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Volume 53, Issue 68 | Thursday, january 17, 2018 | ndsmcobserver.com
Professor emeritus of law dies at 86 Donald P. Kommers’ prolific career at Notre Dame and in public sphere spanned decades Observer Staff Report
Donald P. Kommers, the Joseph and Elizabeth Robbie Chair in Government and International Studies and a concurrent professor emeritus of law, died at 86 on Dec. 21, the University announced in a news release Wednesday. An expert in German and American constitutional law, Kommers served as editor of Notre Dame’s political theory journal, The Review of Politics, from 1981 to 1992. From 1976 to 1981, Kommers was the director of the Law School’s Center for Civil and International Human Rights, the release said. “Don Kommers was a major force in shaping our department and the broader field as well,” political science professor
and former political science department chair Michael Zuckert said. “Notre Dame now has one of the leading programs in constitutional studies in the United States. When Don started out, this was a declining field within political science, but he, together with longtime colleague Sot Barber, led a revival of the field here so that it is now stronger and more firmly established than ever.” As an undergraduate at the Catholic University of America, Kommers studied philosophy and English literature. After serving two years in the U.S. Marine Corps, he earned his master’s degree and Ph.D. in political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Kommers is the author of over 100 articles and books. According
to the release, the third edition of his book on German constitutional law, “The Constitutional Jurisprudence of the Federal Republic of Germany,” was published in 2012 by Duke University Press and received praise German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. “Don was a real pioneer in forming a new subfield within constitutional studies — the field of comparative constitutionalism,” Zuckert said. “When Don entered the profession, it was heavily focused on the American constitutional experience. Although Don was a leading student of American constitutionalism, he made his real mark in his much-awarded work on German constitutionalism. This work, in turn, was one of the major formative influences
SMC improves campus printing system By JORDAN COCKRUM News Writer
When student body president Madeleine Corcoran and student body vice president Kathy Ogden, seniors, began their term last spring, one of their first requests to chief information officer Todd Norris was to update the printing technology at Saint Mary’s. While Saint Mary’s has several printers on campus, the process had always been time-consuming.
Students must first sign into a computer that is connected to the printer. After signing in, students would have to pull up the document, whether it be sent to themselves in an email or on Blackboard, and then sign into the PrintLimit software to send their jobs to a printer. Corcoran said she and Ogden came up with the idea to allow students to send print jobs from their own devices as a part of their platform due to the time it would
see KOMMERS PAGE 3
ND students confront poverty
see PRINTER PAGE 4
Construction began Dec. 10 on a new 68,000-squarefoot women’s residence hall located east of Dunne Hall, the Universit y announced in a Dec. 5 press release.
The hall, which has yet to be named, w ill be completed in August 2020 and w ill house about 225 undergraduate women, the release said. The dorm w ill feature a communit y chapel, a reading room, lounges, study spaces and kitchens on ever y f loor. It w ill offer a range of different rooms, including
singles, doubles and quads, as well as apartments for hall staff. Residents w ill have access to vending, fitness, laundr y and storage facilities w ithin the building. Parking affected by the construction zone w ill be reassigned to the Fischer Facult y Staff Lot, according to the release.
NEWS PAGE 3
VIEWPOINT PAGE 7
SCENE PAGE 9
Editor’s Note: A version of this story ran online on Dec. 19.
He also received the American Bar Association’s Silver Gavel Award and the Berlin Prize from the American Academy in Berlin. In 2010, Germany awarded Kommers with the Distinguished Service Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. German consul general Onno Huckmann said Kommers’ work “remarkably enriched both the American and German legal systems and [built] a bridge between our two countries as few others have,” in the release. “[Kommers’] career at Notre Dame spanned my own time here as a student, as a member of the faculty and as dean,” said law professor and former Law School dean Patricia O’Hara.
save students. “Just the convenience of being able to print from your own device as well as the efficiency as a student when our schedules are so full already, to be able to have that opportunity we thought was really important,” Corcoran said. In addition, the University of Notre Dame and Holy Cross College had this technology already in place, so Corcoran said
Notre Dame begins work on new dorm Observer Staff Report
on that new field of comparative constitutionalism.” From 1995 to 1996, Kommers served as president of the National Conference Group on German Politics and in the 1970s was an advisor to President Jimmy Carter’s Commission on the Holocaust, the release said. He also held fellowships at several institutions and organizations, including the National Endowment for the Humanities, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, American Philosophical Society, Max Planck Society and Rockefeller Foundation. According to the release, Kommers earned the Berlin Prize from the American Academy in Berlin and the American Bar Association’s Silver Gavel Award.
OLIVIA VENVERTLOH | The Observer
Urban Plunge students display thier artwork featuring slogans and lessons that they learned from their experance . By MARY CLARE DONNELLY News Writer
Over winter break, 199 Notre Dame students traveled to 27 cities across the country as part of a Social Concerns Seminar called Urban Plunge. Urban Plunge is a one-credit seminar with a two to four-day immersion built to give students an opportunity to engage with communities experiencing
ND 7W basketball PAGE 16
poverty in U.S. cities. Kyle Lantz, director of Social Concerns Seminars at Notre Dame, said the program now known as Urban Plunge began on campus in 1968. Then just a Chicagofocused program, the trips were led by Monsignor Jack Egan, who worked in the North Lawndale neighborhood on the West side of see PLUNGE PAGE 4
hockey PAGE 16
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ANN CURTIS | The Observer
The Notre Dame leprechaun and cheerleaders lead the football team onto the field before the Cotton Bowl national semifinal game on Dec. 29. The game was Notre Dame’s first appearance in the College Football Playoff since the system was created in 2014.
The next Five days:
Want your event included here? Email news@ndsmcobserver.com
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Monday
Summer Service Learning Program Duncan Student Center 5 p.m. - 6 p.m. Come to an information session.
BlacKkKlansman Browning Cinema 6:30 p.m. A movie showing presented by the arts department.
ND Men’s Basketball vs. NC State Purcell Pavilion 2 p.m. The Irish take on the Wolfpack.
Candlelight Prayer Service Main Building Rotunda 11 p.m. - 11:30 p.m. Celebrating Martin Luther King Jr.
MLK Celebration Luncheon Joyce Center North Dome 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Reception for New Museum Director Snite Museum of Art 5 p.m. - 7 p.m. Meet director Joseph Becherer, Ph.D. The event is open to all.
Eats and Easels LaFortune Student Center 9 p.m. - 11 p.m. A winter-themed canvas paint night with food provided.
Uzima! African Drumming and Dance Celebration DeBartolo Performing Arts Center 7:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. Walk the Walk Week.
Saint Mary’s Serves Regina Hall 12:45 p.m. - 2 p.m. Community service to celebrate the 175th anniversary of Saint Mary’s .
Lecture featuring Opal Tometi, CoFounder of Black Lives Matter 101 DeBartolo Hall 7 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. A keynote speech with time for questions.
News
ndsmcobserver.com | THURSDAY, january 17, 2018 | The Observer
Glee Club completes tour By NICOLE SIMON News Writer
Members of the Glee Club spent their Christmas break performing on their first-ever winter tour. Each year, the club typically spends a week performing on the road over fall and spring break. This year, in lieu of its spring tour, it spent 10 days visiting various cities in California. Senior Adam Kuczynski, the club’s tour manager, said the decision to tour over winter break instead of spring break allowed for a different kind of tour. “We decided to do it over winter because … we wanted a little bit of extra time in California without the pressures of semester projects and homework and studying,” he said. “It was super laid back and everyone was much less stressed, which was nice.” As this year’s tour manager, Kuczynski helped Glee Club director Daniel Stowe plan the trip, including scheduling the concerts, finding places for everyone to stay and organizing activities during the day. When they weren’t performing, group members toured San Francisco, played beach volleyball in San Clemente and skied in Lake Tahoe. Senior Glee Club president Brian Raab said he agreed that a longer tour in between semesters made it a uniquely enjoyable tour. “So often tour can feel like work because we usually have a concert one day in one location and the next day is a concert in a completely different location. It’s just bam-bam-bam. This time, we had a beach day at one point where we played volleyball for four hours. I went skiing in Lake Tahoe and that was one of the
best days of my life,” Raab said. “The Glee Club, they’re my best friends at Notre Dame. Because we’re always touring over breaks, we don’t have a chance to take a vacation together somewhere, so it was cool we got to bring the vacation with us.” That sense of community, Raab said, was built over four years of touring with the Glee Club. Tours are the most important part of the club, in large part because of the community that it builds, Kucynski said. “When you go on tour, you’re spending literally every minute of your day with 40 other guys,” Kuczynski said. “So you just form this bond … because you’re working with these guys, essentially, but you’re also spending all your meals and all your free time with them as well, so it’s like this really close bond that you form with the guys and it helps to solidify the music, too.” John Jakubowski, a sophomore member of the Glee Club, said he agrees that tours allow for more social and musical connection within the club than everyday rehearsals. “Rehearsals are great,” he said. “But tour is when you spend a lot of meaningful time with these people. It’s kind of like a cornerstone of the club musically, but also socially. You’re spending a lot of time with these people, but you’re also spending a lot of time with the music. You get to know both the people and the music very well.” This tour in particular, because of it occurring over winter break, enabled the group to work on its technique and performance. “We got to do the same see GLEE CLUB PAGE 4
DEVON NGO | The Observer
Glee Club celebrate their inaugural winter tour following a performance. The group held nine concerts in the span of 10 days.
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Architecture school moves to Walsh Family Hall By MARY STEURER News Editor
This semester, the School of Architecture officially left Bond Hall — its home for more than 50 years — and relocated to the newly-constructed Walsh Family Hall. Michael Lykoudis, dean of the school of architecture, said while he enjoyed his time in Bond, its location felt estranged from other areas of campus. “I’d say, ‘We’re a little bit like Hawaii. We’re the smallest state in the Union, the furthest West and a little exotic,’” he said. Lykoudis said Walsh Family Hall’s position on the edge of campus makes the school easier to find and it offers better parking access. “The location of the building is a great advertisement, if you will, for the school,” he said. The new building’s f loor plan also affords architecture students more opportunity to collaborate and mix, he added. “Studios were all broken up on different f loors and in some cases, smaller rooms.
So, it was hard to have communication of ideas between the studios,” he said. “Here we have big f loor plates on two f loors … so there’s going to be a greater sense of community, greater sense of what studio culture is about.” Professor of architecture Philip Bess said he will always have a nostalgic appreciation for Bond. “Bond is in a great section of campus, you know?” he said. “From my office I could see the Dome and the lakes.” While the new location offers access to many different parts of campus, Bess said he will miss the historic quarter of Notre Dame. “We’re further away from the heart of campus,” he said. Senior architecture student Patrick Keough said he looks forward to using the new spaces in Walsh Family Hall. “The new studios will be a new dynamic for our studio culture,” he said. Though the new building offers certain advantages, the move to Walsh Family Hall was bittersweet, Keough said.
“I know many of my classmates will dearly miss Bond because of the great memories we had inside of it,” he said. While the future of Bond Hall is uncertain, it will likely house offices for other academic departments, vice president for facilities design and operations and University architect Doug Marsh said in an email. “[Bond] is being considered for a variety of academic space that will be centered on undergraduate teaching and learning,” he said in the email. “More information on the backfill planning for Bond Hall will be forthcoming in the early part of the Spring Semester.” Lykoudis said the building’s location and design works well as a representation of the Notre Dame academic mission. “Arcitecture really embodies the unity of knowledge, which is what we at Notre Dame talk about an awful lot,” he said. “I think the building symbolizes that.” Contact Mary Steurer at msteure1@nd.edu
Saint Mary’s Ski Club makes comeback By MARIROSE OSBORNE News Writer
The Saint Mary’s Ski Club has been unable to hit the slopes for two years. There just hasn’t been enough snow. This year, things seem to be turning around. “The club has been inactive since my freshman year. It’s disappointing because Ski Club was a great chance to just relax and have some fun,” senior physics major and club president Hannah Towe said. Towe has been working to revitalize the club for this year. “I started by bringing together a group of friends who used to be in ski club or who were interested,” Towe said. “Social media and the activities fair has helped spread the message and there’s been a lot of interest. I made a Facebook posting and a lot of underclassmen have emailed me to ask about joining.” The club’s advisor is Ranjan Rohatgi of the math department. However, Rohatgi said he doesn’t play a large role in club activities — he leaves that to Towe. “On my end, it’s mostly
checking paperwork and making sure some of the technical details are taken care of,” Rohatgi said. Ski Club is non-competitive and open to all levels of experience, Towe said, and students from both Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s participate. “We try to get together every weekend we can,” she said. “It’s a nice opportunity to meet new people, especially for someone like me. I’m a physics major, which is relatively new at Saint Mary’s and only has about 10 people. Ski Club has become a way to make new friends and have some fun after a long week. We meet in Saint Mary’s Student Center before driving to the ski site. Then we just ski until people get tired or it gets dark, whichever comes first.” For Towe and other club members, the appeal of ski club lies in its ability to be both an independent and group activity, Towe said. “When I ski, I’m very detached from tech and the outside world,” she said. “I go with friends, but I can still be alone.” The club visits Swiss Valley Ski and Snowboard
Area in Jones, Michigan, about 40 minutes from Saint Mary’s. Towe said they have two lifts and several hills of various difficulties, with everything from a bunny hill for beginners to two black diamonds. Beginner lessons are available and club members who have never skied are encouraged to take part in them. Club members can bring their own ski equipment or rent from Swiss Valley. Towe has made some changes to the old ski club model. In order to save members’ money, she changed from the old lift ticket system, where the club would buy a large pack for the entire season, to pay per visit. “Technically there are around 50-60 people on the email list,” she said. ”However on a good day we get maybe 20 members who show up. In order to allow for more f lexibility we’ll just have members pay for their own ticket when they want to go. That way there’s no obligation and no one feels guilty about wasting money if they can’t make it.” Contact Marirose Osborne at mosborne01@saintmary.edu
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NEWS
The observer | Thursday, January 17, 2018 | ndsmcobserver.com
Plunge Continued from page 1
Chicago and wanted to get members of the community more aware and involved in the area. “In 1968, the seeds of Urban Plunge began and it grew from there,” Lantz said. “Cleveland was the second city, and by the late ’70s we were going to a lot of differentplaces.” Today the program continues, with students increasing their involvement not only in their home communities across the country but in South Bend as well. Lantz said that the South Bend Urban Plunge has grown from 10 students to 30 in the past year. “Locally, we want to create opportunities for Notre Dame students to engage the local community,” Lantz said. “There’s increasing interest in engaging South Bend in this way and it helps students have more tangible ways to continue this engagement throughout the rest of their time at Notre Dame.” Sophomore Olivia Venvertloh from San Diego went on immersion in Los Angeles. Her group stayed with the St. Francis Center in downtown L.A., but doing service projects throughout the city on their two-day immersion. Contact Nicole Simon at nsimon1@nd.edu
Printers Continued from page 1
she and Ogden thought it was time for Saint Mary’s to catch up to the rest of the tri-campus community. “Also, we noticed that Notre Dame and Holy Cross both already had printing from their own device as an available option so
Glee Club Continued from page 3
music we’ve done in the fall, so rather than trying to memorize stuff, we already have it memorized, so it’s more working on musicality and stuff like that,” Raab said. “Getting more chance of consistent work and performance in front of a crowd really helps.” Over the course of 10 days, the club performed nine concerts. While the concerts meant there was plenty of work to do, the number and low-stress environment enabled the group to improve its performing ability, Jakubowski said. “Generally, you’re singing for people you don’t know quite as well,” he said. “Tour is just a really great time to learn the material because,
we thought we were kind of behind the curve on that and it was time for us to try and get back up to speed,” Corcoran said. Now, students can print to the three printers in the Trumper Computer Center from any location on campus, as long as they are connected to one of the two college networks. Instructions on how to use the new printing technology can be found on ResNet’s
since you don’t really know the people, there’s a little less pressure to perform.” Even though they’re not singing for their typical Notre Dame audience in South Bend, the club members are able bring their music to the greater Notre Dame community when touring. Often times, members of the club stayed with hosts from the Notre Dame clubs in the cities they visited. “It’s a lot more interesting, I’d say, especially since in a lot of the locations we stay with home-stays, so a lot of times you actually end up meeting the people who are listening to you that night,” Kuczynski said. “So it’s cool to get to know people and see how they appreciate our music and what Notre Dame means to them specifically.” In addition to hosting the Paid Advertisement
website, under PrintLimit. Corcoran said that her experience working with Saint Mary’s Information Technology (IT) department was positive, and the department was receptive to students’ needs. “It was really great,” Corcoran said. “Todd [Norris] has been super-duper helpful with the entire process. We brought it to him last spring and he was very excited
members, the clubs often help market the event to their local communities. As a result, tour performances have audiences from both the Notre Dame community and the community in which they perform. “When you go on tour, you can be performing for anyone, like someone who saw there was a choir performance. And then you have the people who came because it’s Notre Dame and they love Notre Dame,” Raab said. “It’s so cool to sing in front of that mix of people.” The Glee Club will be touring again this summer in various countries in Europe, in addition to its usual oncampus concerts. Contact Nicole Simon at nsimon1@nd.edu
about the idea and didn’t even realize how much time students were spending on printing because he didn’t consider how we all use laptops.” The project was important for Norris to work on due to the strong desire from the student body, he said. Contact Jordan Cockrum jcockrum01@nd.edu
Kommers Continued from page 1
“First established as the Center for Civil Rights in 1973 under the leadership of Father Hesburgh, today’s Klau Center for Civil and Human Rights in the Keough School of Global Affairs broadened its direction internationally during Don’s tenure as director … A true interdisciplinary scholar, Don will be missed by his colleagues across many different departments at the University.” A funeral Mass will be held Jan. 21 at 9:30 a.m. at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. Memorial donations may be made to the University of Notre Dame Department of Development or online at giving. nd.edu. Condolences may be mailed to Nancy Kommers, P.O. Box 303, Notre Dame, IN, 46556 or left online at Kaniewski Funeral Homes.
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The observer | thursday, January 17, 2019 | ndsmcobserver.com
Inside Column
Tessera: a little scary but probably fine Mary Steurer News Editor
A couple of weeks ago, students received an email from Notre Dame admissions asking it to participate in a pilot study for ACT’s latest assessment, Tessera. According to the ACT website, the test is designed to measure students’ “Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) skills and character strengths” to “support student self-knowledge, growth and continuous improvement.” It says the test was created to give parents and teachers a concrete way to make sure students’ soft skills are developing properly. Tessera appears to be part of a larger push from ACT for families and schools to adopt its “Holistic Framework,” an 11-step program they developed to prepare students for career success. This is an interesting move for sure. W hile Tessera may not be the first of its kind — countless tests measuring SEL skills already exist — it is the first to boast the name of a standardized testing monolith like ACT. Is this evidence that “character scores” for students will soon be a part of the college application process? It’s unclear what ACT has planned, but surely Tessera could make this possible. Regardless, is ACT right to think a test could know students’ social and emotional strengths better than their parents and teachers? Its website says Tessera relies a great deal on selfreporting, asking students to evaluate their own character with multiple choice questions. They also employ what they call “situational judgement” and “forcedchoice items” (for example, asking students to identif y statements they feel are “most” and “least” like them). W hile the usefulness of a test that asks students to evaluate themselves is worth being skeptical about, let’s assume it does work. Should colleges care about a student’s Tessera score? After all, though higher education has evolved to be a place of self-discernment and discover y, that wasn’t its original intent. Its original intent was just to educate. Imagine adding Tessera to the college application process. Students would suddenly feel pressure to get perfect scores in an area they’re not really even going to college to improve. There’s nothing wrong with encouraging kids to be good people, but adding it on top of the rest of the pressures they feel while applying doesn’t seem fair. Besides, application essays already give students a platform to communicate the same character strengths Tessera is intended to measure. Application essays have an important advantage, though: They give students the freedom to express themselves however they like. This aside, the implications of such a test are Orwellian, for sure. ACT already holds a lot of sway over high school students’ futures. With Tessera, they’d have the power to define what makes a person good. To be fair, there’s no evidence ACT is really tr ying to make high Tessera scores a qualifier for getting into college. Looking back at the Holistic Framework, it appears schools would actually administer the test in early high school. If it does take off, however, Tessera would an unnecessar y addition to the application process, at best; at worst, moral policing. I just hope ACT is careful. High school students have enough to worr y about. Contact Mary Steurer at msteure1@nd.edu The views expressed in this Inside Column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Thank you, Dunne Hall W hen I moved to Dunne Hall at the beginning of my sophomore year, no one — myself included — knew what the community would be like. The truth of the matter, though, was that we had a chip on our shoulder. We were going to have to prove that we were something more than just an “island of misfit toys” or “that new dorm that looks great on the inside.” Two-and-a-half years later, I can say without hesitation that Dunne Hall has been an enormous success. This past weekend, we had over 100 members of our community attend Dunne’s annual retreat. Through speakers and small group discussions, all of us, including the most prominent members of Dunne, shared stories and ref lections about the difficult challenges that we have faced throughout our lives. The fact that nearly half of our
dorm was willing to take a weekend out of their winter break to grow in community with their fellow Sentinels, I think, really speaks to the authenticity and the closeness of our hall. One topic that was frequently discussed during our retreat was gratitude. Too often, Notre Dame students (myself included) get preoccupied with our work and activities, and forget to stop and express gratitude for others and for the opportunities given to us. As I begin my final semester, I want to publicly thank Fr. Matt Kuczora, Fr. Kevin Grove, our hall staff and all past and present residents of Dunne Hall for shaping our community into what it is today. Kevin Hayes senior Jan. 14
Conscious abroad reflection Show Some Skin The Cost of Silence
W hat did you take with you? This is the question I wish people would ask when inquiring about the experiences of those returning from an abroad program. Too often I hear unchallenging questions like “how was it? ” Questions like this are often followed by a glorified account that too often mirrors the superficiality of social media. Everything was “perfect,” “amazing” or “so fun.” W hile this very well could have been the case, these words are usually associated with experiences involving wild partying, visiting tourist attractions without a concern for historical significance and tendency to remain within the “Notre Dame bubble,” among other things. W hen you took those shots for Instagram, did you truly take in what you were seeing? W hen you explored the city, did you take time to delve into its vibrant culture? W hen you partied with the locals, did you take a few moments to try and understand who they were as a people? These are just a few of the questions I would
propose to my peers and myself. My intention is not to ridicule or make one feel bad, I myself was guilty of surface level behavior while abroad. My hope is that those returning make the conscious effort to understand how their experience abroad changed them. W hat about living and learning in a foreign country allowed you to grow and mature in a way that you couldn’t have experienced here on campus? W hat are the ideas, feelings and perspectives you’d like to share with the main campus community? W hat did you take with you? Joseph Nwanebo is a junior who can be reached at jnwanebo@nd.edu. Show Some Skin is a student-run initiative committed to giving voice to unspoken narratives about identity and difference. Using the art of storytelling as a catalyst for positive social change across campus, we seek to make Notre Dame a more open and welcoming place for all. If you are interested in breaking the silence and getting involved with Show Some Skin, email tcarter8@nd.edu The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
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The middle way Show Some Skin The Cost of Silence
The summer before fifth grade, I went to see “Ramona and Beezus” with my mother and two sisters, Elleni and Alexandra. After the film ended, I turned to my mom expectantly as she fished around in her purse for the surprises she and I had picked out the day before for my sisters: two sets of sisters necklaces, fresh from Justice. To Elleni, I bestowed a purple half heart that said “Big Sis,” and to Alexandra, a blue half heart that read “Little Sis.” Over my own head, I slipped both a Big Sister necklace and a Little Sister one, proud to proclaim both roles. Unlike the bitter, jaded middle children seen on T V, I’ve always been comfortable in my role, excited by the f lexibility that comes without being chained to a singular relationship dynamic. As a proud middle child, I was horrified to read in a recent article published by “The Cut” that I belong to a dwindling kind. Americans nowadays are choosing to have smaller families, causing the role of the middle child to disappear. With warnings of endangered pandas and sea turtles, though, the disappearance of an arbitrar y role may seem unimportant. After all, how great an effect could the disappearance of a birth order have on society? As a middle child, my place in the Conley household hierarchy has always been f luid. W hen I was younger, I enjoyed the luxuries that my status as one of the “big girls” brought me: I learned to ride a bike at the same time as Elleni, my parents let me stay out late playing kick the can with the neighborhood kids and our dance studio allowed me to start taking classes when I was still below the minimum age. As a “big girl,” I carried myself with a sense of maturity beyond that of many of my peers, a sense taught to me as my big sister held my hand.
But I was also part of the “little girls.” Sharing a room with my younger sister, I never ran the risk of growing up too fast. W hen we finished our homework, the two of us would plan fabulous fashion shows, even after most of my classmates had retired their dress-up boxes. Alexandra and I would play with Barbies well into my middleschool years, though the plots and characters grew more complex. By considering myself an equal with Alexandra, I allowed myself to relish my childhood longer, developing my imagination. Rather than align with one school of thought, I was able to dart back and forth into both roles, synthesizing what I learned in each of my sisters’ worlds to create my own hybrid. I was able to observe. From watching my older sister move through the prickly preteen years, I learned which approaches wouldn’t go over well with my parents. From watching my little sister grow up, I realized the importance of preserving one’s childlike penchant for whimsy. I wasn’t just the oldest, or the youngest; I was Julianna, defining my own role in the world. Being a middle child, I learned to adapt. W hen I received hand-me-down pants that were still much too big for me, my mother folded the waistline and sewed the fabric shut. I strutted around for years with a bulky wad of material hanging off my waist that got the job done. W hen my little sister was still scared of the dark, I slept with the door always open and the hall light on. Unlike my older sister who did things her way, or my little sister who had ever ything done for her, I grew used to accommodating the crowd. Some nights I watched “NCIS” and “The Bourne Identity” with Elleni, some nights “Good Luck Charlie” and “Hannah Montana: The Movie” with Alexandra. People love to say that middle children are peacemakers because they hate conf lict, but I’ll confess I’ve always loved a good bit of drama. I was a peacemaker because, accustomed to never getting my way, I knew how to compromise.
Most importantly, though, middle children have empathy. They belong to both teams, and because of that, they revel in each sibling’s victories and mourn in their losses. They use their own experiences, putting themselves in their siblings’ shoes, realizing how the others feel. W hen my friends came over, I always let Alexandra play with us, remembering the hurt and betrayal I felt when I was ousted by Elleni’s best friend. W hen Elleni had a lot of homework, I kept my distance, realizing how annoying it was when Alexandra pestered me while I was studying. My status as a middle child allowed me to know how my sisters felt and treat them how I wanted to be treated. Middle children are often seen as bitter, angr y and sensitive to ever y slight, but I’d argue that we’re just better attuned to the family dynamics. We’re in the thick of things. We realize the inconsistencies; we know the wrongdoings, and we’re impassioned to right them. Middle children are more likely to fight injustice (see Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Susan B. Anthony). We know the pain of being treated differently than those around us, and we know it’s in our power to create equality. We don’t feel intense distinctions between groups; we don’t need to. We’re used to belonging to the collective and don’t feel the need to demarcate. Just as middle children bridge the worlds between siblings, understanding commonalities in each sibling, middle children feel the common humanity in people. As middle children go extinct, the world loses a special group of people engineered to bring us all together. Julianna Conley is a slow eating, loud talking and fast-walking freshman from Southern California. She endorses hot glue, despises mint and strongly believes the cookie is the best part of an Oreo. Julianna can be reached at jconley4@nd.edu The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
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The observer | Thursday, JANUARY 17, 2019 | ndsmcobserver.com
By RYAN ISRAEL Scene Writer
Just the name Earl Sweatshirt conjures up a certain image: taking the surname literally, a lanky teenager, hunched over with a sweatshirt hood covering most of his face, sullen, brooding, “stand-offish and anemic” and possibly depressed. It’s an image that can nearly be found on the cover of the California artist’s 2015 single “Grief.” It’s an image that is rather fitting for an artist who has seen the light of celebrity and consistently turned away from it, disappearing from the public eye and social media microscope between musical releases. Earl’s 2015 release “I Don’t Like Sh—, I Don’t Go Outside” was followed by a drought. In 2016, Earl appeared twice, on Danny Brown’s “Really Doe” and on Samiyam’s “mirror.” In 2017, there was nothing. Much like his former Odd Future collaborator Frank Ocean, Earl quickly became known for his absence rather than his presence. As 2018 drew to a close, it seemed as though another year might pass with no word from the California kid. And then, in late November, as the commercial music cycle wound down, Earl emerged to release his third studio album “Some Rap Songs.” There is a lot that jumps off the page before even pressing play on “Some Rap Songs.” First, there’s the title: a no-frills, literal statement of exactly what the album is. Then there’s the album cover: a blurry picture of what appears to be a smiling Earl, toeing the line between
By MIKE DONOVAN Associate Scene Editor
Four individuals, conservatively dressed, stand in a field. Smile-stained faces suggest a recent bout of gallivanting. The cliff to their right, rising out of the Atlantic, punctuates the idyllic scene, full stop. “Throbbing Gristle brings you,” the text above the image reads, “20 Jazz Funk Greats.” The commune-turned-school-of-sonic-anarchy known as “Throbbing Gristle” selected this unassuming cover art for their record to deter the pasty record snob — he or she who only cares for the visibly obscure — and treat the jazz funk aficionado to an expansion of his or her horizons. When the needle drops, the listener is surprised to hear ominous layers of electro wailing in place of the expected buttery sax. Robotic doom wop. A little research contextualizes the jarring realization. The four individuals on the cover stand atop Beachy Head — a notorious suicide spot. Their gleaming smiles and screaming sounds become the punchline of a cruel joke. “The Friend,” a novel by Sigrid Nunez about an unnamed woman and her dog, wears Nunez’s sleek prose style like “20 Jazz Funk Greats” wears its deceptively pleasant sleeve. In her book, published in February 2018, the clean, understated texture of Nunez’s words takes up arms against the ungainly content of her thematic interests,
cover art and meme. Lastly, there’s the album length. With a run time of 24 minutes, “Some Rap Songs” is one of a few 2018 rap albums that use a short run time to its advantage. Fifteen songs combine to make up those 24 minutes, each running no longer than three minutes and many clocking in at less than two. Press play, and yet another feature of Earl’s artistic imprint marks his independence from mainstream forces and clearly indicates his commitment to his own alternative style. On “Some Rap Songs,” Earl commands a production style of lo-fi beats, scattered with scratches and pops and covered in a haze that makes them sound as though they’re being played on vinyl. The production incorporates choppy loops, heavy jazz sampling and jolting audio clips. The free-form, artistic style is the trademark of Earl’s newest collaborators, a collection of promising, young New York rappers that includes MIKE, Medhane and Navy Blue. While the production can be off-putting at first, it quickly settles in as a comforting norm as the album progresses. After absorbing the entire album, listening to any other production style might sound a bit off. Along with an avant-garde production style, Earl takes on a free-flowing lyrical style. His delivery is deadpan, often barely reaching more than a mumble. The words he utters speak for themself. They capture his dark days — “I think ... I spent my whole life depressed / Only thing on my mind was death / Didn’t know if my time was next” — lengthy absences — “The
boy been gone a few summers too long from road runnin’” — and familial relationships — “Bad apple, daily clashin’ with my kinfolk.” With each listen, a new verse, phrase or clever play on words emerges. The final three tracks on “Some Rap Songs” capture it all. “Playing Possum” interweaves a recording of his mother, Cheryl Harris, thanking Earl and his father in a keynote speech with a recording of his late father reciting an excerpt of his poem “Anguish Longer Than Sorrow.” It’s a beautiful tribute to his parents that is followed by “Peanuts,” a slow-burner that features all of Earl’s lyrical motifs. Lastly comes “Riot!,” an instrumental, Masekela-sampling conclusion that cries out with joy after the depression, death and hardships have settled.
rarely emerging victorious. Suicide and grief hold a lot of sway in “The Friend.” The narrator, whose close friend and literary mentor recently killed himself, tries to medicate the pain of his passing in the spirit of Virginia Woolf’s assertion (“I suppose I did for myself what psychoanalysts do for their patients. I expressed some very long and deeply felt emotion. And in expressing it I explained it and then laid it to rest.”) but her attempts produce more tragicomedy than meaningful progress. The narrator’s primary psychoanalyst takes the shape of a dog, a lumbering, near-catatonic mass of arthritis and canine existential despair left in the her care after the dog’s previous owner (the narrator’s mentor) passed. (Note: Everybody loves dogs even if they don’t). Apollo, as he’s called, sleepwalks his way into symbolic stardom as the narrator unloads any fragment of meaning and/or nonsense that happens upon her ailing mind. She and the dog have a lot in common: “They don’t commit suicide. They don’t weep. But they can and do fall to pieces. They can and do have their hearts broken. They can and do lose their minds.” Writing didn’t save Woolf or the narrator’s mentor and won’t save the narrator, because it tries to reduce internal mysteries to language. Writing begets conflict. It lays nothing to rest. Dogs are non-reductive. They soak up their owners’ subconscious crises like animate kitchen sponges, labor the owner’s in their uncharted and vacuous depths.
The narrator and her dog unify under a symbiotic interspecial marriage to fight off the temptations of the “flaneur” — someone (like the mentor) with a tendency to wander listlessly and alone, drifting into shades of thought. The mentor, a major proponent of the whole “flaneur” thing, “did not consider a long walk with a dog genuine flanerie because it was not the same as aimless abstraction, and being responsible for a dog prevented a person from falling into abstraction.” Abstraction brings unwanted memories and stirs repressed wounds. Much better to walk with a dog. For protection. Dogs translate comfortably to fiction in a way that humans can’t. “Writers are always selling somebody out,” Joan Didion writes, the narrator quotes. “[Writing] is an aggressive, even a hostile act … the tactic of a secret bully.” Fiction can even hurt people post-mortem, as the narrator comes to realize. But it can’t hurt dogs. It can’t break a canine’s disconcerting sense of loyalty. Much better to write about dogs. For protection. A dog is a friend without qualification, readily folding any ambiguity assigned to the word “friend” into the folds of his or her uncompromising heart. Full of life but not so human as to really screw things up, the dog fetches the ball that solipsism so often drops. For this, the narrator is grateful.
Contact Ryan Israel at risrael1@nd.edu
“Some Rap Songs” Earl Sweatshirt Label: Tan Cressida/Columbia Records Tracks: “Red Waters,” “Nowhere2go,” “Riot!” If you like: Madvillain, MIKE, Frank Ocean
Contact Mike Donovan at mdonov10@nd.edu LINA DOMENELLA | The Observer
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The observer | Thursday, JANUARY 17, 2019 | ndsmcobserver.com
By HANNA KENNEDY Scene Writer
Following closely behind the release of the documentary “RBG” in May, “On the Basis of Sex” is the latest installment filmmakers have provided to satisfy society’s unusual enthusiasm for the 5-foot-1 Supreme Court justice. The two-hour film’s opening image is a flood of Harvard men marching through the streets of Cambridge when among them appears the bright blue skirt of a 23-year-old Ruth Bader Ginsburg, played by British actress Felicity Jones. It’s 1956, Harvard’s sixth year allowing women through its doors, and the future Supreme Court justice is one of only nine female students in a class of 500 men. The disparity between how men and women are treated in academics, the job market and society as a whole is at the forefront of the movie from the moment it begins. In one of the film’s most memorable, and simultaneously uncomfortable scenes, Dean Erwin Griswold holds a dinner party for Ginsburg and the eight other women enrolled as first-year law students. He asks each one of them to explain why she is taking a spot at Harvard that could have gone to a man. Ginsburg, reading the situation and giving the Dean what he wants, answers with the painfully acceptable response: “to be a more patient
By JIM MOSTER Scene Writer
Satyr. Tartarus. Kronos. The concept of millions of children readily embracing the archaic lexicon of Greek mythology seems ludicrous, but fantasy author Rick Riordan has accomplished the impossible with his “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” series. Perhaps inspired by recent book-turned-musical hits such as “Hamilton” and “Fun Home,” composer Rob Rokiki and playbook author Joe Tracz bring Riordan’s modern take on Greek myths back into the spotlight with “The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical.” “The gods are real,” a colorful cast informs the audience in the musical’s opening number. Indeed, the epic of Percy Jackson (Chris McCarrell) begins with his discovery that he is a “half-blood,” or a child resulting from the union of a Greek god and a mortal. Percy’s affectionate mother Sally (Carrie Compere) sends him to the demigod haven Camp Half-Blood, but not before she is whisked away to the underworld at the hands of the Minotaur. Grieving from the loss of his mother at his new summer camp, Percy meets Annabeth (Kristin Stokes), the clever daughter of Athena, and learns that his best friend Grover (George Salazar) is a half-goat creature called a satyr. Although senior camper Luke (James Hayden Rodriguez) warns Percy that many half-bloods never determine the identity of their godly parent, Percy is soon claimed as a son of Poseidon. The rest of the story follows Percy, Annabeth and Grover on a quest
and understanding wife” to her husband, a second-year law student. Her words are not entirely true — her marriage to Martin Ginsburg is an extraordinary one — but what she’s really there for is to be a lawyer, as she tells her husband later that night. As viewers see more and more of Ruth and Marty’s relationship unfold, it seems as if he could be the one telling Dean Griswold he’s at Harvard to become a more “patient and loving” husband. Marty cooks meals, mediates between Ruth and their headstrong teenage daughter Jane and never puts himself in the way of his wife’s ambitions. The movie as a whole, in fact, is at its best when the relationships between characters are allowed to take over and drive the plot forward. The film’s depiction of the people in Ginsburg’s life — her daughter, her husband and even her former camp counselor turned legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, Mel Wulf — are where the movie finds a perfect balance between moving biopic and serious courtroom drama that refuses to trivialize ideas and debates for its audience. The revolutionary case that “On the Basis of Sex” centers around is found by Ginsburg’s husband Marty, an accomplished tax lawyer, and the two of them take it on as a team. The case is a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence: A man has been discriminated against on the basis of sex. The man in question, Colorado native Charles Mortiz,
was denied a tax deduction routinely given to women and once-married men in the position of caring for elderly or ailing family members. The writers of the tax code couldn’t fathom the idea of a lifelong bachelor caring for an aging parent and this oversight allows Ruth and Marty to challenge legalized gender discrimination in a winnable case, a case in which they were defending a man. Director Mimi Leder and screenwriter Daniel Stiepleman, Justice Ginsburg’s nephew, are smart in focusing the film on this one pivotal case in Ginsburg’s long legal career. “On the Basis of Sex” does an efficient yet thorough job of articulating what Ruth Bader Ginsburg accomplished and why it mattered. It doesn’t trace the full arc of her career — that would be impossible to do in a two-hour film — but it does tell the story of how she found her voice. Audiences have the opportunity to learn about the early years of a woman who is so much more than her power workout on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” or her “Saturday Night Live” — famous ‘Ginsburns.’ In “On the Basis of Sex,” Ginsburg is rightfully portrayed as a woman of formidable intelligence and unrivaled ambition who was, and still is, a groundbreaking figure in the fight for gender equality.
to retrieve Zeus’ stolen lightning bolt and prevent total war amongst the gods. Nearly every song in “The Lightning Thief” relies on spoken dialogue to flesh out the nuances of Riordan’s mythological universe. The seven-minute opening track, “Prologue/The Day I Got Expelled,” derives its hefty length from frequent pauses for character and world-building exposition. The playful piano and guitar riffs of the opening number quickly establish the musical as pop-rock, although a myriad of musical genres appear throughout the soundtrack. Acoustic guitar and harmonica pleasantly complement Salazar’s soft voice in “Drive,” and the punk song “Put You In Your Place” is dominated by aggressive electric guitar. This diversity of sound makes each track a pleasant surprise and provides the musical with consistent forward momentum. Thankfully, a musical about 12-year-olds defeating bloodthirsty monsters and saving the world doesn’t regard itself in an excessively serious manner. In the grandiose funk number “D.O.A.,” our heroes discover that the entrance to the underworld is located at the aptly-named D.O.A. Records. In “The Campfire Song,” the demigods of Camp Half-Blood lament that “things couldn’t be worse when your parents run the universe.” Annabeth sings that Athena has renounced gluten, and another half-blood complains that Aphrodite, the goddess of love, steals all of her dates. However, “The Lightning Thief” doesn’t deliver its lighthearted gags at the expense of emotional depth. “Good
Kid” perfectly encapsulates the tidal wave of anguish that overpowers Percy following his sixth school expulsion in six years, the abduction of his mother and the outbreak of rumors claiming that he stole Zeus’ bolt. In “The Tree on the Hill,” Grover expresses the self-doubt and lingering sorrow he feels regarding his failure to protect a half-blood from the wrath of Hades. Melancholy songs such as these balance out the fast-paced soundtrack, adding depth and believability to the musical’s characters. Despite the laurels heaped on by this adult writer, “The Lightning Thief” undoubtedly targets younger audiences. Older fans will appreciate the inevitable nostalgia that comes with experiencing a beloved franchise in a new medium, but simplistic messages such as “normal is a myth” might better resonate with kids coping with exclusion by classmates or a dysfunctional home life. Older fans may also remember the widely criticized Percy Jackson movies, but have no fear ─ the musical is faithful to its source content and even transcribes several direct quotes from the book into song lyrics. As the cast of ragtag demigods launches into a national tour, they might inspire a new generation of family-friendly musicals that appeal to all ages through humor and musical diversity. Although the Greek gods exist only in fantasy, one can get a taste of the divine by checking out the soundtrack of “The Lightning Thief” and joining Percy Jackson on his show-stopping quest.
Contact Hanna Kennedy at hkenned2@nd.edu
Contact Jim Moster at jmoster@nd.edu LINA DOMENELLA | The Observer
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DAILY
The observer | THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 2018 | ndsmcobserver.com
Crossword | Will Shortz
Horoscope | Eugenia Last Happy Birthday: Look at the positive in life. Walk with the people who are forward thinkers. Take the time to invest in yourself, your personal surroundings and your involvement in things that matter to you. Dedication and determination will lead to success. Don’t live in the past when you should be moving forward. Take control and make things happen. Your numbers are 9, 17, 24, 28, 30, 38, 46. ARIES (March 21-April 19): Take care of business. If you fall short, someone will complain. Channel your energy instead of letting it fuel anger. What you accomplish will make you feel good and prompt you to relax later in the day with someone you love. TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Share what’s on your mind. Intellectual interaction will be the key to getting things up and running or putting your plans into motion. Being able to give and take will help you reach your goal faster and without complications. GEMINI (May 21-June 20): A relationship will take a turn that will prompt you to do things differently. Make plans that encourage a closer connection to someone you feel is special. Romance is on the rise and will improve your life. CANCER (June 21-July 22): Try something different, but don’t make a change for the wrong reason. A realistic approach to partnerships, joint ventures and money matters will deter you from getting involved in something that could lead to financial loss, heartache or injury. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Play time will lift your spirits and help you build enthusiasm to work harder and achieve more. Get physical and join forces with someone who motivates you to be your best. Love is highlighted, and a positive change is heading your way. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Keep your life simple, your emotions under control and your plans doable. Refuse to let anyone upset your world or tempt you to get involved in something that isn’t in your best interest emotionally, physically or financially. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Focus on personal and physical changes that will make you feel good about the way you look, who you are and the relationships you want to nurture. Make a point to distance yourself from those who bring you down. SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Communication can help solve problems, but arguing will not. Stay calm and address issues intellectually and with facts to avoid being pressured by someone who likes to bait you into a conversation that is upsetting. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Bypass anyone you don’t trust. Stick to the people who share common interests and beliefs. Positive changes at home will help you put the past behind you. A professional opportunity that comes your way should be considered. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Share your thoughts with someone you live with or would like to go into partnership with. You may not agree on everything, but with cooperation, you’ll come up with a plan that will satisfy the needs of you both. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Don’t share your secrets or your plans until you have everything in place. Taking proper steps to protect what you want to do will ensure that no one interferes. Romance is on the rise and will lead to a new opportunity. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Get involved in something that interests you. The people you meet along the way will offer good advice and inside information that will encourage you to make changes to the way you handle your money or pending negotiations. Birthday Baby: You are friendly, compassionate and helpful. You are fashionable and unique.
WINGin’ it | OLIVIA WANG & BAILEE EGAN
Sudoku | The Mepham Group
Jumble | David Hoyt and Jeff knurek
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Sports
ndsmcobserver.com | THURSday, January 17, 2019 | The Observer
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NBA | CELTICs 117, Raptors 108
Sports Authority
Irving’s 27 points, 18 assists Kyler Murray should avoid NFL lead Celtics past Raptors Tobias Hoonhout Managing Editor
My good friend and colleague Joe Everett had a sound take yesterday on why Kyler Murray is worth a first-round pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, even if he stands at only 5-foot-9. While I may disagree, Joe and I do agree on one thing — Kyler Murray has to choose one. If you don’t believe us, take it from one that tried: “Life won’t allow him to. This game won’t allow him to at this position.” This past Monday, Deion Sanders — who played in both the MLB and the NFL, which is the subject of an upcoming ESPN 30 for 30 documentary — added a further twist in the Murray debate when, on SportsCenter, he unequivocally made his stance on choosing one sport over the other. Just for some background — the nine-time NFL All-Pro tried to make both lives work, and while he excelled in football, the baseball career didn’t take off. Which adds some light to the real bombshell of the soundbite: “If I was in his shoes, I’m picking up the baseball bat and I’m not looking back.” I have to agree here. On one hand, it’s easy to say Sanders only feels the way he does because he feels he left a lot on the diamond in pursuit of glory on the gridiron. When you are in a position like his, playing not one, but two sports at the highest level, against many guys that have focused on honing only one over their lifetime, there are bound to be situations where you can’t have it all, and I think Sanders’ career reflects that — as good as professional athletes are, there’s a reason there has only ever been one Bo Jackson. But Sanders’ critique is not simply wishful thinking. He explains later in the brief interview that Murray will have to answer to a lot more critics on the gridiron, and not necessarily for all the right reasons. If the Heisman winner ends up walking across the stage in Nashville on April 25, he will be walking into a ring of fire. Sanders knows the life of a dual-sport athlete, and even if Murray ends up only playing one, as I think he should,
it would be wise to listen to someone who has been in the same predicament before. Sanders rightfully points out that Murray has two options with very different starting points — a sport where his physical tools will be and have already been widely praised, and one where he will be instantly under a microscope. As a quarterback, Murray will be instantly asked to “play larger than life” — as Everett pointed out yesterday. There’s a reason that you just don’t see a lot of sub-six-foot quarterbacks in the National Football League, and it’s simply down to how the game has developed — quarterbacks need to be able to both see the field and avoid punishment from big hits. The smaller you are, the more fragile you are in both departments. And of course, there’s also the more despicable reason that Murray will most likely face more adversity as a NFL quarterback simply by nature of his skin color. Unfortunately, the racist narrative of white quarterbacks holding a monopoly on the position still underpins the sport, and frankly, Murray won’t have to deal with that in Major League Baseball. And finally, there’s the risk factor. It’s common sense to assume that Murray has a better chance of a longer and more prosperous career in baseball than in the NFL — more guaranteed money, and less wear and tear on the body. While Murray may have already declared for the NFL Draft, in baseball he is represented by super-agent Scott Boras, who negotiated his $4.66 million dollar contract from the Oakland A’s, and only a month ago said “it’s already done” that Murray was contracted to baseball. To me, the recent shift seems like a bargaining tactic more than anything, as the MLB has given Oakland the green-light to offer Murray even more money to keep him on the diamond. So, while at the end of the day, yes Joe, it is really up to Kyler. But common sense says his football days should be over. Contact Tobias Hoonhout at thoonhou@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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Email Joe Everett at jeveret4@nd.edu
Associated Press
BOSTON (AP) — Kyrie Irving hit a foul-line fadeaway to give Boston the lead, then hit a 31foot 3-pointer to finish with 27 points and lead the Celtics past the Eastern Conferenceleading Toronto Raptors 117-108 on Wednesday night. Returning after missing the last game with a bruised right leg, Irving had 10 points and six of his career-high 18 assist in the fourth quarter — including passes to set up Boston’s last three baskets in a game-ending 17-4 run. Al Horford scored 24 and Jayson Tatum had 16 points with 10 rebounds for Boston, which returned home after losing three straight on the road. Kawhi Leonard scored 33 points and Serge Ibaka had 22 with 10 rebounds for the Raptors, who had won five in a row heading into the matchup
of two teams that consider themselves the heir to LeBron James’ Cavaliers as the best team in the East. Toronto led 104-100 after Leonard’s three-point play with 4:22 left before Boston scored 17 of the next 19 points. Tatum had a three-point play and then a 3-pointer to give Boston a 106104 lead, before Toronto tied it. Irving then hit consecutive baskets, popping his jersey for the adoring crowd after connecting on the second from just a step or two inside the center tipoff circle. He then went to the pass, assisting on Boston’s last three baskets of the game before Toronto’s last bucket ended it. After adding Leonard in the offseason, the Raptors have zoomed to the top of the conference standings. But despite getting Irving and Gordon Hayward back from injuries that kept them out of last year’s
playoffs, when the team went to the conference finals, the Celtics have stumbled their way to the fifth-best record in the East. Leonard scored nine in the first quarter, when the Raptors opened an 18-7 lead in the first five minutes. Boston cut it to six at the end of the first and then went on a 12-2 run early in the second to take the lead. It was 46-44 with just over four minutes left in the half when the Celtics scored 11 of the next 13 points to open a double-digit lead. In all, Toronto scored just 17 points in the second, missing all nine 3-point attempts. The Celtics made just one of their first 11 shots in the fourth, giving up nine straight points to trail 92-89 midway through the quarter. But Aron Baynes, who had made 12 3-pointers all season, hit one from the top of key to stop the run and tie it.
College football
Tide QB Jalen Hurts transferring to Oklahoma Associated Press
Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley could not help but admire Jalen Hurts from a distance. He respected how the Alabama quarterback who lost his starting job to Tua Tagovailoa put the team above his pride. Hurts could have transferred right after Alabama went another direction, as so many quarterbacks do these days. Instead, he stuck it out and delivered a moment for the ages. After Tagovailoa went down with an injured ankle during the SEC title game against Georgia, Hurts rallied the Crimson Tide to victory. “Could not be more impressed with Jalen Hurts, how he handled that,” Riley said as Oklahoma prepared to face Alabama in the playoff last month. “Big fan of that kid and how that entire situation was managed.” Riley will get to know Hurts a lot better soon: The quarterback announced Wednesday in a story in the Players’ Tribune that he will transfer to Oklahoma. He will be available immediately as a graduate transfer. “So to my about-to-be family in Norman, I truly appreciate you for bringing me on board. Y’all don’t know me yet... but just for now, to introduce myself: I’m a motivated coach’s son from the
Eastside of Houston, and I love to play ball,” Hurts wrote. Hurts leaves Alabama with 5,626 yards and 48 touchdowns passing and 1,976 yards and 23 touchdowns rushing. If he starts for the Sooners in their wide-open offense, more huge numbers are possible. If so, he will follow in the footsteps of Kyler Murray, another dual threat maestro who is currently deciding whether to play in the NFL or Major League Baseball. Murray waited his turn behind future No. 1 NFL draft pick Baker Mayfield, then delivered the second-most efficient passing season in FBS history while rushing for 1,001 yards and 12 touchdowns last season. Riley’s short history with transfers is spectacular. Murray transferred from Texas A&M before winning the Heisman Trophy at Oklahoma this past season. Mayfield transferred from Texas Tech before winning the Heisman at Oklahoma in 2017. Neither was very efficient in their stops before playing for Riley. Hurts could be next in line to make a dramatic leap. “I’m very fortunate to have this opportunity, and I’m excited for the journey ahead,” he said. Thirteen months ago, Hurts was a two-year starter who led
Alabama to a pair of national championship games and was Southeastern Conference offensive player of the year as a freshman. In the 2018 national title game, with Alabama down big at halftime against Georgia, Tagovailoa replaced him and led the Crimson Tide to victory. Tagovailoa then beat out Hurts for the starting job heading into this past season and finished second in the Heisman voting. Hurts finished the season with 765 yards passing and 167 yards rushing. Hurts should help Oklahoma smooth its transition from Murray at quarterback. Last year’s backup, Austin Kendall, is expected to transfer. Tanner Mordecai, a freshman last season, is the only quarterback currently on scholarship for the Sooners. Five-star recruit Spencer Rattler, the consensus No. 1 quarterback in the Class of 2019, is committed to the Sooners. Hurts has a special place in Alabama history. When he graduated with a degree in public relations, he got a standing ovation as he walked across the stage. “And to my Bama family, once again, THANK YOU — for everything. It’s been a great three years. I’ll love you until the end of time!” he said.
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quarter ticked down. The Irish also turned up the defensive intensity, holding Virginia Tech to just two points in the quarter’s final two minutes, and Notre Dame made it a one-possession game at 20-18. Within two minutes of the second quarter, however, the Irish offense had found its groove. A clutch 3-pointer by Irish senior guard Marina Mabrey, followed by a turnover by her sister, freshman Hokie guard Dara Mabrey, led to senior guard Arike Ogunbowale taking the ball all the way to give Notre Dame its first lead of the game. “We didn’t come out ready,” head coach Muffet McGraw said. “They gave us a knockout punch, fortunately we took it and then gave them one of our own. I thought Marina kept us in the game in the first quarter and that was really, really important to us. And then we chipped away and got the lead going into halftime.” This game posed a new storyline for the world of women’s college basketball. While a pair of Mabrey sisters playing on the same court is nothing new for fans of the sport, as Marina and her older sister Michaela played alongside one another at Notre Dame for a year, when Marina was a freshman and Michaela was a senior, Wednesday’s Mabrey matchup had a new look to it: Mabreys on opposing teams, as Dara elected to attend another ACC opponent for her playing career. In what will likely be the sisters’ lone collegiate battle, it was the elder
Mabrey who came out ahead. “Just being able to experience that at such a high level in the ACC, a lot of people don’t get to experience that,” Marina said. “Just cherishing this moment because that probably won’t happen again.” Marina said her advice to her sister following her five-point performance was to keep her head up and keep playing despite a rough start to the ACC season. Once the Irish claimed the lead, they would not relinquish it for the remainder of the game. Notre Dame quickly found itself in the midst of a 14-0 run, with almost all the points coming in the paint. However, the Hokies responded with a 9-0 run of their own, kicked off when graduate student forward Brianna Turner committed a foul on Virginia Tech redshirt-senior forward Regan Magarity with just over five minutes left to play in the half. The Irish shooting began to take the shape of its firstquarter offense, as the misses continued to pile up and shots refused to drop, but eventually a pair of free throws by Irish senior forward Jessica Shepard with two seconds on the clock extended Notre Dame’s lead to 44-34 heading into halftime. Coming out of the locker room, the Irish hit the court with a renewed energy. The 10-point lead quickly turned to 15, and then to 17, and within minutes it was 26 points and the game appeared to be out of reach for the Hokies, as Shepard, Mabrey and Ogunbowale continued to add to their point totals on the evening. Virginia Tech struggled from the field in the second half, shooting just 23
ANnIE SMIERCIAK | The Observer
Irish senior guard Arike Ogunbowale dribbles downcourt during Notre Dame’s 89-71 loss to UConn on Dec. 2 at Purcell Pavilion.
Sports
percent from the field in the game’s final 20 minutes. Notre Dame’s lead continued to hang in the high-20s throughout the remainder of the game as each team only recorded seven points each in the final quarter. Sophomore forward Danielle Patterson contributed eight points and seven rebounds off the bench along with freshman guard Jordan Nixon’s two points. “We’re a powerful offensive team and we’ve got a lot of weapons,” McGraw said. “Really any of the five are capable of having a big game for us. It’s just a question of who’s it going to be.” For McGraw, the biggest takeaway from Wednesday’s game was her team’s improved defense, a weakness she’s noted since the season opener. “I thought they just played with a great knowledge of who we’re trying to guard, when we had to bump on the wing, when we didn’t,” McGraw said. “I was really pleased with how smart we’re playing defensively.” The Irish will return to Purcell Pavilion on Sunday to host Boston College. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. ANnIE SMIERCIAK | The Observer
Contact Tobias Hoonhout at thoonou@nd.edu
Irish junior guard Jackie Young boxes out her defender during Notre Dame’s 89-71 defeat against UConn at Purcell Pavilion on Dec. 2.
ANnIE SMIERCIAK | The Observer
Irish senior guard Marina Mabrey awaits an opponent during Notre Dame’s 89-71 defeat against UConn on Dec. 2. Mabrey scored 15 points during Wednesday’s win, when she played against her sister Dara.
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football
Denson named Charleston Southern head coach Observer Sports Staff
On Monday, FCS program Charleston Southern announced that Notre Dame running backs coach Autry Denson would be the fifth coach in school history, replacing Mark Tucker, who resigned in December. Denson is Notre Dame’s all-time leading rusher with 4,318 yards, an accolade he earned with the Irish during a four-year career from 1995-1998, during which he amassed over 1,000 yards each of his final three seasons, and was named an AP All-American as a senior. Denson was then drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and spent four years in the NFL. After coaching high school football in Florida, Denson first entered the college game as the running backs coach for Bethune-Cookman in 2011, and had stops at Miami (OH) and South Florida before returning to his alma mater in 2015. Denson served as the running backs coach for four seasons in South Bend, in which he helped develop two 1,000-yard rushers in C.J. Prosise and Josh Adams and helped Dexter Williams rush for 995 yards in only nine
M Bball Continued from page 14
Not only does Mooney lead the ACC in double-doubles, but, after Tuesday night, he now leads the conference in rebounding as well, passing Tar Heel forward Luke Maye on a night the two went head-to-head. After the departure of former Irish forward Elijah Burns four games into the season, Mike Brey and the Irish coaching staff were quick to promote Mooney to captain, and it has clearly proven effective. In seven games playing as a captain, Mooney is averaging nearly 16 points and 12 rebounds. Through so much uncertainty and adversity, Mooney has been the one Irish player who has not been hurt, sick or inconsistent. The Irish have been undermanned and lacking leadership, especially with the loss of captain Rex Pflueger to a torn ACL, and Mooney has been the guy who has provided Notre Dame with the steadiest play and the strongest voice, surprising some in the process. It is no question that Mooney has served as a model of consistency for the Irish this season, and is an example that if you put in the work, the results will come. Irish head coach Mike Brey could see the strides Mooney had made all the way
games this past season. ”I am so excited for Autry as he embarks on the next step of his coaching career as the new head coach at Charleston Southern,” Irish head coach Brian Kelly said of the loss of Denson. “He
has done a tremendous job for us during his time at Notre Dame. He not only developed our running backs to produce at a high level on the field, but he was also instrumental in their growth as young men.”
ANn CURTIS | The Observer
Irish senior running back Dexter williams runs past a defender during Notre Dame’s 36-3 win over Syracuse on Nov. 17 at Yankee Stadium.
Observer File Photo
Former Irish running back Josh Adams tries to break a tackle during Notre Dame’s 38-18 win over Michigan State on Sept. 23, 2017.
in the summer. He makes shots, grabs rebounds and competes day in and day out, and that is all you can ask for as a coach or a teammate. Mooney should have won conference player of the week after his performance against Boston College, but he was snubbed for Dwayne Sutton who played a big part in Louisville’s upset win over UNC. Yet, when it is all said and done, if the big man keeps doing what he’s doing, nobody will be able to take away the honor he deserves to this point in the season, and that is the ACC’s 2019 Most Improved Player award. Last year’s winner was UNC’s Luke Maye, who finished with numbers similar to where Mooney is right now. After Tuesday night’s game, I’m sure Luke Maye would be able to tell us all just how much better Mooney has gotten over the course of a year from first-hand experience. Mooney is in the midst of a breakout junior season, and has unexpectedly become Notre Dame’s go-to guy. It’s time he receive the recognition he deserves. Contact Grant DelVecchio at gdelvecc@nd.edu The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
ANnIE SMIERCIAK | The Observer
Irish junior forward John Mooney defends his opponent during Notre Dame’s 63-60 loss to Radford on Nov. 14 at Purcell Pavilion. Mooney is averaging 16 points and 12 rebounds since becoming a captain.
Sports
Hockey Continued from page 15
us thus far. We have to rely on guys to step up and find a way to put the puck in the net.” The team has been playing without junior forwards Joe Wegwerth and Cam Morrison, both normally fixtures in the Irish lineup. The team was hit with more bad luck Tuesday as junior forward Cal Burke had to go undergo surgery for appendicitis and is expected to be out multiple weeks. Burke is the leading point-scorer for the Irish this season, posting 21 points in 21 games played. The Irish (12-8-1, 5-6-0 Big Ten) are currently last in the Big Ten in scoring. Wisconsin (8-9-3, 4-3-3) features fast skilled defensemen that can move the puck and play well in their own end. The Badgers’ two leading scorers are both defensemen, and they have given up the secondfewest goals in the Big Ten so far. Jackson had high praise for Wisconsin’s program. “They’re going to become a really a good team. I think they’re a good team now, and they’re young,” Jackson said. “They have a lot of speed, they play up tempo, they’re a fast time. Their defensemen are active not just in the rush, but in the offensive
ndsmcobserver.com | THURSDAY, january 17, 2019 | The Observer
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zone as well. They’re a team on the rise in my opinion.” The first game in the series will be held on campus in Madison on Friday night, then the teams will travel to Chicago for a neutral site game at the United Center. The United Center has not been kind to the Irish in recent years. Wisconsin defeated the Irish 5-0 last year there to snap an Irish 16-game win streak. The year before the Irish fell 6-1 to Denver to end their season at the Frozen Four in Chicago. Jackson says the Irish will stick to their routine as usual and hope for a large turnout for the neutral site contest. “We’re going to get a chance to practice at their practice facility on Saturday which has the same size ice as the United Center,” Jackson said. “It’s kind of weird; we’re heading there when the Blackhawks are playing the same day. I’m not sure how that will affect the ice conditions, but I’m sure it will impact the crowd. I think we had 10,000 in there for that game last year, I hope we get that again.” The Irish will take on the Badgers on Friday at 9 p.m. at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wisconsin, and then on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. at the United Center in Chicago. ANN CURTIS | The Observer
Contact Jack Concannon at jconcan2@nd.edu
Irish junior forward Cal Burke makes a pass during Notre Dame’s 5-1 victory over RPI on Nov. 30 at Compton Family Ice Arena. Burke, the leading scorer for the Irish, will undergo surgery for appendicitis. Paid Advertisement
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nd women’s basketball | nd 80, virginia tech 51
ND MEN’s basketball
Mooney deserves most-improved Grant DelVecchio Sports Writer
Coming off a 65-59 defeat to the Tar Heels on Tuesday night, the Irish have now lost three out of their last four and sit at 11-6 overall and 1-3 in conference play. The loss overshadowed yet another huge performance from junior forward John Mooney, who has proven himself to be the most improved player in the highly touted Atlantic Coast Conference. Mooney recorded his conference-leading ninth doubledouble for points and rebounds so far this season, and finished with 16 points and career highs in rebounds and blocks with 19 and four, respectively. Mooney’s big night in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, came just two days after the 6-foot9, 242-pounder from Orlando, Florida, dropped a career-high 27 points to go along with 12 rebounds in a victory over
ND overcomes slow start, powers past Hokies
Boston College. Year in and year out, the ACC is widely regarded as the best conference in college basketball. Whether or not this is factual is up for debate, but what is undeniable is the talent and large number of draft-ready players that can be found in the ACC. With that being said, no player in the ACC has made the improvements over just a single season that Mooney has made. As a sophomore, Mooney shot 48 percent from the field, averaged 5.6 points per game and 3.9 rebounds per game. Now, as an upperclassman midway through his junior season, Mooney is averaging 13.7 points per game and 10.4 rebounds per game on 54.2 percent shooting from the field. The big man is even shooting an impressive 45.9 percent from beyond the arc this season, and has seen his minutes increase drastically. see M BBALL PAGE 16
By CHARLOTTE EDMONDS and ELIZABETH GREASON Associate Sports Editor and Assistant Managing Editor
ANnIE SMIERCIAK | The Observer
Irish senior forward Jessica Shepard, left, leaps to block a shot during Notre Dame’s 89-71 defeat to UConn on Dec. 2.
Looking to stay unbeaten in conference play, No. 1 Notre Dame overcame a slow start on the road to beat Virginia Tech 80-51 and move to 5-0 in the ACC. The Irish (17-1, 5-0 ACC) found themselves in a reasonably unfamiliar position Wednesday night, as the country’s No. 1 squad was down right from the beginning of the game as the Hokies (13-4, 0-4 ACC) got off to a hot start. Virginia Tech jumped out to a 3-0 lead on a 3-pointer by senior guard Taylor Emery, and quickly advanced to a as much as a nine-point lead at 11-2, as Notre Dame missed shot after shot. But the Irish went on an 8-2 run to pull the score within three and kept the game close, as the clock on the first see W BBALL PAGE 16
nd women’s tennis
hockey
Notre Dame hits road to take on Badgers By JACK CONCANNON
Observer Sports Staff
Sports Writer
This weekend, No. 12 Notre Dame will hit the road to face off against Wisconsin in a matchup critical for Notre Dame’s placement in the Big Ten standings. The Irish are currently in sixth place in the conference after being swept at home by Minnesota, but remain just three points out of third place and eight points out of first. The Irish will have to start collecting points fast if they are going to make up those differences, and it starts this weekend against the Badgers. Irish head coach Jeff Jackson emphasized the team’s need to find production from everyone on the team in the wake of recent injuries. “Ever since we got back from Christmas break its been one thing after another,” Jackson said. “We have got to get healthy. In the meantime, we are going to have to find guys who can find a way to score goals. That has been the biggest obstacle for see HOCKEY PAGE 16
Irish set to begin spring season
ANN CURTIS | The Observer
Senior forward Dylan Malmquist skates down the ice during Notre Dame’s 5-1 win over RPI on Nov. 30 at Compton Family Ice Arena.
Notre Dame is set to begin their spring 2019 season with their first match on Friday against Western Michigan. The women will look to get off to a fast start after not seeing any match play since November. The Irish completed a fall season that included four tournaments. One of these tournaments was the ITA Midwest Regional Championships, where the doubles pairing of junior Zoe Spence and sophomore Cameron Corse reached the quarterfinals. In singles, Spence fought her way into the round of 16, ultimately falling to Brienne Minor of Michigan in straight sets. Notre Dame also recorded several victories in the final tournament of the fall, the Notre Dame Invitational, where the squad marked seven wins on the singles court and three wins in doubles on the final day of action. Graduate student Brooke Broda will be a key player for the Irish this spring. Broda shared duties at the number one position last season going 5-8 in No. 1 singles and
6-10 in No. 1 doubles. Another veteran player returning for the season will be senior Rachel Chong. Chong, who mostly played at No. 5 singles, went 19-13 on the season. The Irish have some new additions to the team in freshmen Maeve Koscielski from Indianapolis and Zoe Taylor from Long Grove, Illinois. Koscielski is a highly touted five-star recruit along with her freshman teammate Taylor, a four-star recruit. Following their competition against the Broncos (1-0), the Irish will be in action at home the following week in a match against Bowling Green before they travel to Pittsburgh for their first ACC conference matchup. The Irish will look to improve off of their 2-12 conference record from last spring. Despite the first conference matchup looming within the month, the Irish will still need to focus on a Western Michigan team that is fresh off of a win against Oakland University. The team will look to begin the season strong at 5 p.m. against the Broncos at the Eck Tennis Pavilion.