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Volume 51, Issue 82 | wednesday, february 8, 2017 | ndsmcobserver.com
‘Progress doesn’t look like a straight line’ Professor examines historical trajectory of racism, injustice in American society; looks to future By SELENA PONIO Associate News Editor
Journalist Jelani Cobb explored America’s history of racism as well as its present existence Tuesday night. Cobb, a professor in the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, has been published in The Washington Post and has written a series of articles centered on race, the police and injustice for The New Yorker. His lecture, titled “The HalfLife of Freedom: Race and Justice in America Today,” was hosted by the Dean’s Fellows of the College of Arts and Letters. Cobb said race replays itself constantly as a theme in history. “It’s not simply an issue,” Cobb
said. “We can’t fundamentally understand how the country came into existence or what the country is without looking at this subject. ... This idea of ‘We the People,’ this founding creed, that the ultimate authority is ‘we.’ But the more important question is who is this ‘we’? It’s a question we have never reconciled.” Cobb said he previously taught at Moscow University, and it was there that one of his colleagues mentioned a particular optimism he thought defined Americans. He said it’s this sense of optimism that is applied to our understanding of the past. However, he said he stands firm on the belief that see RACE PAGE 3
KATHRYNE ROBINSON | The Observer
Professor and journalist Jelani Cobb discusses the theme of discrimination throughout American history during a lecture Tuesday in Jordan Auditorium in Mendoza College of Business.
Ramblers brave cold to raise funds for homeless By NATALIE WEBER News Writer
EMMET FARNAN | The Observer
The cast of the 2016 Keenan Revue performs a song for the dorm’s 40th installment of the sketch comedy show.
‘Revue’ parodies political events By COURTNEY BECKER News Writer
Move over, Alec Baldwin — the Knights of Keenan Hall are entering the political satire arena with this year’s Keenan Revue, “State of the Revuenion.” The Revue will be performed at 7 p.m. in Stepan Center on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Senior Jean Carlo Yunen, this year’s Keenan Revue director, said the idea for the theme developed from a desire
SCENE PAGE 5
to bring the Notre Dame community together through laughter in spite of any political disagreements. “Seeing the country divided and the current political situation, we thought we could do something about it,” he said. “Not make fun just because we want to make fun, but [knowing] we could bring people together in laughter despite what their differences were and make a commentary on what the state [of the see REVUE PAGE 3
VIEWPOINT PAGE 6
Despite Wednesday’s expected high of 31 degrees, the Siegfried Hall Ramblers will be wearing only T-shirts, shorts and flip flops as part of their annual Day of Man. The event aims to promote solidarity
with the homeless — many of whom do not have adequately warm clothing during winter months — and collect funds for the South Bend Center for the Homeless, junior Michael Hernick, Day of Man co-commissioner said. “Last year we raised $22,000, so I mean, our goal for this year
is to beat that again,” junior Isaac Althoff, Day of Man cocommissioner, said. “That was $9,000 over our previous record, so [to] just keep pushing the record up there is always the goal.” Siegfried Hall president, see DAY OF MAN PAGE 3
ND receives record gift Observer Staff Report
Notre Dame received the largest gift directed toward financial aid in the University’s history this week, the University announced in a press release Sunday. According to the release, the late Allan Riley and his wife Radwan made the multi-million-dollar gift of an unspecified amount to support two scholarship programs — the Allan J. and Reda Radwan Riley Scholarships and the Leo and Edna Riley-Aref and Helena Jabbour Scholarships. “The Rileys have been generous supporters for many years,
VIEWPOINT PAGE 7
particularly in the arts,” provost Thomas Burish said in a statement. “I am deeply appreciative of this transformative gift in support of our highest institutional priority, financial aid for deserving students.” Both scholarships will be awarded on the basis of need or merit and are available for undergraduate, graduate and professional students, the press release said. The latter will be awarded to students who have either lived in the Middle East or have expressed interest in studying the culture, history, language, literature or politics of the region. “The focus of Allan’s parents,
hockey PAGE 12
as well as mine, was to provide their children with education,” Radwan Riley said in a statement. “At times, it was not easy sailing, but they prevailed and succeeded beyond doubt. We both appreciate what they sacrificed on our behalf, and now we feel it is our turn to do something worthy of their memory and honorable effort.” The first awards of the two scholarships will be for the 2017– 2018 academic year. According to the press release, at least 15 percent of the funds drawn each year will be used to assist graduates of schools operated by the Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel.
men’s basketball PAGE 12
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TODAY
The observer | wednesday, february 8, 2017 | ndsmcobserver.com
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What is a movie that you would recommend?
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“‘Hidden Figures.’”
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“‘The Dark Night’ or ‘Seven Pounds’.”
“‘Zootopia.’”
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“‘Inception.’”
“‘[The] Usual Suspects.’”
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KELLY VAUGHAN | The Observer
Notre Dame hockey fans cheer on the Irish from the student section as they defeat the Catamounts on Saturday night at Compton Family Ice Arena. The 17th-ranked Irish took down No. 12 Vermont, 4-1.
The next Five days:
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Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Lecture: “Concentrating Solar Energy” DeBartolo Hall 313 4 p.m. - 5 p.m. An ND Energy series.
Lecture: “Seasonal Poverty and Seasonal Migration” Hesburgh Center for International Studies 4 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Lecture: “Innovative Energy Generation” Mendoza College of Business 10:40 a.m. - 12:10 p.m. Open to the public.
Total Body Conditioning Rolf’s Sports Recreation Center 11 a.m. - 11:45 a.m. Space is limited.
Women’s Basketball vs. Georgia Tech Purcell Pavilion 1 p.m. The Irish take on the Yellow Jackets.
Memes and Masculinity LaFortune Student Center 5 p.m. - 6 p.m. Food provided.
Film: “Once Upon a Time There Lived a Simple Woman” DeBartolo Performing Arts Center 6:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Performance: Bach’s Lunch DeBartolo Performing Arts Center 12:10 p.m. - 1:10 p.m. Free but ticketed.
Men’s Basketball vs. Florida State Purcell Pavilion 6 p.m. The Irish take on the Seminoles.
Vespers Basilica of the Sacred Heart 7:15 p.m. - 8:15 p.m. All are welcome to join for evening prayer.
News
ndsmcobserver.com | wednesday, february 8, 2017 | The Observer
Revue Continued from page 1
country] is. [It] doesn’t necessarily drive most of our skits in many ways, but it’s something that is still there.” While the idea for the State of the Revuenion theme had been discussed in previous years, senior Revue producer T.J. Groden said the current political climate offered the perfect opportunity to explore the theme. “State of the Revuenion was one of those puns that was on the list but didn’t get chosen,” he said. “Then this year, with all that was happening, it was just the sort of defining dialogue of the year. We thought it was an appropriate time to use that theme to engage in that dialogue a little bit.” The Keenan Revue publicity directors capitalized on this year’s theme by putting up posters modeled after presidential candidate poster and staging mock protests against the Keenan Revue — during which Keenan Hall residents chanted “Not my Revue” — to generate increased buzz about the event, sophomore publicity director Henry Mulholland said. “We usually do a flash mob dance, and we totally butchered
Race Continued from page 1
progress is not permanent, and there’s always the potential of moving backwards. “Progress doesn’t look like a straight line,” Cobb said. “It looks more like an EKG. We’ve seen these great moments of peaks which have been followed by valleys with the hope that the peaks are higher and the valleys are shallow.” Cobb said the rise of hateful organizations like the Ku Klux Klan and acts such as lynching was fueled by an underlying objective to eliminate a sense
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it last year,” he said. “So we were trying to think of something else we could do and we thought it would be funny to have a protest against ourselves. … I think it was a really important year last year in terms of the election, and everything, so we all thought that would be a fun way to make fun of ourselves and also continue with the theme.” Mulholland said he hopes those who might have had a negative reaction to the publicity campaign come to the Revue to engage in a dialogue about the various events the Revue will parody. “Even if it does spark a little fire for people, I think it’s good,” he said. “I think what the Revue does is just kind of get people talking in a good way about topics that might be sensitive for people, so it’s a good thing overall that people will be coming out for the Revue based on however they feel.” While some of the skits address national events and discussions, Groden said they all relate to the University in one way or another. “Some of our more politicallybent skits involve Trump juxtaposed with a Notre Dame figure or put in a Notre Dame setting, so we’re sort of exploring those
topics,” he said. “With those national topics we sort of bring it in to more of the Notre Dame [and] local level.” Junior Wilson Barrett, returning head writer for the Revue, said adding aspects of Notre Dame to political skits allowed the writers to present a fresh take on frequently parodied figures and events. “I think there’s so much conversation and comedy around President Trump right now that it’s hard to add a new voice to that conversation sometimes,” he said. “I think the place that we can lend our voice most strongly is maybe on a Notre Dame level. … I think that’s the fun of the Revue is that you throw in outside stuff and you let that affect what goes on, but I think it’s a Notre Dame show about Notre Dame.” While some of the material in the Keenan Revue may be considered controversial, the head staff was careful to not cross any lines in deciding what to include in the show, something Groden said was not made any more difficult by this year’s theme. “There were definitely a lot of skits that were way too inappropriate or they’re just a little or a lot over that line, and we
wouldn’t put [that] onstage and put Keenan’s name behind it,” he said. “But I wouldn’t say that this year there were any of those that were because of the theme or the political dynamic.” Junior John McDonough, one of two new head writers along with junior Michael Di Re, said while the head staff was conscious of not crossing any lines, they also gave Keenan Hall residents the freedom to take risks during tryouts. “The tryouts the first time are just the Keenan guys, and we try to give the fairest feedback,” he said. “We’ve done this for a little bit, so we know what works and what’s okay and everything, but you’ve kind of got to give room for people to give it a shot, and then if you see them cross the line you pull them back.” The process of creating the show and determining content is left primarily to the hall residents, Keenan rector Noel Terranova said. “I just on the front end try to set the right vision for what we want the show to be,” he said. “For the most part, they kind of know how to produce the content that actually meets our goals of doing something that’s both funny and insightful and actually reflects
the values of Keenan Hall and the Notre Dame community.” Aside from political skits, Barrett said the show includes parodies of University President Fr. John Jenkins and head football coach Brian Kelly. “I think on campus we have powerful or well-known people like coach Kelly and Fr. Jenkins that I think we’ve done a better job than ever [parodying],” he said. “And, obviously, Brian Kelly has done a better job than ever. We just want to say thank you to him, he’s done a great job in giving us material. … [Those are] the other areas that we delve into most, I’d say.” This year, Groden said, over half the Keenan Hall residents are involved with the Revue in one way or another. “That was one of our big goals this year, was to try to get as many people involved — especially freshmen — as involved in the show as possible,” he said. “So there are only so many people that will be onstage and that you’ll see in the spotlight, but for every one person onstage there are five or six guys behind the scenes … [to] make the show possible.”
of racial progress and was part of the resistance to racial integration and equality. Cobb said discrimination was not limited to African Americans and cited examples through history such as the Chinese Exclusion Act. He talked about inequality for African Americans among areas such as health care, life expectancy and unemployment rates. “We find that race matters in all these kinds of ways and that it continues to replicate the hierarchies that are baked into this country’s history,” Cobb said. Cobb said it is people’s responsibility to move the world
in a desired direction. He said 2.9 million people took to the streets to protest after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, which demonstrates that movements come about when “abstract principles become concrete concerns.” “Despair is the ally of the people who you are fighting against,” Cobb said. “The whole point is to break people’s will and to leave people dispirited. But keep in mind the victories people have achieved against really large odds. Optimism is the fundamental building block of anything that comes after.” According to Cobb, that optimism is tragic because he believes racism will never fully
disappear, but that it will turn from a fatal illness to a chronic ailment as people find better ways of addressing it. Cobb said there is no notion of a “post-racial society.” According to Cobb, there was an anxiety felt among some white groups who felt other racial groups were becoming more advantaged after the election of President Barack Obama in 2008, but that anxiety was a result of racism. “[If] you are defining your citizenship by your cumulative advantages over this group of people, then yes you will find progress to be threatening,” he said. “There’s no other word for that than racism.” Cobb said it was particularly
the testing times of racism and injustice that acted as an impetus of moving forward with social progress. “The place where I find optimism is in each moment where we have encountered these values, where we find ourselves moving backward [that] has had a catalyzing effect on people of conscience who have come together and demand that we create a more decent, equitable and more democratic world,” he said. “We have seen that shockingly small number of people summon the will to perform acts of importance far beyond their numbers.”
Day of Man
and then on the way back, it was really cold out, obviously,” Hernick said. “We decided to sprint back to Siegfried, and then he slipped and dropped his cup, so I had to stand there in the cold helping him pick up all his money. ... I felt like my fingers were about to fall off, and I was really mad at the moment, but it’s a good laugh now.” The Day of Man gives Siegfried students the opportunity to bond, Althoff said. “It’s definitely an event that everyone looks forward to,” Althoff said. “People wake up in the morning and they cut their shirts and make them even more scanty. It’s just a big group thing.” Bishop said suffering in the cold helps the men of Siegfried empathize with the homeless and gives them a sense of perspective. “It definitely bonds us because one of the main points of Day of
Man — maybe the most valuable thing in it — is an expression of solidarity with the poor, with those who are exposed,” Bishop said. “In expressing that solidarity with them, we are also expressing it with each other. So we suffer together, we stand outside together. We do all of it together for others.” According to Hernick, raising awareness of homelessness is necessary, and a group from Siegfried volunteers at the Center for the Homeless every Saturday. “The goal of the whole day is obviously to raise some money, but it’s also to raise awareness and to work really hard this one day so that people think about homelessness, and think about the problems it poses a little more the other 364 days of the year,” he said.
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Continued from page 1
sophomore Sam Bishop, participated in the Day of Man last year and said the event is “a lot of fun” despite the cold temperatures. “Probably my best memory is standing outside of South Dining Hall for an hour in the freezing cold, and I was dressed as a banana and we had some funny signs, and just having a lot of fun with the passersby and people laughing at us,” Bishop said. “It hurts because it’s very cold. Your fingers and toes start to hurt, but it’s worth it.” Hernick said when he participated in the Day of Man during his freshman year, the temperature was between 15 to 20 degrees, and it was “snowing sideways.” “I remember I was standing outside [LaFortune Student Center] with one of my friends,
Contact Courtney Becker at cbecker3@nd.edu
Contact Selena Ponio at sponio@nd.edu
Contact Natalie Weber at nweber@nd.edu
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The observer | wednesday, february 8, 2017 | ndsmcobserver.com
By KELLY McGARRY Associate Scene Editor
Punk rock has acquired a dubious reputation in the past decade. It simply doesn’t hold the place in the counterculture that it used to; angsty teens are more likely to find solace at an EDM show than a punk show, leaving punk behind to a primarily older audience susceptible to nostalgia. On the Menzinger’s “After the Party,” nostalgia comes not only from the influences of its sound but from the lyrics. Many songs have a “the way things were” focus, and the descriptor “teenage” comes up more than a few times. The hardest-hitting line comes on “Your Wild Years”: “I drove you home as you slept in the front seat after a show.” Such a lyric captures a close memory for any former teenager with punk tendencies. The imagery in “Your Wild Years” is personalized to the listener: “We stayed in your adolescent house” is a phrase that can’t fail to bring up images unique to the home you grew up in. “Midwestern states” expresses a uniquely modern sense of ennui: “Most nights we fall asleep with something dumb on Netflix,” a specific mundanity yet unknown to rockers of decades past. Nostalgia comes through better on some tracks
By CHARLIE KENNEY Scene Writer
A mov ie solely about the events leading up to and follow ing John F. Kennedy’s assassination would be monotonous, unsurprising and probably rated NC-17. Shots of the limp body of 46-year-old and the bloodstained 1961 Lincoln Continental he was attacked in would fill the run time. The element of surprise would be completely absent; almost ever y American knows that the 35th president didn’t finish his first term, no matter their education level. The only emotions that would really be present in theaters would be grief and shock. And that’s exactly why mov ies have been made about the Cuban Missile Crisis and President Kennedy’s life as a whole, rather than his death. The topic is too narrow, too melancholy and much too predictable. The recently released film “Jackie,” however, has managed to transform the morose and predictable into the exciting and startling. The film shies away from the assassination itself and instead focuses on the grief of his lesser-know n and more personable w idow — Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. In doing so, it adds suspense and almost completely loses its historicit y. Textbooks cover the path Lee Har vey Oswald’s bullet took to President Kennedy’s skull extensively, but they never describe his w ife’s unrelenting dedication; she refused to take off her bloodstained dress, meticulously arranged his funeral and faced 10 times the amount of grief the nation did.
than on others. Abundant power chords and incessant drums form a significant chunk of the album. The least mature manifestation comes on “Thick as Thieves,” an ode to mischief replicating a song you obsessed over at 13 but never spin again (recall: “Check Yes Juliet”). The encouraging thumping rhythm is conducive to running away, but not necessarily to moving forward. Successful experimentation comes on “Lookers.” An acoustic, lo-fi, distant-sounding intro gives way to a high-energy anthem. A careful breakdown at the 2 1/2 minute mark draws the listener back. Discontinuity grants the track depth, capturing a look back at the past in both its nostalgic lyrics and pop punk sound. Thankfully, complex song structure and melodic construction breaks the mold. As “Black Mass” exhibits, the Menzingers are at their best when they slow it down. A light tambourine overlays twinkling strings as Greg Barnett meditates in a gentle croon. The track maintains a slow and steady pace. The result is lovely and still just as intense, reminiscent of Pinegrove. “Black Mass” is undoubtedly a high point, but the album wouldn’t benefit from a litany of similar tracks. We wouldn’t have a punk album if that were the case; the effect of “Black Mass” is heightened by the contrast of the
songs surrounding it. Opposite the smooth and mellow “Black Mass” is a track at the other end of the spectrum. Album opener “Tellin’ Lies” is a frenzy of pure punk with rough vocals calling to mind Social Distortion. The simplicity and repetitiveness may be just what A.V. Club referred to in its review, which called the album’s overall sound “weathered.” But calling it weathered is only criticism if you’re missing the point — “After the Party” ends much like adolescence, burnt out but hopeful for the future.
Unlike most biopics, the plot of “Jackie” isn’t linear. The entire film is based around an interview that takes place days after the funeral of President Kennedy between Jackie Kennedy (Natalie Portman) and journalist Theodore H. White (Billy Crudup). The 100 minutes of screen time alternates between the interview itself and flashbacks to events she endured during the preceding weeks. The multi-layered plot shows Kennedy at her most vulnerable and at her most poised. It’s able to capture nearly every emotion she feels over the events and tragedies that took place, from incertitude to agony to exasperation to indecisiveness to acceptance. The unconventional plot structure isn’t what makes the film one of the greatest biopics of the past decade; Natalie Portman’s performance as the titular character earns “Jackie” that title. Portman perfects arguably the toughest task an actor or actress can be asked to tackle — to portray a real person. Kennedy had well-documented emotions, idiosyncrasies and personality traits. She isn’t a character that Portman can make her own, but rather one she needs to mimic, and that is exactly what she does. Portman not only looks strikingly like Kennedy, but also speaks with the same cross between a transAtlantic and Bostonian accent as Kennedy did. Her weeping strikes true and she walks with the same simultaneous timidity and confidence that can be seen in so many videos of Kennedy from those same days. The film is not only spellbinding in the portrayal of its protagonist, but also in every other facet. Peter Saarsgard is a mirror image of President Kennedy.
The film is cast with a subtle blur as if it were filmed in the ‘60s. Every set, whether in Hollywood or on the real streets of D.C. or Dallas, is indiscernible from the actual setting. Every little detail — down to the iconic pink Coco Chanel knock-off coat she wore and the blood that later stained it — was perfected. The picture certainly deserves all the praise it has received. Portman deserves the Oscar nomination she’s been appointed, and the film itself deserves the 100 minutes it demands on the silver screen. Aside from all the accolades and all the admiration it has received, however, the truly remarkable aspect of this film is the timing of its release. In a time where the presidency is mocked and the country divided, it’s a firm reminder that there once was a “Camelot” where the presidency was respected, a country was united for one brief moment and streets were filled to the brim to watch a casket go by, not for reasons that were political, but for reasons that were human.
Contact Kelly McGarry at kmcgarry@nd.edu
“After the Party” The Menzingers Label: Epitaph Records Recommended Track: “Black Mass,” “Tellin’ Lies” If you like: PUP, Anti-Flag, Bad Religion
Contact Charlie Kenney at ckenney4@nd.edu
“Jackie” Fox Searchlight Pictures Director: Pablo Larraín Starring: Natalie Portman, Peter Saarsgard, Greta Gerwig
JOSEPH HAN | The Observer
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The observer | wednesday, february 8, 2017 | ndsmcobserver.com
Inside Column
Why we need political discourse Joe Everett Sports Writer
Just to be fair, this is a column regarding politics. I understand the underlying tension that goes along with reading this type of column — you may just want a peaceful Wednesday without reading some random citizen’s commentary on the political state of the United States — but I believe that this may be worth your while. The state of our current political system is often associated with greed, manipulation, lobbying, dishonesty, rigidity; we could go one for a while. The point is that the American people now have a very negative view towards politics and politicians in general, and largely seem to have given up on the idea that our politics can improve — a viewpoint that may become even more prevalent over these next four years. However, this proclivity to complacency and despair will get us nowhere. It’s time for honest and respectful political discourse, especially here on campus. Politics isn’t a dirty word — we’ve made it dirty. Politics comes from the Greek word “politica,” defined as “affairs of the city.” Put simply, it’s the art or science of government. Yet, people today are reluctant to “get too political,” and tend to become extremely defensive when they choose to reveal their “political” opinions. This is detrimental, because productive political discourse rests upon two pillars: a positive and hopeful view towards politics, as well as dialogue that demonstrates openness, honesty and respectfulness. As students and adults at Notre Dame, we all share an obligation to foster and create a culture of respectful political discourse, so that politics may become, as it was meant to be, about helping those in need. When one part of the body suffers, we all suffer. However, it would seem a bit hypocritical if I myself didn’t open up any of my views about the political climate, and hope these views will be discussed, reflected upon and challenged. Again, discourse is necessary and always has value. After examining our current political state here in the United States, I believe we need a strong third-party movement. This is not to say that the Republican and Democratic Parties are broken — but they are extremely fractured, and seem to be pulling themselves farther apart rather than attempting to reach some common ground. With political divisiveness and partisan staunchness quickly becoming the new norms, I believe a party centered on the needs and concerns of the American people would go a long way. Third parties are a monumental part of American history, and have traditionally become either a central party themselves or forced the major parties back towards central ground. This is what the new third party aims to accomplish. I call this “the Party of the Weak,” or perhaps a better name: “the Pro-Life Party.” Let me stop you before the image of a solely “anti-abortion” platform pops into your mind. The “Pro-Life Party” would run on a platform centered around helping those most in need in our society — those who feel dehumanized, vulnerable, mistreated and unrepresented. The platform would be pro-woman and pro-adoption, because the Pro-Life Party argues that women deserve better than abortion, and would strive to support women with the healthcare, resources and support they need when facing an unplanned pregnancy. The Pro-Life Party would be prorefugee and pro-immigrant, because all people deserve the chance to escape turmoil and persecution. This party would focus on helping the poor, the elderly, the homeless, the disabled and the sick. It would seek to improve God-given lives, because that is what it means to be “pro-life.” This would be a government of the people, by the people and for the people, reinforcing the fundamental truth that we are all created equal. Contact Joe Everett at jeveret4@nd.edu The views expressed in the Inside Column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Make Notre Dame a sanctuary campus Shortly after the election, three Notre Dame faculty, alarmed by what the Trump Administration would to the undocumented members of our community, started a petition respectfully urging Fr. Jenkins to declare the University a “sanctuary” campus and to refuse to hand over any information relating to a person’s immigration status. Over 4,000 students, faculty, staff and alumni signed the petition in a matter of days, and students, staff and faculty members staged a quiet sit-in on the lawn in front of the Main Building as the petition was delivered to Fr. Jenkins’s office. The Notre Dame faculty senate passed a resolution to make the campus a sanctuary campus and sent its decision onto Jenkins for his approval. To date, Fr. Jenkins and the rest of the University administration have not weighed in on the issue. It has become increasingly clear that the Trump Administration not only plans to carry out its promise to deport illegal immigrants, but also to ban legal immigrants, visa holders and permanent residents from entering the United States. It is also clear that this administration openly intimidates and threatens those who go against such plans, from the firing of the acting attorney general to insulting, demeaning and degrading federal judges who rule the president’s orders to be unconstitutional. To date, these threats have not stopped many mayors, governors, university presidents or citizens from declaring that they protect those who live and work in their cities and that they will not participate in such discriminatory policies. Indeed, the overwhelming public support for the undocumented, including an estimated 1.8 million DREAMers has been a wonderful beacon of hope in these increasingly fraught and turbulent times. Yet those who oppose standing up for the defenseless and marginalized and who want to punish others for trying to seek a better life for themselves and their children are at work to make such sanctuary cities and campuses illegal. In Indiana, sanctuary cities were made illegal by a 2011 law. Now, members of the Indiana legislature seek to make sanctuary campuses illegal with Senate Bill 423. If the measure is passed and signed into law, our efforts thus far to protect the
defenseless from harm will face a serious challenge. Notre Dame, along with Indiana University and other university and college campuses who declared themselves to be sanctuaries in Indiana, will be accused of breaking the law. We could even face punitive legal action. These are not idle threats; we who respectfully called upon Fr. Jenkins to declare the campus a sanctuary do not expect the University to act naively. Yet, social justice requires us to stand strong in the face of threats, even in the face of breaking the law. Walking the Walk, as we were reminded during our celebrations of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., requires us to spend a night in jail, or perhaps even more than a night, in order to stand up for what is right and to make our society more inclusive. In order to protect the dignity of every life, we must not permit the actions of those who seek to target the weak, the defenseless and the ones who have no legal voice in our society. We must not fall for the trap that requires us to sacrifice the stranger in order to have safety or “law and order.” Instead, we must live as the good Samaritan lived, by taking care of the one who is not us, regardless of what others may say. It is time to make Notre Dame a sanctuary campus. No matter what happens, we must ensure that every member of the Notre Dame family is safe and protected. We must not divulge immigration status or country of origin to those who seek to use such information as part of a discriminatory practice. In the face of intimidation and threats, we must walk the walk. By declaring the Notre Dame a sanctuary campus, we will reassure the members of our family that they are family, that they do belong here and that we will house them. By declaring the University a sanctuary campus, we will also stand alongside our fellow colleagues at other colleges and universities who are also taking a stand across, and signal to them that we are part of a larger group. By declaring the University a sanctuary campus, we will honor our own pledge to walk the walk, to protect life and to treat everyone, even the stranger, with dignity. The hour has come. Fr. Jenkins, declare this University a sanctuary. Andrea Castonguay graduate student Feb. 7
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The observer | wednesday, february 8, 2017 | ndsmcobserver.com
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Alone but not lonely Jack Rooney Irish Eyes
Due to a series of unforeseen circumstances, I’ve ended up traveling alone quite a bit recently. I had never done much solo traveling before, but twice in the past two months, I have taken trips around Europe on my own. I certainly prefer to travel with at least one other person, but overall, I don’t mind being by myself. For an introvert like me, traveling alone presents an interesting paradox that is at once challenging and rewarding. On one hand, I get to spend time by myself, relax and recharge. On the other hand, it forces me to navigate a foreign country by myself, completely reliant on strangers for help. Over the course of these two trips — one to Prague and Vienna and the other to Budapest last weekend — I’ve gotten better at traveling alone. I’ve gotten better at simply being alone, too. My solo adventures have reaffirmed for me that I really am okay on my own. I think that’s because no matter where or with whom, if anyone, I go, I know that I am never truly alone. Every where I travel, everywhere I live and in everything I do, the people I love are right alongside me. And that, in my experience, is how you combat loneliness. Being alone is a reality that everyone faces sooner or later, and becoming comfortable in solitude is a true and necessary skill we all must learn. It can also be a difficult skill to learn, especially when we are young. I’m still working on it, still getting better at being alone. College campuses can be a comforting community, and Notre Dame prides itself on exactly that. But even in the most inclusive and supportive community, we all have to spend time alone. In my American Studies thesis class last year, we
spent the better part of an hour and fifteen minute meeting discussing strategies for how to thrive on your own. Some work, like the research and composition of a thesis, demands to be done alone. I’m writing this column alone because try as I might, writing is a solitary endeavor, sometimes crushingly so. For the first time in my life, I lived by myself last summer, too. That was the most difficult confrontation with being alone. In those more challenging times, it’s easy to become cynical about the reality of being alone. Orson Welles purportedly said, “We’re born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we’re not alone.” Thomas Hobbes was a bit more grim, famously describing life in a “state of nature,” or outside of a structured society and community, as “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.” I’m a bit more optimistic about being alone, but I still allow for the possibility that the things that make us feel connected are illusory and f leeting. At the end of the day, though, I never feel alone because of the love I have for the people in my life. No matter where I am or what I am doing, I know that my family and friends send their love to me, and it finds me and fills me. There have been times when I haven’t felt that way, though. It’s taken me almost my whole life up until now to conclude that I am never alone, and I still recognize the moments when I start to feel alone. In those moments, I have to remind myself of the people in my life who are always with me — my mom, my brothers, my girlfriend, my friends, family and especially my dad, watching over me as a personal guardian angel. So, I suppose my point, if any aside from f leshing out my musings on recent solo travels, is this: even when you are by yourself, and even when you
feel completely alone, you are not. I know, that is a cringe-worthy, preachy, high-school-reatreat-y conclusion. I apologize for that, but I still believe it’s true. At the very least, if you’re still reading, I am with you now. I pour myself into everything I write, and by reading this you carry a piece of me with you. If you feel lonely right now, I hope you can take solace in that, at least. One more time because it’s worth repeating: You’re not alone. You’re never alone. This explains why Harvard anthropologist Joseph Henrich said that “undergraduates sometimes ask [him] if human evolution has stopped or reversed. Their intuition is that … natural selection somehow isn’t acting to better adapt us to the ‘natural world,’ the world without culture.” In a way, they are right. While we are still evolving, the pressure from selection stopped favoring adaptations to ‘the natural world’ a long time ago. Instead, it began favoring biological adaptations that make us better adapted to the cultural world we create because culture is our adaptation to the natural world. This helps explain why we are so strange compared to other wild animals. The answer lies in the fact that we aren’t wild anymore. We are captives of our culture, and while our culture is evolving to better combat the challenges of the natural world, we are evolving as a domesticated species caught in its web. Jack Rooney is a 2016 Notre Dame graduate, and The Observer’s former Managing Editor. He is currently spending a year living and working for the University in Ireland, and writes these columns to keep him busy and satisfy his need for journalism. Follow Jack on Twitter @RooneyReports and/or email him at jrooney1@nd.edu The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Why I was pro-life before I became Catholic Twenty years ago, a young woman accidentally got pregnant. The timing couldn’t have been worse: She was going through hard times in marriage, her job was extremely demanding and she was still living in a tiny apartment sharing a room with her coworker. A lthough abortion was almost a social norm where she was from, she decided to keep the baby. That woman is my mother and I am the baby she decided to keep. I don’t know how much my mom’s life would have changed had she made a different decision. I suppose she could have had another child and could have still been happy — just like NAR AL president Ilyse Hogue, who claimed at the Democratic National Convention that having an abortion was the best decision for her, and she was perfectly happy now with two incredible children. However, I do know how much my mother’s decision has changed my life. It’s frightening to think that I almost wouldn’t have
existed: I wouldn’t be able to read, travel and see this beautiful world; I wouldn’t know how gentle a breeze feels and how sweet f lowers smell; I wouldn’t meet all the wonderful people I love, and I wouldn’t fall in love and hopefully have my own family one day. I get to experience all the joy and beauty of life because my mother decided to give me a chance. It was not easy for her, but she did it any ways. Am I calling women who have had abortion cowards who picked the easy way out? Absolutely not (just Ilyse Hogue). My mother was lucky: Despite all the difficulties she was going through, she still felt that she had the “choice” to keep me. Unfortunately, not ever y woman feels the same way. W hen the society makes a woman believe that abortion is her only option, she will “choose” it. But why not promote alternative solutions like adoption and child care subsidy so women can truly have their “choices” ? W hy not care for them and help them instead of mocking
them for being stupid enough to become single moms? Therefore, I blame the government and the society, not the women who chose abortion out of despair. The bottom line is, whether you believe a fetus should be considered a human or not, you cannot deny that it has the potential to develop into a human being and live a wonderful life, the same one that you and I have the privilege to enjoy. After the March for Life rally last Friday, I called my mom and told her how incredibly grateful I was to be brought into this world. She replied that keeping me was the best decision she has ever made. I could tell that she was holding back tears. If she were not such a brave woman, I would not even be here today. It feels nice to be loved. I wish more lives could know that feeling.
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Grace Zhu senior Feb. 7
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DAILY
The observer | wednesday, february 8, 2017 | ndsmcobserver.com
Crossword | Will Shortz
Horoscope | Eugenia Last Happy Birthday: Keep an open mind and a positive attitude. Let your charm help you navigate through both the good times and the bad. Show compassion and understanding and be willing to see your faults and accept those of others. Sharing will help bring you closer to the people you love. Be mindful and offer kindness and consideration. Your numbers are 7, 14, 18, 25, 33, 38, 46. ARIES (March 21-April 19): Take your time if emotional situations flare up. Try to be optimistic and offer unique solutions instead of getting upset. Learn from your past mistakes and you will avoid making an unnecessary mistake. TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Travel plans or visiting someone who can feed you information about current trends or changes going on in the workplace will lead you into an interesting project. Think big, but don’t overdo it. Moderation will keep you out of debt. GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Take strides that will help you bypass any negativity or deceptive rhetoric with people who may be trying to take advantage of you. Stick close to those you trust. Love and romance are featured. CANCER (June 21-July 22): Emotions will surface if you let what others do get to you. Avoid attempting anything that may result in minor injuries or poor health. Look for opportunities to use your skills to get ahead instead of wasting your time arguing. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Aim to stabilize your life. Don’t let emotional issues come between you and your goals. Take pride in what you do and live within your means. Having a plan in place and following each step with precision and detail will pay off. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Children or people you have helped in the past will offer an interesting perspective on a situation you currently face. Listen to advice, and if necessary, ask for assistance in order to make the changes that will improve your life. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Don’t let your emotions stand in your way. Think big and follow through with your plans regardless of the obstacles you face. Positive changes will unfold if you are ready to do what’s necessary to make things happen. SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Friends and relatives will be happy to pitch in and help if you ask. Offer incentives if they will make it easier to reach out for assistance. Ask questions and listen to those with more experience and you will get ahead. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Don’t neglect the ones you love. You’ll be so intent on getting ahead you may lose sight of why you are working so hard in the first place. Get your priorities straight before someone complains or does something you don’t like. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Emotional matters will cause you to rethink your relationships with some of your peers. Trust is important if you want to feel comfortable sharing your ideas. Move forward with caution and avoid indulgence, excess and exaggeration. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Share your thoughts and look for ways to use your skills, talents and knowledge to get ahead. Take action and see what unfolds. Express who you are, what you have to offer and what you want. Romance is highlighted. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Turn your home into a place of comfort. Aim to lower your stress by engaging in something that brings you happiness or satisfaction. Time spent with children or someone you love will improve your disposition. Aim to please. Birthday Baby: You are proactive, focused and intelligent. You are engaging and appealing.
Just add Water | Eric Carlson & John roddy
Sudoku | The Mepham Group
Jumble | David Hoyt and Jeff knurek
Draw comics. Email Margaret at mhynds@nd.edu
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Sports
ndsmcobserver.com | wednesday, february 8, 2017 | The Observer
Sports Authority
Men’s Tennis
Keep trusting the process Lucas Masin-Moyer Sports Writer
One hundred ninety-nine. That’s the number of games the Philadelphia 76ers lost in the three seasons spanning 2013-2016. That’s 33 more losses than the Cavaliers in their first three seasons after LeBron James left, a team whose idea of a star was a 34-yearold Antwan Jamison, and 30 more losses than the thenCharlotte Bobcats — now Charlotte Hornets — in their first three years in the league. To put it bluntly, the Sixers were horrific; so bad, in fact, the NBA tried to intervene to make them better. The best part of this whole scenario was this losing was intentional — all part of a convoluted scheme concocted by full-time analytics wizard, part-time general manager Sam Hinkie. Hinkie’s “process” involved trading away any players with value around the league and comprising a roster of D-League players and washed up veterans in order to lose the most games and get the highest draft picks. Crazy right? Well, even crazier, this year it’s started to work. Believe me, I was amongst the doubters. The neverending loses seemed to be going nowhere. Hinkie had traded away Michael Carter-Williams, the reigning Rookie of the Year, and it seemed as if other top-tier draftees would never see a game in South Philly. It all seemed a far cry from my best Sixers memories — watching from the nosebleeds of the Wells Fargo Center as a team of non-superstars, Jrue Holiday and Lavoy Allen amongst them, take the Big 3-era Celtics to seven games in the Eastern Conference semifinals. I was first to herald the decision to fire Hinkie. He, in my mind, was a noble fool who had tried to emulate moneyball and failed dramatically. Little did I know that in time I — and the city of Philadelphia — would soon be heralding him as a martyr
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fighting for a cause only he knew could succeed. The 2016-17 season started like each of the three previous seasons, save a win before December. But around Christmas, things started to change. The irreverent Joel “The Process” Embiid, a center known as much for his social media presence — complete with interactions with Hinkie himself — as his incredible scoring ability, took center stage, racking up 20 points a game on any given night. This, paired with Dario Saric’s emergence in his first year since coming over from Croatia and the improving play of a ragtag supporting cast, led the Sixers to a 10-5 record in January, better than the reigning champs from Cleveland. Hinkle’s process has legitimized two major strategies for creating a successful NBA team. First, and possibly most concerning, is the Sixers have essentially legitimized tanking in the NBA to get superstars. Tanking is far from a new strategy — it’s the very reason the NBA created the lottery — but it has rarely been as blatantly public as with the Sixers these past few years. Second, it has further proved the merit of using analytics to project players abilities and craft a better NBA team — and proven Hinkie is indeed a basketball genius. Though the Sixers have not seen large scale success yet, the future is bright. Though they may not win an NBA title — who am I kidding? Of course they will — the resurgence of the Sixers in the “Process Era” has reignited a passion for basketball in Philadelphia unseen since the days when Allen Iverson stepped over Tyronn Lue in the 2001 NBA Finals and made scores of NBA fans learn that in order to succeed, sometimes you’ve just got to “Trust the Process.” Contact Lucas Masin-Moyer at lmasinmo@nd.edu The views expressed in this Sports Authority are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
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Irish to open ACC play against BC at home By MICHAEL IVEY Sports Writer
Notre Dame is set to face off against Boston College this Saturday at Eck Tennis Pavilion before hosting a nonconference doubleheader against No. 17 Illinois and Detroit on Sunday. The Irish (4-2) will open up ACC conference play against the Eagles (1-2), which Irish head coach Ryan Sachire said is important because starting the conference schedule off with a win builds early momentum, just as a win over the Illini (2-2) would. “These will be significant matches,” Sachire said of the weekend. “Boston College will be our first ACC match of the year that will count for our league standings, so we certainly want to get off to a good start. Illinois is a traditional rival of ours. They’re a consistent top-15 program year in and year out. They’re that same level this year, and I think that’s a huge opportunity for us as well.” Sachire said the three teams Notre Dame will face this weekend are quality teams, and his team will
need to be at its best to come away with wins. “The Illinois match is one where we have a lot of respect for their program,” Sachire said. “Their coaches do a very good job, [and] they have very talented players. We know we’re going to need to play a very good match in order to win, but we’re looking forward to that challenge for sure.” The Irish are coming off of back-to-back 7-0 sweeps against Monmouth and William & Mary this past weekend. With that momentum, the Irish will look to rest before their busy weekend, Sachire said, because it is important to prep and play the same way for every opponent on the schedule, which is a mentality Sachire hopes will resonate with his players. “The first thing is we’re going to make sure of is that every guy who is banged up a little bit — we’re going to make sure they rest early this week and try to be as healthy as we can be once we begin our preparation for the weekend,” Sachire said. “I think the one thing our guys did a great job of this past weekend was
— we didn’t play teams with the name value of a North Carolina or Kentucky like we did earlier in the year, and sometimes you don’t have the same amount of focus you do when you know you’re playing a great team. We’ve tried to instill in our guys that no matter who they’re playing against or no matter the situation, we’re going to go out and play our best and not let our opponent dictate our focus and energ y, but we’re going to play how we play. “W hether we’re playing Boston College or Illinois or whoever, we’re going to go out and play our best. It starts with being healthy, so we’re going to recover here these next couple of days, and then once we get back to practicing and really get after it, we’ll try to peak for the weekend and have the goal to be our absolute best team this Saturday and Sunday.” Notre Dame will first square off Boston College at noon Saturday before hosting Illinois at noon and Detroit at 5 p.m. Sunday. Contact Michael Ivey at mivey@hcc-nd.edu
SMC BASKETBALL | SMC 62, Kalamazoo 47
SMC picks up second win of season over Kalamazoo Observer Sports Staff
Saint Mary’s snapped its 18-game overall and 25-game MIAA losing streaks Saturday with a 62-47 victory over Kalamazoo. The Belles (2-19, 1-12 MIAA) took an early 9-3 lead on the back of a 7-0 run. Although the Hornets (3-18, 2-10) took the lead back, a 10-2 Saint Mary’s run during a stretch lasting less than three minutes helped push the Belles to a 21-16 advantage at the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter, Saint Mary’s limited Kalamazoo to just five points on 2-of-15 shooting, extending its lead to 35-21. Scoring efficiency separated the teams in the first half, as the Belles made 15of-30 shots, while holding the Hornets to 6-of-27 shooting from the floor. Although Saint Mary’s
started the second quarter with a 3-pointer from freshman forward Megan Will, an 11-0 Hornets run put its chances of holding on for a first conference victory on the season in doubt, as its lead was cut to just six points. Will, however, hit a jumper as time expired in the quarter to stop Kalamazoo’s momentum and extend her team’s lead to eight points. Neither team scored for the first two minutes of the final quarter, but Will extended the Belles’ lead to double-digits with the first basket of the period with 7:59 left in the game. Saint Mary’s continued to stifle the Hornets offense as the final period went on, with the first Kalamazoo score coming with only 3:15 remaining and cutting the lead to 55-43. Although the Hornets added two more points from the field and two from the line, the
Belles comfortably held on, winning the game 62-47. The result marked many milestones for a Belles program struggling to find victories in recent times. As well as being the first MIAA victory since December 2015 for Saint Mary’s, it was also the largest Belles win since November 2014 and the largest Saint Mary’s MIAA win since December 2013. Will led the Belles in scoring with 16 points on 7-10 shooting, while junior forward Gabby Diamond scored 13 points and added 14 rebounds. Sophomore guard Erin Maloney had a game-high seven assists. The Bellles outrebounded Kalamazoo 47-31 and held the Hornets to 14-of53 shooting. The Belles will hope to build on the victory when they travel to Alma on Wednesday. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
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Sports
The observer | wednesday, february 8, 2017 | ndsmcobserver.com
Baseball Continued from page 12
KATHLEEN DONAHUE | The Observer
Irish junior forward Anders Bjork surveys the ice during Notre Dame’s 2-2 overtime tie with New Hampshire on Jan. 20.
Hoonhout Continued from page 12
in the third, three successive Vermont goals pushed what had been an Irish lead to a sudden 4-2 deficit. It looked to be a disastrous turnaround at the time, but Notre Dame did not go down quietly. The Irish scored two goals in the final 3:10 of regulation to send the game to overtime, but once again failed to capitalize on the momentum, and the game ended in a 4-4 tie. This is a great example of what has been plaguing Notre Dame all year. While they may be cardiac kings, the Irish had a chance to pull out a huge win against a Hockey East opponent — especially as the race for postseason seeding heats up. Yet they blew an early two-goal lead and had to battle back to get a result. This team has the mental toughness to grind out results when it needs to, especially as the Irish have come back to win or tie in nine games this year. And, following Friday’s near shocker, the Irish dominated Vermont in a 4-1 win to leapfrog them in the conference standings. But the lack of consistency has plagued this team all year, and with the postseason and some tough opponents coming up, it is questionable whether or not Irish can find it within themselves to start stringing results together. On the whole, this season has been a roller coaster ride for Notre Dame. The Irish have been ranked as high as No. 3, but an up-and-down four months has resulted in the Irish being most recently ranked No. 16, just barely good enough for the final spot in the NCAA tournament’s 16-team field. Now, there is still hockey to play, including a final Hockey East tournament for Notre Dame before it moves to the Big Ten next season. Still, at its current record of 15-9-4 — including a 8-5-3 conference mark — the team has struggled to sweep opponents. Sure, there is no team in the Hockey East that is an easy win. But as the Irish have gone 1-1 against teams such as UConn, Merrimack and UMass — who sit seventh, ninth and last in the conference, respectively — those are games, on paper at least, that Notre Dame should be using to
pile up wins. Notre Dame’s best performance of the year has undeniably been a 3-2 comeback home win against then-No. 3 Boston College. Despite going down 2-0 early, the Irish stuck with it, and star junior forward Anders Bjork was instrumental in leading the Irish to three straight goals and a convincing win. It was Boston College’s first Hockey East loss and a huge team win for Notre Dame. The Irish can certainly play with the Eagles, but the games in between have been constant pitfalls this season. Boston College, on the other hand, has been able to sweep most of the other teams it has played, and that’s why the Eagles are first in the conference. While Irish head coach Jeff Jackson has talked throughout the season about the Irish finding their groove, the team has yet to do it, and now it’s crunch time. The Irish have three Hockey East opponents left to close out the regular season: 11th-place Maine, fifth-place Providence, and second-place Boston University. While it’s unlikely the Irish can sweep all six games, they’ll start the challenge with Maine first, and the matchup poses a huge test. All season, Notre Dame has played competitive hockey with the Boston Colleges and the Minnesota Duluths of the world — teams of high caliber that pose a real challenge — and the matchups with the Friars and the Terriers should result in exciting, fast-paced hockey. But against teams like Maine, who are nowhere near the same level as the Irish on paper, Notre Dame has struggled to dominate. Thus, pockets of great performances have been separated by up-and-down Irish streaks. If the the team can finally be consistent against the Maines of college hockey — opponents that it is supposed to beat — it might be able to string some results together, start playing consistent hockey and racking up wins. And at this time of year, wins are all that matter. Contact Tobias Hoonhout at thoonhou@nd.edu The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
… Ryan Lidge has played — I don’t know, he’s got to be approaching the record for games played as a catcher at Notre Dame.” Mainstays from last year’s lineup like junior outfielder Jake Shepski and sophomores center fielder Matt Vierling — both of whom also pitched for Notre Dame in relief at times last season — and utility man Nick Podkul also return for the Irish, while sophomore infielder Cole Daily will also look to build on his increasing presence in the second half of last season. Fiala, Daily and Podkul will be among the new faces making appearances in an Irish infield that lost starters at three of its four positions. First baseman/third baseman Zak Kutsulis and shortstop Lane Richards both graduated last May. Junior second baseman Cavan Biggio decided to forego his final year of eligibility to pursue his MLB dreams after being selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the fifth round of the MLB entry draft last June. It’s the first time in six years Notre Dame doesn’t have at least one Biggio on its roster,
with Cavan and older brother Conor each playing their college ball in South Bend; they represent one of a couple pairs of brothers who have found success in South Bend over Aoki’s tenure at Notre Dame. Their younger sister, Quinn, is also verbally committed to play for the softball team. Utility man Ricky Sanchez, who spent time at first, third, home, designated hitter and in the outfield last season, also graduated. All told, Notre Dame said goodbye to nine seniors — the 10th, lefty Michael Hearne, is back for a fifth year, the only graduate student on the roster. Fiala has his claim on shortstop this season after spending most of his time at third base last year, but the other positions around the infield are still competitive, Aoki said. He added if he had to put a lineup out right now, it would have Lidge behind the plate with freshman Connor Power — who also catches — at first base. Continuing around the horn, Aoki described second base as “a little up in the air” between some combination of Daily, Podkul and freshman Nick Neville, while third base could be Podkul or Neville, too. This year’s senior class is smaller than the last,
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numbering just four: Fiala, Lidge, left-hander Scott Tully and the righty Smoyer, who threw 61 1/3 innings while making 11 starts for the Irish in 2016. “This year’s class has a little bit more daily, on-the-field impact,” Aoki said. “ … This group, they’re all, have been and probably will continue to have the potential to be very impactful on the field. … I think our senior class, Mike and Kyle in particular, are responsible really a high level for that.” Aoki said although the ups and downs of a baseball season have yet to begin, he senses a good camaraderie among this group. “I think we’re in a pretty good place from a mindset standpoint,” Aoki said. “ … I really like this group. They’re fun to be around, and there are some potentially really exciting things from them, both from a group standpoint and also from an individual standpoint. … I really like being around them. I like the way they go about their daily business.” Notre Dame travels to the Lone Star State next week to get its season underway at the Alamo Irish Classic on Feb. 17. Contact Zach Klonsinski at zklonsin@nd.edu
Sports
ndsmcobserver.com | wednesday, february 8, 2017 | The Observer
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KATHLEEN DONAHUE | The Observer
Irish junior guard Matt Farrell dribbles around a defender during Notre Dame’s 71-54 loss to Virginia on Jan. 24 at Purcell Pavilion.
M Bball Continued from page 12
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79 of the team’s 88 points, while none sat for more than five minutes the whole night. “Those four guys made bigtime winning plays for us,” Irish head coach Mike Brey said. “We have guys that want to hit big shots when there’s game pressure on them,” Brey said later. “We’ve got four guys that’ll do it, and that’s really a great weapon to have.” Colson was the standout performer, though, hitting both his 3-point attempts as he notched another stat-filled double-double with 27 points, 16 rebounds and five blocks. “I told him I needed the ‘junkyard dog,’ the Bonzie that’s pounding his chest,” Farrell said. “I need him playing with emotion because that gets us going.” Notre Dame’s junior captain wasn’t the only big man putting up an impressive stat line, though: Wake Forest sophomore forward John Collins went toeto-toe with Colson, scoring 24 and adding 14 rebounds in his team’s loss. “[Colson] was thoroughly exhausted — that’s why I used the timeout a couple times just to rest,” Brey said. “ … We couldn’t take him out, he had to play it out. But to wrestle Collins in the post and then do what he did offensively is physically unbelievable.” After Notre Dame took that 5654 lead, it didn’t take too long for the Demon Deacons (14-10, 5-7) to claw the game back to a 60-60 tie. But a Beachem 3-pointer put the Irish back ahead, and in due time, that lead grew to eight, 7466, with just over four minutes to play. Wake Forest had another run in them, though, and rattled off six straight to cut the Notre Dame advantage back to two. Farrell and Wake Forest senior
forward Austin Arians traded buckets, before Vasturia put his mark on the result, hitting a 3-pointer with 2:09 to play. From there, Irish maintained a two- or three-possession lead the rest of the way. Over those final 15 minutes, Notre Dame’s offensive efficiency was sky-high — the Irish scored 46 points in their final 26 completed possessions, an efficiency rating of 176.9 — outscoring the Demon Deacons by 15 points over that stretch. The Irish finished the game 13-for-27 from deep after a 9-for-14 second half, turning the ball over just twice in the second stanza. Continuing a trend from Saturday’s loss at North Carolina, the Irish went small again Tuesday — senior forward Austin Torres and junior forward Martinas Geben played just six minutes between them — and Brey said that playing “fiveout” helps his four key scorers offensively. “Five-out with a smaller lineup, with [sophomore guard Rex Pflueger] or [freshman guard T.J. Gibbs] helps the four most important guys on my team,” Brey said. “The big four are really helped by that, and it’s evident in their numbers second half of Carolina and really [Tuesday].” The win snapped Notre Dame’s longest losing streak in eight years — and Brey’s happy to have that off his team’s back. “Man, we needed that,” Brey exclaimed as he walked into his press conference. “We needed that, baby.” Brey’s team will have another chance for a resume-building win Saturday, when the Irish host No. 14, second-placed Florida State at Purcell Pavilion. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m., a change from the initial 2 p.m. game time. Contact Alex Carson at acarson1@nd.edu
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The observer | wednesday, february 8, 2017 | ndsmcobserver.com
Men’s Basketball | Nd 88, Wake Forest 81
Colson’s double-double leads Irish to victory By ALEX CARSON Assistant Managing Editor
For the first 25 minutes Tuesday night, it was tough to get a read on Notre Dame. The Irish (18-7, 7-5 ACC) oscillated between looking like their usual selves, jumping out to a 14-9 and going on an 11-2 run later in the first half, and looking like a team taking on water faster than it could be shoveled out, giv ing up 9-0, 10-0 and 7-0 runs. Given the effects of a four-game skid and a Tuesday game against a nonmarquee opponent, Purcell Pav ilion was largely quiet and partially empt y — one could have easily mistaken the game for a November nonconference one, not a key Februar y league tilt. Then, w ith 14:50 to play and the Irish trailing 5042, junior for ward Bonzie Colson did something he hasn’t done w ith much consistency all year: hit an open 3-pointer. The next trip dow n the f loor, Wake Forest lost junior guard Matt
Farrell at the arc. Suddenly, it was a two-point game, and Purcell was alive. Within a couple minutes, Colson hit another 3 — this one in front of Irish football head coach Brian Kelly, who sat courtside w ith new defensive coordinator Mike Elko — and the Irish led for the first time in the second half, 56-54. Though the Demon Deacons would tie the game, Notre Dame never trailed again, pulling away late for an 88-81 w in. “We picked each other up and said, ‘Hey, we gotta do this, it’s not gonna be easy,’” Colson said of the team’s halftime chat, when the Irish trailed 41-36. “W hen adversit y hits, you’ve gotta get over that edge, and we did that.” Perhaps more than they have all year, the Irish leaned heav ily on their “big four” Tuesday night. Colson, Farrell, senior for ward V.J. Beachem and senior guard Steve Vasturia combined for see M BBALL PAGE 11
KATHLEEN DONAHUE | The Observer
Irish junior forward Bonzie Colson shoots over a Virginia defender during Notre Dame’s 71-54 loss to the Cavaliers on Jan. 24 at Purcell Pavilion. Colson paced the Irish with 27 points and 16 rebounds Tuesday.
Hockey
Baseball
Lack of consistency could Aoki deciding on create issues for ND starters for season By ZACH KLONSINSKI
Tobias Hoonhout
Assistant Managing Editor
Sports Writer
Last Friday, the Irish hosted then-No. 12 Vermont in the opening game of a crucial Hockey East series. With the season w inding dow n and then-No. 17 Notre Dame right on the cusp of a top-16 NCA A berth, a loss would have been a crippling blow to the team’s playoff chances, and the Irish (15-9-4, 8-5-3 Hockey East) came out like they knew it. Two first-period goals from sophomore for ward Andrew Oglev ie and junior for ward Bo Brauer pushed Notre Dame in front 2-0, and the Irish looked to be in firm control of a game they couldn’t afford to lose. But as the game went on, the Irish offense struggled to add to the lead, and Vermont started to look dangerous. A late second-period goal for the Catamounts (16-9-3, 8-6-2) shrunk the lead to 2-1, and see HOONHOUT PAGE 10
KATHLEEN DONAHUE | The Observer
Irish sophomore forward Andrew Oglevie fights for the puck during Notre Dame’s 2-2 tie with New Hampshire on Jan. 20.
Notre Dame’s season doesn’t get underway until next week when the Irish travel to San Antonio for the season-opening Alamo Irish Classic, but the program has already been hard at work constructing a fresh look for 2017. “When it’s all said and done, [our new team building] will encompass the existing locker room,” Irish head coach Mik Aoki said Tuesday, sitting in the visitor’s locker room on the first-base side of the field. A mud pit surrounded the Irish locker room on the third-base side, almost completely hiding bits of the expansion’s concrete foundation from sight. “It will be a larger area for the guys to hang out, have team meetings, there will be a small study room off that space. The [current] locker room’s kind of tight.” The expansion of the home locker room, slated to be finished mid-April, gives Frank Eck Stadium a facelift that corresponds with the team’s entering the season: a sense of
familiarity with just a touch of something new. The core of last year’s Irish club, its pitching, returns most of its staff in 2017, Irish head coach Mik Aoki said. “We’re deep there,” Aoki said. “We’re especially talented there as well.” Aoki said the four starters he picks for San Antonio will come out of a group that includes right-handers senior Ryan Smoyer and juniors Peter Solomon, Brandon Bielak, Brad Bass and Sean Guenther, and graduate student lefty Michael Hearne. Aoki also mentioned junior right-hander Charlie Vorsheck and freshman lefty Cameron Brown as potential starters as the season progresses. In the field, the Irish will be steadied by veterans like seniors catcher Ryan Lidge and shortstop Kyle Fiala, both of whom have seen extensive playing time in their careers at Notre Dame. “Kyle Fiala has basically started every day since he has been a freshman,” Aoki said. “ see BASEBALL PAGE 10