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Volume 51, Issue 94 | friday, february 24, 2017 | ndsmcobserver.com

‘I wish people would whistle more’ Notre Dame faculty, students fondly remember economics professor Timothy Fuerst, who died Tuesday

Timothy Fuerst loved to whistle. It was just one way Fuerst, the William and Dorothy O’Neill professor of economics, showed his contagious zeal for life, senior Faisal Shariff said. “It was the way he expressed himself and it was a way that he showed his enthusiasm,” he said. “It was a really nice way to start the day. To walk into lecture and have him whistling — it brought your spirits up.” Fuerst died Tuesday at the age of 54 after a 10-month battle with stomach cancer. William Evans,

Faculty receive research grant Observer Staff Report

The University announced Wednesday that three University professors had been awarded a $3 million grant for the National Institutes of Health to study infants and their relationship with parents. According to the press release, Julie Braungart-Rieker, Flaherty College professor of psychology and director of the William

J. Shaw Center for Children and Families; E. Mark Cummings, Notre Dame endowed chair and professor of psychology; and Lijuan Wang, associate professor of psychology, will work with the Shaw Center in South Bend to conduct their research. The study will focus on how the stability of parental relationships affects the well-being of their infants, the press release said.

and his spirit was infectious.” Evans said Fuerst made a lasting impact in the economics department during his five years at Notre Dame through his enthusiasm for and commitment to the University’s mission. “He was just a really great friend here in the department,” Evans said. “He was only here for a short time, but he cared about the mission, he cared about economics, he cared about the students. He’s what you want in a faculty member — someone who wants to invest in the institution, make it a better place and help just make Notre Dame able to fulfill its mission here in the world.”Despite being a

“wonderful economist” and a “pioneer” in his field, Joseph Kaboski, the David F. and Erin M. Seng Foundation professor of economics, said Fuerst’s de-

Timothy Fuerst

News Writer

Keough-Hesburgh professor and department chair of economics, said when he was first diagnosed, a group of Fuerst’s students put together a video of various community members whistling in support of him, a testament to how much they cared about their professor. “I remember when he was first diagnosed: a couple of undergraduates went around and put this video together of people whistling for him to try to make him feel better,” he said. “ … He was one of our most successful teachers. Students enjoyed his class. Part of it was he was just enthusiastic about economics, he was enthusiastic about teaching

William and Dorothy O’Neill professor of economics

By COURTNEY BECKER

votion to his family — he and his wife had four kids — and his Catholic faith largely shaped his career path, rather than any personal ambition.

“He kind of gave up this elite academic track to go teach at Bowling Green [State University], which is a liberal arts college, to be closer to his family, closer to [his wife] Toni’s family,” Kaboski said. “That kind of exemplifies his sense of values. He didn’t value praise or accomplishment for his own sake. He did research because he enjoyed it. He thought it was important. He was very humble.” After spending 19 years as an economics professor at Bowling Green, Fuerst was eventually attracted to Notre Dame due to his commitment to his faith, Evans see FUERST PAGE 3

Professor reflects on exile, isolation in writing By MEGAN VALLEY Associate News Editor

Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi has always felt like a stranger; she thinks she always will, she said. “I was born right after the Iranian revolution,” Van der Vliet Oloomi, assistant professor of English, said. “My mother is Iranian and my father’s British-Dutch … they were

forced to exit the country, sort of overnight. “I was obviously born under the sign of exile, and that sort of political tension really sort of infuses itself into everything you do; it’s part of your everyday life,” she said. For Van der Vliet Oloomi, this “inherited suffering” has been a critical influential factor in her career as an author. “This theme of exile and this

kind of aimless drifting as a result of exile is a big part of who I am as a person, but obviously a big part of my writing,” she said. “Issues of alienation and displacement come up quite a bit in my work.” Currently, Van der Vliet Oloomi is finishing up her second novel, “Call Me Zebra,” which she said follows a see AUTHOR PAGE 3

SMC to host National History Day competition Every year across the country, students channel their passion for the past through National History Day (NHD), a competition where students present projects through various media. Saint Mary’s is one such site hosting a regional NHD contest on Saturday, where students and professors will judge history projects made by local students ranging from grade to high school. Chair of the history department Bill Svelmoe said the College annually hosts this event. “The local students will present

their projects mainly in Spes Unica Hall, where the history department is located. “[The projects] range from posters to papers to theatrical presentations,” history professor David Stefancic said. The competition organizes new themes every year. According to the National History Day website, this year’s theme is “taking a stand in history.” “The topics that I’m looking at are activism: ... abolitionists, [the] Declaration of Independence, [the] Civil Rights movement in the ’50s, a young soldier from the Civil War, censorship [and] Tiananmen Square in China,” Stefancic said.

“They have to do with social change and revolution.” While many history majors participate, students with any major can volunteer to judge the projects, Svelmoe said. Junior history and English literature major Brooke Lamb said it is a good opportunity for all Saint Mary’s students. Lamb said judging focuses more on the interview process and understanding what the students have put into their projects. “I think that anyone on campus could judge and [the history department is] willing to have volunteers,” Lamb said. The judges work in groups

to examine and compare presentations. “You don’t judge anything by yourself — there’s usually three of you, at least, that are working together,” Svelmoe said. “It’s not all on you to crush some child’s dreams.” Judges score the students on their visuals and presentation and give feedback on the projects. “The top ones advance [but] you try to say something encouraging about all of them,” Svelmoe said. Stefanic said student judging is a good way to see what young students are doing at lower levels. “You have a chance to see

what’s going on there, particularly if you’re considering going onto teaching in grade school or junior high,” Stefancic said. “Also, you have a chance to meet some really cool kids.” The day also introduces local students to the College and Stefancic said the competition is a hidden recruiting tool for the students participating. “There have been instances where the students who were taking part of this met us and then decided to come to Saint Mary’s,” he said.

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By GABY JANSEN News Writer

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ANN CURTIS | The Observer

Senior Jamie Marvil and junior Jessica Harris celebrate after coming in first place in the women’s distance medley relay Thursday at Loftus Sports Complex. The Irish relay team beat Clemson by 0.36 seconds to clinch the win.

The next Five days:

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“ND’s Labor Licensing Code: Moving Forward” Geddes Hall Coffee House 5 p.m. - 6 p.m.

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“The Colombian Peace Process and the Catholic Church” Hesburgh Center for International Studies 4 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Silent Retreat Moreau Seminary 5:30 p.m. Weekend silent retreat open to all students, faculty and staff.

Women’s Tennis vs. Bowling Green Eck Tennis Pavilion 3 p.m. The Irish take on the Falcons.

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“Dark Matter” Jordan Hall of Science 7 p.m. - 8 p.m. Part of the “Our Universe Revealed” series.

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ndsmcobserver.com | friday, february 24, 2017 | The Observer

Author Continued from page 1

heroine’s quest to reclaim her past by mining the wisdom of her literary icons and continues to build upon her work on the theme of exile. “She goes from the new world back to the old world and, as she regresses through her own life story-line, she also is investigating the great writers of the past, all of whom would have had a relation to exile,” she said. In her own life, Van der Vliet Oloomi’s own literary icons

Fuerst Continued from page 1

said. “Tim really wanted to be on campus because of the Catholic mission,” he said. “The faith is very important to him and his family. We were trying to do something different here at the University — and especially in economics — to be an important research institution where Catholic faith informs everything we do. I thought that was really important for Tim, and I think it’s the only reason that he would come here.” Fuerst’s addition to the economics department opened a whole new field of research to the University due to his forward-thinking work, Evans said. “Tim was a very highly regarded economist,” he said. “He’s a macroeconomist — a lot of his work is theoretical — and he’s had a number of important papers. One of which got a lot of attention was about how financial frictions can make recessions a lot worse, which then was kind of revealed in the Great Recession.” Fuerst’s talent for economics was reflected in the challenging nature of his classes. Senior John Gadient said a class he took

— including Franz Kafka, Jorge Luis Borges and Samuel Beckett — have helped her find her place in the world. “People tend to think of reading as a way to escape the world, but I really think reading literature is a way of going deeper into the world and coming out the other end, probably with more questions, but hopefully with a tremendous amount of imagination and empathy as well,” she said. “Fra Keeler,” Van der Vliet Oloomi’s first novel, drew a lot of attention to the author: She was named a Whiting Award

winner in 2015 and was named a “Five-under-35” honoree by the National Book Foundation. The book follows a man as he investigates the death of the title character, the woman who used to own the house he just purchased. “I realize now, looking back, that I was really trying to map consciousness onto the page,” Van der Vliet Oloomi said. “The reader is really immersed in the thought patterns of the narrator and I think I was really interested in this notion as beingness as thought — that we’re just thinking beings and we

produce narratives as a result of thinking and those things lead to stories and narratives that can then be of incredible consequence.” In addition to several cities in the United States, Van der Vliet Oloomi has also lived in Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Spain, England and Italy. Currently, she and her husband — Leonardo Francalanci, assistant professional specialist in the department of romance languages — split their time between South Bend, Ind. and Florence, Italy. Having lived in both big cities

and remote villages, Van der Vliet Oloomi said her life experiences have made her very comfortable when it comes to adaption. “I always feel like an alien observing human life, because I’m kind of from nowhere and that allows me to have this kind of anthropological experience, so I’m really interested in the idiosyncrasies of life in places that are a little remote, or where life is slower or different,” she said.

in his freshman year that Fuerst taught remains the most difficult, yet rewarding, class he has ever taken. “He was tough,” Gadient said. “He was one of those teachers that wanted to make sure you knew what you doing, and you had to know it very well. … I still think his class — it was principles of macroeconomics, so it was freshman-level economics course — was by far the hardest class I’ve ever taken. But also, because of him, I understand that material a lot better than I think I ever would in any other context.” Senior Grant Hagstrom said Fuerst’s classes were so fulfilling because his enthusiasm and total willingness to help his students however possible made the material much easier to understand. “He was definitely, without a doubt, the best professor I’ve ever had, just in terms of his energy,” Hagstrom said. “He was always so happy to be there. You could tell he really enjoyed teaching, that he wasn’t just here to study economics [and] that he actually cared about his students. … [With] his teaching style, he was really able to help students really understand the material, and he had such a good attitude and positive

disposition that it made the class really enjoyable.” Senior Kate Trankina said this passion encouraged her to become more involved in the economics program. “I’m in the financial [economics] concentration and he is probably the driving force behind that, so he has definitively strongly impacted the curriculum that I’ve had and made it way more applicable to real world,” she said. “He pushed very hard so that all of his students would get the most useful education and the most in-depth that we could. He’s definitely been a very important professor in both the actual content that I learned and the passion that I have for economics.” For Fuerst, this education extended beyond the economics classroom, Sharriff said. “It was clear that he cared about the world,” he said. “He taught me macroeconomics in a large lecture hall, but he used to talk about inequality in the world and issues in the third world, and I really believe that he … represented what was good about Notre Dame in the social justice and educating the mind, body and soul, and really trying to use your education for the greater good.” Kaboski said this attitude extended into every aspect of Fuerst’s life. “He and his wife are just the most giving, loving, kind people you could imagine,” he said. “He was a guy who walked the walk … he was an example of what a good life and a good person looked like. He made you wish and want to be a better person.” Even after receiving his diagnosis, Fuerst continued teaching after taking the end of the 2016 spring semester off. Trankina said his goodbye to the seniors that semester was a perfect example of Fuerst’s effort to connect with each of his students personally. “He said a personal goodbye to all the seniors,” she said. “It wasn’t me at the time, but [he said] a personal goodbye to all of them, and it was just very special to see how much he cared about each of us individually. You could tell he was sick — and I think it was his first time to come back to a classroom — but he did it so he could say goodbye to all of them.” Evans said Fuerst stayed

positive in spite of his “grim” diagnosis. “Even in the face of that he still had a smile, he still was positive,” he said. “He had this great top-10 list — something like the 10 best things about having cancer — and it was pretty funny. To be able to sort of have that kind of attitude even in the face of death is pretty [amazing].” The number of people who rallied to support Fuerst inspired part of his positivity, Evans said. A short time after Fuerst was diagnosed, a movement started in which people would pray to Blessed Basil Moreau to intercede and perform a miracle on Fuerst’s behalf. “Tim needed a miracle and Blessed Basil Moreau needs another miracle for canonization,” Evans said. “ … The best part about it was how many names were on this list [of people praying] at the end of it, and how many people took up this charge. So that was pretty special. And it says something special about Notre Dame, and it says something special about Tim.” Despite the advanced stage of his cancer, Fuerst remained determined to fight his disease, outliving his original prognosis by four months. Hagstrom said Fuerst’s strength when he returned to campus in the fall revealed a whole new side of the professor and served as an inspiration to the students he taught while he was going through treatment. “That’s when his character really started to show,” Hagstrom said. “At the beginning of the semester, he kind of said, ‘I’m going to talk about the elephant in the room — I have stage four cancer.’ I’ll never forget, he looked at the class and he said, ‘I would not have started this class if I didn’t have every intent to finish it.’ And I saw that throughout the semester. … Words can’t even describe how much he really impacted, I think, all of us in his class — to see him be going through so much and still caring so much about the students and the University.” While Fuerst’s treatments caused him to become weaker and teach from a chair some days, Trankina said his “goofy” demeanor, characterized by “corny economics jokes,” remained the same during class. “The crazy thing is you

couldn’t actually see the pain he was in,” she said. “You could tell that he was tired because he moved slower, but his facial expressions, his intonations — nothing changed. I had him the semester before and the semester he was sick, and I saw very little difference in the way he treated his students, the way he held himself and the way he taught. There was really no change, which was probably the most impressive thing.” Graduate student Ron Mau, who studied under Fuerst, said this commitment stemmed from Fuerst’s love for his work. “Tim is someone who loved what he did, more so than anyone I’ve ever seen,” Mau said. “Multiple economists around the country have told me Tim’s the happiest economist they’d ever met and loved the work more than anybody. He provided a great lesson in lov[ing] what you do, and do it with a passion, [and] as an instructor and mentor he had a certain patience that’s hard to find.” Mau said he hopes to emulate Fuerst’s giving nature as a teacher in his future career. “I hope that throughout my career I can remember him,” he said. “He’s way smarter than I ever will be, and he still had a willingness to help everyone and try to walk through an understanding of people’s research … and I hope that for my career I can remember that and always just have a positive attitude towards helping people accomplish their goals.” Gadient said he, for one, will always remember Fuerst, who had an article entitled “Why I mourn the decline of whistling” taped to his office door, when he hears someone whistle from now on. “He was a very loud whistler, and it carried, so you heard it through the entire building, so you knew he was there,” Gadient said. “It was always a very upbeat tune and it just made you a little bit happier. … He’d just walk around campus whistling all day, and I remember talking to him about it, and he said, ‘I wish people would whistle more.’” Funeral Services will be held at 9:30 a.m. on Friday in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart.

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DOMINIQUE DeMOE | The Observer

6 Inside Column

The value of novelty Brian Boylen Scene Writer

“Humans fancy that there’s something special about the way we perceive the world, and yet we live in loops as tight and as closed as the hosts do.” This bold statement, made by Dr. Robert Ford (Anthony Hopkins) in HBO’s latest show-turned-cultural phenomenon, “Westworld,” refers to how free-willed humans live lives just as constrained as the programmed robots on the show do. I resisted this idea at first, but reflection on my own patterns in life showed that the claim had some validity. While I wouldn’t put it in such nihilistic or absolute terms as Dr. Ford, people really do slip into defined loops out of ease and comfort. In a large part, these routines make dayto-day life easier. I wake up at the same time throughout the week, go to the same classes and eat my meals at similar times. These repeated actions provide structure to my life; they give me a sense of organization and foresight for what the day has in store. Thus, I enjoy my “loop”— but it is not without its drawbacks. I believe that this comfort brought by having a relatively defined routine makes it harder to seek out new experiences. People like to stick with the familiar, even if something new could offer more benefits, or a better time. While this craving of normality affects all areas of one’s life, I’ll make my point with an example most college students can relate to — going out at night. If a friend tells me they are going out, it’s not hard to guess where simply based on what night of the week it is. On one hand, this is a symptom of the fact that South Bend is not exactly the most “happening” town in America, but it also reveals a certain aversion to novel experience. This problem is most evident on Thursday nights at Notre Dame. Even people who consistently deride the quality of everyone’s favorite Thursday night watering hole will often be found waiting in line, three dollars in hand. When I ask them why they return, I usually get the same answer — “Because there is nothing else to do.” I sympathize with the feeling, but condemn the lack of effort to at least try something different. I recently managed to stray from my “loop” by going to a concert (Run The Jewels) in Chicago on a Friday night with a few of my friends. I skipped my organic chemistry class, hopped on the South Shore Line and away I was to the land of delicious pizza that’s actually a casserole. The concert was one of the best I have ever been to, but even if it wasn’t, I wouldn’t regret the trip for a second. There is a refreshing nature to doing something new that is hard to pin down. Even the would-be banal parts of the trip, such as just sitting in the hotel room talking, had a breath of fresh air instilled into them. Having routine isn’t a bad thing. The structure that it provides is certainly comforting and makes day to day life easier. Sometimes, though, you just gotta shake things up. Contact Brian Boylen at bboylen@nd.edu The views expressed in the Inside Column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

The observer | FriDAY, february 24, 2017 | ndsmcobserver.com

First share my joy, then my pain Rebecca Feng Redefining Beauty

That winter, Fr. John Jenkins refused to declare Notre Dame a sanctuary campus; this winter, the cheers of the hockey game were echoing in my bones; that winter, Trump attempted the travel ban and millions of immigrants’ dreams were shattered inside their own already weak stomach; this winter, he and I spent hours during dinner debating whether God existed or not; that winter, international students were told that Congress was voting on a new law and in the future, they might not be able to stay in the U.S., even if they had already received a job offer; this winter, we discovered a new joy called Friday rice bowl day; that winter, global warming has put its yoke around South Bend’s neck; this winter, we sat on the grass on a February afternoon, feeling the heat caressing our back. The collective pain was in that winter; the imminent joy was in this winter. With simple power, the concerns of our everyday life keep pushing us on to the next level of forgetfulness, the forgetfulness of the collective pains. Many argue that this forgetfulness is the cult of all social injustice. However, while I certainly dare not forget the pain many people are suffering, I dare not think that I can easily deny, or more daringly put, give up my privilege — the privilege that is built on others’ suffering. Privilege? What privilege? When my friends visited me in China this past summer, they did not know why Chinese bathrooms had signs saying that “PLEASE DO NOT STEP ON THE TOILET.” “Is it another Chinglish translation?” she asked, with a slightly embarrassed smile on her innocent face. I ran out of words. “No, it is not a wrong translation,” I managed to say. “Some people do step on the toilet. You see, the majority of toilets in China are squat toilets. My parents’ and my generation grew up using squat toilet, and that’s why parents would have their children step on the sitting toilet as if it were a squat one.” Think about it — what does this difference in body positions really mean? Can the pale word “poverty” ever summarize this crucial difference? When a billion people use a different body position to do the thing that makes them fully show their vulnerability, a fundamental component of a culture is shaped and gender differences are reconfirmed. Thus, getting rid of my privilege is never as simple as squatting down. It takes a kind, open heart, and most importantly, time. That’s why I often fail to buy

into the prevailing rhetoric of pushing for immediate changes in the minds of the privileged. You see, poverty — or at least, poverty according to the American standard, which for the record, is ridiculously high — leaves marks on the ones who have experienced it. Many think it is a shared pain, a scar that sets one apart as pitiful, needing help. However, this train of thought is, as I see it, simplifying poverty as “the other.” It is the same way we simplify terrorists as “the other,” the other sex as “the other,” the immigrants as “the other,” and eventually, even poverty as “the other.” This simplification conveniently lifts the burden or hope of truly understanding “the other.” We emphasize on the differences, not the similarities; the personal pain, not shared joy. That’s why there is something that frustrates me when my friends say that they share the minorities’ pain. “You don’t need to,” I often think. Instead of sympathizing my pain, I’d rather you share my joy, for pain is personal and creates revenge, while joy is universal and spreads unity. As I grow up and learn more about the world, I become more and more convinced that I can’t know it all. There are emotions, sentiments, resentments and love that I will never be able to understand. That acceptance of my insignificance and limits, however, became my first step to start to actually see, hear and understand these unchangeable differences. How do American students spend an afternoon, love their country, swear allegiance to their community, greet their loved ones, educate kids, pay respect to their parents and worship God? Knowledge defers judgments, and we have made enough judgments and taken enough shortcuts to sharing pain. That winter, despite all the dramatic changes in the society that we could not control, we tasted the chalice of youth and happily succumbed to an undying desire for joy, for love and for living well through life’s every moment, which we could control. Deep inside, we know — we always know — that we are not that weak to allow the changes define us, don’t we? Rebecca Feng is a senior double majoring in accounting and English, but traveling and living abroad is her real education. She read Shakespeare and old English poems in Scotland last semester and interned at Forbes Magazine in New York this summer. Email her at yfeng2@nd.edu for story ideas and comments. The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

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The observer | FrDAY, february 24, 2017 | ndsmcobserver.com

What’s the deal with Valentine’s Day? Matt Williams Viewology: Critical Reflection for Life

When facing the looming festival of love that is Valentine’s Day, men and women in the West encounter two disparate challenges. For a man, the procedure is relatively predetermined: buy roses, jewelry, and/or chocolates; write a sweet card; and deliver it in a way that is novel and sincere. A woman’s actions, on the other hand, are usually responsive to those of the man. In the absence of a clear-cut cultural program to execute, she prepares to offer an obligatory response following the successful steps taken by her suitor. Without realizing it at the time, this situation slated itself in my own Valentine’s Day plans. My girlfriend is abroad in Athens, Greece, so our Valentine’s Day celebration was carried out by the kind folks at UPS and Apple. Through the screens of our computers, we watched each other unwrap packages and read cards. For her, a thin necklace with beads made of emerald and gold, and for me, some snap peas, various other healthy snacks and a compensatory promise. “You’ll get the rest of your gift when you come to Athens,” she said, to which I responded (to my own demise), “Is it sex?” While I was half-joking, and while the nature of our relationship is far from centered around Eros, my mindless response couldn’t help but pass through the layers of my cultural schemata on its trail to actualization. Along the way, it diffused through the expectations installed by years of romantic comedies, sexualized advertisements and cultural norms; all of which cooperated to create a reply which earned me a sarcastic laugh and that archetypal mien of annoyance. What’s worse, it wasn’t until a class discussion later that day that I became aware of the bummock attached to what I had said. What had honestly felt like a harmless, well-warranted response to such a vague suggestion had actually carried

with it the highly-gendered expectation that feminine Valentine’s Day gifts — perhaps ‘offerings’ is a better word to use — are exchanged for sex. Without any active intention to do so, I had reinforced the highly unequal standards encountered each February by countless men and women. So why does this discrepancy satirize the so-called ‘day of love?’ The answer seems to be intricately linked to the Western ideal of reciprocal gift giving. This expectation that giving necessitates getting is intimately tethered to the spirit of most Western cultures, and throughout the past millennium, it has been commandeered and manipulated many times by a multitude of social forces, sometimes for good, and sometimes not. It is quite possible that Valentine’s Day is yet another example of this principle-pirating. In terms of holidays, Valentine’s Day is by far the most gendered of the lot. Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving may make us think of turkeys, rabbits and reindeer, but probably not one gender more than the other. Attempts to assign a primary gender to St. Paddy’s Day, the Fourth of July or Halloween yield similar results; but when one thinks of Valentine’s Day, with all its pink hearts and red roses, it feels natural to conclude that this holiday is mainly marketed towards women. While this is not the result by design, but rather from descent with modification, as Valentine’s Day has slowly trickled through the sediment of Western culture, it is nonetheless intentional. Generations of individual choices, made both consciously and unconsciously by those with the power and influence to shape how Western culture viewed Feb. 14, are responsible for distilling this highly gendered holiday. Knowing that men were almost always the ones with power and influence, up until recently, we can speculate, for what it’s worth, as to why men would want to annually celebrate a highly-gendered holiday which taps into the Western ideal of reciprocal gift giving by pressuring

women into returning sexual favors after receiving gender-biased material gifts from their courters. In a culture where Bateman’s Principle is accepted as the null hypothesis for explaining sexual activity, resulting in the perception that males are competitive and promiscuous while females are choosy and celibate, and where males have most of the material power but women have a lot of physical control over their own bodies, it only seems logical that a day like Valentine’s Day would evolve into the means for men to leverage their material power over the physical control of women they are involved with or interested in. So, when my feminist girlfriend, whom I view as my complete equal — if not my superior on many days — displayed a subtle look of vexation after hearing what my cultural schemata had deemed a perfectly acceptable response echo 5,381 miles across the Atlantic, it was because I had unknowingwly rattled the sleeping giant of decades of double standards and subtle subjugation during a day that disguises itself as innocent childish chivalry under the veil of cliché greeting cards and pastel colored candies. It is clear that, going forward, I will have to be constantly cognizant of the ways that my cultural bifocals distort the world I see — or rather, make the distorted world seem crystal clear — if I’m going to isolate what Valentine’s Day is from what it isn’t. While I’ll never be able to fully remove these constricting goggles, I can learn to understand how they bias my perception and disfigure the truth, and through persistent practice I can hope that, in a year, I will be able to see Valentine’s Day as a celebration of equality and Philia, not a cultural contract of coercive contact. Matt is a junior studying anthropology. Please feel free to contact him at mwilli41@nd.edu with any questions/comments about this article. The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Fumbling the ball in complying with the law In his well-argued letter in the Feb. 21 edition of The Observer that exhorted President John Jenkins to resist injustice and follow through on the words of solidarity he has expressed for Notre Dame’s undocumented students, James Corcoran reminds us of our mission to pursue the common good and, hence, just laws. Corcoran is sympathetic to Jenkins’ predicament in deciding to “comply with the law” — that is, with President Trump’s diktats. Nevertheless, he judges this to be a blunder. Fr. Jenkins, he implies, is fumbling the ball. Sadly, Notre Dame has a history of comparable blunders. For example, in the mid-1970s, the campus groundskeepers set out to form a trade union, only to be challenged by President Hesburgh and his board of trustees. They called in a Chicago law firm to thwart unionization and, eventually, the groundskeepers jobs were outsourced. Then in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s,

when mass protests were escalating and international opinion shifting against South Africa’s brutally repressive apartheid regime, the idea of corporate divestment took hold, triggering a worldwide campaign. When confronted with the option of withdrawing university funds from corporations profiting from their South African investments, Fr. Hesburgh balked. For 14 years, faculty and students pressed the university to divest, but to no avail. (On the other hand, the Congregation of Holy Cross did divest). Fortunately, the international divestment campaign garnered huge support, particularly in the United States and Europe. Consequently, by the mid-1980s South Africa’s economy was stagnating, while the liberation movement was surging. In this context, the apartheid government was forced to negotiate. In 1990, Nelson Mandela was released after 27 years in prison and, with his African National Congress, negotiated an impressive non-racial constitution with entrenched human rights. Thus a racial bloodbath had

been avoided. While Notre Dame has dropped the ball in the past, this time one hopes Fr. Jenkins will recover his grip and fumble the ball no longer. Certainly James Corcoran has gracefully requested that he be prepared, if necessary again and again, to publicly condemn and non-violently resist President Trump’s unjust laws if undocumented individuals are removed from our campus. For in Corcoran’s words, our community is “bound by invisible bonds, held together by a common mission ... in making the world a better, more moral place.” We and Fr. Jenkins can do no other given our Christian faith and heritage. Jesus’ new commandment “that you love one another” and his teachings in the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount must be paramount.

Peter Walshe professor emeritus Feb. 22

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The observer | friday, february 24, 2017 | ndsmcobserver.com

Crossword | Will Shortz

Horoscope | Eugenia Last Happy Birthday: Look for ways to do good deeds without being taken advantage of or having it cost you too much emotionally, financially or physically. It’s important that you get something in return if you don’t want to lose self-respect. Contributions that will benefit everyone including you will bring the highest rewards and boost your confidence and your reputation. Your numbers are 5, 11, 19, 27, 38, 41, 43. ARIES (March 21-April 19): When in doubt, wait for a positive signal before making a move. Don’t make matters worse by provoking others. Bide your time and stay on top of what’s expected of you until you feel a change will be beneficial. TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Don’t give away your secrets. Listen, gather information and use what you discover to help you get ahead. Living within your means will ease your stress and give you the flexibility to pursue something that can increase your income. GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Network, schmooze and mingle. What you have to say and to offer will help you expand your interests. Opportunities will be within reach as long as you establish what you want and what you are willing to offer. Don’t be shy. CANCER (June 21-July 22): Be reasonable when it comes to holding grudges. Problems from the past will surface if you cannot let go and move forward. Lift the heavy weight you carry on your shoulders by ridding yourself of negative thoughts. Explore new territory. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Put your heart and soul into everything you do and you will bring about positive changes to the way you live, your relationships with others and the choices you are given in the future. Romance will improve your personal life. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Dealing with responsibilities or demanding people will be taxing. Making plans ahead of time will help you avoid mistakes and complaints. Put in the time and you will reap the rewards. A kind gesture will be appreciated. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Be inventive and don’t be afraid to do things differently. Your insight and intelligence will help you establish what you want to see happen. Try to make a positive impression on the people you need in your corner. SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Your emotions will be difficult to control. If someone complains, avoid taking the bait and arguing. Take pride in a creative outlet you enjoy. Sort through and throw out possessions and personal papers that are no longer relevant. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Participating in events that interest you may be enticing, but don’t feel the need to make donations you cannot afford. It’s important to recognize boundaries before you become entrenched in something that can set you back. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Impulse will be the enemy. Don’t feel the need to jump in and defend someone who is making poor choices. You can make suggestions, but don’t jeopardize your own integrity, reputation or position. Problems with children or your partner are likely. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Look back and you will find a way to use past experience to help you move forward. Love and romance are highlighted, and with a little effort, you can improve your personal life. Someone from your past will influence your future. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Do what you can, but don’t compromise who you are or alter the personal goals you set. Use your imagination and you will find a way to satisfy both yourself and those in need of your assistance. Say “no” and offer suggestions. Birthday Baby: You are goal-oriented, intelligent and open-minded. You are assertive and helpful.

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 Authority

nd women’s tennis | NOTRE DAME 5, PURDUE 2

Lindsey Vonn refuses to quit Elizabeth Greason Sports Writer

You’re standing on top of a mountain, looking down at a nearly vertical wall of ice, nearly a foot thick. There’s no end in sight. What’s your first instinct? Back away. Find another way down. Or you could edge your way down, slowly slipping and sliding, muttering to yourself about how you should have gone on that beach vacation. Or you could throw yourself down the slope at 80 mph, turning as infrequently as possible, all the while knowing one microscopic wrong move — a simple weight imbalance or reaction time a fraction of a second too slow — could result in catastrophe. If you are Lindsey Vonn, the choice is obvious: you ski. You ski fast. No matter what. Vonn, an alpine skiing icon, has been plagued by injuries due to those microscopic wrong moves dating back to the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy. Yet, she continues to ski, to put everything on the line every time she stands in the starting gate. And that’s what makes Lindsey Vonn so impressive. It’s not her resume — which, by the way, boasts a record 77 wins on the World Cup circuit. It is the fact that so many of those wins come with underlying circumstances that no one could guess while looking at her on top of the podium. Vonn’s first truly major injury — the first for which she could not just ski through the excruciating pain — came at the 2013 World Championships when she failed to land a jump during her super-G race, crashing through a gate and sliding hundreds of yards on her back before finally coming to a stop with her screams of pain audible through the television coverage. She was airlifted to an Austrian hospital with a torn ligament in her right knee and a broken tibia. That night, she was flown to her hometown of Vail, Colorado, underwent surgery and began her recovery training nearly immediately. She missed the remainder of the season, but was back on skis for training within seven months — an impressive feat in and of itself. Vonn’s crash occurred just

over a year before the Sochi Olympics: a destination she made blatantly clear was her ultimate goal for her injury comeback. But then, it happened again. Vonn crashed in a training run during her recovery. She tried to ski through the pain her partially torn ACL caused her, but her knee gave out while racing soon after, leading to the discovery that her ACL was, in fact, fully torn and that she had done damage to her MCL and joint, forcing her to withdraw from the Olympics just a month before the opening ceremony. By December 2014, Vonn had made it back to the top of the podium, winning her second race back at Lake Louise in Canada, which many have affectionately named Lake Lindsey, due to her continued success there. Vonn continued to rack up victories and podium appearances, despite intermittent injuries and broken bones, giving her 76 total World Cup wins, before breaking her arm in November. However, she once again rebounded quicker than expected, winning her 77th World Cup race on Jan. 20, her second race back. Seventy-seven wins is a lot of wins. But when you consider the fact that, in her 15 years of a member of the U.S. ski team, there were seasons Vonn’s skis barely touched snow, her 77 wins look even more impressive. But when you account for the psychological damage these injuries have done to Vonn, the number is simply unbelievable. Lindsey Vonn knows firsthand the damage a tiny mistake can cause, and yet she can stand at the top of a mountain without fear and ski as hard as she did when she first appeared on the scene. The PyeongChang Olympics are just under a year away. A lot could happen between now and then, but Lindsey Vonn will almost certainly be on the podium. She could crash countless times in the next year, but if Vonn is healthy enough to ski at all, expect to see her on the podium once again. She’s simply too strong to count out. Contact Elizabeth Greason at egreason@nd.edu The views expressed in this Sports Authority are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

Notre Dame defeats Purdue, improves to 7-1 By MICHAEL IVEY Sports Writer

Notre Dame continued its hot start to the season Wednesday night as the Irish (7-1, 2-0 ACC) defeated visiting Purdue, 5-2, in a nonconference matchup at Eck Tennis Pavilion. In the singles competition, junior Brooke Broda won a close match 6-3, 7-6(2). Junior Allison Miller also took a close first set 7-6(2) before winning the second set 6-3 to win the match in straight sets. Senior Mary Closs (6-1, 7-5) and freshman Zoe Spence (6-2, 6-2) also won their matches in straight sets. In the closest singles match of the meet, sophomore Rachel Chong dropped her first set 6-2 before bouncing back to earn a close 7-6(5) victory in the second set. In the third and decisive set, Chong came up on the wrong end of a 10-8 decision. Senior Monica Robinson won her first set 6-3 before dropping the final two sets 7-5, 10-4. In the doubles competition, the No. 3 pairing of Chong/Spence won their match 7-5, while the No. 2 pair of Closs/Miller earned a 6-4 victory. The No. 1 pair of Broda/Robinson came up on the wrong end of a 6-3 decision, but the Irish still picked up the doubles point. Irish assistant coach

Catrina Thompson said she was happy with the way the team was able to close out its matches, especially in high-pressure situations. “I think some of the positives were that everybody stepped up in singles,” Thompson said. “We had a lot of tight sets. Mary [Closs] was up one set and her opponent fought back and tied it up, but Mary was able to finish the match in straight sets. Same thing with Brooke [Broda]. Like I said, we would win our first sets and ended up tied during the second set, but managed to close out the set.” Thompson said the team plans to continue improving on its doubles play going forward in the spring season. “I think overall just getting stronger in doubles [is important],” Thompson said. “We put a big emphasis on focusing on doubles almost every practice. We did a good job yesterday but we were up in some doubles sets yesterday and let our opponent back into a couple of the matches. So just being stronger in doubles and focusing on the basic fundamentals of doubles and keep getting better from there.” W hen asked whose performance stood out to her, Thompson pointed to the play of Allison Miller and Zoe Spence.

“Allie did a great job,” Thompson said. “She played a pretty talented Purdue freshman that has done very well this year. She had a great first set and battled her way to a win. I think Zoe also did a great job. She’s still undefeated and won pretty handily yesterday in straight sets. I think both of those two really stood out.” The Irish will be back in action Saturday when they host a doubleheader against Michigan State at 10 a.m. and Bowling Green at 3 p.m. at Eck Tennis Pavilion. Thompson said the team will work to be mentally and physically prepared for Saturday, especially when faced with the challenge of playing two matches in one day. “We’ve had five matches the last eight days, so it’s been a grind to keep everyone healthy and making sure we’re both physically and mentally ready to go,” Thompson said. “We’ve had a couple of doubleheaders during the year so I think just mentally and physically being prepared [is a key]. Saturday is going to be a long day of tennis, but that’s the great thing about our depth. We have a lot of girls who we expect to play and come through for us.” Contact Michael Ivey at mivey@hcc-nd.edu

ND WOMEN’S GOLF

Notre Dame looks for improvement in Arizona Observer Sports Staff

From Saturday until Monday, Notre Dame will compete in the Westbrook Village Spring Invitational hosted by Wisconsin at the Westbrook Village Golf Course in Peoria, Arizona. During the tournament, the Irish will face off against a variety of teams from around the country, including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kansas State, Nebraska, New Mexico State, Ohio State, Oregon State, UC-Davis and Washington State. The Irish, led by head coach Susan Holt, do have some experience on this course in recent years, as this is a tournament

the team frequently uses early in the season to prepare for the rest of the year. Last February, Notre Dame finished sixth out of 15 teams competing, and two years ago, Notre Dame took third place. However, the Irish have some work to do before they aim for a top-three finish. In the Florida State Match Up two weeks ago, Notre Dame finished last out of 12 teams. Sophomore Emma Albrecht led the way for the Irish in that tournament, finishing in a tie for 22nd place by shooting a three-over-par 219. The next highest finisher for the Irish was sophomore Isabella DiLisio, who finished with a 14-over-par 230, good for 49th

place. DiLisio averaged 76.7 strokes per round, just one shot higher than her average from the fall. Senior Jordan Ferreira led the team in scoring average with an average round of 73.58 during the team’s fall season, and will look to regain her consistency this weekend. She posted a strong low score of 74 in her second round at Florida State, but sandwiched it between a 79 and an 81 to finish 18 shots over par and in 56th place. Teams will have a chance to shoot a practice round on Saturday, before completing two of the three scored rounds on Sunday. The final round will take place Monday.

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things that people don’t notice that really help our team chemistry.” The highlight of the first quarter came when freshman forward Erin Boley and sophomore guard Arike Ogunbowale hit back-toback 3-pointers — each resulting from an Allen assist — to give the Irish a 12-point lead over the Eagles. The Irish continued to charge ahead offensively in the second quarter, scoring 25 points and holding Boston College to 17 to secure a 51-31 lead at the half. However, Notre Dame’s high level of play began to falter the moment it stepped back on the court after halftime, according to McGraw. “We really struggled and turned the ball over a lot, a lot of times,” McGraw said. “ … So, a lot of disappointing things. You know, we need to get the ball to [junior forward Brianna Turner]. She was playing well — we couldn’t get the ball in. I don’t know how to fix that. I think we just need to make a shot. … We just didn’t shoot it well. That makes it look ugly. And we turned it over, which helps to make it look uglier.” Despite Notre Dame’s struggles throughout the second half, it was able to hold the Eagles to just 14 points in the game’s final 20

minutes to solidify the 82-45 win. McGraw said defense, specifically from Turner, was her team’s saving grace, but she was frustrated with its inability to rebound and its lack of energy. “[Turner] had one possession — I think she blocked three shots in one possession, while everybody stood around and watched her work,” McGraw said. “She guarded just about everybody on the floor, and the rest of the team was not really helping her. I thought if we could’ve had just one person being alert, we could’ve probably got a lot of those balls back. And we really struggled to rebound. We only outrebounded them by three. That’s disgraceful. Just everybody except for [freshman guard] Jackie [Young] did a poor job on the boards.” Turner finished the game with seven blocks, six rebounds and 12 points, but it was Allen who stole the show on the night dedicated to celebrating her four years at Notre Dame. The guard paced the Irish with 18 points in 27 minutes on the floor. She was on double-double watch for much of the night, as she also finished the game with six rebounds and eight assists, six of which came in the first quarter. Allen said the Eagles’ defense and focus on defending Turner allowed her to have a strong night. “Off the ball screens, they were playing a soft hedge, and so I knew that I just had to attack the post

and kind of just see what I had open,” Allen said. “The majority of the time, I kind of just had my drive or pull-up jumper, and so teams are always really concerned about Bri, and it’s well-deserved because she’s one of the best players in the country — the best post player in the country for sure — and so I think that when they’re concerned about her, it opens up the lane for all the guards on this team.” Allen also discussed the meaning her Senior Night took on, as her time at Notre Dame has surpassed any expectations she had when she first came to campus. “It was a very special moment,” Allen said. “Yesterday, I didn’t think I would get emotional, and then today I’m nervous because I thought I was going to get emotional, and then we got there and I was like, ‘Okay, never mind, I’ll be fine.’ But it was a special moment, to just be able to share it with my teammates and my family. My mom was a little bit late, so I was nervous about that as well. It ended up being well and just thanking Coach McGraw for letting me be here for four years and teaching me everything she knows about basketball. “ … I had such an open mind coming in here that I didn’t really come in expecting anything. I just came in expecting to work hard and be challenged, and then, luckily, I started my first game Paid Advertisement

KATHLEEN DONAHUE | The Observer

Junior forward Brianna Turner spins around a defender during Notre Dame’s 82-45 win over BC on Thursday at Purcell Pavilion.

and then started every game ever since, so it’s really been a dream come true.” McGraw had similar sentiments to Allen’s in looking back at the senior’s Notre Dame career. “[Senior Night] brings back a lot of memories,” McGraw said. “We were talking about recruiting Lindsay, and I remember the first time I saw her play and she’s been such a joy. She’s just so smart, so easy to coach, does so many things and always wants to know what else she can do to help. … So, it’s an

emotional night because you’re always thinking back to what’s been and wondering where the years have gone. It goes by so quickly and I am just so thankful that [Allen and Thompson] were here to let me share the journey with them.” The Irish will take the court again Sunday against Florida State as the two teams battle for the ACC regular season title. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Purcell Pavilion. Contact Elizabeth Greason at egreason@nd.edu

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KATHLEEN DONAHUE | The Observer

Irish sophomore guard Rex Pflueger dribbles past a Florida State defender during Notre Dame’s 84-72 victory Feb. 11 at Purcell Pavilion. Mike Brey said Pflueger would retain his starting spot this weekend.

Hockey Continued from page 12

Petersen has played well in his career against Boston University, coming away 2-11 all time with a 1.73 goals against average and .952 save percentage. Coming into this weekend’s contests, Petersen said he recognizes the importance of his team being properly prepared and playing confidently. “We’re going in preparing like we do for any other team. We’ve said it all year that if we can stick to our game plan, we can beat anybody,” Petersen said. “They’re obviously a very skilled, very talented team, but if we can do our best to frustrate them and keep pucks down in their end, I think we should be able to do well.” Notre Dame’s series against Boston isn’t the only matchup that could have major implication in the Hockey East standings. In addition to its pair of games, first-place Boston College has a weekend series against fourth-place UMass Lowell, with UMass already taking the first game of the series

Thursday night. With all of the possible implications this weekend could have for his team, Petersen feels good about where the Irish are and about their chances of being successful. “The hottest teams are the ones that do the most damage this time of year, and I think we have found ourselves to be one of the hottest teams in the country right now, and certainly in the Hockey East,” Petersen said. “With the opportunity of being able to — at the very least — clinch a first-round bye and at the best get a share of the regular season championship, that’s what we want. I think our hard work should be realized, so it’s kind of a cool dynamic with five teams going for position and should turn out to be an exciting weekend.” The two games this weekend will be played on Friday and Saturday at 6:05 and 7:05 p.m., respectively, as Notre Dame makes a last-ditch effort to improve its circumstances heading into the conference tournament. Contact Alex Bender at abender@nd.edu

Want to write sports? Contact Marek at mmazurek@nd.edu

W Lax Continued from page 12

and Virginia this season. “Obviously, we did our work in scouting. They were a really strong team last year — they beat Duke last year,” Halfpenny said. “They’re only in the fourth year of their program, but they’re a strong contender in the CAA, so we were prepared. We get everybody’s best game anyway, regardless of who we play. But they were a very good opponent.” Fortunato opened the secondhalf scoring for the Irish, and although the Phoenix (4-1) cut the Irish lead to 10-4, Notre Dame reasserted its control with the next four goals. Elon added three late goals, before goals from junior attack Abi Cullinan and freshman attack Jessi Masinko inside the final two minutes ensured a final score of 16-7. Fortunato — the nation’s leading goalscorer — led the Irish in goals with four, while Pearsall tallied three goals, four assists, three draw controls, two caused turnovers and one ground ball. Halfpenny said she was impressed with Pearsall’s ability to make an impact in every aspect of the game. “I think she was just an

Senior forward V.J. Beachem said the Irish weren’t necessarily in it for “revenge” Sunday, but noted the difficulty of the challenge ahead. “We’re not really revengeminded — they played a great game [and] they’re a really good team,” Beachem said. “ … We know it’s gonna be a challenge Sunday night; it’s not gonna be anything easy.” When a rematch appears on the schedule, it’s typically the team that lost the first contest that needs to make adjustments. But Notre Dame has shifted to a smaller lineup in recent games with great success — and that’s something Georgia Tech, whose strength is its defensive versatility, will need to adjust to. “They play a lot of different zones and a lot of different defenses,” Beachem said. “The way that we can really spread the floor now, I think that’s something that’s gonna be great for us.” The Yellow Jackets are a top-10 team in Ken Pomeroy’s adjusted defensive efficiency statistic, and Brey attributes that success to their combination of perimeter defense and rim protection. “They’re hard to score on,”

all-around strong player,” Halfpenny said.“She did a great job in dealing with their top draw specialist and gaining us some possession, and then converting in the offensive game. Overall, it was a great leadership day for her and outstanding execution as well.” Dalton collected six ground balls and caused three turnovers in addition to her goal while coming off the bench. Sophomore goalkeeper Samantha Giacalone, after 12 saves in Saturday’s 12-5 victory over Michigan, added another 11 in Thursday’s win. The Phoenix had the advantage on the draw, winning 14 of 25 draw controls. Notre Dame, already leading the nation in caused turnovers after recording the most nationally in each of the previous four years, added 13 more against Elon to bring its tally to 82 so far this season. Elon’s leading scorer, junior attack Stephanie Asher — who scored five goals in the Phoenix’s upset victory over then-No. 13 Virginia on Feb. 11 and totaled 17 for the season before meeting Notre Dame — was held to only one goal and no assists. Freshman attack Blair Kessler was the main threat to the Notre Dame defense, scoring three goals and adding an assist. The Irish face a quick

Brey said. “They’ve got good perimeter-defending guards and then they’ve got [junior forward Ben Lammers] in the back that blocks shots. And they change defenses on you and they’re really hard to score against.” Brey said getting out and playing in transition Sunday could help aid in the effort to overcome Georgia Tech’s staunch defense. “It’s a challenge for our offense, which happens to be in a good flow right now,” Brey said. “I’d love to see us get out in transition, so we don’t have to play against their set defense some.” Brey confirmed sophomore guard Rex Pflueger will keep his starting spot alongside Notre Dame’s “big four” — junior guard Matt Farrell, senior guard Steve Vasturia, Beachem and junior forward Bonzie Colson — and said he gave his key guys a bit of rest this week after a busy stretch. “Those four guys, my goal was to get them really refreshed,” Brey said. “And I think we achieved that.” Notre Dame plays its penultimate home contest of the season Sunday, hosting Georgia Tech for a 6:30 p.m. tipoff. Contact Alex Carson at acarson1@nd.edu

turnaround this weekend, staying in North Carolina to open ACC play against No. 8 Duke. The Blue Devils (4-0) are currently undefeated after recording a 12-8 victory over then-No. 12 Stanford last week in Frisco, Texas. Junior attack Kyra Harney and junior midfielder Maddie Crutchfield lead the Blue Devils with nine goals each, and Harney has also added eight assists. Duke has won 66 of 99 draw controls so far this season, with sophomore attack Olivia Jenner ranking fourth in the nation with 31 draw controls. “We’ve gotten comfortable in terms of knowing what they do after playing them in the last three years in the ACC,” Halfpenny said of Duke. “They’re very fast, very talented, they have many good pieces of the puzzle. They have strong draw specialists who we’ll be going up against on Sunday. They play a really strong, solid and fundamentally sound [oneon-one] defense. Offensively, they move the ball really well and have the ability to be quite dynamic.” The Irish and the Blue Devils meet at Koskinen Stadium in Durham, North Carolina, on Sunday. Opening draw is scheduled for noon. Contact Daniel O’Boyle at doboyle1@nd.edu

The observer | friday, february 24, 2017 | ndsmcobserver.com

men’s basketball

ND WoMEn’s Basketball | Nd 82, BC 45

Allen, Turner shine on Senior Night against BC

ND seeks revenge against Jackets

By ELIZABETH GREASON

By ALEX CARSON

Sports Writer

Assistant Managing Editor

Senior guard Lindsay Allen earned her Senior Night standing ovation Thursday, as the No. 5 Irish toppled Boston College, 82-45, in her 141st consecutive start. Notre Dame (26-3, 14-1 ACC) appeared strong and in sync from the game’s opening minutes, even with the starting lineup featuring a new face: senior center Diamond Thompson, who started her first career game against the Eagles (9-19, 2-13). Irish head coach Muffet McGraw said she was pleased with Thompson’s performance — the senior tallied six rebounds, two steals and a block in the game — and reflected on Thompson’s four years with the program after the game. “Diamond played really well,” McGraw said. “It was great to see her out there. … Diamond’s got a great personality that brings sunshine into the room whenever she comes in. She does a lot of

Last month, Notre Dame traveled to Atlanta and was stymied by Georgia Tech’s defensive sets, shooting just 40 percent from the field in a 6260, buzzer-beater loss. At Purcell Pavilion this Saturday, the No. 21 Irish (21-7, 10-5 ACC) will have a chance to avenge a loss for the second time this year, hosting the Yellow Jackets (16-12, 7-8) in a key matchup for both teams. Notre Dame, which hasn’t played since a win last Saturday at North Carolina State, has steadily seen its position in the ACC standings rise over its off week. Losses by Duke and Louisville on Wednesday night mean the Irish sit in a four-way tie for second place in the league. “I mentioned to our guys in the locker room after the [N.C. State] game that we got this thing to 10-5, we park it and watch what happens in the league,” Irish head coach

see W BBALL PAGE 10

KATHLEEN DONAHUE | The Observer

Irish senior guard Lindsay Allen drives at a defender during Notre Dame’s 82-45 win over BC on Thursday at Purcell Pavilion.

Irish hit the road to face BU Sports Writer

This weekend No. 13 Notre Dame heads to No. 6 Boston University for a pair of games with big implications for the Hockey East standings and subsequent playoff seeding. As things stand right now, Notre Dame (18-9-5, 11-5-4 Hockey East) can finish anywhere between first and fifth place before the conference tournament gets underway, although they only need to walk away with one point to guarantee a top-four finish and a first round bye. Coming into the game, Notre Dame is playing some of its best hockey of the season as the Irish are undefeated over their last six games, going 4-0-2 during that stretch. The Terriers (20-9-3) are playing solid hockey as well, coming off a weekend where they picked up a win and a tie against New Hampshire, with the win being a one-sided, 8-4 affair. Irish head coach Jeff Jackson said he likes the way

see M BBALL PAGE 11

ND Women’s Lacrosse | Nd 16, Elon 7

hockey

By ALEX BENDER

Mike Brey said. “I didn’t think it would be this much upheaval, but it’s great.” Brey hopes his team’s pursuit of a top-four seed for the ACC tournament, which comes with the heralded double bye, is enough to match Georgia Tech’s motivation Sunday, with the Yellow Jackets sitting right on the NCAA tournament bubble. “We have a lot to play for, too,” Brey, whose program has earned a double bye in four of the last six years, said. “As far as the NCAA tournament [goes], we’re in very good shape, but certainly finishing in that top four is something … and we’ve done that when the Big East was the best league and now in the ACC. So that’s something we’re really proud of.” If the Irish are to finish as high up in the standings as possible, though, they’ll first need to overcome a Yellow Jackets team that downed them four weeks earlier.

his team is playing and feels this is a good time for Notre Dame to have to take on one of the nation’s top teams. “If you’re going to be playing teams like this … we just have to play in control,” Jackson said. “We can’t go out there and just play rec hockey, so we have to know what we’re doing with and without the puck. When we’re in control, we’re playing really well.” Given Boston’s high octane offense, Jackson acknowledges that the team will need to ask a lot from junior goaltender Cal Petersen. “He’s going to have to be our best player, but that’s most nights. There are games where we’re not quite as sharp or the opponent is just better, and he’s going to have to be the difference maker,” Jackson said. “If he’s focused and in control, then that’s when he’s at his best … He’s going to have to be dialed in for us to win this weekend.” see HOCKEY PAGE 11

No. 9 Notre Dame rolls to fifth consecutive win By DANIEL O’BOYLE Sports Writer

EDDIE GRIESEDIECK | The Observer

Sophomore midfielder Makenna Pearsall looks to pass in Notre Dame’s 24-9 win over Detroit on Feb. 11 at Loftus Sports Center.

No. 9 Notre Dame enters ACC play on a winning note after handing Elon its first loss of the season with a 16-7 victory in the second match of a three-game road trip. Neither team took an early advantage, as almost eight minutes passed without a goal. After senior midfielder Casey Pearsall passed from the free position to senior attack Cortney Fortunato to open the scoring, however, the Irish (5-1) rolled. Senior midfielder Alex Dalton doubled the Irish lead and, although Elon countered with one goal, five Irish goals in as many minutes — three of which were scored by sophomore attack Nikki Ortega — helped the Irish reach the half with a 9-2 lead. Irish head coach Christine Halfpenny said her team was focused from the start against a young Elon program that already has wins over ranked ACC opponents, as it topped Duke in 2016 see W LAX PAGE 11