, august 14, 2020 | The Observer

All-American that same season and was also a two-time all-state player in field hockey in her sophomore and junior years.

Midfielder Kelly Denes was a U.S. Lacrosse All-American in 2019 and led Cardinal Newman High School in Jupiter, Florida, to threestraight district titles. Her accolades include First Team All-Palm Beach County and First Team All-District, as well as being a two-time captain and team MVP. She also played four years of varsity soccer.

Attack Alison Harbaugh is another well-rounded athlete with varsity letters in tennis and basketball. As lacrosse team captain in 2020 at the Bryn Mawr school in Baltimore, Maryland, she helped lead her team to a conference title. Harbaugh is also the daughter of Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh and the niece of Michigan head football coach Jim Harbaugh.

Midfielder Kacie Mooney and defense Sophie Proctor are keeping Notre Dame in the family, as both have had sisters play on the Irish squad before them. A three-sport athlete in lacrosse, basketball and soccer, Mooney is the younger sibling of rising sophomore Ellie Mooney and

15

ALLISON Thornton | The Observer

Irish graduate student attack Samantha Lynch drives to the goal during Notre Dame’s 9-7 victory over North Carolina at Arlotta Stadium. Lynch netted four goals on nine shots for the Irish in the contest.

won sectional and regional championships as a member of Pittsford Mendon High School in Pittsford, New York, Proctor’s sister Hannah was an All-American for Notre Dame at her sister’s same position.

Sophie helped Radnor High School to the Central League Championship in Wayne, Pennsylvania, as a junior.

Rounding out the class is Lilly Callahan, Notre Dame’s lone goalie recruit. She was a two-time Bay State All-Star at Needham High School in Needham, Massachusetts.

She contributed to a Division I state championship in 2017 and as a junior led the squad to the U.S. Women’s National Tournament.

Notre Dame also adds Emma Schettig, a rising sophomore defender transferring from Maryland. The No. 5-ranked recruit in the 2019 class, Schettig led the Terrapins in ground balls with 17 and turnovers caused with nine, garnering an Inside Lacrosse Second-Team All-American spot as a freshman.

Roundtable

Observer Roundtable: Top-10 CFB quarterbacks

By HAYDEN ADAMS, LIAM COOLICAN, PATRICK GALLAGHER, DAVID KRAMER, NATE MOLLER and AIDAN THOMAS Sports Editor and Sports Writers

Earlier this week, The Observer Roundtable previewed the top25 teams for this unusual college football season. Today, we are bringing you our picks for the top-10 college football quarterbacks for the 2020 season, with contributions from six Observer staffers.

Top-10 college quarterbacks 1. Trevor Lawrence 2. Justin Fields 3. Sam Ehlinger 4. Sam Howell 5. Kedon Slovis 6. Tanner Morgan 7. Kyle Trask 8. Ian Book 9. Spencer Rattler 10. Brock Purdy Also receiving votes: Jayden Daniels, Jamie Newman, D’Eriq King, Brady White, Layne Hatcher, Kellen Mond and Jack Coan

Aidan Thomas Besides the order of 1-2, there should be no debate regarding the top two quarterbacks entering the 2020 season. Lawrence and Fields are

head-and-shoulders above the rest of the country at the position, and both should be top5 draft picks come the 2021 draft. After that, there’s plenty of room for argument. I firmly believe that Tanner Morgan is the next best quarterback in college football, and even without Rashod Bateman, I believe Morgan is capable of huge numbers. The way I look at it — Ohio State and Clemson are great teams with great quarterbacks. Minnesota is a great (or at least very good) team because of Tanner Morgan. He’s underrated at No. 6.

To bump him up, I would slide both Ehlinger and Howell down. I think both are overvalued here, and Ehlinger’s ranking seems to be consistent with the traditional overhyping of any and all things related to Texas. I think he’s a fringe top10 signal-caller, but certainly not No. 3. And while I do like Howell — I had him ranked fifth in my personal rankings, I would definitely slide him down a slot to make room for Slovis. As much as it pains the Irish fan in me to say, I think USC is a really good team this year, and Slovis may be one of the best quarterbacks in the nation, ending last season on a ridiculous hot streak.

Beyond that top six, my complaints are minimal. I like Trask

and Book to slot in at the back end of the top 10, so seventh or eighth seems about right for those gunslingers. I am definitely not a fan of ranking Spencer Rattler at No. 9. The guy has not taken an important college snap yet, and he’s ranked in the top 10. I don’t care if Lincoln Riley is the QB whisperer — you’re not a top 10 quarterback until you’ve made a big throw. I also wouldn’t put Purdy in the list, but I’m far more inclined to include him than Rattler.

Just off the top 10, I was pleased to see Jayden Daniels almost make it. The Arizona State quarterback is one of the rising stars in college football, and he was partially responsible for ending Oregon’s playoff hopes when the Sun Devils stunned the Ducks last season. I think being close, but not quite cracking, the top 10 is about right for both Daniels and Jamie Newman. I’m not particularly high on Newman, but he did have a very good season at Wake Forest. There’s a lot of questions to be answered – namely regarding his switch to the SEC — so placing him higher would seem too forward.

My biggest complaint in the “Also Receiving Votes” section may be Brady White, because I believe the Memphis quarterback is a special talent. He led

a Memphis offense to 39 points against Penn State’s elite defense last season in the Cotton Bowl. The Nittany Lions gave up no more than 28 points in any other game, and those 28 points came at the hands of Justin Fields and Ohio State.

How did Brady White not get more votes? I don’t know, but he should most definitely be on everyone’s radar in 2020.

Hayden Adams The Big Ten can go kick rocks. Are they really going to deprive us of a top-10 quarterbacks list that does NOT include Justin Fields? Absolutely, positively not! And, in fact, I have him as my No. 1 quarterback heading into this season.

Say what you will about Trevor Lawrence, and he does have Fields beat in terms of championship experience and pure numbers, but one thing I will give the Big Ten credit for is being much deeper than the ACC. Forty-one touchdowns to three interceptions is an incredibly impressive stat line, especially when two of those three picks came against Clemson. Two interceptions apiece for Lawrence against Syracuse, Georgia Tech and Louisville does not look nearly as good. That said, he’s still Trevor Lawrence, and as far as I’m concerned, you can give

him the Heisman for the way he’s fought to play football this fall.

I only hear good things about Sam Howell, and considering North Carolina didn’t lose by more than a touchdown in any game last season I have to think his development under Mack Brown would mean stealing a few more of those close games. I’m sure we’re overhyping Ehlinger; that said I had him at No. 4, which is still probably too high. It feels like he’s been at Texas as long as Aaron Craft was at Ohio State and Perry Ellis was at Kansas, but let’s keep the basketball talk to a minimum, shall we?

I like Kedon Slovis at No. 5 after seeing what he did as a first year starter for USC last season and beating J.T. Daniels out for the firststring job. I suppose it’s kind of strange that Daniels didn’t get a single vote from us, but that’s probably recency bias — the same recency bias that kept D’Eriq King out of the top 10. Sure, King didn’t play against the toughest competition at Houston, and his situation leaving the Cougars was bizarre, but his dual threat capability is something to see.

But I digress.

I’m not inherently opposed see QBs PAGE 13

16

The observer | Friday, august 14, 2020 | ndsmcobserver.com

nd Women’s Lacrosse

Irish bolster already-stacked youthful roster with recruits following breakout season Observer Sports Staff

The Notre Dame women’s lacrosse team announced its commitments for the class of 2024 in early August. Coming off of an undefeated season start in 2020 that saw them reach the No. 2 spot in the rankings before COV ID-19 struck, the Irish have brought in the No. 5-ranked recruiting class nationally per Inside Lacrosse. The 12-woman class includes one five-star and five fourstar recruits.

Midfielder Keelin Schlageter is the highest rated prospect for the Irish and the No. 26 player nationally. Hailing from Maplewood, New Jersey, she played w ith two other members of Notre Dame’s class at Oak Knoll School of the Holy Child. A longside fourstar defender and No. 38 national recruit Aine Maseker and fellow midfielder Mar y Kelly Dohert y, Schlageter

and crew led Oak Knoll to a No. 5 national ranking and New Jersey Team of the Year distinction. Maseker was also a four-year member of the varsit y soccer team, and Dohert y broke three Oak Knoll indoor track and field records in the high jump, 400-meters and 4×400-meter relay.

Four-star attack Kyle Kirby, whose father graduated from Notre Dame in 1993, set Staples High School ( Westport, Connecticut) records w ith 113 career points and 133 draw controls as a junior. Kirby earned the Jackie Pitts Award in Connecticut, given annually to the senior women’s lacrosse player who is exemplar y in athletics, academics and communit y ser v ice. She also led her high school to four consecutive state championships in field hockey and was named a Ma x Field Hockey All-American as see W LAX PAGE 15

Michelle Mehelas | The Observer

Irish senior midfielder Erin McBride runs in stride with the ball during Notre Dame’s 27-0 victory over Kent State on Feb. 24, 2019. McBride finished with two points, one goal and one assist in the game.

Nd FOOTBALL

Column

Adams: Born-again faith in Brey’s program

Football season faces uncertainty

By HAYDEN ADAMS

By NATE MOLLER

Sports Editor

Sports Writer

What is there to say that hasn’t already been said about the Notre Dame men’s basketball team over the last three years? After backto-back runs to the Elite Eight, a second-round NCA A tournament exit against West Virginia and a Maui Invitational victory that catapulted the Irish to No. 5 in the AP Poll, it was just about all downhill for two straight years.

Senior captain Bonzie Colson went down with a broken foot, followed by fellow senior captain Matt Farrell’s ankle injury, followed by freshman guard D.J. Harvey’s season-ending knee injury, and the Irish still nearly managed to earn a berth in the 2018 Big Dance.

It took Colson coming back — and playing like the ACC player of the year he was voted to be in the preseason— and

Editor’s Note: A version of this story was published online Aug. 13.

see FAITH PAGE 14

NOLA WALLACE | The Observer

Irish junior guard Prentiss Hubb dribbles around an opponent during Notre Dame’s 80-72 win over Pitt at home on Feb. 5.

There was plent y of news surrounding the Irish football program ahead of the anticipated start to Fall Camp on Aug. 12.

To prepare for camp, 117 Notre Dame football student-athletes received a COV ID-19 test on Aug. 10.

Of the 117 athletes who were tested, only t wo players tested positive for the v irus.

One of the athletes who tested positive was asy mptomatic, and the other exhibited mild sy mptoms.

Both of those players are currently in isolation along w ith seven other athletes who were identified through contact tracing.

With the addition of these t wo athletes, there are now four positive tests among the Irish football team in total. So far the Universit y has

administered 619 COV ID-19 tests to football players and athletics department staff, resulting in a negativ it y rate of 99.35% . Considering the general spike of COV ID-19 positives across the nation, that is a ver y promising statistic.

There was also medical news on the football team w ith senior w ide receiver Isaiah Robertson, junior offensive lineman Cole Mabr y and graduate student running back Trevor Speights being medically disqualified from competition.

Speights w ill be a big loss for the Irish. With a lot of questions surrounding who w ill get carries at back this season, Speights figured to be at the ver y least a good addition to the depth chart for the Irish. During his sophomore and junior years at Stanford, Speights had 95 carries for 363 yards and a touchdow n.

Mabr y, unfortunately, w ill see FOOTBALL PAGE 14