Print Edition of The Observer for Thursday, April 11, 2019

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Volume 53, Issue 118 | thursday, april 11, 2019 | ndsmcobserver.com

Residential Life announces new policies Changes to on-campus living for class of 2022 intended to ease transition to six semester requirement By Claire Rafford News Editor

LINA DOMENELLA | The Observer

The University announced in fall 2017 that — beginning with the class of 2022 – students would be required to live on campus for six semesters. As part of this statement, the Office of Residential Life also said they would be brainstorming incentives for Notre Dame students to stay on campus for their senior year. Now, the Division of Student Affairs released a finalized list of the updates in a statement first disclosed almost a year and a half ago. Erin Hoffman Harding, vice president for student affairs, said the University approached their changes to residential life from

Panel discusses feminist pro-life perspective By CLAIRE KING News Writer

It is not uncommon to hear in contemporary discourse that it is impossible to be feminist and pro-life; that in order to be a real feminist, you must support abortion rights. The McGrath Institute for Church Life and Notre Dame’s Office of Campus Ministry co-sponsored a

panel discussion titled “ProLife Feminism” to discuss whether pro-life feminism is an oxymoron. The panel, which was held in the Midfield Commons in the Duncan Student Center on Tuesday afternoon, featured Abigail Favale of George Fox University, Kristin M. Collier of the University of Michigan Medical School, and Charlie Camosy of

Fordham University. The panelists each brought a different perspective to the table. Collier, who completed her internal medicine residency and chief medical resident year at the University of Michigan Health System, looked at abortion from the medical point of view: how the mother and child are

News Writer

At the fourth and final installment of Saint Mar y’s “Heritage of Hospitality” lecture series, Dr. Tony Alonso, a professor of theolog y at Emor y University, spoke on the Introductor y Rites of the Catholic Mass. Beginning with an explanation of the Introductor y Rites, Alonso said that the Roman

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Missal — the rulebook — highlights what these rites will achieve. “The general instruction articulates the following bold hopes for what the Introductor y Rites of the Catholic Mass are supposed to do,” Alonso said. “It says that the Introductor y Rites of the Mass are meant to ensure the faithful establish communion, dispose themselves properly and to celebrate the

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in addition to the preexisting resident assistants, associate vice president for residential life Heather Rakoczy Russell said. “We wanted to consider what other leadership opportunities might be possible, both to further develop our students but also to attract back some rising seniors who we might otherwise have lost to off campus,” Russell said. Students who are selected for the leadership position, known as “Senior Fellows,” will receive a compensation package of $3,000 per year. Russell said the positions will allow seniors to lead both inside the residence hall and in the Notre Dame community at large. see RES LIFE PAGE 4

Howard Hall hosts annual walk for mental health

see FEMINISM PAGE 3

Lecture examines role of Introductory Rites By KATHLEEN MEYER

three distinct perspectives. “I view this communication as a bookend to that original announcement,” Hoffman Harding said. “Now having listened to students really for the past year and a half ... we came up with these three groups, which [include] something specifically for seniors that would attract them back to campus, some things that we hope will benefit all students in very tangible [ways] and, thirdly, really thinking about the quality of hall life and how we can make that residential experience while students are a part of it — whatever year they are — as meaningful as possible.” One of the incentives aimed towards seniors is the implementation of a senior leadership program

Eucharist worthily.” Alonso said the ways in which the Introductor y Rights of the Eucharist shape us in the hospitality of God demand that we also take seriously the way our hands also shape the liturg y. “It demands that we also take seriously the ways in which the bold hopes we have for the Eucharist don’t always see CHURCH PAGE 3

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Photo courtesy of Grace O’Connell

Howard Hall residents speak to students about the prevalence of mental health issues during last year’s Walk for More Tomorrows. By CATE VON DOHLEN News Writer

Howard Hall will host the third annual Walk for More Tomorrows event Thursday evening. The walk was started by former Howard Hall resident Phoebe Natalie, who graduated in 2018, to raise awareness for mental health issues and suicide prevention and to provide support to those affected. Attendants are encouraged to donate with all proceeds going to the Suicide Prevention

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Center of St. Joseph County. Junior Erica Vossen, a co-commissioner for the event, said the event is relevant to each member of the Notre Dame community. “I think every single person on this campus in one way or another is affected by mental illness whether it’s them or a friend, whether they know it or not, or a family member, and yet it is one of the least talked about conversations,” Vossen said. see HOWARD PAGE 3

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The next Five days:

Want your event included here? Email news@ndsmcobserver.com

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Monday

NDSID International Trivia Legends 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. Open to faculty, staff and administrators.

25th Annual Hesburgh Lecture O’Laughlin Auditorium 4 p.m. - 6 p.m. Ethics and public policy lecture.

Monterey Jazz Festival DeBartolo Performing Arts Center 7:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. Anniversary tour.

Film Screening: “Support the Girls” DeBartolo Performing Arts Center 3 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. In honor of May Day.

The Work of Our Hands campus wide all day Exhibition of liturgical vestments.

Snite Salon Series Snite Museum of Art 6 p.m. - 7 p.m. Gallery viewing and discussions open to the public.

Theatre: “The Great Gatsby” DeBartolo Performing Arts Center 7:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. Stage performance.

Concert: Tim McGraw Purcell Pavilion 8 p.m. - 9:45 p.m. Grammy awardwinning artist to perform.

Senior Piano Recital LaBar Recital Hall 4 p.m. - 5 p.m. Peter Spalitto to perform works by Prokofiev and others.

Lecture: “Social Entrepreneurship” Hesburgh Center Auditorium 5:30 p.m. - 7 p.m. Karan Chopra to talk.

‘Agnes of God’ tackles corruption By MARY STEURER Assistant Managing Editor

The Notre Dame Student Players w ill premiere “Agnes of God,” a play seeking to reconcile faith with trauma, Thursday at 7 p.m. for their spring production in the Lab Theatre in Washington Hall. “Agnes of God” follows the stor y of Dr. Livingston, a psychiatrist asked to investigate the case of Sr. Agnes, a cloistered nun alleged to have given birth and murdered her newborn. “Dr. Livingston’s task is to determine whether or not Agnes is clinically insane,” said Savanna Morgan, the play’s director. Corinne Wehby, who plays Livingston, said Agnes’ case brings back unwelcome memories for the psychiatrist. Though Livingston grew up Catholic, personal tragedy led her to renounce her faith long ago, Wehby said. “[Livingston] just looks at the Church in a ver y, ver y poor light,” she said. “She sees this corruption and wants to protect other people from kind of falling victim to that,

like she has in the past.” As she digs deeper into the case, Livingston is forced to confront the ver y questions of faith she had long left behind, Wehby said. “I think she, for the longest time in her life, has abandoned all ideas of the Church, of her faith,” she said. “For the first time, I think, in years, she has to start addressing these issues of faith again. … It turns into this psychological kind of war over Agnes.” W hen it comes to portraying darker subjects — including sexual assault — the play strikes a balance between elements of melodrama and realism, Morgan said. “I’ve done ever y thing that I can to ignore … hy perbolizing the trauma,” she said. “W hen audiences come see the show, they’re able to say, ‘This is something that’s real, and something that the Church needs to confront,’ as opposed to dismissing it as, ‘Oh, this is just a stor y.’” Wehby said “Agnes of God” does not take sides when it comes to matters of faith, but instead seeks

to show how religion — or the lack thereof — can sway individuals’ thoughts and feelings. “There’s some instances where faith is blinding some characters to different truths about the situation,” she said. “But then there’s certainly instances where for my character, her lack of faith is almost blinding her.” Assistant director Patrick Starner said the play does not dwell on its darker themes, but rather on how they work to develop its characters. “It’s more about not even quite the aftermath [of traumas], but just wrestling upon the implications that they have years after ward,” he said. The audience should not expect the play to proclaim a single message or moral, but to leave them wondering, Starner added. “The biggest thing that I hope people take away is just more like a ref lection or a questioning of their own lives,” he said. Contact Mary Steurer at msteure1@nd.edu


News

Howard Continued from page 1

Fellow event co-commissioner and former Howard Hall president junior Grace O’Connell said this year’s event will look a bit different than in years past. “In the past, we’ve had a mini track set up outside on south quad and people would take two laps,” O’Connell said. “This year we’ve decided to do an actual walk.” The walk, which is co-sponsored by the student-run club Active Minds, begins at 5:45 outside of South Dining Hall on Thursday evening. Participants will walk around St. Joseph Lake with candles behind a banner each of them will sign. The walk concludes at the Grotto, where participants will leave their candles with prayers, Vossen said.

Feminism Continued from page 1

physically and emotionally connected. Favale, as an associate professor of English at the William Penn Honors Program, spoke about women’s rights and human rights from the perspective of theolog y, philosophy and academics. Camosy, the only male on the panel and a professor of ethics in Fordham’s Theolog y department, looked at the history of the first-wave and secondwave feminism movement and how abortion has tied into feminism in the past. One of the main topics discussed was simply what pro-life feminism is. The three panelists said feminism is the idea that women shouldn’t have to change or be ashamed of their natural biolog y and fertility in order

ndsmcobserver.com | thursday, april 11, 2019 | The Observer

Campaigning for the event began two weeks prior to its culminating walk with a whiteboard campaign outside both North and South dining halls. Written on the whiteboard were the words “I walk for” and students were given the opportunity to complete the sentence. Much of the whiteboard campaign is chronicled on the event’s Instagram page. Some students wrote names of people they knew personally; others, their dorm communities or the larger Notre Dame community, O’Connell said. There were also events hosted in Howard Hall the week leading up to the event. On Monday, there was a candlelit mass hosted with the special intention of the walk, and on Wednesday the hall hosted Dr. Megan Brown, interim director for the McDonald Center for Student Well-Being,

who spoke on mental health, compassion and helping friends in need, Vossen said. The overall goal of the walk, O’Connell said, is to create a sense of unity in the Notre Dame community surrounding mental health awareness and suicide prevention. “I think it’s an issue that doesn’t get talked about a lot because it’s such a hard conversation to have, but it’s so important to start,” O’Connell said. “We want Notre Dame to have that sense of unity where we can all have this difficult conversation and know that we all walk together.” Vossen said her own journey has inspired her desire to provide support for the Notre Dame community. “For me, having my own mental health journey, it really became apparent to me how

isolating it can feel when you’re walking through something and you don’t have anyone to talk to,” Vossen said. “It’s okay if you’re struggling. … It’s okay if you’ve dealt with someone who’s struggling or you’ve lost somebody because this is something that we can stand together [for] and grow in understanding [of] and compassion and love to fight this.” While Vossen and O’Connell hope for fifty participants in the actual walk, students will also be able to take yellow ribbons from the share table in Howard Hall to pin on their backpacks to show support. In the event of rain Thursday evening, the event will take place in the Sorin Room in LaFortune Student Center.

to succeed in society. “Instead of trying to adapt our culture to the reality of female biolog y and the possibility of pregnancy, we’ve instead asked women to change their bodies in ways that are often violent,” Favale said. “This creates a war between women and their bodies. It makes fertility a threat. … I think there are more philosophical inconsistencies on pro-abortion feminist views than a view that tries to consider the good of a woman both in harmony with her fertility, her ability to be pregnant and her ability to be a mother.” For Collier, the nature of a woman’s body goes beyond philosophy. Speaking from her perspective as a doctor, Collier said new studies show how a baby’s cells can enter a mother’s blood stream and affect her for decades. Because of the biological

interconnectedness of a mother and its offspring, Collier said it is immoral that society prevents a woman from truly embracing her biolog y through pregnancy. “If we think about reclaiming a space for women’s biolog y that honors our amazing power of reproduction and that honors our future sisters and brothers, we must remake these social constructs to honor the dignity of women and our biolog y and our differences,” Collier said. Camosy further discussed societ y’s discomfort w ith pregnancy, calling it “the pathologizing of pregnancy.” He read out a passage from the Planned Parenthood v. Case Supreme Court case in order to demonstrate how societ y has demonized and pathologized pregnancy. “The ability of women to participate equally in the economic and social life

of the Nation has been facilitated by their ability to control their reproductive lives,” the case said. To this, Camosy said, “If women are pitted against their prenatal children in this way, if literally pitting against their prenatal children is required for the economic and social equality, that is oppressive. That is offensive. We ought to do better in terms of providing paid family leave and affordable child care.” At the end of the panel discussion, the three panelists emphasized the importance in opening up conversations about abortion and looking at pregnancy from many different viewpoints; there is not pro-life and pro-choice binary system, there are many different perspectives that need to be heard.

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Church Continued from page 1

take root in us in the ways we hope or the ways we intend,” he said. The Introductory Rites have never been primarily about the entrance of the priests or the ministers into the liturgical space, Alonso said, but about the entire community being ritually gathered together by God. “Each of the gestures, words, musical moments and movements are intended to open our eyes to recognize the presence of God in one another, in Word and in Eucharist, and in turn recognize that love in a world so loved by God,” Alonso said. Alonso then introduced three challenges to realizing the fullness of God’s hospitality in the Introductory Rites: the belief that the Rites will accomplish in us something that is happening nowhere else in our community or in our lives, a lack of preparation that manifests as a lack of presence and a failure to tend to the whole in a way that ends up creating fragmentation rather than establishing communion. “We must let the Introductory Rites and liturgy shape us, but we must also shape the Introductory Rites and liturgy,” he said. “By doing these things, we can become truly hospitable.” After Alonso spoke, sophomore Jackie Rojas and Sr. Adria Connors reflected on the hospitality of the Church and its community. Rojas said she liked the idea of having work that needs to be done outside of the liturgy. “I think it really has been my experience, especially in my hometown of El Paso, that there is so much attentiveness to human relationships and just to the community in general,” she said. “There have been many times when I first meet a new member of the parish during Mass, and our relationship continues to grow outside of celebrating the liturgy during different events and encounters.” Rojas said she believes cultivating a relationship outside of the Mass makes the celebration of the liturgy more special. Connors said she hopes people come away from the Mass carrying something that will help them continue hospitality. “There is an awareness that liturgy is life,” she said. “Life is not a compartment. Life is a permeated existence. That permeation, if I can live into that, is what enhances and enables that hospitality as well.”

Contact Kathleen Meyer at kmeyer01@saintmarys.edu

Write News. Email us at news@ndsmcobserver.com


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NEWS

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Res Life Continued from page 1

“One of those roles will be hallbased, and it will be unique to each residence hall since they are so unique,” Russell said. “The other leadership roles will be really grounded in various departments — whether it’s wellness or in student development, diversity and inclusion, internationalization, GreeNDot — so that there would be opportunities for students who want to serve in a more specialized way to be trained really as those fellows.” Another program intended to incentivize students to stay on campus is a $2,000 credit for students who commit to live on campus for their senior year as sophomores. The credit is limited to the first 250 applicants, and any student who does not follow through with their commitment will be fined $1,000, according to the release. Hoffman Harding said the University hopes this will increase the presence of seniors in the hall community. “Our real hope there is to actually be part of that conversation we know students are having early in their sophomore year,” Hoffman Harding said. “Really having received some marketing materials off campus, we simply want to name and let students know how much we value senior leadership in

the hall. … We think it’s a really important time for students to know how much the residence halls and the University more broadly really values the presence of seniors.” In addition to incentives for seniors to live on campus, the Office of Residential Life also plans to introduce a number of updates to the Notre Dame dorm experience. One of these includes a commitment to update meal plans, Hoffman Harding said. “Perhaps the single most significant thing that students said to us in feedback leading up to our initial announcement, and then talking about incentives, is how much of a difference more flexibility in the meal plan would make for their decision to live on or off campus,” Hoffman Harding said. In conjunction with the meal plan updates, the University also plans to offer more full kitchens in new and renovated residence halls, allowing students and seniors specifically to explore cooking for themselves. The plan has typically been to include a full kitchen as well as food sales in new and renovated men’s dorms and a full kitchen on each floor in women’s dorms. However, Russell said Baumer Hall will include two full kitchens in addition to food sales. Russell said creating these communal spaces in new and renovated dorms is a priority, even if it means decreasing the number of beds open in a given dorm.

“In the historic halls where we’ve done major renovations, we have followed that plan and been met with very positive reception,” she said. “ ... Usually what we’re losing in order to be able to do that is capacity, so we’re uncrowding residence halls in order to create better common space for students to gather and create community.” Another change is the elimination of coin laundry fees, making laundry free in residence halls across campus. The Office of Residential Life said in the press release that this change is the result of efforts by student government and awareness of the financial aspects of laundry. “Students have expressed discontent with the costs associated with residence hall-based laundry machines, and student government recently addressed this issue with the Board of Trustees,” the release said. “These costs disproportionately add a financial burden to students with greater financial need.” In addition, students who wish to live in a single room will no longer have to pay the $500 fee associated with living in a single. Russell said no longer charging for singles will further equate dorm experiences, as some halls simply offer more single rooms. “The up charge for singles is the only differentiated room cost that we have,” she said. “And what we have been mindful of in Residential Paid Advertisement

Life is that there are some halls just by virtue of their construction that have an inordinate amount of singles, and sometimes what happens is that the students that end up with a single are not those who would have chosen a single but who find themselves at the end of room picks and those are the rooms that are still available. That seems like first and foremost an inequity in terms of them choosing those rooms … to the extent that it was something that was a detractor from the decision to remain on campus, better to eliminate it.” The University is also trying to standardize enforcement of parietals and alcohol procedures across all residence halls. The University will also work to widen the difference between on and off campus living experiences, the release said. “In the coming year, together with its partners in the Division of Student Affairs and across the University, the Office of Residential Life will draw clearer distinctions between residents of hall communities and those who opt to move out of them,” the release said. “Students who choose to leave will no longer enjoy all of the rights and privileges of residents (e.g., including participation on hall sports teams and presence at hall dances).” Russell said the goal behind this initiative is to make living within residence hall communities as special as possible for the residents.

“What I’ve worried about over time is that if we say intentionally or unintentionally to our students, ‘When you move off campus, you can still continue to come to dances and community events and participate in hall sports and other things,’ then it doesn’t differentiate what that experience was when they were a member of the on campus community versus the off campus community,” Russell said. “So I think the right message to send our students, in fact, to prepare them for the real world, is for them to receive the message that there are rights and privileges that come with any community of which you’re a part, and both are good — they’re just different.” Hoffman Harding said the goal of these policy updates is to make hall life a positive experience for all members of the Notre Dame community. “If we really do our jobs right and have listened carefully to students as we’ve tried to do, we want to attract students to stay with us during that last year,” Hoffman Harding said. “But we’re worried about the experience of all students. We’re excited about some of these changes to try to be responsive to making hall life better. We think hall life matters, and the University wants to invest in that experience.” Contact Claire Rafford at crafford@nd.edu


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The observer | thursday, april 11, 2019 | ndsmcobserver.com

By PATRICK WITTEMAN Scene Writer

Natalie Mering, who performs under Weyes Blood, is no stranger to the music industry. “Titanic Rising,” her newest, most stunning offering, is the fourth LP that she has released since her full-length debut in 2011. What distinguishes this album from the other three is that “Titanic Rising” was released under the indie rock stalwart Sub Pop. The difference between “Titanic Rising” and her other records is distinct, as production and ideas on this fourth LP are more flushed out and developed, making this her most ambitious musical effort to date. The album bursts with ambition, encapsulated by the fact that Mering actually submerged a fully-furnished bedroom in water to get just the right look for the album artwork. Mering’s influences on this project are abundant. Inspiration was most likely found from the work of Kate Bush, the Kinks, Joni Mitchell and Julia Holter among others, although Mering’s grandiose vision makes her work a unique departure from her influential predecessors. On “Titanic Rising,” Blood ascends to cinematic levels of grandeur in the range of emotions that she manages to capture. The cinematic qualities of “Titanic Rising” are initiated by Blood from the get go, with the title track “A Lot’s Gonna Change”

By TAJAE THOMPSON Scene Writer

Continuing their success from their recent world tour and their latest comeback with the mini-album “Square Up,” BlackPink is solidifying their position as a top act not only in South Korea but overseas as well. BlackPink is a South Korean girl group that debuted in 2016, with “Boombayah” and “Whistle.” The group is comprised of four members: Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé and Lisa. Since then, they have enjoyed a slew of successes. With their last mini-album, the music video for their title track “DDU-DU DDU-DU” was the first to have 700 million views on YouTube for any KPOP group. That same song debuted at number 55 on the Billboard Hot 100 making it the highest-charting song for a K-pop girl

straddling the boundary between sentimentalism and haunting beauty. As she croons, “Born in a century lost to memories / Falling trees, get off your knees / No one can keep you down,” Blood’s vocals impart a kind of fleeting warmth as she harkens back to a fantasy-filled, pre-apocalyptic past. Yet the transitory feeling of Blood’s delivery grounds her harkening back to the past in the present, ensuring that her pre-apocalyptic ruminations do not become elements of fantasy themselves. In an interview with Pitchfork, Mering explains that she wants her music with lyrical content like “A Lot’s Gonna Change” to be a cause for people to, “think about the reality of what’s going on but also to feel a sense of belonging and hope and purpose.” She continues frankly, explaining that, “I hope you could have a smile during the apocalypse and be grateful for whatever conditions exist, because life is a beautiful thing.” The production on “A Lot’s Gonna Change” is stunningly beautiful as well, managing to be maximalist in its arrangement while providing ample space for the vocals of Blood to swirl and float along its baroque strings and piano. The more Julia Holter-esque moments on the album come towards the latter half, where the production is more sparse and the vocals of Mering are soft and evanescent. On “Mirror Forever,” the organ and wobbly guitars Mering utilizes are hauntingly effective,

as she sings “Got a feeling our romance doesn’t stand a chance. … You threw me out of the garden of Eden / Lift me up just to let me fall hard / Can’t stand being your second best.” Love, for Mering, can be both good and bad, and the shift in moods and themes across this album represent that sentiment. The sheer scale and cosmic proportions of Mering’s fourth effort as Weyes Blood makes “Titanic Rising” an early contender for album of the year. The slow and steady progression that Mering has made from LP to LP has paid off, as “Titanic Rising” is one of the best indie albums of recent memory.

group. Their achievements have only grown more impressive with the release of their fourth mini-album “Kill This Love” on April 4. It includes songs such as “Don’t Know What To Do,” “Kick It” and the record-breaking title track “Kill This Love.” The mini-album has already broken countless records, even though it was released less than ten days ago. With “Kill This Love,” BlackPink became the second girl group of all time, after only Destiny’s Child in 2004, to hold the number one spot on the iTunes Song Chart. It is also the fastest video on YouTube to reach 100 million views, in just 2 days, 14 hours and 13 minutes. The song itself is about a relationship that must be “killed” before it breaks the girl’s heart. Paired with a strong use of drums and fierce lyrics, BlackPink is keeping up with their girl-crush image.

In an effort to display their diverse sound, “Don’t Know W hat To Do” has a softer sound that exemplifies the pain that is left once a relationship ends. Even though the song does become more upbeat during the chorus, it is much more mellow than the intensity from “Kill This Love.” BlackPink fans are still able to see a softer side to the girls, while hearing impressive vocals from Jennie, Jisoo and Rosé and a powerful rap from Lisa. K-pop has become more popular in recent years, through boy groups BTS and BigBang and solo artist Psy. In just three years, BlackPink has established themselves as a top group, and this is only the beginning. The ladies of BlackPink will continue to grow more talented and amass more popularity.

Contact Patrick Witteman at pwittema@nd.edu

“Titanic Rising” Weyes Blood Label: Sub Pop Tracks: “A Lot‘s Gonna Change,” “Andromeda,” “Everyday” If you like: Julia Holter, Kate Bush, Joni Mitchell

Contact Tajae Thompson at thomp22@nd.edu LINA DOMENELLA | The Observer


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The observer | Thursday, April 11, 2019 | ndsmcobserver.com

Inside Column

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Ope, defined Ann Curtis Associate Photo Editor

Have you ever accidentally bumped into somebody on the sidewalk and said, “Ope, sorry about that” ? Have you ever run into someone’s shopping cart at the grocery store and said, “Ope, I just need to sneak right past you to grab some Ranch”? Have you ever fumbled the handoff while turning in a paper to your professor and said, “Ope, ope, I got it!”? Have you ever looked outside at the three feet of snow blanketing the ground and said, “Ope, would you look at all that? ” If you answered “yes” to any of the previous questions, then congratulations: you might be from the Midwest. W hat is “ope,” and why does everyone keep saying it? Particularly popular in the Midwestern region of the United States, “ope” is often used as an interjection or exclamation of surprise. Either used within a phrase or as a stand-alone term, “ope” can be an involuntary reaction for many at both positive and negative events. Sometimes it is almost like saying the word “oops,” but you got too lazy to finish the entire thing. This word is so ingrained into some cultures that is seems like a ref lex response more than an actual word. Like saying “um” or “oh,” “ope” is as common in the Midwest as cornhole and corn fields. Attending college in Northern Indiana should be a hub of Midwestern activity, right? Wrong. I was not aware of this word’s existence until I came to college, even though I use it on a daily basis. In case you have not figured it out by now, I am, in fact, from the Midwest. I have met more new people in college than ever before in my life, and it has been a big change. Coming from a town of 5,000 people that talk exactly the same way as me, a lot of things seemed normal until others started pointing them out. My friends from Alabama, California and even Illinois were quick to point out my frequent use of “ope” that I, myself, had never noticed before. All of my friends, everyone in my family and even my coworkers all say “ope” in various scenarios, and I have accepted that as normal. “Ope” could have even been my first word, and my parents might not have even realized. It is just that normal. I love the Midwest and all the quirks it has, and I hope you understand them a little bit better after reading this article. Ope, I just hit my word count! Contact Ann Curtis at acurtis01@saintmarys.edu The views expressed in this Inside Column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

The consequences of weak antitrust law In a previous Observer letter to the editor I argued that the extreme wealth gap in America was partly attributed to misaligned personal incentives between corporate owners and managers. In the conclusion, I mentioned that I disagreed with prominent liberal voices that have recently been supporting a 70% marginal tax rate. In my opinion, this proposal is superficial at best. It’s a retroactive solution that is easily circumventable through income-composition modification, and it doesn’t address the underlying issues of excessive corporate and executive power. Today I will propose one possible alternative solution: antitrust law reform. Sweeping tax reform changes passed through Congress are quite sexy. They routinely dominate mainstream news headlines with sensational drama starring our favorite (and least favorite) political figures. But a great deal of change in our country happens far outside of our congressional chambers — in a regulatory field much less sexy. Antitrust law in the United States is usually associated with the early-20th century trust busting against “big oil” and “big railroad.” In the 21st century, however, antitrust has a fresh, new corporate face, and has largely been dormant. Many whistle-blowers have documented instances of Amazon abusing its massive returns to scale and unfairly setting prices too low — even low enough to sometimes be at a loss — such that competitors are unable to compete. This is my chief concern. You may be thinking, what’s the issue? What’s the danger of Amazon dropping prices too low? There are two reasons why this is dangerous: First, while artificially low prices are beneficial in the short term to consumers, it is detrimental to other producers. Amazon with its massive infrastructure can handle a momentary profit loss, but smaller competitors with infant-infrastructure systems cannot. This matters because a. producers are also consumers (they need to buy things to make things, and producers make up a critical proportion of the consumer base) and b. producers are employers. Rival producers who go out of business are unable to buy inputs that keep the economic cycle flowing, and are forced to lay off employees who could have been consuming more goods. Second, artificially low prices that drive competitors out of the market create spaces for price gouging. The natural way the market checks price gouging is as competitors engage in price wars until the price of the good reaches equilibrium. But the presence of rival companies is critical to this process. Since rival companies are being forced out of the market by Amazon’s artificially low prices, the natural autocorrection mechanism cannot apply because the rival companies close their doors and therefore cannot compete. Once this occurs, Amazon is unchecked, and has every personal incentive to price gouge unabated.

While a $0.12 increase in the price of an Amazon Basic Micro USB may go unnoticed by an individual consumer, it hurts the consumer base at large when the $0.12 increase is multiplied by thousands and thousands of transactions. It doesn’t matter if its by $120 or $0.12, price gouging is still price gouging and it’s against the law. What should change? Modern antitrust policy should be reworked so that it takes producer welfare into account. Competition policy in the United States is still largely designed for traditional 20th-century domestic markets operating primarily in North America, and hasn’t been updated to deal with the 21st-century globalist structures of the economy operating through the internet. Moreover, current antitrust law focuses too strictly on consumer welfare. If the consumers are fine, then there is no problem. But this approach to antitrust is too narrow, and doesn’t take into account the variety of ways the health of the market can be compromised by anticompetitive practices. Producers are consumers too, and their health is linked to the consumer base and the market’s health. They need to be considered in the antitrust equation as well. Little has been done in the realm of American competition policy recently, largely because the current direction of the globalized market system is heading towards uncharted territory that the world has never seen, and there is little precedent to draw from. If there is little precedent to draw from, then the precedent needs to be set. The lack of competition law enforcement is perhaps one of the many central underlying causes for the income disparity in our world. With hypothetically feasible business cost structures that cut extreme salaries as “operational expenses,” competitors should be appearing left and right to challenge titans like Amazon. Yet, none have emerged, because top corporations are acting in their own self-interest by taking advantage of their monopolistic market power and infrastructure and stifling them down. Or, worse, they get bought out by Amazon and their power grows. Corporate executives are collecting large paychecks from corporate piggy banks fattened from nefarious anticompetitive behavior, and reforming antitrust law would help mitigate these problems. A free and open market system is certainly the way to go, but the role of government in them is to set the rules and enforce them in order to help correct market failures. Markets are great, but they aren’t perfect. Perhaps antitrust regulators at the Department of Justice should get involved.

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

Peter Brown sophomore April 3


The observer | Thursday, April 11, 2019 | ndsmcobserver.com

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To be or not to be Ellie Dombrowski A Fresh(man) Perspective

W ho am I supposed to be? I always thought I knew the answer to that question. W hen I was 5 years old, my answer was vet. W hen I was 10 years old, my answer became astronaut (watching “Contact” ended that prospect really quickly). W hen I was 14 years old, it became surgeon. I came to college know ing exactly who I was. I came to college sure of my future, sure of myself. As my first year at Notre Dame comes to a close, I am less and less sure of my answer to that question. Adults always say that this is the point of college: we are supposed to find out who we are supposed to be, who we are meant to be. So, why is there so much pressure to decide? W hy is there so much pressure not just to have an answer, but to have the right answer? We are supposed to choose what kind of person we are going to be for the rest of our lives in just four years. We are supposed to decide what we are going to be during the most confusing years of our life. How is anyone expected to do that? We grow and we change. So, why is it expected of us to be perfect? W hy do we have to be sure now? Now is the time to make mistakes: to stay out late, to make new friends, to major in philosophy (because there’s no way one can make a career out of that) or to do something a bit risky. Make

mistakes over and over again. Now shouldn’t be completely spent stressing on the“what ifs.” Now is the time to be ourselves. W hen we look back on our lives, we don’t want to regret losing the free, infinite feeling that we have stressing about the maybes. W here will this get us? We are not a compilation of our various stresses. We are more than what we are stressed about. Maybe we should spend more of our time finding new ways to define ourselves. I would have laughed a year ago if you asked if I had ever considered not being a surgeon. I knew what I would do and where I would be for my next 10 years. I had a plan; one that would ensure that I would never feel lost. One that would make life easy. Well, even with this plan, I still feel lost. We can’t plan away our worries and life’s complications. If we could, life would be much simpler. But, we can’t and it isn’t. This doesn’t mean that we should stop planning and looking toward the future. It just means that we should take a second to ref lect on what we are doing and ask “why? ” I have spent what seems like most of my life tr ying to organize myself into the perfect person. I would plan ever y thing to the ver y last detail. I wouldn’t leave room for mistakes or fun. I just imagined that life would come later. But, what I have learned here at Notre Dame is that it’s okay to have your long-term goals. I have spent the last few years assuming that I needed to be a surgeon, assuming that any other job wouldn’t make me a good enough person. I want

to make an impact in the world, and I thought that being a doctor was the only way. But, it appears that I have ignored so much more of what I am good at and what I love to do because of this. There’s no point in making yourself be miserable tr ying to be somebody that you’re not, tr ying to just be somebody. Life is too short to pretend to be something that you’re not. If you spend all of your time looking to the future, suffering now so that eventually — one day — you might have the possibility of being happy, what’s the point? Enjoy ever y thing that life throws at you. The things that you least expect could change you the most. Be you without a doubt. Make mistakes to figure out what you are not. Do this knowing that by the time that you leave here you can really answer the many questions that your relatives ask: W ho are you? W hat are you doing with your life? With this you can answer them. Being present means that you can truly know who you are. And with that, you can do or be whatever you want. So, say yes, say no. W ho cares? Be yourself. Know who you are. Ellie Dombrowski is a freshman at Notre Dame majoring in biochemistry. She is originally from Long Island, New York, and currently lives in Lewis Hall. She aspires to become a surgeon and to make a change in the world. She can be reached at edombrow@nd.edu The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

I am a woman I am a woman. I I I I

have have have have

two X chromosomes. female secondar y sex characteristics. longer hair. a feminine face.

I am a woman. I I I I I I

am a Saint Mar y’s student. am doing fine. am receiv ing a wonderful higher education. am a STEM major. w ill succeed in my career. w ill not allow anyone to tell me any different.

I am a woman. I am happily Catholic. I am traditional. I am conser vative. I dress modestly. I am pro-life. I am pro-abstinence. I am anti-euthanasia. I respect priests and religion. I love and respect men and their role in societ y and the Church. I love and respect women and our role in societ y and the Church. I love and respect motherhood and fatherhood

and all the joys and hardships that come w ith it. I stand w ith pregnant and parenting students. I stand w ith law enforcement. I love my countr y. I love my freedom. I love my femininit y. I am not a v ictim. I can think for myself, and my voice matters. I am STILL a woman. Thank you, and God bless.

Follow us on Twitter. @ObserverViewpnt

Maria Marcopoli sophomore March 28


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DAILY

The observer | Thursday, april 11, 2019 | ndsmcobserver.com

Crossword | Will Shortz

Horoscope | Eugenia Last Happy Birthday: Mental, physical and spiritual travel will lead to personal growth and a better understanding of what you want out of life. Revisit the past, and tie up loose ends that need to be put to rest. Refuse to let anyone manipulate or coerce you into something that will stop you from reaching the destination that will contribute to your happiness. It’s your day, so don’t let anyone hold you back. Your numbers are 6, 11, 17, 24, 31, 37, 43. ARIES (March 21-April 19): Learn from experience, try new things and point out if someone is doing something that is likely to cause you grief or stand in your way. Being honest about your intentions will help you avoid interference. TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Don’t dwell on the impossible. Concentrate on what you can do, and make a point to clear up any unfinished project, business or situation that needs to be resolved. Having a clean slate will lead to new beginnings. GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Put your energy into something that counts, not into helping someone else advance. If you take on too much or contribute to something that isn’t going to benefit you directly, you will have regrets. Choose your associates carefully. CANCER (June 21-July 22): Settle any differences you have and move on. Don’t let an emotional matter spin out of control when a little ingenuity and discipline will help you stifle an unnecessary conflict. Negotiate contracts personally to avoid disappointment. Financial gain is heading your way. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Call in favors, and get together with people you have worked with. You’ll be offered inside information that will help you make a worthwhile move. Be open to suggestions, but do the legwork necessary to reach your goal. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Evaluate partnerships and consider any adjustments you can make to even out responsibilities. Emotional anger won’t help you get what you want, but a solid plan that is based on equality will. Choose love and romance over arguments and discord. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Live and learn. Don’t hold a grudge, but don’t forget what’s happened in the past. Staying neutral will make a difference in the way you handle others as well as how you deal with responsibilities. Keep your emotions hidden. SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Let go of the past and those who have caused drama in your life. Pay off old debts, and set guidelines that will help you better handle your personal finances. Aim to eliminate stress, and incorporate discipline and stability. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Put your energy where it counts. If you waste time bickering with someone over something that is petty or can end up making you look bad, you’ll have regrets. Make personal changes that improve your emotional well-being. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Look at what you can accomplish, and implement the changes necessary to reach your goal. Fix up your surroundings to suit your needs. Having a place to develop a project or pursuit you want to achieve will enhance your success. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Get back to basics. Open your doors to people working toward a similar goal or those wanting to pitch in and help you bring about positive changes. Self-improvement and distancing yourself from bad influences are in your best interest. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Don’t let emotions come between you and common sense. Arguing will be a waste of time. Choose the best way to offer your services, suggestions or hands-on help without paying for something that isn’t your debt. Avoid indulgent behavior. Birthday Baby: You are open-minded and carefree. You are current and trendy.

WINGin’ it | OLIVIA WANG & BAILEE EGAN

Sudoku | The Mepham Group

Jumble | David Hoyt and Jeff knurek

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SPORTS

ndsmcobserver.com | Thursday, april 11, 2019 | The Observer

football

Sports Authority

Dirk retires from magical career Grant DelVecchio Assosciate Sports Editor

It took a heartfelt display of career reflection and nostalgia for Dirk Nowitzki to officially confirm what the basketball world has speculated all season: this past season was his last in a Mavericks uniform. The 7-foot, German-born Nowitzki rose from unknown foreign draft prospect to league MVP and NBA champion while revolutionizing the game with his combination of height and shooting touch. In doing so, he lifted Dallas from its doldrums to perennial contention and league-wide respect. Nowitzki is undoubtedly the greatest European-born player ever and, in my opinion, the second-best international player to ever play the game, behind only Hakeem Olajuwon. Dirk invented the stretch-five. While it has become commonplace for power forwards (the four position) to add a jump shot to their repertoire and effectively stretch out the defense, no center was even thinking about taking a shot from outside of the paint before Dirk came along. This was a 7-footer who had as pure a shooting stroke as anybody else in the league’s nearly 73-year history, and in his final home game in Dallas, Dirk fittingly became the oldest player to ever score 30 points in a game. Who held the record before Dirk? None other than Michael Jordan. Dirk played his entire 21-year career as part of the Mavericks organization, topping the list of players who spent their entire careers with one team. In recent years, Father Time has taken hold of Dirk and his aging body, and as a result, the majority of the population has forgotten just how impactful and successful Nowitzki’s career was. For those who have forgotten, let’s review the German’s accomplishments. Here’s the full list of players to score more points than Dirk in NBA history: Kareem AbdulJabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Michael Jordan. Furthermore, here’s a list of just some categories in which Dirk is the all-time leader in franchise history: games, minutes played, field goals, 3-point field goals, free throws, offensive, defensive and total rebounds, blocks, points, offensive, defensive and total win shares and value over replacement player (VORP). In terms of games played specifically, Dirk ranks third all-time out of all players with 1,520, sitting behind Robert Parish and Abdul-Jabbar. In the illustrious history of the NBA, there have only been seven

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players who have been able to say they are a part of the 50-40-90 club. To join, a player needs to shoot at least 50% from the field, 40% from 3-point range and 90% from the free-throw line. Dirk Nowitzki was able to add his name to the list during the 2006-2007 NBA season, the same year he won league MVP. He shoot 50.2% from the field, 41.6% on his 3-pointers, and 90.4% from the free throw line. Dirk also averaged 24.6 points, 8.9 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game in that historic campaign. Dirk has been named to 12 All-NBA teams over the course of his career, and has been selected as an All-Star 14 times. Arguably his greatest feat, however, is his team’s NBA Finals victory over the Miami Heat and their newly formed “Big Three” of LeBron, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in 2011. Dirk was named Finals MVP. Dirk led his team in scoring in five of the six games, playing well during the entire postseason playoff run. He averaged 39.3 minutes over the 21 games and produced an average of 27.7 points per game with seven rebounds. On the road to the title, the Nowitzki-led Mavs beat Portland in six games before sweeping the Lakers in round two. They lost just one game against the Thunder in the Western Conference finals before facing the Miami Heat for the title. During the finals, Dirk scored at least 21 points in every game. He averaged 26 points per game with 9.7 rebounds and two assists. The 2011 title for Dirk came five years after a crushing 2006 Finals defeat at the hands of Wade, Shaquille O’Neal and the Miami Heat. This past Tuesday night when Nowitzki played his last game in American Airlines Arena, it also marked the final home game of Wade’s career, and with that, two of the top-20 greatest players in NBA history signed off on unforgettable careers. I can’t honestly say whether or not there will be a player like Dirk ever again but someday, perhaps one transcendent NBA superstar will have the playoffs of a lifetime and win a championship through individual brilliance like Nowitzki did. Maybe James Harden or Giannis Antetokounmpo will do it this year. But it will take something truly special to match up to Dirk Nowitzki’s magical 2011 run, and his career as a whole. Contact Grant DelVecchio at gdelvecc@nd.edu The views expressed in this Sports Authority are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

Former ND RB charged after 5-year-old’s death Oberver Sports Staff

Former Notre Dame and NFL running back Cierre Wood has been arrested by Las Vegas police and charged with first-degree child abuse following the death of his girlfriend’s 5-year-old daughter. Both Wood and his girlfriend Amy Taylor are facing charges for the crime. After the child passed away in a Las Vegas hospital Tuesday night, authorities investigated and decided to press charges. Wood was

Shepard Continued from page 12

boxes, deciding she would don an Irish jersey for Muffet McGraw in the fall. She was granted immediate eligibility to play, in part due to the vast number of preseason injuries the squad had already sustained — a number which only grew over the course of the season. Shepard started 37-of-38 games as a junior. She also tallied 15 double-doubles over the course of the season, which was tied for the second-most in the ACC. As a senior, Shepard averaged a double-double, with 16.7 points per game and 10.3 rebounds per game. Shepard also set herself apart from other posts with her strong passing ability. She recorded 126 assists and 54 steals as a senior. In her two years at Notre Dame, Shepard averaged a 58% field-goal percentage and went 69.4% from the free-throw line.

Mabrey Continued from page 12

Mabrey finished her career at Notre Dame as Notre Dame’s all-time 3-point leader, with 274 3s made in her four years. She also finished her career with a 40% 3-point percentage. As a freshman, Mabrey and her older sister Michaela both played for the Irish. Mabrey started in just two games that season, but played in 35, averaging nearly 19 minutes per game and scoring 373 points. As a sophomore, Mabrey made her name as a shooting

held Wednesday night with $5,000 bail and is scheduled to appear in court Thursday morning. Wood, a senior on Notre Dame’s 2012 national runnerup team, was a highly productive back for the Irish in his three years of action, recording 2,447 career rushing yards — with a career 5.4 yards per carry average — and 384 career receiving yards, as well as 16 career touchdowns. Wood elected to forgo his fifth and final year of eligibility, having redshirted his

freshman year. After leaving Notre Dame, Wood went undrafted and ended up traveling around the NFL for two years, playing with the Houston Texans, New England Patriots, Baltimore Ravens, Seattle Seahawks and Buffalo Bills from 2013 to 2015. Most recently, Wood joined the Canadian football league in 2017, playing with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats before being traded to the Montreal Alouettes in May of that year. He was released from the team one year later.

The 6-foot-4 forward is listed as a forward on the Lynx roster, but can f lip between the 4 and the 5 positions. She will also have the opportunity to learn from a number of veterans on the Lynx roster, including 11-year veteran center Sylvia Fowles,

eight-year veteran forward Karima Christmas-Kelly and 15-year veteran forward Rebekkah Brunson. With their first pick of the 2019 WNBA Draft, the Lynx picked UConn senior guard Napheesa Collier with the No. 6 pick overall.

ANNA MASON | The Observer

Irish senior forward Jessica Shepard drives for the basket during Notre Dame’s 81-82 national championship loss Sunday to Baylor.

guard, starting 36 of the 37 games she played in. She shot 0.471 from the field and 0.383 from beyond the arc. She also averaged a career-high 14.6 points per game that year. As a junior, Mabrey’s role changed. When the Irish lost four players to the torn ACLs, including their point guard, graduate student Lili Thompson, Mabrey was forced into the 1-guard role and over the course of the season, was forced to adjust to running the point. She went from averaging 2.2 assists per game her freshmen and sophomore years to doubling that number her junior year. She also averaged 14.4

points per game as a junior and totaled 79 steals. Continuing to run the point her senior year, Mabrey tallied 171 assists, 434 points and 80 3-pointers. She shot 0.408 from beyond the 3-point line and 0.466 from the field, averaging 12.8 points per game. While Mabrey was the final pick for Notre Dame in the 2019 WNBA Draft, she was drafted in the top 20, marking the first time five players from the same team have been drafted in the top 20. It also just the second time five starters from the same team have been drafted in the same draft.

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 | thursday, april 11, 2019 | ndsmcobserver.com

Young Continued from page 12

basketball player all the way around — plays defense, can handle the ball, can attack the basket, rebounds — all the good traits of a quality basketball player. I think more importantly, for our team, we have a very fine nucleus of players, of really quality kids, and from all that we could gather this is a very quality kid, has a chance to be a good leader and a great teammate for many years to come.” Experts predicted the Aces would either pick Young in the top slot, or Asia Durr out of Louisville, if they opted to fill the guard slot they needed. At

Turner Continued from page 12

to the All-ACC Defensive Team four times. Turner finished out her career at Notre Dame with a 0.616 field-goal percentage. She also put in a dedicated effort to improve her free-throw shooting this season, bringing up her percentage to 70.2% this year, from just over 61% in her previous seasons. However, where Turner really set herself apart at Notre Dame

Ogunbowale Continued from page 12

in that she is a scorer. She is someone who puts the ball in the basket,” Bibb said. “She’s a player who can create her own shot. On top of that, I love her fearlessness. She wants the ball in the big moment and she certainly has proven to be able to deliver in that moment. I think she is especially dangerous in transition, and I think the program’s going to suit her very well. We’ve had a pretty good track record with Notre Dame guards in our organization, so I’m looking forward to having her join us.” In terms of the solid Notre Dame record the Wings have had, Ogunbowale will be sharing the roster with former Irish guard Skylar Diggins-Smith. Ogunbowale surpassed Diggins-Smith as Notre Dame’s all-time leading scorer when the Irish defeated Duke on Feb. 21. “I’m excited. I’m excited thinking about [the two playing together] right now. Not only do you have two Notre Dame graduates, but you have two really good basketball players,” Bibb said. “Skylar is a combo guard so she certainly runs the point, but she can score the basketball as well, and within Arike’s dynamic game I think it will create a lot of matchup challenges for the opposition. And the other guards as well, Tayler Hill and Allisha Grey, Kaela Davis, I

6-foot, however, it was Young who could not be overlooked. “Just her physique, she has a professional basketball body, which carries her a long way but also her basketball intelligence,” Laimbeer said of what will make his No. 1 pick successful in the professional league. “She defers when she has to, to her teammates to make them better which is a great trait to have and a quality teammate also.” On the Aces’ roster, Young will join two former Irish players in 2014 alum and former No. 3 overall pick Kayla McBride and 2017 alum Lindsay Allen. She also joins A’ja Wilson, who was the No. 1 draft pick in 2018 and Kelsey Plum, who was the No. 1 draft pick in 2017.

Young finished her threeyear career at Notre Dame with a 0.512 field-goal percentage, a 0.364 3-point percentage and 685 rebounds (with 281 coming this season). Young averaged 14.7 points per game as a junior and 14.5 as a sophomore, finishing her career with 1,351 points. She was also a nearly-80% freethrow shooter, finishing the season with a 0.790 career percentage. She wrapped up the season with 128 career steals and 378 career assists, the latter of which more than doubled this season, as she recorded 192 this year. Young also recorded two triple-doubles this year. The first came against Tennessee on Jan. 24 and the second came against Virginia on Mar. 3. She

started all 38 games as a sophomore and all but two games as a junior (those two games came when she injured her ankle midseason). Laimbeer also noted that every player has adjustments to make to a faster-paced, higher caliber game when they come out of college. For Young, he feels those adjustments will revolve around confidence and taking her shots when she has them, something she struggled with at times in college. “I think just being more aggressive when it’s her time,” Laimbeer said of the improvements Young will need to make. “She deferred a lot, there’s a lot of quality players on Notre Dame and a lot of people that wanted to score but

in our league you have to score and there’s no question. She’s the all-time leading scorer in Indiana high school basketball so she’s got it, she just has to get out there and let’s go to work.” When Young arrives in Las Vegas, Laimbeer expects his new star talent to meld right into the system he has in place, as the program is only in its second year. “We’re a pretty wide-open system right now,” he said. “Last year, tried to understand what we have as players, we’re gonna continue that. I expect her to [spend] a significant amount of time handling the ball.”

was on the defensive side of the court. She finished her career at Notre Dame as the all-time rebounds leader and, as of the culmination of the national semifinal game, the all-time blocks leader for the Irish, beating out Ruth Riley, who had held the record since her graduation in 2001. She became just the third Notre Dame player with 80 blocks in a season as a freshman, joining Riley and Shari Matvey. As a freshman, Turner earned a place on the NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team,

averaging nearly 16 points, nine rebounds and two blocks. She also recorded 10 double-doubles that season. As a sophomore, Turner was troubled with a shoulder injury, missing six games as a result. However, she started the other 29 games she played. She led the ACC in fieldgoal percentage and in blocked shots. Three of her five doubledoubles as a sophomore came in the postseason, one in the ACC tournament and two in the NCAA tournament, proving her ability to perform on the biggest stages. As a junior,

Turner started in all 35 games and led the ACC in field-goal percentage and blocks once again. She also recorded seven double-doubles. However, her career also took a turn when she tore her left ACL in the second round of the NCAA tournament, against Purdue. Turner took off her senior year to rehab her knee and became one of the “tore four,” the four Irish players who tore their ACLs that season. However, she returned in full force as a graduate student. She scored a season-high 24 points against

North Carolina in March and grabbed a season-high 15 rebounds and five blocks against UConn in the national semifinal on April 5. Those five blocks also allowed propelled her past Riley for the all-time Notre Dame blocks record. As a graduate student, she averaged 0.632 field-goal percentage and 7.8 rebounds per game. She also posted 109 blocks, 43 steals and scored 559 points, averaging 14.3 points per game. At 6-foot-3, Turner will likely be listed as a center on her WNBA roster.

think we’re going to have a very talented backcourt.” For Ogunbowale, playing alongside Diggins-Smith is an exciting prospect and something she hopes will prove to be a learning experience. “That’s really big. I mean, she’s a great guard. I never was able to play with her. She was a lot older than me, but she’s a great guard and I’ve seen her do some great things in the league,” she said. “So I’m just really excited to be able to learn from her.” Ogunbowale finished her Irish career with 2,626 points, 690 rebounds, 362 assists and 194 steals. She will graduate with a 0.444 field-goal percentage, a 0.393 3-point percentage and a 0.77 freethrow percentage. As a senior, Ogunbowale averaged 21.8 points per game. Bibb said he feels Ogunbowale will continue to be a scoring guard in the Wings program. “I see her as a 2-guard, a scoring guard. I think she’ll fit well with us,” he said. “We have a lot of talent on our roster but I fully expect her to come in and win a roster spot and be a big part of our team for this year and for the foreseeable future.” While Ogunbowale said she still has a lot to learn about Dallas and the organization as a whole, one of the things she associates with the Wings right off the bat is its stellar guard play, which is extremely exciting for her, as a shooting

guard. “I know they have great guard play and I know they have some solid posts. I’m definitely looking for a little bit more [information],” she said. “I didn’t really search [because] I didn’t know if they were going to pick me or not, but I’m definitely going to look into it. But I’m just excited regardless.” Ogunbowale also said she will need to focus on improving her speed when she first arrives in Dallas, as the league is made up of the premier basketball players in the world. “You know, just keep excelling my game, get ready for the competitive nature there,” she said. “You know, they’re a lot bigger, they’re a lot faster [in the WNBA]. So definitely just let my game reach that potential and you know, that level.” Bibb feels an increased attention to the defensive side of the ball will also play an important role in Ogunbowale’s adjustment to the WNBA. “This is the best 144 players in the world, so there’s an adjustment for every player from the college game to the WNBA, regardless of where you came from and who you played for and the kind of competition you faced,” he said. “That said, I think Arike, probably, there will be an enhanced attention to defense. I think there’s probably an opportunity for her to continue to improve in that aspect of her game. But I have no question that she will come in and she will do great

things for us, and we’re excited to have her on the roster.” Ogunbowale was also able to look back on her four years at Notre Dame fondly, discussing the effect her time at the University has had on her. “I mean, it’s my everything. It’s such an amazing school and not just about basketball. They’re always a top school in the country and academics,” she said. “And you know I’ve just met so many great people. The alumni, they love

us; the fans, they love us. The support. I know they’re going to follow us to, you know, follow me to Dallas, follow Jackie, Marina [Mabrey], Jess [Shepard], Bri [Turner]. So, definitely, just the support, but being able to play for those coaches, Hall of Fame staff and I learned a lot from them every day for four years. So I’m just truly grateful.”

Contact Elizabeth Greason at egreason@nd.edu

Contact Elizabeth Greason at egreason@nd.edu

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12

The observer | thursday, april 11, 2019 | ndsmcobserver.com

nd women’s basketball

5-for-5

Irish send all 5 starters to WNBA for first time in school history

No. 1: Jackie Young

No. 5: Arike Ogunbowale

By ELIZABETH GREASON

By ELIZABETH GREASON

Senior Sports Writer

Senior Sports Writer

Irish junior guard Jackie Young was selected as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 WNBA Draft by the Las Vegas Aces. After losing in the national championship game Sunday, the junior guard had until 7 p.m. Monday to declare whether or not she would be returning to Notre Dame for her senior year, ultimately choosing to enter the Draft. She became the second Notre Dame player ever to go as the top pick, following Jewell Loyd, who went No. 1 overall in the 2015 Draft. Young is also just the third junior ever to be the top pick, along with Loyd and former Tennessee player Candace Parker, who turned pro in 2008 and still plays for the Los Angeles Sparks. Las Vegas Aces head coach and general manager Bill Laimbeer said he feels Young is not only a quality fit for his program in terms of basketball because of her versatility, but she also fits in terms of personality. “We looked at our roster and we tried to assess what we could really use and we needed another guard and she has great strength. I mean her physicality is second-to-none in all the guards that were out there,” he said. “She’s a quality

Senior guard Arike Ogunbowale was selected as the No. 5 overall pick in the first round of the WNBA Draft by the Dallas Wings. Ogunbowale has been one of top names in this year’s draft class since she made back-to-back buzzer-beaters to defeat UConn and Mississippi State in the 2018 Final Four and became the second member of the Irish starting five drafted in the top five this year. Ogunbowale said she was thrilled to be selected so high in the draft and she was proud to have been wanted by Dallas. “[I just felt] excitement, you know, for the coach wanting me to be on their team, wanting me to help the program and just, you know, just choosing me,” Ogunbowale said. “Really, just really a lot of excitement.” Wings president and CEO Greg Bibb said he was attracted to Ogunbowale at the No. 5 pick because of her ability to score and her ability to prove herself and rise to the occassion when the spotlight is shining at its brightest. “I think Arike is a unique player

see YOUNG PAGE 10

No. 11: Brianna Turner

see OGUNBOWALE PAGE 10

No. 16: Jessica Shepard

No. 19: Marina Mabrey

Oberver Sports Staff

Oberver Sports Staff

Oberver Sports Staff

Irish graduate student forward Brianna Turner was selected as the No. 11 picked in the first round of the WNBA Draft by the Atlanta Dream, but the Phoenix Mercury traded for her draft rights, landing her in a camp among legends, including Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner. By being selected in the first round, Turner marked the first time Notre Dame has ever had three firstround picks. The Irish were also the only program this season to have three first-round picks. While Turner’s Notre Dame career was riddled with injuries, from shoulder surgeries to an ACL tear that kept her out for her senior year, she made an immense comeback in her fifth year. Ultimately, the 6-foot-3 forward proved herself as both an offensive and a defensive presence on the court. She was named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year three times: in 2016, in 2017 and again in 2019 and was named

Irish senior forward Jessica Shepard was selected as the No. 16 overall pick in the WNBA Draft by the Minnesota Lynx. In the absence of Lynx star Maya Moore this season, Shepard could serve as an option to fill her spot. Shepard spent her first two years of eligibility at Nebraska, where she made a name for herself as the Big Ten Freshman of the Year. She was the first Nebraska player to earn all-conference honors as a freshman, being named to the First-Team All-Big Ten in 2016 as a freshman and she made Second-Team All-Big Ten as a sophomore. As a sophomore, she nearly averaged a double-double, with 18.6 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. Shepard made the decision to transfer from Nebraska after her sophomore year. She looked at South Carolina and Notre Dame and quickly decided Notre Dame checked all the

Senior guard Marina Mabrey was selected as the No. 19 overall pick in the WNBA Draft by the Los Angeles Sparks, the seventh pick of the second round. Mabrey was the Sparks’ second pick of the 2019 Draft, coming after Baylor center Kalani Brown, who was taken with the No. 7 pick. The Sparks made the playoffs last season, finishing sixth in the league in the regular season before falling to the Washington Mystics in the WNBA quarterfinals. Mabrey is not the first Irish player to grace the Sparks with her presence; former Irish forward Kathryn Westbeld, who graduated last season after captaining the Irish to a national championship, received a Sparks training camp contract, before being cut from the final roster.

see TURNER PAGE 10

see SHEPARD PAGE 9

see MABREY PAGE 9 Anna mason and LiNA domenella | The Observer


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