The independent
To uncover
newspaper serving
the truth
Notre Dame and
and report
Saint Mary’s
it accurately
Volume 51, Issue 12 | Tuesday, September 6, 2016 | ndsmcobserver.com
Panel promotes mental health awareness Support a Belle, Love a Belle week encourages open conversation about mental illness and treatments By ALLISON SANCHEZ News Writer
A panel of Saint Mary’s students shared their experiences with mental illness Monday as part of the College’s Support a Belle, Love a Belle (SABLAB) week. Sophomore Alicia Twisselmann started off the panel talking about about her struggle with anxiety and depression. She said the combination of her anxiety and depression with attention deficit disorder (ADD) makes it difficult for her to stay motivated. “I have such high goals and aspirations, and I’m a perfectionist,” she said.“Yet at the same time, I still can’t quite bring myself to do what I know I need to.” She said she has been affected by her mental illnesses for
as long as she can remember, and was first put on medication in second grade. “I’m thankful that at this point it’s just sort of at the background, but it still definitely continues to have an impact,” she said. Twisselmann said small acts of kindness matter the most to her and will help encourage her to open up to others about how she’s feeling. Sophomore Meredith Mackowicz spoke about her experience living with generalized anxiety disorder and clinical depression. She said while she was able to self-diagnose her mental disorders, she finally opened up to a doctor two summers ago. “I feel like there’s such a stigma, especially on college campuses, about mental illnesses. see SABLAB PAGE 5
CHRIS COLLINS | The Observer
Students offer advice for dealing with a mental illness in college during the first event of Support a Belle, Love a Belle week. The week aims to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health problems.
ND officially designates swimming a club sport By KATIE GALIOTO News Editor
When Kevin Best came to college, one of the first things he did was head to the pool. After swimming every day in high school, it just seemed like the natural thing to do. “There’s way more people who swim at Notre Dame than you would think,” Best, now a junior, said. “There’s way more people who swim at Notre Dame than I would have ever thought.” This community of swimmers — once an informal group of people bonded by a love for the sport — now has an official name: the Notre Dame Swim Club. The club received official recognition from the Student Activities Office (SAO) beginning this academic year. Swimmers trekked out to the Rockne Memorial pool Monday for the inaugural
news PAGE 3
practice. Best, the club’s president, said more than 100 students signed up at the team’s stand at Activities Night. “I think one of the really good things about this is all of our freshmen have this built-in community that they can go to — something we’ve always been used to having with our swim teams,” he said. The club holds practices five days a week; they might add an extra one once football season ends. Junior Stephen Spittler, club treasurer, said there are no requirements for swimmers — the commitment can be as big or as little as one wants it to be. “Some people will come every day and try to relive the glory days of high school,” he said. “And some people will show up once a month. It’s all fine.” Mandy Madden, assistant
viewpoint PAGE 6
director of club sports, said swimming is just one of 46 sports offered by the University at a club level. There are some perks that come with the new status, Spittler said. “Before, we were just going and swimming at the Rock or at Rolfe’s,” he said. “But now we actually get lanes set aside for us, which is really nice.” The team also gets to issue official athletic apparel and receives funding to travel to meets. They’ll finally have an official team cap to swap with other teams, Spittler added, a long-lasting tradition at swim meets. “Every team will come and swap a cap with each other,” he said. “It’s one of the little things that’s new and we’ll now be able to do.” Best said he’s most excited to represent the University in see SWIMMING PAGE 4
ScenE PAGE 8
Students reflect on canonization of Mother Teresa By GABY JENSEN News Writer
In honor of Mother Teresa of Kolkata’s canonization Sunday, Saint Mary’s students reflected on the life of the saint, who visited the College in 1974. According to a 1974 article in the South Bend Tribune, Mother Teresa came to both the Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s campuses and gave a speech at O’Laughlin Auditorium. The Sisters of the Holy Cross and Fr. John J. Egan, then head of Notre Dame’s pastoral institute on social ministry, sponsored her visit. Ministry assistant for Le Mans Hall senior Helen Kovach said it is exciting to know that a saint from her lifetime visited campus. “I’ve served Mass in
football PAGE 16
[O’Laughlin], and it’s cool to know she was in there too,” Kovach said. “It’s like walking in the footsteps of a saint.” Kovach said Mother Teresa was an inspiration for service. “She’s an awesome new saint,” Kovach said. “A real inspiration for our time on how you can serve others.” Junior Marta Thuente said she wished she was there when Mother Teresa visited because the recently canonized saint influenced Thuente’s career choice. “[I’m] kind of sad we missed out on it,” Thuente said. “Growing up I read a graphic novel about the life of Mother Teresa. Reading it inspired me to go into nursing.” Senior Rachel Faircloth said it was great that Saint Mary’s has a connection with the see SAINT PAGE 3
mEn’s golf PAGE 16