The independent
To uncover
newspaper serving
the truth
Notre Dame and
and report
Saint Mary’s
it accurately
Volume 47, Issue 85 | MONDAY, February 10, 2014 | ndsmcobserver.com
Candidates address campus issues Student government elections continued with a debate Sunday night, students to vote Monday By CHELSEA WILLIAMS News Writer
After no clear majority prevailed in Wednesday’s student government election, the two remaining tickets met Sunday to debate student issues in the LaFortune Student Center basement. Presidential candidate Olivia LaMagna and vice presidential candidate Rohan Andresen will oppose presidential candidate Lauren Vidal and vice presidential candidate Matthew Devine in Monday’s run-off election. The debate began on the topic of sexual assault. Andresen and LaMagna said they plan to hold a mid-semester orientation meeting for first-year
students to promote awareness on the issue of sexual assault and discuss ways to identify and prevent it. “We think freshmen are the most impressionable currently,” Andresen said. “They haven’t yet been to dorm parties or really know what sexually assault looks like. These are things that we learn after college through experience unfortunately, that we don’t want them to experience.” Devine said he thought sexual assault is not as relevant of an issue for firstyear students. “This probably has not occurred in high frequency or relevancy in high school,” he said. “This is something that when
living communally with a lot of people becomes a larger issue.” Devine and Vidal said the creation of S.N.A.P., or Student Nighttime Auxiliary Patrol, would be a more effective way of combating sexual assault. “S.N.A.P. would be using existing golf carts of NDSP, equipping staff of safewalk to make sure they have proper training, and having three to four golf carts running throughout the night and picking up students,” Vidal said. “It would work as a taxi service to ensure expedient turnover.” As for the tickets’ view on improving transportation, Andresen and see DEBATE PAGE 5
ZACHARY LLORENS | The Observer
Student government candidates met for a debate Sunday in LaFortune Student Center to discuss sexual assault, their platforms and other campus issues.
Incoming Week parades awkwardness Editor-in-Chief announces editors By K ATIE MCCARTY News Writer
Observer Staff Report
Six new editors will join The Observer’s Editorial Board in 2014-15 and one current editor will retain her spot, incoming Editor-in-Chief Ann Marie Jakubowski announced Friday. Sophomores Lesley Stevenson, Mary Green, Wei Lin and Gabriela Leskur and juniors Allie Tollaksen and Keri O’Mara will assume positions on the Editorial Board after Spring Break. Junior Kelly Konya will continue as Saint Mary’s Editor, no longer interim. Stevenson, a resident of Breen-Phillips Hall and native of Memphis, Tenn., will serve as News Editor. Majoring in film, television and theatre with a minor in journalism, ethics and democracy, Stevenson joined The Observer in fall 2012 and has since covered this year’s ND Forum on Women in Leadership
NEWS PAGE 3
and the 2014 student government election. Green hails from Tampa, Fla., and lives in Pangborn Hall. She majors in film, television and theatre and English, with a minor in journalism, ethics and democracy. Green will serve as Sports Editor after covering women’s basketball and men’s swimming and spending the past year as Interhall Editor. Lin, a resident of Knott Hall and native of New York, will serve as Photo Editor. He majors in accounting, economics and Chinese and joined The Observer as a photographer in November 2012. He became a nightly photo editor in March 2013 and also writes for the News department intermittently. Leskur will take over as Viewpoint Editor. A native of Cleveland, and resident of Farley see REPORT PAGE 4
viewpoint PAGE 7
Notre Dame’s Gender Relations Center (GRC) and Notre Dame Humor Artists are teaming up to sponsor Notre Dame Awkward Awareness Week to promote acceptance of our awkward sides. “Everything that the
MARIA MASSA | The Observer
see AWKWARD PAGE 3
SMC student dancers perform in annual ensemble By KATHRYN MARSHALL News Writer
“Live, Love, Dance” was the theme of this year’s annual Dance Ensemble Workshop, which highlighted 13 student dancers Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings in O’Laughlin Auditorium. The program, presented by
Scene PAGE 9
the Saint Mary’s Department of Communication Studies, Dance, and Theatre, included pieces choreographed by Saint Mary’s faculty members Laurie Lowry and Michele Kriner and guest artists Marlayna Locklear and Sarah Edgar. Lowry said the event has taken place at Saint Mary’s for more than 33 years. The
dances highlight the many facets of the College’s dance program, bringing together examples of both modern dance and classical ballet, she said. “We have a group of dancers who come to us and have studied ballet for a long time and they’re quite proficient,
MEN’S BASKETBALL PAGE 16
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL PAGE 16
see DANCE PAGE 4