Print Edition of The Observer for November 21, 2019

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Volume 54, Issue 54 | thursday, november 21, 2019 | ndsmcobserver.com

Police discuss student safety Local law enforcement take questions about security concerns, dorm access

By Natalie Weber Assistant Managing Editor

Local law enforcement responded to questions about the new dorm swipe access policy, emergency blue lights on campus, discrimination at Notre Dame and other student safety concerns during a panel hosted by student government and the Notre Dame Police Department (NDPD) in the LaFortune Ballroom on Wednesday night.

Panelists included NDPD captain Rob Martinez, NDPD major George Heeter, NDPD deputy chief Steve Smith and major Steve Noonan of the St. Joseph County Police Department. Attendees were

Study Abroad changes Observer Staff Report

Notre Dame has suspended all programming in Hong Kong for the spring 2020 semester in the wake of ongoing anti-government protests, the University announced in a press release Wednesday.

According to the release, 14 Notre Dame students were due to study in Hong Kong next semester at three separate institutions — the University of Hong Kong, the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

In the release, vice president and associate provost for internationalization Michael Pippenger said the student safety was the primary motivator for the University’s decision.

The school is working with the 14 students to find other study abroad options.

“International exposure is an important part of a Notre Dame education, and we reluctantly suspended programming in Hong Kong because student safety must be paramount,” he said in the release.

NEWS PAGE 3

invited to submit questions through the app, Poll Everywhere, or ask them publicly using a microphone.

Multiple questions centered around whether NDPD has considered increasing the number of blue light phone systems, which are mainly located on the perimeter of Notre Dame’s campus. There are about 65 blue light emergency stations on campus currently, Martinez said.

Smith said there has been discussion about increasing the number of blue lights, but currently, they are not used very frequently.“I think folks know where they are, and they know see SAFETY PAGE 4

Rape reported at ND Observer Staff Report

Photo courtesy of Natalie Weber

Notre Dame student government hosted members of the NDPD on Wednesday night to address questions about campus security.

A rape was reported to the Notre Dame Title IX office Nov. 15, according to the Notre Dame Police Department’s (NDPD) Tuesday crime log.

The alleged incident took place Nov. 10 and occurred in a north women’s residence hall, the crime log said.

Information about sexual assault prevention and resources for survivors of sexual assault are available online from the NDPD and Title IX office websites.

Belles for Life promote pro-choice, pro-life discussions on campus

By Maeve Filbin Saint Mary’s News Editor

Belles for Life and the Cartesian Society invited Saint Mary’s students into open conversation Wednesday night with a pro-life and pro-choice discussion.

Those who participated in the discussion were required to register beforehand and declare their stance on the issue. Upon arriving, the students were split into small groups of mixed opinions.

On each table, sheets of paper posed six discussion questions for the small group, asking students to consider their own identity on the pro-choice to pro-life spectrum, the personal experiences that formed this opinion, issues surrounding reproductive rights and any positive or negative experiences they’ve had on campus.

Other printed handouts outlined “Five Ways to Respond to Someone You Disagree With,” including “respecting honesty,”

“understanding different values,” “giving something back,” “finding a middle ground” and “being a good human.”

Megan Zwart, philosophy professor and department chair, said she was excited to see how the discussion mirrored the style of her course in dialogue and civil discourse.

“My hope is that students will learn skills in that class, but then they’ll get excited about having conversations about difficult

topics outside of class,” Zwart said.

“And so this is the perfect example of students taking initiative and, you know, seeing the conversation that they think we need to work on around campus and then doing that work. So I’m proud to see it happen.”

Senior Elisabeth Barrett, president of the Cartesian Society, the new philosophy club approved just after fall break, said see ABORTION PAGE 4

Interfaith conversation promotes Catholic, Muslim dialogue

By Andrew Cameron Associate News Editor

On Wednesday evening, two religious leaders spoke in Nanovic Hall to discuss the need for interfaith dialogue in modern times, especially between Muslims and Catholics. The Keough School of Global Affairs hosted the event, an interfaith conversation between Daoud

SCENE PAGE 5

Casewit, president of American Islamic College, and Cardinal Blase Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago. The conversation, entitled “Commemorating the Sultan and the Saint: A Christian-Muslim Dialogue,” celebrated the 800th anniversary of St. Francis of Assisi crossing battle lines during the Fifth Crusade to meet peacefully with Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil of Egypt.

VIEWPOINT PAGE 6

University President Fr. John Jenkins introduced the speakers.

Scott Appleby, dean of the Keough School, delivered a second introduction. Though differing in beliefs and traditions, he said, Islam and other world religions share an emphasis on human dignity with Catholic social teaching.

The event was moderated by Mahan Mirza, an Islamic scholar at the Keough School and

executive director of the Rafat and Zoreen Ansari Institute for Global Engagement with Religion. Mirza began the conversation by allowing each guest to deliver opening remarks, starting with Cardinal Cupich.

“We live in an era where the idea of a clash of civilizations is shaping the understanding of

M BASKETBALL PAGE 12

W BASKETBALL PAGE 12

see INTERFAITH PAGE 4

2

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Students get in the Christmas spirit during the Notre Dame vs. Navy football game this past weekend by wearing Christmas tree hats to the game. Another group of students sported matching Bob Ross costumes. Notre Dame defeated annual rival Navy 52-20.

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3

SGA, RHA join efforts in hosting lip sync battle

By CALLIE PATRICK News Writer

Paths between the Student Government Association (SGA) and Residence Hall Association (RHA) may not cross often in everyday campus life, but they came together to throw a lip sync battle Wednesday.

Big Belle Little Belle cochair and senior Moira LeMay said the battle, cosponsored by Big Belle Little Bell and RHA, was created “to give girls something to do after classes, take a break from studying and just hang out.”

RHA co-president of events Lucia O’Quinn said she knew Big Belle Little Belle had an interest in hosting an event featuring singing. Sine RHA

typically hosts a karaoke event, the senior thought to combine the two groups’ ideas.

“Big Belle Little Belle, they wanted to do something for their bigs and their littles, and I was thinking for RHA karaoke we did something 90s themed, and this event just became a kind of 90s themed lip sync battle type thing,” she said.

O’Quinn found that the event was an instrumental step to “getting RHA and SGA to work together.”

“I hope that people realize that even though we’re two separate organizations, we really work together because there had been problems in the past between them,” O’Quinn said.

LeMay said the event was

“something [they] might want to do [again] later on.”

Big Belle Little Belle has around 200 members, so committee organizers worked to make sure they had the appropriate space to accommodate their lip sync battles, Big Belle Little Belle co-chair Sarah Austin said.

“We had it in [Carroll Auditorium] so that we can give an opportunity for the bigs and the littles to come to an event together,” the junior said. “In general the space was really good for us just because we have a really large club and we couldn’t predict how many girls would come.

So in the event that they all did come, they’d fill the seats.”

The event started with an icebreaker, and once the girls

were ready to battle, prizes were theirs to win.

“We started off with a group dance, so we did the Cupid Shuff le. That way a lot of girls felt comfortable getting up because if we’re being goof y they feel like they can be goof y, too,” Austin said.

Prizes for winners included large makeup bags, blankets, face masks, beauty products, coffee mugs and gift cards for Uber, Starbucks and Chick-Fil-A. “I really enjoyed seeing the bigs and littles coming together,” Austin said. “[One little and big pair] did matching shirts and [performed] ‘You’ve got a friend in me’ from Toy Story, and had a little dance together. It was really cute, so seeing them making friends, interacting

with the other girls were really good.”

Competitors were not limited to big and little pairs.

Some of the committee members performed as well.

Committee members from SGA and RHA reiterated their joint effort of the event by performed together.

By the end of the night, O’Quinn said the event was meant to be a place for students to let go of work and have an enjoyable evening.

“I think just that it’s a place for inclusivity for all students and just to have fun,” she said. “You know it’s not just all about school work and college, you have to have some type of social life.”

Contact Callie Patrick at cpatrick01@saintmarys.edu

Senate discusses recent student protests

By JACK JERIT News Writer

In its weekly meeting Wednesday, the Notre Dame student senate met to pass a resolution to standardize impeachment across the student union and to remove references to the Orientation Steering Committee as a special-interest group. After both resolutions were passed in about 10 minutes, the senate prepared to leave when Patrick Paulsen, the Off Campus Council secretary, and the proxy for the Off Campus president at the meeting, Katie O’Sullivan, asked to discuss the recent student protests in Stanford Hall concerning parietals and hate speech.

“Students want their voices heard, and this is the forum where that is supposed to happen, so it is our imperative to discuss that and what we think about it,” Paulsen said.

“Especially given the fact that they are going to protest again and likely could be threatened with expulsion, and the fact that students have to be under the threat of expulsion to express their voices is not only an insult on the administration as a whole but, if we don’t take that seriously, it is also an insult on us as student government.”

Following some brief concerns about the proper parliamentary procedure for enacting the debate, the senators began discussing whether the debate should be held. A number of senators were not completely familiar with the situation or the protesters’ demands, so student body president senior Elizabeth Boyle provided context to any senators who were not familiar with the situation.

After Boyle and her chief of staff senior Linde Hoffman explained the protests, some senators requested to meet with a representative from the protesting group.

“This is something really important that we are seeing happen on campus that we need to talk about,” Jackson Oxler, a sophomore senator from Duncan Hall, said. “I think it might be a little premature for us to have this conversation without somebody from the group or organization.”

(Editor’s note: Jackson Oxler is a news writer for The Observer.)

However, after being reminded by Hoffman the senate would not be meeting again for two weeks due to Thanksgiving break, the senate decided to have the discussion and moved into debate of the protest. Debate began with Paulsen commenting on the role of student government.

“There is a conversation going on about students’ rights as protesters, and then there’s the issue of what they’re protesting,” Paulsen said. “That’s what student government should be for: The fact that people now have a voice and they need it expressed. That’s what student government is for: Expressing student voices, and the fact that they have to go outside of that looks bad on us, and I think it’s imperative for us as student leaders to talk about what students are saying and to see where we stand on it.”

Senior Quentin Cole, the off campus senator, made it clear the senate condemns the slurs leveled that night.

“Going back to homophobic slurs, I think every single person in this room

thinks that’s reprehensible and thinks that we should all condemn that,” Cole said.

“As for the other parts of the end, I’m not as familiar … they disagree with parietals; I personally don’t like parietals, but maybe calling them racist and homophobic might do a disservice to those words.”

Hoffman spoke about the executive council’s and rectors’ role in the protest.

“We’ve essentially been working nonstop since Saturday to try to figure out exactly what we should be doing about it. The biggest thing, however, is that we don’t want to be speaking for any of these groups because we want to lift up their voices as much as possible because we don’t want to act as surrogates for them when they deserve their voices to be heard just as much as student government,” Hoffman said. “Because we are like the main point of contact with the administration, they speak to us a lot. And so we end up being the liaison between both groups to each other.”

Hoffman said she hoped to bring a representative into the conversation in the future.

“It might be good to get some of the representatives from this movement involved in these kinds of conversations,” Hoffman said. “I know that like, we can’t necessarily ask any of them to come now, but I think it would be great if we would be able to perhaps follow up and be able to respond to senate in an email to you guys, if they’re willing to share some of the reasoning behind why they’re doing all the things that they’re doing.

But also the Observer [Letter

to the Editor] that was put out today … provides a pretty good explanation for where they’re coming from.”

Many senators wondered how to properly protest, especially since this protest broke parietals.

“That kind of gets into the core of what we should be focusing on as a senate here.

Sure they were breaking rules, but what they were doing was protesting. It’s necessary in protesting to break the rules.

If you don’t believe that, then read a history book, that’s how protests work,” Paulsen said. “I think the fact that students can be threatened with expulsion for peaceful civil disobedience [is] abhorrent, and I think as a senate, we have to say we support students’ right to protest — even if that maybe goes outside the bounds.”

Several senators pointed out since the University is private, it allows them to have more leverage — effective protesting still does break the rules, which enables the administration to give out punishments, they said.

“By definition, you’re breaking a rule, and while the punishment may not necessarily fit the crime, it is the administration’s responsibility to choose what the punishment is,” Keegan McArdle, a sophomore senator from Dunne Hall, said. “If they deem expulsion fit, I mean, we may not see it that way, but if they wanted that to happen, then they can do that. It’s not like we have a right to be here.

This is a private Catholic University.”

The continuing discussion was brief ly interrupted

by Paulsen giving his final thoughts on the role of the government in the matter before leaving the room.

“… We keep talking about the administration, we say they can do this to us. They can do this. Who are they?

Who’s Notre Dame? We’re Notre Dame,” Paulsen said. “… I’ve heard thousands of other students complain to the student government.

And every single time their response is, ‘we have to go through the channels in place,’ and maybe that’s true. Maybe that’s all we can do. But I’ve also seen the University step all over students’ interests, repeatedly ignore our voices and repeatedly do decisions that no one supports. I’d like to see once in my career at Notre Dame that student government opposes that. That’s all I have to say.”

The speech prompted sophomore Thomas Davis, the parliamentarian, to remind the senate about the official channels available to the senate and how valuable they are despite Paulsen’s comments.

Rojas and junior Halena Hadi, judicial council president, said it is powerful for the entire student union to be in solidarity with each other on the issue.

The student senate then elected to postpone further debate for the night.

McArdle agreed to postpone the debate, but proposed an emergency senate meeting before the upcoming break to continue the discussion with a representative from the protesters.

The senate adjourned agreeing to decide on a time for the emergency meeting. Should this be the case, the meeting would be closed door.

Contact Jack Jerit at jjerit@nd.edu

4

NEWS

The observer | thursday, november 21, 2019 | ndsmcobserver.com

Safety Continued from page 1

they can utilize them anytime they want, but to be quite honest, very few calls … are actually coming through those devices,” Smith said.

“So if there is a need to increase [blue light emergency stations], we would certainly do that, but again we don’t get a lot of information or a lot of requests for service through those.”

Several attendees also raised questions about safety following the implementation of the new dorm swipe access policy, which restricts students’ swipe access to their own dorms. Questions raised were concerns about people allowing strangers into their dorms, and attendees asked if there were any policies in the works to address this issue.

Smith said he doesn’t know of any pending policies yet that are to be implemented in the dorms soon.

“The one thing I would suggest

Abortion Continued from page 1

the discussion was arranged in a manner similar to those that took place in Zwart’s class, with small groups of mixed opinions.

“No one is going to be overloaded or feel one-sided,” Barrett said. “We’re listening with the intention to learn and understand rather than debate, combat. It’s not an argument. It’s a learning opportunity, I would say. I’m really hoping that it brings everyone who comes here closer together.

Ideally, the entire campus.”

Belles for Life has been working on a discussion session for a long time, but struggled to find a group that would act as a co-host, Barrett said. The philosophy club was quick to collaborate, she said.

“I think coming out as a philosophy club, it paints us as pretty neutral,” she said. “In philosophy, you explore different perspectives. It’s very open. There isn’t really such a thing as, ‘That’s a bad idea’ or like, ‘That’s a bad opinion.’ And that’s pretty much what philosophy is — building upon different thoughts, different values, opinions, beliefs — all that.”

Many of the Cartesian Society board members are pro-choice, Barrett said, but all were open to joining the discussion and excited to tackle an issue that they believe to be urgent and important.

“We’re very excited to jump at this because … this is a

Interfaith Continued from page 1

international relations permitted, particularly in terms of the power between Islam and the West in our time,” Cupich said.

Daoud Casewit then delivered his opening remarks. He reflected on the meeting of St. Francis with Sultan Al-Kamil, and said that openness to such dialogue is supported by

is make sure you never leave a door propped open,” Smith said. “That’s been an issue in the past. … We encourage you not to do that, because it invites folks to come on in anytime they want. So to the extent that you can, I would ask that you monitor who comes in and not necessarily just let anybody in.”

In response, one attendee submitted a question, raising concerns that women in particular might not feel comfortable turning away men who come to their dorms.

The question asked if “full-time clerks” could be implemented in dorms to monitor who enters and exits.

“That would be a great solution,” Smith said. “However, I think trying to staff an entrance like that is challenging.”

Smith said NDPD has also considered installing cameras at the entrances of dorms to keep track of who comes into the dorm.

“It’s early on in those discussions, but that is something that could help mitigate some of that,” he said. “And I understand it’s

challenging. So what I would recommend, again, is getting to know your officers in the building. If there’s certain times of day that this is becoming an issue, let your officers know. Make them aware of that, and we can set extra patrols during that time.”

In response, a student asked why the dorm swipe access policy was implemented, and suggested tracking students’ entrance to dorms with ID cards would be easier than other proposed safety solutions.

“I think the University would have a perfect solution to address that issue, but it is very challenging to utilize a card so that every single person has to go through and that access is recorded, so we have documentation of that,” Smith said. “Again, that comes down to a University decision.”

Martin added that the policy mirrored what other schools have enacted.

“There was some benchmarking done on the process,” he said.

“They’ve also been following some

other universities that have actually implemented this policy.

One question asked about how NDPD would response to racist slurs and threats to students of color on campus, especially in light of threats to minority students at Syracuse. NDPD is also investigating reports of “biased slurs” directed toward students Friday and Saturday that sparked a protest against hate speech.

“Obviously, that’s something we want folks to report to us,” Smith said. “If you see behavior like that, or you learn of behavior like that, we want to know about it right away.”

In response to a question about discrimination against LGBTQ students, law enforcement also encouraged students to report incidents to the police.

Smith also discussed options for students who report sexual assault to law enforcement.

“You have the option of saying ‘I want Notre Dame Police Department and the investigative team in Notre Dame Police

Department to investigate that,’” he said. “Or, in St. Joseph County, we also have a Special Victims Unit … and as a student, you have the option of opting for them to investigate that crime as well.”

When asked about safety in South Bend, Noonan recommended traveling in groups and being aware of one’s location. He also explained the situations that generally give rise to violence in South Bend.

“Generally that violence is directed for a variety of reasons,” he said. “Sometimes it’s gang activity, sometimes a social media post can trigger violence. … The best thing for students is to stay in a group [and] always know where you’re going.”

Heeter offered similar advice.

“Know your surroundings, [there’s] strength in numbers, so always be with a group of other individuals,” he said.

conversation we need to have on campus and it is extremely divided,” Barrett said. “You’ll see posters up that Belles for Life have around campus and other people will write on it, like slander it. And personally, I am pro-choice, but I don’t think that you should disrespect other opinions like that still at the end of the day.”

The event was intended to be more of a discussion than a debate, Barrett said, and overall, an exercise in listening and learning.

“I think what’s great about this event is that it encompasses a lot of listening, a lot of learning and respect and it kind of reminds us all that we are all women, that we do care about people,” she said.

“It’s shown that ... at the end of the day, we all care about life in whichever capacity.”

This type of open-minded conversation is meant to create safe spaces on campus, senior Morgan Chichester, president of Belles for Life, said.

“It’s just basically just opening up the discussion in a civil way,” Chichester said. “This is just an event just for people to express their beliefs in an open safe environment on campus.”

Chichester said she hopes participants leave the discussion having felt heard and encouraged to continue these conversations outside of their small groups.

“I hope that people walk away with just a sense that they can express what they believe and

… just growing in a deeper sense of listening to different people’s beliefs, and that we can just have more discussions like this on campus,” she said.

Sophomore transfer student Annastacia Thompson said she identifies as pro-choice, and did not expect her opinions to change after the discussion.

“I came to listen,” Thompson said, “Just to hear the other side and maybe understand it more.”having conversations about difficult topics outside of class,” Zwart said. “And so this is the perfect example of students taking initiative and, you know, seeing the conversation that they think we need to work on around campus and then doing that work. So I’m proud to see it happen.”

Senior Elisabeth Barrett, president of the Cartesian Society, the new philosophy club approved just after fall break, said the discussion was arranged in a manner similar to those that took place in Zwart’s class, with small groups of mixed opinions.

“No one is going to be overloaded or feel like one-sided,” Barrett said. “We’re listening with the intention to learn and understand rather than debate, combat. Like it’s not an argument. It’s a learning opportunity, I would say. I’m really hoping that it brings everyone who comes here, closer together. Ideally, the entire campus.”

Belles for Life has been

working on a discussion session for a long time, but struggled to find a group that would act as a co-host, Barrett said. The philosophy club was quick to collaborate, she said.

“I think coming out as a philosophy club, it paints us as pretty neutral,” she said. “In philosophy you explore different perspectives. It’s very open. There isn’t really such a thing as like ‘that’s a bad idea’ or like, ‘that’s a bad opinion.’ And that’s pretty much what philosophy is – building upon different thoughts, different values, opinions, beliefs, like all that.”

Many of the Cartesian Society board members are pro-choice, Barrett said, but all were open to joining the discussion and excited to tackle an issue that they believe to be urgent and important.

“We’re very excited to jump at this because … this is a conversation we need to have on campus and it is extremely divided,” Barrett said. “You’ll see posters up that Belles for Life have around campus and other people will write on it, like slander it.

And personally, I am pro-choice, but I don’t think that you should disrespect other opinions like that still at the end of the day.”

The event was intended to be more of a discussion than a debate, Barrett said, and overall, an exercise in listening and learning.

“I think what’s great about this event is that it encompasses a lot

of listening, a lot of learning and respect and it kind of reminds us all that we are all women, that we do care about people,” she said.

“It’s shown that ... at the end of the day, we all care about life in whichever capacity.”

This type open-minded conversation is meant to create safe spaces on campus, senior Morgan Chichester, president of Belles for Life, said.

“It’s just basically just opening up the discussion in a civil way,” Chichester said. “This is just an event just for people to express their beliefs in an open safe environment on campus.”

Chichester said she hopes participants leave the discussion having felt heard and feeling encouraged to continue these conversations outside of their small groups.

“I hope that people walk away with just a sense that they can express what they believe and … just growing in a deeper sense of listening to different people’s beliefs, and that we can just have more discussions like this on campus.”

Sophomore transfer student Annastacia Thompson said she identifies as pro-choice, and did not expect her opinions to change after the discussion, “I came to listen,” Thompson said, “Just to hear the other side and maybe understand it more.”

Islamic scripture.

“While such an appreciation of the religious ‘other’ has generally been the exception rather than the rule, with the world of today so prone to exclusivism and bigotry, there is a solid basis for it in the Quran,” he said.

Cupich said both parties must make the active decision to engage in open dialogue.

“We have to in some way find the internal freedom to make

a decision to make our lives count. If what they did 800 years ago is an aberration, then I want more aberrations,” he said.

Casewit said such conversations need to be approached with care to ensure that one does not relativize their faith.

Mirza addressed the tension between exclusivity and inclusivity, and asked the guests if accepting interfaith dialogue was possible without one party

attempting to convert the other.

“Can we truly get peace by accepting another as permanently remaining as another [religion] or is there somewhere, deep down in every interfaith conversation, the desire to convert?” he asked.

Cupich said that engagement with others should not just be about trying to convert them, but living authentically.

“We do have a difference between what we do in sharing

our faith, and engagement with people in order to increase market share for your community, and that’s not what we’re about,” he said. “What we should be concerned about is living our lives in an authentic way, so that God gives the other person the inspiration to take up the life that inspires them.”

Contact Natalie Weber at nweber@nd.edu

Contact Maeve Filbin at mfilbin01@saintmarys.edu

Contact Andrew Cameron at acamero2@nd.edu

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The observer | thursday, november 21, 2019 | ndsmcobserver.com

By DESSI GOMEZ Scene Writer

BookTuber Christine Riccio has crafted a heartwrenching, young adult love story by bringing together sets of opposites. The novel’s main character — 20-year-old pre-med college student Shane Primaveri — takes the ultimate leap of faith out into the world by undertaking a study abroad program in London halfway through her junior year. Unknown to her demanding parents, Shane’s program lets her indulge in what she loves: creative writing.

In addition to an ever-looming future of medical school and a passion for creative writing, Riccio uses various icons of popular culture as a foundation from which to build her plot. These include Taylor Swift, Harry Potter, Disney, Lost, The Beatles and much more.

Riccio helps the reader feel Shane’s excitement about writing when she attends her classes and starts her internship at a British travel magazine, “Packed! For Travel.” She also does a stellar job of establishing a strong connection between Shane and Pilot — the former’s very-attractive flat mate and fellow study abroad participant. Their witty banter is sure to elicit laughter from any reader at multiple points throughout the story.

While the story certainly start off on a

By COLLEEN FISCHER Scene Writer

From simply watching “The Avengers,” one might not think much of their member Hawkeye. What chance does a man with a bow and a quiver of a few arrows have against an army of aliens? This David-and-Goliath scenario has led to late-night and SNL parodies across repeatedly. But someone who truly thinks of Hawkeye in the way such shows describe has certainly never read the recently published eponymous comic “Hawkeye” by authors and illustrators Matt Fraction and David Aja. The recently launched Disney+ streaming service is releasing a TV show in 2021 based on this comic, which will feature Hailee Steinfeld and Jeremy Renner as the two Hawkeyes: Kate Bishop and Clint Barton. There are rumors that the show, as with its comic counterpart, will differ drastically from the Hawkeye we see in the “Avengers” films.

The comic book, taking place after Clint Barton’s stint as Ronin, exhibits the two Hawkeyes battling streetlevel crime with humor, an intense amount of bandaids and coffee. The first issue opens with an iconic set of words — “This looks bad” — and Clint, falling out of a window onto a car below, lamenting about how hanging with the Avengers makes him sometimes forget his own mortality, addressing the same joke as those parodies and skits which have mocked Hawkeye. If you read the “Black Widow” comics published recently along with

happy-go-luck note for Shane, a surprise visit from her parents suddenly complicates her attempt to break away from those troubles which linger at home. Her unsuspecting mother and father only compound an already-awkward visit from Pilot’s girlfriend of three months, Amy. This series of events create one of two major downward spirals that contribute to this roller coaster of a book — the first taking place in 2011 and the second in 2017.

That’s right, the first half of the book takes place in 2011. About halfway through readers are shown Shane’s life six years later in 2017. Riccio reconciles these two time periods the only way possible: time travel.

Thus, the title of “Again, but Better” really has two meanings. This double-entendre refers to Shane’s adventure of going abroad and starting her college experience over as well as her opportunity to relive this adventure a second time.

Shane, Pilot and their friends hit all the bucket list travel destinations while abroad: Paris, Rome, Edinburgh and more. Shane captures every moment with photos on Facebook and blog posts. While the book may romanticize studying abroad in more ways than one, the attitude of awe that Shane brings to London with her reminds me fondly of my time spent studying abroad.

Shane’s ultimate accomplishment manifests itself

when she resolves to balance her internship and desire to write for a living with her developing romantic relationship. If one thing can be taken away from the story, it is to do what you love. In the context of an ever more-competitive college world, it reminds readers to pursue their passions.

In addition to the her captivating plot, I also loved Riccio’s incorporation of music into her story. It was very fun to read her chapter titles, many of which alluded to songs.

For all you Taylor Swift-lovers out there, you have to read to the end where some serious serenading happens. Also keep a lookout for the red-haired barista lady. She comes into the story at very important parts — especially the magical hidden cafe..

“Hawkeye,” one can see the same panel from Natasha’s perspective and portrayed in a completely different art style. This type of cross-over is one of the most enticing arguments to read comic books along with their unique way of telling stories both visually and with words.

Comic books, especially those featuring more mainstream characters, sometimes fall into a pseudostoryboard method of narration. They use paneling similarly to how a movie or TV show plays out, making them easily adaptable. Aja and Fraction utilize the visual and artistic nature of comic books in ways unique to the genre and unlike storyboards. The series explores how different characters communicate with the world around them. One of the issues is told from the point of view of Hawkeye’s pizza-eating rescue dog. His main form of relating to the world is through smell. Aja depicts these smells in little bubbles, creating a point of view separate from the English language.

When Hawkeye speaks to him, most of the words are scribbled out, besides words the dog understands like “sit” and “stay.”

The comic also deals with disability. Clint goes deaf in the series — a trait that has since been relatively accepted as canon. The issue following this tragic event is then told in sign language, something that is impossible to accomplish in traditional word-based storytelling. Disability has been seen in comic books before with characters like Daredevil, but in Hawkeye, Clint’s deafness acts as a real disability with consequences as

opposed to a way of gaining superpowers that instantly overrides the difficulties of losing a sense.

The Hawkeyes combat street-level crimes throughout the series. The two are not fighting intergalactic super villains, but very real, earthly villains like Ukrainian gangsters who use the word “bro” too much and mob bosses. Clint also serves as a superhero on a more personal level by helping certain people with their rent and taking abused animals into the shelter. His humanity is as constantly on display through his coffee addiction, trips to the hospital, constant need for band-aids and inability to set up a television.

Fraction’s character building and comical storytelling is matched by Aja’s art. One of the most renowned working comic book artists, Aja uses a purple color scheme to create his own universe separate from our New York. His inking and strong lined artwork is heightened by his creative paneling and ability to tell stories only through pictures. If Marvel uses Fraction and Aja’s “Hawkeye” as a jumping off point for their upcoming series, they have big shoes to fill and actual challenges to face in translating their unique storytelling techniques onto the screen. The comics brought the overlooked characters from the background of “The Avengers” and made Clint into a beloved hero while continuing to tell Kate’s story. Hopefully, the TV show follows in its footsteps..

Contact Dessi Gomez at dgomez5@nd.edu

“Again, but Better” Author: Christine Riccio Genre: Young Adult If You Like: “Love and Luck” by Jenna Evans Welch, The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling

Contact Colleen Fischer at cfischer01@saintmarys.edu CRISTINA INTERIANO | The Observer

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The observer | thursday, November 21, 2019 | ndsmcobserver.com

Wonder

Inside Column

Notre Dame’s most overrated Tom Naatz News Editor

I love this school — really, I do. But there are parts of daily life here I simply don’t understand. Below, you will find a list of grievances. Direct all thoughts and comments to the “contact Tom” button at the bottom.

Every food option in LaFun Look, I know the dining halls have their challenges. But the LaFun alternatives? I have not been to Smashburger in three years—I’m not in the market for a grinding stomachache. Starbucks? I lack the patience for that line and the economic resources for those prices. Taco Bell? I don’t want the EPA to have to perform my autopsy. I don’t care that Subway was “the highest grossing location in America.” The only thing “gross” about it is what they try to pass off as food.

Dorm parties I don’t love crowds, so perhaps it’s not surprising I hate the thought of 80 people crammed in a room only slightly wider than I am tall. These events are so warm that even the floor sweats. It’s hard to carry out conversations with a speaker blaring and every sound bouncing off the cinderblock walls. I shake my head every time I see a group of people getting hype to attend one of these functions. But maybe I’m just bitter. I took an (inadvertent) elbow straight to the stomach at a “social gathering” freshman year and subsequently declared, “Never again.” Plus, fire hazard much?

Tailgating Too much depends on the day. Tailgating is far more pleasant on a spectacular September afternoon than it is on a frozen November morning.

Some game days I wake up, rearing to go. On others, my alarm goes off and I groan. Not because I don’t appreciate generous hospitality and spending time with friends, but rather because the thought of spending eight hours on my feet in a blizzard is a sad way to start your day. Maybe this entry would not have made this list if I was Canadian.

The snowball fight A light dusting of snow and overeager freshmen are a lethal combo. When you have a snowball fight when blades of grass are still visible, it quickly turns into a literal mudslinging contest. Which is why I was excited when, for the first time in my undergraduate career, last week’s first snow brought some substantial snowfall. I had a blast — until I took an iceball from an unidentified attacker straight to the forehead. I had a headache for a week.

Touchdown Jesus Notre Dame is a beautiful campus. There’s the Dome, which shimmers in the midday sun; the breathtaking Basilica of the Sacred Heart; the understated Grotto. And then there’s tacky, quasi-cubist Jesus. One of these is not like the others.

Touchdown Jesus does not fit the campus aesthetic — at all. I’m all for glorifying God, but is that really how we decided to do it? With a super weird representation of the Messiah and a bunch of other difficult to identify biblical figures? Plus, we need to discuss the moniker. Whoever gave the mosaic that name had definitely never seen a touchdown signal.

Jesus’ arms are far too perpendicular for that. The nickname is undeserved.

Contact Tom at tnaatz@nd.edu The views expressed in this Inside Column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

Ben Testani Off Campus, On Topic

I wonder what death feels like.

The thought crosses my mind for the hundredth time. Maybe I am on the way to my ethics class in CoMo, or finishing a shift in Loftus or even eating at halftime of a football game. It never seems to matter. The idea is never far from my mind.

One of the weirdest things about living with depression is that you start to assume ever yone else feels this way. That ever yone else has days where even watching Netf lix feels like it takes too much effort. Days where cooking sounds as difficult as climbing Mount Everest. Or entire weeks that go by without reading for fun or playing Xbox because something in your brain simply will not allow you to engage in the things that make you happy.

I wonder what death feels like.

Even the most minor setback inspires this tired refrain. Maybe I got a B on a paper that felt like A- material at worst. Or perhaps my roommates left the trash cans for me to bring in from the curb. It never seems to matter. All coping skills and notions of perseverance are long gone. Or maybe they never existed in the first place.

There is also the constant battle to convince myself to want to get better. I debate skipping my appointment at the University Counseling Center on my way there. I fill a prescription for medication then bur y the bottle in a drawer with broken pencils and a four-function calculator. I convince myself that I probably deser ve to feel this way, so there is no point in tr ying to feel good about myself in the first place.

Many people think depression means being sad all the time. That is decidedly not true. It mostly means feeling nothing. It means having a hard time reaching any sort of emotional high or low.

I might be dancing at New f’s, watching cartoons, or shooting hoops for my hall in North Dome, and appear happy on the outside. Similarly, I could be listening to “Mar vin’s Room,” reading rejection notices from job applications, or failing Calculus B and appear sad. Those feelings burn bright and fast, like a sparkler on the Fourth of July, before they fade, and I am back to numbness. Through it all, the only constant is an echo of morbid curiosity.

I wonder what death feels like.

I forget how many people know I have depression at this point. My parents. I think one of my brothers does. Some of my friends, both from high school and Notre Dame. At least one ex-girlfriend. For some reason, mental illness always struck me as decidedly private and shameful.

Logically, this makes no sense. If I broke my arm, developed skin cancer or caught pneumonia, I would never think twice before explaining my situation to professors and bosses, friends and family, even social media. But with depression, when I miss class because the idea of getting out of bed feels truly over whelming, my professors are left to assume I overslept. My bosses chalk up days where I lack effort to laziness or distractions. W hen I cancel plans and ignore texts so I can sit in my room and watch “The Office” again, my loved ones wonder if I am rude, uncaring or simply a bad friend.

Now, anyone who searches “Ben Testani” can find out I have depression. That is simultaneously terrif ying and comforting. It terrifies me because so many people still do not understand what depression actually means, especially for men. It does not mean I am going to kill myself anytime soon, or even at all. It does not mean I am dangerous, stupid or useless. In fact, I made it this far with depression. I did not even seek treatment for the first time until I was almost 20, because I did not want to understand what was going on with my mind. The public declaration comforts me, because anyone who reads this will understand why I am the way that I am, and they may have a little better idea of why others with depression the way are they are as well. I do not hate you even if I cancelled our dinner plans. I still love playing “Halo” even though I have not logged on in two weeks. And I want to get better. I want to feel the highs and lows again. Most of all, I am tired of pondering the same issue over and over. I am tired of wondering.

I do not want to know what death feels like.

Ben Testani is a senior studying international economics, Arabic and Spanish. He comes to Notre Dame via Central New York and while currently residing off-campus, will always be a proud Alumni Dawg. He welcomes feedback at btestani@nd.edu or @BenTestani on Twitter.

The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

Follow us on Twitter. @ObserverViewpnt

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The observer | thursday, November 21, 2019 | ndsmcobserver.com

Where is compassion?

Tiffany Rojas Diversity Council

Something I have mulled over for a significant part of the past year, and I have been presented with many times over the course of my past (almost) three-anda-half years here, is the issue of lack of compassion.

Compassion, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is “sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it.” For a student body that frames itself as compassionate, there are a lot of issues that need to be addressed that significantly dissatisfy this definition of compassion.

There are various places where we can see a lack of compassion by the student body. Open use of microaggressions or discriminatory language, then refusal to understand why they are inherently wrong, for example. While there are plenty of other cases where this can be seen in the student body, this is one that has particularly caught my attention in my time at Notre Dame.

See, my identities aren’t something that I can change, like my hair or clothes. This is the same for any student who is part of any marginalized group on campus. Disappointing as it may be, offensive and discriminatory behavior happens on a daily basis. Students who fall into marginalized categories, i.e. racial and ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+ students,

students with disabilities, women and many more experience this kind of behavior from those around them far too often on this campus. This very clearly exemplifies a lack of compassion, and it appears most of our student population is blind to this, even combative when confronted, if they are the ones that are guilty of taking part in such behavior. It is beyond me to know why students find this acceptable, and lack of acknowledgement also demonstrates a clear lack of compassion. While this column may be looked at by a few and then forgotten, the reality behind it won’t, and those who are fortunate enough to not fall into any of the categories that would make them oppressed can easily move on. I cannot. Members of marginalized communities cannot.

I would love to find a way in which students were suddenly confronted in a manner that made them acknowledge that micro-aggressions and discriminatory language. Inviting students into spaces allows them to self-select out, and allows for the homogeneity of the appearance of the perfect Notre Dame experience to exist. It allows for this lack of compassion to exist.

I never wish more students to be faced with hurtful behavior as many of their peers have, but I do wish to have a Notre Dame that is less hostile and less accepting of this kind of behavior. We are not a compassionate Notre Dame if we continue to allow this kind of behavior to continue, and we certainly are not a compassionate Notre Dame if there are members of our

community that perform this kind of behavior. You can decide that it is not your responsibility to create a more welcoming and compassionate Notre Dame, but chances are, if you have decided this, you are a large contributor to the hostility and lack of compassion on this campus. Changing a campus culture takes more than just the work of a handful, and quite frankly, I find it disappointing that there is a continuing demonstration of this lack of compassion. Just look around at your campus climate now, and if you see nothing wrong, you are part of the homogenous culture that disallows change. You have the power to change more than you think you do; you should see the distress of a large portion of the student body and have a desire to alleviate it, if you truly claim to be compassionate.

Call out your peers, and call yourself out.

Tiffany Rojas is a senior majoring in economics and Chinese and can be reached at trojas1@nd.edu The Diversity Council of Notre Dame advocates for awareness, understanding and acceptance on issues of race, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status and other intersectional identities in the Notre Dame community. The viewpoints expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Diversity Council, but are the individual opinions of the author.

You can contact Diversity Council at diversnd@nd.edu The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

Letters to the editor

Thank you Dear Student Body, Two years ago, I was asked to be a part of a video project that hoped to invite people to Mass following each Notre Dame Football game. The concept was really quite simple: Weave a few clips of me preparing for and celebrating Mass together with some high-energy shots from around campus, set it to a track with some inspirational beats, and then we had it — a Mass hype video.

The first time the hype video ran in the stadium, a curious thing began to happen. The student section, standing tall on the bleachers, would cheer when I appeared on screen. At first, I thought it was by accident, but with over two years of consistent cheering, I would say that there’s a humbling trend.

You might be wondering why I would then proceed to write a Letter to the Editor about people cheering for me in the stadium. Some would say — heck, I would say — just be honored and don’t get a big head. While all that is true, I was also taught from a young age to express gratitude when people show such kindness.

So here goes. One of the greatest blessings of my priesthood is to know you, share life with you and be a part of the Notre Dame community. During my years at Notre Dame, I’ve had the chance to serve as an assistant rector, rector and now the director of Campus Ministry. In each instance, I have been powerfully impacted by the student body.

I love so deeply how much you care and how you

look out for one another. I so admire the genuine ways that you pursue your studies and leadership opportunities with the sincere hope that you will make an impact in the world more broadly. Every day, I am inspired by your optimism, inclusivity and the desire to learn from past mistakes.

This Letter to the Editor was never really about the cheering (that tends to come and go) and always about the Notre Dame student body. Thank you for inspiring me. Thank you for all you are and all that you will become. May God bless you now and always.

Fr. Pete McCormick director, Campus Ministry Nov. 17

The difference between parietals and hate If two Notre Dame alumni meet, it is almost certain the first question they ask each other is, “Where did you live?” Notre Dame’s residential living is a major attraction, and is unique among most other universities. Parietals have been in existence since the admission of women in 1972. An excellent apology for parietals was written this week in The Observer, so I won’t repeat it.

Although there have been arguments against parietals over the years, I was surprised to read this week that some people consider it to be a cause of hate that sows division and oppresses certain groups.

Notre Dame is not a hateful place, nor are the policies that govern it or the people who administer them. Individuals who disrespect others in any way do not represent the community as a whole.

Extrapolating someone’s bad behavior to be indicative of an entire environment condoning such behavior is unfair to the vast majority of individuals who treat everyone with respect and dignity.

I guess you can find hate anywhere or everywhere, if that’s what you want to do.

Conflating parietals with hate is really a leap that is too great to make.

The writers of the End Hate at ND letter seem to brush aside the concerns that many women may have. They said, “We are aware that some members of the community may be concerned with nonfemale presence in women’s dorms during sleeping hours.” That is an understatement! Did they consider that perhaps most women would have an issue with this? Many women are more comfortable with the privacy and safety that parietals afford them.

Certainly not having members of the opposite sex in the living areas of the halls during sleeping hours does not lead to “echo chambers of homogenous thought,” as the group claims. One thing that is most lacking after 2 a.m. is thought.

The rights and preferences of biological women are those that are trampled on by abolishing parietals. But that does not seem to matter to this group.

Whatever happened to #MeToo? One has to wonder what would be next. Would having single sex dorms be considered hateful or oppressive? Single sex floors or rooms? Would speech start to be regulated in order to decrease “hate”?

Who ends up deciding what is “hateful” or approved of and what is not? That is the real danger to

a community and what led to the totalitarian societies in the past century, and is devastating universities today.

The End Hate at ND group claims to want to unify and not divide. Their rhetoric does not suggest this.

When terms such as “racist,” “sexist,” “queer-phobic,” “ableist,” etc. are thrown around it is certain that the individual is no longer paramount, but the group is. When group identity trumps the individual, we become tribal and actually look upon the “other” with suspicion and distrust. That leads to a fracturing of the community.

We are not the Fighting Gay or Straight Irish, The Fighting Black or White Irish, the Fighting Male or Female or Trans Irish, the Fighting Able or Disabled Irish, etc.

We are the Fighting Irish.

The question is, will the Notre Dame community fight for that unity and turn its back on the identity labels and speech restrictions that are tearing apart the rest of society and could ruin our community?

Stephen O’Neil class of ’87 Nov. 20

8

DAILY

The observer | thursday, november 21, 2019 | ndsmcobserver.com

Crossword | Will Shortz

Horoscope | Eugenia Last Happy Birthday: Pay attention to detail, and make adjustments to compensate for mistakes. Live up to your expectations, dreams and desires, and refuse to let anything stand between you and the image you have in your head of where you see yourself heading. Don’t let failures or disappointment discourage you from picking yourself up and striving for perfection. Your numbers are 5, 11, 24, 29, 34, 37, 45.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Take inventory, and you’ll separate what’s valuable from what isn’t. Have a garage sale or make a donation to your favorite charity. Make plans with the person or people you want to spend time with as you move forward.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Don’t stop dreaming. Where there is a will, there is a way to make changes that will improve your life. Work hand in hand with someone you love, and more significant opportunities will unfold. Expand your mind, improve your health and make romance a priority.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Making changes to the way you approach your work or your everyday routine will make those close to you stand up and take a greater interest in what you do. Include people you enjoy spending time with in your plans.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Take a moment to breathe. Don’t rush something that needs more time, or you may suffer a loss. Situations will quickly get blown out of proportion if you let your emotions take over and you make invalid assumptions.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): You need to delegate your time with care. How you get along with others will make a difference when it comes to your accomplishments.

Be open to change, but be smart enough to monitor what others do without taking over.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Your speed and agility will pay off. Stay focused on what’s important and needs to be completed, and don’t waste time on unnecessary chatter that could lead to trouble. Avoid an argument, and distance yourself from unpredictable people and situations.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Do the groundwork, get your facts straight and be willing to do whatever it takes to put your plans in motion. Protect against poor health or people trying to entice you into something you know isn’t right for you.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Take care of matters that could affect your home, personal documents or livelihood. Emotional spending will add to your stress. Stick to a minimalist lifestyle, and you’ll feel much better about upcoming events, prospects and your relationship with someone special.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Set up interviews, check out job listings and look for something that excites you. There is money to be made; personal changes will encourage a better lifestyle. Question what’s essential and how you would like to move forward.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Concentrate on what you need to do to keep the peace. Avoid being trapped in someone’s dilemma. Face facts, stick to the truth and make a point to avoid indulgence. Someone around you can’t be trusted, so don’t share personal information.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Look at the choices you have, the changes that are taking place and how you can use the knowledge you have to make the most of a possible opportunity. Speak up and offer ideas — an exciting offer will come your way.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Stay on top of whatever job you are given. Refuse to let the changes others make affect your life. Know when to say no and do your own thing. Don’t trust someone to be fair. Emotional manipulation is apparent.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Look at the possibilities before making a decision. Given the chance, someone will take advantage of you. Use your insight and intelligence when it comes to joint ventures. Show your strength of character, and you will deter interference.

Birthday Baby: You are insightful, responsible and thoughtful. You are sensitive and powerful.

sorin elementary | IAN SALZMAN

Sudoku | The Mepham Group

Jumble | David Hoyt and Jeff knurek

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sports

ndsmcobserver.com | thursday, november 21, 2019 | The Observer

M Bball

Sports Authority

Tune into the “Flagrant 2” Colin Capece Sports Writer

Growing up in New York, there was no greater contributor to my love for sports than sports talk radio.

WFAN and ESPN New York became the soundtrack for my childhood, and the hot takes of Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton in the morning, as well as the heated debates between Mike Francesca and Christopher Russo in the afternoon, helped shape me into the passionate and highly opinionated fan that I am today. However, I am delighted to inform readers that the sports media capital of the world is not the only place where quality sports talk radio exists. In fact, I have discovered a creative and witty new show that’s produced right here at Notre Dame and broadcast live over the internet on W VFI. The “Flagrant 2,” a new radio show co-hosted by my roommates, sophomores Jacob Messineo and Gordie Bess, airs from 1 – 2 p.m. every Friday on W VFI. Messineo is a wannabe New Yorker from Georgia, Vermont, while Bess is an “In-N-Out” loving, nonbandwagon Clippers fan from Los Angeles. W hile Bess serves as the straight man to the more controversial Messineo, both give takes from the heart regarding the biggest stories in sports. The guys had me on the show as a guest last week, and I got the chance to interview them about their new endeavor.

W hen I asked the guys what makes their radio show unique, Gordie and Jacob were quick to point out that the “Flagrant 2” is not the run-of-the-mill sports radio show.

“We don’t necessarily want to talk about what ESPN is talking about, and we really like to change it up with some unique segments,” Bess said.

Some of those segments have included things like “Grit Team of the Week,” where the guys will give shout-outs to the players with the grittiest gridiron performances from the past

week. W hen I was on the show last week, the hosts held a mock trial to discuss the transgressions of the Houston Astros cheating scandal and Myles Garrett helmet mishap.

The “Flagrant 2” also stands out as a show that’s more conversational than the typical sports radio program.

“Especially for our guests, we don’t want to make it seem as if we are broadcasting to an audience, but rather that it’s just a typical conversation amongst friends,” said Messineo. “We also want people on our show to say what they truly believe and not direct them one way or the other. As we like to say, we pride ourselves on giving takes from the heart.”

The “Flagrant 2” is still only a couple months old, but Bess and Messineo are hoping to grow the show to a point where they can get a respectable guest to come on the air. W hile the hosts said it was nice to have an “esteemed” journalist like myself on the show, my roommates are thinking much bigger.

“If we could have anyone on the show, I think it would have to be Stephen A. Smith.

He would definitely blend well with the culture we try to create on our show,” Bess said.

Messineo mentioned that University of Minnesota head football coach P.J. Fleck and facilitating Iowa men’s basketball point guard Jordan Bohannon would also be great guests. However, while the hosts want the show to expand in the future, they still just want to enjoy themselves fun on the air.

“For right now, we just want to have fun with the show and take it week by week,” Messineo said.

Make sure to tune in to the “Flagrant 2” this Friday at 1 p.m. on W VFI.

Continued from page 12

defensive deficiencies have been largely covered up by their sizzling shooting. After putting up 112 points in their most recent performance, the Rockets are heading to South Bend averaging a touch under 89 points per game.

Thursday’s duel looks to embody the classic “unstoppable force meets an immovable object” saying, as Notre Dame will try to get their shooting going against the Rockets while locking down the lethal Toledo offense.

Helping the Irish’s cause will be the likely return of senior forward John Mooney, who missed Monday’s matchup against Presbyterian due to an illness. Mooney currently leads the team in points per game, rebounds and steals.

Even when Mooney isn’t the leading scorer, the Irish offense largely runs through him. They’ll look to Mooney to lead the attack and hope their supporting cast can provide sufficient offense behind him. The Irish lack

a pure star scorer in their lineup, and so they look to utilize strong defense and a multitude of offensive contributions up and down the lineup. With senior guard TJ Gibbs averaging 12 points a game and sophomore guard Prentiss Hubb chipping in 11 per game, Notre Dame has done a good job spreading the scoring around.

However, it’s a precarious offensive structure, and one off night from one Irish starter could ultimately spell their doom against a scrappy midmajor like Toledo.

Defensively, Mooney’s 6-10 frame offers the Irish another big option to defend Toledo and their sharpshooters. After seeing Toledo sink fourteen 3-pointers in a game versus Marshall earlier this year, Notre Dame coach Mike Brey will want to minimized the Rockets’ midrange and three point game.

By keeping lanky senior forward Juwan Durham and Mooney on the court and out of foul trouble, the Irish can add some necessary height to hopefully invade the space of Toledo’s long-range weapons.

If Toledo gets a multitude of

9

open looks, they could easily escape South Bend with a victory.

Another key to Notre Dame’s defense will be graduate student Rex Pf luegger.

After initially saying that he would be unlikely to play more than 20 minutes a game for a while, Brey left Pf luegger on the court for 36 minutes in the Presbyterian matchup. A perimeter stopper for the Irish, Pluegger’s veteran’s presence clearly helped the Irish hold off a charging Presbyterian squad. His defensive tandem with Gibbs is a difficult matchup for any offense, and he can also offer some decent secondary scoring for the Irish.

Ultimately, the Irish should be able to beat Toledo if they stick to their brand of hardnosed, defensive basketball; however the Rockets are an excellent program, and a bad shooting night or porous defensive effort from Notre Dame could very well vault Toledo to the road victory.

Tip-off is Thursday at 8:30 p.m. at Purcell Pavillon.

Contact Aidan Thomas at athoma28@nd.edu

annie smierciak | The Observer

Irish sophomore guard Prentiss Hubb guards an opponent during Notre Dame’s win over Presbyterian at Purcell Pavilion on Nov. 18. The squad is 4-1 on the season overall.

Contact Colin Capece at ccapece@nd.edu The views expressed in this Sports Authority are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

Please recycle The Observer. annie smierciak | The Observer

Irish senior guard Nikola Djogo drives the ball to the net during Notre Dame’s 63-53 victory over Presbyterian. The Irish return to action on Thursday at Purcell Pavilion against Toledo at 8:30 p.m.

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Sports

The observer | thursday, november 21, 2019 | ndsmcobserver.com

Matchups Continued from page 12

My condolences to the Bears after a stunning collapse against Oklahoma last weekend. Ouch. With playoff hopes dashed, an instant recovery feels far-fetched. Look for an offensive relapse in Waco this weekend as Texas kicks the Bears when they’re down.

Texas upsets.

Dominic Gibson: Ohio State has been a force to be reckoned with all year, with dominant showings weekin and week-out. Penn State has been on a downward trend as of late and that will not bode well heading into this matchup.

I expect Ohio State to win and cover.

Some can view this as a trap game for the Wolverines as they head down to Bloomington to do battle with Indiana. Michigan has looked good as of late with a stout defense and a big threat on offense if they can establish the run. Indiana will come to play but it will not be enough.

Michigan wins and covers.

I think I speak for all Longhorn fans, this year has been quite a disappointment.

Texas has gone from picked to win the Big 12 to now 6-4 and out of contention. The Longhorns have been full of holes on defense lately, but they looked improved against Iowa State. It was the stagnant offense that cost them. If Texas finds a way to get Sam Ehlinger and the offensive unit going again, I like their chances. Texas upsets on the road.

Liam Coolican: Ohio State has looked unbeatable at times this year, and Penn State hasn’t looked great as of late, but I think this will be a closer game than many predict. Penn State lost to a very good Minnesota team, and then barely beat an unranked Indiana team, but Indiana has 7 wins, so it was actually a good win for Penn State. Still, though, they don’t have the offensive firepower to keep up with Ohio State, but it won’t be a blowout. Ohio State wins but doesn’t cover.

As many of us have discussed already, Indiana is a sneaky-good team. However, Michigan has been one of the best teams in college football over the last three weeks, and it’s hard to pick against their defense. I think it will be close in the first half, but the size and strength of Michigan will prove too much for Indiana.

Michigan wins and covers.

Bet against Tom Herman as an underdog if you dare. He is 16-3 against the spread as an underdog, with 11 outright wins. Texas will undoubtedly keep this game close. It is also a trap game for Baylor. With any playoffs hopes gone after the 25-point collapse last week, it’s hard to imagine their players will be as motivated.

Texas wins outright.

Aidan Thomas: You can’t make me bet against the Buckeyes right now. Penn State has a solid offense, but their previously elite defense has struggled the past two games. Ohio State is too explosive — covering the 18-point spread might be tough, but the game is in Columbus, so I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt on that. Ohio State wins and covers.

Who knew Indiana was 7-3?

Maybe people did, but I absolutely did not, and I consider myself a decent fan of college football. The surprisingly relevant Hoosiers impressed last week in pushing Penn State to the limit, and they have a chance for a statement upset against Michigan. However, since almost rallying from 21-0 down against Penn State, the Wolverines have been sizzling, and I won’t bet against them.

Michigan wins but does not cover.

I like the odds of a shootout in this one, and I’ll lean towards Baylor as they’ve shown a little more consistency, last week’s second-half collapse aside.

Texas has lost two of three and will keep things close but not pull the upset in Waco. Baylor wins but does not cover.

Patrick Gallagher: The Penn State faithful are clinging to the small chance they will win out and make it to their first CFP. Ohio State has arguably performed better than any team this year and should dash this dream. The Buckeyes have not scored less than 34 points in a game so far and will cruise to victory but not quite cover the spread.

After a close loss to Penn State, the Hoosiers will return home to face Michigan, who have been red hot since crushing Notre Dame. The Wolverines have put up around 40 points in each of the last three contests, and I expect that this trend will continue in Indiana, as Michigan needs to carry this momentum into a fateful matchup against Ohio State. Expect the Wolverines to win big and cover.

The past few games have not been kind to Texas, who barely beat Kansas before losing to TCU and Iowa State. The Longhorns desperately need a win against Baylor to finish the season on a high note and to be in play for a high-profile bowl game. The Bears just suffered one of the most painful losses this season, surrendering 24-straight points in the second half against Oklahoma. Texas will come up short yet again as Baylor fails to cover the spread but avenges their first loss in a close contest.

Nate Moller: Under James Franklin, the Nittany Lions have had a very hard time recording a win against a ranked team on the road. I think that streak will continue against the Buckeyes

this Saturday. The Minnesota game two weeks ago showed the vulnerabilities in the Nittany Lion defense, and I expect Justin Fields and the Ohio State offense to continue to exploit these weaknesses. Buckeyes win easily but don’t cover the large spread.

Indiana gave Penn State a run for their money last week, but I expect Shea Patterson to lead the Wolverines to an easy victory in Bloomington.

Since the second half of their game against Penn State, Jim Harbaugh has his offense rolling, and I expect Michigan’s plethora of playmakers to torch the Hoosier defense. Michigan wins and covers.

Both teams are coming off of demoralizing losses, so it will be interesting to see how they both bounce back. Despite the Longhorns terrible play as of late, something tells me they will play well against Baylor this Saturday. Sam Ehlinger will finally show why he received so much preseason hype. I like the Longhorns to win this one outright.

Contact Liam Coolican at lcoolica@nd.edu, Patrick Gallagher at pgallag4@nd.edu, Dominic Gibson at dgibson2@nd.edu, David Kramer at dkramer2@nd.edu, Nate Moller at nmoller2@nd.edu and Aidan Thomas at athoma28@nd.edu The views expressed in this column are those of the authors and not necessarily those of The Observer.

Swim & Dive Continued from page 12

has traditionally been a very competitive invite. It gives us a great pulse on where we are nationally. It gives us an opportunity to perform at a high level in the fall and to show off what we have done this fall in training.

Expectations are pretty high.”

This season, Notre Dame has a lot to boast about.

The men’s team is currently ranked 13th in the nation and the women’s team is ranked 17th, according to the CSCAA Coaches poll.

It can be expected that many top non-ACC opponents will be at the invitational this weekend.

Litzinger expressed his feelings about the high level of competition that the team has been preparing for.

“On the men’s side, it will be Ohio State, Virginia Tech, Kentucky, Notre Dame and Yale.

On the women’s side, it will be those teams, with the addition of Ohio University, University of Buffalo and UCLA as well,” Litzinger said.

Of these teams, four of them are nationally ranked in both the men’s and women’s divisions.

Arriving at this semi-culminating point of the season was a product of hard work and

determination from the Notre Dame teams. A lot has changed from the start of the season.

Litzinger believes that the team is ready to be put to the test against tough competition.

“Our mission this year and always has been that we are going to work pretty hard through the fall and with that heavy training load, we want to see what the racing gives us. So, this is an opportunity to put ourselves in a championship format,” Litzinger said. “Up until this point I think that we have been progressing very well. Our men have 14 freshmen. That is well over half of our team. They have been doing a nice job being led by the upperclassmen. On the women’s side, we have a really great senior leadership crew that has been doing a fantastic job. It has been a real solid effort throughout the women’s program – from the diving boards all the way down to the relays, in terms of us being successful this year.”

As Litzinger mentioned, this year’s freshmen make up a very large percentage of the men’s team. That being said, they have done a phenomenal job of integrating themselves into the team’s culture and strategy.

Contact Inigo Yturralde at iyturral@nd.edu

Write Sports.

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Sports

W Bball Continued from page 12

turnovers and held Toledo (1-2) to just 34% shooting.

The Irish jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead but soon began struggling to score. They didn’t score a point for almost four minutes, allowing Toledo to take an 11-6 lead, but after a Notre Dame timeout, Walker immediately hit a mid-range jumper to break the drought. Walker followed with another long two to cut the deficit to just one, but Toledo answered immediately with a 3-pointer. After splitting a pair of free throws, Toledo drilled a long, buzzer-beating 3-pointer to take an eight-point lead into the second quarter.

McGraw said Toledo’s skill shone through the situations they placed the Irish in.

“They looked like a veteran team, they forced us into some really bad mistakes,” she said.

The second quarter opened with a basket in the post by freshman Anaya Peoples, but Notre Dame couldn’t find a rhythm on offense after that. The Rockets’ tenacious defense gave ball handlers little room to shoot, and the Irish had trouble finding the bottom of the net at times. Five consecutive points from Brunelle and a hook shot from sophomore Danielle Cosgrove cut Toledo’s

ndsmcobserver.com | thursday, november 21, 2019 | The Observer

lead to four, but Toledo answered with five quick points. The Rockets led 33-26 at the half.

Notre Dame started the second half with two fast break baskets, as Gilbert went coast-to-coast after grabbing a rebound. On the next possession, senior Marta Sniezek was fouled and made both free throws. A long jumper

by Brunelle followed, cutting the lead to one once again and bringing the crowd back into the game.

The rest of the quarter was back and forth as neither team put together a long scoring run.

The Irish cut the lead to one point on multiple occasions, but the Rockets answered with a timely basket each time. They led 4441 at the end of three quarters. A Gilbert free throw was the only point scored in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter for Notre Dame, but a tough layup

by Walker brought them back to within two points. Brunelle then split a pair of free throws, the defense forced a shot clock violation, and a Gilbert floater gave the Irish their first lead since 6-5 in the first. A Walker reverse layup on the next set put Notre Dame up three and forced Toledo to take a timeout.

An and-one from Toledo brought the lead back down to two with just under three minutes to play. After another made free throw from Brunelle, a steal

by Sneziak led to a step-back

11

jumper from Walker to put Notre Dame up five points for a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Toledo stayed in it, thanks in part to three Notre Dame turnovers in the last 90 seconds. They had a chance to tie the game with 15 seconds left but stingy defense forced a turnover, and Notre Dame was able to hold on.

Brunelle spoke on what she believes the team needs to do to improve.

“Moving forward, we still have so much work to do. The sky’s the limit. We can be as good as we want to be,” she said.

Gilbert said she believes the Irish need to continue working to become a stronger team.

“We have a lot of work to do, and we know that and we expect more from ourselves, so we’re going to use this confidence to build up to the team we need to be,” she said.

The Irish will travel to Ann Arbor on Saturday to take on 21st ranked Michigan. Michigan (4-0) will be a difficult opponent.

“Playing on the road is going to be tough for us,” McGraw said of the matchup. “They’re a ranked team, [Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico] is a great coach, so it’s going to be a huge game for us.”

The Irish tip-off against the Wolverines at 1 p.m. Saturday. allison thorton | The Observer

Contact Liam Coolican at lcoolica@nd.edu Paid Advertisement

Irish sophomore guard Katlyn Gilbert follows through on a shot during Notre Dame’s 69-72 loss to Michigan State at home on Nov. 14.

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The observer | thursday, november 21, 2019 | ndsmcobserver.com

nd women’s basketball | ND 54, Toledo 51

Irish bounce back in fourth quarter

By LIAM COOLICAN Sports Writer

Looking to come back after dropping two consecutive contests at home, the Notre Dame took on the Toledo Rockets on Wednesday night.

The Irish (3-2) rallied in the fourth quarter to win 5451 despite trailing for more than 30 minutes. The Irish were led by a big performance from freshman forward Sam Brunelle, who finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds.

It was Brunelle’s first career double-double.

Head coach Muffet McGraw thinks more will come.

“One of many,” McGraw said. “[Her] rebounding was what was key, that’s how we won the game.”

Graduate student guard Destinee Walker and sophomore Katlyn Gilbert also finished with double digits for Notre Dame, scoring 12 and 11 points, respectively.

McGraw said she is happy

nd men’s basketball

Squad prepares to face Toledo on Thursday

with Gilbert’s overall performance Wednesday.

“I thought Kaitlyn Gilbert did so many great things.

Defensively, she came up with some big steals, some big plays, some big rebounds, and made some big shots. I was really pleased,” McGraw said.

Gilbert credited her teammates for her continued improvement this year.

“My teammates, they put that confidence in me every day, on and off the court. I owe it all to them for our performance this year,” she said.

McGraw said she believes the team’s success came from an increase in conversation.

“Overall, I thought our communication was better, we got up and guarded people better. We kept our poise for a team this young, especially on the defensive end,” McGraw said.

Notre Dame forced 21 see W BBALL PAGE 11

By AIDAN THOMAS Sports Writer

annie smierciak | The Observer

Irish senior guard T.J. Gibbs jumps to shoot the ball during Notre Dame’s 63-53 home win over Presbyterian on Monday.

Notre Dame will tip off against the Toledo Rockets on Thursday. Like the Irish (4-1), the Rockets (3-1) lost a tough season opener on the road before bouncing back. Toledo has won three straight, and Notre Dame has put up four victories. However, that’s where almost any similarities between these squads end.

Notre Dame features an ability to bear down and get defensive stops, winning a bevy of low-scoring battles.

They’ve held their opponents to just 60 points a game and haven’t allowed more than 64 outside of their opening loss to North Carolina, a 76-65 defeat.

Toledo gives up 68 a game — an average dragged down

by Robert Morris’ putrid 56-point outing against the Rockets. However, any see M BBALL PAGE 9

ncaa

nd swimming and diving

Roundtable: Notre Dame prepares for competition at Ohio State NCAA predictions

By INIGO YTURRALDE

By LIAM COOLICAN, PATRICK GALLAGHER, DOMINIC GIBSON, DAVID KRAMER, NATE MOLLER, AIDAN THOMAS

Sports Writer

Coming up on the midway point of the season, the Irish w ill be traveling to compete in the Ohio State Inv itational this upcoming weekend. The meet w ill take place over the course of three days, starting on Thursday and ending Saturday.

Head coach Mike Litzinger gave some insight into the atmosphere that is to be expected at this Ohio State meet.

“This meet is one of many around the countr y that is considered a mid-season inv itational. A lot of universit y teams and highlevel Div ision I teams tr y to cap their fall season off by competing at these inv ites,” Litzinger said. “It is a prelims and finals inv ite.

Basically ever ybody sw ims in the morning and they narrow it dow n to the top30 or so at night. Ohio State see SWIM & DIVE PAGE 10

Sports Writers

Minnesota has really kicked us in the teeth the last two weeks.

After all but David Kramer picked the Gophers to fall to Penn State, every one of us except Nate Moller picked Minnesota to beat Iowa.

Overall regarding Minnesota games, we’re a combined 2-10, so to make ourselves feel better we’re not putting them in our slate of games this week. We also will be looking for more luck in our upset picks, where we are 2-16 in the last three weeks. Maybe hold off on taking our picks to Vegas, but we’ll get there. Here’s this week’s college picks — tune in tomorrow for NFL and upset picks!

CURRENT STANDINGS

kendra osinski | The Observer

A Notre Dame women’s swimmer prepares to jump off the block during a race at Rolfs Aquatic Center on Oct. 26, 2018.

David - 47 pts Dominic - 41 pts Liam - 38 pts Aidan - 37 pts Patrick - 36 pts Nate - 35 pts

MATCHUPS #8 Penn State @ #2 Ohio State (-18) #13 Michigan @ Indiana (+8.5) Texas @ #14 Baylor (-5.5)

David Kramer: The Nittany Lions’ performance against Indiana last week should cause immediate concern.

Their defense looks exhausted, as evidenced by the poor tackling that began in Minneapolis.

Granted, Penn State may slightly compensate with their aboveaverage offensive output, but I don’t expect a close game against the best team in college football.

Ohio State wins and covers.

Speaking of Indiana, their quiet relevance in the Big Ten East makes for a great contender against Michigan in Bloomington. I deserve expulsion for picking Michigan in any matchup, no matter the spread, but hopefully readers will forgive my criminality this weekend as Michigan squeezes out a victory on the road. Michigan wins but doesn’t cover. see MATCHUPS PAGE 10