Print Edition of The Observer for Monday, March 5, 2018

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Volume 51, Issue 94 | monday, march 5, 2018 | ndsmcobserver.com

DOMINIQUE DeMOE | The Observer

By COURTNEY BECKER Editor-in-Chief

Three tickets.

Two elections.

Five rounds of sanctions.

Four appeals filed.

Two appeals heard.

402 students’ votes invalidated.

On Feb. 25 — after a month-long campaign process that included countless hours of allegation hearings and sanction appeals, a runoff election and several unsubstantiated rumors — juniors Gates McGavick and Corey Gayheart were elected student body president and vice president.

However, due to two sanctions delivered by the Judicial Council Election Committee requiring McGavick and Gayheart and their runoff opponents — juniors Alex Kruszewski and Julia Dunbar — to forfeit 12 and 10 percent of the votes cast for them, respectively, 402 of the 3,592 students who voted for either ticket in the runoff election saw their votes invalidated.

Furthermore, due to confidentiality requirements of the student government election process outlined by the Student Union Constitution, many students do not understand why this was the case.

The Observer spoke with many different parties involved with the election process — directly and otherwise — in an attempt to piece together what just happened.

Establishing the tone Judicial Council announced Jan. 31 that three tickets would be running for student body president and vice president: juniors Alex Kruszewski and Julia Dunbar, juniors Gates McGavick and Corey Gayheart and freshmen Andrew Gannon and Mark Moran.

Kruszewski and Dunbar declined to be interviewed, answer questions via email or comment for this story other than to “reiterate how grateful [they] are to [their] supporters and team, who were absolutely incredible and ran a fantastic campaign.”

Five days prior to announcing the three tickets, however, Judicial Council announced via a press release that McGavick and Gayheart would be required to suspend their campaign for five hours from the start of campaigning. This was because “the ticket was found to have petitioned in classrooms directly after class periods” when McGavick and Gayheart were gathering signatures to become an official ticket in the race for student body president and vice president, according to the release.

McGavick and Gayheart appealed the Election Committee’s decision later that day, and over the course of a closed three-hour appeal hearing, the student senate reduced the ticket’s sanction from a five-hour suspension of campaigning to a twohour suspension.

This first allegation, sanction and hearing process, McGavick said, “set the tone” of the election before it officially got underway.

“To be as vague as I can, the recommendation for punishment … would have seriously, seriously affected our future careers and times at Notre Dame,” McGavick said. “I think that set the tone for us pretty early. We went into that office kind of knowing that there could be some minor thing we could mess up on, and we were happy to accept the penalty for the first thing. But when we came out of the office having seen the recommendation for punishment from whoever filed the allegation, then Corey and I were pretty stunned.”

The follow-up to these allegations occurred Feb. 2, when the Election Committee sanctioned the Kruszewski-Dunbar ticket after junior David Carmack — who identified himself in a Letter to the Editor published Feb. 6 — brought forth allegations claiming the Kruszewski-Dubar ticket appeared to be implying it was endorsed by members of the University administration on one of its platform points.

As an “appropriate sanction” for what the Election Committee determined to be a violation of Section 17.1(f)(6) of the Student Union Constitution, Judicial Council announced in a press release, Kruszewski and Dunbar had to rewrite the platform point in question — a promise to decrease tuition.

While Carmack declined to comment for this story, he said in his Letter to the Editor that he filed an appeal of the decision with the student senate in order to “ask for a harsher penalty” and raise his concerns that McGavick and Gayheart had been punished more severely for a lesser offense.

This appeal, however, was not heard because the student senate failed to meet quorum — the minimum number of voting members required to be present in order to hold a meeting — by one member. As a result, and per the Student Union Constitution, the appeal was cancelled and the Election Committee’s original decision was upheld.

This instance of the student senate not reaching quorum to hear an appeal, senior Judicial Council president Matt Ross said, was one moment in which Ross identified an area of the Student Union Constitution he would like to see revised after election season ends.

“Obviously, the senate — we try as hard as we can to get quorum if an appeal is filed. And I know from Judicial Council, from my perspective, there is certainly a lot of work I want to do looking at the appeals section of the constitution over the next few weeks that we still have in office,” Ross said. “That’s certainly something that I’ve talked to a few people about, and it’s definitely a place where we think we can improve the constitution and make it more effective.”

These two initial allegations and subsequent sanctions meant that by the time the first student body presidential debate took place Feb. 5, the only ticket to not have any allegations filed against it was the Gannon-Moran ticket.

Despite running as part of a Zahm House tradition, Gannon said he and Moran were careful to not violate any election rules specifically laid out for them. In addition, Moran said he believes no one felt the need to file allegations against their ticket because students weren’t taking their candidacy seriously. see ELECTION PAGE 3

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Students from the all-campus open league compete in the intramural badminton doubles tournament held in Joyce Center Fieldhouse on Sunday. RecSports hosts intramural tournaments to encourage collaboration and fitness within the community.

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News

Election Continued from page 1

“I think that people didn’t think we were a threat, so they didn’t really feel the need to really come out and damage our standing in the election,” Moran said. “But also the fact that we didn’t do anything that directly attacked one of the other candidates — if someone attacks you, obviously you want retribution for that. But we didn’t attack anyone.”

Gannon said the ticket’s primary goal was to introduce a lighthearted aspect to the student body presidential elections, a mindset with which the two approached the first debate.

“The student body debate we thought was a huge success — the first one at least,” Gannon said. “We tried to bring some levity to the situation, show people that student government is a great option for people, but let’s not take it too seriously.”

Despite the added humor Gannon and Moran introduced to the election, however, the tone turned negative again in the early hours of Feb. 6. Judicial Council announced in another press release that McGavick and Gayheart were required to publicly apologize on behalf of one of their supporters due to “Election Regulations based on Section 17.1(g)” of the Student Union Constitution, which the press release said read, “You are responsible for your actions as well as the actions of your supporters.”

The supporter, senior Devon Chenelle, had posted a comment to a post on his personal Facebook page endorsing McGavick and Gayheart and used an offensive term in the process of responding to a Kruszewski-Dunbar supporter.

Chenelle did not immediately respond to The Observer’s request for comment. Editor’s note: Chenelle is a former columnist for The Observer.

In compliance with the Election Committee’s sanction requiring them to post a public apology, the McGavickGayheart campaign posted a statement to its Facebook page Feb. 6 requesting that students “remain respectful at all times when demonstrating any sort of support for [the] ticket, whether it be on social media or in person.”

“There is no place for any sort of division or disrespect during a student body presidential campaign,” the statement said.

“We are all part of the Notre Dame family, and should remain united as brothers and sisters.”

McGavick said this moment, to him, was a cut-and-dry aspect of the campaign process.

“It was the acts of a supporter that we publicly apologized for, and it was really important that we apologized,” McGavick said.

After delivering their apology, McGavick and Gayheart

ndsmcobserver.com | monday, march 5, 2018 | The Observer

intended to remain positive during the final days leading up to the election.

“Moving forward, we want to finish this campaign on a high note with a focus on positivity and respect, especially for all those who have in some way dedicated time to this election,” their Feb. 6 statement said.

“This election is important, but absolutely nothing is more important than maintaining the University’s core values.”

The first forfeiture of votes In addition to an article recapping the debate and candidate profiles for all three tickets, The Observer released its endorsement of the McGavickGayheart ticket the morning of Feb. 6.

Later that day, senior Ryan Brickner said he received text messages from Kruszewski asking Brickner to recruit “some rogue xahmbies,” referring to Brickner’s Zahm House dormmates, to post comments on social media posts with the endorsement congratulating McGavick and Gayheart on “promising [The Observer Editorial Board] positions” and claiming that doing so “worked in getting [McGavick-Gayheart] the endorsement.”

Senior and former Editorin-Chief of The Observer Ben Padanilam denied the claims Kruszewski expressed in his text messages to Brickner.

“The claims contained in the text messages that The Observer Editorial Board received bribes from a ticket in this election and that those bribes were in exchange for our endorsement are categorically false,” Padanilam said. “The members of our Editorial Board who voted for which ticket to endorse sat through hours of interviews with all three tickets, discussed the merits of each ticket and spent hours composing an editorial which laid out in detail why it felt the McGavick-Gayheart ticket offered the most reasonable and feasible plan for the student body. It is a shame that the work of all the individuals involved was even brought into question by such baseless allegations.”

Brickner, who chose to go on the record with The Observer as the one who filed the allegations against the KruszewskiDunbar ticket, said although he didn’t feel particularly strongly about the outcome of the election, he became more uncomfortable with the messages he received the longer he thought about them.

“At first, I thought it was kind of funny — like, ‘This is so bold, I’m certainly not going to do that. But also, I’m pretty sure this is very unethical,’” Brickner said. “ … This is instructing someone to defame another candidate and instructing somebody to get other people to defame another candidate.”

After sending a screenshot of the text messages to many of his friends — causing the messages to circulate throughout the

student body over the course of the day — Brickner filed an allegation with the Judicial Council and presented his case in a hearing that night.

“It was a pretty clear, cut-anddry case, I thought. And part of [what the Election Committee wanted to know] was what my intentions were in filing the allegations,” Brickner said. “I told them, at first I didn’t think much of it, I thought it was a joke. But just the more I thought about it, the more it started bothering me. Again, I really didn’t care who won. But at least have a fair and clean election, at the very least.”

Ross spoke to the general process of allegation hearings, confirming that members of the Election Committee confirm the validity of any evidence brought forth in hearings.

“As the Election Committee, we have to make sure it is verifiable, make sure it is legitimate, make sure the claims in there are accurate and we try to do that to the best of our ability,” Ross said. “We do that with any evidence, text messages — we ask them to make sure this hasn’t been tampered with. So across the board … we definitely do the due diligence to make sure the evidence we are presenting before the Election Committee is legitimate to the best of our knowledge.”

In the early hours of Feb. 7, election day, the Election Committee announced what it had determined to be an appropriate sanction through a Judicial Council press release: The ticket would be required to forfeit 10 percent of the votes it received because it was found to have engaged in unethical behavior, which Judicial Council defines as including “monopolization of limited bulletin board space, covering or defaming of any other candidates’ posters, insulting or defaming other candidates, and harassment or misconduct toward any election officials.”

This sanction, Ross said, was determined partially due to the precedent set in the 2017 student body presidential election, when seniors Rohit Fonseca and Daniela Narimatsu were required to forfeit 7 percent — reduced to 5 percent after the student senate heard Fonseca and Narimatsu’s appeal — of votes they received in the election.

“Last year, there was a precedent for that — and one example in a hall election a few years back — where a certain percentage of votes were forfeited for that hall,” he said. “But as far as using it in a student body election, I think last year, to my knowledge, was pretty much the first example of that. And then as we moved forward this year, using last year’s precedent that we established certainly informed our decisions with the sanctions that the Election Committee came up with this year.”

Part of the reasoning for this, Ross said, comes down

to timing. He said it is difficult for the Election Committee to come up with an effective and appropriate punishment for a ticket on the day of an election.

“One of the things we really have to look at is if it’s feasible as an Election Committee,” Ross said. “ … So the Election Committee has to come up with what is the most appropriate sanction for the violation they have found the ticket to be in.”

Kruszewski and Dunbar filed an appeal of the Election Committee’s sanction, which the student senate heard during a closed hearing after its regularly-scheduled meeting, after voting in the election had closed at 8 p.m. The group upheld the Election Committee’s original decision, and the 10 percent deduction of votes stood.

The first results and runoff campaign Just after midnight Feb. 8, Judicial Council announced that the election would move to a runoff between the Kruszewski-Dunbar ticket and the McGavick-Gayheart ticket.

While Judicial Council kept the official breakdown of votes private after the initial election and neither the KruszewskiDunbar nor the McGavickGayheart ticket revealed the number of votes they received, Gannon and Moran said they received 18 percent of the votes cast in the election.

“We were really proud of that, cause I guess no one really expects that from a joke campaign,” Gannon said.

“Considering we got a fifth of the student body vote, we’re pretty proud of that. I think without us there probably wouldn’t have been a runoff. ...

But us taking that 18 percent I feel like kind of prolonged the process, and that was what we set out to accomplish, was kind of to screw things up.”

This breakdown of votes did prolong the election, as not only did the process move to a runoff election, but the remaining tickets — with the student senate’s approval — also chose to postpone campaigning until Feb. 19 and delay the runoff election until Feb. 23 in order to allow time to properly mourn Sister Mary McNamara, the rector of Breen-Phillips Hall who died Feb. 7 due to complications from a stroke.

When campaigning did resume Feb. 19, Kruszewski posted a public apology to Facebook for his actions during the initial campaign, in which he took responsibility for the violation and absolved Dunbar and their campaign team of any guilt in the situation.

“Our mission and platform address real issues on campus from sexual assault and mental health to diversity and inclusion and everything in between, and it pains me that my personal actions may have impacted our ability to make those real, positive changes for the betterment of student

3

life here at ND that so many of you voted for, and I apologize for any harm my text may have caused,” Kruszewski said in his apology.

No additional sanctions were issued between the announcement of the first round of results and the runoff debate, which took place Feb. 22.

The second forfeiture of votes The morning after the debate and the day of the runoff election, Feb. 23, Judicial Council released a press release announcing a sanction against the McGavick-Gayheart ticket, requiring it to forfeit 12 percent of its votes.

According to the release, McGavick and Gayheart were “found to have supporters releasing confidential information from previous Judicial Council allegation hearings, as well as engaging in a continued pattern of unethical behavior,” which violated Judicial Council’s Election Regulations and Sections 13.4(e), 17.1(g) and 17.1(h) of the Student Union Constitution.

While no one involved in the situation would speak on the record about the specifics of the allegations and hearing, the press release said the aspect of the Election Regulations the ticket violated mandates that candidates are “responsible for [their] actions as well as the actions of [their] supporters.”

As to the other violations the ticket committed, the press release said Section 13.4(e) of the Student Union Constitution states that, aside from information included in Judicial Council press releases, “all other information pertaining to hearings and appeals shall be considered confidential,” and Section 17.1(g) reads, “Candidates may not be involved in or instruct others to engage in any unethical behavior as detailed in 17.1(h).” The final section Judicial Council found the ticket to have violated, Section 17.1(h), states that “Candidates are expected to behave ethically at all times.”

While he would not elaborate on the nature of the allegations, McGavick said he felt confident that he and Gayheart could present a strong enough case to the student senate upon appeal for the group to overturn the ticket’s 12 percent deduction of votes.

“This final decision, the 12 percent sanction we got, we don’t feel that was a fair penalty at all, and we had a very long counter-argument to back that up with multiple witnesses, multiple phone calls, multiple screenshots,” McGavick said.

“Just frankly, I am almost certain that if we had gotten to present to the senate, that we would have gotten our penalty greatly removed or drastically, drastically reduced.”

The ticket did not get to hear its appeal, however, as the see ELECTION PAGE 4

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NEWS

The observer | monday, march 5, 2018 | ndsmcobserver.com

Election Continued from page 3

student senate once again did not meet quorum and could not hear the appeal. As a result, the 12 percent forfeiture of votes stood.

Junior and current student government chief of staff Prathm Juneja said he remained confident in the commitment of the senators in spite of the two unheard appeals.

“I would hate to say — and I hate for people to assume, rather — that senators didn’t show up because they were frustrated,” he said. “I’m not saying that about every senator — there might have been some, but I believe in the strength and the dedication of the senators, many of whom had legitimate excuses for [senior and student body vice president Sibonay Shewit].”

While McGavick said he understands that scheduling conflicts may play a role in whether or not senators are unable to show up to unexpected hearings, he believes the constitution needs to be revised in order to ensure appeals are heard in the future.

“I understand people have commitments, the meeting was held on Saturday — that’s tough. But at the same time, if our system gives that level of power to the senate, where that’s our only real means of appealing a punishment we feel we have evidence to effectively disprove, that’s a problem,” McGavick said.

Shewit said the areas of the constitution that determine the proper procedure for senate appeals are among the current student government administration’s top priorities in terms of revising the Student Union Constitution throughout the rest of their time in office.

“Overall, that section of the constitution is somewhat vague, and a lot of it is left up to interpretation,” she said. “And in those cases, we tend to rely on precedents, but we’re now starting to wonder if we should be putting in set rules.”

Although McGavick and Gayheart were unable to present an appeal, however, Ross said the Election Committee did its best to ensure the 12 percent vote deduction was as fair as possible, not only to the ticket, but also to voters.

“I think the way that we do it in that it’s a forfeiture for percentage of votes — I’m not coming up to you and saying, ‘Your vote didn’t count,’ right?” Ross said. “So that is kind of our way making sure we’re not feeling we’re disenfranchising voters, in that it is truly a sanction on the ticket rather than something that the campus or, you know, voters must really bear.”

Juneja also posed the question of feasibility, noting that there are not many options available to the Election Committee in determining an appropriate punishment for a

ticket on such short notice.

“If you guys follow me outside of student government, you know I care a lot about voter enfranchisement,” Juneja said.

“That’s the thing I work on, and I love voting and I think it’s really important, but what is the alternative punishment? What is the alternative if there is an allegation the night before that someone is found guilty?”

Due to the requirement that everyone involved in a Judicial Council hearing keep any information from the hearing private, McGavick and Gayheart were unable to offer any clarification about the allegations to voters. Gayheart said this encouraged antagonistic behavior from students not involved with the campaign.

“There was one instance where I was followed around in the dining hall with someone holding up The Observer with the 12 percent article,” he said.

“I was literally going table to table in the dining hall reminding people to vote, and I was literally being followed around by someone holding up the 12 percent article saying we were unethical.”

Many of the confidentiality requirements in the Student Union Constitution are intended to protect the anonymity of anyone who comes forward with an allegation.

While Juneja said this will most likely not change due to the value of anonymity throughout these processes, he is open to seeing the rest of the hearing and appeal system become more transparent.

“I think there’s something to be said that there could be some more transparency on the allegation process,” he said.

“In terms of instead of just listing the rule, we could maybe get more information there and it’s a conversation we’ll have in senate. But for us, I think the anonymity of persons, whether it’s in closed senate meetings or in hearings like this, we care about our students more than anything else and if they’re vulnerable, we will protect them.”

As someone who has been through the process of bringing forth an allegation, Brickner said he understands and agrees with the anonymity requirement, despite the fact that he was comfortable sharing his experience.

“I don’t care if people know I filed the allegations, but I’m sure in different scenarios, the person may be afraid of getting targeted back or, for whatever other personal reasons, don’t want their secrecy unveiled,” Brickner said. “It’s definitely great they have this premium, this focus on secrecy. But I’m just like a different breed, and I couldn’t care less. The allegations I sent had a personal text message, so he’s going to know either I sent it in or somebody I sent the text to sent it in.”

Still, Brickner said, he would like to see the option for people who bring forth allegations to choose whether or not to be

anonymous.

“I think I should have had the right, though, to waive my anonymity,” Brickner said. “In the way that it is, they’re getting sanctioned for unethical behavior. But if no one knows what the unethical behavior is, and if they can’t make their own independent decision on whether it was unethical or not, it’s almost like a moot point. I’m a very big fan of giving everybody the information.”

The runoff results and aftermath Despite the 12 percent decrease in the number of votes they received, McGavick and Gayheart discovered they won the election Feb. 25, receiving 52.08 percent of valid votes cast in the election after the sanction was applied.

Had neither ticket received 50 percent of the votes or more, the election would have proceeded to an electoral collegestyle system, in which votes would be broken down by hall and each hall’s vote would count toward one ticket or the other.

After the number of allegation hearings and appeals — attempted or otherwise — he and McGavick went through, Gayheart said the two had an increased appreciation for what it took to make it through the election and the job for which they were elected.

“Honestly, it made this process like an episode of ‘House of Cards,’” Gayheart said. “ …

There were a couple of times when it was like, ‘Is this even worth it?’ Gates and I had a lot of heart-to-hearts about this, and especially when we were locked up in rooms on the second or third floor of [LaFortune Student Center] waiting for hearings. It really tested us in terms of what we were willing to go through to still be on the ballot.”

The voter turnout in the runoff election was 47 percent of students, something Gannon said was most likely a result of voter fatigue after a long election process.

“That’s another indicator, I think, of how crappy this election season was,” Gannon said. “Because people just don’t want to vote when they see all the crap flying around.

After that, I think the statistic was that [the turnout] was 11 percent down from last year’s election.”

Gayheart echoed Gannon’s sentiment and said he didn’t want this year’s election process to turn into the standard at the University.

“That’s not what Notre Dame is and that’s not what it should be, but unfortunately, this election brought out the worst in people, and it definitely showed,” Gayheart said.

“I think one of the direct ramifications of that was 47 percent voter turnout, down 11 percent [from last year’s election].”

Senior and student body president Becca Blais said it

was “disheartening to see” the election take a negative turn.

“There’s been a fundamental shift both in the country and on this campus as negativity being a tying factor,” Blais said. “You saw it in the national election, you see it happening all the time and I think in many ways, it just happened on this campus as well. … I think those six allegation hearings and five rounds of sanctions were a product of the hate and negativity.”

Having been through a student body election campaign before, Shewit said she was surprised to see the extent of the bad feelings in this election.

“It wasn’t the norm to go through this process. It was very much kind of a last effort, I guess,” Shewit said. “You really thought for a long time about whether you wanted to put yourself through an allegation hearing and then if you want to put yourself through an appeals hearing, and I don’t know why, but this year I think that it was approached more as the standard way to go. … It’s really hard to look at this and not feel a little disappointed.”

Juneja said the allegations and resulting sanctions were the “product of a toxic nature of an election and building a campaign season on disdain” for the current student government administration.

“I want to emphasize, our frustration isn’t with the work of student government, the nature of student government or anything,” he said. “It’s not even with the legitimate criticisms we had of student government. There is a legitimate criticism that if the senate doesn’t hit quorum, that just expires. That’s something we want to have a conversation about. I think that’s a legitimate criticism … but when we have to defend things we aren’t even responsible for or aren’t even true, I think that really hits us in an unfair way.”

McGavick, however, said he feels that criticisms of student government processes weren’t the source of negativity in this election.

“There are a lot of people who definitely think it was us that set the tone with this election — and I feel bad because there’s a level of passion and commitment to their work which is really incredibly impressive — but as a result, fair criticisms of student government are construed as personal attacks, which they’re not,” McGavick said. “ … There can’t be a stigma about criticizing your elected officials, because while this is a student government, it is a government system. And if we don’t feel like our representatives are doing a good job, and if there is criticism against us, we will never respond badly to fair criticisms of our policies and administrations, because we are elected officials, and we have to be accountable.”

McGavick and Gayheart, along with others involved in

the election and members of the student senate, have already begun to look for ways to improve the system for future elections.

“What we’re getting at is the constitution was almost weaponized against us. And the fact that a constitution is able to do that is, first and foremost, a major problem,” Gayheart said.

“I think a solution to this is, one, and I think we are going to — I mean, I know Matt Ross has already asked all tickets and all parties, ‘What are some election reforms we can work on?

Because there are clearly flaws in the system.’ … We aren’t in office yet, but I think one of our big tasks ahead that we weren’t planning on is going over the constitution with a fine-tooth comb, especially the election section.”

McGavick said his one regret from the election was whatever role he may have played in how bitter the process became.

“Look, I think any time, like how nasty this election was, I think you regret being a part of it in a sense,” he said. “ … I regret that people got so tired of this election in the end, because of how nasty it was. I regret these things being construed as personal attacks, because that was not my intention. When I say that student government needs to change, I’m not saying these are bad people who aren’t doing their jobs. I’m saying that we need to reorient the policy, and I regret that that got lost in translation.”

Brickner said he hopes, moving forward, students keep in mind that some of the consequences of the process go beyond the results of a student government election.

“I think the takeaway is you’ve got to keep everything in scope here,” he said. “You’re running for student body president, which I still don’t think has that much power. Just keeping that in mind, don’t start playing dirty, don’t start bringing people into it that don’t deserve to be brought into it. Keep in mind that some of these allegations you file have very real consequences on people’s lives going forward.”

For Ross, as well as the current and future leadership of student government, the next steps require significant reform to the Student Union Constitution.

“Every year, we go back and look at the constitution and figure out if there’s things we want to change,” Ross said.

“This time we do.”

Senior News Writer Ben Padanilam, Managing Editor Katie Galioto, Assistant Managing Editor Rachel O’Grady, Associate News Editor Lucas Masin-Moyer, News Editor Natalie Weber and News Writers Elizabeth Greason and Tobias Hoonhout contributed to this report.

Contact Courtney Becker at cbecker3@nd.edu

5

The observer | monday, march 5, 2018 | ndsmcobserver.com

By HANNA KENNEDY Scene Writer

Vance Joy is no longer the same starry-eyed boy “scared of dentists and the dark,” as he describes himself on his recently-released sophomore album, “Nation of Two.” The Australian singer-songwriter maintains his signature acoustic simplicity and combines it with unique, personal narratives to craft songs that stand out for their upbeat, infectious sound and light, airy lyrics. Joy — whose real name is James Keogh — turns his attention to songs of love and discovery on his latest release, endeavoring to explore both the pain and pleasure of relationships.

The album begins with “Call If You Need Me,” an intimate, down-to-earth love song that sets the tone for the entire album. The intro is Joy on his guitalele, a smaller version of a standard guitar. It starts soft and slow with Joy’s methodical picking and approachable, naive voice, singing “I love you in the morning when the blood runs to your cheeks / Babe, you are the first thing and the last thing that I’d see.” He paints a picture of a couple perfectly infatuated with one another. The whole of “Call If You Need Me” attempts to describe the kind of love where your world begins and ends whenever you’re with that one person and

By DANNY LIGGIO Scene Writer

I’m made uncomfortable by rapper 6ix9ine’s appearance. 6ix9ine, the stage name for American rapper Daniel Hernandez, sports rainbow colored hair to match his skittle-like teeth. He has the number 69 repeatedly tattooed on his face and also in two prominent positions on his torso, which is flabby but always exposed. He often yells “Scumgang!” in his songs and makes references to armed robbery and casual misogyny. But he never had the opportunity to make it to high school; his father was murdered when he was a teenager, forcing him to sell drugs to help his mother.

Therefore, this article will judge his music rather than his character, the shaping of which I cannot imagine.

“DAY69,” his debut album, is of the same character as his three singles which preceded its release — full of high energy. Each lyric he puts out seems as if it pains him to do so. His voice is constantly straining to deliver as much impact as possible.

Whereas Lil Peep was the figurehead for emo rap (rap which combines traditional hip hop with feelings of angst, worthlessness and general emotion), 6ix9ine is the most consistent and prominent leader of screamo rap. Screamo rap (defined by the emotional

succeeds in doing so. Joy’s earthy, folky and above all, sincere lyrics leave listeners of his opening track thinking fondly of who that one person is for them.

“Saturday Sun” sees Joy jumping back on the ukulele. It’s a catchy, upbeat track about meeting someone new. The song’s fast-paced strumming and euphoric trumpets carry the chorus and make it a perfect choice for summer road trips and sunny weather listening. Joy wrote the lyrics traveling from Venice Beach to Malibu and the beautiful stretch of coastal, California highway that must have travelled comes through in the breezy attractiveness of the melody.

The album slows down with “I’m with You,” one of the songs Joy let his fans know, prior to its release, is one of his favorites. On this track Joy embraces his talent for visual storytelling. He captures the idea of love found, and then lost as he begins “I’ll be the match to your candle / My darling, I’m ready, to burst into flames for you” and then eventually recounts “You looked at me and said ‘baby, this rain changes everything’ / And my heart ran away from me.” The pain and pleasure of this relationship is evident in the shifts in Joy’s voice. He embraces his full vocal range to explore the ups and downs of love on one of the lyrical standouts of the album.

A disappointing follow-up effort is known to kill

even the most promising of acts. Good thing Vance Joy delivers on “Nation of Two.” The album was a long time coming — four years to be exact. Yet, the wait gave way to a work that shows an artist who has matured and established himself since gaining ground as Taylor Swift’s opening act on her 1989 tour. Each song on “Nation of Two” has a narrative at its core with a well-developed cast of characters contributing to its catchy, climatic sound — Joy’s signature sound.

Since “Nation of Two” is only Joy’s sophomore album, audiences are left waiting to see where the singersongwriter will take them next.

delivery of the music, not its emotional content), has come out of different works by Soundcloud rappers like X X XTentacion and scarlxrd. However, 6ix9ine is the most accomplished specialist of this sub-genre.

“DAY69” begins with a sort of guttural war crime: “Whole squad full of f------ killers, I’m a killer too.”

This sets the tone for the album. 6ix9ine is going to be rapping about people doing some despicable stuff, and you’re going to believe he does it as well.

6ix9ine does not relent from his shouting style for the entirety of the album. However, none of the artists featured attempt to mimic his style. Tory Lanez, Fetty Wap and A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie act as foils to 6ix9ine, all delivering impeccably smooth vocals against the grit that permeates the rest of the album.

Young Thug and Offset, rapping in a more traditional style, do not fit so well into the music. Their verses feel like a limp middle ground in a work meant to polarize.

At times, some of 6ix9ine’s songs can feel derivative. “BUBA” interpolates Ski Mask the Slump God’s “Take a Step Back” without enough original additions to fully justify it as a different song. And the beat for “MOOKY” feels uninspired in a way most of the album’s instrumentals do not.

In general, though, “DAY69” contains new and exciting material. “CHOCOLATE” contains an echoing, resounding vocal sample and punching synths. He

even interplays objectively horrible content in a manner similar to old Eminem. Whereas Eminem fans would constantly have to overlook his tales of murdering his ex-wife, 6ix9ine’s fans can take comfort in the fact that the horrible character of his lyrics are, for the most part, a sort of dark comedy. In “KOODA,” he raps, “Black van, pull up to your momma crib, boy / Tie her up, drive that s--- off a bridge, lil boy.”

If you enjoy high energy music, “DAY69” will not disappoint. It does what it does exceptionally well, while disregarding any other way of existence. 6ix9ine lives in the manner he portrays his life on “DAY69,” creating a sort of reality show in an album, chock full of all manners of entertainment.

Contact Hanna Kennedy at hkenned2@nd.edu

“Nation of Two” Vance Joy Label: Liberation Music Tracks: “Saturday Sun,” “Call If You Need Me,” “Like Gold” If you like: The Lumineers, Mumford and Sons

Contact Danny Liggio at dliggio@nd.edu

“DAY69” 6ix9ine Label: Caroline Distribution Tracks: “KOODA” If you like: XXXTentacion, Lil Pump, Tay-K

JOSEPH HAN | The Observer

6

The observer | Monday, March 5, 2018 | ndsmcobserver.com

Shhh.

Inside Column

We’ll be here

Soren Hansen Au Contraire

Courtney Becker Editor-in-Chief

Just over two years ago, in her first Inside Column as Editor-in-Chief of The Obser ver, Margaret Hy nds w rote, “for ever y time I tell myself what we do doesn’t matter, there’s another moment we play a crucial role in telling the stor y of this communit y and its students.”

These words, as most of Margaret’s have since the ver y first News meeting I attended during my freshman year while she was News Editor, resonated w ith me when I read over her column again to find some inspiration for my ow n.

I often find myself hav ing conversations during which a student asks how often we print The Obser ver. W hen this happens, I usually feel a tw inge of disappointment for a moment before I proceed to inform him or her that we print a new issue of the paper five days a week, excluding breaks and reading days.

Sometimes the student follows this up by expressing shock that at least one person remains in our office in the basement of South Dining Hall until the early hours of the morning Monday through Friday to send the paper dow n. Sometimes they follow it up w ith an “Oh, cool,” and we leave it at that. But either way, I always remind myself that while most students don’t always pick up a copy of The Obser ver when we print it, there is bound to be a stor y we tell that w ill cause the person w ith whom I am speaking to do so.

Lately — after trudging from my room to the office at 4 a.m. to update the front page of the paper w ith information we received when production was already done, and after seeing various articles and staff reports updating students on the latest developments in events posted all over social media — the importance of The Obser ver could not be more clear to me.

Not ever y stor y is going to be important to ever y member of the Universit y, but ever y stor y is important to someone. We w ill continue to cover all facets of the communit y — from the stor y of a lecture delivered by a v isiting speaker to a prev iew of a dorm event to a w rap of a sports game — and by doing so we w ill continue to gain perspective on life at Notre Dame and be prepared to cover those events that are of more interest to campus as a whole.

W hile some people may forget, we’ll be here, right below the stir-fr y gas line in the basement of South Dining Hall, five nights a week so that we may ensure the Notre Dame communit y is better informed about what happens on this campus.

Hav ing the responsibilit y to make sure we do so comes w ith plent y of pressure — I can’t say I am not a little daunted by the job I’m taking on — but it also comes w ith an excellent group of extremely dedicated people who w ill contribute to that effort.

It is because of these people that we w ill continue to “play a crucial role in telling the stor y of this communit y and its students.” And it is an honor to be the one to lead those people over the course of the next year.

So, whether you pick up a copy of The Obser ver ever y day or you occasionally click on a Letter to the Editor a friend shares on social media, know that just as we have been for the past 51 years, we’ll be here.

Contact Courtney Becker at cbecker3@nd.edu The views and expressions of the inside column are those of the author and not necessarily of The Observer.

The 17th centur y French philosopher Blaise Pascal once w rote, “A ll of humanit y’s problems stem from man’s inabilit y to sit quietly in a room alone.”

I’m not sure if he’s right about all of humanit y’s problems, but I think his words could help us here at Notre Dame. From the moment we wake up w ith jarring alarms to our final scrolls on social media before we fall asleep (I must admit to doing both), we are surrounded by noise — music, alarms, chatter, distractions.

Pascal, in his great w isdom, also obser ved that “distraction is the only thing that consoles us for our miseries, and yet it is itself the greatest of our miseries.”

I’ve noticed recently exactly how hard it is to find silence on this campus. From the jazz-ified covers of Sam Smith classics that play non-stop in the new Duncan Student Center to the pop hits that stream out of Waddicks into the halls of O’Shag, music is a constant. I’m guilt y of sitting dow n, plugging in headphones and filling my brain w ith layers upon layers of distraction; we put on our background music, f lip endlessly between tabs, scroll through headlines and do our school work all at the same time.

Though I’ve been know n for hav ing unpopular opinions, I want to make something clear, I’m not saying music or other t y pes of brain clutter are inherently ev il. I love music and it brings me inexplicable joy to listen to and play. But there is a problem when we can never press pause, when we become so accustomed to sound and simple distractions that we don’t remember what silence is or why it is desirable.

So why don’t we search for silence?

I think we are afraid of the void because we are unused to it; because we are an energetic and driven generation, silence makes us feel idle, barren, uneasy and afraid. We fill ever y moment w ith something so we can avoid encountering, as Pascal put it, our “miseries.”

Now that seems a little dramatic to me, but he’s probably right — we don’t like to face our real problems. Herman Melv ille praised the mental benefits of creativ it y and depth of thought that comes w ith taking a break; “A ll profound things and emotions of things are preceded and attended by silence.”

We need to save our words for what’s important, and not just say ever y thing that can be said. The true value of silence is that it brings meaning back to the noise. Can any of us actually be apart from our phones for more than a few hours? More than a few minutes? Can we stand a whole day w ithout music? Can we imagine a

world w ithout w ifi or the abilit y to constantly connect w ith all of our friends? Oh, what a din!

If our brains and ears are filled w ith noise, don’t we become deaf to meaningful conversation or the transcendent beaut y of music? We’re on our way to losing the abilit y to be in one place, to be moved by a song, to be absorbed by one book or conversation. We can only value these things, get joy from these things and deeply understand these things when we step back and see them from a distance.

In his “Ascent to Truth,” Thomas Merton noted that “man was made for the highest activ it y, which is, in fact, his rest. That activ it y, which is contemplation, is immanent and it transcends the level of sense and of discourse. Man’s guilt y sense of his incapacit y for this one deep activ it y which is the reason for his ver y ex istence, is precisely what drives him to seek obliv ion in exterior motion and desire … He has but to remain busy w ith trif les.”

Constant background noise can actually harm us, too. Not only do intellectual tasks like reading and w riting suffer when listening to music, but we can become so accustomed to music that we take its beaut y and impact for granted.

Silence is also an important and sometimes forgotten part of conversation. The ease of texting and messaging has left us uncomfortable w ith gaps or pauses in our human interactions, and this can lead us to fill up our conversations w ith unimportant chatter. If we appreciate silence, an external indication of deeper thought or consideration, we appreciate the other person in a greater way. Listening requires silence, and therefore empathy does as well. It takes effort, real effort (especially for talkative people like me) to rest in silence both in conversation and in company. A mark of true friendship is the abilit y to be present w ith someone w ithout needing to speak, being comfortable in the silence.

In the end, the best argument for pressing pause is that we need time to ref lect and meditate on ourselves and what’s around us. We need time to declutter and unplug. We need to notice the w ind in the trees and the return of the birds in the spring.

It may be tough, but we need to unplug.

So let’s take out our headphones, step outside and sit alone w ith our thoughts to face the unner v ing void — we might just solve some of our problems after all.

Soren Hansen (junior) is a proud member of the Program of Liberal Studies and spends her free time lamenting the lack of intellectual culture on campus and playing the upright bass. Send your contrarian opinions and snide comments to mhansen3@nd.edu The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

Join the conversation.

Submit a Letter to the Editor: viewpoint@ndsmcobserver.com

The observer | Monday, March 5, 2018 | ndsmcobserver.com

7

Take the next step Just 10 days ago, 3,592 students cast non-abstention votes in the student body presidential runoff election.

More than 400 of those votes did not count.

Both tickets on the runoff ballot faced significant sanctions of vote forfeitures, with the McGavick-Gayheart ticket forfeiting 12 percent of its votes and the KruszewskiDunbar ticket losing 10 percent.

In a long and tumultuous election, this large-scale forfeiture of votes was perhaps the fact that got the most attention across campus and left the most people wondering: “What just happened?”

But it’s just one of many aspects of this election that were obscured from students.

The reason for this lack of clarity can ultimately be traced back to one document: the Student Union Constitution.

The constitution is a 45-page document that covers a wide range of topics pertaining to student government. Yet in this unprecedented election — with five instances of sanctions and four appeals filed, the details of which can be found in today’s cover story — it became clear that the constitution could not appropriately address the problems that arose, even as the student government officials involved did their best to navigate the uncharted territory.

“We always say that during election season, we really see the flaws in the constitution — and this one more than many,” Judicial Council president and senior Matt Ross said. “There’s certainly a lot of flaws that we are going to address.”

The flaws the constitution needs to address once the election cycles ends include measures to avoid potential voter disenfranchisement, the lack of information made available to voters and the equitability of senate appeals.

When it comes to voter disenfranchisement in this year’s election, the forfeiture of votes appears to be a result of the actions of candidates and their supporters. Both tickets and their supporters broke the Student Union Constitution’s rules, and Judicial Council enacted punishments in response. Yet at the same time, it seems unfair that 402 voters in this year’s election were silenced for actions in which they shared no responsibility.

To the Election Committee’s credit, it has chosen to take away a percentage of votes rather than a specific number,

meaning the number of votes rendered invalid would be determined by voter turnout, out of consideration for what’s fairest to voters. Additionally, the timeline of the allegations which resulted in forfeitures — both of which were filed the day of the elections — limited the options Judicial Council had to punish the tickets for their misconduct.

Still, there’s no doubt a more equitable solution needs to be found.

In a system meant to be democratic, there’s no reason constituents should see their votes — and, by proxy, their voices — lost.

Perhaps a solution can be found by addressing one of the constitution’s other flaws: the lack of information regarding the allegations that result in these sanctions.

Section 13.5(e) of the constitution states that all information about hearings and appeals that Judicial Council doesn’t make available through press releases is considered confidential. These press releases are often vague and unclear.

Ross told The Observer that the reason for the vagueness of these press releases is to protect the anonymity of any party who files to ensure no one is dissuaded from alleging in the future. This reasoning is understandable.

However, with each new allegation filed, more questions arose, more rumors were spread and more confusion was created.

Students were left to cast their votes only knowing that a ticket would have to forfeit votes for unethical behavior.

Voters were then forced to speculate what “unethical behavior” might mean before they cast their vote. How can any voter make an informed decision regarding who one wants to represent the student body when they are not given the facts of the hearings and appeals meetings?

If the decision to sanction votes is rooted in a desire to punish the candidates for violating the constitution, why not let the voters speak for themselves? Voters should be trusted to make their own decisions about who they want representing them, especially in an election where both tickets faced such hefty sanctions that there was talk of pushing the election to an electoral college process.

This Editorial Board understands why anonymity with the appeals process is underscored so heavily, but we also believe it is in the best interest for students on campus if more detailed information relating to allegations is made publicly available.

We know this is an issue Judicial Council recognizes

and has had conversations about before and since the end of this most recent election. Ross told The Observer that Judicial Council is considering ways to make the system more transparent. We hope those continued conversations will result in a solution that constitutionally brings more transparency to the process.

The lack of transparency is not only an issue for election allegations, however. The appeal process also revealed its flaws during this election. Senators were tested with four appeals, but two of them were never heard because the group failed to meet quorum, the minimum number of present voting members required to hold a meeting. In the student senate’s case, this requires 2/3 of the voting members to be present.

The constitution created a situation in which one ticket was able to have its appeal of the vote forfeiture heard, while the other ticket was not. It created an imbalance, as one ticket received due process, while the other did not.

When double-digit percentages of votes are at stake, either party’s appeal going unheard is unacceptable. The current leaders of student government do seem to plan to address the issue as best as they can, as Ross said considerations include releasing roll call for every senate meeting to hold senators more accountable or evaluating and correcting ways in which the appeal process itself is unfair to tickets.

Anything short of finding a way to ensure a constitutional guarantee for appeals to be heard when votes are at stake would be a failure. As students, this Editorial Board would rather sacrifice the efficiency of the 48-hour mandate for appeals to be heard than have our votes potentially taken out from the final tallies without an appeal being heard.

And we firmly believe that many students who take the time to vote on election day would feel the same way.

With the end of this most recent election comes the opportunity to learn from the past and correct these flaws for the future. As the newest leaders of student government prepare to take office and Judicial Council begins its yearly evaluation of the constitution with the help of senate, we hope that this opportunity is taken advantage of.

This election was a difficult one for all the parties involved. And it was a difficult one for all of the students tasked with casting a vote, too. The current and future leadership all appear to recognize this, and that’s encouraging.

But now it’s time for them to take the next step and prevent this election from becoming the norm.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Where do we start if we don’t start somewhere?

As Notre Dame students, we’re busy. No denying it.

But there’s also no denying that the climate is changing because of negative human impact. We overuse and misuse natural resources like water, land and air. We all know this hard reality, but what can we do about it? Here are a list of simple ways to be more conscious of what we consume on a regular basis. In each category, the challenge gets harder further down the list — see if you’re up to saving our world, one cold shower at a time.

Eating on campus Forget the tray in the dining hall.

Finish everything on the plate/in the bowl/in the cup, and be grateful.

Carry a reusable water bottle and/or tumbler.

Reduce napkins usage.

Boycott vending machines.

Boycott Grab-N-Go items that are individually wrapped.

Eat a plant-rich diet.

Be vegetarian one day each week.

Better yet, try going vegan.

Bathrooms Use hand dryers, not paper towels.

Better yet, air dry your hands — run them through your hair or wipe them on your pants.

Use less toilet paper.

Use eco-friendly skin care and beauty products such as

100% Pure, Burt’s Bees, Lush, Vapour and Rahua.

Brushing teeth Never let the water run.

Use cold water.

Use eco-friendly toothpaste, such as Tom’s of Maine, Kiss My Face and Desert Essence.

Showering Take shorter showers.

Turn off water between getting wet, soaping up and rinsing off.

Use eco-friendly soap, shampoo, conditioner and shaving cream such as Method, Burt’s Bees, Dr. Broner’s, Aveda and Honest.

Use lukewarm or cold water.

Out and about Turn off the lights.

Take the stairs.

Recycle clean paper, napkins, cardboard, cans, foil, glass, plastic items that can hold their shape.

Print less (double-sided when you have to).

Turn off laptops.

Unplug laptops, phones, lights — especially overnight.

Keep and reuse scratch paper.

Keep and reuse plastic forks, spoons, knives.

Keep and reuse plastic bags.

Better yet, use canvas bags instead.

Use tupperware and jars instead of plastic baggies or other disposable containers.

Pick up and properly dispose of litter.

Reduce all the online ordering.

Decline all the freebies.

Doing laundry Use the medium or low heat setting for the dryer.

Do laundry less often (saving money is a bonus).

Use eco-friendly detergent, such as Ecos, Mrs. Meyers and Seventh Generation.

Never trick yourself into thinking an action is “too small” to make a difference. If we all made small changes in our consumption habits, systems and structures would have to adapt. Where do we start if we won’t start somewhere?

How many of the above are you already practicing? Feel good about those and improve.

So before recycling this newspaper or scrolling through more light-hearted and funny online content, promise me two simple things. First, choose one of the above to work into your habits. And second, show this article to someone else — friend, enemy or stranger. Everyone can start living consciously.

Whitney Lim sophomore Feb. 27

8

DAILY

The observer | monday, march 5, 2018 | ndsmcobserver.com

Crossword | Will Shortz

Horoscope | Eugenia Last Happy Birthday: Do what you can to help. You’ll have the option to put your time and talent into your own success or to do whatever you can to make someone else miserable. Don’t let what others have done to you resign you to thinking that you’ll feel better if you strike back. Take the high road and do your own thing. Your numbers are 7, 13, 21, 28, 34, 40, 42.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Using force may make you feel better, but it won’t bring the best results. Engage in activities that encourage constructive use of energy and don’t let your anger get the upper hand. Remain calm and focus on maintaining good health.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Take care of money matters. Keeping your books straight will give you the confidence to make purchases or put money into an investment without fretting about whether you should. Don’t let anyone else handle your affairs.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Put your wallet away and focus on the type of changes you can make or activities you can take part in that are dependent on using your knowledge, experience and skills to have fun. Put the money you have saved to good use.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Invest in yourself. Look for alternate ways to save and investments that will bring in cash. Taking a unique approach to the way you live will help you spend less and enjoy life more. Try to slow down and make better choices.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Make alterations at home that will add to your comfort. A quiet space conducive to working on something without distractions will pay off. A challenge may tempt you, but try to avoid physical and mental stress.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Don’t use brute force to get others to see things your way. Give everyone freedom to choose and you will in turn have the opportunity to follow through with your plans without interference. End your day with romance or personal pampering; you’ve been working hard lately, you deserve it.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): You’ll be emotionally up and down when it comes to what’s happening in your relationships. Before you jump in and make an impulsive decision, listen to reason.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Unexpected changes or disruptions will create additional stress for you. Take a step back from whatever situation you face and go with the flow instead of trying to do the impossible. Focus on love, romance and pampering.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Look for the most practical path to follow and head in that direction. Being too accommodating will take you to a place that is costly and emotionally debilitating. Say “no” to anyone who tries to take advantage of you.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Travel plans will face delays, and dealing with friends and relatives won’t be easy. Memories and past experiences will be your best alternative. Revisit a familiar haunt or resurrect a hobby you used to enjoy. Romance is highlighted.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Look for new opportunities and you will find something that intrigues you. Be generous with your time, but monitor your finances carefully. Simplicity and moderation will be the keys to success.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Set your sights on the goals that you believe will bring you success and happiness. Look for a way to incorporate what you enjoy doing into earning a living. Doors will open if you are happy with what you have to offer.

Birthday Baby: You are willful, cogent and perceptive. You are playful and charismatic.

WINGin’ it | OLIVIA WANG & BAILEE EGAN

Sudoku | The Mepham Group

Jumble | David Hoyt and Jeff knurek

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sports

ndsmcobserver.com | monday, march 5, 2018 | The Observer

W Bball

Sports Authority

Lamar Jackson is a quarterback Mia Berry Sports Writer

With the 2018 NFL Draft a little more than a month away, all eyes have turned to the Combine to determine who will be the future of a NFL franchise. For the second year in a row, the Browns hold the No. 1 selection in the draft, and odds are they might draft another quarterback.

Quarterbacks Josh Rosen from UCLA, Sam Darnold from USC, Josh Allen from Wyoming and 2017 Heisman winner Baker Mayfield from Oklahoma have all been listed as potential No. 1 picks. But there’s a notable omission from that list — Louisville quarterback and 2016 Heisman winner Lamar Jackson.

Instead of being in the conversation for the No.1 overall pick, Jackson has spent the majority of his combine interviews addressing rumors and assertions that he should switch from a quarterback to a wide receiver to be successful in the NFL. Jackson’s answer to whether he would make the switch: “No sir. I am a quarterback.”

Despite the lingering questions regarding his accuracy, stature and durability — Lamar Jackson possesses all the tools he needs to succeed in the NFL as a quarterback.

Asserting that Jackson should make the switch isn’t surprising given that NFL owners and analysts have tended to favor pocket passers over the dualthreat quarterback recently.

Although the vast majority of quarterbacks in the league are pocket passers or system quarterbacks, dual-threat quarterbacks are able to succeed in the NFL. Michael Vick or Super Bowl champions Steve Young and Russell Wilson are all examples of dual-threat quarterbacks who have excelled.

Quarterbacks switching positions also isn’t too uncommon as former Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller and former Kent State quarterback Julian Edelman found some success as quarterback turned wide receivers in the NFL, but if either had Jackson’s college resume complete with Heisman, Walter Camp and Maxwell awards, I believed both would’ve elected to stay at their original position.

Heading into the draft, Jackson possesses one of the most decorated resumes among all quarterbacks.

In three seasons at Louisville, Jackson has thrown for 9,043 yards and has rushed for 4,132 yards. In addition to over 13,000 total yards, Jackson has accounted for a total of 119 touchdowns against 27 interceptions.

If you watch any film of Jackson at Louisville, he has everything any NFL owner or coach would want in a quarterback.

Jackson has a strong arm, and the ability to use his legs to extend plays by throwing when the pockets collapse or running downfield. Given his statistics and high ceiling, Jackson possesses, why wouldn’t an NFL franchise want a quarterback of this caliber on their team?

Jackson’s only downside is his low completion record of 57 percent, which would rank him fourth out of the fifth quarterbacks mentioned earlier. Josh Allen, a No.1 pick in multiple mock drafts has the lowest completion percentage of 56.2, showing that a high ceiling can overcompensate for some weakness.

Like Allen, Jackson has one of the highest ceilings among quarterbacks, and a low completion rate shouldn’t hold him back. His play wasn’t too different from that of Heisman winners Marcus Mariota at Oregon or Cam Newton at Auburn, but the conversation of whether Mariota or Newton should transfer to a receiver never came up. Both Newton and Mariota have had successful careers thus far, and Jackson should be the same chance.

Sure, given Jackson’s natural athletic ability he could make an explosive wide receiver. If he did run the 40-yard dash at the Combine, Jackson could very well post a sub 4.4 run or perform well in any of the agility drills, but neither statistic adds a lot of value to his draft stock as a quarterback and would only perpetuate reasons Jackson should switch. Jackson even went as far to forgoing the 40-yard dash and other agility drills to place the watch solely on his throwing abilities — a very smart decision by Jackson to take the attention off his legs and to force scouts to focus on his arm.

For Jackson, playing wide receiver should only be done as a last resort, not starting point for his career.

Jackson should have the opportunity to make a case that he can play quarterback in the NFL. As of now, only time will tell if Jackson’s college success can translate into the pros, but until proven otherwise, analysts and scouts should focus on his NFL potential as a quarterback leading up to the draft.

Contact Mia Berry at mberry1@nd.edu The views expressed in this Sports Authority are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

Continued from page 12

Dame’s fate was sealed.

Down by one with 1:42 to play, the Irish were attempting to keep their heads above water, as Louisville took over possession after a layup from Notre Dame sophomore guard Jackie Young.

Notre Dame was able to prevent a Louisville bucket, as Shepard blocked Carter’s jumper attempt, but Young turned the ball over on her way back up the court and Fuehring was able to add three more points to the Cardinals’ total with 24 seconds remaining in the game, after picking up the andone on an intentional foul from junior guard Marina Mabrey.

“I think our execution was poor for most of the game,” Irish head coach Muffet McGraw said of her squad’s uncharacteristic mistakes as the game clock ticked down. “I think our guards didn’t handle the pressure well and we weren’t able to execute.”

Mabrey, with two fouls to give, sent Carter to the line once again and the Cardinals were up four with 18 seconds to play.

But Young turned the ball over again, forcing junior guard Arike Ogunbowale to send junior guard and ACC Player of the Year Asia Durr to the line to shoot two. She knocked them both down.

Ogunbowale quickly drained

M Bball Continued from page 12

tournament this week in order to make the NCAA tournament.

“We are probably one of the harder ones to analyze,” Brey said. “We have to do some work in Brooklyn to be on the docket.

We’re in there, they have to look at us. Our numbers are good and one thing I’m very happy about is Bonzie Colson is back. With him we have a chance.”

The Irish only trailed 8-7 at the under-16 media timeout. But for the rest of the half, the Irish struggled to keep up with the Cavaliers.

Brey said offensive rebounding would be a key to the game, and the Irish effort on that front was evident with senior forward Martinas Geben and Colson leading the charge on the offensive glass. However, Notre Dame struggled to convert on the offensive end, as tip-in attempts just didn’t fall.

Meanwhile, the Cavaliers found their stroke from beyond the 3-point arc — going 5-for-11 in the game. Brey attributed his team’s defensive struggles to Virginia’s physical screen game.

“When you play them it’s physically draining because you’re chasing their perimeter guys off those roadblocks,” Brey said.

The only player keeping Notre Dame in the game was Colson.

In just his second game back

9

a 3 to make it a one-possession game once again with four seconds left, but Durr went to the line and knocked down two more free throws, putting the game out of reach for the Irish, despite a last-ditch 3 that Ogunbowale drained from half-court as the buzzer sounded. Ultimately, the Irish were unable to come back and handed Louisville its second win over Notre Dame this season, 74-72.

“We turned it over, drove the ball and just lost the handle,” McGraw said of the game’s final seconds. “It was just a great defensive play by them.”

McGraw credited Louisville’s ability to come up with the shots when it mattered as a differencemaker in the game, saying her team was unable to make plays when it mattered.

“I thought that Louisville played a really good game. I thought they made big shots when they had to. They got some huge offensive rebounds,” she said. “I thought the offensive rebound kick out was probably the dagger and the game-winning shot. We had some opportunities that we squandered but our execution wasn’t quite as good but I think that’s because of their defense. They really did a great job defensively. We were not able to really see the mismatches when we had them.”

Overall, the Cardinals were able to distribute their offense

more effectively than the Irish, as Carter, Durr, Hines-Allen and Fuehring each finished with 15 points or more, while the Irish leaned heavily on Shepard, who collected a game-high 23 points and 10 rebounds and was named Second-Team All Tournament, and Ogunbowale, who tallied 20 points. No other Irish players managed to hit double-digit point totals. McGraw felt the Cardinals were able to shut Mabrey down especially effectively.

“I thought their pressure was really good. They were switching,” she said. “They really weren’t going to let Marina get free for anything today.”

Ogunbowale and Mabrey were named to the All Tournament team, as the Irish went 9-for-9 from the field down the stretch.

Looking forward, the Irish have yet to secure a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, which begins March 16, but Shepard feels that the team has some cleaning up to do before then.

“Obviously, that’s why I came to Notre Dame is to compete for championships,” the junior transfer said. “For us there’s a lot to learn from that game. I think the emphasis Coach has been putting on the little things, it got exploited and there are things we have to fix if we want to reach our goals.”

from a fractured foot, Colson put up 18 points and nine rebounds in the game’s first half, including a 3-of-6 mark from 3-point range.

The next highest scorer in the half for Notre Dame was Geben with five points, as senior guard Matt Farrell and sophomore guard T.J. Gibbs combined for two first-half points. Farrell was mostly limited with two early fouls.

“I think you have to give credit to Virginia’s defense,” Brey said of Farrell’s struggles. “They really pushed him out, they had different guys on him. Everything was hard for him offensively. …

When they’ve really taken him away, it’s affected us.”

Thanks to Colson, the Irish were able to stop the bleeding and pull within five points at halftime at 32-27.

But Farrell jump started the Irish in the second half with a 3 on the first possession of the period and two assists that led to Geben buckets.

A Gibbs layup gave Notre Dame a 40-39 lead at the 13:48 mark in the game and the Irish held the lead for the next five minutes, but Virginia surged back thanks to some hustle plays by Cavaliers sophomore Mamadi Diakite.

The Cavaliers maintained a small lead and pushed it to 5550 with five five minutes left of game time.

The Irish went to Colson and

the senior hit two straight field goals to bring it to 57-54 with three minutes left.

A heavily-contested Farrell 3-pointer made it 59-57 with 2:26 left.

But from there, the Irish offense fell apart as Notre Dame called Farrell’s number on another deep, well-guarded 3. The next Irish possession was almost comical, as Colson had the ball knocked away and Farrell failed to get up a shot as the shot clock expired.

“When you play Virginia and you get an open shot in the second half, you’re a little tired because you’ve been chasing [sophomore guard Ty] Jerome off of roadblocks,” Brey said. “That’s always been a problem when we play these guys, you’re a little tired to rise up and take the shot because you’ve been guarding them.”

Notre Dame tried to extend the game by fouling, but Virginia made their free throws and hung on to win 62-57.

Next up for the Irish is a trip to Brooklyn and the ACC tournament. Notre Dame earned the tournament’s No. 10 seed and will play Pittsburgh on Tuesday at 2 p.m.

“To see [Farrell] and Bonzie fully healthy and in a good state of mind heading to Brooklyn, that’s all I can ask for,” Brey said.

Contact Elizabeth Greason at egreason@nd.edu

Contact Marek Mazurek at mmazurek@nd.edu

The Observer accepts classifieds every business day from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Notre Dame office, 024 South Dining Hall. Deadline for next-day classifieds is 3 p.m. All classifieds must be prepaid. The charge is 5 cents per character per day, including all spaces. The Observer reserves the right to edit all classifieds for content without issuing refunds.

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Sports

The observer | monday, march 5, 2018 | ndsmcobserver.com

Bouts Continued from page 12

did a good job blocking, and landed a few punch of his own back on Camara in the first round.

Both fighters came out fast in the second round, and Camara brought the crowd to its feet with a huge hook on Yoder’s headgear.

Yoder appeared to gain momentum by putting Camara on the ropes, but Camara responded hard, planting Yoder on his back leading to Yoder receiving a 10-count from the referee.

Camara said he was able to put his best effort forward in the ring.

“It felt great, I go out there and try to give my best effort regardless of the outcome,” he said. “A lot of that is faith in God, because there’s so much that can happen that’s outside of my control. I can get sick, I can get injured, anything can happen. I just have to give my best and give praise and glory to God.” Both fighters traded blows in the third round, visibly putting in effort. The pace of play slowed down greatly, and it ultimately turned into a test of will.

In the end, the judges awarded the fight to Camara by unanimous decision. Camara now has Bengal Bouts titles in the 141 and 148-pound weight divisions.

Camara said Bengal Bouts was a huge part of his Notre Dame experience.

“The mission is absolutely outstanding, the culture of brotherhood and teamwork is amazing and the individual development is phenomenal,” he said. “Matthew was one of the first people I met in the club freshman year. We’re good friends I have all the respect in the world for him. He pushed me extremely hard and gave me a very close fight.”

154 lbs.

Michael “The K.O.” Feijoo def. Steven “Beefcake” Ramos The first round of the 154-pound fight began with Ramos, a senior from Zahm, driving junior Feijoo of Morrissey against the ropes.

Despite Feijoo’s attempts to counterattack, Ramos continued to dictate the pace as the round concluded with several tie-ups.

Heading into the second round, they quickly settled into a rhythm and the tide shifted in Feijoo’s favor, closing out the round with a series of head shots. Ramos showed brief glimpses of a comeback but was ultimately unable to gain momentum from his opening round.

Having both shown moments of dominance in the ring, in the third round neither fighter had gained a clear advantage. Beginning slowly as both fighters tried to regain composure, the first half of the third round was primarily tie-ups.

However, just when he seemed to be showing his fatigue, Feijoo used his longer wingspan to his advantage, landing several devastating head shots to round out the fight.

The momentum he gained in the last two rounds ultimately earned Feijoo a victory over Ramos by split decision.

“It’s an honor and shows that

hard work does pay off,” Feijoo said.

Having trained with the women’s team throughout fall, Feijoo said he trained for this fight, prepared to win even on a bad day.

“I put myself in the mindset that it’s for a greater cause and our efforts to beat the fundraising record. … Boxing is just supplementary,” he said.

opportunity to go on the attack.

Childers was able to corner Luchini and deliver a strong

series of blows as the fight winded down, eventually drawing blood from his opponent before Paid Advertisement

162 lbs.

Joey “Mrong” Quinones def. Johnny Link The finals of the 162-pound fight between Keough senior Quinones and O’Neill junior Link in the finals of the 162-pound fight was set to be a battle between strength and agility.

Link, the shorter fighter, came out of the gate aggressively, putting Quinones on the defensive.

The senior recovered, managing to maintain his composure despite receiving several heavy hits to the body.

The second round showed similar results to the first with Link showing flashes of power, landing some impressive hits while the more consistent Quinones found his success aiming for the torso.

Neither fighter, with their vastly different fighting styles, was able to gain an advantage in the round.

Entering the final round, Link held a slight advantage over Quinones. However, Quinones landed several blows early on. Link quickly faded and was unable to defend himself allowing Quinones to capitalize with a barrage of head shots to end the fight.

A dominant closing round from Quinones earned him the unanimous decision victory over Link.

Quinones said winning this year validated the time he’s spent in and outside the gym the past four years.

“It’s paying off and showing in the ring,” he said.

Quinones said keeps the names of the kids in Bangladesh that he supports on his wraps and said it means so much to know that there’s outside validation for his effort.

“I’ve been paying this off and it shows in the ring,” he said. “ ... This was the most tired I’ve ever been in a fight but I didn’t care if I got hurt at that point. It’s my last fight.”

165 lbs.

Danny “No Chill” Childers def. Mike “Deez” Luchini In the finals for the 165-pound weight class between Keough senior Childers and Fisher junior Luchini, both fighters came out aggressively swinging to start things off in the first round.

Childers was able to get Luchini on the ropes just briefly about a minute in, but as the round continued, pace started to slow, with each fighter becoming more methodical in protecting themselves.

In the second round, there was a start as ferocious as the first, this time with Luchini perhaps landing a few more of the blows. Both fighters were delivering powerful punches, leaving both tired as they entered the final round. In the third, Luchini took a more defensive approach to start, and Childers took the

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all was said and done.

By unanimous decision, Childers was awarded the

Sports victory.

Afterwards, Childers credited his opponent for giving him a tough match.

“He made it really tough on me,” he said. “He’s one of the hardest hitters I’ve had to fight so I definitely couldn’t do everything I wanted to, but I guess I did enough.”

170 lbs.

Paddy Lawler def. Patrick “Payday” Yerks In the 170-pound final between seniors Paddy Lawler and Patrick Yerkes, the first round got underway in spectacular fashion. Lawler, representing Fisher, is known for his incredibly aggressive fighting style while Yerkes, from St. Edward’s, is known for his impressive defensive skills. Both fighters turned to their strengths early on, whether they wanted it was part of their game-plan.

Lawler worked Yerkes back onto the ropes just five seconds in, delivering a successive series of punches to both the head and body.

After having separated briefly, Lawler again went right after Yerkes, this time causing the ref to get involved as he checked on Yerkes.

Pace slowed a bit as the first round began to wind down, but it was Lawler who continued to give out the majority of the punches.

In the second round, it was Yerkes this time who came out the aggressor, going after Lawler.

ndsmcobserver.com | monday, march 5, 2018 | The Observer

Lawler, however, quickly turned things around, causing Yerkes to once again go on the defensive. Lawler began furiously coming at Yerkes, shifting the fight from corner to corner as he continued to land a succession of blows.

Roughly halfway through the second round, the referee stepped in for what proved to be the last time as he called the fight. Lawler walked away with the victory by referee-stopped contest as a result. Following the fight, Lawler said the victory meant a great deal to him.

“I feel proud of myself and how I trained this year. I feel proud of everyone in this club, and I can’t wait for that number to be revealed at the end of the year saying how much we raised,” Lawler said. “I’m one of 11 and I’ve got my extended family and my girl here, so it meant the world to me to be able to do my best in front of them.”

178 lbs.

Wes “Hit and Run” Chamblee def. Jack “One Ayyyyyyye” McDermott Things started off slow in the 178-pound weight class final between O’Neill junior McDermott and off-campus law student Chamblee.

Both fighters were patient out of the gate, waiting for their opponent to make a mistake.

Finally, it was McDermott who went on the attack, followed shortly after by Chamblee who sought to get in a few hits.

Chamblee was eventually Paid Advertisement

able to get McDermott on the ropes, but only for a brief moment as much of this opening round remained spaced out and defensive.

In the second round, both fighters came out a little more aggressive, each getting in his shots. The two would be tangled up a couple of times throughout the round, and by mid round it was McDermott who began to land a series of punches.

However, Chamblee did not back down, and by the end of the round he was landing hits, eventually being able to corner McDermott before the bell concluded the round.

Chamblee was able to land a strong string of punches mid round, but it was McDermott who finished off the round on the attack as each fighter sought to empty the tank before the match was complete. In what was a very close contest, Chamblee who was awarded the split-decision victory.

Chamblee said the fight was significant for him personally.

“This wins means a lot to me,” he said. “I came to my first Bengal Bouts fight 20 years ago when I was a little kid. I grew up watching this so it means a lot to be able to win.”

186 lbs.

Michael “Mr. Saturday Night Special” Krecek v. Cam “Crash Cadillac” Nolan The 186-pound fight, was a tight bout between two juniors — Krecek and Nolan — which

ended in a draw. The fight started slowly, with each fighter taking their time before throwing their first hits. Nolan, representing Duncan, was able to land some major hits on Krecek in the first round, knocking the Morrissey resident to the ground after a big hit.

However, Krecek was able to come back swinging, landing some big punches towards the end of the round.

“I think the one thing I did well was landing some counterpunches,” Krecek said.

Krecek took this energy with him into the next round, coming out swinging against Nolan with a renewed energy. The second round was more aggressive than the first, with both fighters throwing and landing more punches and moving at a much faster pace.

This sudden burst of energy was quickly tempered, as Nolan and Krecek both were visibly exhausted at the start of the third round. The two kept at it in the middle of the ring, both landing hits despite their fatigue, but Nolan eventually was able to get Krecek on the ropes towards the end of the match.

“I used up all my tank, I left my heart out there in the third round,” Nolan said. “Overall, I’m proud of myself.”

The bout ended in a draw, after one judge did not circle a winner. “[Nolan] did a lot more right than me, he fought his best fight, coming out with a lot of strong hooks that I really had trouble with,” Krecek said. “But a fight’s a fight. I think it turned out OK.”

204 lbs.

Jackson “Dollarface” Wrede def.

Montana “Louisianimal” Giordano As soon as the opening bell rang in this final round heavyweight matchup, senior Wrede ran at Giordano, ready to fight.

Wrede, representing Knott, was able to land some hits on the Alumni junior at first, but Giordano fought back, making for a fast paced first round between the two aggressive heavyweights.

Giordano returned with a vengeance in the second round, immediately gaining some momentum in the match-up, using his speed to his advantage.

However, the momentum was short-lived as Wrede was able to get his hands up to avoid some major punches, allowing him to land a crucial hit on Giordano that resulted in the referee counting Giordano down.

Wrede did not let up for the remainder of the round, forcing Giordano onto the defensive as Wrede landed hit after hit.

“Boxing’s pretty simple. If you keep your hands up, you don’t get hit,” Wrede said. “ … I stuck to the game plan.”

As the third round commenced, Wrede, a three-time finalist, looked hungry for a victory as he went after his opponent. While Giordano was able to corner him for a moment,

11

Wrede forced his way off the ropes to strike him. Both visibly frustrated, the fighters went at each other with full force for the remainder of the fight, but ultimately the referee was forced to stop the contest in favor of Wrede.

“To be a senior captain, come out and win, for your last chance,” Wrede said. “It meant the world.”

Heavyweight Pat “The Quiet Man” Gordon def. Ryan “Eat at Yaz’s” Richelsen Senior captain and Keough resident Gordon came into the ring in the first round with a balanced attack. Landing valuable punches on Richelsen, a junior from Morrissey, Gordon was able to control the tempo of the first leg of the bout. While neither fighter came out with particular aggression, Richelsen’s footwork threw Gordon off balance on a number of occasions.

Richelsen was able to land more hits in the second round, as he was able to get Gordon on the ropes early in the round. The bout turned more aggressive as Richelsen continued to strike Gordon, and the referee had to break the two fighters up amidst one scuffle.

Gordon’s experience, however, proved useful in the third round as he was able to finally break away from Richelsen, landing some decisive punches.

The final round was the fastest paced, with both boxers chasing the other to the various corners of the ring throughout the match. However, Gordon’s consistent attack proved successful as he walked away from the bout with a victory by unanimous decision.

“Finishing my last year with a title felt incredibly rewarding,” Gordon said. “[Richelsen] is a great boxer, an incredible competitor, and he made me work for it. He’s got a bright future ahead of him.”

The trophy was not the last one Gordon would win for the night, however, as he was presented with the Larry Ash award at the end of the evening.

“I’m honored to win the Larry Ash trophy,” Gordon said. “It’s a small group of boxers that have been fortunate enough to win this prestigious award, and I consider myself lucky to be amongst them.”

Gordon said these awards were “awesome.”

“After going to Bangladesh and seeing the benefits of our fundraising firsthand, I made it my goal to do as much as I possibly could for the kids in Bangladesh,” Gordon said.

“Knowing that we have made a real impact on people’s lives means the world to me.”

Contact Jack Concannon at jconcan2@nd.edu, Charlotte Edmonds at cedmond3@nd.edu, Alex Bender at abender@nd.edu, and Rachel O’Grady at rogrady@nd.edu

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The observer | monday, march 5, 2018 | ndsmcobserver.com

nd women’s basketball | louisville 74, nd 72

men’s basketball | virginia 62, nd 57

Notre Dame comes up ND loses ACC title short versus No. 1 Virginia game for first time

By MAREK MAZUREK

By ELIZABETH GREASON

Assistant Managing Editor

Sports Editor

It would have been a huge win for the Irish.

Notre Dame has never knocked off a No. 1 team on the road, but a win over top-ranked Virginia would have put the Irish squarely in the NCAA tournament picture.

The Irish (18-13, 8-10 ACC) played the Cavaliers (27-3, 17-1) tough, but in the end, Notre Dame couldn’t give senior forward Bonzie Colson enough help on offense and fell 6257 in Charlottesville, Virginia.

“I think we’re back,” Irish head coach Mike Brey said of the team’s performance. “With Bonzie and playing like we were before the injury. Even though we didn’t win, I really like what we got out of that today against a great team.”

Colson certainly led the way for Notre Dame on Saturday, finishing with 24 points and 15 rebounds in 37 minutes on the floor, even as the senior slowed down a little in the second half due to cramping.

The loss puts the onus on the Irish to make a deep run in the ACC

It is said there is a first time for everything. That was the case for No. 5 Notre Dame on Sunday, who was unable to claim the ACC tournament title for the first time since joining the conference.

The Irish failed to make history as the first team to win both the regular-season title and tournament title in fiveconsecutive seasons, as No. 1-seed Louisville took down the Irish for the second time this season, this time in a nail-biter of a game with 14 lead changes.

The Cardinals (32-2, 15-1 ACC) took a lead of as much as five points during the first quarter, but the Irish (29-3, 15-1) were able to scramble back as junior forward Jessica Shepard single-handedly scored Notre Dame’s next seven points, bringing the game to a tie at 19 points apiece. The two teams headed into the first break tied at 21.

The game was

see M BBALL PAGE 9

Sarah olson | The Observer

Irish senior forward Bonzie Colson drives around a defender during Notre Dame’s 73-56 victory over Pittsburgh on Wednesday.

back-and-forth in the second quarter, as the Cardinals took the lead on the first shot of the quarter when redshirt-junior guard Arica Carter drained a 3.

The Irish kept pace, however, as graduate student forward Kristina Nelson hit a jumper 20 seconds later to keep Notre Dame within reach. It was senior forward Kathryn Westbeld’s layup with 7:49 remaining in the half that put the Irish on top — briefly. The two teams traded leads for the rest of the quarter, and ultimately, the Irish headed into halftime with a 37-35 lead.

After the half, the game continued in a similar manner — the Irish built a lead of as much as five points, but the Cardinals managed to reclaim the lead and build up a fivepoint cushion of their own, for the most part thanks to the efforts of senior forward Myisha Hines-Allen and junior forward Sam Fuehring.

It was not until the game’s final two minutes that Notre see W BBALL PAGE 9

bengal bouts

Winners crowned in final matches of Bouts

By JACK CONCANNON, CHARLOTTE EDMONDS, ALEX BENDER and RACHEL O’GRADY Sports Writers and Assistant Managing Editor

141 lbs.

Chris “Chip Blood” Dethlefs def.

Thomas “Tommy Gun” Manno Zahm senior Manno and Sorin senior Dethfefs squared off Friday for the 141-pound division Bengal Bouts title. The two laid it all on the line in a split-decision, instant-classic win for Dethlefs.

The first round started fast, with both fighters looking to dictate the pace of the fight. Manno put Dethlefs on the ropes early, but Dethlefs was able to counterattack well, landing combos on Manno’s body coming off the ropes. In the second round, both fighters continued to try to move each other around the ring, each battling hard for points. Manno pushed Dethlefs hard, and Dethlefs said had nothing but respect for his opponent after the fight.

“Thanks to Tom for pushing me out there and making me earn it,” Dethelfs said. “Every second of that fight was a challenge.”

The third round was aggressive, and the rowdy crowd injected energy into the fighters. Manno knocked Dethlefs onto a knee in the third, but Dethlefs battled back, moving Manno around the ring late and earning a win by split decision. “[My boxing career] feels like it came full circle,” Dethlefs said.

“Freshman year I worked hard all season and lost a split in my first fight. I kept working, lost for three years and came into my own this year getting a split win the final.

I’m ready to have some mental free space. It’s a relief to have it done.”

148 lbs.

Joaquin “Hindi Humuhupa” Camara def.

Matthew “The Fightin’ Amish” Yoder The 148-pound division pitted two experienced seniors against each other, both looking to go out on top. Keenan senior Camara was able to repeat as Bengal Bouts champion over O’Neill senior Yoder by unanimous decision.

Both fighters were on the attack early, with Camara looking to land ambitious combos on Yoder. Yoder see BOUTS PAGE 10

KATELYN VALLEY | The Observer

Matthew “The Fightin’ Amish” Yoder, right, swings at Joaquin “Hindi Humuhupa” Camara during the final round of the Bengal Bouts on Friday at Purcell Pavilion. Camara was victorious by unanimous decision.